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LJ70 Build Thread!
- Thread starter Ben
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
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- 6,058
- Country Flag
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
Finishing Frankenzuke winch bar & 4WD Show.
OK firstly the house......................................
Havent done a huge amount, but one of the nights last week I moved back into my room. Still no carpet or curtains so I had to hang a bed sheet up as a makeshift curtain.
Needed to build the shelf and hanging rail in my wardrobe.
Built a frame first out of 2x1.
Followed by the shelf.
Followed by the hanging rail.
Thats all I've done this week on the house as I gave myself the weekend off, but after work this week I will crack on and get the spare room finished.
The glazer came this week and changed the glass in my room and the spare room from 2mm to 6mm. This week the window tinter is coming to tint the windows for us.
Anyway.................................
Enough of all this building work nonsense back to cars!
I went to pick up the new coil pack for the Astra and on the way the bloody alternator belt snapped.
I put the battery on charge as I'd had to drive without an alternator for a while so was worried I might have flattened the battery.
Cover off.
Comparing the old coil pack with the new one.
Had a peak at the cambelt.
Thinking I will change that next and the mechanic at work said he will help me, says it will take about 3 hours.
Since fitting the new coil pack the Astra seems perfect now, no warning lights and it has got a lot more power which is great.
Frankenzuke next......................
This is the winch my boss gave me for the front bar I've been making.
Only 9500 LB but the car cant weigh much more than a ton so it should be plenty big enough.
I painted the winch bar black last week but it hadnt come out very smooth so I got some of this.
And gave the bar 10 coats.
I then sanded it down with wet n dry paper until it was as smooth as glass.
Then gave it a load more coats of black enamel.
Next I could look at fitting the winch.
Supposedly a reasonable quality winch but made in China like all the other low mount winches on the market.
We wont be using any of these bits.
The first problem was the way in which the winch would mount in the bar, the free spool lever would be in the wrong place and even if it was on top of the winch it wouldn't be accessible inside the bar anyway.
I sat the winch inside the bar.
I worked out which way to rotate the gearbox and unbolted it and turned it round.
Sadly I couldn't get it to rotate to perfectly 90 degrees to the fairlead as the bolts weren't spaced properly for this.
I needed to cut the end off the free spool lever.
I bent up some 4mm steel.
I welded a piece of 10mm round bar to the piece I bent up and drilled a hole in the winch bar for it to come through.
Sadly as the gearbox on the winch wasnt square/90 degrees to the fairlead I had to make the hole bigger than I'd have liked to get enough movement to turn the free spool in and out.
If the gearbox on the winch had rotated to 90 degrees to the fairlead it would have been much neater as I could have had an 11mm hole for the 10mm solid bar. As this wasnt possible I had to find a way to cover the enlarged hole, so I found a track rod end rubber that looked perfect for the job.
Next I needed to make the nob which would control the free spool when turned.
Solid alluminium bar.
Cut a piece off.
Marked and drilled some holes in it.
I also drilled a hole in the end of the 10mm thick bar.
Test fit.
I wanted to shape the edges a bit to make it a bit more ergunomic.
I found the finger linisher worked best.
I got a suitable stainless steel M5 bolt and tap.
And tapped one side of the hole.
Bolt in.
So this is all the bits for the extended free spool lever.
I got all the cables ready to go from the winch to the albright style solenoid.
All the correct sized terminals were properly crimped on and then heat shrunk, and rubber boots sourced.
Got the earth attached first.
Winch bolted in position.
Got the piece that bolts to the winch fully welded and painted black.
And bolted it all in.
Got the other cables bolted on.
The standard hook has been swapped for a more fitting red one.
Next job was bolting the lights on to the winch bar.
We could then bolt the winch bar on.
Today I went to the 4wd show and like last year, I got a free ticket again.
Felt a bit weird going back to the property where I spent my first 3 months when I first arrived here just over a year ago. I did wonder if I would even be allowed on the property if my old boss was on the gate lilke he was last year, but he wasnt on the gate and I never saw him. Probably for the best after he was so rude to me last time I saw him.
Anyway.........................
A bit overcast and cloudy today.
Nice 40! It looks shorter than they normally do and the back side windows look like theyve been cut in half.
I thought this comp truck looked awesome!
