A 1990 HZJ80 mini-refurb from Saudi Arabia

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Congratulations! That was a lot of work.
Next time I am in Jeddah, I will keep an eye out for it.
The last time I was there I didn't see any 80s.
The way people drive, I'm not surprised that most of them are in junk yards.
There aren't many trucks older than 10 years.
 
Pin Head that depends which part of Jeddah you were in. Some of the older and rougher neighbourhoods, they're all over the place. 60's, 70's, and 80's galore. In all kinds of shape: good and bad. Gotta know where to go. But I suspect whoever was hosting you didnt want to take you there, either so you dont get hassled, but more likekly so you dont hassle the locals and their cruisers:p
 
Pin_Head said:
I spend two weeks every year at KAU, but I don't drive. I have been all over, but I prefer the north beaches.
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PM me next time you're in town. Would be more than happy to show you around!

gnarlynick2072 said:
Keep the stripes!!

Last time I was in the KSA I got pulled over in our 80 by security and all they asked me was if it was for sale.
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Guys love to know if the cars are for sale and always know the answer is either no or a ridiculous price is going to get thrown at them just for the hell of it! Looking forward to seeing your 80 make its way back to you in Cananda!
 
boozewz said:
Guys love to know if the cars are for sale and always know the answer is either no or a ridiculous price is going to get thrown at them just for the hell of it! Looking forward to seeing your 80 make its way back to you in Cananda!
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Ha, I'll need to give you an update on that... my friend decided to sell me his 80 when he retires from Aramco. Which will be in 2018. That was a very sad day.
 
Any updates? I've enjoyed watching your build.
 
Same as above post....very interesting seeing a build on a very different 80 than the legions here in the U.S. market were spec'ed out.
 
Wow, that's is a seriously sweet truck.

I really like the dual rear doors as well as the stepbars on the back.

Did they ever sell an 80 series with the dual rear doors in North America?
 
Cmac said:
Did they ever sell an 80 series with the dual rear doors in North America?
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Nope, not at a plain retail level - maybe a **few** here, but never have seen one.
 
Thanks fellas...all's been good so far except the time the AC blew up on me. Literally. Was cruising home and all of a sudden there was a horribly loud pop, like a gun shot, and the AC vents spewed out cold white smoke. It was gushing out for about 10 seconds, blinding me, which was scary as I was on a busy road. Managed to open the door to let the smoke out and pull over. I was pretty well shaken, and my ears were ringing. So had to take that down to get fixed.

The truck also has a bit of a funny quirk, when cranking over. As soon as she starts, all the electrics die. AC, tacho, window power, turn signals. But strangely the front headlights and the dash lights work. This is an issue that happens probably once every couple of weeks. I usually turn her back off and on again, and its all good. Lately I figured out a trick. Crank her over, and if the electrics are not functioning, I apply enough pressure on the ignition key anti-clockwise, but not enough to turn the car off, and voila, everything lights up. Very strange.

And last but not least, the side stripe stickers are starting to peel. The local reproduction versions clearly are no match for the OEM stickers. A few more car washes and the whole lot will most likely be off.

The weather has been cooling lately, so took the kid out for a run in the dunes. That's @Mcladin FZJ80 in the background, with my 80 behind it.

 
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Great pic!:D

Was the ignition switch replaced when you rehabbed things? If not, they do get worn, especially if you leave a lot of junk dangling from them. Hard to say if that was an issue with the prior ownership, not sure what the customs are with keyrings, etc might be. And yours just plain had a lot of kms on it, IIRC.
 
greentruck said:
Great pic!:D

Was the ignition switch replaced when you rehabbed things? If not, they do get worn, especially if you leave a lot of junk dangling from them. Hard to say if that was an issue with the prior ownership, not sure what the customs are with keyrings, etc might be. And yours just plain had a lot of kms on it, IIRC.
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No we never replaced it. But you're right, the steering column needs a good look and clean, and maybe that could reveal something. At nearly 490,000km on the odo, things are bound to crop up here and there. Oh and the passenger window doesn't work anymore, and the rear left window as well.

