Troyoda Resto FJ40

[FreshSeaBass]

Kicking off this thread which is about a year and a half past-due.

I got a text message from one of my best friends with no context... Except for that this was now his?


Pull up to the farm to find...


And a rabbit hole was born...

 

[FreshSeaBass]

My buddy wanted only a few things, to learn how to restore/work on cars, learn to do some fabrication, and get this thing safely driving....

If only it were that simple


Rear end was the first to come out, lots of seized fasteners!


Front Axle out


Topless! Woohoo!

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Doors.... SOLD!

Not sure I would've elected for this, but I obliged!



Starting to get down to the nuts and bolts



"So anyways, I started blasting"







Glad I wasn't the one blasting

The Frame was toast, so Aqualu supplied a fully boxed/sealed frame to replace.

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Small parts looking like new!
Tons of neglect, so all of the small bits get replaced with brand new...



Ooooooohhhhh

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Class is in session.

Very rewarding teaching these things and sharing the experience with other people


Meanwhille.... New bearings, solid collar, shims, pinion flange, pinion seal, oil slinger, and my first time setting up a 9.5" set.




New bearing races in the Front knuckle parts.



Align your part numbers to make parts referencing easier in the future!

Knuckles are ready for hub assemblies!



The table of parts is shrinking in size!

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Cab Prepped for paint and dropped onto the frame. Fresh Body Mounts.

*ZIP TIES WERE IMMEDIATELY REPLACED WITH RATCHET STRAPS*

 

[FreshSeaBass]

New thrust washers for the diffs showed up and the rear end went together so that we could get ourselves a rolling chassis.



Leafs bolted up and it sits on its own weight out back!

Zerk fittings in the new spring hangers, Old Man Emu Leaf pack which will likely need one leaf pulled.




McLovin' it...

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Waiting on new cone washers and wheel studs to show up any day!


Steering is sitting/waiting to go on, one final fit-up for everything before we slide this housing in place.

Going to paint on a rolling chassis, then back to the barn for Phase 2.

This is all super condensed, but we also have powertrain/drivetrain ready to go in!


Crate Cummins R2.8L TD + H55 5Speed Transmission should be a match made in heaven when done.

 

[4runner DOA]

Badass

 

[Stairgod]

Holy shit.

 

[4WALKER]

I'll take one while you're at it. Nice work

 

[FreshSeaBass]

This is my 4th experience (and so far my favorite) with the Toy Mini Truck/ Landcruiser axle housings.

Zoomed right through to getting the rotors installed on to the hub assembly.

Unfortunately the retention bolts didn't line up.... not a huge deal

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Everything here went together as smooth as possible. I goofed and ended up damaging the inner hub seal, so I'll order replacements and pop those in when going for final steering preload set.




Steering arm and lower trunnion bearing cap on, tightened down with thick/thin shim combo on all 4 bearings. Preloading it this way until we go to set steer.

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Hub/rotor assembly on, bearings in, lock nut hand snug and locked,

Going to replace the lockout hub studs with keyed ARP, didn't like the thread damage on the OG studs....





Holy frig, it's together

 

[FreshSeaBass]

The 'trail recovery panhard'

In 6 hours, we got it all buttoned up and back to 4 wheels, leafs hung, wheels on, nice.

Just in time to throw on a trailer tomorrow and drop back off for final paint!
Phase two will be finalizing all of the running gear, mating R2.8. + Bell housing adapter + Clutch + H55 and moving it into position for motor mounts, transmission cross member, and driveshaft measurements.

 

[thezentree]

Well this is cool.

 

[Nicklovin]

Hot damn

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Getting caught up. Winched the roller up onto a uhaul trailer and hauled it down to final paint.


Back in its new livery.




This past weekend we worked to get the rollbar in and work out what I need to do for it to bolt in. Definitely not a plug-and play solution.


Time to get to work on this thing after taking a break from phase 1.

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Time for an Update. Over the last year I worked on getting the R2.8 mated to the H55, got the clutch all pieced together to match with the correct flywheel that we needed. It has all been fully installed and torqued while out of the truck.

R2.8 + H55 is HEAVY. Linkage on the H55 was kind of tricky to get it all set up, but it all ironed itself out. I've really enjoyed teaching my buddy along the way and it has helped me slow down and explain all the things which ultimately means we get several opportunities to check and re-check then check again.


Things to note. The exhaust on the R2.8 that comes with the DPF system does not have the room to accommodate the driveshaft at the angle that it wants/needs to be at. Switching up our engine mounts help with this, but we ultimately decided to use the blank exhaust flange that comes with this to aid in fitment by making a completely be-spoke downpipe.

 

[FreshSeaBass]

Starting out with the stock Cummins engine mounts, we got close, but it required heavy modification of the bent steel mount.

We made some generous cuts to the floor-pan for fitment, but symmetrical enough to make some nice trans-tunnel plates and make it all look clean. Fitment to the firewall is better than the fitment of my J90 Cruiser, so I figure that is probably a good place to keep it at. We will probably use some sort of thermal blanket material to keep the firewall temps as cool as we can.

Note the angle of the Turbo inlet, it will need to be clocked for some other goodies.






Clean lines for an easy transmission tunnel cover plate.