Want to swap body shells

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abqcruiser

abqcruiser

10 Year
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Threads
18
Messages
887
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Hi all,

I just recently purchased a 1977 fj 55 and drove her home from Arkansas to New Mexico. Mechanically she is strong but the body condition is a different story. I found a body shell from a 1974 fj 55 in really good condition and wanted to swap them out. I am new to the Land Cruiser world. Will the 77 doors, front fenders, hood, and frame match up with the 74 shell? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks , Mark
 
Yes, I am buying it from acertx. I was going to get the ds door as well but use the other 3 from my 77. My ds door is repairable but I figured that the swap would be easier. Will the 77 doors fit the 74 shell?
 
Can't remember the changeover years. If the doors (with or without vent windows) come to a point at the upper front above where the vent window would be on the very early doors, they'll interchange. If rounded, maybe not.
 
rear doors will and i'm purdy sure the tail gate will as well. there is a diff B/T my 73 and 77 with the gas tank mounting to the body on the 73 and to the frame on the 77- BUT, the plumbing is pretty close. I'm pretty sure the body mounts are the same, but there is also a diff of the front floorpan area, re seat mounts and heater locations and transmission humps...mostly pretty easy. keep the trans hatch with the 74 if you can...oh yeah some firewall variance as well...what else heater blower mounting, ... I have a 73 single cab on a 77 chassis/running gear, with some minor upgrades to the rear axle...I kept all the mechanical stuff with the 77 and modded the body to fit things to it, if that helps any...I DID keep the earlier cable throttle tho and got a bell crank for it to fit to the carb


let me sum it up:
heater and blower from 74 stays with 74
throttle cable(if applicable) is waaay easier than to make the cable op'd firewall take the mechanical linkage
seat curb will need an early seat, or mod to fit later seats
trans hump from 74 stays with 74- mod it to fit whatever shifter...
front doors need to be pre early 77- wing window doors will fit
rear doors and seats swap- tail gate...most likely.
you'll need the 77 hood to fit a 2f air cleaner
keep the gas tank and all plumbing from 77
keep all brake/vent/hydraulic lines from 77- mod to fit firewall
brake and master cylinders/ including booster swap
whichever steering column

electrical from 77...the harnesses are different, the guages are different, heater controls are different, so I spliced the ealier heater controls to the later harness after figuring out what was which. later windshield wiper linkage can be swapped to the earlier post 73 bodies, but IIRC, there is a diff in the early to late motor wiring.....:cheers:
 
Thanks for the info. I decided to by all 4 original doors. Jason gave me a great deal that I couldn't refuse. Do you think I can modify the heater assembly to fit the 74 body? I was going to put in an aftermarket a/c later and I'm pretty sure they had an optional heater assembly included as well. Would that be the better way to go? Thanks
 
tucker74 said:
Anything is possible depending on you skills, I would think having all the late heater interior pieces would help. You will also have your current firewall, worst case scenario you can cut and swap a piece of passenger firewall section. That body is really nice, I've seen it in person ;-)

Tucker
Click to expand...

I don't see any bonus to have the late heater stuff, it'll just cause extra work. the harness has to be gone thru anyway, so splicing in the 74 wiring/switching vs cutting welding grinding priming and painting and then rewiring the harness seems like the long way around this one to me. the ealy heater doesn't have the vent duct to blow the air at your face, but it works just fine for the california winters
 
LAMBCRUSHER said:
I don't see any bonus to have the late heater stuff, it'll just cause extra work. the harness has to be gone thru anyway, so splicing in the 74 wiring/switching vs cutting welding grinding priming and painting and then rewiring the harness seems like the long way around this one to me. the ealy heater doesn't have the vent duct to blow the air at your face, but it works just fine for the california winters
Click to expand...
He's putting a '74 body on his '77 FJ55, that means he'll have all the bits from the '77 ;) Unless he buys it I don't think the early heater is an option -

tucker
 
I got that, but still think that grafting firewall to accommodate heater/blower difference would be more time consuming and costly that sourcing the earlier heater bits. it is much easier to say patch in the firewall, than it is to actually do it well. I suppose the heater box from the 77 with it's triangular shaped dome top could be modified to take a fabbed or sourced "flat top" duct section, but the firewall and inner fender required a bunch of fab work to take the later blower assy that I found my way around without having to give up the stock feel. IIRC, the later heater blower mods to the early FW would also get into windshield wiper motor mounting zonage. I seem to remember acknowledging the potential for a snowball effect. besides, the later heater takes up the space under the dash that a small aftermarket A/C evaporator would need...between the swap to the earlier heater box, and the FZJ80 Ebrake handle/cable/assy mounted next to the drivers seat, I have room for an A/C and a CB and a locker control and a ........:meh:he's going to have top decide when he gets all the players together for a dress rehearsal. some of these variances can bee seen in my build thread if they can be of any help
 
I was hoping to use the heater out of the 77. The winters here can get a bit cold. We are also big skiers and travel to the mountains quite a bit in the winter. Lambcrusher, I'm new to this forum as you can see. How do I find your build thread?

Mark
 
I notice no difference in the performance dept of the 2 heaters. the later heater is NOT any better. as I said, you could prolly get the hearer core box to work with some minor mods to both firewall and heater core box, but the blower box is another story altogether...
 
Since you'll have your '77 firewall, I'd think if you cut the entire passenger side triangle out and grafted it to the '74 you be set. You'll have all the right holes and nutserts for your late heater, this is assuming you are planning to use the '77 core support which would solve the blower issue. Now if you didn't have all that I totally agree it would be a huge PITA to fab everything for the later ;-)

Tucker
 
Hey Tucker, I took Lambcrusher's advice and, luckily, Jason still had the heater assembly off the 74. Forty bucks seemed alot easier to deal with. Thanks, Mark
 
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