Quad Cab - 4 door coil sprung shortened troopy/extended swb build (1 Viewer)

[Sporty Forty]

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing, keep the suspension as standard as possible so parts availability was easily obtainable.

I put the el-dorado disc brake set up on my swb 40. Worked well but the hand brake side of it never worked to my level of satisfaction, so just put a HZJ75 disc brake rear end in there. Parts are easily obtainable, the el-dorado parts were available in Australia but not in the middle of no where.

Also did the 10mm stud upgrade to handle the LS1 that I have in there. Had no issue with the std ones, just thinking long term.

 

[Sporty Forty]

a quick pic post.

Now have the front 1/2 and rear 1/2 of the bodies on the 80 series chassis for a brief look see. Looks like it all might fit there okay.

 

[Sporty Forty]

a pic of the front set up. Running 33's at the moment but will be running 35's when completed. Ended up going 35mm off the chassis

 

[Sporty Forty]

2"through the guts of the body continues.

 

[chappohj47]

Looking good mate

 

[47coeman]

Labor of love, great job nice and tidy.

 

[Sporty Forty]

A few more progress pictures coming. Cant upload more than one pic at a time now so will take a while I guess.

Strengthening up the B pillar. There's going to be a bit of weight hanging off this once the doors are glassed, trimmed, had some intrusion bars put in and also some speakers.

Out side shot of the pillar.

Rough location and shape of the rear wheel arch

In the B pillar I have had to locate the door hinge so that it's still accessible at some stage in the future. To do this, I have reversed the metal bracket that it bolts up to so the bolts now go from the open side/ When finished, I will weld over there and paint and if needed I can cut into the area and change, re-weld and paint. The other way, if left, would have meant getting into the depths of the B pillar and it's strengthening bits and pieces. The area will be boxed to make it more rigid.

I still have to get fuel to tanks. I am planning on running one tank beside the drive shaft and a sub tank behind the rear axle. The filler will be located behind the rear wheel with pipework running under the body. Here I have the 80 series fuel filler pipe going across the rear suspension brackets and will use as the 80 series has the filler in roughly the same location. The pipe is also squashed down in this area to reduce it's sectional height.

 

[merbesfield]

Looking good. For a door hinge solution similar to yours look at what the factory did on the FJ45LV's. My hinges look similar IIRC. Its been so long I honestly don't remember 100%. But I do t think you have to cover them. I would want to have easy access. My build thread should be in my signature. Thx for posting.

 

[Sporty Forty]

Work being done on the little bar that goes above the doors and is usually bolted to the roof. I noted that the fit wasn't as good on the front of the rear door as it was on the rear of the rear door. Noticed that the insert there that the door rubber goes on, is a tapered one so we made up a new insert that was straight and now both areas were able to slot down nicely.

Here's the factory insert and you can see the far end is a bit narrower in the raised section. A piece was made that looked like the closer end and that is being used above the rear doors.

Putting 50mm into the bonnet as well, but didn't want to make it that oblivious by making the central bonnet pressed piece about 100mm wide, so put 25mm down each side of this area. They look like racing stripes at the moment.

For the front bib, did the same, put 25mm in each of the bottom openings to keep the center section looking factory. As I had a few bits of the same part we offset the cut on one so we only had to deal with one weld where we could. The chassis x member at the front will be moved underneath the fron bib as well and the hinge will be mounted onto there.

 

[Sporty Forty]

I am using the 3 wiper windscreen for this project, but have always thought the wiper closest to the motor is a bit jammed in. In adding the 50mm to the width of the screen, I was able to move the position of that wiper over. The other 2 wipers are still in the same location relative to the far side of the screen but the inside one is now that 50mm further away from the motor. I will need to make a piece of steel to go from the motor to this first arm. Here you can see the location of the old hole and supporting sheet metal and now the new location (RHD remember)

As we have the heater and de-mist vents below I have decided to keep these factory locations. That meant some tricky cutting locations to add this 50mm into the body in order to use the same bits. The heater bolts on the firewall will be moved to suit and they will also be lowered a bit as I need to get in a wider stereo head unit that has a camera function there as well. On the dash front face the cut will be in the glove box and speedo. The de-mist brackets will get an additional 40mm added onto them at the bottom due to the lower heater height as I removed the slight hump that is there as I am running the auto and it doesn't have a large clutch/flywheel requirement just a torque converter.

When the body was first put on the chassis we left 40mm under the body mount metal work. Factory is approx 35mm so we made it to that. When that was done we dropped the springs out and at full bump stop I had 90mm between the tyre and the guard. A bit much, so we cut out the bracket a bit where it goes over the chassis and welded it back up. Now the chassis sits 10mm below this area and at full bump I have 55mm with 33' tyres. I am planning on running 35's so that should see around 30mm. This will also mean that the body sits lower and creates a better center of gravity location for the car when going down the road given I will have to do the lane change test, like the moose test, to get this on the road, and the better it performs in this the more smiles I will be.

The front of the chassis on an 80 is 100mm longer than a 40 and the front of the bib to the end of the chassis is 250mm. The x-member here will sit level with the front of the bib and 250mm from there the chassis will get the chop. A bar will be bolted on there in due course.

With the bonnet sitting there we checked the gap at the back. Looked pretty standard for a 40 so we must be doing something right.

