Builds 10 years with the 74/after-the-fact build thread (1 Viewer)

[peterb]

The ARB fridge slide didn't bring the fridge out far enough to lift the lid very high without hitting the top of the storage, so we cut a flap to allow better access. I'm trying some rare earth magnets I found at Lee Valley Tools to hold it shut.
One magnet held it pretty firmly closed, but they came in a 2 pack so may as well use 'em...

With both of them installed, you have to give the flap a sharp rap to break it free. If you pull up slowly, the chintzy L brackets will bend!

Need to get it out on a rough road and see if they're going to rattle or break free, but I doubt it.

The awning will also provide some downforce when cruising at triple digit speeds! <smile>

 

[bj70_guy]

The awning will also provide some downforce when cruising at triple digit speeds! <smile>

BJ74 Daytona Edition

 

[ahoelkpuravida]

Wow what a read, thank you so much for putting together such a great post, pictures and insight to a beautiful truck build. It has certainly inspired me to do a few things on my truck and to be really, really mindful of RUST. Thanks again a great write up

 

[bj70_guy]

Wow what a read, thank you so much for putting together such a great post, pictures and insight to a beautiful truck build. It has certainly inspired me to do a few things on my truck and to be really, really mindful of RUST. Thanks again a great write up

Thanks! - yeah rust is the enemy. I know your new truck has a little, I would sure fix it quick and then make friends with my old pals Fluid Film and Boeshield
After any bodywork pull your interior panels and spray inside... if you use fluid film the truck will stop smelling like sheep within a few weeks. We use an electric paint sprayer and buy FF by the gallon to do the undercarriage, work great.

Glad Bill's 74 found a good home, and it's sure nice that it stayed local. Hope you'll come out to some Coastal Cruiser meetings once things open up again.

 

[ahoelkpuravida]

Thanks! - yeah rust is the enemy. I know your new truck has a little, I would sure fix it quick and then make friends with my old pals Fluid Film and Boeshield
After any bodywork pull your interior panels and spray inside... if you use fluid film the truck will stop smelling like sheep within a few weeks. We use an electric paint sprayer and buy FF by the gallon to do the undercarriage, work great.

Glad Bill's 74 found a good home, and it's sure nice that it stayed local. Hope you'll come out to some Coastal Cruiser meetings once things open up again.

Yes we are dealing with the rust now - there is not a lot but some - we have redone the window seals, replacing quarter panel, and doing some paint work after - will fluid film inside also, -- yes certainly plan in going to Coastal Cruiser meetings when we can again. Cheers

 

[bj70_guy]

My calendar tells me today is my 15th(!) anniversary with the BJ74, and 30 years of driving 70 series cruisers

Not much to update, the Emu shocks that were put on when I first got it were completely shagged out, so just got replaced with a fresh set.

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It got a totally original new sticker :

The springs are banging and clunking like crazy, so one of these days I'll have to re bush them and tack weld that damn spacer OME uses in the spring eyes, that oughtta shut them up.

Otherwise it's running and driving great. I still occasionally think it's time to move it on... then I take it out for a drive and think "nope, not today"

They make a great pair.

 

[bj70_guy]

Another winter hibernation over... a month ago actually, but the 74 had other plans besides letting me drive and enjoy it.

The rear springs are shagged but not quite THAT shagged - the left rear tire is flat

The fun started when we got some heavy rain (yes shocking, it rained heavily in vancouver...) and I found a couple good sized puddles in the passenger footwell and behind the seat.
Tracked it down to a couple of leaves blocking the drain in the hood latch cavity, and I'm figuring it filled with water, leaked over, and hit wires going through the firewall grommet and wicked on through.

Removed the leaves, RTV'd the crap out of that big grommet, and haven't had any issues since.

 

[bj70_guy]

I got in a few drives and man it feels loose and the clanking from the spring eye spacers is insane. The rear springs have sagged, and it wallows like a hog in slop. The new shocks from last year have not made a ton of difference.

I had accepted that I was going to have to pull the springs, get the spacers tacked, new bushings, and some add a leafs for the rear.

Then I noticed the puddle of coolant dripping off the oil pan

Immediately thought "water pump", but found this hose dribbling, and I could almost pull it off the nipple. Aha!