I was very surprised to see the worst winch ever bolted to the front of it. A piece of shit Tigerz11 one!
I got talking to the guys who were with the truck and I asked why theyd used such a poor winch and the guy was telling me they already had it and all it actually does is winch the chassis down to the axle to compress the front springs when on really tippy crazy angles!
They dont have a winch for recovery because the comps they enter if you need recovering its done with a manitou or and excavator!
They entered Tough Truck last year and are hoping to win it this year.
Tough Truck is next month and if everything goes to plan I will be there for free and will get closer to the action than any spectator is allowed to!
Dont want to say too much just yet encase is doesnt come off, but it is very exciting!
Even if I'm not involved in that particular role I will still be going so expect lots of pics and videos of the action.
Anyway...........................back to the show.
Spotted my bosses stand and the team he had with him looked very busy which was good.
A few random pics.
TJM.
Enough lights?
ARB.
Suzuki.
6x6 70 series.
My local 4wd clubs stand.
I liked how they had displayed this Disco. A pair of huge ramps and then another one on top of the one.
Finally got to have a look at some Oz Tents in the flesh.
The RV1 would be big enough for 2 people, but I'm thinking maybe the RV2 or 3 might be a better size.
They also had the Oz tent jet tent bunker.
They also had some cool military vehicles on display.
I didnt stay too long as its pretty much the same every year, but I saw a lot of people I know which was good and it was nice to support the industry that employs me.
Need to crack on and finish the building work this week and do some work on Michaels new 80 then we can start on LJ.
Got a 3 day trip coming up to an area in the High Country called Crooked River. I was reading some where that the track crosses the river 54 times!
Will be fun!
OK firstly the house......................................
Havent done a huge amount, but one of the nights last week I moved back into my room. Still no carpet or curtains so I had to hang a bed sheet up as a makeshift curtain.
Needed to build the shelf and hanging rail in my wardrobe.
Built a frame first out of 2x1.
Followed by the shelf.
Followed by the hanging rail.
Thats all I've done this week on the house as I gave myself the weekend off, but after work this week I will crack on and get the spare room finished.
The glazer came this week and changed the glass in my room and the spare room from 2mm to 6mm. This week the window tinter is coming to tint the windows for us.
Anyway.................................
Enough of all this building work nonsense back to cars!
I went to pick up the new coil pack for the Astra and on the way the bloody alternator belt snapped.
I put the battery on charge as I'd had to drive without an alternator for a while so was worried I might have flattened the battery.
Cover off.
Comparing the old coil pack with the new one.
Had a peak at the cambelt.
Thinking I will change that next and the mechanic at work said he will help me, says it will take about 3 hours.
Since fitting the new coil pack the Astra seems perfect now, no warning lights and it has got a lot more power which is great.
Frankenzuke next......................
This is the winch my boss gave me for the front bar I've been making.
Only 9500 LB but the car cant weigh much more than a ton so it should be plenty big enough.
I painted the winch bar black last week but it hadnt come out very smooth so I got some of this.
And gave the bar 10 coats.
I then sanded it down with wet n dry paper until it was as smooth as glass.
Then gave it a load more coats of black enamel.
Next I could look at fitting the winch.
Supposedly a reasonable quality winch but made in China like all the other low mount winches on the market.
We wont be using any of these bits.
The first problem was the way in which the winch would mount in the bar, the free spool lever would be in the wrong place and even if it was on top of the winch it wouldn't be accessible inside the bar anyway.
I sat the winch inside the bar.
I worked out which way to rotate the gearbox and unbolted it and turned it round.
Sadly I couldn't get it to rotate to perfectly 90 degrees to the fairlead as the bolts weren't spaced properly for this.
I needed to cut the end off the free spool lever.
I bent up some 4mm steel.
I welded a piece of 10mm round bar to the piece I bent up and drilled a hole in the winch bar for it to come through.
Sadly as the gearbox on the winch wasnt square/90 degrees to the fairlead I had to make the hole bigger than I'd have liked to get enough movement to turn the free spool in and out.
If the gearbox on the winch had rotated to 90 degrees to the fairlead it would have been much neater as I could have had an 11mm hole for the 10mm solid bar. As this wasnt possible I had to find a way to cover the enlarged hole, so I found a track rod end rubber that looked perfect for the job.