 

[Sporty Forty]

The project as it stands today. Next is the rear 1/2 floor and getting the location of the seats underway. The front guards will have 50mm aded into each side as the axles I'm using are 200mm wider than the std 40 ones. I am thinking of what to do about steps and might just use chequer plate and mount them onto the sliders that will run from front to back. Still a while before I need to consider it, but there's a lot of things that pop up to take your mind away for a few days on solving issues.

 

[lostmarbles]

With your sheetmetal skills and attention to detail, this project was always bound to be good.

Thanks for sharing the pics and I can't wait to see it finished..

(Maybe I've said this before in your thread .... If so, just remember you need to make special allowances for me.)

 

[Sporty Forty]

With your sheetmetal skills and attention to detail, this project was always bound to be good.

I am only the brains behind this project. I have employed a panel beating company that does a lot of hot rod work, so they are able to create panels that maybe required. I will be helping the guy working on it for the welding and grinding phase.

I have mentioned this somewhere as I can't take any of the workmanship credit yet, I'm just doing the thinking part of it all and attention to detail is my kinda thing. It's a big project and needs to be done correctly in my opinion and I know where my skills stop and the required skills start and I'm a bit short in this area.

 

[lostmarbles]

That combination is sure working well.

Your lucky to have access to such skilled people. For instance my bezel amazes me on just how light, flimsy and thin it is. I'd hate to try to widen it without distorting or altering its shape.

 

[Sporty Forty]

It took a while to find someone who actually can create a metal panel. Most I spoke to initially were 'panel re-placers' in that they take off damaged panels and paint and replace them with new ones purchased from wreckers or from dealerships.

I came to the conclusion that a company or person who has done hot rod converts was the best type of place to aim for.

I does look quite imposing in the flesh. It's pretty big and wide, but get the attention of people who walk into the guys shop looking at their cars.

 

[Locked79]

This is an awesome project. Keep up the good work

 

[2fpower]

Once again, I am amazed with the power of MUD to get us crazy fans of Mr. T. together.

THANK YOU! for posting up pics and descriptions of your project. I have been accumulating parts to do a fj45 on an stretched 80 frame. Hopefully cut metal in next year.

I have been estimating a 3" spread to get the right width -- about 75mm. I will be interested to hear and see how this ends up and if you are satisfied with the look.

Subscribed!!

Carry on...

 

[Locked79]

@Sporty Forty
I have a question and a request if you don't mind.

When mounting the engine/trans combo, did you mount the gearbox to the 80 series crossmember and use that for a starting point?
And, could you post up some pics of the engine mounts/frame mounts please?

I'm putting a 1vd ftv in a 105 chassis, so basically the same. I'm pulling the engine 2day. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Ps. Yours will be a truly unique vehicle. Great work
Sorry for the hi jack.

 

[Sporty Forty]

@Sporty Forty
I have a question and a request if you don't mind.

When mounting the engine/trans combo, did you mount the gearbox to the 80 series crossmember and use that for a starting point?
And, could you post up some pics of the engine mounts/frame mounts please?

I'm putting a 1vd ftv in a 105 chassis, so basically the same. I'm pulling the engine 2day. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Ps. Yours will be a truly unique vehicle. Great work
Sorry for the hi jack.

To cut a long story short, I paid a guy to mount the engine and gearbox, axles and ute body (that formed the front 1/2 of my body) onto the chassis. I went there to start him off and set up the body placement in relation to the front axle. He then went about and mounted the engine inside the engine bay that was there leaving 40mm behind the x over pipe to the firewall. The gearbox mount was then located to suit the rubber mount underneath the bracket. The gearbox x member was modified to suit as well. Then when I got the car back I found he had ballsed it all up so started from scratch again. As an example I asked him to make the 1600mm rear diff out to 1630mm, he made it 1560mm for example. The steering arm and front panhard bar made an X and the engineer laughed at that,......

This time I am using the 80 series engine mounts and locating them to suit much in the same method above, come off the firewall etc..... while making sure that I have enough room for the radiator and a/c bits up front.

I hope that made sense. Guy who will be fitting it does a lot of engine swaps and is pretty confident it will all go smoothly this time. My only concern will be running the steering column somewhere and there isn't much room between the engine and the standard location of the shock towers. This was a trial fitment before the guy picked up the chassis and engine etc.... to fabricate it.

Pic gap to firewall.

chassis mounted engine brackets he made up. Not entirely sure why he didn't just use what was there and move it to the required location.

gap between chassis and oil return from turbo.

rear view looking forward showing gearbox and transfer case. comes a bit close to the output side in this pic, but all those brackets as well as suspension brackets have come off the chassis and a new front diff has been purchased.

 

[Sporty Forty]

Some more progress lately.

The car now has a middle row floor pan, so we placed the seats there and had a look see to see if they were going to fit. Thought I might have had a few seat height issues but I'm 6ft 4" so I think they will be okay. I am using a full set of Discovery 4 seats, so seating will be for 7 people.

Middle row floor pan, been made to look like factory pressing. Front seat angled forward to get the back in the correct location to distances out and up and along etc..... Will connect up battery to the motors underneath and get it moved to something resembling a correct driving position.

Middle row seat mounting bracket. Top hat with gussets underneath.

The middle row seats fold flat as well, so the plan is when the kids are too embarrassed to be seen with me, I can lie them flat and away we go as the 3rd row seats also lie flat to the same height.