Builds My LJ78 build thread... (13 Viewers)

[Jarrat]

I have been getting so much helpful information from here I'd thought I'd return the favour in posting up most of the upgrades I have been doing to my truck and a little history of it, seeing as I love reading stories like this on this site....

This is how I bought my truck back in winter/spring of 2015. It was covered in stickers and LED lights and was pretty gross inside.

 

[Jarrat]

Next thing I wanted to tackle was the heating up when I came home. I live up on a mountain, so it's a long drive up a steep grade and then I needed to keep the truck running for a couple mins every time I came home. I looked into a better clutch fan system, and then chose one out of a 1990 3.0 Toyota pickup. I made another thread about this.

Here is the link to that thread : https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lj78-fan-clutch-replacement.862035/#post-9787527

After installing this fan, there was a HUGE notice in cooling. The truck would be at normal or almost be at normal operating temps by the time I was pulling into my driveway.


Recently I got some 7000 cST silicon from TowerHobbies.com and drained out the factory stuff and replaced it, also setting the fan to some on another 10° sooner. I didn't really notice any change after that mod. I am now looking into ordering some 15,000 or 20,000 cST fluid. One 2oz bottle is enough for each clutch fan.

 

[Jarrat]

My latest and best mod so far has to be the exhaust. As you can see the factory one was rotted out so bad the previous owner had done some of his own handy work to keep it alive as possible.

So I started with making a turbo flange with spare turbo and the gasket it came with I picked up recently.

and started working on the custom downpipe.

As you can see, I'm not a welder. I do own a very small 220v welder and it seems to do the job.

 

[Jarrat]

I ended up making that flange out of 3/8ths mild steel. I cut it out using my drill press, jig saw, and rotory file. I had a 2.5 inch exhaust from a honda civic. I used to race honda's back in the day, turbo'n them and yea. So this was just free stuff.

So, after I got the downpipe done, then it was time to finish the exhaust.

The install fit great, other than when I shut it off it was hitting the running board. I added an extra hanger later and that has solved 90% the problem. I do plan on adding in flex joint just after or on the down pipe later if I have a problem with the exhaust cracking.

 

[Jarrat]

Also I recently did the EGR delete, and installed a coolant sensor, and EGT sensor. Still haven't hooked up the gauges yet. Also one of the first things I did when I bought the truck was ordered in a gasket set from OZ.

The place I installed the coolant sensor.

When picking a spot for the coolant sensor, I thought I'd try to get it as close as possible to the head. There seemed to be enough meat here for it to seal, and so far I haven't had any leaks from it.

 

[Jarrat]

My EGT sensor from EBAY... was about $40 bucks.

I'm thinking about installing it where the clock is, as the stereo has a clock on it.

This is where I machined in the pipe thread for the EGT sensor. (I pulled out the manifold to do this)

and this was just before I took out the EGR system.

 

[Jarrat]

One of the last things I did, was the H4 headlight conversion. My truck already had one, and the other was a sealed beam. Found a good set on my local toyota forum for $50 bucks.

 

[Jarrat]

Here are some other pics I had...

Me fixing the a/c system.

Here is a link to some questions I asked to get it going. : https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lj78-more-a-c-questions.866934/#post-9823188

The fuel additive I'm using. (the grey bottle)

Power door locks I installed. (old autolock system I had laying around)

 

[Jarrat]

I'll be adding more stuff in the future..

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Awesome man! I can't put enough 'likes'! Nice work! Love the dump pipe; I gotta do that still.

 

[Billyfj7312ht]

Some really good mods, might put my EGT sensor in the same position.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Jarrat]

Okay.... I've got more stuff on the go now... Slowly putting together my water to air system... trying to copy GTSSportCoupe's setup.

I plan on getting a bigger heat exchanger in the next spring. Going to use this medium size trans cooler until then seeing as the weather is getting colder now.

 

[Jarrat]

Went to up my boost a couple weeks back and found out my ct20 wasn't up to par and would make only 11 psi max. So I swapped it out with a spare I had. Going to send off my original to get rebuild soon.

