Builds Unicorns are real... My dream car FJ73 build

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Thanks for the info @Loober sounds like I need to pull the tray and see what to do....
 
Is your bolt completely missing?
 
Is your bolt completely missing?
Correct, missing. The car did not have the top piece- battery hold down either, so I just bought one of those, thinking I would just add a standard bolt... best laid plans, right....
 
Is the cover plate still attached to the box?
 
Is the cover plate still attached to the box?

Not sure what i know what you mean by cover plate? It has the shaped piece riveted to the tray where the bolt would typically be starting from.
 
When I added my group 31 battery it weighs 78 lb and I did not trust the little hook on the end.
So I welded a piece of 1/8" plate to the bottom of the rod that catches more of the bottom of the box. on one side I fashioned a piece of angle iron so it hook the edge, maybe pop riveted it like the original.
You can start with these.
Amazon product ASIN B091FWH3MK
 
Last edited:
Not sure what i know what you mean by cover plate? It has the shaped piece riveted to the tray where the bolt would typically be starting from.
Yeah, that's it. You could drill the rivets and get a look at what's actually behind the plate. Mine has small bolts and nuts that the previous owner fitted. You may be able to use a standard J-bolt and then bolt the plate back on to re-captivate it.
 
Made lots of little progress…. Fan installed and partially wired up. Pretty slick as the Volvo fan has two speeds and the wiring harness has high and low as well!

4425D401-EE10-41B7-8EF7-486C06DFF25A.webp
 
Been putting a lot of time in on the 4 x 4 labs bumper. Let me be clear -- their products are great -- however, I like the idea of a kit, so I can adapt it to what I like....

Much like my 80 series 4x4 labs rear bumper, I Customized it a lot -- I may just start a new thread on it… but here is the big change. What I loved about their design was the integrated rear hitch structure. What i did not like is how short the place is between the front of the receiver and the pin -- as well as how this is designed to project out of the face of the bumper. I get that it was designed that way so you could get to the hitch pin... but I came up with another option.....

Here is the as designed setup....

1D0E113A-F354-4607-80D0-BC2144D667C9.jpeg



Here is what I came up with....

AEE37457-7980-41F4-AB27-8F740A762EA2.jpeg


16D113B8-F1F0-433C-B4F4-7BFF065F4C68.jpeg


2322304B-AD6D-474F-93BE-CD34E6296F32.jpeg


Then, I cut out where the purple marker is on the bottom, so you have room to reach up and put the pin in....

4BD6BD81-EF98-404D-BA3F-808D8FEBD6A7.jpeg
 
When I test fitted the bumper... loved the look... but when I opened the rear doors, you could reach your hand through the gaps... so I added 1.5" of material there. I used some scraps from square tube, so it rolls over and adds some strength as well.






87F7E4C5-B5AD-4FC6-BA31-B09C8212209E.jpeg


DCAC9A5A-581D-4518-8AFA-5EECE98BDEBD.jpeg



046030A9-A3D8-4386-8623-5670599B1A56.jpeg
70252B61-8320-477D-9DCA-239E44F5DDBA.jpeg
 
Sides stood out too much for me, so I put a slight bend at the body line where the bumper top plate is.
And the 4x4 labs top trip cap - 1.25" pipe is larger than I wanted to look to be, so going to 3/4 pipe up top.




03F51C94-B71D-4F02-AEA3-4CC6B06F5F59.jpeg


06420A9F-58C8-45D7-AF60-E59FDDA41BB5.jpeg


Here you can see how I slid the side forward about 1/2 inch and changed some angles slightly so had some filler pieces to make. My goal is to have the bumper go flush to the wheelwell, and put mounts for cheap mudflaps to bolt on....


1CBCA21B-BAFB-4422-8D04-4278D5B14574.jpeg


Here you can see what I added - about 1.5" to extend the bumper to the wheelwell. Also added some structure on the bottom to give more strength on the body mount.

B4569D21-D36F-4462-86A6-705512C348F4.jpeg
 
Been putting a lot of time in on the 4 x 4 labs bumper. Let me be clear -- their products are great -- however, I like the idea of a kit, so I can adapt it to what I like....

Much like my 80 series 4x4 labs rear bumper, I Customized it a lot -- I may just start a new thread on it… but here is the big change. What I loved about their design was the integrated rear hitch structure. What i did not like is how short the place is between the front of the receiver and the pin -- as well as how this is designed to project out of the face of the bumper. I get that it was designed that way so you could get to the hitch pin... but I came up with another option.....

Here is the as designed setup....

View attachment 2989034


Here is what I came up with....

View attachment 2989035

View attachment 2989036

View attachment 2989041

Then, I cut out where the purple marker is on the bottom, so you have room to reach up and put the pin in....

View attachment 2989042
I like these self locking hitch's and they would be really convenient for your set up.

 
I was planning to just do one swing out for a spare tire, but @tornadoalleycruiser reminded me that I will likely need more fuel capacity with that big 6.0, so decided to order another spindle.

As for mounting the swing outs, I really like the way that cruiser outfitters works following the rear door. Need to see what hardware I need to order to do that style.
 
As for mounting the swing outs, I really like the way that cruiser outfitters works following the rear door. Need to see what hardware I need to order to do that style.

Good plan. One of the reasons I removed my kaymar bumper on the 77 was because I was having trouble liking the swing outs. Cruiser Outfitter has a nice set up with their own offering but it seems to be proprietary design.
 
Good plan. One of the reasons I removed my kaymar bumper on the 77 was because I was having trouble liking the swing outs. Cruiser Outfitter has a nice set up with their own offering but it seems to be proprietary design.
I’ve never seen one up close but very similar to designs I’ve seen in industry To have two hinge points offset , yet act in one Action. will try to make my own version...
 
Pulled the battery and sure enough the battery box was starting to crack…. Thanks go out to @Loober for inspiration and @cruiserdan

Dug around my scrap metal pile and found an old door or serving tray, not sure what it was….. But it was heavy gauge stainless steel and It had the perfect lip. Fast forward a couple hours and I had a new battery tray.

58B36E23-40EC-4B47-B9AD-7288FF69B712.jpeg


7FD7897F-B688-40B2-AF17-858B84A91C48.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Got the panel made for the engine bay these box, and wired up a few things. The disconnects below are for that box and the one in the left is for the winch… since the airbox is gone I mounted the factory additional power source on the fender with the Volvo fan relays below it.

F4D11629-7FC9-432E-9D5A-1E900AEEE412.webp
 
I know there’s tons of configurations, is there a windshield washer bottle for The driver side? Not much room with the air filter.

A3AC5109-9471-4530-81C8-5A0D174DB55C.jpeg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom