Rosie the Riveter Build.

[LittleJohn]

Hey this a build thread.
My wife and I bought a late 1979 FJ40 and are doing a ground up rebuild on it and swapping the 2f out for a 3b. Complete go over with new suspension and rebuilt transmission and some "special projects" along the way. We're stripping the body down to metal and repainting the whole thing and doing the same for the frame, engine and transmission. This is the first time either of us have painted anything asides from the inside of a wall, well I painted a tractor once but...
Any input, questions or trying to sell me something are welcome. I'd love to hear what you guys have in mind or that you think would be cool. I have the time to try and fab or figure out some pretty cool stuff so shoot. We're thinking of building a fridge/freezer into the aftermarket bucket mounted in the floor in the back as an example.
We bought her with almost no rust on it from a lady on the Sunshine Coast.

Here we go.

Our "before "photo

The motor before sandblasting and paint

We made a sandblasting booth out of tarps and frankenstining my friends parts blaster

the motor after sandblasting and primer.

 

[Disasterman]

Looks great.

 

[wombat]

I don't have a lot of knowledge about a 3B swap but there are people on here that do. I have redone 2 of these over the last 7 years and learned what to do and what not to do so feel free to ask if you are not sure about something. My first bit of advise is the fridge/freezer idea.
95% of all your driving will be without the need of this and it is taking up valuable storage space. A portable one can be thrown in when needed and with a longer power cord can be used outside in the camping area.

 

[78fj40mg]

Nice work and looking real good!

 

[seapotato]

Cool. I do like a good 2f improvement kit.

I've done the swap once or twice, I've driven a 2f on and off a trailer but that's as far as it lasted...

Do you have 3b frame mounts? I have a set here somewhere you could copy or maybe bribe me out of... plus templates I made to locate them on frame..locating them in the shed may be more difficult.

A cooler would be fun if you have some room. gutting a little kooltron for the pelltier and heat sinks would be a dead easy way. I had a grotesquely luxuriant 80 series for a while that had a cooler and ice cube maker in centre console. arriving with cold beer was kinda nice...

 

[Gsb15]

Do you have 3b frame mounts?

we've got the mounts cut out of a 60 frame. not sure how those work out in the 40 yet.

 

[seapotato]

we've got the mounts cut out of a 60 frame. not sure how those work out in the 40 yet.

Ahhh...should've known you were involved when I saw the word "riveter"...

60 frame rails are a fair bit further apart, and the 60 right side engine bracket is longer than on a 40 series if I remember correctly, which means stock 40 frame mounts wouldn't bolt up.
But I'm sure you can figger something out, I used mopar mounts on a truck once because they're like 12 bucks each instead of 100 plus for toyota ones. Toyota are better sure, but 10x better?...

 

[stevebradford]

The angle of the 60 motor mounts is different as well

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Not quite the angle but width of the 60 series frame...Kevin on this web site makes new mounts in Alberta...

 

[bikersmurf]

@AwlTeq if I recall.

Looking forward to seeing it around... at the rate I'm going, your's will be on the road before mine is back on the road.

Learning about Diesels as I go... know almost nothing about 3Bs.

 

[LittleJohn]

I don't know about 3b specifically but I went to school for heavy duty/commercial mechanics and have been working on gen-sets and boats for years.

 

[franken60]

I have a set here somewhere you could copy or maybe bribe me out of... plus templates I made to locate them on frame..locating them in the shed may be more difficult.

I know someone in need of these...

 

[Toshi38]

Hey nice to see you finally got a cruiser!

I've done the 3b swap before too... for me the trickiest part was the cross member (because of my truck's SOA). Otherwise there's the radiator problem, voltage problems, and of course deciding where exactly to mount the engine.

For mine I swapped the alternator/starter for 12V versions of them. I used a chev 1 wire and then an electric vacuum pump. With the pump mounted perfectly horizontal it's actually not bad. When it was vertical it vibrated like crazy. 12V starter isn't so hard to find, although you'll need to take half a 12V and half a 24v to get the clocking correct. 12V glow plugs also aren't hard. You could also go the route of switching the rest of the truck to 24v, just depends what you have engine wise and such.

Clutch wise I just kept the old master, it seems to disengage fine so I never worried about it. The throttle linkage was a bit of a pain, I seem to remember having some funny little issues with how the 2F and the 3B ones were designed a bit different. I think I've got some cables under there now.

Let me know if there's anything I can suggest/help out with. Make sure you leave room for a turbo!

 

[seapotato]

I know someone in need of these...

I'll keep a mental note to pull them out if I actually see them....I know they're here somewhere, but you've seen what I'm dealing with...

Make sure you leave room for a turbo!

x1000

 

[franken60]

For mine I swapped the alternator/starter for 12V versions of them. I used a chev 1 wire and then an electric vacuum pump. With the pump mounted perfectly horizontal it's actually not bad. When it was vertical it vibrated like crazy. 12V starter isn't so hard to find, although you'll need to take half a 12V and half a 24v to get the clocking correct. 12V glow plugs also aren't hard. You could also go the route of switching the rest of the truck to 24v, just depends what you have engine wise and such.

engine came out of a 12v truck (bj60), wouldnt it be easier to keep the whole truck that voltage? 12volt bj42....why not

 

[LittleJohn]

I drove to Duncan and picked up some front fenders that the inside is in good shape. I am going to use those to fix the rust on the inside of the ones that I have. (The only rust on the truck) the same guy had a set of cloth doors so I picked those up as well.

engine came out of a 12v truck (bj60), wouldn't it be easier to keep the whole truck that voltage? 12volt bj42....why not

Ya, the engine is 12v so that will make life a lot easier. I also am going to go over to 12v glowplugs and simplify the system so that I can just hold a switch instead of the complicated thing they had. I also am going over to a manual fuel shutoff instead of the complicated electric one that it came with. I know that this will eliminate the automated shutoff for low oil and such but I am ok with that.

I was driving down the road and saw a fj40 that had the same colour scheme as mine sitting at the side of the road so I pulled over to creep on this guys truck. He came out and we talked for a but and he told me something very interesting. The truck I have is a late 79 Fj and his is as well. When he did his OME suspension swap he found out that the pre 79 40s had larger beefier spring hangers/bushings. It seems relatively easy to cut the ones that are on there off and mount the older style when doing the suspension anyway so if anyone had a set of pre 79 spring shackles let me know I am in the market. Also the same guy gave me a roof rack. He said that I could just have it if I wanted it.

Also I am in the marked for a oil pan for the 3b. The one I had has pinhole rust holes in it. Don't want to go to all this work and put a rusted out patched up oil pan in.

I am also going to fab up a cooler/fuel can rack for it and wanted to get my hands on a spare tire rack, with the brackets to mount to the truck.
I want to frankenstein it to suit my needs. so If anyone has one of these laying round.

 

[seapotato]

hmmm...think he might have that backwards with the spring hangers and bushings. Newer style are big bushings like on a 60/70 or bj42, older ones had smaller bushings. Change happened in 1980 somewhere.

Don't know if I'd bother changing from one to the other tho.


Also, be sitting down when you first hear the price for a 3b oil pan...

 

[stevebradford]

Longer 60 springs under the 40 for a less jarring ride?

 

[stevebradford]

Ya, the engine is 12v so that will make life a lot easier. I also am going to go over to 12v glowplugs and simplify the system so that I can just hold a switch instead of the complicated thing they had.

I got tried of holing a button for 20 seconds so I used this 12 adjustable idec timer to control the glow relay

 

[stevebradford]

That edic system works well it's not that complex if you have a wiring diagram. consider keeping it, I can get you a schematic PDF if you need