Builds Another LS swap? Really??? (1 Viewer)

[ARJMN]

On a distantly related note, I took breaks from the fuel system work to complete some fixturing projects for my mill. I completed a 12"x12" plate with 1/4-20 threaded holes on 2" centers. This can be used on my rotary table, using the locating dowel and holes for 3/8-16 fastener or by clamping it in the vise using the machined shoulder. A sine table laid out the same way can be clamped in the vise for light weight angle machining. Lastly, I made a set of 1/4-20 hold down clamps in 2" and 3" lengths for use on the plates. These were a great learning experience and also a lot of fun to make. They will really come in handy when doing light weight stuff on my next build.

 

[ARJMN]

The cramped leg room situation on my 80 has bothered me from day one and up until now, I have just accepted it and considered it "part of the charm". No more! I installed a set of Land Tank Seat Brackets this past weekend. I cringed at the the $162 delivered price for what is about $5 in .750 square bar, $15 in machining, and $5 in hardware, but holy cow what a difference they made! I am happy to support the small guys making great products, but might consider banging out something of my own to Rufus when he goes under the knife. You can see the difference with both the front seats moved all the way back. Its like the difference in economy and an upgrade to premium economy.

There truly are very few mods left to be made on ole' Lexi Jo. She is ready for full time duty this summer, and I hope to be tearing down ole Clappy the Farm Truck soon to begin the Cummins swap project officially.

 

[ARJMN]

I finally got around to swapping out the Manefre 38 gallon fuel tank for the stock tank I got from @Cruddz. After my run up Crown King this spring I decided I was 100% over this thing. If you want to cruise miles upon miles of relatively flat ground, it is great. I can do about 500 miles of HWY driving with the big tank, but the dang thing is so long that when you get on a steep climb with it full, gasoline can come spewing out of the filler neck. That happened to me on CK. I was almost full and went up a very steep pitch and gas came gushing out of my vent and gas cap. Admittedly, I had removed the baffle in the gas cap to aid in the venting of the tank, but regardless of that fact spewing gas is a no go for me. In consideration of getting ready to build my 96 out as my touring rig with 6BT and all the fruit, Lexi Jo will either be sold or converted into a lightened trail rig. IDK know yet which. The Manefre tank will be sold off in the short term and I will clean and outline my modifications at that point.

 

[ARJMN]

Next up, was my return to the battle for parking brake supremacy. The park brake has NEVER worked worth a flip on Lexi Jo since the day I bought her. Yes, I know...its a Land Cruiser, the parking brakes are all crrrrrrrap! I was on board with that until I bought my 96. Rufus in bone stock, dealer maintained, and has a parking brake that functions perfectly fine. It holds securely on graded both up and down. I am almost afraid to look at it too much, because it might catch wind that it has low expectations and stop working too. All that said, I have gone the full nuclear path on Lexi Jo. New rotors, new pads, new cable, new, new, new.....I am about $600 deep into this effort to replace everything that could be worn and contribute to the s*** performance of the brake. I'll post up more as it all goes together. While I was taking it all apart, I fell into my usual trap of "while I am here, I might as well do this too". So now I am rebuilding the rear rotating assemblies as a whole. Bearings, seal, etc... I have also found that there have been a couple of parts updated since the ole girl was built in Ishikawa.

Unpaid endorsement here, I discovers Zolex Hand Cleaner while at a coal mine in MS. IF you have never used this stuff, I will tell you it is amazing. It takes off everythign you get on your hands and is worth every penny.

 

[OffRoadScott]

I finally got around to swapping out the Manefre 38 gallon fuel tank for the stock tank I got from @Cruddz. After my run up Crown King this spring I decided I was 100% over this thing. If you want to cruise miles upon miles of relatively flat ground, it is great. I can do about 500 miles of HWY driving with the big tank, but the dang thing is so long that when you get on a steep climb with it full, gasoline can come spewing out of the filler neck. That happened to me on CK. I was almost full and went up a very steep pitch and gas came gushing out of my vent and gas cap. Admittedly, I had removed the baffle in the gas cap to aid in the venting of the tank, but regardless of that fact spewing gas is a no go for me. In consideration of getting ready to build my 96 out as my touring rig with 6BT and all the fruit, Lexi Jo will either be sold or converted into a lightened trail rig. IDK know yet which. The Manefre tank will be sold off in the short term and I will clean and outline my modifications at that point.

