84 bj46 long term maintenance, repair and upgrade- making it mine. (1 Viewer)

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Wow... just found this thread. Such a beautiful Cruiser... the very first pic is priceless. Looking forward to seeing more of your personalized touches... and your explorations of Japan.
 
So it's been a while since I posted! I took the truck to Nagano for a winter trip and the bed platform worked perfectly. It was a great trip even though we couldn't make it as far as we wanted. The little Coleman heater did its job!
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Getting under the truck to engage the cable lockers was a bit of a chore! But it worked great got me through stuff I wouldn't have been able to get through otherwise.
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I've had some time to work on getting the PTO winch hooked up. I'm running a cable up to the Dashboard and using an early style high low lever. So redesigning the dash was necessary and I really never liked the looks of the late-model dash anyway. Between getting the cable measured, ordered, brackets made and routed rebuilding the PTO gearbox as well as the winch and redesigning and fabricating the – in such a way that everything fits within the original holes it's been almost a year. All that's left to do is to rebuild the driveshaft.

Untold hours just to get this piece of sheet metal done:
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The cable runs out of an existing hole which was really the only option in terms of placement. Every other spot had something in the way but fortunately this whole lined up perfectly. The cable runs down along with the speedo cable and the length was just right.
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The bracket at the gearbox:
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The lever assembly used to 10mm bushings to step down to 6 mm for the rod end – thanks for the lever John!
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Test run all hooked up for the first time. Forward to wind back to unwind.
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One section of the driveshaft was too long so I need to shorten it. Testing the limits of belt sander precision:
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It was a good fit. Pulling it out of the shaft made that nice vacuum induced sssshhhhhk sound. But I made a big mistake and forgot to subtract the link of the step down from the overall length and as a result it's too short so I'll have to do it again. But on the plus side I want to rebuild the driveshaft anyway so I'll just take care of it all in one fell swoop!
 
Rivit nuts are awesome! They fit right into the existing holes.
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Again untold hours but it's finally ready. I designed the unit to come out with the switches and lever attached for easy access.
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Finally installed. I still need to add indicator lights will be Turn to Dim dialco units. Also I want to get countersunk screws with a slightly rounded head just like the ones that hold the speedometer cluster in. I was planning on painting in the body color but I kind of like it as it is. Panel itself is quite thick and sturdy and supports the lever and cable assembly solidly. i'm so excited about it I've been shifting in and out back-and-forth and every stoplight just for fun. The shift is positive plenty of room for my hand. I'm very happy with the way it's turning out.
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I was planning on removing the shelf but it turned out to be very useful and with the Welting installed it doesn't bother me so much visually.
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Well i've been making some progress. No pics of it but I remade the driveshaft for the PTO painted it up, put a new U joints etc. and got it all bolted up. Finally have a working winch!

And treasure has arrived! I so love these little lights. They're so beautifully machined and the mechanical turn to dim feature is super cool.

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Full open:
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Closed:

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Installed a small green one for 4wd, 2 ambers next to that for front and rear cable lockers, replaced the factory glow indicator just below the speedo cluster with a red lamp for the brake warning lamp. I'll add 2 more small lamps to the right for glow and the sediment separator.

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Yesterday I pulled the soft top off to get new windows so the kids can see joy as well as replace the zippers (both the front ones are totally shot and don't close). I'm planning out a new top so this is just to hold me over till that all gets done.

Anyway wouldn't you know that rain was forecast and I still had 2 days of running around with the kids in the car ahead of me. I went to the hardware store to see what I could come up with as a stop gap and....

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I pulled the front channel off the windsheild frame and simply used it to sandwich the greenhouse plastic.
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And 25mm plastic clips on the bows.

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And did it rain! But we were fine. I was surprised how well it worked actually. And driving on the rain I would forget it was even there. It was great. In fact I'll consider doing it again in the future with thicker plastic.

This pic is during a full on downpour.

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Good! But, typical ingenuity I've seen from you in the past.

Don
 
Living the dream Johnny!

Don- guess I'll have to step it up a notch to keep you interested . Actually I picked up the top yesterday but I'm enjoying the plastic top so much I'm just going to use it for a while. It's great not having to bend down to see traffic lights. I even forget it's there. I almost put my hand through it to wave to a friend.


Took my work team up the hill for some grilling this Sat. Just a short climb up to the top but fun nonetheless. The weather was outstanding!

My friends 73 Mistu j24:

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All the way to Toyama Bay:
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Fun with my daughter and panoramic pics:
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Charcoal grilled roast beef- salted and peppered- perfect! Don't let the size of the Japanese fool you- this 2.5 lbs roast was the last thing off the grill and it disappeared quickly!
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Good times!

Pete
 
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Well the mitsu is a good truck for sure. The little diesel just won't quit and slow and steady it'll do the job. Very reliable. The shorter trucks are probably more abundant here than bj4x. There are abuot 4 sizes- a short, a slightly longer like the j24 above, a j44 which is similiar in size to a bj44/46 and a the j36/37/38 which are like troopies. the j44 is probably the rarest followed by the j24. They are not as heavy duty as the toyotas however. for the smaller (lighter) sizes with stock drive trains they are great.

Well on the next little project. The late model stock seat just suck! They are too low and even in good condition offer very little padding. Probably perfect for the typical japanese body but for a 6'3 guy they just hurt your butt for a longer drive or for any bouncing around off road.

