73' FJ40 - The Garage Cruiser

[redrocket93]

A few years back a friend of mine wanted me to do a little side work by way of a spring over and V8 swap into his FJ40. So away we go. Got mostly done with the spring over and halfway done with the engine swap. Friend runs out of money, and tows the project back to his place were it sits for 2 years while he can save some cash. During this time he decides he wants to build it right and do a frame off resto, send the tub out for rust repair and paint. In the mean time, I would do the rest of work to make a clean, capable, streetable trail rig, yet still mild by todays standards. Hopefully we'll have it on the trail by this summer. This is my first FJ40 build, I've built a couple minitrucks and 4runners, so bear with me.

Specs.

Stock GM TBI 350 with a howell EFI kit and block hugger headers.
Front axle: 76' fine spline FJ40 with trail gear six shooter mini truck knuckles and high steer, bobby long 30 spline kit, 4.10's and an ARB
Rear axle: 76' fine spline FJ40 with ruff stuff antiwrap bar, GM disc brakes, 4.10's and an ARB
Trans and T-case: SM420 mated to a 3 speed FJ40 t-case with AA twin sticks and case re-inforcement plate.
Suspension: Spring over and front shackle reversal with cut and turned knucksles and stock flipped leafs.
Other mods: Bud built 3/16" quarter panels, metal tech front stinger, tube fenders, sliders and cage, 37" KM2's, Saginaw power steering, painless wiring kit, Line X interior,


Pics from 08'. I didn't take as many pics back then. This was after the motor was pulled and spring over was mostly done.




Motor and radiator in and starting to layout wiring before owner decided to pull the body.


Now back at my place this last November. Working on tube fenders, shock hoops and sliders before pulling body tub.

[redrocket93]

Stripping and pulling body tub, Ruff stuff antiwrap bar, boxing body mounts.

[redrocket93]

Quarter panels, parking brake rebuild, POR 15 frame, Twin sticks, and front stinger with removable front bumper via tube disconnects.

[redrocket93]

A couple pics of what we started with. My friend bought it from his Uncle and it has been in the family for decades. Has a lot of sentimental value to my buddy. Pretty cool.


After the rainy drive from his house to mine. It only stalled out and wouldn't restart in the middle of one busy intersection. :flipoff2:

[redrocket93]

More progress last night. Got the front bumper prepped and ready for the 8274. Don't have the winch yet, but went off the blue prints from Warn's website. Hopefully they're right :flipoff2:. Gonna lay on a few coats of POR15 and krylon satin this weekend to finish up the bumper.

[redrocket93]

Well, early next week turned into a month later. We finally got to pick up the body yesterday. It did turn out great though. We went with Budbuilt 3/16" quarter panels with a custom trim to clear the 37's and rear axle re-location.









The wifey was thrilled about the body panels in the living room.

[redrocket93]

Made some progress today. Had to clearance the floor and trans tunnel for the twin sticks wanted nice flat surface for the shift boots to go. I managed to cobble this together. Sheetmetal is not my bag, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

The interior's gonna get line-x'd very soon. That should help the trans tunnel blend with the rest of the floor.

[redrocket93]

Starting assembling some of the body today. Got the tailgate mounted and Put the radiator and grill together. I couldn't be happier with how the front end turned out. Putting in a full day tomorrow, should make some decent progress and take more pics.

[46&2]

Coming along great. Always wanted to build an FJ40. Really like the front bumper.

[fj-rankenstein]

really good looking build..     how much work were the  Budbuilt 3/16" quarter panels to get looking smooth??  it looks like on the budbuilt website that the corners look like they were done in a brake wrather than in a roller..  or did yours come smooth?? 

[Slolyfe]

Dude! Awesome work man. Baby come yet?

[redrocket93]

Coming along great. Always wanted to build an FJ40. Really like the front bumper.

Thanks and Me too. Someday I'll have one of my own. For now I get to build this one and live vicariously through the owner/friend.

really good looking build..     how much work were the  Budbuilt 3/16" quarter panels to get looking smooth??  it looks like on the budbuilt website that the corners look like they were done in a brake wrather than in a roller..  or did yours come smooth??  

Thanks. I didn't do any of the bodywork but the body guy told they were pretty easy to smooth out. He just hit them up with a grinder to knock down the high spots and them smoothed them out with some body filler. They came press bent just like pictured on the website. Very high quality piece.

Dude! Awesome work man. Baby come yet?

Thanks man! No boy yet. He was due last tuesday! I guess he's just gonna be fashionably late. We are scheduled to have labor induced tomorrow morning. I'm pretty juiced.

[redrocket93]

Got a little more done today. Mocked up the fenders so I could make some brackets to bolt the side skirts to them (forgot to this before paint). The the fenders are ready to be sprayed black.