Next I needed to make the nob which would control the free spool when turned.
Solid alluminium bar.
Cut a piece off.
Marked and drilled some holes in it.
I also drilled a hole in the end of the 10mm thick bar.
Test fit.
I wanted to shape the edges a bit to make it a bit more ergunomic.
I found the finger linisher worked best.
I got a suitable stainless steel M5 bolt and tap.
And tapped one side of the hole.
Bolt in.
So this is all the bits for the extended free spool lever.
I got all the cables ready to go from the winch to the albright style solenoid.
All the correct sized terminals were properly crimped on and then heat shrunk, and rubber boots sourced.
Got the earth attached first.
Winch bolted in position.
Got the piece that bolts to the winch fully welded and painted black.
And bolted it all in.
Got the other cables bolted on.
The standard hook has been swapped for a more fitting red one.
Next job was bolting the lights on to the winch bar.
We could then bolt the winch bar on.
Today I went to the 4wd show and like last year, I got a free ticket again.
Felt a bit weird going back to the property where I spent my first 3 months when I first arrived here just over a year ago. I did wonder if I would even be allowed on the property if my old boss was on the gate lilke he was last year, but he wasnt on the gate and I never saw him. Probably for the best after he was so rude to me last time I saw him.
Anyway.........................
A bit overcast and cloudy today.
Nice 40! It looks shorter than they normally do and the back side windows look like theyve been cut in half.
I thought this comp truck looked awesome!
I was very surprised to see the worst winch ever bolted to the front of it. A piece of shit Tigerz11 one!
I got talking to the guys who were with the truck and I asked why theyd used such a poor winch and the guy was telling me they already had it and all it actually does is winch the chassis down to the axle to compress the front springs when on really tippy crazy angles!
They dont have a winch for recovery because the comps they enter if you need recovering its done with a manitou or and excavator!
They entered Tough Truck last year and are hoping to win it this year.
Tough Truck is next month and if everything goes to plan I will be there for free and will get closer to the action than any spectator is allowed to!
Dont want to say too much just yet encase is doesnt come off, but it is very exciting!
Even if I'm not involved in that particular role I will still be going so expect lots of pics and videos of the action.
Anyway...........................back to the show.
Spotted my bosses stand and the team he had with him looked very busy which was good.
A few random pics.
TJM.
Enough lights?
ARB.
Suzuki.
6x6 70 series.
My local 4wd clubs stand.
I liked how they had displayed this Disco. A pair of huge ramps and then another one on top of the one.
Finally got to have a look at some Oz Tents in the flesh.
The RV1 would be big enough for 2 people, but I'm thinking maybe the RV2 or 3 might be a better size.
They also had the Oz tent jet tent bunker.
They also had some cool military vehicles on display.
I didnt stay too long as its pretty much the same every year, but I saw a lot of people I know which was good and it was nice to support the industry that employs me.
Need to crack on and finish the building work this week and do some work on Michaels new 80 then we can start on LJ.
Got a 3 day trip coming up to an area in the High Country called Crooked River. I was reading some where that the track crosses the river 54 times!
Will be fun!
Paddler Ed
Well-Known Member
Looks good once again Ben!
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Thanks Ed.
Not sure where my boss gets them from but if you put terminal boots into ebay.com.au it comes up with loads.
Not sure where my boss gets them from but if you put terminal boots into ebay.com.au it comes up with loads.
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 6,058
- Country Flag
I'm pleased with how the front bar looks on Frankenzuke.
But I realized the LED lights were too close to the bonnet and the bonnet wouldn't open and close without tilting them forward.
So we decided to move them forward.
I also gave the bar another coat of paint before refitting the lights.
I also fitted the brackets on the back of the winch bar. So its now got 6 bolts each side.
Time for a bit of flex testing.
Michael swung by after work and wanted me to make a bracket for the air manifold in his new 80.
I really need to concentrate less on getting the house finished for Michael and concentrate more on LJ so with that in mind tonight I made a start.
I removed the rear door. This is the replacement one I bought a few years ago that has quite a bit of rot in the bottom, so the plan is to cut all the rot out and weld new metal in. Also the bottom hinge needs fixing.
The other thing I want to do is cut the inside out and line it with aluminium and have a gas stove stored in there.
