Builds 1995 HZJ77 wagon build - Japan sourced

[Gun Runner 5]

So I've heard. I'm trying to see what I can do for a water to air intercooler (Because I'd prefer not having to cut a vent hole in my hood )

Do you or Rob have any preferred setups for the cruisers y'all have seen?

Rob did “air to water” on both of my 1HZ powered Land Cruisers and the results were impressive.

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

This is the scoring on the #1. it's visible, but only barely tactile with your fingernail. So fingers crossed it's not too bad.

Ok my engine DOES have oil squirters. Apparently the earlier models didn't.

And to break up my tortoise like progress a bit more, my friend needed help with his car!

He had taken it to a shop to have some maintenance done on his clutch and they claimed he needed a full engine replacement.... We weren't gonna let that stand, so Darren and he hauled it down to the shop and we got to work. Immediately found that they were trying to f**k him because the had pulled the sparkplugs and left them out when they took a video to show him "he's not getting any compression"...

We put the plugs back in, and it fired right up! (The only reason we even entertained the idea that there was something wrong with the engine was because he said it had been slow to start recently) A$$holes! I hope he takes my suggestion and reports that shop for fraud...

But, then we still had to do the work on the clutch to get him back on the road.

Daniel after a long evening of wrenching to get to his transmission.

Also see: Mitsubishi sucks... They decided to use a concentric slave that goes around the output shaft of the engine, so you have to pull the whole transmission to do any clutch work... which is a particular joy in a transverse engine/trans package in a micro SUV

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Rob did “air to water” on both of my 1HZ powered Land Cruisers and the results were impressive.

Happen to have a photo? I haven't seen how people have packaged them under their hoods.

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

So, it took us most of Saturday to get it out, clutch disc swapped, and the odd concentric slave swapped as well.
We continued working Sunday and got it all back together. Everything seemed to be going well, but when we finally got it back on the ground, we couldn't get the clutch to disengage. We worked on it another few hours without much luck, and Daniel had to get back home because he had work bright and early Monday morning.

We spent the next week spitballing what we thought had gone wrong, came up with a few ideas; which I tested during the week. No luck.
During the additional testing, there was some black rubber in the line while we were bleeding the clutch, so we decided it needed a new master. Mitsubishi masters are apparently entirely plastic assemblies that have a "twist lock" function to hold them in... The lines for it are also push-to-connect instead of AN screw fittings... which is entirely weird to me... but technology progresses, I guess?

Came about the next weekend and spent all day trying different things, still couldn't get it to work and the last thing we could think of was that Daniel had potentially put the clutch disc in backwards... (there's JUST enough room to do so, and he couldn't clearly remember which way he'd put it in)

so.... we pulled the whole transmission back out. Thankfully for Daniel, he was vindicated when we found that he had put it in correctly.
But we still had to figure out what could be the problem. Spongy clutch pedal that has SOME pressure, but isn't disengaging the actual clutch disc...

It was about that time that while sitting down after a long day's work tinkering and trying different things that I took a closer look at the vehicle on the lift and noticed that because we had rolled it into the shop off the trailer, it was backwards on the lift. Which meant that the longer arms were the ones holding up the engine side of the car... and that meant that the front of the car was sagging JUST a bit in comparison to the rear... Saggining in a way that MAY have been just right to stop the stupid concentric slave cylinder from letting any trapped air out... so all of our bleeding efforts could have been for naught.

So we dropped the lift, put just the front arms on and lifted it so it was nose up, and then went to lunch.

We bled it again when we got back from lunch and damned if that isn't exactly what had happened.


Moral of the story?

I'm not working on Daniel's s***box any more

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Back to our regularly scheduled programming -

Engine dismantling!

The timing gears are oddly... pretty?

Had to improvise a bar to hold the gear from moving.

This gear is particularly narrow... had to get a new tool to pull it because my regular 2 and 3 jaw pullers were too wide.

Got the crank cradle removed. The main bearings were in surprisingly good condition for 200k miles, but then, this engine is known to last forever. (until some jackass (me) kills it with a stupid mistake... )

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Well, I got the whole thing apart, and it does look like it's gonna need a bit of machining.