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I need a new tank, mine has the notorious crack

 

[-Spike-]

I finally got around to swapping out the Manefre 38 gallon fuel tank... ...the dang thing is so long that when you get on a steep climb with it full, gasoline can come spewing out of the filler neck.

I can't help but think there may have been a problem other than the tank's length. The system should be sealed, no fuel should leak no matter what orientation the tank is in. Were you able to determine where the fuel was leaking from?

I believe you once mentioned that on hills, when low on fuel, the fuel pickup tube would not be submerged and couldn't pick up fuel. I can understand how the length and bottom contour would lead to that problem.

 

[ARJMN]

I need a new tank, mine has the notorious crack

I'll give you first right of refusal there, Scott.

UPDATE: @OffRoadScott has claimed the 38 gallon tank, sorry if anyone else was wanting it.

 

[ARJMN]

I can't help but think there may have been a problem other than the tank's length. The system should be sealed, no fuel should leak no matter what orientation the tank is in. Were you able to determine where the fuel was leaking from?

I believe you once mentioned that on hills, when low on fuel, the fuel pickup tube would not be submerged and couldn't pick up fuel. I can understand how the length and bottom contour would lead to that problem.

Spike,

I must accept some level of responsibility for the poor experience. I modified my 80 to be a far departure from what Toyota intended it to be, but...it is a toy and I have so thoroughly enjoyed (most) of the work. I have removed the check valve from my gas cap which is a big part of why it "gushed" out, but to be far it still would leak out if I filled it to full capacity and parked uphill in my driveway. Another contributor would be that charcoal canister and the included check valves within failed, and thusly were not able to vent tank pressure. The worst event was when I had the tank nearly full, sat idling for a while heating the fuel in the tank, and then I when I heard the tank "BONG" with expansion, I went back to unscrew the gas cap and received a geyser of 87 octane. All in all, I have maybe not a perfect storm of factors, but sufficient enough that I am DONE with that thing.

A separate note is that I was quite disappointed with the lack of real install instructions, support from the manufacturer, and the fact that I had to modify the tank to account for the routing of the park brake cable. It also make removal of the T-Case a huge PITA due to the tank barely clearing the mounting bolts. I have figured out how o do it with a tranny jack and an assortment of extensions and swivel sockets. There is a reason that Toyota specs two smaller tanks instead of one large one. On my next build, I will do a 24 gallon aux tank out back.

I think this tank is a great option for someone with a stockish 80 that is touring and not wheeling hard tracks. The weight, size, and cons just dont align for steep angles and tough spots.

On your note of the running out of fuel on a grade, yes, that happened to. The sump in the tank is sufficient for temporary steeps, but hang out too long with your fuel level low, and the sump will drain and the pick up will run dry. It has happened to me twice, once was easy as I just had to roll downhill to a more level spot and cycle the key a few times. The other was a bit more nerve racking, requiring me to dead engine brake backwards down a steep rocky face.

Nothing earth shattering here, just a wonderful journey of learning, improving, and starting again more intelligently.

 

[ARJMN]

Status update: A coupe weeks after the rear brake overhaul with all OEM parts and I am happy to report that i have a working park brake. The brakes have bedded in at this point and I will readjust them soon to take up the slack. I am not able to get the "7 clicks" performance the manual speaks of, but I can say that all OEM seems to make a difference. One more win for the home team. Additionally, I have run a half a tank through with the factory tank in place. Definitely a huge difference on capacity and the rate at which the gauge moves. SO far, zero regrets going back to a stock tank. Let me take a long trip and make twice as many fuel stops and I may have a little different position.

