Figured it was time to start a build thread so I could keep track and get advice from all ya'll And FYI I am a poor collage student so this is gonna be slow and cheap


Here's the rig right now



As you can see, paint is needed

Engine bay




Only mods here are bosch spark plug (I know I know flame on but they work great ) and a specter drop in high flow air filter. I would like to neaten up the snarl of hoses and wires in the near future. Any idea welcome.

Here is the interior

My Skully


My tac


Here be my highlift mount and rear speakers

All the speaker mounting components and the wires in the panels were removed when I got it, so I went redneck and mounted them on the roll bar


Poor mans sub (Aka thrift store bought home theater sub) wired into my amp


And finally I remove the passenger rear seat for storage space and room for highlift


So.... Future plans.... bumper, paint, sliders, Zuk, truetrac or locker in the back, and if I somehow get the cash.... 31s and 4.88's
thoughts, Idea's, tips tricks, rants raves..... It's all good I just wanna do whats good for my runner

 

looks close to mine.

first question how bad is the back sagging? its hard to tell from the picture.

 

I have 11in from the lip of rim to fender and like 2 1/2in between bump stops. Looking at 12in 125lb coils for the zuk since i would prefer not to lift it.

 

Ok I know a retired machinist who will help me build a bumper. So the question is, what style bumper do you guys think should I go for?

 

personally im a fan of plate bumpers...kind of like a warn winch bumper...but smaller and tighter to the body,

 

^^^^^x2
i like plate bumpers also

 

That a nice rig! And I agree on the warn bumper, plus if somehow you get the money you will already have a spot for the winch!

 

Thats true! a winch would rock so low profile plate bumper sounds like the winner?
Should I put a small brush guard portion on top or no?

 

Hmmmm...not sure how that would look. Never seen one!

 

Maybe sorta like this but more low profile

 

Nope not a real one just the one on my 4runner!



Had to cut the bolts (crappy cell phone pics)


Finally got it off and used some of this


to get rid of this


And make it look like this!


And now back on the rig so no one's the wiser


I do need to get new gaskets, but i used high temp sealer on the old ones so they should last a while longer
The benefits thus far seem to be a deeper more rumbly exhaust note (not much but hey every little bit helps) Quicker throttle response, and a tiny tiny bit more oomph.
Over I'm quite pleased with the results

 

Well I found a great deal on mobile 1 synthetic oil (costco rocks) so I put some of that in. Amazing difference on a cold winter morning, no more sluggish start. Also got a bottle of lucas oil stabilizer, I would highly recommend it. Really quiets the engine and just generally smooths things out. While I was already in there, I decided to change out the Bosch spark plugs for NGK's. Haven't noticed much difference yet, but from the deposits on the Bosch's it was obvious they were a tad hot

lastly I went about finding a tap I was hearing at idle. Took the valve cover off and checked the valve clearances. Apparently last time i went through I missed them I missed the cylinder 4 intake valve It was at 0.10 instead of 0.08, So problem solved.

Also some old info for me, but I keep forgetting to post it. anyhow, Talked to the PO and found out that the entire engine was replaced less than 30,000 miles ago was wondering why the valvetrain was so shiny

Anyhow that's the update, and here is the question. My dad has a 76 FJ 40 and he wants it to be more road friendly. It has 4.10's in it now, anybody know where to get the 3.70's or similar that came out in the later years?

 

anything new?

 

no new mods unfortunately it got t-boned so we spent time repairing it, and between work and getting my supra up and running I haven't had time to do much else.