1HZ install into a 1978 FJ40

[gifu]

hey, BJ42 Gringo... i'm 15 miles south you. whaddya know.

 

[romey]

ahww man! i missed the unveling!! friggin work!

well, glad you, cruiser, and THE cruiser got there in one piece, and am sure are still having a great time out west! roady's are awesome! thanks for posting the pics along the way too Wayne!

i'm sure the new owner's watched the thread, all i gotta say is...congrats on your new most awesomest 40 series this forum prolly has ever seen! you picked a helluva cruiser guru to build you THE truck!

yeah, +1 on some follow up shots of the HZ40 in the wild, where she belongs! hope she gives ya many years of enjoyment! i'm just stoked seeing all this come into fruition and finally being delivered! awesome!

 

[Rusty Phillips]

if you get a chance - ask him what he thinks of the trick parking brake able adapter plate that goes between the 70 series rear axle bracket and the 40 series cable.

i think that may be one of my favorite parts of the truck

ok - well the ELocker switch (without using diflock computer) is pretty cool too.

glad you made it out ok (ahead of?) with all that wintry weather.....

 

[Volcano cruiser]

the 'new' 4 core rad and cap.
test fitting the rad for clearences
setting up for the upgraded radiator armour. this is to prevent stones from bouncing off the fan and into the rad. decades ago i was climbing a nasty loose stone covered hill and a stone bounced up from the tire, hit the fan and into the rad. we ended up loosing a weekend over it. since then i install the rear rad protector when buildign an off road rig, mine or a customers. cheap preventive maintenence.

Wayne,
The completed project looks great, a true testament to atention to detail. Speaking of detail, I may have missed it but could you give the dimensions of the "new 4 core rad" that you installed.
Thanks, John

 

[JuanJ]

tuckered out...

the truck is now in the hands of the Owner, super cool guy...
i am glad it went to a good home and rumor has it, this rig MIGHT end up on a future Mythbusters episode (i just hope it isn't to de-myth some tall tale)

Hello,

Check this:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/tools/4327161.html?page=2

Although the rig mentioned appears to be a 1982 BJ42, the concealed tuffy boxes description is similar to what Wayne built. There is also something about a fuel can modified into a concealed tool box.

It appears that this Cruiser will not be involved in myth busting, so to speak.

It is interesting, too, that one of them likes Land Cruisers.





JuanJ

 

[Tapage]

we need a pic or vid of the new owner face ..

 

[OtterX]

Post Delivery Work Continues

we'll, i've stayed quiet the whole build, biding my time and patiently waiting until this vehicle finally arrived.

i've been lurking on mud since i joined and have done alot of reading and learning over the past couple of years.

a bit pf pre-history:

i've been a fan of the LC family since i first laid eyes on one in my teens. wasn't until my early mid-20's until i managed to have my 1st one. bought a '78FJ40 for $2700.00 in the late 80's. loved it. the only mods it came with were the warn winch, a 3" lift, new shocks, and some after market wheels. i did some cosmetic work and installed a nice (for its day ) stereo tape deck. drove it all over the place for about a year , when the reality of the gas mileage, too many speeding tickets (on my motorcycles) made insuring it on a poor student budget no longer tenable. so off she went to a happy owner for $2900.00...

....after grad school, building a career, etc, some 22 years later i am now the owner of this custom build.

2 years was a loooong time to wait, and i am not a patient guy, but now its sits in my warehouse and i am pretty happy.

few things rarely goes according to plan, and 18 months over the original discussed delivery date, gobs of money over budget, this "1HZJ40" was born.

wayne and i emailed countless msgs over the 2 years, tweaking, re-tweaking, adding, removing, adding some more of which the members of mud sat witness to during the entire process.

the end goal as explained by wayne was for a "too hell and back-expedition" type rig. i am not a rock crawler, but wanted a very capable and reliable truck to wheel just about anywhere in this hemisphere. i find myself in central and south america on semi-frequently working on wildlife conservation projects and thought it would be a cool trip one day to drive from CA down to tierra del fuego and back again; stopping by and visiting friends and associates along the way. other than that, this rig is intended at a daily driver and weekend getaway mobile to the many trails that wait for me in the sierra.

so, while i really didn't have any intention of following up on this project on mud, there was enough post delivery work details, i felt that some of you might enjoy the continuation of a work in progress.

my recent background somewhat relevant to the continuing work on this rig; i am an industrial designer by occupation. designing any number of projects, often mind numbing attention to detail, total project management from A to Z is my daily grind. i am not a mechanic by trade, but have been working on, restoring and tinkering on vintage BMW motorcycles and vintage Vespas for the past 23 years, so i have a familiarity with tools and the basic physics of combustion engine transportation.

