Builds 2002 HZJ76 Build (7 Viewers)

[Rigster]

Well the seats DID arrive today, and overall, I am pleased. I have only unpackaged one as they REALLY went to town with the packaging and tape, and technically, I am at work so I cannot spend a ton of time on this.

I can tell the seats when they were pulled were likely just stored outside or at the very least in some shed that was not well protected as they will require some thorough cleaning and some touch ups:

bit of minor scratching and surface rust:

All in all not a bad find, I would imagine these would also drop right into a 77 for those with many hooligans like I have. I would not put my yougins in these, (under 10-12) but my teenage boys will love them. Also, check your local state laws, but in Canada I know they are legal because all the 40 series shipped here with them.

I believe CruiserParts in NH has more, but not sure how many sets. If you have been considering a set for your own, then best jump on it.

 

[Rigster]

Spent my lunch time putting the new pickup in the fuel tank, last part to getting this ready to re-install. Took about 5 minutes or so fuddlemucking around getting it in the correct position because of the baffles in the tank. I suppose one could say it was (dare I say it?) somewhat "baffling"... cue groans here.

All internal/external parts replaced, whether they "needed" to be or not... one of those "while your in there" moments. I do not want to pull this tank AGAIN for another 20 years or more. The actual problem replaced:

New filler hose and tank connection, plus new hose on the expansion breather:

New fuel gauge sender:

I was chatting to @JDM Journeys this morning and in our discussions, I realized between troubleshooting and ordering parts by the time I found the actual problem, it has been at least 2 months since I have been driving this regularly... I am getting excited to put this tank back in and get back to driving the cruiser again.

 

[Rigster]

Well, that did it... the tiny leak in the pickup tube was causing all that grief! I am happy to report the cruiser is cruisin again! (I am pretty sure I heard angels singing, or at the very least the halleluiah choir)

I was pleasantly surprised at how pleasant it was to drive it again... I missed it!!

 

[JDM Journeys]

Well holy mackeral that was a long and arduous process, but WAY TO GO BUDDY! Sheer force of will (and some great CSI work) got her done. Nice job. Who'd have thought that a pinhole leak could cause that much grief?

 

[Rigster]

Well holy mackeral that was a long and arduous process, but WAY TO GO BUDDY! Sheer force of will (and some great CSI work) got her done. Nice job. Who'd have thought that a pinhole leak could cause that much grief?

Agreed... it was a wierd spot, and the last place I would have thought the problem would be.

I will say, the part I thought would be the most difficult (reinstalling the tank) was actually not difficult at all, just maneuvering it to protect the tubes sticking out. The thing that took me the longest was inserting the fill nozzle tube into the rubber hose. Since the OEM one was not available I got that flex one because there is a little bend before it goes into the tank. There is a wire that runs through it so it stays round when it flexes, but the result is it does not stretch, making it extremely difficult to insert the filler pipe.

I would recommend if anyone else has to do this and the OEM pipe is not available to try and match up something similar and cut to size. If you try to use just regular straight, it will flatten at the bend point and cause stress there as well.

 

[Rigster]

Happy to report, after some minor adjustments to items (intercooler pipe was just touching ACSD on the fuel pump, idle speed, and a couple of other minor things) I took the cruiser out for a longer and more demanding test drive, it is running beautifully. Instant starts and no smoke, good power. In fact, my clutch is demanding that it be replaced next and it is tired of waiting... sigh. Couldn't put my foot into it at lower RPM's as the torque is too much for it.

I decided to wash it up before putting it away again

 

[Rigster]

I have been focused on some early spring cleaning on the garage so I will have a clean and organized space for changing out the clutch. I actually prefer a neat and tidy space, but it is amazing what you become used to with a family and when spare time is a luxury.

Not quite done yet, I still need to organize and clean the tools area and bench.

I also put on the 35" tires again, as who doesn't want an extra couple of inches of clearance when pulling the tranny?

