Build 1987 BJ73 Restore Build

[KitsuneImports]

Greetings all.


I've been reading along with the forum for years now and finally decided I have something post. I have a small restoration shop that primarily focus on restoring the Land Rover 90/110 series Defender, however, I have loved the Land Cruiser since I purchased my first vehicle, a 1981 FJ40 after high school (I still have it today). I've enjoyed reading the adventures/misadventures of forum members and really have enjoyed following the builds - so I thought I would take our current project a post photos/issues/updates.


The vehicle we imported from Italy was listed as a 1987 LJ70 Land Cruiser. However, the vehicle did not have the characteristic LJ front end and I could not see the suspension springs. On arrival, the VIN stamp did show “LJ70”, but the frame was a heavy duty frame with all leaf suspension. After loads more research, what I had was a 1987 Italian BJ73 “200” cruiser. Basically, this is a factory LHD BJ74 type model with a VM Motori five cylinder turbocharged diesel engine. I could not be more pleased with the heavy frame and smoothness of the engine and the vehicle was mechanically fit. So, after paying US Customs and the State of Texas for a title, it was time to dig in.


As with most 25+ year old imports, the ugliness began to show on teardown. The body was in good shape with a few rusted places under body gaskets. The major issues were located at the firewall and front window where water had sat under the body gaskets. No major issues – just more sheet metal welding to do.


After evaluating the condition of the vehicle, I decided to do a full, ground up restore. The vehicle probably would not sell for as much as the Landy’s, but I had also purchased a 1987 BJ74 Four Door Prototype for my daily driver and current project would give me an idea on its cost and time commitment. I found that – it takes a LOT more time to take down the more complex Land Cruiser than its British competitor. For starters, the main wiring bundle on a Landy is about 1” in diameter across, the Toyota is about 2”. The Land Cruiser is just a more complex vehicle.


We are about to start body work at this point, so I will try to add backdated posts to catch up. ON WITH THE RESTORE...

 

[KitsuneImports]

The interior of the vehicle was in good shape. The seats were finished in black leather(ish) material which cleaned up nicely. The interiors of the body metal were clean and rust free until I hit the dash, which had rust on the right side. The dash plastic is in good condition, but the bezels and face plastic had cracked so I would have to replace. All of the gauges worked properly and all of the warning lights tested out OK. I hate carpet, it stinks and eats into unprotected paint, so it was trashed. The headliners were in OK condition, but not acceptable to our standards, so they will be replaced as well.

The fiberglass was in decent condition, showing typical signs of exposure. I will re-skim the FRP top with a new coat of epoxy to flatten everything out and it should turn out as good as new. The body had been repainted at some point with cheap auto paint and a horrible quality clearcoat and there were dents that would need to be massaged out prior to refinishing. My biggest issue at this point was the frame.

There were no major rust issues but the frame had been sprayed with a bed liner, on the visible surfaces only, to look good for the seller’s photo. I personally do not like bedliner sprayed frames since I have seen the coating crack from rock impacts that allow water to get behind the coating and rust. I prefer cadmium, galvanized, paint or power coating (basically in that order) for the frame structure. Futhermore, bed liner is a nightmare to sand blast off.

 

[wardharris]

Congratulations - lovely project!

 

[KitsuneImports]

Happy enough with the body, it was time to get underneath. The body was lifted off so we could recover the frame. The existing bushings were well worn, so an order was placed for new body mounts. The steering rods also showed some minor signs of wear and the suspension was spongy, so yet another part order was placed for replacements. For the suspension replacement, I decided to go with the Old Man Emu Sport suspension, which would replace the springs, worn bushings, pin & shackles. We trashed most of the rusted bolts and fittings for two reasons: 1. I hate trying to track down the right bolt, brushing and then dipping it so it won't ruin new paint, and 2. Stainless steel looks soooo much better.

With the body removed and parts ordered, the remaining brake and fuel lines, wiring and fittings were removed and the chassis and axles were moved to be sandblasted clean. The wait time for powder coat was going to be too long for the chassis, so I opted for industrial auto primer and coating from Sherwin Williams over Etching Primer provided by Eastwood Paints.

I'm going to skip along some of the dirty restore parts, but you can always see these on my website or even Facebook (KitsuneImports) since I post photos from my phone as we go.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

First of all welcome to 'MUD.
Secondly, your restoration will go much more smoothly if you register here first.... U.S. 70's Registration.

 

[KitsuneImports]

More updates:

Chassis returned from blasting, it took off as much of the liner as possible but the rest will have to brush free. Some cannot be removed at all due to access, but if it survived blast media it's stuck on good. The frame is brushed shiny, removing remaining rust away. Since there were no deteriorated parts we did not have much to weld. From tearing down these vehicles, it's a good idea to go over any weld that was repaired overseas as I have rarely seen good penetration welds on vehicles coming through the shop.

Once cleaned to the point we are happy, we wash the surface down with industrial solvent one more time and spray it with paint thinner to remove any remaining oil. Next up, since we are painting this frame, is the etching primer followed by the industrial paint primer. We went ahead and painted the existing pins and shackles hoping to use bushing sleeves but the steel was just too far gone. These deformed parts still paint nice and practice makes perfect-Right?

OK, so I know this is not normal, but as a Kitsune signature, we do not use black paint on the chassis. All of our chassis are color coordinated with the ultimate color scheme of the vehicle. Since this vehicle will be red, we thought a tan chassis would complement the color. I will not be using a factory color, not that it is impossible, but I wanted the color to really stand out. The replacement decals we have made up also will not be factory colors, but include metallic and gloss vinyl to go with the new paint scheme.

 

[KitsuneImports]

Added the OME Suspension, axles are almost ready, we are just waiting on the new gasket seals. I will put all of this back together and begin work on the body. I'm saving the engine for last since our oven has died and we cannot powdercoat right now.

Important tip if you are doing your own suspension, be sure to use threadlock on all of your fasteners. Project is looking good, it's just taking longer than anticipated due to waiting on overseas part shipments. Since I order a lot of parts for both the Rovers and Toyotas, I receive bulk shipments in, but always find that there is something I decide to replace, screw up taking off (this never happens...uh-huh) or forgot to order. I realize the need to use more local suppliers for last minute parts needed, especially since I have a very small inventory for Toyota parts.

You may also see that the rear shackles are still factory without anti-inversion-this is temporary. The replacement parts just landed on my desk - the shackles will be replaced with greaseble parts as well.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Sorry, I can't let you off that easy.....
There are two registration threads for 70 Series owner. One worldwide and one for the select few that have made it into the U.S. (U.S. 70's Registration.)
A Texas registered 70 Series certainly deserves to be in the latter.

 

[KitsuneImports]

Sorry no updates for anyone who actually likes following cruiser builds, the registration Nazi kind of pissed me off. Here is a current pic of the BJ73 build out, Facebook has a lot of the during build photos under Kitsune Imports.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Nice restoration, a lot of the pictures are upside down....I missed this last fall when you started it.
I'm painting my BJ74 soon, and am curious as to the tan colour you used on the frame. I tend to see
too much yellow in a lot of tan colours, but this one looks good.
I don't facebook, so wont' go there to follow. Keep the pics coming, and what 5 cyl engine is that?
Didn't know they made a 5 cyl.