Builds A Newbs "New" 1991 1HZ Troopy (1 Viewer)

[PNWScooby]

Metaltech is in Newberg and does some nice work. You could always try to hit them up for a custom bumper to hold your spare. If I recall they have done some work on 70 series before.

Thanks for the heads up on Metal Tech. I hadnt heard of them and its the first company that has been suggested that is local so that is a huge plus. If I do go the custom route I may have my friends metal fab shop do it for me. Way cheaper than anywhere else but thats not really there thing so design and all the ideas would be coming from me. I will contact metal tech and see if they can share photos any 70 series bumpers they have done and if they would

When I worked at Toyota we ordered the spare carrier to be mounted on the door.
Maybe you can still get it from the dealer.
We just used steel strips inside the door as reinforcements, it never gave a problem with the weight.

Yeah I've thought about that a lot. Thanks for the insight. Would definitely be the cheapest option but also the one I feel least comfortable with for long term door strength.

What is the Kg rating of those springs ?
Do you have the OME part numbers please ?

I will try and get numbers for you shortly. As a generic response for now....fronts are "heavy" and rears are "medium". I shouldnt ever need the heavy rears since I dont plan on big water tanks and only have a single fuel tank.

 

[waiting for time]

If you fix a plate on the inside of the door it will be plenty strong.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Yeah I've thought about that a lot. Thanks for the insight. Would definitely be the cheapest option but also the one I feel least comfortable with for long term door strength.

.

I don't believe strength is a problem. Once the door is closed it is locked into the frame. In fact my front drivers door hinges wore out long before the rears ever did.(I never needed to replace the rears) I had a 33 inch tyre and steel rim on my door.
My 73 series hinges and door latch with the rear door tyre carrier was still good at 23 years old when I sold it.
The big benefit of the rear door mounted tyre is that it all opens together. My troopy has a big brand name twin tyre carrier and I would strongly suggest reconsidering if you are thinking of getting one. It is a pain opening both sides of the tyre carrier and then both doors every time you want access the rear. Especially with the groceries etc.

I think there is a factory reinforcing plate that goes on the inside.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

What he said ... ^^^^^^^
I hunt out of my 77 Series most of the year and would hate having to move "swing outs" every time I wanted access to my hunting equipment.

 

[PNWScooby]

I don't believe strength is a problem. Once the door is closed it is locked into the frame. In fact my front drivers door hinges wore out long before the rears ever did.(I never needed to replace the rears) I had a 33 inch tyre and steel rim on my door.
My 73 series hinges and door latch with the rear door tyre carrier was still good at 23 years old when I sold it.
The big benefit of the rear door mounted tyre is that it all opens together. My troopy has a big brand name twin tyre carrier and I would strongly suggest reconsidering if you are thinking of getting one. It is a pain opening both sides of the tyre carrier and then both doors every time you want access the rear. Especially with the groceries etc.

I think there is a factory reinforcing plate that goes on the inside.

What he said ... ^^^^^^^
I hunt out of my 77 Series most of the year and would hate having to move "swing outs" every time I wanted access to my hunting equipment.

totally agree with you guys on the convenience of having the tire on the door instead of a swing out. Just wondering how to go about making the door as strong or stronger than it would be if it had the OEM reinforcement bracket / mount on there.

Anyone willing to take a photo of what the inside of the door looks like with the factory carrier on it? I could use that to mimic that support and maybe even make it stronger.

Thanks as always for the advice guys. Seriously!

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I don't know if these photos will help you very much but this is the tire carrier door on a BJ71 courtesy of Odd Iron Off Road.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

 

[Gun Runner 5]

 

[PNWScooby]

View attachment 1442567

Definitely helpful. Thank you!

 

[PNWScooby]

Love coming back from a long hike fly fishing on the clackamas river to see this waiting for me. This was a few weeks ago.

 

[PNWScooby]

Finally got my new panels in. Some good friends of mine own and work at a metal fabrication shop here in Portland and I am lucky enough to be able to trade them photography favors for custom parts for the troopy. They killed it on these! I went in and custom ordered this dark brown paint for powdercoat and made sure to get enough for future interior parts if need be. Like the wheel well cubby that is in line now to get started.

