The Beer Truck - Just Another 1987 BJ74 in the U.S.

[elkaholic]

The beginning of this thread will seem familiar to those who have read this one ... now that a certain embargo has been lifted, this will be the main thread moving forward ...

This is the strory of my JDM BJ74 ...

Now that I've had my new acquisition for a month and a half, I figured that I had ought to start a build thread enjoyment / maintenance thread. The reason I scratched that will become obvious in a bit, but for now I'll leave it that the truck really needs nothing ...

So let's start with the first thing ... why "Beer Truck"? In short because beer played a role in my acquiring this truck, ie. alcohol was involved. The previous owner of this truck, @1978HJ45 , comes through the city where I live fairly often due to his work and on nights where he is in town, we usually go grab some fried food or smoked food typical of the Southeastern US and partake of a cold adult beverage or two while we solve the problems of the world and discuss Cruisers and cuss Toyota for not making the 70 series readily available to us in the US ... Over one of these serious problem solving sessions, apparently I told Charles that if he ever thought about selling his 74 to please let me know ...

Fast forward to mid June and I get a call from Charles asking me if I was serious ... my response was something like "does a bear sh-t in the woods?" However, I was between jobs and had nothing lined up. What's worse is that I was embargoed from talking to anyone about it, I guess cause Charles has something other than his arm up his sleeve A member of ONSC was a bad influence and convinced me i should pounce on the truck, so in July, so in July, we agreed to a price and a timeline.

Now is as good a time as any to say that I violated a bazillion rules about buying a used vehicle starting with buying from a friend, running right past buying sight unseen, and ending with buying without an inspection. That said, I was not worried ..

What follows is a testament to a fellow MUDer's character. Between the time we agreed on a price (where it was also agreed that the truck was being sold as is, where is), @1978HJ45 had the injector pump and injectors rebuilt, all the fluids serviced, and the AC compressor replaced.

Fast forward to mid August, and I loaded up my truck and trailer and headed to South Georgia with a large check (and a case of beer ... notice a trend ) to pick up my "new" BJ74. When I pulled up on Saturday, I found that the truck was even nicer than the pictures contained in this thread

The thread will get heavy with pictures and the first several will make it clear why I struck the "build thread" and substituted "maintenance and enjoyment thread" ...

Loaded up an ready to go home:

Stopping for fuel in South Georgia (yes, I am a reformed / rehabilitated Heep driver and have completed a 12 step program )

At the SC welcome center on I-20 .... gawd I love this truck!

And barely fitting in the garage at home ...

 

[elkaholic]

First Real Look

Once I got it home, I had to go through everything and drool some more. I hate to say it Charles, but it will likely never be this clean again, but man, oh man, does she shine up well.

As it sat when I bought the truck, it had less than 110,000 kms on the clock, the carpet and the rest of the interior looked much nicer than one would expect for a 28 year old truck, and the previous owner(s) has treated the truck very well and had tastefully upgraded her.

The basic truck is a BJ74 LX with an A440, factory AC, suspension seats, and PTO winch. The upgrades included.

• Fuel and booth slightly tweaked
• Trans cooler
• OME lift
• BFG KM/2s in 33x10.5R15
• ARB lockers front and rear with a Viar 100% duty cycle 24V compressor and air tank
• ARB front bumper modified to fit the factory PTO winch (thanks @AlbertoSD )
• TJM snorkle (thans @peterb )
• LED fog lights
• Lightforce spots ..

I had Rob Smith (Charles' top notch diesel Cruiser guru) add VDO trans temp, EGT, and boost gauges prior to taking delivery.

So now for pictures to document the condition when I bought it ... I hope I can keep it this nice, but I have very big shoes to fill ....

Nope ... not gonna happen. Don't have the patience.

 

[elkaholic]

More ...

Xtra Clean Interior

Temporary storage of the new spare ...

 

[Gun Runner 5]

You would have thought that lazy, good for nothing previous owner would have cleaned up the winch area.
I was truly torn between cleaning and painting the winch area and sitting in the porch swing and drinking a beer. Man that beer was good.

 

[elkaholic]

So, the first thing I did was really piss somebody off ... good thing I don't know who it is

The one thing I was able to keep @1978HJ45 from buying was a new spare. The tires on the truck are BFG KM/2s in 33x10.5R15, a size which BFG has discontinued . The spare was an 11 year old 30x9.5R15 BFG AT that had never been on the ground. My local tire guy said that his distributor showed a total of 4 of the KM/2s in inventory east of the Mississippi River ... there are now three in inventory

This explains the temporary storage of the spare on the floor behind the back seat. The 33" spare would not clear the bumper on the spare tire carrier and flipping the carrier created an issue for the rear wiper.

With the welding help of @Cirbo , this was corrected.