 

[ARJMN]

I also have the PowerStops listed here if you need some brakes SOLD

 

[ARJMN]

Well, the Gila claims a victim. Or was it "Dumba$$ drives into deep $hit"? In short, I sank the 80 this past weekend down by the Gila River. I was more or less following the same track that we ran in February, but holy cow was that hole a lot deeper now. This is the same hole that @Otter caked up his radiator in. You can see the water line on the fender in the pics. Essentially, I toed off in it quick enough to push a wave, but stopped short when it started getting deep. When the wave rebounded, I could see the other end and thought it was doable. Little did I know there was a seriously deep section in the center that had 33" swallowing rut in the bottom. The axles bottomed out and there I was, going nowhere! I tried to free myself to no avail, and once I had about an inch of water in the floor, I crawled out the window and across the hood to the front bumper. While doing so, the horn started blaring. I hollered for my passage to poop the hood, and after getting it open, I unplugged them to silence the racket. That done, I went back to pulling cable. After I had enough unspooled to get started, I jumped from the hood to the bank and ran up the trail to find a tree to anchor to. A quick return to the 80 and a hood shimmy later, I was snaking back into the seat and reeling in the cable. I have always erred on the big side when it comes to winches. Some say 1.5X rig weight, but I like the 2X factor. Being able to single line pull in most situations is a big plus as you have to pull half as much cable and the line speed is much better. It still loaded up the Superwinch Talon 12K pretty good, but about 30 seconds later I was free and on dry land.

I thought the sum of the damage was just going to be having mud in the interior, but it also meant that with about 6 inches of water inside, everything was soaked, muddy, and stanky. That included two of my guns, all my clothes, and everything else not piled up above the flood line.

The real casualty was the 6.0 LS under the hood. The engine never shut off in the water. The exhaust was constantly blowing big bubbles, the intake/filter were bone dry thanks to the Safari Snorkel, but when I thought to check the dip stick, it was full of milkshake. I have no idea how, but the bottom end was full of that nasty river bottom mud and silt. Also, remember when I said the horn was honking? The lights were also going nuts, and when I tried to start up again, it refused to fire. The 80 Series has a security system ECU under the drivers seat that can disable the starter, and with it being full of the same nastiness, it was shorted out. I got the rig pushed off the trail and to a spot that would soon serve as our camp for the night. I was with a co-worker and his family, and he asked me what I needed. I said 8 quarts of oil and an oil filter. We both smiled and shook our heads. A quick chat yielded the plan that his son and I would take one of their Jeeps to town and grab much needed supplies. We knew right there, it was going to be a very long night(weekend). We had a sandwich and then hit the trail. Two hours later, we pulled into O'Reily's in Globe where 3 gallons of 5W-30, 2 oil filters, an oil pan, cleaners, and paper towels claimed 182 bucks out of my wallet. We grabbed some Taco Bell, because why not, and less than two hours later, we arrived back at the wounded bird. I drained the oil and it was pure river bottom muck-shake. Disgusting.

I let it drain all night long, and the next morning I spun on a new filter and poured in fresh oil. Much to my surprise, the ECU dried out enough to allow the engine to crank and it fired right up. 60 seconds of run time, and the oil/filter were dropped again. Not as bad, but still terrible. Water, silt, sludge, it was still pouring out. At this point I accepted my fate. I would be rebuilding the motor. I emptied a full can of brake clean into the pan and filter port, giving it adequate time to vaporize and flash off. I was able to move the straw around enough to get it to run clear out of the drain hole both times, but there is silt through the entire oil system, which means it is in the entire engine. I refilled the engine with the remaining oil and though about my exit strategy. As I said above, I knew at this point I was going to be doing heart surgery on the ole girl. I also knew that of all my rigs, an LS is the cheapest and easiest to rebuild. Hell, I have been wanting to turn this one up since I got it on the road, but I didn't plan on doing two builds at once. I also have a Cummins swap going on... In the end, with as stressful as it would be on the Jeep to try to tow me out, we decided not to go that route, instead I would drive out under my own power and monitor the sounds of the dying mill for the right time to shut it off before the big bang. I did the ~6 miles out with not real issues except a notable cough and stutter on one of the climbs. I will say that by the time we made it to HWY177, she was making some angry noises in protest of going any further. I parked her up and rode back to Tucson in a Jeep. Not the most embarrassing thing I have done.

