Builds Building the dream (PZJ77) (1 Viewer)

[divemedic]

Day 1:

Current:

I'm pleased to introduce Sophia. She is a 1991 PZJ77 in dark blue metallic 8B4 (my best guess at the factory color code). I picked the truck up from Hikari Auto in Kurashiki, Okayama Japan. It took a bit of time getting the required inspections and "Y-plate" registration, but it was worth it in the end. Big shout out to Bill at B&M Okinawa. If you ever find yourself here, he is THE dude to take your car to.

The truck is loaded as far as 70's go, and the PO did some good things and not so good things. I still haven't really been able to do a full inspection. I may end up taking it to the local dealer and asking them to give me a full-on diagnostic. We shall see how quickly I can up my knowledge game. For now my priorities are to fix any rust, rebuild the front axel, full fluid change, address the wiring nightmare that is the aftermarket radio, and fix cosmetic issues as time and money allows. I only have a year and a half left in Okinawa, so I will be trying to get the old girl back up to her best quickly. Once I feel preventative maintenance has been addressed I will start looking at modifications to make her better. I will be re addressing the suspension; the PO felt the need to lift the truck and unknown amount (the current tires are 255/85R16's and they look tiny!) I likely go with the OME greaseable-everything kit. Of course armor of some kind. I'd like to fab my own stuff but we shall see. Lastly, a turbo will likely find its place in the engine bay.

I must say, every time I look at the truck and read the threads here it seems more and more daunting. This truck is the first genuine attempt at an off road project I've ever done. My extent of Toyota experience is a 92' 2wd pick-up with a 22RE. I did nothing to it but abuse it in high school. Also an 88' supra turbo I bought with a friend to abuse in parking lots. My off road knowledge drops off with a S10 blazer I traded a shot gun for and, my most recent truck, a 93' Pajero iO. My mechanical experience really come from building a few VAG cars. Notably, a B5S4 that received the full on "stage 3" with fueling and meth. It was the best and worst car I'd ever owned. All that being said, please forgive any dumb questions I make post up. Some of you, namely Chad, Dan and Chris have already given help as this project has started.

This will serve as my build/progress thread. I look forward to keeping it up to date. I also look forward to leaning on you fine people for knowledge and feedback as time passes.

- Nic

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Congratulations! Truck looks great, although I agree, a little on the tall side. Sounds like you got it for a good price and have some good plans. I also came from more of a sports car back ground, but I found it did not take long to learn how to wrench on these things. Lots more room to work, don't have to jack it up to get underneath...etc.

 

[OGBeno]

Great looking truck.

If you don't mind me asking, is thing being imported to the US or is this truck being used in either Japan or Okinawa?

 

[divemedic]

Congratulations! Truck looks great, although I agree, a little on the tall side. Sounds like you got it for a good price and have some good plans. I also came from more of a sports car back ground, but I found it did not take long to learn how to wrench on these things. Lots more room to work, don't have to jack it up to get underneath...etc.

Very excited to learn the ins and outs of this truck. And thank you for the confidence. I am excited for the space avalible for wrenching. I'm use to far less room

Great looking truck.

If you don't mind me asking, is thing being imported to the US or is this truck being used in either Japan or Okinawa?

I will eventually import to the states. I will be in Japan (Oki is a prefecture) for another year-ish, then maybe Germany or who knows where... Thank you for the compliment. I'm very lucky to have picked her up in the condition she is in. The good by far outweigh the bad.

 

[divemedic]

So today was productive. I stopped by a local Toyota dealer to see about getting parts for a front axel overhaul. After about an hour and a half of pouring over diagrams, my s***ty Japanese and the tech's s***ty English I got a parts listing. Tomorrow I will cross reference with the electronic parts catalogue. All together he quoted me about $200 usd. Additionally, I've contacted Cruiser Outfitters for their full kit as well as magnetic drain plugs all around. Their kit is only slightly more, and shipping time would likely be the same as shipping from mainland Japan. I would much rather support an American company so they have my number one vote with the dealer coming in at number 2. The goal will be to replace all seals, bearing, shims, etc... Forward of the front drive shaft. Here are the birfield joints, can someone advise if I should consider the HD birf seals from Merlin?