1st off, i would like to say that wayne did a very good job engineering the drive train, suspension, motor, framework, etc. he really shone here and on our appointed test day, which happened to be one of the worst rain storms in years in NorCal, we took her out.

after being on mostly 2 wheeled machines the last 20 years, wayne really took his time and was a patient and very knowledgeable instructor.

we covered alot of varied terrain and obstacles. it was raining nearly sideways alot of the time and i kept both cab windows open the entire day to view the ground and speak to the spotter (wayne) while on the trail.

jumped out during a break from the down pour and snapped some pics.

taking a few minutes during a break from the rain. wayne and a buddy of mine looking over his jeep. my rig is uphill a few yards away.

i learned alot from wayne that day. he is a good instructor. i also got to watch him drive. man, can that canuck wheel. he was doing stuff on the muddy slopes which i certainly was not ready for that on my first day out in the new rig.

all in all from that one day, i discovered that this build was one capable machine. however, i also realized that there was still much to be done.

wayne is not really a "finish man". his expertize are in the work up and realization of a well engineered, working LC. this rig and some of my staff will be exhibiting at the upcoming overland journal expo in april so if you're attending pls stop by and say hello.

also, i'd like to give a shout out to mud member shane for his inout and bits along the way. he has been helping me with some odds and ends, plus advice as some of this LC mechanics is new territory.

the next bit of content in subsequent posts will be the work i am doing on this rig to get to to where i want to be. follow along if you would like, as this has been a great thread so far thanks to wayne's diligence and photo essays.

i welcome advice and tips from members on how to tackle some of this stuff as i encounter them.

thanks guys...more to come...

 

[SabreTooth]

Congrats

Congratulations Otter X on your new ride. Landcruiser's are a lot like houses and garden landscapes, never really finished but to be enjoyed in the moment and tinkered on.

I look forward to the continuation...

Regards,

Jim BTW

 

[OtterX]

thanks jim.

as the owner of never ending projects like vintage bikes, i know the feeling well.

i'm not one to usually keep to still. if i am not working which is usually 6 days a week, i am in my work shop wrenching on something.

i've been working on my '67 BMW R69S for over 9 years now and she's always around 98% done and never 100%...

here's one more pic from test day...

 

[cody c]

Welcome Aboard Otter X! you have yourself a pretty decent cruiser to be joining mud with. I hope to see more of it on the forum!
BTW it sounds like you have a couple "irons in the fire" for it already, care to share "what is still to be done"??

 

[SabreTooth]

thanks jim.

as the owner of never ending projects like vintage bikes, i know the feeling well.

i'm not one to usually keep to still. if i am not working which is usually 6 days a week, i am in my work shop wrenching on something.

I know the feeling, I have a 1947 Sunbeam S7 motorcycle that "marks its territory" and burns oil as well as an Alaska Landcruiser build, so plenty to keep me busy outside of work.

Please consider keeping us up-to-date on your progress. That's a fine 40 series and one many are envious of, believe you me. Enjoy.

Keep on shafting and happy wheeling.

Jim

P.S. The "shafting" is a shaft driven bike reference for the uninitiated...

 

[OtterX]

thanks cody.

fortunately the heart of this rig is pretty sound and solid. most of my work is fiddly stuff and adding the finishing touches.

i learned alot of what's worked and not worked with accessories already, the pros and cons of the fiberglas body, and more. i'll give my personal observations as we go along.

the sunday b4 wayne and i took her out we worked on some minor things like adding the front license plate bracket and a SOR overhead shelf.

i ordered the front license plate bracket from an outfit in texas called CCOT. apart from the silicone models which gave me some misgivings about ordering from this vendor, i found their kit to be well made upon receipt.

the SOR shelf was also nicely done and easily installed.

i will probably plan on housing some comm up there eventually.

