Errols FJ40 Build Thread

[V28VX37]

Yeah awesome build, love the rollbars and colour!

[feistl]

Cheers guys, Yeah its coming along slowly. Partly lost motivation once i got it running but got a couple of things done.

Now for the dash section... I was going to wait till it was done before posting pics but ive hit a couple of issues so ill show where i am up to now.

So one of the problems with the FJ body was the previous owner had hacked up the dash pretty bad... Here is the original dash panel and what it looks like underneath






As you can see, there is a huge amount of material missing which caused two issues, firstly the dash was quite weak and soft and secondly there was no easy way of mounting switches etc.
So i designed a "two phase" system to strengthen and support the original dash section, and allow for any design/layout of buttons.

You can see the 2 sections in the pic below (A backing plate and a cover plate). The backing plate has screw threads and nuts welded to the back, the screw threads go through the dash and get tightened on and the nuts provide somewhere for the cover plate to screw into.





I did have to cut out a little more of the dash than i would have liked, but with the backing plate the dash is MUCH stronger.







Throw a bit of paint on them...



Install the radios...






The install the cover/top plate. Now the plan was originally to cover the top panel in vinyl with foam backing, but unfortunately the vinyl pealed away from the foam backing and looked terrible, so for the moment we've just gone with black paint. However we do have some better high quality material on order from Italy, so hopefully in a few weeks we can fix it up. Still looks pretty good in black.





Note: In the pic above we've changed the normal "Off/Low/Medium/High" fan speed switches for an infinitely adjustable POT, however we still need to find/make a custom switch for the A/C temperature knob on the very left. Those gauges also came with the FJ40 from Adelaide, we may swap them to better quality gauges down the track but they do the job for the moment.

We also got a Digital Compass/Weather station from Ebay and mounted it into the glove box compartment lid...



And also painted the cluster surround black (instead of the stock silver)



And finally installed a genuine suede Momo Steering Wheel. I was lucky enough to get this on ebay as a "Factory Second" because the yellow paint in the momo logo had started peeling, saving me $240 (Was $160 down from $400).
The main reason i went with this steering wheel is it has 2 buttons which are easily reachable while steering. When in 2WD mode those buttons activate the horn, however when in 4WD mode they activate a brake line locker. So essentially it makes hill starts really easy and controllable rather than using the handbrake.



Here is the dash as it looks currently... (Little bit blurry)


Now the panel on the very right still needs to be fixed up. We are just experimenting with layout options at the moment, but it will hold the LPG gauge, 4WD/Park Brake/Brake Fluid Level lights plus a number of misc switches. Once complete it will get the same black material finish.

Next jobs will be the vinyl for the floor, the centre console and the aircon mounts, then finally the rear section.

Also, sorry for the amount of pictures in the thread, noticed how many there are when loading this thread up.

Cheers

[XUV]

I would click 'like' but a will have to do.

[Pickles]

Continued brilliant work.
Pickles.

[Micks]

You haven't left too many stones unturned in this rebuild & bloody too!!

[Woodchukka]

Never have to many pictures. Very nice job on the dash. Looking good.

[feistl]

Thanks for the comment guys

Small update, had to pull the gearbox out of my daily driver so didn't get as much time on the FJ40 as i would have liked but continued working on the interior stuff. Started by making up some plywood (Marine grade/waterproof) sections to surround the fuel tank.









Then covered/glued the floor/plywood with some closed cell foam. The glue worked really well, and the foam is nice and soft (And water proof).











Then put the vinyl floor material in place. Heated it up in the sun to make it nice and soft, just had some weights to hold it in place while it cools down. Hopefully it holds its shape reasonably well. I would have liked a better fitting material, but theres just nothing on the market that works brilliantly. I will be adding some floor mats so hopefully it covers any imperfections.



Also, here is a slightly better pic of the dash.



Also spent some time rewiring the seats... Originally i had decided to let the seats have permanent 12v so you can move without having the ignition on, however i forgot to take into account the seat heaters use the same 12v feed, so potentially you could leave the seat heaters on and flatten the battery. So a bit of time spent adding an ignition feed/relays to make it work correctly.

Next thing ill be focusing on is getting the vinyl floor sorted, install the seats, heat and bend the gearstick (As the angle is wrong), put the rubber boot on for the gearbox/twin shifters. Also need to sort out the fuel filler neck and install a brake biasing valve. Once that is done ill get the engine/gas tuned and it should be ready for some 4WD .

Cheers

[mjrandom]

Brilliant stuff! Thanks for the update, really enjoying this.

[VTClubSprtR8]

Hothouse Green, is the colour yeah?

[feistl]

Brilliant stuff! Thanks for the update, really enjoying this.

No problems .

I should really get around to posting a build thread of the VX, that was an insane amount of hours over a 2.5 year period as opposed to just 3 months spent on the FJ.

Hothouse Green, is the colour yeah?

Yep, good eye.

Its actually a really good looking colour, especially when freshly painted.

[Blue]

No problems .

I should really get around to posting a build thread of the VX, that was an insane amount of hours over a 2.5 year period as opposed to just 3 months spent on the FJ

This

[Micks]

Only have one complaint with your build...Can of WD40 mounted next to your extinguisher is a little unorthodox don't you think?

[feistl]

Its one of the essential 3 items in the car... WD40 for when it doesn't move but should, Tape for when it is moving when it shouldn't and an extinguisher for when shits on fire that shouldn't be

Quick update, started to trim down the vinyl floor mat last night. The photos make the ripples look much worse than they actually are.

[feistl]

Update: Cut out the vinyl and installed the gear stick and twin shifters, the gear stick needs to be lengthened and bent but it'll do for now.







Then installed a brake biasing valve (Had to get the brake line cut with new ends fitted). When we upgraded the rear from drum to disk it through the balance out, was scary driving as effectively only had rear brakes.



Then was finally ready to reinstall the seats.













So next stage tonight will be to bleed and adjust the brakes, put some fuel in the tank and clean out the rear. Then on Friday ill drop it off to get the engine/LPG tuned. Then if everything goes according to plan ill take it out for a test 4WD session on Sunday.

Probably wont do much more work on it for a while as i still have to fix the T56 for my VY daily, remove and fix the tailshaft for the VX, change an engine in a mates car, help another mate install a bunch of stuff on his prado as well as cleaning up the garage . However at least its at a driveable/usable stage so will try and use it off road as much as possible before the tracks close for the season.

Cheers

[Woodchukka]

FJ is looking good. Should be a lot of fun to drive.