September POTM - Cruiser Guy, Guatemala (1 Viewer)

[cruiser_guy]

This FJ55 started out as a father/daughter project. My daughter wanted a 4WD and didn’t have much cash to get one. We found a note on one of the ‘Cruiser boards about a ’76 FJ55 that was suitable for restoration, free to the first one to pick it up. My daughter borrowed our ’84 BJ60, a tow bar and invited a friend who was to a mechanic apprentice and a friend to help keep everyone awake on the drive from Vancouver, B.C. to Minot, ND.

Three days later she was back and the FJ55 was waiting at the border for clearance. After waiting for the requisite 3 business days we were able to go and pick up the truck. We no doubt gave the U.S. Customs a laugh when they came to inspect the truck to ensure it was not stolen. When the customs officer came out and saw the truck she was questioning our sanity for even wanting to export it. The next laugh came from the Canadian side when they wondered why anyone wanted to import a rusty truck. After paying a few dollars in duties (the truck was assessed at $200) we headed home to look over the truck.

It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that anyone who is not a ‘Cruiser head would not place any more value than $200 on the truck and for some that was a generous amount! The truck had rust holes in the floorboards that you could fall through, there was not much, if any rockers left, the transfer case was in bad shape and the “rebuilt” engine leaked everywhere when we tried to fill it with water to try running it. About the only thing not rusty on this truck was the roof and chassis!

At this point I had severe doubts about this rig being good for anything other than parts.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Fortunately at about this time we found another “free” ’74 FJ55. This time it was a body carcass only that was in Los Angeles. After speaking with the folks that had it and determining that most of the rust was in the roof we rented a flat deck and headed south with the ’82 BJ60. We were able to cross back into Canada without the obligatory 3 business day wait since we only brought in “parts”. The carcass had no frame and thus was considered parts.

Now we had the main ingredients to construct an FJ55 with a possibility of success. We began stripping the ’76 of any and all parts necessary to “create” the new truck with. The body was unbolted from the frame and raised high enough so that the chassis could be removed.

The ’74 was scrubbed and cleaned underneath and any rust was removed by cutting out the affected metal and welding in new. The chassis was also cleaned and then both chassis and the underside of the ’74 body were painted with two coats of POR15 to help make the resulting truck a little less rust prone.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Since I had a 3B which was in need of a rebuild, we decided to part out the existing 2F which was not operational anyways, rebuild the 3B with a turbo and use that. The 3B was completely stripped down and all bearings, pistons and sleeves replaced as well as checking clearances for everything, essentially a new engine. I was fortunate to find an AXT header with a Volvo Garrett turbo to use as well. An H42 tranny housing with bosses for the belly cross member, ala B/FJ60 was found as well as a “B” series input shaft and the guts of the existing H42 was swapped to the new housing along with the “B” series input shaft. I did not want to use the cross member that mounts to the rear of the transfer case, it just doesn’t look very secure to me and it relies on bolts in the aluminum transfer case as well. A new transfer case needed to be found as well and an older 3 speed transfer case from a ’71 FJ40 was used for the lower low range. We did not go with the split case due to cost as well as the need to either swap the rear axle (to gain an e-brake) or add an e-brake to the split case, adding even more costs.

While the engine rebuild was underway we also worked at removing the rest of the rust on the body. The ’74 body had significant rust along the perimeter of the roof and since the roof on the ’76 was good it was decided to swap the roofs. This was done by drilling out the factory spot welds on both roofs and keeping the windshield frame and “B” pillars of the ’76 and the “C” and “D” pillars of the ’74. The replacement roof was welded on with cinch straps holding the roof securely in position for the best possible welded joint. Since we had the rusty roof we removed the supports from the rusty roof and added those as additional supports to the new roof. All rust perforation in the doors and tailgate were removed and new metal welded in. All welds we done with a continuous series of short welds until the entire seam was welded. Doing it this way avoids warping the panels. The welding beads were ground down and bondo was used to fair in the patches.

 

[cruiser_guy]

At this time the entire truck was sprayed with high build primer to cover any scratches or blemishes. This was followed by single stage paint in the factory white/green color scheme that the ’76 came with from the factory. Paint was matched based on the color code on the firewall VIN tag. The grille, headlight doors and other parts that were pewter from the factory were also painted in the factory pewter color.

Once all the paint was done the engine and body hardware was installed. Wiring was also done at this time and is an amalgamation of the wiring from an ’81 BJ60 and the ’76 FJ55. Anything in the FJ55 harness relating to the 2F engine was stripped out and anything in the BJ60 harness relating to the truck was stripped out and the two merged to one. This enabled us to retain the low oil pressure shutoff found on the BJ60 as well as EDIC motor operation. A momentary push button switch is incorporated for glow plug operation. Amazingly, the only error in wiring was a short in the glow plug warming circuit!

