FJ40 Project

[Dirt Claude]

Rather than transport the freshly painted tub back to my house, I brought the rolling chassis out to the shop. With the help of family and friends were were able to gently get it back on the frame.

[Dirt Claude]

Sandblasted and painted the stock steel wheels and wrapped them with some new 33x10.50x15 BFG KM2s. I picked up some new hubcups for the wheels, still on the fence if I want to use them or not. The hubcaps give it that cool retro look, but I'm not a big chrome guy and this would be the only piece of chrome on the entire truck.

[Dirt Claude]

The original tranny hump cover was mangled by the previous owner....sheet metal and rivets holding it together! It was literally just one big open hole for both shifters. I ended up grafting a piece of the tranny hump from the extra cruiser to my original tranny hump. The grafted piece is fully welded in, but I used some body filler to help contour some of the curves.

[Chris]

Looks great Brad, you're making good progress. Hope to see you on the trails in the spring!

[xaza]

Coming along nicely.

[Dirt Claude]

I originally planned to have this rebuild done in a year.....ha I was so foolish to think that! I just past the two year mark last August, at this point I don't set any dates for trying to complete it as I've already missed too many. I'll just continue to work on it and when it's done it's done. I would love to be wheeling it this spring, at this point I don't see any reason I wouldn't be. It's funny how priorities in life seem to change when you least expect it.

[Dirt Claude]

Next up was converting from manual to power steering. I wasn't planning on converting, but the extra FJ40 had most of the parts I'd need to complete the swap. It would have been silly to keep manual steering. The common power steering swaps for FJ40s are Toyota mini-truck setups, Saginaw, Scout, and FJ60. I decided to go a little unconventional and use the power steering box from an Astro van. The Astro steering box has the same external casing as the Saginaw box, but some of the internal components are reversed. Because of the reverse setup, I was able to mount the steering box inside the frame rails instead of out front near the bumper. This allows the box to be more protected and keep it out of the rocks.

I ended up using the following parts:
- Astro steering box from the extra FJ40
- 1/4" steel scabs that mount on the inside/outside of the frame for reinforcement
- New tie-rod ends
- Flat Chevy pitman arm
- Cruiser Outfitters custom drag link to connect the Chevy tie-rod at the pitman arm to the Toyota tie-rod at the steering knuckle
- Custom high pressure steering line
- New power steering pump

[Dirt Claude]

Painted parts.....

[Dirt Claude]

I was planning on mounting the steering column next, but quickly realized that when I converted to power steering I had also lost one of my mounting points for the column. Basically what this meant was that the steering column was flopping around as it was only being held by one mount. I had to decide what angle I wanted to set the steering column at before making the new mounting bracket. I found this hard to do as I actually needed to be sitting in front of the steering wheel to get a good feel for it. So....I jumped ahead to mounting the seats.

The original seats were in great condition but still not very comfortable. The extra FJ40 I had picked up had brand new Bestop seats both front and rear. The mounting brackets they were sitting on were very cheesy and not very stout. I went ahead and designed a new mounting bracket which could hold the seats and Tuffy center console.

The seat bracket could only go so low due to the gas tank cover that sits below the passenger seat. The gas tank cover sits about 3-4" higher than the top of the storage box under the driver seat. It actually worked out quite well as it still allowed me to access the storage box on the driver side.

[Dirt Claude]

I still need to cap the ends and do some finish work, but it's almost complete.

Mount with legs attached...
Test fit....

[Dirt Claude]

Now that I was able to sit in front of the steering wheel, I've moved on to mounting the steering column. After multiple test fits with several different drivers, I settled on a 33 degree angle.

The second mounting point would be on the inside of the firewall behind the pedals. It involved cutting and drilling out a piece of flat plate and welding the steering column to it. I put the deck of the drill press at a 33 degree angle and got after it.

One specialized piece that was still needed was a brass bushing that supported the steering shaft inside the steering column. Cruiser Outfitters once again came to the rescue.

I still had the intermediate shaft left over over from the extra FJ40 but found it to be too short. I ended up going to a junk yard and scoring a new shaft out of a Chevy Express full size van, same diameter but much longer which lessens the chance of it coming out while flexing.

[Dirt Claude]

Steering column mounted...

[Patrolman]

Isn't the drill press super handy? Best $50 I ever spent! Nice work on the column!

[Dirt Claude]

Patrolman previously posted:

[Dirt Claude]

With the power steering complete, I moved on to the coolant system.

I purchased a new 3 core aluminum radiator from Champion Radiators. I believe it's rated to cool up to 500HP which is more than plenty. I didn't want to deal with any overheating issues. I used the original FJ40 radiator mount, but cut and replaced the bottom section to allow for a tighter fit with the power steering box in place.

The motor was originally setup with a belt driven flex fan. To keep things simple I decided I would continue to use it...or so I thought!

When I went to mock up the radiator and fan, I found the flex fan would hit the newly mounted steering box by a good couple of inches...no bueno. At this point I decided my only option to allow for adequate cooling would be to run an electric fan. I initially didn't want to go this route as electrical is one of my big weaknesses.

In the end I'm glad I went this way for numerous reasons:
- Bettering cooling when I need most...sitting in traffic our putting along on the trail when RPMs are low
- Ability to shut down the fan for water crossings
- Faster warming of the engine in cold temps
- Slight increase in HP
- 2 speed fan for when the low setting isn't cutting it

I did some research and found that the electric fan from a Ford Taurus was a popular swap due to the impressive amount of air it moved. The problem with the Taurus fan was that you also had to purchase/design a relay system that could run you an extra $50-100. Did I mention electronics were one of my weaknesses! I came across another posting about a guy who had been running a fan from a Volvo sedan. It was the same exact motor that pushed the Taurus fan but Volvo designed a well built 2 spd relay switch with their fans. I set off for the junkyard and scored a fan and relay switch for under $20!

With the new fan in hand, I held it up to my radiator and found it to be a perfect fit. At that point I designed a fan shroud that was about an inch deep.

With everything in place, I've still got a couple of inches between the fan motor and the water pump pulley....I love it when a plan comes together!

[Dirt Claude]

Coolant system is about done, just need to install the upper and lower hoses and make some new support brackets that attach to the sides of the radiator.

Fan shroud....

[Patrolman]

Very nice work on the fan and shroud. I hope to do my engine swap soon on my truck. Unsure the mechanical fan will work, so I picked up a Taurus fan already. I may have to go for the Volvo fan though. That is slick!

[74fj40]

Brad Fj40 is looking really good! Some of my best memories are building my fj40 with my dad. I think you and I have met once before? At wheeler lake with you wife and kids? 4 or 5 years ago?

Anyways, keep up the great work!

[Chris]

Yep, I remember that one and you both were there.

[Brad]

I was thinking of asking for a update since I dropped by to help sort the electrical.