Pop Alexandra
New Member
Wow! I can't wait to see the cruiser when it's ready.
ORA's 1970 Toyota FJ55 Land Cruiser project
- Thread starter Curtis Guise
- Start date
We finally finished welding the new bearing ends on the rear end housing last night. This is the Ford 9" housing that is trussed and has Currie 35 spline axles with 5/8" studs. I had to update the bearing ends to work with the rear disk brake kit that has an integrated parking brake.
The third member is a Yukon modular case with 4.88 gears and an Eaton true-Trac limited slip.
The third member is a Yukon modular case with 4.88 gears and an Eaton true-Trac limited slip.
I've been quiet for the last couple months because I've been editing this years Dezert People 14 DVD I am releasing next month.
Since my last post we got the front knuckle ball ends machined to fit in the Ruff Stuff housing (thanks to Custom Tube Works in Vista).
I also received my harnesses, front seats and rear seat from MasterCraft that I posted about ordering awhile ago. And I just received my four FOX bump stops, 2" x 2.5" travel. And the rear 2.5" x 10" travel rear shocks. Still waiting on the front coil-over shocks. Those might be here by the end of next month. The others came sooner than I expected so we'll see.
Here's the trailer for Dezert People 14 you guys can check out. Hopefully I'm not releasing DP20+ by the time I get the FJ55 running... LOL
Since my last post we got the front knuckle ball ends machined to fit in the Ruff Stuff housing (thanks to Custom Tube Works in Vista).
I also received my harnesses, front seats and rear seat from MasterCraft that I posted about ordering awhile ago. And I just received my four FOX bump stops, 2" x 2.5" travel. And the rear 2.5" x 10" travel rear shocks. Still waiting on the front coil-over shocks. Those might be here by the end of next month. The others came sooner than I expected so we'll see.
Here's the trailer for Dezert People 14 you guys can check out. Hopefully I'm not releasing DP20+ by the time I get the FJ55 running... LOL
I spent a couple hours beadblasting some of the FJ55 parts and painted them all with Steel-It.
I just got my 80 series Land Cruiser 9.5” third member back from Pro Gear in San Diego. I had them setup the 4.88 gears I got from Nitro Gear. This third member is out of a FJ80 that was imported from Japan and has a factory limited slip that wasn’t offered in the US.
Another small update... I got a set of the new 35" BFG KM3 tires a few weeks ago from Offroad Tire Guy. I need to mount them on my wheels now. I also got around to finally pulling the 2F out of the pig on Saturday and put it up for sale (it sold already). Last but not least I installed a 1.5" body lift that I bought from 4crawler.com. It was easier just to buy them from him rather than trying to find a lathe I could use to make my own. I put the body lift on it for more room all around for the suspension, shocks, engine, bigger gas tank, etc...
In the next 2-3 weeks I'm taking it to a friends shop to have the cage built and maybe some other things like mounting the seats and engine/trans. As much as I want to do all of that myself I know it won't happen anytime soon and I was able to work out a good deal with him. It's already been sitting in my garage for two and a half years!
In the next 2-3 weeks I'm taking it to a friends shop to have the cage built and maybe some other things like mounting the seats and engine/trans. As much as I want to do all of that myself I know it won't happen anytime soon and I was able to work out a good deal with him. It's already been sitting in my garage for two and a half years!
Here are the latest updates. I cleaned up the FZJ80 front axle steering knuckles and had my friend TIG weld the threaded bungs for the Slee Offroad steering arms. He also got out two broken 10mm bolts without damaging the threads. I'm painting these with Steel-It.
I also started removing the old rubber bushings in the 63" Chevy leaf springs (PITA job...) so I can use urethane bushings and the bolts that came with the Ruff Stuff swap kit. These springs are later model ones that have a bigger eye on one end so I had to call Deaver Spring and get larger 2" OD bushings and had Jonny at Richer Racing make me a couple of custom sized sleeves that I needed. I started by drilling through the rubber until the center sleeve fell out. Then used a chisel to get the metal sleeve out.
I also started removing the old rubber bushings in the 63" Chevy leaf springs (PITA job...) so I can use urethane bushings and the bolts that came with the Ruff Stuff swap kit. These springs are later model ones that have a bigger eye on one end so I had to call Deaver Spring and get larger 2" OD bushings and had Jonny at Richer Racing make me a couple of custom sized sleeves that I needed. I started by drilling through the rubber until the center sleeve fell out. Then used a chisel to get the metal sleeve out.
In September I took the FJ55 over to SRD (Strategic Racing Designs) in Vista, CA who is a sponsor on my latest Dezert People 15 offroad racing video.. They started building the cage and will also mount the seats. I might also have them mount the engine and transmission.
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More cage photos.