A pyrometer is drilled and tapped into the exhaust manifold to give and exhaust temperature as near as possible to the pistons. This avoids guessing whether the pistons are getting too hot or not. A boost gauge is tapped into the turbo crossover pipe. Both gauges are mounted below the dash in a two gauge pod.

 

[cruiser_guy]

This is basically how the truck looked when my daughter had it. However she now wanted something "faster" so the FJ55 no longer fit her "image".

 

[cruiser_guy]

As we work in Guatemala and with my wife working out in the "boonies" we decided to take the piggy down south, WAY down south!! Here's some piggy shots as we're heading south through the states on the way to Phoenix and the lift install.

You can see that we were in the snow on our departure, we had great weather along the California coast and then ran into a sand storm crossing over from California to Arizona.

 

[cruiser_guy]

In Arizona we traded help and garage space to do the lift with the piggy springs, a much sought after item in the FJ40 circles! I'm sure not many folks lift their truck half way through a trip!

 

[cruiser_guy]

More lift pictures. There springs were the 2 1/2" lift springs from Spector along with greaseable pins and oversize shackles and poly bushings. During the install I messed up on the shim install for the castor correction and the truck was wandering all through Mexico.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Here we are heading through Mexico with the new lift and the backwards castor shims.

The last picture is crossing over into Guatemala. Quite a journey for a 30 year old vehicle from winter in Canada to the jungles of Central America.

 

[RIDDLER]

brave

Charles- that is one nice FJ55. I cannot believe how brave you guys are for driving that far in a Piggy. I wouldn't do that drive in our 80 series let alone a Pig.

Nice build that is a keeper.

 

[cruiser_guy]

The weatherstripping for the windshield and lower tailgate has been replaced with parts available from www.slocruisers.com, the cargo area windows and tailgate glass weatherstripping have been replaced with parts available from PV Cruisers. We are still using the old rear door quarter window weatherstripping and hopefully those will be available soon (there are rumors of someone making them up in time for the fall).

 

[cruiser_guy]

Here's a shot of the completed engine bay. As you can see the 3B is turbo-charged! I used a BJ60 air cleaner housing and directed the intake as near the front as possible for the coolest air possible. There is a Racor water separator off to one side as well to ensure clean water free diesel. You can just see the A/C lines on the bottom left. I hope to have that hooked up in the next little while.

I had two batteries in it for the cold Canadian winters but right now we are running on just one battery (the cheap batteries in my BJ60 quit, that's why!).

Here's a poser shot before we put the 33" Mud-Terrains on it.

 

[cruiser_guy]

After the deafening drive from Canada to Guatemala we installed the Damplifier sound deadening product from www.secondskin.com

In addition to the Damplifier layer which was installed directly on the beadlined floor and as high up the fire wall as I could reach and over the wheel wells too, we also replaced the original rubber mat and put in a carpet kit from Spector. It has made a significant difference to the in-truck sound level to the point where one can hold a conversation without having to talk over the engine and road noise. The noise level is now comparable to the BJ60, not a Cadillac but not too bad either.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Here's some shots of the lower tailgate to body weatherstrip installation. The top edge of the tailgate is held in with small plastic clips while the sides are simply glued down with automotive weatherstrip adhesive (contact cement). The last shot shows the Damplifier underneath the Spector carpet set.

Do any piggy owners know of a source for the weatherstrip that seals the lower edge of the tailgate? I know I can simply use closed cell foam but the real piece would be nice.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Here's a poser shot of the piggy as it stands now on 33x9.5x15 BFG Mud-Terrains. We got these tires to help ensure that the truck stays on the road here during rainy season when my wife heads out to the medical clinic in the villages. Some of the roads can get pretty slick with mud.

The truck is much taller now with the lift and the 33" tires.

The next mod is installing the PTO and winch head. I need a few FJ55 specific parts though to complete that install. Here is a picture of the front bearing of the PTO driveline. I need the plate that bolts to the frame to carry this bearing as well as the yoke that goes between this and the winch head itself. I also require the shims to mount the winch head to the frame (they fit between the rear angle support and the sloping frame rails). I'll need other PTO parts for the install on the FJ45LV when I get to that point in a year or two so if you have miscelleaneous PTO parts send me a PM!

 

[ChuckB]

cruiser_guy,

That is simply awesome!! Nice work!

I think you have inspired me to hold out for a 3B and a turbo.

 

[cruiserjunktion]

Oink!


Whoa!!


Oink Oink!

 

[PabloCruise]

Beautiful!!!

It is nice to see folks honoring the Pig heritage vs. junking them...

 

[n2666s]

Charles.......awesome!

Lou

 

[usmcruiser]

That's a fantastic pig!!!

It's a shame you daughter desired something "faster". If you are looking to adopt a son I am available.