Builds Just another 79 build..... (3 Viewers)

[c2dfj45]

So with the testing in the heat doing well, we decided to hit TN and GA....we were going to run some of the Trans American Trail....not sure if we did or not. We found some fun trails...easy driving stuff and enjoyed 80 degree weather with 60s at night. We don't see that in FL from about April thru October.

This was the group.....capable for. Always a bummer when a Jeep is around though

So in most of the pics I simply cut the Jeep out....

The woods were so green.....amazing.

Co-driver likes to be the driver when I'm out of the truck....

 

[c2dfj45]

We stayed in a campground the first night and it sucked but it was just for the night....I think this was in GA somewhere.

Notice there is no Jeep in the pics? That 80 did a great job of hiding it more than once

The dog was watching what proved to be pretty entertaining.....

Apparently it takes 3 guys to setup the world's simplest awning. Same 3 guys had to put it away too.

If we pull over for something, I'm taking a pic. Did I mention that I love this truck?

 

[c2dfj45]

We spent a couple of full days on all kinds of trails in TN.....strangely enough there weren't any real campsites. I spent a lot of time in VA in national forests and there were tons of campsites. We found a total of 1.....well there was 1 other one that we saw but not really close to where we wanted to be. How we lucked out with this site is something I still can't figure out. It was perfect. Small creek behind it.....level.....right off the main road but no traffic. Just a great place. We spent 2 nights here.

Couldn't hide the Jeep in this one....he was catching on to what I was up to by now I think. Ha.

Setup time....maybe 5 minutes. That counts making the bed in the tent.

This was about a 100 yards from the campsite. Beautiful.

 

[c2dfj45]

Some random pics.....this damn/powerstation place was really neat. The pipeline for the water was HUGE.

One trail had maybe 4 or 5 creek crossings like this. Fun.

 

[c2dfj45]

Unfortunately, this trip had to come to an end for me....work was calling......back to Tampa for me while the Jeep and 80 went up to Windrock for a day of wheeling. Spent a lot of time thinking about what was in store for the camper truck during the long trek back down to hot and humid FL.

The #2 truck was supposed to be the new camper truck but plans changed.....#2 stays as is. For now. Never know when it might get converted into something else.

 

[DomSmith]

Great trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

[c2dfj45]

While the truck performed great.....it was still getting hot on long uphill runs....especially later in the day when temps were mid 80s...the highest of the day. Mid 80s is nothing....so having a truck running 220-230 is not very reassuring. The electric fans are loud and I don't like the idea of them being on the truck.

I've got a few theories on why this truck was running hot but instead of trying to figure out the issue and maybe not fixing it, it was decided that the 1HDT we had in the container was going to go in. I like the idea of the diesel's simplicity, reliability, lack of electrics AND......fuel consumption. Can't fault the supercharged 1FZFE for much....smooth, powerful, nice on the highway but 10 mpgs kind of.....well.....kind of sucks. If the 1HDT gets me 15...I'll be thrilled.

We'll back the 1HDT with an A442F....both of them came out of a 91 HDJ81....I had planned on using this in the #2 truck but went with a 1HZ turbo and manual. Since Camper truck is an automatic, sticking another one in there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[c2dfj45]

Thanks to Covid disrupting our normal retail and wholesale work load, we were able to wrap up the #2 truck and Troopy for the most part well before I had planned. So we had time for this project before we get into new stuff. It was time to drive Camper truck into the shop under its gas powered motor for the last time.

Pretty easy to remove this motor but like any swap....it's kind of a slippery slope. I wanted this to be an easy swap...no major changes to anything...keep steering, keep brakes(I had retrofitted the ABS system from the 80 when I built this truck), most of the wiring the same. I think the steering will be the only thing that stays the same. ABS will go, wiring will be completely redone, second battery will go in, cruise control relocated(I was able to get the 81's cruise system), aux gauges, new suspension.....and the list goes on and on and on.

We had pressure washed the old girl prior to coming in the shop....still a tad dirty under the components. Crowded engine bay with the 1FZ.....looking forward to the simpler 1HDT being in there.

Pretty straightforward removal.

I kept telling my tech that I hope I wasn't making a mistake.....this truck is a special truck....I know it all too well. Hard to see it all apart. We had so much time building things on this one. Seems like every single piece was custom made.

