Builds Shipwreck (16 Viewers)

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yes, it is 1/2" thick

setting the pinion angle

so an annoyance of where I got the brackets - these brackets are not for the heim joints... no big deal to narrow it, but if you sell a "kit", you should make sure all the parts work together.
with that said, the thinner the better as you will soon see




driveshaft lines up


and there's a hole for the upper arm

high steer coming soon


and the brackets




so I could use regular coil springs, but it'd be tight




and there's why it'd be tight, there still needs to be the panhard bar and brace (that bit that is fortunately thinner)


I think I'm going with coil overs, still. One thing I've found in selling custom cars - despite home-grown not being a bad thing, when you're selling it you might as well figure you're going to sell it for 10% of what a pro-built vehicle will sell for (with pretty brackets and buzz word updates - like coil overs)... would the springs work fine, yes... but I will sell this eventually - and making it more sellable doesn't cost a lot more than doing it the coil spring way now...
 
more impediments to progress


so here's where I started


and a really dark picture of where I ended


the forward part of the cross member is permanent


to remind, along with its issue


I don't like that this FJ40 frame has only 2 permanent cross member - thus the decision to make the forward link mount permanent - it also should help if I need to do remove the transmission (but it will be a pain for the bellhousing as it sits)
there are some plans, though
1) the driveshaft won't have to be rubber, but it will, likely be two piece
2) I'm going back to the original mounts, cut in half like I did with the rear
3) the way this all goes together, it shouldn't be too hard to work on it - there will be a 3/8" skid plate under the transmission and transfer case, but once it's removed - everything can come out the bottom
4) the transmission bellhousing... is probably going to change to an open under side since it will be protected by the skid plate that's going to protect the oil pan... I'm also going to use a hydraulic throwout bearing so I have room to run the upper link. I'm also going to change to the 2wd oil filter so I get some room there as well.... 5) I'm going to triangulate the front mounts as well

thanks for reading.
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
and I've decided I'm overthinking this - this stuff is stupid easy, and I'm making it way too complex... tomorrow, I'll cut all that back off and do plan a or was that plan b? screw it... the other brackets are going to be used
Click to expand...
Ya if it were me I wouldn't triangulate the lowers due to chassis constraints. I wouldn't think it would sacrifice much but would benefit a lot in fabrication ease.
 
what's fatal for me is getting to a point where I'm waiting for a part - the front end almost caused that here. But I have a Fiat Spider I'm building that got stone stopped because the guy (who is a wiring wizard) took a year to get the wiring harness done. I couldn't move forward without the harness, so I pushed it off to the side... where it continues to sit until I get the time to roll it back onto the front burner. Much the same as the Buick that's my avatar. I took the motor to the machine shop 2 years ago... still don't have it... what can you do? they're friends that are more important than the bits they're working on... What really helps me, though, is setting realistic time frames and then choosing what I can redo later or improve later (like paint/bodywork)... the Corvette is that story, I need to redo the entire paint job - though, I like the vibe of it the way it is, so who knows - maybe I'll simply wait for the style to come to me (rat vette ;))
 
I'm so glad I didn't remove the spring mounts (yet)... they are the perfect "measure from" point

so here's 1a




of course, I ran out of wire, but as the migraine is medicated - pushing it too much is a classic way to make for a miserable week... I had to go to the welding shop anyway to pick up the last hose for my cooling system - which I will really need when TIG welding the arms.. so now I have two reasons... I love it when a plan comes together
 
tonight's work
true to form, some assembly is required - these are either end of the panhard bar


time to make the axle end point at the frame end



ends welded on

while waiting for that to cool down... time to make some room



I'm thinking of using this bellhousing instead... dunno yet - I'm going with a hydraulic throwout to gain some needed room (as you'll see in a bit)




panhard bracket


lots of trimming to come


check out where the upper bar landed


I guess Pirate was right... look at this train wreck
 
Its great to see your progress. This is my top favorite build on here.
 
thanks!

hmmm... where to put this? I have two, stock front ends from this FJ40, at give-away-price there's still no nibbles (okay, one nibble, but I thought the kid's plan of putting it under a LUV pickup was poorly thought out so I avoided showing it to him... I know, I'm a jerk... anyway)

if anyone needs either front end or parts from those front ends (I have a complete front end and a housing) - let me know, otherwise they're going to scrap in a week or two.... it's free for the pickup, or whatever it costs to ship the bits (e.g. locking hubs, brake parts)

one set of hubs is (I believe) warn and the other is toyota. Odds is, that even if no one wants them now, I'll save the small bits for when, inevitably, someone blows theirs up and needs it... but the housings are going away...
 
For the past several years I've been collecting parts to put 60 series axles under the 40. I have the housings and most of the parts needed, but still need hubs. Are these hubs the short ones, fine spline that will fit the 60 series axles?

I could use a set as long as shipping isn't too expensive. USPS has their shipping boxes, one price whatever the weight, that should have something a set of hubs will fit into. I'm not too concerned about brand of hub (currently have Warn on my 40 with no problems), however Aisen is my first choice. IF you have no takers for both sets of hubs I would consider both (depending in shipping cost), and use the Warns as spares for my current hubs.

Just an update--- So far I have not had time to try to get the Toyota motor started. I was counting on typical wet weather keeping me from wanting to do anything outside. But, the very dry weather has me doing things outside. Too many things need done out there that require dryer weather.

Don
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
thanks!

hmmm... where to put this? I have two, stock front ends from this FJ40, at give-away-price there's still no nibbles (okay, one nibble, but I thought the kid's plan of putting it under a LUV pickup was poorly thought out so I avoided showing it to him... I know, I'm a jerk... anyway)

if anyone needs either front end or parts from those front ends (I have a complete front end and a housing) - let me know, otherwise they're going to scrap in a week or two.... it's free for the pickup, or whatever it costs to ship the bits (e.g. locking hubs, brake parts)

one set of hubs is (I believe) warn and the other is toyota. Odds is, that even if no one wants them now, I'll save the small bits for when, inevitably, someone blows theirs up and needs it... but the housings are going away...
Click to expand...
What years are the body parts you have?
 
If the hubs are from early 70s axles then they are most likely coarse spline hubs. How many splines are the hubs set up for? I'll have to dig out the axles I have and see how many splines they have. I just don't remember spline counts for the coarse or fine spline hubs.

Don
 
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