Builds Roma's 78 fj40 gets a refurb

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Rocky Mountain Rush Tours - That's not their only cruiser like vehicle.

http://www.rockymountainrush.com/gallery.html

Years ago (1994 or 1995), a guy in Grants Pass, Oregon made one using a Bronco or Blazer chassis. I saw it when he was done with all the sheet metal work but hadn't painted it yet. Does anyone know what happened to that one? As I recall, he used '75 - '84 style windscreen frame and one-piece hood. Last I heard, it was done and sold when he liquidated all of his parts from his Cruiser shop.
 
this looks like an earlier than '75 windshield frame
 
Driving south of Jackson hole is very scenic you can see the rain coming from miles away. I stopped in to visit the guy I bought my cruiser and he couldn't believe how different it was.

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Found myself here tonight and immediately found some cruisers :)

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Wish I had read your post earlier. That 45 is friends of mine, he also has RHD diesel 40 also. There are quite a few cruisers here in town.If your ever back in steamboat PM me and you all have a place to stay.
Thanks for the great build up and travel pics. Definitely inspiring for me and the wife's new 78 to go with my 82 fj40.
 
I havent updated this thread in quiet some time and have done a few things to the rig since last summer. The truck was in desperate need for a proper air cleaner, I had driven through some pretty significant dust storms leaving death valley while driving through Olancha and was litterally cringing at the thought of the flimsy filter i had at the time. Soo I made this custom bracket and mounted a Donaldson air cleaner. I had previously a remote resevoir power steering pump and i replaced it with a new toyota 3b power steering pump with the reservoir on the pump. This gave me the room I needed on the fender to mount the air cleaner. I welded the bracket and then powder coated.













 
Next up I really needed a second battery to crank over the high compression 3b. Eager to try out my new welder i fabbed up this battery tray out of angle and flat strips of steel. I forgot to take pictures of it in process so these dont do it so much justice. I would have to remove the battery to get some better photos of it. It is a two piece design. There are two legs that bolt to existing holes in the frame and and a battery tray that picks up the fender and the two supports that drop to the frame. I welded captive nuts on the battery frame for provisions to attach a ground wire. I also welded a couple of chain links to the battery tray for hold down j bolts, and lastly i made the battery tie down itseld with a piece of flat and two pieces of angle. The frame is fully gusseted at all the joints so its extremely solid.







 
After this little predicament i decided i needed a winch. Two heeps pulling it and it still wouldnt budge. fortunately someone came by with a chain hand winch.











A friend of mine gave me this warn winch plate that appeared to have been designed for some sort of full size pick up.



Sooo i started cutting



I came up with this





I wasnt entirely happy with this at this point because the winch is so tall it blocks a good bit of air flow across the radiator. soo back to the drawing board (or dirt and stick in my case) and i decided to drop the fairlead down to the front bumper. I cut an extra set of frame gussets i had laying around and cut a whole in my shiny new bumper.



















here it is finished and poweder coated




 
picked up a sheet of 3/16 plate for my skid plate and to make a new floor for my trailer.





I also picked up some 2'' 3/16 angle and cut it to the length of the skid plate and drilled holes in it to clear the rivets on the bottom of the frame and bolt on using the original pick up points from the factory skid plate.









Here is the first plate tack welded in place.





Two more plates tack welded on.









 
man those last few pictures turned out horrible. It's done at this point i just need to pull it back off when the next batch of powder coated stuff goes in and get it coated. Im really happy with the way it turned out because of the angle and direct impact from the bottom is going to push on the insides of the frame instead of just pancaking the skid and shearing the bolts. Im pretty sure i can lift the entire rig up with a jack underneath the skid.
 
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Thanks! Not really any updates i did source a new denso reman a/c compressor that will fit the engine allowing me to use the factory a/c bracket belt and tensioner that is allready on my engine. This should make fitting a/c quiet a bit easier but i havent even ordered the rest of the a/c kit. I also made a grab handle to go in front of the glove box, it as well as the skid plate is being powder coated as i type this. Next trip is in August, Tucker and i are planning on driving our trucks out to colorado for some sight seeing and a few days wheeling around Ouray.
 
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