upgrades

ENGINE: I put a 330HP Chevy crate engine in with a roller cam and iron heads. I wish I had rebuilt and kept the original engine, but for my daily driver it was faster to just get the crate motor.

TRANSMISSION: I got a NV4500 from Advanced Adapters and am really happy with it. You have to position the engine as far forward as possible with this tranny because of its length, and even then you have to cut out the rear frame crossmember pipe that connects the frame rails. I have run without this crossmember for years with no ill effects. Do not use the rear transfercase mounted crossmember from Advanced Adapters with this tranny. It will twist and tear the gasket and leak every time. Instead make your own crossmember that attaches to the trans to transfer case adapter with a stock GM turbo 350 mount. Use 1" x 2" thick walled steel to make it and connect it to your frame rails. This works real well.

TRANSFER CASE: I finally got my ORION 4 to 1 case from Advanced Adapters. Its an awesome transfer case and cast iron! I still use the stock vacuum style controls for shifting into 4 wheel drive cuz its cool!
SPRINGOVER: I sent my front housing up to Wardens UPS and they cut and turned the ends for me in their jig and welded the shock mounts and leaf pads where they go. I did the rear myself and used 5" long pads to help with axle wrap. I used mini truck extended brakes lines and Hy-steer system from All-Pro with hiem joint ends. If I had to do it over I would get the FJ80 rod ends because the heims are noisy! I used FJ60 stock springs in the rear which centers the wheel in the wheel well. Also allows for a little more flex.
FRONT AXLE: I used mini truck knuckles for the disc brakes and also to be able to use hy-steer arms. I installed an FJ80 Rear Electric Locker in the Front. I got the whole diff from Toyota and also the longer splined axle. I tried the cable conversion from Downey for it but wasn't impressed. It was very difficult to operate and you had to keep pushing until the splines lined up. So I reinstalled the electric motor and my friend Mike Carter made a wiring harness for me. He wrote up an excellent how to article on it here. The stock electric motor will spring up in a "cocked " position until the splines line up and then automatically snap into locked postion. This is a real nice feature! I added 1 1/2" to the front frame horns so I could put the springs right on the frame using stock rear spring hangers in front. I rented a magnetic drill press to make perfect holes in the frame for the rear shackles. Get some pipe the same diameter of the bushings your using and weld them in the holes. Then put your shackles on and you have a spring over that's not too tall.
REAR AXLE: This is all stock with the exception of a No-Slip Locker. I'm really happy with the No-Slip. I also installed a disc brake kit from TSM. Its a really good kit and includes the calipers and cutdown chevy rotors. Easy bolt on. I got a proportioning valve from Summit Racing, its the same one as Wilwoods for half the price.
COOLING: I finally got the V8 cooling problem solved! I went back to a 4 core stock sized radiator from SOR or CCOT and made a really good fan shroud. I then got a 7 blade Cadillac fan and mated it to a Haydon non-thermal clutch. Non -thermal clutches rotate faster at idle than thermal ones. Then I found a great product called Evans Cooling. This stuff is great! You drain all the water from your block and radiator and fill it up with just the Evans. It doesn't boil till 350 degrees! Its a 0 pressure system so your hoses last longer. It doesn't corrode aluminum or anything. And it is reusable for years. I first used this stuff in Moab in August and it was real hot. We went on a trail and one of my friends FJ40s busted his tranny adapter and was dead in the water. I had to tow him out of there over a pretty tough trail and just puttin along my gauge got to maybe 220. My old system would have spit the radiator right out of the hood and cracked my heads right off the block. I am sold on this stuff and use it in my Big Block Model A Coupe also. Read about it at Evanscooling.com