..And so it begins.... my BJ40 frame off restoration

[Volcano cruiser]

Her are some pics

 

[Volcano cruiser]

back of the AC in cab unit

Two of the back of the in cab unit. P.S. The unit comes with plumbing for defroster as well.

 

[hes21]

I'm guessing the extra wires on the headlight are for an inbuilt LED parking light?

 

[Volcano cruiser]

I'm guessing the extra wires on the headlight are for an inbuilt LED parking light?

I think that you are right. I installed them and low and high beams work fine but I still need to connect the blue LED parking light leads. My question is should I splice the leads in somewhere after the harness but given that no instructions ever showed up with the lamps I'm not sure.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Update

Sorry guys I got busy at work. Ok by way of update my orders from CCOT finally arrived. Everything very well packed. I went with them for most of the body related crap, e.g. weatherstripping, nuts and bolts for hinges, hood hardware, emblems etc. Everything arrived except for the bezel which is on backorder. I know that folks have issues with them but I can say that I have had good experience working with them. In particular Gaylon really did a good job consolidating several orders and working with me while I found a shipping solution that made economic sense. Thanks.
I am now waiting on the lift kit from SOR which should start arriving any day. Again I want to give a big shout out to Paul from SOR who patiently answered and complimented my newbie questions and gave me really good info and worked with me on shipping by breaking the order up into separate packages thereby keeping each package under max shipping weight and within my budget. Paul was especially quick in catching everything as it was headed out the door when we realized that the shocks that come with the kit could not be shipped by air (twin chamber gas filled). He recalculated the order price, had the package re-packed and still got it out quickly. I expect it all anytime this week.
As you guys know I had a dead battery a ways back and my plan to buy Optimas was frustrated by lack of a local dealer. I ended up getting a cheapo from the local version of Costco so I could get around town while I could figure out something else. At least it wasn't leaking like the one from the PO. As luck would have it I had occassion to call Optima basically to grouse about the lack of any local option. I ended uo talking to J.C. the regional sales manager and a great guy. I told him that I after the bad battery incident I had decided to go with the Hell Roaring dual battery setup. He thought the world of those guys ( Shout out to Mike and the Hell Roaring crew, thanks!) and let me in on the fact that he had just signed up a local company to carry the Optima line here in El Sal and gave me the name of the owner and all of his contact info. After which we spopke about overseas wheeling and how once I'm done with the project I'm looking to hook up with a local club. He told me to stay in contact and that he would sponsor club events with banners, hats, tee shirts etc. He also wants me to hook him up on any club mailing lists so that he can be in on events as he travels up and down Central and South America and is always looking for like minded folks to hang with. When I asked why he was willing to do sponsorships etc, he said that Optima wouldn't be the company that it is today if not for the support of the 4x4 community when it was starting out He said the company really appreciated 4x4 folks and was always looking to support their activities. I told him that I would post up this conversation as I thought that it was great that he was extending support like that.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Instrument cluster.

Ok, I have been looking hard at replacing the partially functioning instrument cluster. First, only the fuel gauge and the turn signal work. What light there is is barely visible at night.All that said I have agonized about replacing it with a similar shaped cluster but with modern gauges etc. Just not the way I wanted the dash to look. After posting and discussing it with a few folks here I decided that it would be worth one more shot to try and salvage/upgrade the original cluster. Pictures will follow this. Tonight I pulled the cluster from the dash. If I was ever on the f...ing fence about the wiring in this rig being a mess I am no longer . Tomorrow I am getting the Painless ( I know not painless to install) wirining gear. I have never seen such a mess of wires leading to no f...ing where. OMG WTF at least five indicators or switches on the dash ( can you say emergency flashers) had their wires just hanging in mid air or in a tangle behind the dash. For example as I worked my way from the headlight switch through the firewall the bundle eventually dwindled down to a single strand as I was headed to the headlight relay. This was this guys DD! How do people drive around just leaving important s...t dangling like Grandpa's former glory. Geez. Almost every wire hand some slap dab splice on it using a combo of duct and electrical tape. Not a crimp in sight. No excuse as the PO was a business guy not some poor farmer just trying to make it. Ok end of rant.
Again I pulled the cluster and broke it down completely. My goal was to inspect it and clean it , to remove the two "helmets" light shades and to pull a bulb and connector so that I could go and get some LED replacement bulbs. Most obvious thing found was that someone had replaced the speedometer cable with a wire that was red electrical taped into the hole at the back of the speedometer hence explaining why the speedometer and odometer don't work. The other two connectors were fine. The break down went well. I easily located the little helmets and put them out of their misery after nearly 30 years of service. I washed, wiped or alcohol swabbed everything down as appropriate for the component. Basically I put it all back together and put it back in the rig . I tested it and I have to say even without upgraded bulbs there is an improvement, although not yet enough for me to cancel the replacement, still too dim for my eyes at night. That being said the turn signals are really much brighter and I can actually see the high beam indicator lit up now. Back lighting of the other gauges was improved some. I'll try it with the LEds before I pass final judgement. Ok here are pics and I'm off to bed. Thanks.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Breakdown and cleaning of panel pics

