Build 1995 full resto build

[SNLC]

Almost done in the engine bay!! We are just waiting on some latches to finish off the air box. We will also have to get the air box powder coated before 100% done. We did run it today briefly, first run since adding the turbo, it seems pretty quiet!

Pretty happy with how it is turning out!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Pretty much finished engine bay now.

We have a boost and air/fuel ratio gauge plumbed in for testing purposes. Just got the air box back today. The engine was built by us 5,000 or so miles ago. So it’s well broke in now and after testing we will do a valve adjustment, check everything one last time (timing, plug gaps, ect) and call it good to go.

We got about ten things left on our check list for this Cruiser and it’s ready to go back home.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

We are wrapping the build up now so how’s about a little New Years photo !?

Just temp gauges for our own testing purposes.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Some small yet big and sweet upgrades this round of build-laundry list.

Rear view mirror got changed and custom fitted too.

Bunch more to come as we wrap things up and hit the streets next week! Pickup date scheduled for January 26th!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Few more pictures.

In case you didn’t know you can still get new OEM rear hatch glass from your local dealership. It’s not real cheap but unbelievably still available 29yrs after the end of 80-series production. We grabbed it for this Cruiser due to the owner wanting brand new rear defroster strips and also because it’s soon to be NLA, right!? OEM gasket plus tint to match the rest of the glass too.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Sneaky sneaky style here on the rear cargo quarter panel. There is a Delta panel in there as seen in previous post with an ARB twin motor brushless compressor ect-all.

As also seen in previous posts the LHS cargo area, air up hose-ect inside the tire carrier.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

In a week this Cruiser will be home!

Last of the engine details, additional heat shield and wrap. Got to love under hood lights!

We checked all the valves since last post and since the engine rebuild. Figured we would need to shim at least a few, turns out they are all within spec and it’s good to go!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Under hood lights.

Cleaning up the body just a little before it goes home.

Cheers

 

[Broski]

Under hood lights.

View attachment 4071761

Cleaning up the body just a little before it goes home.

View attachment 4071762

Cheers

Beautiful Rig !

 

[SNLC]

She gone!!!

The owner @ohsix left maybe 1.5hrs ago. We just exchanged a few text and he has cruise set at 83mph just moving right along down the highway!!

I will do a bigger post soon about the turbo and overall engine mods. We do have some videos as well. We were running a Scangauge as well as stand alone boost and air/fuel during our 400 or so miles of testing.

Cheers

 

[dogfishlake]

So cool. I am reading backwards through the thread. Your builds are amazing. Just about to get back into an 80- my dream rig, so taking in the lmost I can. Thanks for putting so much content out!

 

[ikarus]

So cool. I am reading backwards through the thread. Your builds are amazing. Just about to get back into an 80- my dream rig, so taking in the lmost I can. Thanks for putting so much content out!

Don't do it! You'll find yourself at 2am pulling out your dash support thinking "this needs to be powder coated"
(speaking from experience)

 

[SNLC]

So here is my final review of the turbo kit:

The kit was complete, both the turbo and intercooler kits. We didn’t have to round up this or that to make it fit and work. The intercooler in particular fits real well. Install was fairly straightforward even without any installation instructions. It is kind of obvious the kit was designed without or before the intercooler came about. The turbo has to be clocked which makes a few things not fit as good as they would if it is not clocked.

We changed some things fitting the kit, for us on a Cruiser like this one it is about making it all fit just right. We added mounts for the intercooler hard pipes so they are not just plumbed-laying in place. We also modified the hard pipe that the crank case vent hose dumps into.

Early on in our install we went to a custom air box. For maximum air flow and also to just get everything fitting real nice.

I talked to Johnny a couple of times during our work and he was responsive and helpful. I had a few questions and he explained to me why he designed it how he did.

All of us in my shop agree the turbo should get moved forward 2-4” via the j-pipe. We really didn’t like how the turbo location in the engine bay locates and puts the dump pipe jammed against the firewall where the A/C lines pass through. The dump gets extremely hot, glowing red even and to me this is not how we would design it. Johnny did explain that turbo placement is to keep the stock air box and stock vent hose. I certainly understand not wanting to design a kit that would require a custom air box. We didn’t get a chance to test the setup when it is ambient and 100+ degrees.

The turbo generates a massive amount of heat under the hood. I can see why a person may want hood vents with this turbo. A small hood scoop right over the RHS of the hood would do the job too. We added a whole lot more heat shielding and heat wrapping than was included in the kit. I was surprised how much more heat it generates vs a turbo diesel. Even with double wrap on the dump pipe it still gets hot enough to nearly burn your hand. Not the case with the diesels and we don’t wrap the dumps on those just ceramic coated at the most.

We ran a mechanical boost gauge and digital air/fuel gauge on it for our testing. We also ran a Scangauge. We ran it with a stock fan clutch and a 15k clutch.

The base kit is supposed to supply 7psi, for us it was preset at 5psi. We adjusted it during testing via a manual boost controller. We found it leans out to much at 7psi so we sent it home at 5psi and warned the owner about running it at 7.

Power wise, even 5psi really wakes up the Cruiser! It’s definitely more fun to drive and doesn’t struggle now on the highway or grades. We didn’t dyno it but I would guess it has around 175-200whp. It is noticeably more powerful on 7psi but again it runs to lean.

Overall, pretty good kit! It’s nice Cruiser & Company brought this to market. I would love to see one of the high boost kits as well as any of them with a manual transmission vs the auto.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

7psi


5psi



Cheers

 

[LLTB]

Nah man, 27yr old piece of Toyota Land Cruiser goodness. Vapor hones and clear cerakote. I love this style of refresh, the vapor and cerakote makes it as smooth as butter to the touch. Its like sheets on your bed with a 400+ thread count!

Hardware not new either, I just cleaned it up.

In the shop late tonight, did this real quick before I left. The screws here are new.

View attachment 2966407
View attachment 2966408

Cheers

How do you “clean up” original hardware?

 

[SNLC]

How do you “clean up” original hardware?

If degreaser doesn’t do it they can be recoated with zinc. Or just buy new ones.

Cheers

 

[Bisonthecruiser]

Couple more of the headlights. These are from Freedom Outfitters iirc.

View attachment 4037418
View attachment 4037419

Couple more of the air box. It uses a 200-series v8 filter. This is our first air box build for a petroleum engine but we have been using these 200 filters and building air boxes like this for awhile. We are just waiting on latches and a piece of pipe or two to finish it off. Iirc it is 4” into the fender on this one and 3.25” from box to turbo.

View attachment 4037420
View attachment 4037421

Here is our diesel air box if you don’t follow our diesel builds.

View attachment 4037422

We don’t really do “cookie cutter” builds, everything seems to end up custom fit and custom made! Hey that’s kind of always been my attitude and persona with Cruisers, every Cruiser is different just like everyone’s individual desires and needs with a Cruiser are different. So they are all”one-offs!”!



Cheers

Stunning work, SNLC. Love the 70 series you have going as well. Any plans to manufacture that airbox? Apologies if this was covered elsewhere.