So I had this 79 parts truck with the older style seats- the ones that don't recline. I picked up some SOR foam for the bottoms and a set of Shane"s seat covers one of which had been previously installed but never used. The seats were not a great fit in the late model as they are much wider than the original seats and between the seat belt locations and the gas filler houseing there is not much room to fit them. But with some simple bar stock I built up the driver seat and got it to fit in just fine. I found it to be very comfortable but I did miss the ability to recline from time to time. Also the rattle a bunch....

Well I thought I'd give the procar 90's a chance and despite the shipping cost to Japan I bought one and had a look. It seems to be exactly in between the early and late model seats in terms of size and is a fery good fit still allowing little ones to snake past into the back seat from the front door.


Here's a few shots for comparison. Left late model seat, middle pro car, right pre-80 seat.
You can see in the last pic how I angled the Prodcar up a bit so there was more than my butt touching the seat. Now I have much more support under my legs which makes my butt much happier!
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If that Procar seat has the ability for a head rest and you can adjust the back angle (blown disks) that might be a ideal choice for mine . I like the late model seats , just don't like all the plastic ....
Odd thing is , the stock '77 seats aren't bad since I made up some spacers and moved them back as far as possible - it's more comfortable to drive than my '08 Tacoma .
Looks great Pete...
Sarge
 
The last of the the above pics is with the Procar actually installed. How is the procar- well its exactly what you should expect for the cost. The cushion is is not high density foam and it feels less supportive in the corners than the early model seat which as you can see is also considerably wider.- but I can live with that. There are 3 things about it that I really dont like. One is that the side of the headrest that does not have the indexing is very loose so the headrest will not sit straight when raised. One side droops. The second is pretty minor but I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking- there is this wierd flap that hangs down on either side of the seat that really can't be used in any way. I just zip tied it to the bottom of the seat to get it out of the way (see second pic.) The 3rd is that the front underside of the upholstery catches on the sliders when you move the seat back if you are putting any pressure on the front edge of the seat- which is pretty much unavoidable.

I added these plastic strips to keep the upholstery from getting shredded:
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In the process of sessing out the seat position I just plopped the seat in with the supplied brackets adapted the front holes to fit and when for a coffee. I think the rear seat mount got cracked at that time as all my weight was on it and it was simple a bar coming straight down off the slider onto the floor, however It came to my attention at that time that this area was indeed slightly weak by design and had fatigued over years of use. I welded up the crack and decided to make the rear supports cover a greater area as you will see in the next post.

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I'm not sure if this is a common practice with metal but in glass we always drill out the very very ends of the cracks to reveal the basically invisibly small end of the crack and relieve stress. Anyway I'm sure its not a bad idea:
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Less than beautiful but more than sufficient....
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Pete
 
Thanks for the info Pete . Looks like they just took a few shortcuts , it happens .
Drilling out the ends of the cracks is fine and can actually help , I usually just start the weld at each end and join the two in the center to help prevent further cracking on thinner material .

Sarge
 
I need to make the install look like factory work. Even if it does not look like work from a car manufacturer (likely would use stamped parts) it has to look like it was made for this car by a company more or less. Actually in Japan changing the seat or seat mounting requires certification which only a large company- say like recaro- can aquire. So I thought about what I ould do that would look the most professional because I know the guy that does my inspection is going to bust me and I'm just going to have to say "this was made for the bj40 series and I threw the original seats away so if you don;t [pass me then I can't use the car." and being a local with a good relationship with these guys I think they'll just grimace and say- its Peter- it can't be helped....

The seat mounts on the procar sit at about 37cm rail center to rail center where as the cruiser is 38.5.

I cut off the multi hole legs from the Procar brackets and using bar stock, a vice and a hammer came up with these and welded whem on. The rear tacked( I knocked down the corners on the bottom piece after they were fully welded):
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The front tacked:
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All welded up and painted on the seat:
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Looks professional enough to me. I think they'll let it slide...
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I do wish I could have found a better quality seat that looked the part. But in the end this is by far the most comfortable I have sat in my years of BJ ownership and the fit is great. The early seats adapted into the later body place me up too high and the angle was never just right. In addition the seatcovers despit supposedly being very high quality split at the seams within 2 months of use. Also actually rebuilding them to be as good as new was more of a project than I have the time to tackle. Remaking the upper foam and taking all the parts down to metal to repaint etc.... I've very happy with this set up and I think I'll be able get many good comfortable years of use from them.

One point I will note for anyone whom might want to so this is that the seat mounts on the late model trucks are not centered to the steering wheel. In fact there is about 2-3cm offset to the inside of the truck. I never noticed this with the early model seats cause they are so wide overall. I did notice with these but it actually doesn't bother me at all as it gives me a bit more room for my right leg against the drivers door.


Pete
 
Yeah I was thinking bout you Sarge when i first clicked the recline lever on the procar. THe adjustment is average but I think fine enough that you could find the right spot. The are a good deal narrower than the 78 seats that your sporting. I'm 6'3 with a 33 waist and they fit me just fine. I think for a larger guy the 77 seats might be better in terms of lateral support. But if you want to recline I'd recomend buying one and giving it a shot. Or you could just fly on over and try the one in my car!

What year is your truck? I have all the measurements written down for the bracket I made if you need them.

Pete

Edit: clearly they aren't free- but being comfortable while driving the cruiser makes a hugh difference in the usablilty of the truck. I have some back and butt problems from getting up and down 200 times a day blowing glass. the fact is that these problems are just not going to get better.... At this point the seat is just about the most important part of the truck interms of being able to go off road and enjoy it for an extended period of time. I had to pay double the cost of the seat to have it shipped to Japan- I don't regret it one bit.
 
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