Nope, put a hose clamp in it, still leaked.
I had a new factory water pump on the shelf that I had bought when buddy Glenn-bj74 sold his 74, so on it went.
@Greg_B offered to give me a hand so we tore into it.

It was a PITA. Contrary to what the toyota 13B-T manual says, you WILL need to remove the thermostat housing to get the pump off. And possibly one bolt on the power steering pump mount - we tried that first THEN took of the thermo housing so not sure if just taking off the housing would be enough. If you do it, let me know!

I won't mention how long we stared at that trying to figure it out before pulling that stuff off. I'm not used to a manual telling you to take off LESS stuff than necessary, usually it's way more.

 

[bj70_guy]

Decided to replace the 3 pump hoses - 2 are still available from the dealer: the bypass hose 16261-56012, the short straight water hose is 99556-30100. The Inlet A Water Hose (87245-90K44) is NLA, at least as best as I could find.
I found a generic hose with a bend that seemed close enough, it went on ok and didn't take much bending

Its on there now but Greg_B had better luck, his Napa let him in the back room to look for himself and he found this:

AC Delco 16077M or GM88907319

Nice!

 

[bj70_guy]

Once it was all back together we filled it with coolant, and for the first time ever for either of us (greg's had his 74 since 2004) we experienced the 13B-T that didn't want to take coolant. We'd read of others having the issue, but we never had.
It wouldn't take more than 3L.
Eventually we pulled a heater hose off, stuck a funnel in it, and got the other 6 or so litres in.

Test drive went well, but coolant that moved into the overflow reservoir was not returning once it cooled down. All thoughts turn to "head gasket", but no... it turned out that the spring clamp on the overflow hose was not sealing well. It didn't do it while idling, but when greg blipped the throttle I noticed coolant dribbling out. Yep, you could grab that hose and almost pull it off too.

I put a hose clamp on it, flogged hard up the local mountain, and sure enough once it cooled down all the extra coolant in the overflow had returned where it belonged. Yay.

Now... if it turns out that my water pump was always fine and all my leaking was just those two loose hoses, well F it I don't want to know
What I'm not doing is tearing apart the old pump to find out, because I have a nice shiny new water pump and some new hoses and F it, good for another 200k!

I AM now on a mission to replace every piece of rubber under the hood though.

 

[bj70_guy]

While waiting for parts to come in I messed with a few other little things.
When I picked the truck up after getting the new windshield frame et al, Rob mentioned the back of the grill was getting some surface rust and it wouldn't kill me to deal with it a little.

I'm a man of action, so 4 years later I pulled the grill

took some sandpaper to it, soap and water,

Then sprayed a nice coat of Fluid Film on it. That should keep it at bay for a while.

I also decided to finally put the TURBO badge on the correct side of the grille. It's in pretty rough shape

but i bojanged it with a zip tie to hold the main mounting point together, put it back on and safety wired it in place.

Looks proper on that side at least

That plate is my amateur radio call sign. VE is canada, 7 is BC, and we get to pick the last 3 digits here in canada so I went with TFO

VE7TFO

VE 7TFO

VE 7 T FO

VE 74 FFS! In 16 years nobody has ever got it, guess I wasn't as clever as I thought. Shocker

 

[bj70_guy]

At the same time, Rob also mentioned it might not kill me to possibly clean up my sun visors, so this is for you Brother Rob!

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Like so much of the plastic, the mounts have gotten brittle and cracked.

They got the JB weld treatment along with the TURBO badge. No pics but expect my usual impeccable detail work that no one will ever see...

The grille and visors can go back on tomorrow, then I'm finally back to where I started this year - needing to pull the F'n springs, add rear leafs, tack the sleeves, re-bush, then enjoy driving it.

And even with it wallowing like a pig I've still enjoyed driving it again.

 

[bj70_guy]

The s***ty repair job in 2008 continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. Paint is starting to lift on the passenger side fender.

Not worth redoing at the moment, but eventually both fenders will need a proper repaint.

And found rust

Just surface, but it's always disappointing to find any of that damned cancer. It'll get a sanding, coat of Rust Bullet, and shot of paint in the next week or 2.