got some rags and and cleaner and gave the headliner a good wipe down and cleaning, also threw on some new visors which were a welcome replacement to the old ratty ones. not a big deal but helps add to the overall sprucing up of the cab interior.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

during test day which was the following tuesday, i noticed that unmistakable power steering whine and groan a couple of hours into the day. i filled up the reservoir at the 1st gas station back on the road and drove her home in the driving rain. i was soaked and dripped down into the foot well the entire way home.

wayne was already on his way to canada after we parted ways from the trail, but he was available on the phone to help me isolate the power steering problem which turned out to be a pretty major leak. after a good look i discovered the leak to be from the top of the gear and link housing. the center bolt was only finger tight . a 17mm wrench and half a grunt later i was good and no more leak.

getting a wrench in there was no joke. wayne was not kidding when he said this engine bay was one tight fit. he def worked some time and space wizardry in there.

from this first time out in mud and rain, i observed just the beginning of the list of the many but minor tasks ahead of me.

upon returning to my warehouse one of my employees opened the driver side cargo hatch...not only did the days grit which worked its way into the hinge break the hinge itself with little effort of leverage while opening, we discovered the waterproof hatch was far from waterproof. there was probably 3-4" of water inside and completed immersed my warn control.

doing some research, the hatch door is rated to be waterproof only when mounted vertically, not horizontally. so make note of any one who plans on installed these hatches. the compartment itself was totally water tight, hence the 4" of standing water with no where to go.

i ordered a new hatch for about $50 or so and a sea kayak type drain plug. in the future if water worked its way into the compartment simply unscrew the plug and out goes the water.

i had to use some custom hardware to make it fit correctly and ample silicone did the trick.

lesson learned: a simple slush mat or rubber floor mat would have prevented the muddy grit from working its way into the hatch hinges, and i will be looking at bolstering the hatch seal somehow. this compartment will probably be reserved for MRE's or other "non-essential" items already sealed in plastic. i can hear the water still inside the warn winch control so it remains to be seen if the leads inside will be still g2g when dry.

i love the extra storage put into this rig, but will make sure the "right" items will go into the bays.

 

[OtterX]

damn, a '47? you have your work cut out for you.

and to think i have trouble sourcing parts for my '67...

I know the feeling, I have a 1947 Sunbeam S7 motorcycle that "marks its territory" and burns oil as well as an Alaska Landcruiser build, so plenty to keep me busy outside of work.

Please consider keeping us up-to-date on your progress. That's a fine 40 series and one many are envious of, believe you me. Enjoy.

Keep on shafting and happy wheeling.

Jim

P.S. The "shafting" is a shaft driven bike reference for the uninitiated...

 

[Tapage]

Otter X .. what a way to start here in MUD.. ! congrats .. amazing cruiser ..

 

[OtterX]

so, the one and only day this rig was on (and off) the road was on test day, which again was one of the worst storms on record in many years in our area.

the high high volume of rain and high winds in many directions put the 40 thru its "water tightness" trials.

besides the small leaks thru the tops of the doors, top corners of the windscreen, everything seemed ok. apart from the water leaking into the floor storage compartment i did discover some areas of interest.

one morning when i got to work and opened the driver's side door a machine screw fell out on to the floor. i found that it was from the side of the door about 70% of the way down the side.

i called wayne and he said it threaded into a window track inside the door and to try to rethread the screw if possible. i did, and it was a nogo. so off came the door panels.

the double sided tape was very secure, so care had to be taken to not bend and warp the aluminum sheet door panels. upon removal i saw that there was about 3" of standing water at the bottom of the doors with no where to go.

i considered siphoning it out, but thought that a more "permament" solution was in order so i made the decision to drill some small drain holes on the lowert points of both the doors. this would allow accumulated rain water to drain somewhere and the hole was also low enough to be past the outside of the inside door well so draining rain water would not flow into the cab.

while the door panels were off i saw some possible cut outs where i might be able to fit low profile tweeters and speakers for my yet to be installed sound system. i'd have to make sure and waterproof the speakers and wires if there were to go in here. i'd probably fabricate some shallow boxes to mount onto the door panels and have some of the speakers extend into the door, maybe about 1.5" of room to use.

