Builds Rebirth of Squatch (1 Viewer)

[Lowrecoil30]

Decided to move my build thread from Pirate4x4.com to here for more help........

It came to a point in my life where I decided to sell my first gen pickup and build a more family friendly and comfortable ride. It was tough to get rid of the first gen since I have had it for over 14 years since being a Junior in High School, but it no longer suited my family's life style.

Just before it went to a new home.

So I had decided I wanted to build an FJ-60 and had been searching the net for a while and realized that the money that people ask for these things is absolutely insane. There was one guy local that wanted 5K for one that didn't even have an engine in it.

After expanding my search a bit, I found a semi built one outside of Seattle, WA. Granted I live just outside of Sacramento I felt it was worth the drive. So I call the seller at 6 pm and the next morning a buddy and I hit the road at 4 am on New Years Eve.

We made it to Arlington, WA in 12.5 hours, took it for a test drive and paid the man what he was asking for $5,000. We loaded it up in the rain and bee lined it back to Sac.

We drove straight through to about a hour and half south of Portland and then slept for four hours at a rest stop. At which point we hit the road at 5:30 and were met with a bunch of snow and chain control just north of Grants Pass, OR.

After dealing with the snow I finally made it home at 6:30 pm. All in all we were on the road for just shy of 39 hours with 31 hours of drive time and 1,600 miles.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

So this is the way it currently sits:

Needless to say the original owner had a different sense of style and nicknamed it Squatch, hence the stickers and the thread name

Well his style and mine are way different so the first thing to change is all the tube work will be getting cut off as soon as I get home from a work trip in WV.

As far as the specs here is what I know:

Original 2F with a weber card and smog eliminator kit.
4 speed trans with a 4-1 kit in the transfer case
OME lift kit and SOA with a shackle reversal kit and anti-inversion shackles in the rear.
Hysteer
5.29s Front and Rear with a no-slip locker in the rear
12,000lb winch
Brand new 37" Baja Claws with a matching spare

I know there is a bunch more that I am missing but if you go to the manafrelv.com website, if they sell it the original owner bought and had it installed.

The best part is there is very minimal rust and what rust there is, is only surface rust. I know these things are known for rotting out so I feel pretty lucky. Also all the gauges work, front and rear wipers, as well as the windshield washers. (Pure Luxury)

As far as plans for the build:

Lowering it a bit as the thing is absolutely huge, probably take 3" out of it.
Swap the drive train for a 5.3/4L60E combo and an atlas, and then a 60/14 bolt combo latter down the road.

The motor swap will likely have rather soon as the required smog equipment on this thing is ridiculous and would cost an arm and leg to source all the missing parts. I feel it would be easier to just do the motor swap and referee it here in CA.

The build will be slow as I travel for work and have a 3 yr old at home, but hopefully I can get him out in the garage with me as he already loves climbing around in it.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Ok, finally made it back to town from my work trip in WV. Was able to take a few extra pics.

Also picked up a 2002 5.3 and 4L60e today. It is drive by cable so that will be one less headache to deal with. Only thing missing is the catalytic converters and the rear O2 sensors, so if any one is doing their own swap and will not be needing them for smog, please let me know.

Trans will need to be rebuilt as it lost reverse, however I have a cousin that will be rebuilding it for me. Now I just need to figure out what stall torque converter, which I am open to input on.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Finally had a break in the weather yesterday and had a chance to cut the Hannibal Lecter mask off of this thing. Still have a bit of grinding to do on all of the welds but it should clean up pretty easy. I also plan on redoing the front and rear bumpers to try and tuck things in a bit closer.

I have decided that I am going to modify the stock tank to accept a in-tank GM fuel pump. Problem is I am having issues sourcing a weld-in base ring for the pump. I have found a couple of places but the amount of money they are asking seems unreasonable. If there are no other options out there I guess I will have to just suck it up.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Had a chance to work on it a bit some more today. Mainly cleaned up the interior and removed a bunch of wiring that will not be necessary latter on. Also removed the front bumper as it stuck way to far out for my liking. A new will be built and I will put another winch on that I bought for my last rig that I never got around to installing.

Also had a chance to strip all the electrical off the motor to get ready for pressure washing.

The rats nest that I am going to have to start tackling.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

In the front I think I am going to remove the Manafre drop hangers and shackles, this should allow me to drop it a few inches. As far as the rear I am going to try pulling a few leaves from the pack as it is pretty stiff and maybe fix the shackle angle as it is nearly vertical.

Since we have been getting hit pretty hard by rain here, I have been working on the fuel system. I picked up an FJ62 tank form Georg at Valley Hybrids and ordered a Airtex E3500M in-tank fuel pump.

The pump itself is pretty tall at 14.75" and the sump in the factory FJ62 tank is only about 7". In order to shorten it, I was able to disassemble the pump and cut the guide rods down. I took approximately 6" out of them and used a brake line flare tool to flare the ends so the pump wouldn't over extend.

This brought the expanded height down to 9" and when collapsed it is right at 7". Its tight but it will work.