 

[Jarrat]

Bought a K&N... Not 100% sure if this is the part number you want to order if you want to do the same.. The guy off Ebay might of swapped it out with another, so do some research. K&N Replacement Air Filter Toyota Diesel #17801-31050

 

[Jarrat]

Also got a $20 ebay oil catch can... I couldn't even make one this nice for this cheap, so I just bought one. UNIVERSAL 6061 BILLET ALUMINUM 750ML OIL CATCH RESERVOIR BREATHER TANK/CAN BLACK

Thats it for now.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Nice work Jarrat! You're going to town on that thing! I'm stoked to see other guys in BC having fun with Prados.

Couple comments on your turbo. A couple times now I thought I'd reached the limit of the boost ability of my turbo. Then I turned the fuel up a bit more, and it made more boost! Basically it takes a certain amount of exhaust pressure/energy through the turbine to do a given amount of work at the compressor. With a diesel adding more fuel means more exhaust which in turn makes more boost. Now without an intercooler, you can't really turn up the fuel much, but once you have that intercooler in you can (lower EGTs from more dense air). I found I get about 16psi max with the fuel pump turned right up (intercooled). When my methanol injection comes on (adding more fuel), I can get 18psi max. So in a nutshell, your old turbo might be just fine. Try out your new one before paying to have the old one rebuilt. Other things that help the turbo are free flowing air filters (like your K&N) and minimal exhaust back pressure. You've already addressed those things. I've come to realize these turbos are a bit on the big size for these motors, which at the end of the day means there is a lot of power potential over OEM.

And some advice for your intercooler (based on my experience). Don't mount your water pump up high like I did!! Mine was very prone to cavitation and was a real PITA to get the air out. If I did it again I'd mount the water pump down low in the front of the truck by the intercooler radiator. Also, make sure you can get all the air out of the intercooler and the intercooler radiator. If you don't you will be killing the efficiency. For example, put at least one hose connection up on your intercooler radiator, and this way the air will travel out of it and up higher in the system where you can get it out. The intercooler is more tricky to get the air out of. You can stand it up on end to bleed it, and then mount it once you have all the air out. Make sure your fill point is the highest point in the system. Finally, if you have a fan around, mount it on that little intercooler radiator until you get a bigger one. I think even in winter if you do a long drive, you could end up heat soaking your intercooler system (water will get real hot). It is possible even for it to boil under extreme conditions. Some guys plumb in a rad cap style pressure relief, because if the water gets too hot and there is too much pressure it could wreck the inside of your intercooler (blow the core up like a balloon and maybe even leak).

Keep up the good work!

 

[Jarrat]

Kool... awesome information... I planned on running some sort of used coolant flow tank with the water to air system. I'll look into a fan for the cooler to now...

 

[jccruzer]

Also got a $20 ebay oil catch can... I couldn't even make one this nice for this cheap, so I just bought one. UNIVERSAL 6061 BILLET ALUMINUM 750ML OIL CATCH RESERVOIR BREATHER TANK/CAN BLACK

Thats it for now.

 

[Jarrat]

Back at it again. Timing belt light came on at 261,xxx kms. Luckily I had the new parts laying around. All new belts, water pump, cam seal, crank seal, idlers, and new coolant again. Also changed from a 195F thermostat back down to a gates 180F (82C) since winter is over and spring is near. Found my idler pully for the power steering pump bearing shot, and got a new one of those from Lordco. While I had the rad out I also dumped in half a bottle of rad flush into it and added hot water and let that sit for a few hours. That cleaned out a bunch of gunk in it.

 

[Jarrat]

I put everything heavy from my garage into the back of the LJ to see the compressed shock length when the truck was on the bump stops. I'm getting ready to order a lift spring from Dobinson and wanted to see the compressed measurement so I can order in new ones that will work for the lift. Looks like the measurements from OME shocks catalog are the right lengths. Front 570mm-340/Rear 507mm-307mm.