crushers
post ho
1995 PZJ75 refurbish/build up / PICS
I thought someone might get a bit of insight from a write up on refurbishing a 1995 PZJ75 that runs great but was beat, and I mean molested. every part needed either body work or replacing.
The project truck:
95 PZJ75
5 cylinder 1PZ engine with 14,000 km on it.
580 575 575 575 580 compression and excellent oil pressure.
R141 tranny
reverse pinion front 4.11
FF rear with 4.11 and Limited slip
12 V system.
interior thrashed
exterior thrashed
donor truck:
1987 LJ71 RHD
160,000 km
2L-T
R151 tranny
4.90 gears (yes it was very tempting to swap these into the PZ)
electric windows, door locks, mirrors, AC, Tilt, full gauges, carpet and nice buckets.
final goal for the truck:
new paint and refurbished bodywork
1PZ
R151
buckets, carpet
PW,PDL,PM, AC
Tilt
full gauges
2 1/2" SOFT ride lift
235/85/16 all seasons on factory gray rims or 33/9.5/15 on aluminum rims
light weight trayback
turbo
Propane injection
must have excellent visibility all around
must be quiet
must have all the creature comforts
must be reliable
must be fuel efficient
in the end must be powerful
as soon as I received this unit I knew I needed to try to refurbish this unit for a couple reasons. I had never driven a PZ. it was definitely restorable and very rare. I purchased a replacement front clip and doors from G&S cruiser parts for a wicked deal. now all I needed was a cowl cover (new), roof and rear roof section (from Gord in Ferine).
now, theoretically I should have all the parts I need to put together a fine unit.
I spent a day stripping the old pieces off, those front fenders are a bear to work with. it didn't help that I had 10 years of dust and dirt built up, I do not think this poor truck ever had a bath. I removed the mangled doors, the crunched top and the filthy interior and now I was ready to go to work.
I sent the tub to my bodyman to at least get a start on the refurbishing. while he was pounding out the dents and cutting and welding the small amount of rust that was hidden under all the dirt I had the hard time of choosing a colour to paint the truck. White was out since my 1997 HZJ75 is that colour. I have always wanted to paint a truck factory olive brown so I went out and bought a gallon of paint, picked it up, opened the lid and immediately changed my mind. my wife's favorite colour is elderberry blue so I pulled out the colour chips and started going through them one by one. in about 2 hours I had the colour in my hand and promptly bought a gallon. what a good decision, the tub looked fantastic, a nice rich colour.
now I had the tub back so I could start on the interior. when I gutted the interior I had left the steel dash installed but now with the new paint I realized I would have to pull the steel dash as well. it was badly scratched and faded. I had never gone into a 70 series this far so I was still having fun.
I pulled the carpet from he 71 and it is a close fit so with a bit of massaging I now have nice factory carpet to help quiet the truck down.
while my bodyman was prepping and painting the dash I was gutting the LJ71. Berni always hated the seats in my 97 HZJ75 so first on the agenda was a set of factory buckets. sounds easy, eh? just pull them from one 7* series and bolt them into another... nope. the floors are different between the 2 models, the 71 has a drop on the outside and the 75 is one level. for the drivers side it was easy, remove the bottom cushion and complete back and swap the new bottom and back on... simple. the passenger side was a PITA. the passenger side in the 75 was a split bench and level floor so I had to take the bottom of the 71, cut the drop support off and install a support level with the other side. after about 3 hours of monkeying around I had it done, it fit beautiful and looks great. I go to put the seat in and now I find out that there is a hole missing in the floor so now I needed to make a custom bracket to bolt the seat down. another couple hours wasted but not really, I went to my favorite custom shop and while getting the metal needed I picked his brain about a trayback for the truck. he sketched up a couple designs and we came to an agreement. so for about $2500 I will have an aluminum trayback with removable sides and headache rack.
now the seats are in so it is on to the steering column. I want tilt and the 71 has a tilt column, straight bolt up, I think. I think wrong. all in all it is but the wiring has the wrong plugs and the wiper and signal are on the wrong side so I tear into the columns switching wiring over. I go to install and the rod from the column to the steering box is too short so I have to switch them over as well... now the column is installed.
tomorrow I start on the dash. I have already traced the wires over form one dash to the other and finally told myself I will be happy with just a fuel and water temp gauges. I will use the factory idiot lights for the others. I will also be installing a full gauge setup once the turbo goes on.
cheers for now
I thought someone might get a bit of insight from a write up on refurbishing a 1995 PZJ75 that runs great but was beat, and I mean molested. every part needed either body work or replacing.