To be exact I broke the instrument cluster down completely. Among my faults is that once I focus on a thing I'm very anal. In this instance I cleaned all the metal and glass, blew dust out of the gears, cleaned the gauge faces, the weatherstripping and then reassembled the cluster.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

More pics

next series

 

[Volcano cruiser]

more

Good news, only dust, no rust! Q tips and alcohol work great in tight places like between the pins and connectors of the old circuit board.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

More

Helmets are gone and time to put the puzzle pieces back where I found them

 

[Volcano cruiser]

finished

Now I need to replace the bulbs with LEDs. If this works out well I'll need to have the restoration shop sand the cluster face with is scratched up a lot and paint it ( no powder coat here)

 

[patches84]

G'day jabxyz,

Nice work on the 'helmets.' I think you will find that even new incandescent globes would make it nice and bright. On my US-spec 83 FJ40, I even had to dim the lights a bit at night, beause they were too bright. On my Aussie-spec ones, that is not an option, but you get used to it.

I will post the numbers for all the LED globes on beejay42's site as soon as I get home (tomorrow). Also, try Specter Off Road for anything specifically diesel, and I know Marv will ship to El Salvador. When I lived in Panama, I got nearly all my stuff from him or the dealer locally.

Do you know if Vintage Air makes that heater/aircon unit for RHD rigs? I have factory air con in both of my rigs, but your unit looks infinately better. Let us know how it goes. Thanks for all the photos- beautiful! By the way, the colour yours was originally is the same colour that my HJ75 was when I lived in Panama.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[beejay42]

Hey Jabxyz.
good work.
As you probably read on my thread- the PO already restored my instrument cluster and the gauges- pity he didn't do a LED upgrade at the same time...
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out- not sure if it is painted or plated in something... doesn't look powdercoated to me. I dunno though.

Everything works on mine- just have to get the taco next it that the PO put in but didn't connect up working.
It would be a shame IMHO to not keep the original one- so good luck restoring yours.

I have almost stripped all the paint off my middle controls panel, then I will get that plated or paint it myself.
Keep it up,
Hans.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

G'day jabxyz,

Nice work on the 'helmets.' I think you will find that even new incandescent globes would make it nice and bright. On my US-spec 83 FJ40, I even had to dim the lights a bit at night, beause they were too bright. On my Aussie-spec ones, that is not an option, but you get used to it.

I will post the numbers for all the LED globes on beejay42's site as soon as I get home (tomorrow). Also, try Specter Off Road for anything specifically diesel, and I know Marv will ship to El Salvador. When I lived in Panama, I got nearly all my stuff from him or the dealer locally.

Do you know if Vintage Air makes that heater/aircon unit for RHD rigs? I have factory air con in both of my rigs, but your unit looks infinately better. Let us know how it goes. Thanks for all the photos- beautiful! By the way, the colour yours was originally is the same colour that my HJ75 was when I lived in Panama.