Thanks for 30,000 miles 1FZFE.....you weren't always happy but we had a good time for the most part. I hope you find a good home. Most likely that will be in the 80 in the warehouse so I don't have to fix the upper oil pan leak that I have been ignoring for a while.

 

[c2dfj45]

The 1HDT came apart a few weeks ago to go thru it and look at things....glad we did. It had a cracked piston. BEBs were good...I seem to recall the seller saying that those had been done. Clean inside. I'm going to do the bearings again and obviously replace the cracked piston. All new OEM gaskets will go in. Turbo went out to get rebuilt by our local guy. Head was redone.

Bores were standard sized as were the bearings.

We have a number of engine stands that we've accumulated over the years. None of them ever feel safe with a big Toyota motor on them.....well this one does. It's a beast. First one I've owned with a hand crank.....what a luxury.

Pretty standard used motor. Belt was new as was the tensioner. Definitely didn't seem like a neglected motor. I want to say 250kms on it maybe.

 

[c2dfj45]

I thought I read something about pistons were known to crack on the early HDTs....maybe I was dreaming. They changed in 93.

Here's our cracked one. The one thing I can't figure out is the valve impression in the piston. A few of them had both the intake and exhaust imprinted on them. I'm sure some of the experts on Mud will know. My tech seems to think someone might have put a belt on and had it a tooth off....rotated it around which allowed the valves to touch. Seems kind of bad.

Monday we're going to drop the new bearings in, measure how much the piston protrudes from the block and order up a head gasket. It had a 4 in this one I think.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Replacing the gas burner, correct?

 

[c2dfj45]

Spent a fair amount of time cleaning and painting. I always paint them grey as a nod to one of my buddies/kind-of-a-boss/Land Cruiser guru as he always did his in grey......Navy guy.....leaks become easy to find on grey. Smart.

Everything cleaned up well....we play with a lot of different silvers to get the colors just right. Our go to is always bumper chrome spray paint with satin clear sprayed on while the chrome is wet. Looks like brand new aluminum.

 

[c2dfj45]

Replacing the gas burner, correct?

The sticker on the side of the truck over the filler will now read "Diesel"......so yeah.

 

[c2dfj45]

Ordering 'Diesel' sticker now on Partsouq

 

[c2dfj45]

What better time to remove the truck's wiring harness. NOT what I wanted to do but it had to be done.

I'd like to make a public service announcement at this time....NEVER use cheap cloth tape to wrap a harness unless you enjoy having a horribly gooey mess of a harness. This was not the coveted OEM Toyota tape.....I think it was Mercedes tape and some cheap tape. A long long time ago I remember one of the techs from the local indy MB shop drop off a dozen rolls of MB cloth tape. I kind of had my suspicions as to why he would give up stuff that is so pricey. I think I know why now. I also recall using some generic stuff. Maybe this was the generic stuff.

In any event, it had to come out. There was an engine ECU in there, lots of wiring for stuff we won't need and some stuff I just wasn't happy with.

There is white dog hair stuck to the harness that was behind the dash......the white dog that shared a lot of miles with me in that truck was a hyper shedder. She's been gone for 4 years and I still find her hair in it.

The dog responsible for the hair. Wow crappy pic.

You can see the black smudges on the speaker pod....that's adhesive.

 

[c2dfj45]

And here it is in all it's sticky glory. We had a new intern start last week....guess who got the task of stripping the harness and cleaning it all?

 

[c2dfj45]

And not only did the intern get to deal with the sticky mess of a harness, he got to deal with the harness out of the 81 that was pretty filthy. We had both harnesses stripped and cleaned by week's end which was good. The intern stated on Friday that his least favorite job was dealing with the harness. He has no idea how easy of a job that was compared to some of what he'll be experiencing in the days to come

 

[c2dfj45]

Forgot we had wrestled this one out of the front of the truck........relay box and all that good stuff was on this one. Dash harness plugs into it. The 81 had the same fuse/relay box.....not sure which one we will end up using.

 

[Spallet]

what is your current axle ratio?

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Ordering 'Diesel' sticker now on Partsouq

You could have simply scratched out the word “petrol” and wrote in “diesel”. That seems to be the norm on high-end Land Cruisers.