 

[SquamSquatch]

Very similar rig to mine, just I have a bagged motor right now

 

[bj70_guy]

Looking at maintenance records today I see today is the 17th anniversary of getting my BJ74. Hard to believe that much time has passed, but in reality it FEELS like I've had it for 17 years.

I've had it on the road for the summer, but haven't driven it a lot as it has been driving so poorly. It came to a head last weekend when I drove it up the Whistler highway to Squamish (somewhat twisty mountain highway) for our annual Coastal Cruisers show and shine. I won't say it was terrifying, but it was most assuredly NOT confidence inspiring.

I had the REDREEFER take it for a drive and before we got out of the parking lot the look of alarm on his face would have been hilarious if I didn't know it was about to cost me time and money

It had an excessive amount of body roll and metallic pops and bangs.

I got it home safely and got underneath to check for a broken spring pack. First thing I noticed:

That was the worst, but every shock mount was loose... way loose.
If I had any pride I would have swallowed it, but I got on with tightening them all up to spec, and lo and behold it drove kind of like a 74 that wasn't a piece of crap.

Still some metal popping and banging but far less, and it no longer feels frightening to drive.

 

[bj70_guy]

Continuing on, its still not right though it's much improved. Looking at the right rear spring pack its clear that it has sagged, and moreso than the left.

A good look shows the top leaf is shifting in the pack, which might account for some of the metal sounds. The pack is also W'd where the left side is not.

Up front while checking the condition of tie rods, it was noticed that the shackles were moving up and down while the wheel was being turned. I can see movement at the rear spring eye as well. Cranking the wheel hard can induce more popping/banging. Appears the bushings are fragged.

Current plan for next week is rebush the front end, pull rear spring packs, take out the add a leafs, and dig out my 24 year old aussie made OME rear spring packs from my BJ70, pull them apart, clean them up, brush some slip plate on the leaves, add the extra leaf, install, and hopefully enjoy the hell out of driving it again!

Start the PB Blastering...

 

[bj70_guy]

Some progress...
Old aussie emu packs separated, cleaned up with flap wheel.

I could't source the Emu anti friction pads locally, 4x4 shop said they use these Dorman units all the time, so I'm trying them

Painted

Coat of John Deere Slip Plate graphite stuff

Current Emu spring packs out

Separated. Removed the add a leafs and one more leaf to add to the old aussie packs. Flap wheeled, painted. Slip Plate tomorrow.

Once the current packs were out, I found one of my metal clunking sources...

The springs had sagged enough that the shackle was at a steep enough angle to start banging into, and eventually through, the tailpipe

The tailpipe is in bad shape, but surprisingly the rest of the 13 YO aluminized 2.5" exhaust looks to be in pretty good shape.

 

[bj70_guy]

If any of you ever decide to use those Dorman spring pads, discard the gasket!

Yeah I got to knock all those out and redo them sans gaskets. That picture also shows that the extra add a leaf plus the other long leaf was not going to work with the spring retainers.
I ended up removing the long leaf and adding a shorter one that goes under the leaf with the retainer. So I still have 2 add a leafs and a shorter extra leaf. Its a big pack, but there IS a lot of weight back there.

One pack was a good inch taller than the other, that was the same before I disassembled them and added any, so that's how they came from OME back in 2000.
I put the tall pack on the driver's side, and it worked out very well.

Springs got fresh emu bushings, and finally after 14 years I have the 4th U bolt flip kit installed

I got them from Man A Fre doG knows how many years ago, and they sent me a kit for a 60 series saying it was the same for the 70s.
Well, 3 of them are the same, but the right rear is different. I installed the ones that worked and got an exchange from Dave at 4+ for the correct one, but was too lazy to actually install it... till now!

The sag is gone, the ride and handling is much improved. Even with 2 extra leafs in the packs it's not harsh, and it just sucked it up nicely going over some speed bumps at some speed.

The old Aussie Emus really were better

Have to get that tailpipe replaced next week, then see where I'm at with clunking and banging. Plan to rebush the front springs and replace the steering stabilizer, and hopefully it'll be all good after that.