Cheers,

Josh

Josh,
Thanks. Actually this was fun and the excersice reminded me of how much I still take for granted in terms of availability of stuff. For example, If I were home in the U.S. and had been doing this I would have popped by the hardware store and picked up a tube of silicon and run a bead around the outer edge weatherstripping just to help it seal a bit better. Of course whenevr I mention picking up stuff like that here people just look at me like I have three heads and ask why don't you just call a mechanic and have him come over and fix it, he'll bring everything. I'll go over to beejay's thread and look for the numbers for the bulbs. Turns out that I'll need them as I tried on my lunch hour to go over to the local Radio Shack to pick them up. Even the smallest Radio Shack in the poorest part of town in the U.S. would carry either the bulbs, incandescent or LED, or basic electrical supplies, boxxes of flanges and connectors for various gauges of wire, crimping tools etc. NOTHING!!! As such unless I go over to the local dealership for wildly expensive incandescent bulbs I guess I'll have to order these as well with my next box o'cr*p.

As to the AC/Heat unit for RHD, I don't recall one but here is the link and the number. Ask to speak to Rachel at 888-977-8889 or here Toyota Fj-40.
Thanks
Thanks.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Hey Jabxyz.
good work.
As you probably read on my thread- the PO already restored my instrument cluster and the gauges- pity he didn't do a LED upgrade at the same time...
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out- not sure if it is painted or plated in something... doesn't look powdercoated to me. I dunno though.

Everything works on mine- just have to get the taco next it that the PO put in but didn't connect up working.
It would be a shame IMHO to not keep the original one- so good luck restoring yours.

I have almost stripped all the paint off my middle controls panel, then I will get that plated or paint it myself.
Keep it up,
Hans.

Hans,
Nice finish on the face plate for your instrument cluster. Don't forget to post pics of the middle control panel work that you are doing.
Thanks.

 

[patches84]

Thank jabxyz,

I posted a question to vinatage air to ask about RHD, so we shall see. I attached the email address of the bloke in Sydney who does the LED globes, and he said he is happy to ship overseas. That may be one option for you. You will have to give him the measurements for your blade-style globes, as I can't find the part number for those, but he does have them in stock.

Where in the US are you from? We do get spoiled in the the US with selection and price- I have trouble getting stuff here in Australia too. It is amazing when they do have it, how much the stuff costs!! A tube of silicon here is about $8- and it is the exact same brand (even with US sales markings, so it is imported from the US) we get at Pep Boys for $1.50.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Thank jabxyz,

I posted a question to vinatage air to ask about RHD, so we shall see. I attached the email address of the bloke in Sydney who does the LED globes, and he said he is happy to ship overseas. That may be one option for you. You will have to give him the measurements for your blade-style globes, as I can't find the part number for those, but he does have them in stock.

Where in the US are you from? We do get spoiled in the the US with selection and price- I have trouble getting stuff here in Australia too. It is amazing when they do have it, how much the stuff costs!! A tube of silicon here is about $8- and it is the exact same brand (even with US sales markings, so it is imported from the US) we get at Pep Boys for $1.50.

Cheers,

Josh

Josh,
Today I think I found a partial solution to my small parts/general car crap problem. Found a great place in a neighborhood of salvage guys. He was recommended to me by a salvage guy as the place where all of the salvage shop mechanics go to get after market stuff. He vouched for the quality of the guy's stuff because he shares container space with him when the salvage guy brings in used parts from Japan. I dropped by and grabbed a new speedo cable and stronger incandescent bulbs for the dash. As to the dash lights now they are OK. I won't pass final judgement until I can get my hands on some LEDs. As soon as I can pull the cluster again I'll grab a bulb and squint for the parts number. Also the email for your bud with the LEDs in sydney never came through,just PM it to me and we'll be set.
BTW 3 generations born and raised in Washington, D.C. I spent years living in Boston while in school and years still mooching off of relatives in NYC before I settled back in DC. Now I'm working in El Sal for a couple of years and then back to the States to cause more mischief with my new toy.
John

 

[Volcano cruiser]