I decided to do SOMETHING on the land cruiser, that way I would not feel like I did not get anything useful done this weekend. My kids got me a leather wrap for the steering wheel, which my large hands appreciate. I think I might have rushed it a little, as I do not recall the last one I did being this messy...

Ah well, it still feels really nice in the hands. I have extra threading in the event my OCD cannot handle the stitch job and I decide to do it over again.

Tomorrow, despite my fears and common sense, I am taking the family to West Edmonton Mall to go to the water park, and visit some family over the first half of spring break. So the clutch job will have to wait for now....

 

[WildSouth]

Rigster; any more eye candy for us? Man I can't get enough of looking at this thing.

Well done

 

[Gun Runner 5]

What size and brand of tire?

 

[Rigster]

What size and brand of tire?View attachment 3279188

Sorry Charles, did not see this post, but I was also away last week. I will have to check. These are winters that came on the cruiser when I imported it. I stick them on in the winter to save burning up the expensive ones.

 

[Rigster]

I finally have negotiated this weekend to work on the cruiser and get the new clutch in.

My middle son is looking to be either a mechanic or automotive engineer, so I am going to enlist his help to try and get this done, and give him some learning experiences.

Hopefully we get it all completed without too much anguish and expletives.

 

[Rigster]

Ok, so after some minor expletives, and with the somewhat comforting awareness that at 55 years of age I can still bench press a transmission and transfer case while wiggling it into place, clutch job was completed last night around 8pm. I just need to adjust the pedal a bit (expected).

Well, after owning this cruiser for 2 years now, this is the first time I peeled back all the carpet, and I was pleasantly surprised at how clean it was being 21 years of age. Heck, my oldest is 17 and he is not nearly as clean as this...

anyways, got the transmission out (apparently I overfilled the gear oil when I changed it as the breather had sweat out a fair bit)

New clutch installed (does anyone else wonder if there is an easier design for clutches to be replaced (30min job) rather than a whole day re and re'ing the transmission??)

The old clutch was not original (exedy), and surprisingly the clutch plate had a fair bit of meat on it. It was obviously not a HD one with how bad it was slipping.

I had a minor moment of horror when I went to test it with my son when we were done last night as there was no go on our test... but after slowing down my brain for a moment and thinking, I realized we might have bumped the transfer into neutral?? Sure enough, clicked it into H4 and away we went! No more slipping! I just need to go out this morning and adjust the clutch pedal... I feel like I could sleep for a couple of days though... lol. Kudo's to you guys that do this all the time. This desk-jockey computer engineer has your respect in spades. Though a hoist and proper transmission jack could have made my life a lot easier...

 

[Rigster]

What size and brand of tire?View attachment 3279188

Charles, first off, please accept my apologies for the clutch job delaying the information you requested. I had already swapped to my "summer" tires in order to add 2" in height for the aforementioned clutch job (which, BTW was perfect to slide the transmission/transfer out from under the cruiser on a jack) so I had to go and check them in storage.

The tires are TOYO Observe GSI-5 winters, size 265/70R16 or basically 31". For TOYO's, they are a relatively inexpensive winter tire option, as I think when I checked they were only worth around $150/each

 

[Rigster]

Clutch pedal adjustment done. I may or may not have thrown my neck out contorting into positions I had not been in since my last snowboarding wipeout.

I do have a question that may or may not get answered in this forum, as I realize there are few 76 owners out there, but when I was checking the pedal height, it was literally a good 3/4 - 1" low(using the FSM height of 7.13" However, there is no way I could get that much more (I think I added another 1/4") because of a relay being in the way to go any higher. I adjusted the booster rod a couple of turns out as well to compensate, though the free play was within spec. Any thoughts on this?

The end result is what counts though, as it is shifting smoother. I do have to train my left foot again though as this HD clutch is much more "grabby" and responsive.

For @WildSouth, and others wishing for more pics, taken this morning after my post pedal adjust test drive:

 

[Rigster]

A side note, but I think worth mentioning.

