Rivals 78 fj40 Aussie rebuild

[Rivalduke]

Got a bit sidetracked making a start on rear bar/carrier .

Got some rear frame repairs to do courtesy of PO.

Cut out a big chunk of blownout frame , welded in new steel

New bearing for steering column, old one was super crunchy.

 

[Rivalduke]

Got crank pulley back on with new lock tab washer.

Made up some door panel trims , these will go at bottom edge door panels , aperture is for speaker . Will be textured black finish

Transfer case all new seals and main bearings .

Going to restart some major reassembly shortly , ammassing piles of restored and new replacement parts.

 

[Rivalduke]

Progress

Chassis back from Blasting . Sandblasted primed and satin black powdercoat. came out nice .

Starting to do some re-assembly ( good for moral and seeing the end to the tunnel ). Restored heater blower.

Axles stripped ready for rebuilding.

Got to do some repair / mod work to the PO's later drum brake conversion.

Some interior stuff going on as well . New horn contact , old one had worn right thru.

More updates soon.

 

[sproggy]

Amazing stuff...

 

[cult45]

Great work mate. Glad I stumbled across this. Love the colour. Great fab work too. Really like what you did the the ARB bar. Keen to see what the speaker panels look like installed. If you use a later split case type H41 it'll run a lot quieter. Also, those HJ47 self-adjusting rear drums have the later handbrake assembly built into them - not too common and much better than the earlier style. Can be made to work with the original umbrella handle. Cheers

 

[Rivalduke]

Great work mate. Glad I stumbled across this. Love the colour. Great fab work too. Really like what you did the the ARB bar. Keen to see what the speaker panels look like installed. If you use a later split case type H41 it'll run a lot quieter. Also, those HJ47 self-adjusting rear drums have the later handbrake assembly built into them - not too common and much better than the earlier style. Can be made to work with the original umbrella handle. Cheers

Hi Thanks for the kind remarks.
I am keeping the original transfer case for the time being. I have done a macnamara type mod as there was a bit of slop on the splines.
I will try and get some pictures up of that , If that gives any trouble I will swap to a later tranny and or gearbox setup.
The vehicle drove really nicely at 110kmh no worries at all when I drove it back from purchase. Going to run 33's hopefully so that will gear it better again for highway.

I like the transmission handbrake better for offroad use , although I might convert it later to work off the umbrella lever.
I was thinking of rigging up a lever so I can make use of the self adjusting feature .

I am trying to catch up the build blog with reality as I have most of the vehicle back together .

More soon.

Cheers Andrew

 

[Rivalduke]

Pulled the clutch. PO must have recently replaced it as is hardly worn.

Rebuilt brake and clutch pedal assembly

New thermostat housing etc.

Rebuilt steering idler and front springs on

More springs

 

[Rivalduke]

Rebuilt brakes and rear axle

Replated fuel filler

More springs and rebuilt steering box

Front brakes rebuilt and rebuilt steering knuckle

Finally rolling chassis . Love this point in a build its a real " the end is in sight moment "

 

[Rivalduke]

More catch up .
Did the old compressed bread trick on the pilot bearing. Works amazingly well.

Some work on refurbing the rear lift up hatch and mechanism.

Rebuilt underdash handbrake assembly.

Transmission going in.

Rebuilt door restraint mechanisms

 

[Rivalduke]

Getting the front bib back together

Rebuilt heater box

Putting all the hinges back together with brass bushes.

Going with an Elocker in the rear. Used ARB air lockers in my previous rigs , but thought I'd give these a go.
Just in the rear . Not planning on any super hard core offroading in this rig.

Tacking together the seat frame. The PO had some oddball bucket seats and some flat bar type framework but the seats had no slide mechanisms .

More soon.

 

[Rivalduke]

Going to re use the headers that came with the 40. Will need some modification as they hung down too far for my liking.

Going with a carter fuel pump. PO had deleted the mechanical pump , going to add a oil pressure switch into the system to shut down the pump.

Petronix ignition mk2. Had a Piranha system in my first fj40 and my fj60 . Had no issues with those. The petronix 2 has built in protection for ignition on as well , which I believe was an issue with earlier versions .
Be matched to flamethrower coil.

Big steps now !
Tub on ...
Radiator frame , dummy fit of seats

Scat pro 90 seats.

 

[Rivalduke]

Business end of the eps system..
Brake booster , brake and clutch systems.

Machined up a housing for DIY period tacho , uses guts out of an fj60 cluster.

More dash work

Instrument cluster in.
Windscreen frame in with glass.
Custom vent cover , my plastic ones were ruined by PO
Windscreen hold down knobs
Column cover
New ignition lock
Hand throttle
Handbrake mechanism
Wiring loom in place

 

[roma042987]

Nice work mate! What headlights are those?

 

[Rivalduke]

Nice work mate! What headlights are those?

City racer.
The ones with daytime running light and indicator function.

 

[Rivalduke]

Machined up a panel to replace the ashtray.
Houses an old digital toyota clock that my PO had in a overhead rack.
Also switch for rear Elocker.

Windscreen wiper motor back on.

Trial mounting of rear bar/carrier

Side panels back together and mounted. All new rubber seals between tub and panels.
Managed to clean up and reuse the window rubber, except the corners they are new.

Bit more fab work on the carrier, wheel carrier and jerrycan holder and rear light mount.

Rear tailgate on , gas struts for lift. Reused window rubber .

 

[phils40]

Looking good mate, nice work!

 

[FJBen]

Looks great!

I gotta ask, how do you get all those plastic bits restored and looking so nice?

 

[KFJ45]

Looks great!

I gotta ask, how do you get all those plastic bits restored and looking so nice?

Was thinking the same thing! Still have to do mine and would love to have them look like that.

 

[Rivalduke]

Looks great!

I gotta ask, how do you get all those plastic bits restored and looking so nice?

Hi , no special tricks. Just a cheap wax and grease remover ( like you would use to wipe paintwork down ) . If its a seen trim then a trim restorer, I think its a Turtle brand I use.

On the window rubbers I did the same. You have to work the trim restorer in for a few minutes then wipe of the excess.

Hope that helps.

 

[FJBen]

Hi , no special tricks. Just a cheap wax and grease remover ( like you would use to wipe paintwork down ) . If its a seen trim then a trim restorer, I think its a Turtle brand I use.

On the window rubbers I did the same. You have to work the trim restorer in for a few minutes then wipe of the excess.

Hope that helps.

thanks for that. The build looks great! Strong work!