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Mike's 78FJ40 Build Thread

17158 Views 73 Replies 21 Participants Last post by  Bang Bang, 
Bang Bang
17
This thread is more of a way for me to keep track of what I have done to the 40 and what I want to do to the 40.

So, without further adieu.......

How she sits today 4/18/13:


Her name is Hachi. This is how she looked the day I got her from Brian, a fellow BSLCA member.






First ride I took her on was at The Devil's Backbone in Crossroads, Ms. Damn, those springs are tight!! That was a rough ride.


Brian and the PO's had already done many of the upgrades I would have wanted to do.

From one of Brian's For Sale threads on what was previously done:

The PO was a TLCA member and a friend of some BSLCA members, who also helped build it around 99 - 2000. They did a frame off resto and added the crate 350 from Summit at that time.

- 350SBC conversion using the AA bellhousing
- AA Twin stick kit
- custom covered yellow/black 40 seats
- stock front disc brakes and rear disc conversion from a Monte Carlo (I think)
- saginaw power steering
- 33" BFG MTs (5) with 80% tread
- custom rear swingout bumper w/ tire carrier
- h**p bench seat in back w/ shoulder belts from a Montero
- 2 1/2" lift springs
- 1 1/2" body lift
- stock 4 speed tranny w/ 3 spd transfer case
- Tuffy center console
- STOUT pipe bumper and rock sliders (more like rock crushers)
- custom aluminum dash cluster
- Inside of tub is completely rhino lined
- Aussie locker installed in the rear
- Installed rebuilt Quadrajet carb, new plugs and wires
- Installed new shocks front / Rancho and rear / Edlebrock

But, as I had told Brian when I bought her, I planned to take her to the next level. So, since this is really going to be a trail-only rig and ride-around-town-on-sunny-days rig, there was no need for the hard doors. I was able to find a set of RedLine tube doors from another MUD member who had them sitting around in his garage. I sanded, primed and painted them satin black. Now I am getting to more of the look I want.




No pictures but then I added a Uniden CB with a Firestick antenna for on the trails. Around the same time I also added an Alpine CD / MP3 stereo with a USB jack in the face so I can just load MP3's on a jump drive and play them through the Alpine. This way I don't have to bring my iPod on the trails. Works GREAT! The Alpine is mounted in the Tuffy center console and the CB is mounted in the dash where the OEM stereo went. I mounted some old surround sound speakers I had laying around to the roll bar. I plan to add a switch so that I can use the stereo speakers as external speakers for the CB.

Next, the springs were too stiff for my liking. So, when Larry offered up his 4" Skyjacker springs, I bought them. The BSLCA guys on the eastern side of the state got together one night to help me swap the springs.

Old springs:


New springs:


Not much of a difference in height but what a difference in the ride. Here's all the cruisers we had in the shop at Deryl's that night.


Had to test them out on the trails. This was at Paradise for the Hero Hustle ride.




I was having some overheating issues so I bought and installed a 3 core aluminum radiator from Champion Radiators. I also changed out the thermostat at that time. Good thing as someone had installed the wrong one for a Chevy 350. No more heat problems.

Next up, I had to test things out again and what better place to do that than Superlift for the SCC '10.




Had lots of fun there but just to be sure, I had to test things out again at Sicily Island.....

FINALLY!!


Flexing.....


Flexing the other side......
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Bang Bang
Thanks guys. It is a lot of fun especially with so many LC guys in this area. We are kind of a hidden breed but they are starting to come out of the shadows. We have a great time wrenching on them, then wheeling them and then wrenching some more. We usually do a couple rigs at a time. :D
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NCFJ
Your 40 is looking good! Do you go over on MUD to the 40 section? All kinds of information there. My poor 40 has been sitting since I got it. Too many projects :(
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Bang Bang
Thanks Stan. And, yeah, I'm on MUD all the time. I think I spend more time there now than I do here.

I have been waiting to see what you are going to do with your 40. I understand too many projects. I just tinker with mine a bit at a time as I came to the realization a long time ago: It won't EVER be FINISHED, just ready to wheel until my next mod. :D
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Bang Bang
6
So, we had a small wrenching session where we didn't turn many wrenches. My buddy, Deryl, and I got together at his shop and we gave Hachi a new coat of yellow. She feels much better now.

First, we sanded her and taped her up:




Next, Deryl handed the gun to me and said, "Good luck!" He went and did some work on his doors and spare tire carrier while I painted. Not bad for the first time spraying a vehicle. Only a couple runs in some inconspicuous areas (I am sure I will find more tomorrow in the light :( ).




Then I helped him with his stuff for a bit and then we set Hachi free of her bonds......




All in all, a very productive afternoon and we had some fun working on our cruisers.........gotta love it. :bigthumb:
I'll get some more pictures of her after putting her back together.
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Hornsfan
Looks great, Bang Bang. You and I have gone to alot of the same events, but never met. We need to make an effort next time.

