Can't wait to see the finished product 
A 1990 HZJ80 mini-refurb from Saudi Arabia
- Thread starter boozewz
- Start date
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You call this a mini refurb? You're one step from a full restoration!!
^^ So true. Excellent
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2005
- Threads
- 185
- Messages
- 2,997
- Location
- Ashburn, Va
- Website
- www.landcruiserheaven.com
Awesome work!! Keep the pics coming.
Looks great. Its interesting to see the differences in how things are done in different countries. Keep posting your progress.
- Thread starter
- #46
Thanks for the kind words fellas. Much appreciated
A little background on painting vehicles in Saudi; anyone who wants to change the colour of a car needs to get a permission slip from the traffic police, who inspect the vehicle before and after the new paint is applied. Since all national guard, and border patrol vehicles have a shade of green, we weren't sure if they'd approve the colour. This time, we took the truck in, and it was a formality. They didn't even ask to see the sample colour. Fingers crossed there will be no issue when the post paint inspection comes up. If they don't accept it, no registration with the new colour is issued, which means a change in colour or shade is needed
Turned out to be a touch darker than I had initially wanted. But lets see how it goes.
Cleaned up and snorkel mounted
Got some new wiper spray nozzles installed
New bumper installed
New tail lights put on
Got the new dash insert installed
Need to find a new set of these. The sun beats the hell out of them and I've yet to find a clean one from the junkyards
And my favorite part
A little background on painting vehicles in Saudi; anyone who wants to change the colour of a car needs to get a permission slip from the traffic police, who inspect the vehicle before and after the new paint is applied. Since all national guard, and border patrol vehicles have a shade of green, we weren't sure if they'd approve the colour. This time, we took the truck in, and it was a formality. They didn't even ask to see the sample colour. Fingers crossed there will be no issue when the post paint inspection comes up. If they don't accept it, no registration with the new colour is issued, which means a change in colour or shade is needed
Turned out to be a touch darker than I had initially wanted. But lets see how it goes.
Cleaned up and snorkel mounted
Got some new wiper spray nozzles installed
New bumper installed
New tail lights put on
Got the new dash insert installed
Need to find a new set of these. The sun beats the hell out of them and I've yet to find a clean one from the junkyards
And my favorite part
- Thread starter
- #47
Turns out when the new radiator was mounted and filled with water to flush, water came pouring out the back of the engine. Seems to be a large leak there, so airbox was removed to allow for room to inspect the location of the leak.
The prognosis is it looks like we're going to have to drop the engine/gearbox to access the spot of the leak as that area is too close to the firewall to do anything. Not enough room to get there and plug the leak. Cant drive the truck till thats sorted out.
What worries me is that I drove around with the truck before replacing the radiator and whenever I opened up the cap, it looked full of fluid. When we drained it, all that gunk came out. My guess is there was minimal fluid in the cooling passageways while the rest of it was blocked off in the radiator? That still doesn't explain why the engine didn't overheat
So the decision was made to call a tow truck, and have them take it to ALJ, the KSA Toyota dealer. But not before passing by the traffic police to get the new colour approved!
At ALJ
The motor out of the frame. Straight off the bat they told me it needs an overhaul. I told them to show the compression test results, and sure enough they did. The results were below 350psi (when I tested it it previously it scored between 400-450psi). I asked them if they tested the engine when its warm, which is the way it should be, and their reply was no!
In the end they agreed to put her back in, after replacing the vane pump, and do the compression test again.
Once that was done, the compression came back the same. And worse, there was a slight knocking sound
Well, on the bright side, better do it now than when its too late, and a con rod is sticking out of the block. At 470K on the clock, its had a decent run.
The prognosis is it looks like we're going to have to drop the engine/gearbox to access the spot of the leak as that area is too close to the firewall to do anything. Not enough room to get there and plug the leak. Cant drive the truck till thats sorted out.
What worries me is that I drove around with the truck before replacing the radiator and whenever I opened up the cap, it looked full of fluid. When we drained it, all that gunk came out. My guess is there was minimal fluid in the cooling passageways while the rest of it was blocked off in the radiator? That still doesn't explain why the engine didn't overheat
So the decision was made to call a tow truck, and have them take it to ALJ, the KSA Toyota dealer. But not before passing by the traffic police to get the new colour approved!
At ALJ
The motor out of the frame. Straight off the bat they told me it needs an overhaul. I told them to show the compression test results, and sure enough they did. The results were below 350psi (when I tested it it previously it scored between 400-450psi). I asked them if they tested the engine when its warm, which is the way it should be, and their reply was no!
In the end they agreed to put her back in, after replacing the vane pump, and do the compression test again.
