Project Duragoat: My 1974 FJ40 Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[Roboosfj40s]

That is one nice P.S. Conversion!! I like that frame set up. Mine was a PO conversion and works very well but does not look half that good NICE Work!!

 

[orangefj45]

that little 40 is a great start. you're making some good progress brian, keep it up!

georg

 

[Gottagoslo]

P/S looks good!!! No heater....I like it.....Don't need no heater in Southern California

 

[bikersmurf]

I picked up this truck in november of 2011, wanted one forever, and finally fell into a deal that I couldn't pass up. I ended up buying this from a guy that I work with; I took my wife to look at it and when we pulled up, I said Wow!, what do you think, she said, "That thing is a huge piece of $hit, I said, yea, its perfect!

Drove her home an hour later with the entire cab filled with gas fumes, and barely able to get it over 45 miles an hr. Aside from nearly running out of gas, made it home with no problems.

I would like to build a super reliable rig that has some road manners, definitely keep a standard shift trans, but would like to couple it up to a 5.3L Gen III engine. Going to take my time and let it evolve.

Here are my plans:

1. [STRIKE]Deconstruction[/STRIKE] Done
2. [STRIKE]Frame rust removal, prime, paint[/STRIKE] Done
3. Power steering conversion
4. Front disk brake conversion
5. GM 5.3L + H55 + Split case
6. 2.5-3" Suspension Lift
7. 35" Rubber all around
8. Bed Liner coating under the tub
9. Paint and body work (thinking stock green or possibly pumpkin orange)
10. Flip Bezel

I wish we had such, huge pieces of $hit to work on here.

It appears to have a solid body with little or no rust through...


Good find.

 

[Bsquared]

Saginaw Steering Shaft Conversion

I was able to carve out some time and get to work on the steering shaft conversion. Here are the part numbers and sources that I used.

1. Steering for steering flange. Advanced Adapters PN 716833.
2. U-joint (steering column to steering shaft) 3/4 round by 1"DD Flaming River (Summit Racing PN FLA-FR1705DD)
3. Steering shaft Borgeson telescoping 36". (Summit Racing PN BRG-450036)
4. U-joint (Steering shaft to saginaw gear box) 3/4"DD x 13/16"-36 spline (Summit Racing PN FLA-FR1717DD)
5. qty 2 M8x12mm set screws (home depot)

Started by cutting off the manual interface flange on the steering column.



Then cleaned up the shaft so that the bushing wold fit.



Mounted the bushing.

 

[Bsquared]

Saginaw Steering Shaft Conversion cont.

Mounted the column.



Fit the steering shaft

 

[Bsquared]

Saginaw Steering Shaft Conversion cont.

I ended up trimming up the end of the gear box input shaft to make sure it did not interfere with the u-joint.



Next, drilled and tapped the 3/4" round joint end. I used M8x12mm long. This was the tap size I had handy.



Done!, it's ultra smooth with 0 play at this point. really happy with the result.

 

[UZJ40]

Looking great! Good pictures... keep it up

 

[Bsquared]

5.3L Vortec

yep, it's definitely too late. New engine is here, old one is not!

 

[Bsquared]

5.3L Exhaust Manifolds

Based on as much research as I could find online, I decided to go with 2010 Camaro Stock Exhaust Manifolds. I am looking for overall reliability vs total HP. These exhaust manifolds seem to be the tightest fitting manifolds for the Gen III gm motors.

I found mine at GMPartsCenter.net They were $104 for each side. they came with the heat shields. if you want them w/o heat shields, i think you can get them for about $85. They also had free shipping.

PNs
RH side 12611639 $104.69
LH side 12611638 $104.69
Gaskets 12617944 $10.82 (x2)

Here is a shot of the stock truck manifolds





Here is a shot of the Camaro Manifolds

 

[Bsquared]

5.3L Exhaust Manifolds

Here is a profile shot to give you an idea of total width w/manifolds.

 

[QuackAxel]

Better get rid of that cast aluminum oil pan if you plan on wheeling this beast!!

 

[ckrustware0045]

Nice work.... SUBSCRIBED!

 

[Bsquared]

Any of you running something other than a cast aluminum oil plan for the Gen III Vortecs? I have heard that some run the camaro oil plan to reduce risk of the differential housing getting close to the oil pan under full articulation.

 

[FJsnoozer]

I picked up this truck in november of 2011, wanted one forever, and finally fell into a deal that I couldn't pass up. I ended up buying this from a guy that I work with; I took my wife to look at it and when we pulled up, I said Wow!, what do you think, she said, "That thing is a huge piece of $hit, I said, yea, its perfect!

Drove her home an hour later with the entire cab filled with gas fumes, and barely able to get it over 45 miles an hr. Aside from nearly running out of gas, made it home with no problems.

May I ask when you actually started this project? I am jealous of your access to the truck at your house and the time you have to work on it.

In regards to your wife's comment, she will be very inpressed when you are done since she got to see the original and will never doubt you in any future endeavours. Personally, I didnt let Ash see the truck until I had done a few things and sprayed the whole truck with a beige rustoleum coverup paint job She also followed me back at 50 when I drove it home the first time.

 

[bikersmurf]

I agree that stock manifolds seem to be the way to go. It looks like you'll have enough space for the exhaust pipes to clear the truck frame. Look forward to seeing the rest of your build.

Edit: Had a look at some of the pictures in this thread... https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/448066-sbc-swap-manual-steering-2.html
If the gen 3 block is similar in width to the old SBC blocks, it looks like the exhaust manifold flange will be coming down more or less over the frame... Do you plan on tucking it inside or going to the outside of the frame rails? It still looks workable, so long as your block is high enough between the frame rails.

 

[Bsquared]

May I ask when you actually started this project? I am jealous of your access to the truck at your house and the time you have to work on it.

In regards to your wife's comment, she will be very inpressed when you are done since she got to see the original and will never doubt you in any future endeavours. Personally, I didnt let Ash see the truck until I had done a few things and sprayed the whole truck with a beige rustoleum coverup paint job She also followed me back at 50 when I drove it home the first time.

Hey snoozer,
I picked up the truck in November 2011, since it's not a primary driver, I just starting tearing it down immediately. In retrospect, it's pretty darn easy to tear everything down. The most difficult part is cracking that wallet open for all the conversion parts. For example the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate cost almost as much as the engine.

I should have trans and t/case here by end of feb, then it's go time. I am probably in a holding pattern until then.

The body is on temporarily so I can mock up the drivetrain with exh manifolds and steering shaft. Everrything I read is warning of the criticality of the spacing between exhaust/steering/radiator/tub.

The wife has been super cool through the entire process. Am I the only one that has experienced this? The first few years she would say "why do you spend so much time in the garage?". Well, 9 years later she often says "shouldn't you be out in the garage!"

 

[Bsquared]

5.3L Oil Pan Question

Hey Guys,
Those of you running a Vortec engine, are you using the stock truck oil pan, or something else?

I have heard some run a 2002ish camaro oil pan.

I plan to run a 2+inch OME suspension with 35's, wondering if the differential will interfere with the stock truck oil pan.

 

[apeterson]

wow............. awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bennett]

subscribed