I think that I may have gotten REALLY lucky

Here is an update. Today a buddy of mine and I went looking for junk/salvage places. After getting lost in not great parts of town more times than I can remember we found what could easily be called salvage central for the city here. After stopping at a couple of places (more warehouses than yards) I was getting discouraged as each one shook their heads no right after I mentioned the year and model of the rig. As usual in such stories I decided to hit one more place on the recommendation of a mechanic at one of the head shaker places. I walked in and there was a young kid sitting at the counter. When I told him the make, model and year of the rig without looking up he asked (in Spanish) are you running a B or a 3B engine, that year it go either way? I broke into a smile and would have done a back flip if I knew how. We talked about cruiser diesels for a while until his dad, the owner, walks in. We talk and I complimented his son on his knowledge to which he replied he better know this stuff most all of business is used parts for cruisers and Toyota trucks. He went on to tell me that he gets two containers every two months, One full of half cut wrecks from the U.S. and the other full of used engines and trannys from Japan. He is pretty sure that he can get me the 13-BT in a week or so, less sure about the H55F tranny. I told him that I was initially thinking about swapping those for my B and H41 but the costs of shipping two such heavy items here was too much for me and that I had placed that plan on the shelf. He told me to take it off the shelf and then gave me a tour of his place. His guys were cataloging 8 trannys fresh off the boat and five engines as I walked by. he has one building floor to ceiling full of shelves stacked with 1/2 cuts of all kinds of Japanese imports on one side and engines and trannys on the other. He has a similar sized warehouse across the street m ore stuff and his mechanics and body shop. I took as an especially good sign the fact that he proudly pulled the wraps off two stock cars that his shop fabbed up and he and his son are racing. ( his is wrecked and about to be scavenged and rebuilt but his sons was pristine) I figure any salvage guy who knows cruisers off the top of his head and can mod and fab stock cars for racing is worth a shot. I'm gonna start hitting him up for parts and some mechanical work as the guy with the restoration shop is really far away in another town.

After running by the afterrmarket guys shop I hurried home so i could pop the stronger bulbs into the instrument cluster and get the new after market speedo cable in. I will not bore you with another rant on the POs treatment of this rig, let's just say that I found most of the old cable stuffed into, under and around the third member after snatching out the old and installing the new I now have a functioning speedometer. I'll wait until after all of the work is done and new tires etc are on before I have the fellas calibrate it.
This weekend I'm gonna do another status check on parts ordered from mudders. Hawk driver
says that he'll have my new front bumper done by end of next week mot needs to get paid for my new Koito fogs and DanHJ45 is re-doing the Aisin hubs that I picked up from woytovich. All that and I'm still nervously awaiting my lift kit from SOR. Man do I love this forum. I also need to catch up with the resto shop owner so we can schedule a firm date for him take her in for surgery. I'm trying to get all of the parts in first so that he can take her and all of her new bits in one fell swoop.

 

[beejay42]

Great News Jabxyz!
I'm actually envious
after going out to my melbourne specialty 'wreckers'- which consisted of a front desk to a warehouse of parts - I was not exactly blown away (I was hoping to be poking through lines of old 40's- looking at things, comparing things, pulling off things- not buying a part pre-packaged in a plastic bag and being told I was damn lucky they even had it...)

The best thing I have found by far is Matt Mcinnes place And even then he is more than likely to have an occasional giggle into his beer about my diesel engine
overdue for a visit to Matt's now that I think of it.

I'm looking forward to your progress.
Keep it up,
Hans.

 

[M5driver]

We do get spoiled in the the US with selection and price- I have trouble getting stuff here in Australia too. It is amazing when they do have it, how much the stuff costs!! A tube of silicon here is about $8- and it is the exact same brand (even with US sales markings, so it is imported from the US) we get at Pep Boys for $1.50.

x1000! Isn't this the truth. I walked into a Pep Boys while home to pick up a couple of things I couldn't get off the internet... I had forgotten how good a place like that can be! When I asked for some windshield washer tubing, they didn't even offer to sell me used hose! Just asked how much and cut it off the spool... Wow!
Dan