FJ140 Build

Capriblue45 · Mar 19, 2025

Yesterday I started the journey of rebuilding my 1984 FJ60. The current plan is to graft the body, engine, transmission and transfer case of the 60 on to the rolling chassis of a 1994 FZJ80. After stripping the interior of the 80 series I have moved on to removal of the heart of the beast and will soon be pulling the body off to send it to the metal recycler.

First order of business is to get the 80 down to bare frame, clean and repair anything that needs it and rebuild the axles complete with lockers. I plan to keep the 60 whole through the summer and fall so we can enjoy it on the trails as much as possible until taking it out of service in mid-late October.

I will try to document the steps as I work through this build over the next year with a goal of taking it to Cruise Moab 2026.

Hulk · Mar 19, 2025

Are you running a 2F engine or something else? I was surprised to see you weren't keeping the 1FZ.

Capriblue45 · Mar 19, 2025

Staying with the freshly rebuilt 2F from the 60. Mainly looking to get the stronger frame and axles as well as coils from the 80 series.

Capriblue45 · Sep 15, 2025

With fall just around the corner it's time to get serious about the 140 build. Spent the day pulling the damaged body off of the 80 and have it loaded up to take to the local metal recycler. Next step is to get a ton of pictures and measurements of the critical dimensions of the 60 so I can begin the job of shortening the 80 chassis.

Notyourmomslx450 · Sep 15, 2025

sorry, derail.... but tell me about the 68 Barracuda.

Telly · Sep 15, 2025

I forgot you were the one that picked up that rolled 80 from the guy I bought the tires from in Canyon City. Sounds like an awesome project and looking forward to your build thread!

Capriblue45 · Sep 15, 2025

Notyourmomslx450 said:
sorry, derail.... but tell me about the 68 Barracuda.

Your close, it's a 67 convertible with a 340/ 4 speed I did a 2-1/2 year restoration on it about 15 years ago. It was originally a 273 auto car but that was long gone so I sourced the 340 from a 68 for proper Mopar power.

Capriblue45 · Sep 22, 2025

Today was the day, took a cut of wheel to the 80 series frame. Only took about an hour and a half to have it in 2 pieces. The hardest part was removing the front brackets for the radius arms without damaging them. Managed to get in pulled back together and start the process of welding it out. I'm using a 1/4" fish plate on the inside of the frame to reinforce the area where it is welded back together.

Capriblue45 · Oct 15, 2025

Big day today, removed the factory locked axles from Marco's wrecked 80 and got them mounted under the shortened 80 chassis. Also pulled all the brake lines, fuel lines and fuel tank from the 80. Once the spare tire carrier is out of the way the 80 tank looks to fit nicely in the space vacated by the spare. Just need to turn it 90 degrees and I will have to fabricate some hangers for it. I think this will be a good upgrade to the 20 gallon 60 series tank given the in tank fuel pump to go along with the GM fuel injection I am currently running on the 2F. Plan is to start tearing the 60 down latter this month.

Capriblue45 · Oct 16, 2025

welded on three 1/4" pads and drilled and taped them on each side of the frame so I can build the sliders with a matched pad and they can be removable. Trying to get as much done to the frame before I drop in a drivetrain and set the body on.

Capriblue45 · Oct 18, 2025

The frame clean up is completed and I have started the build back. Got the fuel tank from the 80 relocated to behind the axle and started to run the brake lines. Once all the work is completed for the frame I will take the 60 out of service and start the transplant of the engine, transmission and transfer case. Planning to drive the 60 a bunch this next week so I can have a good feel for the difference this will make. Might even do a 0-60 run just for fun, any guesses?

Capriblue45 · Oct 21, 2025

Had a productive day on the 140 build. Rolled the 60 into the shop at 8:30 this morning and had the body separated from the frame by 2:30. Plan to remove the driveline tomorrow so I can start mocking up motor and transmission mounts for the 80 frame.

There will be a little rust repair on the drivers side before the body can be set on the 80 frame.

Capriblue45 · Oct 23, 2025

Got the motor mounts welded in yesterday and set in the driveline this morning. I was able to use the original 60 series transmission mount with a few modifications. The 80 series frame is around 2" narrower where the transmission sits but nothing that can't fixed with a cut off wheel. I was able to drill and tap the plate where I tied the 2 subframes together to bolt it in.

rover67 · Oct 23, 2025

Looking good Mike!!!!!!!!

Capriblue45 · Oct 23, 2025

Thanks Marco, next big milestone is to get the body mocked up so I can figure out new body mounts. Defiantly a project where measuring twice comes in handy.

Capriblue45 · Oct 29, 2025

Another productive day on the 140 build. I got all the rust issues on the drivers side cut out and new steel welded in. When I finished that I thought what the hell, I have it in the air I might as well drop the body on the chassis to see if everything is going to work the way it did in my head. I still need to do some small tweaks to the body alignment so I can measure and build mounts but very happy with the way things are progressing.

I used a rustoleum gel rust dissolver to clean up the areas behind the fenders very happy with the results.

RDub · Oct 29, 2025

Looking great. Jealous! Tell us more about the Rustoleum product, Mike.

Capriblue45 · Oct 29, 2025

RDub said:
Looking great. Jealous! Tell us more about the Rustoleum product, Mike.

I purchased it at Home Depot. You remove any loose scale then spray on the gel and brush with a stiff bristle brush. The instructions say to keep it wet for 30 minutes then rinse off with water. I just used a spray bottle to mist it about every 10 minutes and ran the brush over it as well. It removes all of the surface rust and left a clean surface behind.

RDub · Oct 29, 2025

That’s very cool. Thanks. I have uses for that on our motorhome.

Capriblue45 · Nov 1, 2025

Got all the body mounts measured and drawn up. There is a metal shop in Fort Collins that I have used in the past for custom fabrication work. I dropped off my fab drawings and hope to have the new brackets mid next week so I can get the body final mounted on the new frame. In the meantime I will be making new fuel lines from the relocated 80 series tank. Looks like the frame shortening worked out perfect.

FJ140 Build

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