Once that was done, the compression came back the same. And worse, there was a slight knocking sound
Well, on the bright side, better do it now than when its too late, and a con rod is sticking out of the block. At 470K on the clock, its had a decent run.
- Thread starter
- #48
The motor stripped down.
The dealer has a separate air conditioned room for engine rebuilds, and the place was spotless. The 80 was by far the oldest vehicle in the shop. All other work there was either warranty or PM servicing, and by God do they have a large shop full of cars!
Luckily no damage was found on the piston heads and the cylinder block.
The top of the cylinder head turned out ok
Flipped over the cylinder head, and they noticed 2 valves were stuck
They deduced that the cause of the stuck valves was a mistimed fuel injection pump. The shaft of the pump had a bit of play, hence the poor calibration. The ALJ head tech said that 100% the FIP has been previously replaced, and when that was done, clearly the installer did not calibrate it properly.
Head gasket seemed ok. Since its out, we're going to replace it.
The decision was made to go for it. The scope will be new pistons, (oversized), piston rings, valves, cam bearings, crankshaft bearings, and a rebuilt FIP. The ALJ guys said a quote will be ready in about a week, and so I was off.
The dealer has a separate air conditioned room for engine rebuilds, and the place was spotless. The 80 was by far the oldest vehicle in the shop. All other work there was either warranty or PM servicing, and by God do they have a large shop full of cars!
Luckily no damage was found on the piston heads and the cylinder block.
The top of the cylinder head turned out ok
Flipped over the cylinder head, and they noticed 2 valves were stuck
They deduced that the cause of the stuck valves was a mistimed fuel injection pump. The shaft of the pump had a bit of play, hence the poor calibration. The ALJ head tech said that 100% the FIP has been previously replaced, and when that was done, clearly the installer did not calibrate it properly.
Head gasket seemed ok. Since its out, we're going to replace it.
The decision was made to go for it. The scope will be new pistons, (oversized), piston rings, valves, cam bearings, crankshaft bearings, and a rebuilt FIP. The ALJ guys said a quote will be ready in about a week, and so I was off.
- Thread starter
- #49
I got an email soon with the quote, and a few exchanges back and forth were made as I wanted some other bits and pieces worked on. Finally the green light was given on the rebuild, and since I was going to be out of town for a week or so, the timing could not have been better. The only downside was there would not be any pictures of the progress.
A couple of weeks later, back in town, I stopped by to check on updates. Work on the engine had stopped while they waited for new cam bearings and piston rings to come in.
New OME springs and shocks installed.
The 80 series OME springs come labeled for Driver Side (DS) and Passenger Side (PS) to level out the truck. Important to note that the PS and DS side Down Under is RHD, hence the need to not confuse yourself further.
I re-labled the springs properly using a large A4 paper taped on them, so that the ALJ tech didnt have a chance of installing them wrong.
New OEM bump-stops and manifold pipe installed.
New OEM brake lines.
Got the cracked dash top replaced with new. This thing is purdy
I was back a few weeks later, as the feedback I was getting was the engine was done but the FIP was still not back from the ALJ pump rebuilder. They had trouble properly adjusting it, which confirms our suspicions earlier that it had been tampered with by the previous owners, or possibly replaced. The pump rebuilder, who's an approved ALJ vendor struggled to get it going properly. It was getting them in all sorts of trouble. After much discussion with the head ALJ, who's done numerous 1HZ rebuilds for Coaster busses, we elected to order a brand new pump from Toyota Japan. We debated going down to the bus junkyard, but it would not have been worth it as they're a hot ticket for bus owners, and command higher than usual prices, plus once you add the cost of the rebuild, it comes close to the cost of a new pump.
The bright side; apart from a new, and reliable FIP, the new pump will come with the bolt thread for the much elusive tacho pick up sensor. I'll have an RPM gauge that will now work.
Everything done, and ready
Then off to get the new rubber mounted.
Pizza cutters getting mounted and balanced on 16" steelies
A couple of weeks later, back in town, I stopped by to check on updates. Work on the engine had stopped while they waited for new cam bearings and piston rings to come in.
New OME springs and shocks installed.
The 80 series OME springs come labeled for Driver Side (DS) and Passenger Side (PS) to level out the truck. Important to note that the PS and DS side Down Under is RHD, hence the need to not confuse yourself further.
I re-labled the springs properly using a large A4 paper taped on them, so that the ALJ tech didnt have a chance of installing them wrong.
New OEM bump-stops and manifold pipe installed.
New OEM brake lines.