I spent another day confirming that by finding my granddad's old sent to telescoping diameter gauges and his 3" micrometers. Everything looked pretty good for a Mk2 spec engine (as marked on the block) but I was still concerned about the scoring, and didn't want to chance anything if I was gonna have to get a whole new set of pistons and rings.... so off to the machinist it goes.

Thankfully my friend Dylan is a race mechanic for an LMP1 team, and has a guy waaaaaay back in the woods that he trusts with work.
So I went ahead and printed out the 100 pages of the 1HZ engine rebuild section of the FSM so he could have a copy of it all (Probably not gonna find specs online in the states ) and off to the backwoods machine shop I went.

As with any type of work you want done you can have:
1. quality
2. quickness
3. cheap
*(pick two)

Brad over at Mullis is in the #1 & #3 range. (and he's always swamped with work because of it) But I'm not in a rush, and want my engine done right.

Dropped the pistons, head, and block off to have everything checked out.

Brad said it'd be 6-8 weeks until he could even get a chance to look at it. Which, as it turns out, may have been a good thing due to Beno's suggestion a few comments ago. So I may be getting a new short block with all new components, and have Brad just go over the head and see what kind of condition it's in instead of doing the entire engine. But I'll have to call Brad tomorrow and see what he says about potential cost and lead time and compare that to just getting the short block.

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Well, while I'm waiting on the machine shop, there are some other things I can work on while the engine is apart.

I'd wanted to rebuild my PS pump when I saw that it was leaking a year or two ago, but it's powered by the timing gears... so I was... less than enthusiastic about pulling it off the engine if I could avoid it...

Looking at it now, it would have been fairly simple, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that

Just be aware, the PS pump rebuild guide in the FSM doesn't show that there's a 3" diameter o-ring that lives at the bottom of this cavity, but I guarantee you that it's there. (and a replacement comes in the rebuild kit) So get an angled pick and pry it out~

Just take your time, and it's a fairly straightforward rebuild. (just try not to let any of the internal springs go flying away )

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

So, I bought a building.

No land to put it on yet...

But I have laid claim to a 60x70x14 red iron steel building
I had actually just put in a quote request for a 60x70x12 building just for an estimate, and they called me back and asked if 60x70x14 would be ok. I said "uh... sure... why?" to which they said that they had another customer who had ordered three and had two delivered, but decided to cancel their third one that had already been put into production. Which meant they forfeit their 20k down payment, and that they'd be willing to pass the savings on to me if I was interested.

So... I bought a building in November (Estimated delivery being the end of May)

Word got around that I was planning on framing out some of it for a living space, so... I got a few unique christmas presents

Since then, I've been scouring the internet for any property up for sale over towards Greenville, and I finally found one I like that fit my budget.

This is the back corner you can see in the first two pictures. I think it'll be a great place to build. (and then, because I don't want to mow 4.5 acres worth of grass... I'll probably fill most of the rest of the grassy area with a variety of trees ^_^ - Some peaches, apples, pears, and a few berry bushes as well ~)

Beginning idea for the building floor plan and layout ^_^

Anyways, I'm super excited that I'll finally be able to move out of dad's garage and have a place of my own to continue my shenanigans ^_^

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Happen to have a photo? I haven't seen how people have packaged them under their hoods.

I no longer own either of those Cruisers, but I’ll look back through my photos.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Congrats on the building. Looks like it's going to be epic!

So 200k miles and no cracks in the precombsition chambers? I assumed they all had them by then? Maybe have a real close look at them... Just to be sure?

I am also resisting the hood duct for tmic. But there's just not much room for a front mount and engine cooling is also needing as much room as possible... So keep us posted what you end up doing. So far my non intercooled newly boosted 1hz is waaaay cooler than before. But I've only put 5k kms since the upgrade...

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Congrats on the building. Looks like it's going to be epic!

So 200k miles and no cracks in the precombsition chambers? I assumed they all had them by then? Maybe have a real close look at them... Just to be sure?