Are you going to the Adventure to Care event at Superlift in May?
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Bang Bang
No. I am doing what I can to make it to the GSMTR in Tn in late May. I want to try out this park since I have never been there.
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S
Your Fj40 is one of the nices I've seen. Very solid!
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Bang Bang
I appreciate the kind words but mine is far from "nice". It is definitely a trail rig. The only reason for painting it was because the front end sheet metal parts were red. I just wanted the truck to be one color (well, 2 colors.....yellow and black). :D It is solid and a very capable rig. It has it's leaks and quirks but hasn't let me down yet. Next major task.....get the used ARB air locker installed in the front so I can conquer some more of these hills. :bigthumb:
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Bang Bang
6
So, here's another update. Since we got everything painted and put back together I have put stickers all over her, got some in-cab lighting put in (more to come so I can see what's going on next time Lance decides we need to make a Night Mud-Doggin' run :lol: ), upgraded her shoes to 35's on non-fake-beadlocked Pro Comp rims, replaced the alternator and got the winch mounted up. The universal channel from HF worked out fine. It was my ignorance that was stopping me from mounting the winch on it before.










For the wiring of the winch, I put the control box under the hood for a couple reasons.

  1. Because of the over heating issues in the past, I wanted nothing blocking the radiator.
  2. I wanted to do in-cab controls.
  3. I wanted to protect it as much as I could from damage.

So, as you can see in this last picture, I mounted the box to the inner passenger fender and then ran the controller cable through the firewall. The controller is in the glove box and the cable is long enough that I can still use it outside the truck and reach the front of the truck or (like I did a few times at GSMTR) I can use it in the cab. I put some rubber electrical tape around the plug on the box to make sure it doesn't go anywhere and is kind of water tight. I also put a ground "kill switch" on the dash so the winch cannot be accidentally activated without the switch pulled "on".
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LandCruiserSteve
Lookin' good!! :cheers:

I like your idea of putting the winch control box under the hood. Kinda streamlines the looks of the front end. :bigthumb:
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1911
35's are nice; I can't remember, do you have a 4" lift? Looking better all the time.
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NCFJ
Coming right along Mike, looks good.

Putting the control box under the hood also forces you to leave the hood up while winching which is a good safety feature if someone is sitting in the cab controlling the RPMs. If God forgive a cable lets go it will not go through the windshield.
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Hindsight
I love threads like this...I would have never thought of putting the control box under the hood :bigthumb:

Doc
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Bang Bang
1911 said:
35's are nice; I can't remember, do you have a 4" lift? Looking better all the time.
Click to expand...
Yes sir......Skyjacker 4" lift. I did mash the rear passenger tire into the fender well at GSMTR a couple weeks ago. Not too bad but noticeable, so that just gives me more incentive to trim the fenders so I can install the pair of rear flares that are hanging on the wall. :bigthumb:

LandCruiserSteve said:
Lookin' good!! :cheers:

I like your idea of putting the winch control box under the hood. Kinda streamlines the looks of the front end. :bigthumb:
Click to expand...
Thank you Steve. Just didn't want to block up the radiator any more than I had to. One day I'll come up with these ideas on my own.......like some of you guys do. :wave:


NCFJ said:
Coming right along Mike, looks good.

Putting the control box under the hood also forces you to leave the hood up while winching which is a good safety feature if someone is sitting in the cab controlling the RPMs. If God forgive a cable lets go it will not go through the windshield.
Click to expand...
Thanks Stan. I would agree with you but in my case I actually ran the controller cable through the firewall and have the controller in the glove box. I just make sure I have something heavy hung over the cable in the event it does snap (heaven forbid). :D


Hindsight said:
I love threads like this...I would have never thought of putting the control box under the hood :bigthumb:

Doc
Click to expand...
Doc, I can't take credit for it. I had seen other rigs do this but in my research on how to wire it up, I saw several similar builds. There are a few guys who make some pretty cool in-cab control switch set-ups but I couldn't justify spending the money on my trail rig. So that's why I just went with the controller through the firewall. If something happens to it, then I guess I will just have to weigh my options at that time, following your logic.......don't fix it until it's broke. ;)
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NCFJ
I just try to think "safety first" as much as possible. A few years back I saw a photo of a winch cable that snapped back and went through the windshield and then the headrest of a Jeep. That confirmed to me that keeping the hood up as a shield was a good practice. Winch cables scare the hell out of me.
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Bang Bang
You are absolutely correct my friend. Safety does need to come first and to that end I can still open the hood when winching from inside the cab, now that I think about it. :thinkerg: Thanks for making me put my thinking cap on. :bigthumb:
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Hodges
how did i never see this thread? awesome build man i can't wait to finally see it in action.
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Bang Bang
Thanks Jason. The 40 is out of commission right now. I hope to have her back together in the next day or 2. As I left Sicily Island Sat morning, I found that the linkage for the 2WD / 4WD broke and it was stuck in 4WD. I managed to get it back into 2WD and made the trip home with no issues.....other than the tropical storm that beat the crap out of me. :D Also, I'm still trying to figure out how to get the hole fixed in the t-case and get the mount trimmed that is causing the issue. :flame:
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Bang Bang
Not much done to her since my last post. I added the KC lights to the windshield. But I did purchase some "new-to-me" drivetrain parts from the bellhousing to the t-case.

This is going to be installed in the next couple weeks: SM420 / AA Rock Box / Toyota 3 speed t-case. :clap:


SM420: Has less than 500 miles on it (PO bought it brand new, military version). It's a 4 speed with a granny 1st. Will give me the lower gearing I was looking for.

AA Rock Box: Gear reduction box with less than 500 miles also. This was a bonus as I wasn't really looking for this but I got the whole set-up for less than the cost of this box new. :bigthumb:

Toyota 3 speed t-case: takes care of my leak issue in mine. Although, I can see where the PO was having the same issue I was with rubbing, just not as severe or in the same location.
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Hornsfan
Are you bringing this or the FJC to Superlift in February?
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