Builds "The Milk Truck" FJ45 Preservation Sorta (11 Viewers)

[Tank5]

With the sway bar set up on the shelf I moved on to the bed. I welded and repaired the wheel wells. It was a late night tacking in the jig saw puzzle that became the driverside wheel well. There is still a lot of welds to finish but I like where it is going.

The tires should clear. I will need to extend the rear bump stops an inch or two too keep them from hitting the top of the fender well.

I reused as much of the original bed metal as possible.

 

[Tank5]

I got the passenger side stitched together today. There is still a bunch of welding and grinding to do but it is exciting to see the bed taking shape.

 

[Tank5]

I have been sorting through some pieces of the build that I will share when they get worked into the build.

For now I finished welding the wheel well edges and ground them down some. I will finish cleaning them up a little later.

Next I needed to figure out where the fill tube for the tank was going to come through the bed.

I had a gas door cut out from a 72 Fj40 I was planning to use if it fit. The cut out worked well but the fill tube itself wasn’t Ideal so I went scrounging through the treasure shed and found a nice late model 40 series fill tube.

The bolt pattern was different but after welding up the old holes and drilling new ones it fit almost perfect. I ended up cutting almost a inch out of it and it lines up with the fill tank nicely.

The picture makes it look like it could get hit with the tire but it should clear.

 

[74fj40]

An fj55 sway bar would probably fit well in the rear

 

[Tank5]

An fj55 sway bar would probably fit well in the rear

The fj55 sway won’t work, it fits inside the frame rails like a fj45 sway bar. The area it needs to fit in is occupied by the gas tank in the rear and control arms/springs in the front. I tried hard to make the 45 sway bar work initially. The only way it would work is if it was longer, so the arms were outside the frame.

 

[Tank5]

While I wait for time and parts to arrive I revisited the front coil and bump stop situation. I made the decision to try and run 79 coils in the front because they are about 3/8 smaller in diameter giving me a slight increase in clearance. The diameter inside is smaller so I ordered new 79 series bump stop assemblies that have arrived.

I reached out to Dobinson to get a measurement for their 3” lift spring to compare to the stock 80 spring height. The Dobinson 3” lift spring for up to 300lbs extra weight we’re 20.07 inches tall. The stock 80 springs I have measured 20.75 inches tall. I ordered a set of 4” Dobinsons springs to test with that should arrive next week.

Because everyone likes pictures these are the 79 series bump stop assemblies.

They are not as large as the 80 assemblies, so I will have to drill new holes to mount them.

 

[Tank5]

Progress doesn’t always look the way you expect.

The Dobinson springs arrived today, so I got busy fitting the 70 series bump stop assembly and stuck a spring in.

The springs I ordered were the 4” 0-250 weight springs. I was hoping they would give me about 2 inches of lift over the 80 springs and 3/16 extra clearance on the sides. What I got was 1.5 inches in lift and less than 1/8 clearance on the sides. The coil spring diameter on the 70 spring is much larger than that of the 80 stock springs. The height of the 3 inch springs and 4 inch springs is the same unweighted. They make up the lift difference by increasing thickness of the coil.

I decided the marginal clearance I was hoping to gain is just not worth all the extra trial and error in trying to dial the suspension in using the 70 springs. It is also likely that they won’t give me the height I need without using a spacer of some sort and would create a really rough ride.

The progress is I entertained the idea, ruled it out and can now move on to other areas of the build.

If anyone is looking, I will have a set of 4” 79 series coils for sale. They might-be a tough sell in the states I expect.

 

[Tank5]

I think I previously shared that I decided to move the engine back about an inch to get a little more room to fit the fan and the various coolers I will eventually install. I had already tacked in the mounts for the transmission crossmember and couldn’t just move them rearward to get the extra inch because of the oem cutouts in the frame. I decided to have a custom crossmember made that would use the mounting location I had but extend backward to allow me to get the inch I wanted.

It finally arrived last night. It is made out of 1/2 inch steel plate. The shop that made it couldn’t bend 1/2 plate so to account for the 1/4 drop build into the original 80 crossmember I had 1/4 inch spacers made to use if need to get me as much as a 1/2 drop if needed.

After playing with the fit and install for a little while I decided it fit best using all four spacers, two on each side to get the 1/2 inch drop. It worked out perfect! I will have to weld on something to protect the studs from the transmission mount.

 

[Tank5]

With the new transmission mount in place I redesigned the front engine mounts and tacked them in place. Sorry I didn’t take many process pictures of the mounts being built, it was late and I was dove in and think about pictures until the end. The mounts are made from 1/4 inch plate pieces welded together.

