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Just keeping the camera handy is troublesome. I don't want it on the welding bench while I'm cutting, grinding and welding. I try to use my "good" camera during the builds, not my iphone, and it doesn't fit in my pocket. Keeping the phone in my pocket while working is not something I like to...

Thanks everyone. Metcalf - I used to do a lot of "how to" stuff, but it's very time consuming. I'll try to keep that in mind while taking pics on this build. I should probably get back to that way of thinking anyway. Matt

Thanks man!

I'm doing this build thread a bit differently. It's going to be in real time. Normally, I wait until I have a lot of pics compiled or a lot of work done, but I figured I would give this a shot. So patience please!

The truck is already equipped with a Toyota 5 speed manual trans, and the owner wanted to keep it, so I called Advance Adapters and ordered the LS to LC 5spd adapter kit, made by Marks in Australia. Luckily, they had a shipment coming, which meant that I had the parts in 2 weeks. It could have...

The engine was sourced from Pacific Fab. or Tilden Motorsports as they also go by. The customer wanted a new engine, and I had a hard time explaining that even if we bought a new engine, it still made sense to start with a takeout from Pacific Fab. A new engine costs in the neighborhood of...

And here's what's under the hood.

A while back, I got a phone call from a guy up in the Pacific northwest. He wanted to ask me about making some improvements to his FJ60. He proceeded to describe the mods done to it already and one of them was a MBZ 5cyl diesel conversion. The chief problem that it wouldn't get out of it's own...

Distributor Upgrades During the engine tuning process, I noticed that the timing was flopping all over the place. Also, the points would wear inside of one minute, then I'd adjust them again and the same thing would happen. Instead of beating my head against the wall, I purchased a Pertronix...

Final fitment of the hinges and tailgate.

Time to plug weld everything, grind it smooth and finish it off with a file for a no-body-filler surface.

Removal of the old solid rear tub. Cutting the tops of the tub off was the only way to bring everything back to square. It wasn't damaged, it was built that way. Go figure. The driver's side only needed a pie cut, but the passenger side neede the whole thing removed and raised up.

Once the door jamb was cleaned up, the lower apron had to be repaired. I could have bought a new panel, but I decided to make my own.

Tailgate Conversion After driving it around for a few days, it was time to get it back into the shop. The tailgate conversion should have taken a day... It didn't. If any of you are considering this job, first you must understand that Jeep, at this time in their life, was cutting a lot of...

The cooling fan also needed a custom mount. Sure, I could have used those push in plastic things to mount the fan directly to the radiator core, but those are stupid, and I like an OEM appearance. Then the sending unit for the fan controller needed a home. Again, I could have used a push in...

We've gotten a ton of work done on this project, even with my customer work load. And there's still a monumental list of to-do's. The cooling fan options for the mid year CJ5's are not as abundant as for other years, and I really wanted the 7 blade HD fan and shroud, but they are really hard to...

Selling off some leftovers. Anyone need a pair of axles? http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/5692184627.html

I've wheeled many rigs with open diffs, but any locker makes it something less to worry about. If funds allow, I'd go ARB up front. Even with an open rear, a locked front will help pull you up and over most anything. Now if it's mud and snow you're dealing with, that's a different set of rules.

I've got some more detailed pics of the tray mechanism. I'll post them up later. Per the 1UZ, I thought it was just that you Aussies are a little bit whacked, but your explanation makes more sense.

Thank you. I would love to make a whole new set of arms. I spoke with Ruffstuff a couple weeks ago about making some blanks, but they aren't interested in doing one-offs. They bought Hellfire. Making a pair from scratch would be a lot easier with a good machinist in my area. For years I have...