BJ74, UPGRADE!!

[Fakey]

Thought Id start a new build thread seeing this project has taken a different turn from what I had originally planned. (was supposed to be my shiny but the engine shit itself).

Now its in for a big over haul
So heres the plan so far: V8, 5speed, Wide coiled diffs, FRP top cut down to single cab, EXO cage an maybe internal aswell, PTO winch moved back for better approach angle.

Heres the original thread I started when I got the truckhttp://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=21408&hilit=+bj74+pos

When I got it


Did a few things to it, made a snorkel, fitted some 33"s, then a 2" lift kit, sliders an 35"s


FRP chop



Pulled the leaves, an front diff out an started mounting the patrol front diff an coil set up, using a empty housing



Still working on the rear mounts

Sat a 35" about where itll sit with hubs on, tyre atleast 100mm furthur out than it used to


10.10.10
Had a busy weekend empty housing out, complete diff in, 99% of welding done on front end

control arm mount 2.0




Panhard rod, (80 series with 3/4" hiem for adjustment.)


Rear patrol springs up front, Fronts were too short an fell out. Looking for some 80 rear springs thatll fit better





Went for a quick road test, oops no brakes

Wheel base is currently 105"looking to push the rear axle back around another 3" so itll sit more like in this pic


Also hoping to get final ride height up about another 2" from where it is but thatll wait till the engine swap an winch is done.

Rear diffs out now too, ready for some 80 series goodness


Ill edit the first post as work progresses, aiming to have it back on the road by end of november

[Fakey]

4 Link is half done Ive positioned the axle as far back as possible before itll hit the fuel tank. WB is about 108".

Stripped the 80 diff down to the hubs, housing an spring seats(thought they would be ok where they are but i need to move them in 25mm)


Put the 35s on the rear, to check clearance an axle positioning.

Cruiser porn


Took the day off cos work was quiet, Made up my lower links an brackets, then tacked it all in place to check how it all fits.Still have to make diff mounts for the upper links.


Sitting about 1" from full compression


Sitting where I hope ride height will end up


Upper links are 80 series lower trailing arms. Lower links are 44mm pipe with about 4mm wall, Inside that is another length of 34mm 4mm wall pipe with GQ patrol ends welded on. Should do the trick

16.10.10
Got all the diff mounts done an fully welded


Made some new heavy duty spring seats




With top links an x-member in place



Made new chassis spring seats out of recycled patrol front springs seats an put in a new x-member to strengthen them aswell as replace the two factory shock absorber x-members I cut out (Still a work in progress tho, will incorporate shock mounts into this aswell)


Sat the upper links in place so I can do some measuring/positioning before fully welding everything


Some flex testing

Guard clearance, what guard clearance

Sitting about an inch lower in the front than I want it but oh well still got v8 conversion to do


Got a bit carried away with the grinder today, went thru 11 cut off discs, why did I leave the plasma cutter at home

[Fakey]

Random rock slider pics, bit heavier than the last ones I made for this truck


Mounts (cheers rokhound for the Idea ) should be strong enough with some extra gussets


Tidied up the fibreglass top, ground it all flat. Then cut an folded a panel for the lower half out of 1.6mm panel steel (really easy to weld )

Also got a new 37" wrangler an alloy rim cheap as off trademe for a spare

This is how it sat when I pulled the engine an trans out, hiigh as fark

But springs have settled a bit now

Ill worry about ride height when the v8 is in

Rear doors capped an welded up

[You Get That]

Whoo hoo
Ive been waiting for this tread to come up. Good job keep the pics and info coming.

[sprey]

Am i allowed any sneak peaks ( look over the fence from van lines :p) gonna look bloody mean when your finished with it!

[Fakey]

Ive been waiting till Id made some progress an had some pics till I started a thread.

The block an heads are still at the engine reconditioners getting checked over an bored 40 thou OS.
Only things I found wrong was One broken compression ring, slight wear in the bores, an worn valve guides. Other than that its just getting a good freshen up an some shiny new bits

You wont see it at work much, Ill be doing this one mostly at home

[DMcCready]

Going to be watching this one for sure. Ive got a SWB sitting in the shed just waiting for coils and a V8!

What motor have you gone with?

[Fakey]

Going to be watching this one for sure. Ive got a SWB sitting in the shed just waiting for coils and a V8!

What motor have you gone with?

Just the good ol 350 chev . I already had it sitting in a 40 just waiting to be used. Its at the reconditioners getting bored out, new valve guides valves etc. Should get all the bits back by next weekend hopefully so I can get it all assembled an in place.

Big weekend ahead, got front the diff ready to go in, all mounting brackets are made an ready to be welded in so should have some pics of it rolling on the coiled front end by sunday night

[Fakey]

Busy weekend, new pics are up

[Pedro]

if i ever get around to getting a 70 this is one of the ideas for it, i was contemplating on using fox air shocks, probably need the sway bar to keep it o the road!!!

looking good though

Pedro

[turoa]

i was contemplating on using fox air shocks,

dont, they are dodgy as fark onroad

[cooksworld]

Looking good Been wondering what you were up to... collecting parts for some time and finally we have some photos! It's looking nice and w i d e... and seems like a fairly straight fwd conversion. Any problems mating the nissan components to toyota (i.e. steering joints etc)? I'm guessing you're keeping this on the road as opposed to a purpose built off-roader?