Polished up the original emblems and side marker light bezels. Look pretty damn good for 40 year old parts.



Used all stainless steel hardware for the tailgate and am gonna use it for all exposed hardware.



Parting shot.

[daniresch]

following this, great build!

[BUDDERS]

Me likey...

[AaronB]

looks great. makes me want to get mine painted properly now 

[874runnertoys]

Sick build

[redrocket93]

Been busy lately.

Got the aftermarket heater bolted up, pedal assembly's cleaned painted and installed with new pedal pads.


Also installed the headers and gear reduction starter.


Had to cut up the tub for the 28 gallon fuel tank we're running http://www.man-a-fre.com/parts_accessories/fj40fueltanklr28gal.htm. Welded in patch panels and seam sealed.


Recovered the dash pad and installed the glove box and ash tray.


Also mounted up the radiator puke tank.


Installed brand new OE emblems for the rear quarter.

[Peterbuilt84]

Love the way those emblems look Nice work

[86bobbedtoy]

omg, is he gonna wheel it?
that first scratch is gonna hurt, lol

[redrocket93]

Yep, he plans on wheelin it. Probably just a couple Fordyce and Rubicon runs a year. He'll be careful but a few scratches and dings are part of the game.

[BUDDERS]

My boss just bought one that same color a few weeks ago.  I just saw it yesterday and it's not nearly as nice as yours and it's all original.

[redrocket93]

Been chuggin along on this the past couple days. Started working on the rear axle.

Made new hard lines and remembered how much I hate flaring brake line. The POS double flaring tool I bought at Napa the bed on the first flare. Ended up renting one from vatozone and surprisingly it worked great.

 

Not to thrilled on how low these caliper brackets put the calipers. Seems like they'll be rock anchors so they might get changed.



Also got the ruff stuff diff cover bolted up. Had to grind a little bit off it to clear the ring gear. Not a big deal though.

[awhotrods]

It's looking good!!  What kind of heater unit did you run? 

[Slolyfe]

Sweet! Nicely done

[redrocket93]

It's looking good!!  What kind of heater unit did you run? 

it's a vintage air unit. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/VTA-506101/

Seems like a nice little setup. Very compact and fits nicely behind the dash of a 40. Also has defrost that I'll be ducting to the factory defrost vents.

Sweet! Nicely done

Thanks man.

[chim]

Wow, looks great! Can't wait to see the finished product!

[kycrawler]

A few years back a friend of mine wanted me to do a little side work by way of a spring over and V8 swap into his FJ40. So away we go. Got mostly done with the spring over and halfway done with the engine swap. Friend runs out of money, and tows the project back to his place were it sits for 2 years while he can save some cash. During this time he decides he wants to build it right and do a frame off resto, send the tub out for rust repair and paint. In the mean time, I would do the rest of work to make a clean, capable, streetable trail rig, yet still mild by todays standards. Hopefully we'll have it on the trail by this summer. This is my first FJ40 build, I've built a couple minitrucks and 4runners, so bear with me.

Specs.

Stock GM TBI 350 with a howell EFI kit and block hugger headers.
Front axle: 76' fine spline FJ40 with trail gear six shooter mini truck knuckles and high steer, bobby long 30 spline kit, 4.10's and an ARB
Rear axle: 76' fine spline FJ40 with ruff stuff antiwrap bar, GM disc brakes, 4.10's and an ARB
Trans and T-case: SM420 mated to a 3 speed FJ40 t-case with AA twin sticks and case re-inforcement plate.
Suspension: Spring over and front shackle reversal with cut and turned knucksles and stock flipped leafs.
Other mods: Bud built 3/16" quarter panels, metal tech front stinger, tube fenders, sliders and cage, 37" KM2's, Saginaw power steering, painless wiring kit, Line X interior,


Pics from 08'. I didn't take as many pics back then. This was after the motor was pulled and spring over was mostly done.




Motor and radiator in and starting to layout wiring before owner decided to pull the body.


Now back at my place this last November. Working on tube fenders, shock hoops and sliders before pulling body tub.

I have always wanted and FJ, looks good .

[redrocket93]

Got the steering column mounted up today. Built mounts for it at the dash and firewall. Huge thanks to my buddy Greg (AgitatedPancake on here) for cutting out the steering column firewall plate and a few other things with his torchmate.

Said plate


We used a 32" ididit tilt steering Column







Borgenson steering shaft and joints. Very tight fit with the headers but will work out great.


Radiator support rods with firewall flanges cut out on the torchmate. Also got the washer fluid bottle in it's final resting place.



Plate to cover the factory heater box opening that will house the battery hold down.



Also assembled the hood and laid it in place to see what it looks like. Put together with brand new black powter coated hood hold downs and new rubber bumpstops for the windshield.

[Slolyfe]

Dude! She is coming together nicely!