All loaded in the Astra ready for tomorrow after work.
So the plan is to get the rear door fixed, painted and modified.
Then I need to start designing and making my triple battery tray for under the bonnet which will then get sent off to be electro plated.
I need to order two awnings, one for the side of LJ and one for the rear. Then I can start making my roof rack.
Also need to do a list and start ordering all the bits I need for when we rewire LJ.
But I realized the LED lights were too close to the bonnet and the bonnet wouldn't open and close without tilting them forward.
So we decided to move them forward.
I also gave the bar another coat of paint before refitting the lights.
I also fitted the brackets on the back of the winch bar. So its now got 6 bolts each side.
Time for a bit of flex testing.
Michael swung by after work and wanted me to make a bracket for the air manifold in his new 80.
I really need to concentrate less on getting the house finished for Michael and concentrate more on LJ so with that in mind tonight I made a start.
I removed the rear door. This is the replacement one I bought a few years ago that has quite a bit of rot in the bottom, so the plan is to cut all the rot out and weld new metal in. Also the bottom hinge needs fixing.
The other thing I want to do is cut the inside out and line it with aluminium and have a gas stove stored in there.
All loaded in the Astra ready for tomorrow after work.
So the plan is to get the rear door fixed, painted and modified.
Then I need to start designing and making my triple battery tray for under the bonnet which will then get sent off to be electro plated.
I need to order two awnings, one for the side of LJ and one for the rear. Then I can start making my roof rack.
Also need to do a list and start ordering all the bits I need for when we rewire LJ.
Paddler Ed
Well-Known Member
Got the GF's parents over at the moment; he used to have access to a Jimny so we've been showing him the pics of Frankenzuke...
I need to find a set of driving lights for my 4Runner...
I need to find a set of driving lights for my 4Runner...
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
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Awesome.
I'm getting a light bar for the front of LJ.
Just finalizing my plans for this:
http://toughtruck.com.au/
Will be going Thursday to Monday by the looks of it.
Give me a shout if you feel like coming down Ed.
I'm getting a light bar for the front of LJ.
Just finalizing my plans for this:
http://toughtruck.com.au/
Will be going Thursday to Monday by the looks of it.
Give me a shout if you feel like coming down Ed.
Paddler Ed
Well-Known Member
I've just mentioned it to the boss... we'll see what we can do! At the moment she's working that weekend and will steal the car as she wants it to go at 5am... BUT she's keen so she might try to swap weekends with one of the others.
- Joined
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Few pics from my working week....................
(I've been doing heaps of other less interesting things like soldering up hundreds of bits for the super looms we make and sell, and making up diff breather kits and puncture repair kits but non of that seemed worthy of photos!)
I knocked up a couple of brackets out of some scrap alluminium.
The stuff came back from the electro platers.
So all the new trays that I've designed and built.
And the rock sliders for Michaels new 80 that I welded the checkered plate to. There now ready for powder coating.
And all the bits for the gate latches I've designed and built.
Got the first 9 assembled.
Frankenzuke is virtually finished but there were a couple of small issues to fix, one of which was the front brake hoses needed re-routing.
So I made some brackets.
And welded them onto the axle.
The short flexy hoses could then connect through the brackets to copper brake pipe.
As standard the Jimny has flexy brake hoses dropping down to each front brake caliper, but we wanted to run the flexies straight up from the diff so we re-routed the metal brake lines in the engine bay to bring them both down above the diff and ran new brake pipes along the axle.
I added another bracket to the chassis for the hoses to come down through as the engineer who is hopefully going to make Frankenzuke road legal wouldn't have liked to see the brake hoses not fixed properly to the chassis.
With the new brake hoses and pipes in place we could bleed the brakes and then put the wheels back on.
Got it outside to give it a wash.
Also washed all the dirt out of the inside of LJ's rear door but more on that shortly.
After the wash I applied a special polymer coating to the new paint work. This is so that if we decide to remove the graphics which are going on soon, in say a year or 2 it shouldn't fetch any of the paint off with them.
All done.
So Frankenzuke is getting the graphics put on any day now, then a new exhaust and then magazine photoshoot and filming for the Tv program!
OK LJ's rear door.........................
This is the rot! Its been cleaned back to bare metal and rust killed a few times but the rot keeps coming through, so like cancer the only real solution is to cut it out!
