Builds 1996 HZJ75 Land Cruiser Pickup

[Will Van]

I was able to get H55F reverse shift fork back into neutral. I can shift into all 5 gears and reverse now!

More info here: h55f stuck in gear - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/h55f-stuck-in-gear.234282/page-2#post-14186367

 

[Will Van]

Milestone Day. It left the garage under its own power!


I’m still waiting on the hood from the body shop.

Lots of little things to do to get it road worthy.

 

[Honger]

Already looking light years better!

 

[bottombracket]

Will also has the steepest driveway in all of Austin. I want to see this one crawl up it in 4lo like your 40!

 

[Will Van]

Horn works.

 

[RHINO]

Looking at exploded diagrams in the $OR catalogue and reading email, after email, after email on the LCML...at least that is where I was before Mud.

ahh yes, the ol' LCML, i remember it well.

 

[RHINO]

most excellent and exciting times Will, congrats.

 

[Will Van]

I think I mentioned earlier in the thread - Prior to my ownership, it appears the hood came open at speed. The original sellers from Qatar bondo'd the hell out of it before repaint. Then it started cracking/flaking in big chunks. I took the hood to my body-shop, but it was non-repairable (or they simply didn't want to repair it).

I ordered a new hood from PartSouq, and it came in this week. I was very impressed with how they packaged it. Only minor cosmetic damage at one of the corners that can be easily repaired. Not bad considering it came all the way from Dubai! (As an aside, I love PartSouq).

I convinced the body shop to paint-match a different donor panel so I could take my old hood back and temporarily install it on the truck for further shakedown.

I also installed this City Racer shift knob.

Then I took the truck for a quick spin around the neighborhood.

Overall I am very pleased with the truck. It's actually surreal being able to drive it again. I am super-grateful to be able to own such a piece of machinery. And also very grateful for all the the friends and acquaintances (and the Mud community in general ) that has helped me get to this point. Land Cruiser people are really special and I am grateful for that.

 

[Will Van]

On my to-do list:

• Install speedometer cable
• Repair license plate light
• Install new/painted hood and misc. bodywork
• Mount front bumper
• Flush coolant system
• Locate rattle (exhaust?)
• Fab PTO blank
• Inspection/Registration
• Drive!!!

 

[joekatana]

So it looks like your new hood does not have the holes for the windshield frame bumpstops or is that just not showing in the pictures ?

 

[Will Van]

So it looks like your new hood does not have the holes for the windshield frame bumpstops or is that just not showing in the pictures ?

That is correct. The new hood does not have the holes or reinforcement for the fold-down windshield cradles or the provision for the Toyota Ellipses hood ornament. I am keeping both hoods. But for now, the new replacement hood will remain unadorned.

 

[RHINO]

i have the same shifter knob and really like it!

 

[Honger]

I think I mentioned earlier in the thread - Prior to my ownership, it appears the hood came open at speed. The original sellers from Qatar bondo'd the hell out of it before repaint. Then it started cracking/flaking in big chunks. I took the hood to my body-shop, but it was non-repairable (or they simply didn't want to repair it).

I ordered a new hood from PartSouq, and it came in this week. I was very impressed with how they packaged it. Only minor cosmetic damage at one of the corners that can be easily repaired. Not bad considering it came all the way from Dubai! (As an aside, I love PartSouq).

I convinced the body shop to paint-match a different donor panel so I could take my old hood back and temporarily install it on the truck for further shakedown.

I also installed this City Racer shift knob.

Then I took the truck for a quick spin around the neighborhood.

Overall I am very pleased with the truck. It's actually surreal being able to drive it again. I am super-grateful to be able to own such a piece of machinery. And also very grateful for all the the friends and acquaintances (and the Mud community in general ) that has helped me get to this point. Land Cruiser people are really special and I am grateful for that.

I love what you’re doing with this truck… making me want a pickup 75!

 

[FJBen]

Looks great Will. I would love to get one but I’m too tall.

 

[Will Van]

ARB installed.

 

[bottombracket]

So glad @davegonz and I got to check this awesome rig out in person today. Thanks for letting me crawl all over and under it!

And I found out that I CAN idle up the steepest driveway in Austin in 4 low!

Keep the good stuff coming Will.

 

[Honger]

ARB installed.

Man… I keep toying with one for the Troopy. Looks the business, front end protection, and allows for a winch.

 

[Will Van]

Man… I keep toying with one for the Troopy. Looks the business, front end protection, and allows for a winch.

Thank you! You should do it, it would look awesome on the Troopy.

Here are a few more photos.

 

[Will Van]

On my way home from LA, my speedo quit working. I assumed it was the speedo cable, but when I replaced it this week, it was still making a terrible noise. I decided to pull the cluster again and use my old cable in a hand drill to see if it would duplicate the noise. Sure enough, the cluster itself started making a terrible racket and wouldn’t display speed. The needle would jump around a little, but mostly just made a lot of plastic grinding noise.

I had previously suspected that the displayed mileage (36,000 km) was incorrect. This info supports that idea, and the cluster was probably rolled-back and tampered with at some point.

Either way, I am going to replace the cluster with a donor that includes tach. I’m still looking for the right cluster. I had originally planned on using a Canadian-spec BJ70 cluster because they include MPH (and RPM), but have since realized that the mounting tabs and electronic plugs are different.

 

[Will Van]

Also, my fabricator was able to make a PTO blank using my trim ring.

I used Toyota 4E9 paint to match the interior, but it’s a little off. I’m not sure if it bothers me enough to pull the cover and repaint it black though.