[Fakey]

Yip shes gona be pretty wide
No real problems making it fit so far. Front D/shaft is a bit too short but Ill wait till the 5 speed is in before I sort that out.
Steering wise the draglink balljoint is smaller than the 70series one. Ill be making a custom draglink anway. For now Ive just cut an welded the original one as it was 3" to long.
Brake lines should be pretty straight forward too.

[cooksworld]

Do you know if all 70 series have the same ball joint sizes? I brought a 70 series pitman arm hoping it might mate to the 60 series stuff but the 60 series ball joint's are way bigger... I also think the 70 series one i've got lying around is meatier than the one in your photos. Someone might know about the ball joint sizes but yr welcome to try it.

[Fakey]

Ive had 3 70 series p/steer boxes including the one on this cruiser, an they've all had the same pitman arms with the same sized hole in them, which I think is the same size as the 60 ones. You may have a prado 70 series one which are shorter an a bit stronger looking.

[cooksworld]

Ive had 3 70 series p/steer boxes including the one on this cruiser, an they've all had the same pitman arms with the same sized hole in them, which I think is the same size as the 60 ones. You may have a prado 70 series one which are shorter an a bit stronger looking.

Yeah I guess it could have been - not really sure about the different models in the 70 series range. If you want to sell one of the pitman arms let me know cause I still need to swap mine at some stage for a flatter one. 021 1746465

[cooksworld]

Here's the one I've got in case it's different:

{edit} just removed the pictures as they were taking up too much space on the page {/edit}

Thought it was flatter!

[Fakey]

Got most of the 4 link tacked in place pics are on the 1st page

[DMcCready]

cool to see that you are going with the 4 link for the rear rather than just using trailing arms

[Fakey]

cool to see that you are going with the 4 link for the rear rather than just using trailing arms

Yeah its a pretty basic setup, should be pretty flexible. Once Ive got it up an running Ill look at putting a 3 link in the front with some longer shocks. The fronts pretty stiff with the patrol trailing arm set up. An from what Ive seen the arms are a bit prone to bending. But thats not high on the priorities list at this stage

[Fakey]

Bump...more 4 link pics up

[Heath]

In the pic the uppers look shorter then the lowers, when they cycle down will they pull the pinion angle down (point to the ground)? I guess one side will be up and the other down rather then them both dropping (maybe only when bouncing).

Might just be the angle of the pic though. Just a thought.

Looks good though, keep it up.

[MNC]

In the pic the uppers look shorter then the lowers, when they cycle down will they pull the pinion angle down (point to the ground)? I guess one side will be up and the other down rather then them both dropping (maybe only when bouncing).

Might just be the angle of the pic though. Just a thought.

Looks good though, keep it up.

A lot of the stuff I read on Pirate recommended top links should be between 70% - 75% of length of the bottom links. Have seen some of the big comp trucks in USA and Aus with tops as long as bottoms and they also seam to work well.

Have you run numbers through the 4 link calculator Fakey?

Nice work you are doing. Looks like tidy long lasting mods.

[Fakey]

Ive been waiting for this debate to start up
As you said Mnc Ive read alot of the american forums an the main thing I picked up was that the upper links were about 70% of the length of the lowers. Mine are just over 75% of the length of the lowers.
The most important thing to keep the pinion angle correct is the vertical seperation of the front ends as far as I can see.

I hadnt put any numbers into the calculator until I had it all sitting in this morning, but I ran out of time cos I had to fly up to new plymouth for a wedding.

The only thing I have yet to weld in/position properly is the front cross member that holds the front of the upper links, controling the vertical seperation.
Its just sitting in place in the pics. Ill have a good look at the calculator before I weld it in when I get back to wellington tomorrow. That x-member can be flipped up the other way or new holes redrilled to fine tune if need be.

[Fakey]

Got carried away with guard clearanes today
Also made chassis mounts for rock sliders, an started making the sliders, but camera battery was flat by then.
engine an trans out tomorrow, gotta love a long weekend

[Fakey]

Got sliders finished and on an exo started. Also got my block back from the reconditioners an assembled the short block ( still waiting on the heads ). Will hopefully have the engine an box in this weekend No pics yet but will take some this weekend

[turoa]

Just looking at all the pics on the first page..... Badasss! looks sick as. Now you just need a set of 37" treps

[skid]

Just looking at all the pics on the first page..... Badasss! looks sick as. Now you just need a set of 37" treps

no way he needs bigger tahs than that

the bloody roofline is the same height as some of the midsize trucks he works on

we're talking something like 2.1 - 2.4 metres high

[Fakey]

It makes the 37" wrangler I bought for a spare look dam small at the height its at with no engine or box. Once its got a heavy ass 350 in it an full exo itll be back down closer to where i want it At ride height with the 13bt it only just scraped out of my 2.1m garage door on near flat 30"s without exo:lol:

[Fakey]

More pics on 1st page .Didnt get the heads back from the reconditioners yesterday like I was told I would So couldnt assemble the engine properly . Got a few more things done tho.
I didnt like the main hoop id bent up so took that off again to redo it . But did get the lower half of the back cab panel pretty much done last night .
Todays mission sort out a few small rust patches in the floor then start putting manual pedals an clutch mast in.