FJ40 I call Shipwreck

[SuperBuickGuy]

A brief recap of what you're seen so far

3 link front, dana 44 high pinion, loc-rite, 4.56 gears. narrowed to 57" and moved forward 2 1/2" I also swapped sides on the pumpkin so I have a "super rare GM high pinion 44"
king 14" travel coil overs with a 4" up/10" down travel arrangement (you wouldn't believe how much trouble it was to get the seller to understand this)
scout 2 steering box
1998 vortec chevy motor with a howell's efi tbi system on it
5 speed AR5 - which is a beefy ax15 transmission
Dana 300 transfer case, stock gears, short 30spline output from Novak
tom woods drive shafts
dana 60 rear moved back 2 1/2" (I believe) If I remember correctly the wheelbase is now 95" instead of the stock 90.... honestly, the only reason I moved it was for tire clearance
gm disk brakes on the rear
king shocks on the rear are 10" travel, and the springs are stock JK Jeep.
I boxed the frame and recessed the springs as well along with custom fab'd the bracket and mounts or modified brackets from a couple different companies.
the front axles are from nitro gear and are 30 spline inners and outers... they are custom length, and the u-joints don't have roll pins in them - they're guaranteed for life and are 4340 steel
rear axles are nitro gear as well, 35 spline, custom width
the covers are welded steel the rear is from someone as is the front - but the front I cut down to clear the cross shaft.
you see the tail lights
12,000 lb winch on the front (superwinch)

Inside
suspension seats
dakota digital analog dash (and electronic speedo)
the dash I modified to allow placement of the computers behind the center and I will put a double din stereo with gps behind a protective cover. I also will have ham radios and race radios as well (I do search and rescue so radios are important).
6 point roll cage
tube fenders are from a custom shop in Newberg Oregon, the rear are from a TJ Jeep.

The whole point of this is to keep a low center of gravity but to have enough drop on the suspension to allow it to drop into holes
the tires are 38 super swampers and will, eventually be beadlocked 40" tires. I do a lot of snow wheeling and flotation is king in that.

and the overall theme is stone-cold-reliable rig that you can drive cross country without dying but take a right or left anywhere your heart desires.

[silver_bullet]

AWESOME!!!

[SuperBuickGuy]

thanks!

[Old Dog]

Simply an amazing build. Your first drive will be incredibly satisfying.

[STINEY]

Link-it, link-it, link-it! Nicely done senior fabricator.

[SuperBuickGuy]

pretty colors


on the left, is the durabak18 color, it's going to be the inside (and underside) of the vehicle. The middle color is the color that's going to be on the outside... the other color is the one I just didn't fall in love with so won't be used....

ready for undercoating

[STINEY]

Whatcha got plugged sitting underneath the tub? Heater?

[silver_bullet]

IIRC, the top of the roof on these was always white... are you following suit? might be cool to place an identifier for aerial locating devices...

[SuperBuickGuy]

Whatcha got plugged sitting underneath the tub? Heater?

yep, 30 degrees in the shop, 70 degrees required - so I started by heating the tub last night

IIRC, the top of the roof on these was always white... are you following suit? might be cool to place an identifier for aerial locating devices...

I've seriously consider a helipad marking

Alternatively, I may make it a different shade of tan.... dunno yet

[SuperBuickGuy]

paint, lots and lots of paint
first step was undercoating.... it was amazingly thin, but it seems pretty adherent so I may use it again for solely that purpose


black... and I hate black undercarriages


tan, on the other hand is nice


coat 1


coat 2


flip over, partial coat.... ordering more (ugh)


the bright side is the underside is pretty much done so I can put it back on the frame and gain some room back in the shop. I still have lots more painting/body work to do... but I could attach the body to the frame and start final assembly... we'll see, as I said, there is body work left to be done and doing the body work with the body firmly attached is the best way to do this

[Deaf Bob]

Pic of an exploding firecracker and the words DY-NO-MITE....
Mine had that.. Parked out front 2-3 weeks after I bought it and was standing on the wall... Whaaa??

[SuperBuickGuy]

Bob? have you been drink too much of that stuff Pdub drinks?

[silver_bullet]

I've seriously consider a helipad marking

Alternatively, I may make it a different shade of tan.... dunno yet

Please add a locational arrow to the real helipad, although you would be probably be adding outriggers and roof extensions for the real deal!

[SuperBuickGuy]

What's funny is I would get no end of grief from our Search and Rescue Sgt. He doesn't have much of a sense of humor.... at least, I've never found it.

[SuperBuickGuy]

onward

air tank arrived

at 12 cfm, I don't really need storage, but I learned on my H3 that having a place for all the various fittings (safety valve, pressure valve, etc) is a good thing
yep, they're bowed and I don't care


I think the transmission tunnel shrunk when I painted it.... amazing


oh yes, and another issue


at first I thought maybe the frame was screwed up from the accident it had been in; but that makes no sense because it's equal in its distance

so I went ahead and cut another hole


and kept thinking "why?"

I put the side plates on an then thought... wait a minute


oh those bastards


it's pretty obvious (in person) that the rear spacer under the door had been replaced.... they screwed it up and didn't make it wide enough... that's a first... but the cute part is they blended the corners - and but for a bit of screwy hammering on the passenger side (the side that didn't get hit); I'd never have realized it. I thought the guy who made the corner guards had given me extra metal.... nope, he built it for what Toyota built... ah well, easy enough to fix.

it's even easier to see how much too short it is


I admit, it had me going... I was so careful when I cut the frame for the pockets, and when I welded the plates on the inside.... but it wouldn't be the first time I blazed along only to find out later that I'd not been paying enough attention (which is why I really paid a lot of attention when I was doing this).... I also had measured the frame to be sure it was square before I did anything to the frame - after all, every suspension measurement relies on the frame being square.

and the panels are fit




and the hole is complete


and something good came out of this.... the batteries can be raised another inch up


maybe the other way?