 

[ARJMN]

Once I got back to Tucson, I grabbed the 2500 and headed to U-Haul for a car hauler. U-Haul can be a bit testy on what you tow/haul, and the 80 Series is over what they allow, So I towed back a 1997 Jeep Wrangler which is well under their weight limit. I almost always am towing a 2004 Miata, but decided to shake it up a bit. 5 hours and a half a tank of fuel later and I was home with my much loved, but battered adventure vehicle. I was pretty spent, but I wanted to get the bulk of the gear out of the interior. It all came out in the end, even the drawers. The garage was piled up with axles from the diesel swap, gallons of nasty oil, and mounds of dirty crap of all sorts. I didn't even take her off the trailer. I just parked it up in front of the house and took a shower before crashing.

 

[GeoRoss]

No words Jason

 

[TWILLY]

I finally got around to swapping out the Manefre 38 gallon fuel tank for the stock tank I got from @Cruddz. After my run up Crown King this spring I decided I was 100% over this thing. If you want to cruise miles upon miles of relatively flat ground, it is great. I can do about 500 miles of HWY driving with the big tank, but the dang thing is so long that when you get on a steep climb with it full, gasoline can come spewing out of the filler neck. That happened to me on CK. I was almost full and went up a very steep pitch and gas came gushing out of my vent and gas cap. Admittedly, I had removed the baffle in the gas cap to aid in the venting of the tank, but regardless of that fact spewing gas is a no go for me. In consideration of getting ready to build my 96 out as my touring rig with 6BT and all the fruit, Lexi Jo will either be sold or converted into a lightened trail rig. IDK know yet which. The Manefre tank will be sold off in the short term and I will clean and outline my modifications at that point.

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Thanks for posting your experience with the Manafre replacement tank. I was considering one, but this seems like a surprisingly poor design.

Edit: I just read the rest of these posts. Man-oh-man...

 

[ARJMN]

Sunday came, and I started in on the real tear out. I pulled Lexi Jo around the side of the house and started zipping out seat bolts. About an hour later, I had the seats, console, and almost all the carpet out. Notice the mud caked up on the underside of the molded piece of carpet at the bottom of the pic. Nasty stuff.

I parked it up on the slope of the driveway and started hosing it out. The amount of mud that came out of there was simply amazing. When I built the rig the first time, I use radiant barrier as insulation in the cab. I though it would be fine, but in the end it all had to come out. Once I stripped it all out, I had to wash the whole thing over again to get rid of all the mud previously hiding under the insulation. I have yet to pull the door cards, but they too will be coming out and the doors will get the hose.

Last thing I did before calling the weekend to a close was to drain the engine oil a final time. You can see all the very fine glitter in there. I am really hoping the crank is not toast. If the rotating assembly is good, it will save me a good deal on the rebuild. At this point it will be getting all new seals and gaskets, crank bearings, oil pump, lifters, most likely a cam, and maybe a quick hone in the cylinders. Worst case, if the crank is toast...it may get one of Summits 408 stoker kits dropped in. I am expecting the rebuild to run $1000 on the bare end and about $4000 on the full tilt end. Stay tuned and we will see. For the next couple months, I will be thumbing a ride on any runs in my area.

Still smiling in the end. This is all part of the adventure and the fun.

 

[ARJMN]

Thanks for posting your experience with the Manafre replacement tank. I was considering one, but this seems like a surprisingly poor design.

Pros and Cons of every mod. There is a reason that OEMs use multiple smaller tanks for added range. In the end, we don't really need the huge range here in the US. We are never that far from a gas station.

 

[ARJMN]

No words Jason

Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment!

- Albus Dumbledore

 

[TWILLY]

Pros and Cons of every mod. There is a reason that OEMs use multiple smaller tanks for added range. In the end, we don't really need the huge range here in the US. We are never that far from a gas station.

Agreed. I have the 24 aux on my 92. I've only actually *needed* it on one of my usual Baja routes, and once in Central Nevada. Otherwise, it's just convenient.

 

[Funner]

Really sorry o hear this. Did you determine where the water was able to get into the crankcase? Dipstick tube?

 

[ARJMN]

Really sorry o hear this. Did you determine where the water was able to get into the crankcase? Dipstick tube?

That is what I am thinking, but of course, ill know for sure very soon.