I was struggling with how to mount these new panels since I wanted to ditch the stock plastic fasteners but @AndrewHadji came to the rescue as usual with the recommendation of rivnuts. They ended up working great.

I had to use some pretty big washers because some of the holes didnt line up perfect so I had to bore out some of them to make it work. Big washers to cover it all up. I will be looking for something to do soon im sure and pull them and paint them matching brown.

Decided to just block out the vents. If I decide I want them again I will cut slits where the stock vents are.

All in all im happy to have walls in my apartment again
Excited to move on to the fun interior stuff now. Bench, storage, sleeping platform etc...

 

[PNWScooby]

Almost forgot. I can't believe I haven't shown off my center console and cupholder combo yet! @bhicks you are lucky I don't start selling my custom cupholders. I'm sure they would give yours a run for their money!

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Do those cup holders come free when you buy a panel van?

 

[AndrewHadji]

@PNWScooby man those panels look great! love it, a quick black matching spray to the bolts and washers if you prefer a solid color. I switched to black hex key fasteners with washers for a smoother look. love the cup holder idea as well! She looks so good

 

[PNWScooby]

@PNWScooby man those panels look great! love it, a quick black matching spray to the bolts and washers if you prefer a solid color. I switched to black hex key fasteners with washers for a smoother look. love the cup holder idea as well! She looks so good

I actually have enough bolts and washers to drop off a replacement set at the fab shop to be powdercoated at the same time as my storage cubby in a couple weeks. So they will be powdercoated the same brown as the panels! should look much better

 

[ROUSER]

Looking real nice!

 

[PNWScooby]

FINALLY was able to get my transfer case filler bolt loose. I have spent many hours under there trying different wrenches and penetrating lubricants but finally a whole lot of heat from a torch did the trick + getting a pair of vice grips on there really tight and doing a jerk motion pull up laying on my back. Glad to finally have that fluid changed for piece of mind.

Changed the diff fluids as well...except these only needed a little bit of heat and the bolt heads weren't stripped. Replaced all filler and drain plugs with the internal hex style bolts from "wits end" ( Went to his site for the ARB to TEQ conversion sticker a few weeks ago and came across those. Great product @NLXTACY ! Everything else on the site looks super rad too! )
The front diff fluid was super thick, dark and smelled terrible so I am really glad that is out of there. There was quite a bit of nasty sludge on the magnetic drain plug so I may change that fluid again much sooner than its needed just to check to make sure I am not getting grease leaking in from the birfield joints. Again, a big relief to get this done today!

Heres a giant photo of the bolt that caused the month delay on changing the t-case fluid.

Other little updates:

OME Suspension gets installed Thursday
Spare wheel carrier bracket for rear door is on the way from @joekatana
Some sweet cupholders on the way from Brad at Dingo4x4 in Australia
Fire extinguisher mount arrived from "F.O.A."....will post pics of that when its mounted

 

[AirheadNut]

Yikes! Thats a horrible mess of a bolt! Good thing you got it out.
One thing that sometimes helps is to hit the bolt head with a hammer while pulling on the wrench, kind of like a manual impact wrench.

 

[PNWScooby]

Yikes! Thats a horrible mess of a bolt! Good thing you got it out.
One thing that sometimes helps is to hit the bolt head with a hammer while pulling on the wrench, kind of like a manual impact wrench.

I did that the best I could but since the fuel tank hangs down right across from the bolt head there is not enough room to get any kind of power behind a hammer swing. Was only able to barely tap on it haha. Thats a good one though!

 

[PNWScooby]

Got the suspension put on today. Really glad I brought it to Josh at Willamette Auto here in Portland, he does these OME installs on cruisers in his sleep pretty much and is the only mechanic around here who really loves and knows these diesel imported models.
So many little things that would have cost me an extra day (at least) to figure out only caused 5 minute delays with him at most.

Heres some pics during the install. Including some custom pieces to make things reach a little easier.

I removed a single leaf from the rear packs but left the front packs full.
Very glad I chose to leave the fronts the way they are. There is already much more articulation even without much wight on them (just the ARB bar) than there was stock. Rides way better on bumpy roads already. The rear feels similar to the way it felt stock...aka, ready for some more weight to be put on them! Should be perfect that way until I decide to add a water tank and roof rack etc.. then I will add the leaf that I took out.