Cleaned back the areas with a flap wheel disc.
I unbolted the broken bottom hinge.
The bottom pin has sheared off.
So I cut the remaining pin.
That was as far as I got on Tuesday night after work. Tomorrow I can work on it 5pm till 9pm so I'm hoping to weld new metal in and repair the cut out rot, repair the bottom hinge and look at cutting the center of the door out to take the gas stove.
I'm going to order my awnings and then hopefully next week I can make my roof rack.
(I've been doing heaps of other less interesting things like soldering up hundreds of bits for the super looms we make and sell, and making up diff breather kits and puncture repair kits but non of that seemed worthy of photos!)
I knocked up a couple of brackets out of some scrap alluminium.
The stuff came back from the electro platers.
So all the new trays that I've designed and built.
And the rock sliders for Michaels new 80 that I welded the checkered plate to. There now ready for powder coating.
And all the bits for the gate latches I've designed and built.
Got the first 9 assembled.
Frankenzuke is virtually finished but there were a couple of small issues to fix, one of which was the front brake hoses needed re-routing.
So I made some brackets.
And welded them onto the axle.
The short flexy hoses could then connect through the brackets to copper brake pipe.
As standard the Jimny has flexy brake hoses dropping down to each front brake caliper, but we wanted to run the flexies straight up from the diff so we re-routed the metal brake lines in the engine bay to bring them both down above the diff and ran new brake pipes along the axle.
I added another bracket to the chassis for the hoses to come down through as the engineer who is hopefully going to make Frankenzuke road legal wouldn't have liked to see the brake hoses not fixed properly to the chassis.
With the new brake hoses and pipes in place we could bleed the brakes and then put the wheels back on.
Got it outside to give it a wash.
Also washed all the dirt out of the inside of LJ's rear door but more on that shortly.
After the wash I applied a special polymer coating to the new paint work. This is so that if we decide to remove the graphics which are going on soon, in say a year or 2 it shouldn't fetch any of the paint off with them.
All done.
So Frankenzuke is getting the graphics put on any day now, then a new exhaust and then magazine photoshoot and filming for the Tv program!
OK LJ's rear door.........................
This is the rot! Its been cleaned back to bare metal and rust killed a few times but the rot keeps coming through, so like cancer the only real solution is to cut it out!
Cleaned back the areas with a flap wheel disc.
I unbolted the broken bottom hinge.
The bottom pin has sheared off.
So I cut the remaining pin.
That was as far as I got on Tuesday night after work. Tomorrow I can work on it 5pm till 9pm so I'm hoping to weld new metal in and repair the cut out rot, repair the bottom hinge and look at cutting the center of the door out to take the gas stove.
I'm going to order my awnings and then hopefully next week I can make my roof rack.
Chas
Well-Known Member
Looking forward to the next trip report for LJ Ben, only one question, where's the tan mate? You've been out there a year now, what's going on
That's because he's always inside working on LJ or Michaels house.
RJ70 BUNDERA
New Member
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- Feb 20, 2014
- Messages
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- Country Flag
Hey ben... I must say what an inspiring build thread you have... coming from the uk and all
also welcome to oz I love your Lj70 and you have some balls driving that thing with your lift and tyresmy Rj70 has 2.5inch lift with 33s and its still very tippy i could imagine yours I started reading your thread about a 150 pages ago and got hooked and now hours later my eyes are burning you got to get out of melbourne and move to western Sydney when you can..there some pretty good track here aswell Lithgow,menai,watagans,appin,mt walker,all within an hour..it never gets really cold or never snows or goes below o normally imho its the best place to live but very expensive for housing anyways this is one thread ill be watching cheers rocco....
also welcome to oz I love your Lj70 and you have some balls driving that thing with your lift and tyresmy Rj70 has 2.5inch lift with 33s and its still very tippy i could imagine yours I started reading your thread about a 150 pages ago and got hooked and now hours later my eyes are burning you got to get out of melbourne and move to western Sydney when you can..there some pretty good track here aswell Lithgow,menai,watagans,appin,mt walker,all within an hour..it never gets really cold or never snows or goes below o normally imho its the best place to live but very expensive for housing anyways this is one thread ill be watching cheers rocco....
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