Got the cracked dash top replaced with new. This thing is purdy
I was back a few weeks later, as the feedback I was getting was the engine was done but the FIP was still not back from the ALJ pump rebuilder. They had trouble properly adjusting it, which confirms our suspicions earlier that it had been tampered with by the previous owners, or possibly replaced. The pump rebuilder, who's an approved ALJ vendor struggled to get it going properly. It was getting them in all sorts of trouble. After much discussion with the head ALJ, who's done numerous 1HZ rebuilds for Coaster busses, we elected to order a brand new pump from Toyota Japan. We debated going down to the bus junkyard, but it would not have been worth it as they're a hot ticket for bus owners, and command higher than usual prices, plus once you add the cost of the rebuild, it comes close to the cost of a new pump.
The bright side; apart from a new, and reliable FIP, the new pump will come with the bolt thread for the much elusive tacho pick up sensor. I'll have an RPM gauge that will now work.
Everything done, and ready
Then off to get the new rubber mounted.
Pizza cutters getting mounted and balanced on 16" steelies
- Thread starter
- #50
To sort out the rear cargo space, I bolted in a 3/4" inch thick wooden platform, with the 4 holes for the bolts drilled into the bed of the truck. I had the bolts positioned by the 4 corners of the wooden platform.
Then bolted in the cargo tie down racks. I love these as the positions for the loops are flexible. Also secured the bracket for the Powertank as well.
For trips, I use a different set up with the spare tire in the middle. I'm now thinking to fabricate an interior tire holder that enables the tire to be held vertically, and mounted by the side of the cab over the wheel well. There are a few guys here in 80 tech who have done such mods, and I'll be using them as a guideline
What I like about it is that the wooden platform gives me numerous options of drilling and moving around the cargo configuration, without having to keep drilling holes into the bed of the truck.
Getting her filled up for our first outing together
My favorite badge
Headed down to a dried river bed/wadi to scout for a possible over night camping spot for this coming winter season.
It turned out to be anything but dry
But not without getting a little stuck. Did not get enough momentum going in (well I didn't want to chance it and then scrape the door on the large boulder) so tip toed in there and sank in the soft underfoot.
This is Sal in the chest waders being a good sport while everyone watches
Some poser shots
And that brings us up to date
Then bolted in the cargo tie down racks. I love these as the positions for the loops are flexible. Also secured the bracket for the Powertank as well.
For trips, I use a different set up with the spare tire in the middle. I'm now thinking to fabricate an interior tire holder that enables the tire to be held vertically, and mounted by the side of the cab over the wheel well. There are a few guys here in 80 tech who have done such mods, and I'll be using them as a guideline
What I like about it is that the wooden platform gives me numerous options of drilling and moving around the cargo configuration, without having to keep drilling holes into the bed of the truck.
Getting her filled up for our first outing together
My favorite badge
Headed down to a dried river bed/wadi to scout for a possible over night camping spot for this coming winter season.
It turned out to be anything but dry
But not without getting a little stuck. Did not get enough momentum going in (well I didn't want to chance it and then scrape the door on the large boulder) so tip toed in there and sank in the soft underfoot.
This is Sal in the chest waders being a good sport while everyone watches
Some poser shots
And that brings us up to date
This is my favorite build of an 80 I have ever seen. I love the obscure parts - gauge clusters, dashes (who knew these were still available???) - just no corners cut. If what CDan and Beno say is true - I don't think you could have done this level of restore a few years down the line when parts dry up. Something for me to think about.....
The 1HZ coupled with the 5 speed and spartan interior - oh man
In 13 months this rig will be eligible for US import. Can we work something out then
GREAT WORK!
The 1HZ coupled with the 5 speed and spartan interior - oh man
In 13 months this rig will be eligible for US import. Can we work something out then
GREAT WORK!
Wow!! Amazing build! Far and away the best part of this build is you had no hesitation to go out and use it!!!
:Cheers:
:Cheers:
Love this thread!
Incredible build!! Nice work as always boozewz.
Nice to see you using it as a landcruiser should be used despite the new paint job and all the other cosmetic work.
Nice to see you using it as a landcruiser should be used despite the new paint job and all the other cosmetic work.
Arabian Cruiser
Arabian Cruisers
well done 
whats your next project ?
whats your next project ?
SNIP
The 1HZ coupled with the 5 speed and spartan interior - oh man
In 13 months this rig will be eligible for US import. Can we work something out then
GREAT WORK!
Dang. foeix beat me to it.
And even a great adventure to bring us up to date. Who would've thought there'd even BE a set of chest waders in Saudi Arabia? You learn something every day and this thread is an inspiration to just do it
I really would like that already threaded hole for the rpm sender.
How much was the new pump? Did it come with the altitude compensator?
Thanks for posting
How much was the new pump? Did it come with the altitude compensator?
Thanks for posting
Love your ideas and build. Nice work my friend.
Very nice build friend , and thanks for posting all those nice and clear picture , I know Saudi are Landcruiser and Patrol country , I wish i have those beautiful split rear door here in the US.