This is one of the best $40 investments I have made. No cords, small, adjustable, magnetic and 3 light options... my only complaint is I wish the battery lasted longer. On the brightest mode, it only lasts 2 hrs. 5hrs on medium light and 8hrs max when just using the singular tip LED light (also surprisingly bright, so I used this most often.) So now I am thinking I may buy another one so one can be charging while I use the other. Not sure of availability in the US as I picked this up at Canadian Tire and it is their signature "mastercraft" brand, but it likely came from China, so there must be US variations out there.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Charles, first off, please accept my apologies for the clutch job delaying the information you requested. I had already swapped to my "summer" tires in order to add 2" in height for the aforementioned clutch job (which, BTW was perfect to slide the transmission/transfer out from under the cruiser on a jack) so I had to go and check them in storage.

The tires are TOYO Observe GSI-5 winters, size 265/70R16 or basically 31". For TOYO's, they are a relatively inexpensive winter tire option, as I think when I checked they were only worth around $150/each

No worries. There is an above average chance that at my age I didn’t even remember asking the question in the first place.

 

[mt72]

Ok, so after some minor expletives, and with the somewhat comforting awareness that at 55 years of age I can still bench press a transmission and transfer case while wiggling it into place, clutch job was completed last night around 8pm. I just need to adjust the pedal a bit (expected).

Well, after owning this cruiser for 2 years now, this is the first time I peeled back all the carpet, and I was pleasantly surprised at how clean it was being 21 years of age. Heck, my oldest is 17 and he is not nearly as clean as this...
View attachment 3288884

View attachment 3288885

anyways, got the transmission out (apparently I overfilled the gear oil when I changed it as the breather had sweat out a fair bit)
View attachment 3288886
New clutch installed (does anyone else wonder if there is an easier design for clutches to be replaced (30min job) rather than a whole day re and re'ing the transmission??)
View attachment 3288891
The old clutch was not original (exedy), and surprisingly the clutch plate had a fair bit of meat on it. It was obviously not a HD one with how bad it was slipping.

I had a minor moment of horror when I went to test it with my son when we were done last night as there was no go on our test... but after slowing down my brain for a moment and thinking, I realized we might have bumped the transfer into neutral?? Sure enough, clicked it into H4 and away we went! No more slipping! I just need to go out this morning and adjust the clutch pedal... I feel like I could sleep for a couple of days though... lol. Kudo's to you guys that do this all the time. This desk-jockey computer engineer has your respect in spades. Though a hoist and proper transmission jack could have made my life a lot easier...

Very clean in deed

 

[Rigster]

I took a trip to the in-laws for dinner yesterday in Peachland (2.5hr round trip) to test out the new clutch. I took westside rd, which travels down the west side of okanagan lake. It is windy, hilly and perfect for putting the cruiser through the paces. At one point, I was racing behind a kid in a civic and I am sure he was wondering how the heck I was keeping up with him, lol.

I never usually drive it that hard, but dang it was FUN. The clutch is pretty much broken in, and shifts pretty smoothly now. No slipping even though I was punching the fuel full throttle up the hills. Next test will be with the trailer attached and see how it does.

 

[Rigster]

Ok, so trailer test completed. No clutch slipping, and dang it sure drives smooth.

I will say, with the spring weather, I have a really hard time trying to get the EGT's past 1100 degrees on long pulls, even with the 35" tires. However, with the trailer on, and pulling up hills, then I can, and need to watch my right foot.

Filled up today, and I can confirm 100% that my fluctuating fuel guage was the sender in the tank. No more drops and returns, low readings for the bottom 1/2 - 2/3rds of the tank.

 

[Rigster]

So having a spare hour to hour and a half I managed to get one of the rear fold down seats installed for the kids. I say kids because at 6'3", I cannot sit straight up in those seats or I am hitting my head on the roof. I would either have to lean forward or slouch.

Measuring things up:

Had to plunge ahead through the cringe factor of drilling holes in my interior

This air tool for the nut-serts is a treat for those areas that you cannot fit the big- handled manual tool

Seriously, drilled 6 holes and installed 6 nut-serts in probably 10 mins.