I am also resisting the hood duct for tmic. But there's just not much room for a front mount and engine cooling is also needing as much room as possible... So keep us posted what you end up doing. So far my non intercooled newly boosted 1hz is waaaay cooler than before. But I've only put 5k kms since the upgrade...

Thanks! Yeah, I'm super excited about it ^_^

None that I saw, but I didn't check that closely. I wasn't aware that they were that much of a problem... I've only heard of head or piston problems if you turbo it and let EGTs or head temps get too high. (which is why I'm planning on adding a more accurate coolant gauge at the exit to the head so I can keep a closer eye on it. ) I'll definitely take a closer look at the head now though.

Yeah, I've found a 24x12x1 radiator that may fit in front of the AC condenser. We'll have to see how much room I actually end up having to work with (a benefit of a Water to air system is that they're a bit more compact than an air to air)
Ok, cool! Good to hear that it's not running too hot without and intercooler. I know a lot of guys in Oz don't run intercoolers, but everyone I've talked to stateside said I need one... Though I'm really only adding the turbo for a bit more pep, and to hopefully stop it from being a dog in the hills... Not for overall power (It's a Land Cruiser... just get over the lack of power ) So I'm not 100% that I really need one. I think I may wait and see what the EGTs turn out to be.

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Just buy a new short block. Easy peasy from any Toyota dealer in the US.

Work the head, new turbo and away you go.

Expensive lesson but everyone makes mistakes.

So my local dealership is saying that the short block isn't available to be shipped to the US... Is there a trick to it that I need to ask for something specific?

(Screenshot of their exact explanation)

I replied to this and asked if there was someone "further up the chain" they could ask to confirm availability, but we'll have to see what they say... Any other tips or tricks would be appreciated

 

[OGBeno]

So my local dealership is saying that the short block isn't available to be shipped to the US... Is there a trick to it that I need to ask for something specific?

(Screenshot of their exact explanation)View attachment 3867159

I replied to this and asked if there was someone "further up the chain" they could ask to confirm availability, but we'll have to see what they say... Any other tips or tricks would be appreciated

Which part number did you order?

And yes, you will need to submit HS-7 documentation to your dealer who will send to Plano, TX to the parts analysts who release the part.

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Which part number did you order?

And yes, you will need to submit HS-7 documentation to your dealer who will send to Plano, TX to the parts analysts who release the part.

I ordered 11400-17120.

Why will HS7 be necessary? It's not a complete engine, so it shouldn't be necessary should it? (not questioning you, I was under the impression that import paperwork was only needed for complete engines)

 

[OGBeno]

You need to provide the document or you no get part. That’s the long and the short of it.

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

You need to provide the document or you no get part. That’s the long and the short of it.

Alright, fair enough I'll fill it out and pay my local dealership an in person visit on Monday. Thanks for the information!

 

[Guyute]

Purchased a short block and head from my local US dealership last year. HS-7 and you will likely need to walk the parts person through exactly what OGBeno says above. Its more work than punching the number into a terminal and doesn't sound like he/she has dealt with this before. 1HZ blocks and heads are definitely in the NA system. Think mine came from the Ontario, California warehouse.

 

[Blue1]

I’m not sure if this helps because of the whole cross border thing, but Ens industrial in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan builds and services mining trucks. When I reached out to them a couple years ago, they had cranks and one HZ short blocks available. Ens Industrial | Discover Durable Solutions - https://www.ensindustrial.ca/

 

[Pip Bernadotte]

Purchased a short block and head from my local US dealership last year. HS-7 and you will likely need to walk the parts person through exactly what OGBeno says above. Its more work than punching the number into a terminal and doesn't sound like he/she has dealt with this before. 1HZ blocks and heads are definitely in the NA system. Think mine came from the Ontario, California warehouse.

Thanks! I plan to pay them a visit in person tomorrow.

I've only done the HS7 for my whole vehicle, I assume I put "25 years old, and therefore exempt" for the block as well?

 

[Guyute]

They want to fax the HS7 form from the import of the entire vehicle to show that it is indeed in the US legally. I didn't fill out a new form for the short block/head purchase.