Additionally I was able to take some time and poke around the truck a get a solid feel for work that needs to be done. Here is the tentative list in order of priority (please feel free to comment on my verbiage in addition to my plan of attack. The more help the better)

- New down pipe (parts are ordered, should be here Saturday)
- Front axel overhaul. Oil, trans, and diff fluid flush. Air and cabin filter.
- Rear main seal. Front and rear drive shaft overhaul.
- Rear axle overhaul (I likely won't flush the rear diff until I do this)
- Power steering unit replacement. Steering bushings/tie rods.
- New radiator and associated hoses. (I'll likely do the t-stat and water pump too)
- Rotors/pads, caliper rebuild, drums/shoes, new brake fluid manifold doodad sitting under the right rear over the axle, fluid flush.

At this point I have a few questions.

Here is the aforementioned brake doodad. What is it actually called. The diaphragm is dry, but not cracked, still has time in her.

What is the deal with the foam surrounding the rear main? It's got what seems to be years of oil saturation, nothing new feeling



I'd like to do suspension bushings and shocks. I want to see if i can replace the shackles with greasable units from OME. However I had a title mod done and I may not be able to lower the truck without amending the title again. That being said, can anyone guess how much lift this thing has? And how does all this lift affect other bits like the panhard, etc... i.e Am I able to just swap the shackles or should I be looking at swapping the supporting structure too?

Also I read somewhere (but can't remember where, or if it was kit specific) that I can level the truck by removing the third from the top leaf?

FR shackle

RR shackle

RR leaf pack

Little things that need to be done as time/money allow. They will likely go somewhere in the list up top.
- New axel bump stops (front right is gone completely)
- new wheel studs (I'll have Toyota do that, from my understanding they are press fit?)
- Strip interior, check for/repair rust. Drop down some lizard skin sound insulation and ceramic. Fix the wiring hack job on the radio and replace head unit and speakers.
- Start work on making the interior sexy. I have a solid plan of what I want with the interior, but I'm not going to reveal it just yet.
- New weather striping, window motors, and door lock motors (probably try to make them all 1-touch.
- Replace cosmetic bits around the inside/outside. The plan will be to order one part for looks with every major mechanical job.

A few big reliefs I discovered:

New fuel pump, as in still got that new pump smell.

No signs of leaks from the valve cover gasket or head gasket.

So far I'm getting 21 MPG, 50/50 mixed city/highway. But I have noticed a marked loss in power after my down pipe snapped, so I'm willing to bet I will see 800Km out of a full tank.

Thank you all again for you advice, and taking the time to read the novels.

 

[Mseitz20]

That's a nice looking 77 you have there. I have a friend stationed in Okinawa with the Air Force, who recently bought a Mitsubishi Jeep. I'm interested to see how your 77 will come out over time.

 

[eman375]

Nice rig. You're lucky to have easy and almost immediate access to parts in spite of the language barrier. Congrats!

 

[divemedic]

That's a nice looking 77 you have there. I have a friend stationed in Okinawa with the Air Force, who recently bought a Mitsubishi Jeep. I'm interested to see how your 77 will come out over time.

Your buddy wouldn't happens to be Bret? There are a few really nice Mitsu jeeps. But after my Pajero, I'd never own a Mitsubishi again. Especial anything with GDI in the name.

Nice rig. You're lucky to have easy and almost immediate access to parts in spite of the language barrier. Congrats!

I am pretty lucky. But you would've surprised at part avalibility. A lot of surpluses have been sold to American distributors from my understanding. But I am lucky to be in a market that has a slim market for land cruisers. There are enough here for relatively cheap.

Thank you both for the compliments. I'm longing forward to getting her back into top shape.

