Damn nice truck.
More pics, ROTW.
More pics, ROTW.
Builds ROTW Alumacruiser
- Thread starter alumacruiser
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #42
The project started Nov.1 2005 with a pretty much bone stock 1980 FJ40 with the factory 2F motor.The tub was rotted out and had been patched together with anything that the previous owner could get his hands on.It had 31x10.50 mud T/A's on 15x7 steel spokes and the typical deck and 6x9 install.The original plan was to replace the tub with an aluminum Aqualu piece and tidy up the frame/motor etc.Needless to say things got a little out of control and four months later I ended up with what you can see in the pictures.I stripped the Cruiser down to a bare frame and started from ground zero.The motor is a Chevy 350 crate (290hp) using a Mark's adapter out of Australia and outfitted with the usual Edelbrock accessories.Electrical is Painless and ignition is all MSD.Cooling system is a stock rad. opened up to a four core with a Flexalite 2800cfm. thermostatically controlled fan.The headlights are the same as the ones TLC uses featuring the integrated turn signals( L.E.D.'s). Rims are 17x8 American Racing Mojave's with Geolander 265/70/17 M/T.The body is all aluminum aside from the hood and windshield hinges and has been finished in Audi Quattro TT Aviator gray pearl except that the pearl was taken out of the formula.Front seats are APC and the rear bench is from a Suzuki Sidekick which I reupholstered to match.Aside from the paint I handled all of the other aspects by myself which was quite a learning process. Thanx for all the questions and comments..BOB
man that turned out sweet. got any pics of the interior and under the hood ? i love the 17 inch wheels too!
nicest rolling chassis pic EVER.
to you
to you
oops, never mind about the other pics i found your other post 
- Thread starter
- #46
Thanx for the comment, as for posting more images I seem to be at my limit as to how many I can post. I kept my camera handy during the whole build up and have around 350 images to try and sort through!rabid said:
"Every time I come around the city Bling bling.."
I like the 17''s, theyre great!
I like the 17''s, theyre great!
tucker74
Moderator
Absolutely beautiful man, you're going to be a lot happier in the end making it exactly like you wanted it. What lake is that in the background?
Tucker
Tucker
dgangle
total rice
alumacruiser said:
Buy a star and there's no limit to how much you can post.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/announcement.php?f=8&a=2
Adventure Teq
SILVER Star
Very nice. Hands down the best aluminum 40 I've ever seen. Congrats!
Is that the view out of the front of your place? Nice...
Is that the view out of the front of your place? Nice...
Thats a great lookin 40.
What size tires and wheels are you running on it.
Great job, you should be proud!
wct49
What size tires and wheels are you running on it.
Great job, you should be proud!
wct49
- Thread starter
- #52
The lake in the background is Okanagan lake,it runs from Penticton all the way up to Vernon on the north end.(approx.60 miles in length)tucker74 said:Absolutely beautiful man, you're going to be a lot happier in the end making it exactly like you wanted it. What lake is that in the background?
Tucker
- Thread starter
- #53
The wheels are American Racing 17"x8" Mojave with 4.5" of backspacing,tires are a Yokohama Geolander M/T in a 265/70/17.The tires work out to be around a 32.5"x11.0" or thereabouts.Thanx for the compliment.wct49 said:
What type of exhaust is that. I like the idea running the exhaust just to the front of the rear tire.
It must be nice not having to fight rust
It must be nice not having to fight rust
Excellent, clean photo clearly showing the Mark's of Australia conversion bellhousing. For those not familiar with it, it is the silver bellhousing between the smallblock Chevy and the original Toyota bellhousing. This setup uses a Chevy flywheel, clutch and pressure plate inside the Mark's bellhousing, while the original throwout and hydraulic linkage is in the Toyota bellhousing. Aside from the benefit of simplicity of installation, the transmission and transfer case remain in the original position, while the smallblock is moved far enough forward to to clear the firewall. There is enough clearance to run a large diameter HEI distributer. The Mark's kit costs more, but the quality, well thought out engineering, and simplicity makes it worthwhile.
all i can say is WOW
Usually I'm not a V-8 fan. But this is such a beatufily done. It almost hurts my eyes to look at it. Very nice. So the question is. How much did it cost? We see stories on the Icon. I'm curious as to how much it would cost to build a Cruiser like this.
Clearly, you are a very handy guy as this truck looks great. Thanks for sharing these pics with us.
After years of fixing rust on FJ40's and watching them rust again after being used in the salt, mud and humidty of the rust belt, I can really see the benefit of going Aqualu.
Do you have anything to share about how you feel about the Aqualu tub? I am literally on the verge of placing an order and would appreciate any feedback here or via PM. I'd like know anyting good, bad or otherwise via PM.
Once again, outstanding job on the buildup.
-Stumbaugh
After years of fixing rust on FJ40's and watching them rust again after being used in the salt, mud and humidty of the rust belt, I can really see the benefit of going Aqualu.
Do you have anything to share about how you feel about the Aqualu tub? I am literally on the verge of placing an order and would appreciate any feedback here or via PM. I'd like know anyting good, bad or otherwise via PM.
Once again, outstanding job on the buildup.
-Stumbaugh
- Thread starter
- #59
The exhaust is made out of 2 1/2" mandrel "U" bends and pieced together before it enters the Dynomax stainless mufflers. The sound at idle and cruising is great but under throttle it sounds like I have a flat camshaft.I don't believe that it is a problem with the muffler choice but the fact that a crossover pipe was not incorporated into the design. On the open highway the sound of the exhaust gets to be a bit much with only half doors and a bikini top. In retrospect I would probably choose a quieter muffler and run the aforementioned crossover pipe. Yeah not worrying about rust is a plus not to mention the weight savings over the old tub/cowl.my64fj40 said:What type of exhaust is that. I like the idea running the exhaust just to the front of the rear tire.
It must be nice not having to fight rust
looks clean! nice bling wheels!