other small tweaks were changing out rusting screws on the ambulance door handle plate. used some nice SS flat heads sitting in SS finishing cup washers. probably not OEM looking but a good upgrade IMHO.

i still need to source some parts like the gas door lock assembly and back stop. any ideas where to get this stuff? was thinking of using SOR, but am open to other options for vendors. stuck on a little "bio diesel" sticker while i was looking at this spot on the body.

note the little gray body patch i had to fill in a small gap/crevesse in the fiberglas body. many of those small holes, cracks, and bubbles to fill all over the rig. i love the solid feel of the fiberglas body work, its easy to drill and re-work, and waybe sung its many virtues which i can certainly agree with, but overall the small little misses in finish are disappointing. certainly does not alter the solid function of the rig, but for the $$$, the glasser should have been better at the attention to detail IMHO. the rust free life of the body and "dent resistance" are all solid pro's, but for the money and the glasser's reputation as a "custom yacht" builder, i think the fiberglas should have been better finished. structurally sound, absolutely; finish work, so-so.

i have a parts request for these seat head rest collars. wayne delivered the rig without them. i tried toyota USA, but these 70 series parts are not available in the us of a according to them. waiting to hear back from dan at 4wheel, but nothing there yet either. anyone know where i can find these parts?

small little mods while i am waiting for misc parts to arrive. mounted the halguard fire extinguisher with SS button cap machine screws threaded directly into the roll bar. i used 1/4-20 screws here, but am trying to use metric everywhere else during my mods. the hard rubber bumpers inbetween the bracket plate were solid and gave the unit a firm footing without scratching the powder coating on the roll bars. wayne did a nice job of placement on the rear cab interior LED lights. they illuminate the tuffy boxes when the lids are open. pretty smart and functional.

without any 40's in the immediate area i am unable to use for reference i have to make my best guess at how some things are supposed to be finished off or look. in any case, these rear pop out window mounting screws def looked dangerous and un-finished. any good side to side jostling on a trail could possible cause a good bruised temple or gouging an eye out, at the least maybe a sweatshirt getting caught while rummaging around in the rear of the cab. the screws stuck out at least 1.25". i also noted that here there were 1/4/-20 size and not metric, but the SS caps nuts i wanted to cover them with were easy to find. got a cutoff wheel and shorted all 12 screws.

i didn't shorten them as far as i could just incase the extra length was there for a reason. i'll know the next time i see the inside of another 40. anyways, a bit of filing, SS acorns and looked much better and seems safer.

alrighty, that my report for now. some of this must seem rather pedestrian, but bear with me on the smaller and sometimes finer points as i go along.

next up will be my rear swing out "limiter", front door limiters, and tackling the non-function wipers, wash, and other dash switches/knobs. i'll def need some advice here in some of these upcoming areas.

 

[AATLAS1X]

Now I understand the head rest question. I am sure I have a set and pretty sure the same as 60 series.

Shane

 

[OtterX]

Now I understand the head rest question. I am sure I have a set and pretty sure the same as 60 series.

Shane

awesome, thanks bro.

 

[sandcruiser]

if you can't find the head rest stuff up there, give me a part number and I'll call Toyota Costa Rica. We still get 70 series rigs at the showroom. No idea if the part is available, but if I end up @ the dealer, I'll take a look.

btw: there are several 40s in the Bay Area. You might call up up Mudrak in Sonoma... he knows a thing or two about Cruisers. I'm sure someone on Mud is available for show n tell.

 

[OtterX]

if you can't find the head rest stuff up there, give me a part number and I'll call Toyota Costa Rica. We still get 70 series rigs at the showroom. No idea if the part is available, but if I end up @ the dealer, I'll take a look.

btw: there are several 40s in the Bay Area. You might call up up Mudrak in Sonoma... he knows a thing or two about Cruisers. I'm sure someone on Mud is available for show n tell.

thanks sandcruiser. i've heard of this fella and may call upon him. an associate with a 60 spoke of him when he came by my office one day. i think wayne might have mentioned him too.

10-4 on the parts. i think aatlas1x might have some. if that falls thru i'll pursue your suggested avenues.

 

[OtterX]

my buddy gianni downloaded pics he took of the rig on rainy test day.

again, here is where the inner beauty of the rig really shone thru...

she laughed in the face of the obstacles taunting us that day