Step 1 - cut the studs off the stock carrier and grind flush

Step 2 - drill new holes ~1.25" higher

Step 3 - Obtain M12-1.5 x 60mm long, grade 10.8 all thread bolts (not shown)
Step 4 - Get a buddy who can really weld to tack the bolts in place (not shown)
Step 5 - Rattle can paint the whole shooting match satin black
Step 5 - Reattach stock carrier to door and mount spare

Step 6 - Order bumper with swing out from @reevesci (to come ...)

 

[elkaholic]

So I jumped ahead of myself a bit ...

The first mod done, and it fits with the Beer Truck name, was add a more appropriate badge to the ARB bumper (curtesy of @NLXTACY and Wit's-End and add a clean means of opening more beer bottles (courtesy of Cruiser Crap).

Meanwhile I was enjoying the truck and the looks it got, always looking over my shoulder when I parked. The following was taken at 5 Guys in Rock Hill, I call it, one of these is not like the others ...

 

[cruiserdan]

Some people "flip" the bracket to fit a larger Tyre.....

 

[elkaholic]

A few Miscellaneous Items

I noticed that the PTO shift knob was a little loose and found that the required screws are in the US parts stream from Mr. T, but they do think a lot of them. I believe these were close to $4 each. No pictures of the install, but here is the part number.

The passenger side (LH) visor was a bit floppy and a search revealed that an original color was available in Japan and that @beno could get me a later one that would be a little off in color. Since I was ordering up some stuff from Dave Steadman (Japan4x4-Export) anyway, I went that route ... goodies from the mother ship.

 

[elkaholic]

Some people "flip" the bracket to fit a larger Tyre.....

When I tried that, the bracket and the rear wiper arm wanted to share the same physical space ...

 

[cruiserdan]

One trims the bracket I do believe. Your solution is more "presentable" however...

 

[elkaholic]

Enjoying the truck

In September, I went to two events in the truck. The first was Logan's Run / Cruising the Carolina's with ONSC. I was the designated saucier and supplied both the spicy and the KC style sauce for the even (each made with some special ingredients imported from the great state of Tennessee - specifically sourced from a dry county ). More info on this event can be found here ==> Cruisin' the Carolinas - Logan's Run 2015

Now for a few pictures ....

The next weekend, I made the trek to Cullman, AL for the First Annual Southeastern US 70 Series Meet and Greet . A big thank you to @peterb and @1978HJ45 for getting the ball rolling there. Lots of pictures are in the tail end of that thread, but here are a few ...

That damned Heep word again ...

 

[elkaholic]

A few Odds n Ends

While getting ready for the Cullman trip, I decided to install Spidertrax 1.25" rear spacers to match the front pacers that were already on the truck. Pretty straight forward install ... no pics other that the finished product ...

Yes, there is a jack stand under the axle, just not visible.

When putting the wheels back on, I had a lug nut failure at ~ 40 lb-ft so I had to get some new nuts ... (ouch). This failure is documented here and here, but here are a few pics

24 new ones were acquired on an emergency basis from my local NAPA and I was good to go.

After cleaning up the engine compartment from two weekend of eating dust, it was time to install the hood insulator that I picked up from @beno on my way back from Cullman. This is a 0.1 banana job and took me all of 10 minutes. An extra person would be handy just for ease of handling, but with a little though, one person can do it easily.

Before:

Parts from @beno

And done

Tabs that retain the insulator at the back of the hood / bonnet.

Finally, replacement of the nasty grommet at the base of the hood prop ..
Parts from the mothership via Dave Steadman

And before and after close-ups

Yes, I do have some minor surface rust to attend to there ....

This concludes today's binge-posting. Now where did I put that beer?

 

[stayalert]

Awesome…Our trucks are SO similar! I just put on one of those hood pad things….Its nice….

 

[elkaholic]

One trims the bracket I do believe. Your solution is more "presentable" however...

The ultimate solution from Jason will be even better

 

[cruiserdan]

Naturally....

I got an in-person glimpse.........Nice.

 

[elkaholic]

New maintenance item ... backup lamps no worky and it is not the bulbs since the sockets are not seeing any power. Guess I get to start tracing wiring from the NSS. I am sure the connections will be someplace that Mr. T never intended a 6' 2" tall American to be able to place eyes on much less touch with hands ...

 

[cruiserdan]

Good news: If the NS switch is bad new ones are still available....

Bad news: $$$


an interesting footnote. The same switch is used in FJ62, which is 12v. Some of this electrical stuff does not seem to care if it is running 12v or 24v....

 

[elkaholic]

Bad news: $$$

Rhetorical question ... is there any part from the mothership that is not $$$$?

 

[cruiserdan]

Fuses are fairly reasonable.....

 

[wardharris]

Fuses are fairly reasonable.....

I got a good deal on some new OEM rims recently....