There are a couple of places out there that make weld in rings but I couldn't justify the price so I ordered materials to make my own. As soon as they come in I will be working on that.

Also on a side note, I found out that for the evap system to work properly, the GM fuel level sender has to work. For this I simply cut down the arm of the float, to a length that will fit in the sump.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Space holder

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Started working on the fuel pump ring last night to mount the Airtek fuel pump in the FJ62 tank.

Started with a 6" diameter piece of 1/4" steel and had my wife cut a pattern out on her cameo vinyl cutter for the ring of #10 machine screw that will be used clamp the rings together.

The top plate is 1/8"

The machine screws are countersunk on the backside of the 1/4" ring and I plan on welding the screws to the rings to hold them into place.

As far as cutting out the center holes, I originally was going to buy the two size hole saws that I was going to need but I decided that was a poor investment. So I decided to finally order one of these, which was my Christmas present from my wife.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Finished the fuel pump ring and got the fuel pump mounted in the tank

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Also was able to get the motor and rest of the drive train pulled. And I didn't think it was possible but this thing sits even higher now in the front. I guess when you pull over 800lbs of old iron out it, that is what happens.

All of the existing drive train has already been sold and I already have a line on an Atlas II with 4.3 gears. Just need to find the time to go pick it up.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Ton of work! Looks good. I'm far from able to critique much but it appears you move quite fast. You'll be driving it in no time.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

My question is what to do about the suspension? Currently it has the shackle reversal up front with OME lift springs and SOA, the rear is SOA with OME springs as well.

It sits way too tall and I would like to lower it by about 6 inches. I am thinking of ditching the reversal setup up front and fixing the shackle angle. As for the rear, I might lose some leaves in the pack as there is about 8 of them in there and fixing the shackle angle for now. Dont really want to do anything too crazy at this point as I plan on going full width sooner or later, hopefully sooner than later.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Maybe some gurus could chime in.... @orangefj45, @beno... check the Moonshine thread, I'm blanking on his name. He has a sweet built up suspension.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

@GLTHFJ60, Moonshine

 

[nonamemtbr]

I'm doing stock 63"Chevy's in the rear with stock fj60/62 rear springs moved up front. Gives 6 inches of lift with really good articulation. The general consensus is that's about as low as you can go with a spring over but does real well all around. Clears a 35-36" tire. I'll see if i can find a link.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I'm excited about this build! Saw it on pirate, glad you cut off that hannibal lecter mask

My question is what to do about the suspension? Currently it has the shackle reversal up front with OME lift springs and SOA, the rear is SOA with OME springs as well.

It sits way too tall and I would like to lower it by about 6 inches. I am thinking of ditching the reversal setup up front and fixing the shackle angle. As for the rear, I might lose some leaves in the pack as there is about 8 of them in there and fixing the shackle angle for now. Dont really want to do anything too crazy at this point as I plan on going full width sooner or later, hopefully sooner than later.

You want to lose 6 inches of height? Do you want to stay SOA?

Getting rid of the MAF shackle reversal up front but staying SOA will lower the truck by ~4" if memory serves. Take leaves out of the rear pack to level the truck.

I'm doing stock 63"Chevy's in the rear with stock fj60/62 rear springs moved up front. Gives 6 inches of lift with really good articulation. The general consensus is that's about as low as you can go with a spring over but does real well all around. Clears a 35-36" tire. I'll see if i can find a link.

That's the suspension setup I have. I love it. Drive her every day.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

I honestly think I can get it that low. I want to keep it as low as possible and I am not afraid to cut fenders/body to make it work. It is already going to be a big adjustment going from a truggy that was basically point and shoot on every obstacle back to something that I have to actually pick lines and watch what I am doing.

I'm excited about this build! Saw it on pirate, glad you cut off that hannibal lecter mask
You want to lose 6 inches of height? Do you want to stay SOA?

Getting rid of the MAF shackle reversal up front but staying SOA will lower the truck by ~4" if memory serves. Take leaves out of the rear pack to level the truck.

That's the suspension setup I have. I love it. Drive her every day.

 

[cruisermatt]

I honestly think I can get it that low. I want to keep it as low as possible and I am not afraid to cut fenders/body to make it work. It is already going to be a big adjustment going from a truggy that was basically point and shoot on every obstacle back to something that I have to actually pick lines and watch what I am doing.

You can loose another 2" on top of that by frenching the shackles, not hard either by keep shackle reversal (with different fixed mounts putting the spring right up to the frame)

 

[TallCanDan]

Man A Fre shackle reversal only adds 1.5" (advertised) height. 4" lift kit uses 2.5" lift springs.

"Hannibal Lecter mask"

 

[Lowrecoil30]

OK, so I am making a run to Summit Racing this weekend to buy some parts and my question comes to the existing 60 fuel lines as I figure I have two options.

1: Run the stock hard lines a use AN rubber lines from the motor to the hard lines.

2: Rerun everything in -6 AN lines.

Are the stock lines adequate for feeding the 5.3?
Are there any negatives to going to all soft lines?