The project truck:
95 PZJ75
5 cylinder 1PZ engine with 14,000 km on it.
580 575 575 575 580 compression and excellent oil pressure.
R141 tranny
reverse pinion front 4.11
FF rear with 4.11 and Limited slip
12 V system.
interior thrashed
exterior thrashed
donor truck:
1987 LJ71 RHD
160,000 km
2L-T
R151 tranny
4.90 gears (yes it was very tempting to swap these into the PZ)
electric windows, door locks, mirrors, AC, Tilt, full gauges, carpet and nice buckets.
final goal for the truck:
new paint and refurbished bodywork
1PZ
R151
buckets, carpet
PW,PDL,PM, AC
Tilt
full gauges
2 1/2" SOFT ride lift
235/85/16 all seasons on factory gray rims or 33/9.5/15 on aluminum rims
light weight trayback
turbo
Propane injection
must have excellent visibility all around
must be quiet
must have all the creature comforts
must be reliable
must be fuel efficient
in the end must be powerful
as soon as I received this unit I knew I needed to try to refurbish this unit for a couple reasons. I had never driven a PZ. it was definitely restorable and very rare. I purchased a replacement front clip and doors from G&S cruiser parts for a wicked deal. now all I needed was a cowl cover (new), roof and rear roof section (from Gord in Ferine).
now, theoretically I should have all the parts I need to put together a fine unit.
I spent a day stripping the old pieces off, those front fenders are a bear to work with. it didn't help that I had 10 years of dust and dirt built up, I do not think this poor truck ever had a bath. I removed the mangled doors, the crunched top and the filthy interior and now I was ready to go to work.
I sent the tub to my bodyman to at least get a start on the refurbishing. while he was pounding out the dents and cutting and welding the small amount of rust that was hidden under all the dirt I had the hard time of choosing a colour to paint the truck. White was out since my 1997 HZJ75 is that colour. I have always wanted to paint a truck factory olive brown so I went out and bought a gallon of paint, picked it up, opened the lid and immediately changed my mind. my wife's favorite colour is elderberry blue so I pulled out the colour chips and started going through them one by one. in about 2 hours I had the colour in my hand and promptly bought a gallon. what a good decision, the tub looked fantastic, a nice rich colour.
now I had the tub back so I could start on the interior. when I gutted the interior I had left the steel dash installed but now with the new paint I realized I would have to pull the steel dash as well. it was badly scratched and faded. I had never gone into a 70 series this far so I was still having fun.
I pulled the carpet from he 71 and it is a close fit so with a bit of massaging I now have nice factory carpet to help quiet the truck down.
while my bodyman was prepping and painting the dash I was gutting the LJ71. Berni always hated the seats in my 97 HZJ75 so first on the agenda was a set of factory buckets. sounds easy, eh? just pull them from one 7* series and bolt them into another... nope. the floors are different between the 2 models, the 71 has a drop on the outside and the 75 is one level. for the drivers side it was easy, remove the bottom cushion and complete back and swap the new bottom and back on... simple. the passenger side was a PITA. the passenger side in the 75 was a split bench and level floor so I had to take the bottom of the 71, cut the drop support off and install a support level with the other side. after about 3 hours of monkeying around I had it done, it fit beautiful and looks great. I go to put the seat in and now I find out that there is a hole missing in the floor so now I needed to make a custom bracket to bolt the seat down. another couple hours wasted but not really, I went to my favorite custom shop and while getting the metal needed I picked his brain about a trayback for the truck. he sketched up a couple designs and we came to an agreement. so for about $2500 I will have an aluminum trayback with removable sides and headache rack.
now the seats are in so it is on to the steering column. I want tilt and the 71 has a tilt column, straight bolt up, I think. I think wrong. all in all it is but the wiring has the wrong plugs and the wiper and signal are on the wrong side so I tear into the columns switching wiring over. I go to install and the rod from the column to the steering box is too short so I have to switch them over as well... now the column is installed.
tomorrow I start on the dash. I have already traced the wires over form one dash to the other and finally told myself I will be happy with just a fuel and water temp gauges. I will use the factory idiot lights for the others. I will also be installing a full gauge setup once the turbo goes on.
cheers for now
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