The snag list could be worse!
 
boozewz said:
No we never replaced it. But you're right, the steering column needs a good look and clean, and maybe that could reveal something. At nearly 490,000km on the odo, things are bound to crop up here and there. Oh and the passenger window doesn't work anymore, and the rear left window as well.

The snag list could be worse!
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Yeah, they sure could be. Besides any problem internal to the switch itself, there are various pinch points that the wiring associated with the steering column encounters, so a close visual inspection might turn up something rubbeb through, etc.

Next time it happens in traffic -- here's hoping it doesn't -- if you have the opportunity to jiggle the keys in the switch to see what happens before trying a restart, that could give you a clue.
 
A few small updates.

Just had a pyrometer installed. Was walking around the junkyard a couple of months ago looking for a 1HZ for another project when I noticed a whole bunch of them had cracked exhaust manifolds. In fact my 80 had a cracked manifold and the PO had it welded over. I ended up replacing it altogether. Guys here tend to push their diesels hard like they're driving a petrol engined truck, without thinking about the consequences of EGTs. I don't want to be that guy.

So the pyro is a great way to keep the temps in check.





Gauge location.



I was actually amazed at how quickly it responds under acceleration. Temps go right up to 900-950F when I'm pulling away hard in 3rd on a flat surface, before dropping down to around 500 as soon as I change into 4th. The speed the temp dial moves is just as fast as the tacho dial! I also shudder to think what the temps were when I last did a trip up mountain pass to 7000ft!

So all in all I'm very glad I got that out of the way.

Next up was I installed some bonnet struts. Later model 80s, or perhaps only the VX versions got the bonnet struts. But on all the bonnets the bolt holes are already in place. So I ordered a set from the local dealer and put them on. After a couple of weeks driving, I noticed the paint on my bonnet surface directly above where the struts are bolted on from underneath, started peeling.



So had a look under the hood



It seems the strength of the struts is folding away the sheet metal. Would a little tack weld keep that in place and stop it bending further?



I checked my mates VX-R which originally had struts from the factory and there seems to be no additional bracing or reinforcement around that area to suggest its susceptible to happening. Both my struts and his are the same part numbers.
 
The paint peeling may just be coincidence. The struts are attached to the hood bonnet brace, so it shouldn't cause much if any defelection in the actual bonnet sheet metal. Even if it did cause some deflection, the paint should be flexible enough to deal with it.

Did your truck originally have an insulator panel at the underside of the hood? Maybe the heat of your exhaust is helping the paint to degrade? With the EGT you describe, I'm surprised there isn't more shielding around the manifold as well.
 
Wow that interior looks CLEAN!!

Weird that you don't have a heat shield on your exhaust manifold. Did 1HZ not come with a heat shield?? You can probably pick one up from the Toyota store for not too much... it will probably help with paint condition under the hood. Being a G model, Toyota really didn't put any expense into the vehicle I'm sure.

Now that you have a pyro, you're going to be looking at it more than your speedo. I know I do lol
 
Golgo13 said:
The paint peeling may just be coincidence. The struts are attached to the hood bonnet brace, so it shouldn't cause much if any defelection in the actual bonnet sheet metal. Even if it did cause some deflection, the paint should be flexible enough to deal with it.

Did your truck originally have an insulator panel at the underside of the hood? Maybe the heat of your exhaust is helping the paint to degrade? With the EGT you describe, I'm surprised there isn't more shielding around the manifold as well.
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No it did not come with any insulator panel under. I am not sure if it was remove by the PO, but being a G model I doubt they ever had them on. My concern is the bracing under has peeled away from the bonnet sheet metal, right where the strut is bolted.

gnarlynick2072 said:
Wow that interior looks CLEAN!!

Weird that you don't have a heat shield on your exhaust manifold. Did 1HZ not come with a heat shield?? You can probably pick one up from the Toyota store for not too much... it will probably help with paint condition under the hood. Being a G model, Toyota really didn't put any expense into the vehicle I'm sure.

Now that you have a pyro, you're going to be looking at it more than your speedo. I know I do lol
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Thanks. I'm only borderline OCD (contrary to what the mrs says!) hence the cleanliness.

As for the heat shield, I have been contemplating getting one, but kept forgetting. Thanks for reminding me!

Also…my Safari Turbo arrived.

Stay tuned!
 
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