 

[Mseitz20]

Your buddy wouldn't happens to be Bret? There are a few really nice Mitsu jeeps. But after my Pajero, I'd never own a Mitsubishi again. Especial anything with GDI in the name.

My buddy's name is Nate, I know he recently bought it from someone on the base. It's a black one that's like 4 different shades of black.

 

[sadam_husain]

Here is the aforementioned brake doodad. What is it actually called. The diaphragm is dry, but not cracked, still has time in her.

the doodad is the rear brake proportioning valve or load sensing valve depending what terminology you use, the diaphragm your talking about is probably just the outer dust boot

 

[divemedic]

My buddy's name is Nate, I know he recently bought it from someone on the base. It's a black one that's like 4 different shades of black.

Ah yes, I know the jeep (it was Brett's, he runs the off road Facebook page). I'll keep an eye out for it and be sure to wave.

 

[divemedic]

the doodad is the rear brake proportioning valve or load sensing valve depending what terminology you use, the diaphragm your talking about is probably just the outer dust boot

Very cool, I will change my wording on my excel file. Thank you again. I'm glade to hear that it's the dust cover. Which makes more sense then leaving an exposed diaphragm on the underside of the truck. Thank you!

 

[Kenavides]

Nice truck. My buddy has the same one, like exactly.

 

[clintnz]

Nice - those would have to be one of the rarer 70 series variants.

Your spring shackles look longer than stock, so that will be where some of the lift comes from - You'll probably get a nice improvement in handling if you drop back to a std length shackle as the caster angle will change back closer to std.

Cheers
Clint

 

[divemedic]

Nice - those would have to be one of the rarer 70 series variants.

Your spring shackles look longer than stock, so that will be where some of the lift comes from - You'll probably get a nice improvement in handling if you drop back to a std length shackle as the caster angle will change back closer to std.

Cheers
Clint

I was going to pose the question later, but since you bring it up. I'm guessing the truck has about 4 inches of lift. I'm not sure if it only the shackles or a combination of shackles and leafs. I do want to lower the truck but I have hesitations. If I revert to factory shackles, will I clear the tires (255/85r16 aka 33x10-ish)? Second, depending on how the PO did the lift, am I going to need new panhard and steering bars?

 

[divemedic]

Quick update. New DP installed. One of the nuts on the back end was welded on. I ended up having to cut through the nut and bolt using a reciprocating saw with a wood blade, and a small hacksaw with two aluminum precision blades. Three hour and a whole can of WD40 later I cut through enough of the bolt to torque it off with some channel locks. You know that say, "use the right tools for the job?" That s*** is for the birds

I also filled Sophie up with Mobile 1 Economy. She is no longer sounds like an asthmatic with a crack twitch.

As a side note. A very thin film, of what felt to be oil was in my intake just aft of the plastic plumbing. Is this normal, or do I need to start looking for the cause? (Yay, my first diesel)

 

[ForealBoreal]

don't know if you can go the custom route but the down pipe into the silencer is a huge restriction.

 

[ForealBoreal]

I was going to pose the question later, but since you bring it up. I'm guessing the truck has about 4 inches of lift. I'm not sure if it only the shackles or a combination of shackles and leafs. I do want to lower the truck but I have hesitations. If I revert to factory shackles, will I clear the tires (255/85r16 aka 33x10-ish)? Second, depending on how the PO did the lift, am I going to need new panhard and steering bars?

you should be fine with no mods running those shoes.

 

[divemedic]

don't know if you can go the custom route but the down pipe into the silencer is a huge restriction.

Eventually I will be doing a SS set up that will be less restrictive and Eco friendly (I'm kind of a granola tree hugger). But I'm going to wait until I start setting up for a turbo... Years and years away from now...

With regards to my lift, and clearing tires. I'm concerned that if I just buy factory shackles that I may also need to do other things. I'm not well versed enough yet to tell what has been done, and what should be done in order to "fix" this problem. For example I see people get adjustable panhard rods to compensate the axel when lifting...

 

[ForealBoreal]

I believe that is for coil suspension regarding the panhard rod