 

[Bripars40]

I think I previously shared that I decided to move the engine back about an inch to get a little more room to fit the fan and the various coolers I will eventually install. I had already tacked in the mounts for the transmission crossmember and couldn’t just move them rearward to get the extra inch because of the oem cutouts in the frame. I decided to have a custom crossmember made that would use the mounting location I had but extend backward to allow me to get the inch I wanted.

It finally arrived last night. It is made out of 1/2 inch steel plate. The shop that made it couldn’t bend 1/2 plate so to account for the 1/4 drop build into the original 80 crossmember I had 1/4 inch spacers made to use if need to get me as much as a 1/2 drop if needed.
View attachment 2583899
View attachment 2583903

After playing with the fit and install for a little while I decided it fit best using all four spacers, two on each side to get the 1/2 inch drop. It worked out perfect! I will have to weld on something to protect the studs from the transmission mount.
View attachment 2583906
View attachment 2583909

Any chance you would be willing to share the information for this crossmember so I can have one made Too?

 

[Tank5]

Any chance you would be willing to share the information for this crossmember so I can have one made Too?

I will send you a pm.

 

[Tank5]

I have decided that designing and fitting exhaust is so far second to grinding on my list of less enjoyable work on the project.

I recycled some exhaust parts from a 100 series, 4runner, and tundra combined with some new stainless parts to build this not so pretty but functional exhaust. It clears everything after dropping it to the bump stops. If the design works well after I have some miles on it I would like to pull it off and have a shop replicate it.

I made it with the oem flanges, so I could use Toyota gaskets on all but one of the bolt together flanges. I wanted it to bolt together to make it easier to pull a section and make adjustments if needed.

 

[4Cruisers]

I'd highly recommend Carmelito's Muffler Shop in Cuartelez, between Espanola and Chimayo, they did the custom exhaust on my '86 FJ60 with 3FE. I had them run dual pipes from the two exhaust manifold halves, through a Y-pipe, and into the single FJ60 catalytic converter. Very high quality work and not very expensive. I was pointed in their direction by Roger Glover here in Los Alamos. They do custom exhaust on a lot of the nice lowriders in the Espanola Valley.

 

[Tank5]

I'd highly recommend Carmelito's Muffler Shop in Cuartelez, between Espanola and Chimayo, they did the custom exhaust on my '86 FJ60 with 3FE. I had them run dual pipes from the two exhaust manifold halves, through a Y-pipe, and into the single FJ60 catalytic converter. Very high quality work and not very expensive. I was pointed in their direction by Roger Glover here in Los Alamos. They do custom exhaust on a lot of the nice lowriders in the Espanola Valley.

That is good information, I will check them out when the time comes. Glad they are close too. Thanks

 

[2fpower]

Just found this thread... sorry I am late to the party, but it looks like you are doing great..... as usual. Cheers,

 

[Zjohnsonua]

I'm playing the same game of tetris with my 2UZ exhaust routing. The flange you have connecting the PS pipe to the y-pipe is a good idea. I skipped that one, but I've been wondering if that was going to be a mistake... Time will tell.

 

[Tank5]

I'm playing the same game of tetris with my 2UZ exhaust routing. The flange you have connecting the PS pipe to the y-pipe is a good idea. I skipped that one, but I've been wondering if that was going to be a mistake... Time will tell.

I originally was planning to have it cross over under the bell housing but after placing a drive shaft on it I thought it might be in the way.
After putting the cab back on I found I will need to modify the passenger side a little. I am interested to see if it works out.

 

[Tank5]

I adjusted the exhaust and then moved to building the front bumper.

I have heard it said that the best form of flattery is imitation. When I saw this bumper made by Proffitt’s I new that I wanted one like it for my build. I called them and they do sell the bumper but it was outside my budget if I am going to get this driving by August.

I went to work figuring out how to make one similar. I found a place on line and order a custom bent piece of 1/4 inch plate that would fit inside the frame horns across the front.

It took about 5 weeks to get and was not cheap but it fit perfect after I cut it down.

Fitting it in the right spot using the pretty new oem bumper. I hate to cut it but it must be done.

 

[Tank5]

Some of the first cuts and positioning the winch plate. The plate I have is 1/4 and the big cut in between the top bolt Is concerning. I am worried it wouldn’t be stiff enough and could bend. I am having another plate made from 3/8 plate and straight across the top. It should be plenty stiff then.

Maybe the 1/4 plate would be fine. Thought opinions?

The plan is to drop the winch as low as I can to place the fair lead at the bottom edge of the bumper. To do this I had to cut and bend the bottom edge to make room for the winch housing. I set it up in the shop press to bend it and it worked fine after several passes. I will cut and weld in some wedges to tie all back together.
This is as far as I got.

 

[samc2447]

Nice work. Definitely go with 3/8 for that plate.