dismantled entire truck, what now?

[leroy123]

Hi guys, to give you a bit of a background i got a 88 GQ SWB Safari (jap import) it was stock standard when i bought it and in pretty rough shape. I am currently tearing down the entire truck so i can get most of the major body mods done all at once and then give it a fresh coat of paint.

What it looked like 2 weeks ago.



What it looks like now.


I cut the 1/4 panels and sills last weekend.





Will be welding some 3mm plate to fill the holes and making a custom rear bar and sliders.

I will be doing a full work log when i a bit further along in the project but now i have a few questions.
I put on the 33's a few months back and have had no rubbing at all on the stock sagged suspension, possibly due to the large offset rims. So if i put a 2" lift in it will be fine, but i also have a superior super flex arm in the post. is this going to cause problems?
Are there any weak points on the chassis or body that i should do some work on?
Any recommended mods i can do before the paint?

Cheers

[Dabbott]

They tend to crack around the rear coil plates, look at superior engineerings web site, check around the floor pan either side (in engine bay) could be cracked, i know my body mounts have cracked around the front under the drivers = (potential problem), where the rear lower arms bolt onto chassis this can crack! lift rear shock mounts up and fit some protection to the front pumpkin on the diff,

have fun!

[ludacris]

Brace spring towers front and rear. Also check and repair if need be front seat mounts. Brace front pahnard mount on the chasis. As said check all body mounts on the cab. While the motor is out remove and replace with NEW all exhuast bolts (use anti seize) especially if you think you may upgrade exhaust or add turbo in the future. Much easier to do while the motor is out. Never reuse exhuast studs.

Cris

[garth]

The gq's are getting on a bit so while your doing the bar mounts and mods sand/clean back the chassis and treat with 2 coats of Brunox then a coat of PA10...........good insurance for beach work.

As above with the body mounts, also watch those quarter sills and gutters for rust, sometime you'll need to strip out the head lining top get at it.

Go the 35s if ya wanna use the superior arms.
You'll get away with just using a castor kit for a 2" lift on 33's

As for the engine...well thats a whole new topic! ...and search is your friend...

good luck with project

[leroy123]

Thanks for all the good info, will definitely be look into these ideas in more detail. As ludacris stated the seat mounts were nearly non-existent when i bought the truck 3 of the 8 were completely rusted trough and not actually anchoring the seat and the rest weren't too far off.

I have a custom turbo setup planned, so thanks for the tip on exhaust studs. Does someone have some links to patrols/safaris with a pto winch and 3" exhaust, a im thinking that it might be a bit tight?


Dabbott why do you suggest to lift the rear shock mount up?
garth why do you say go for 35's over 33's with the superior flex arms?

What about raising the front shock towers to fully utilize the flex arms? or will it just lead to scrubbing on my planned 2" lift?

Thanks for all the help

[garth]

they will push the diff forward too far..........and they are not cheap!

[cooki_monsta]

hey mate also paint the chassis white, itll be much easier to find cracks when they appear

[Dabbott]

They tend to get hung up a lot on the rear shocker mounts.
check out supeior engineering's web site, you can buy the brackets from them, they lift it inline with the diff housing instead of hanging down........................... could be the diff between making and not!