Builds Big Red Toy (2 Viewers)

[The Phoenician]

Happy belated independence day to my American family. Not much has been going on lately, but in true fashion we celebrated the 4th with friends and family. We did some shooting, offroading , BBQing and fireworks. SENSORED************************************************************************. I just want to say that crawl control is nothing when you have a 6 speed manual with a lower gearing at the diff.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, had a slightly scary staredown with a few of the bulls. At one point I thought one of them was about to ram us in the truck.

EDIT: had to delete part of this post. Will reupdate when all clear is given.

 

[The Phoenician]

Update time. See if you can guess how much total coolant the entire system now holds.

More updates coming.

 

[Hojack]

5-6 gallons

 

[The Phoenician]

5-6 gallons

More

 

[Mr Cimarron]

7.75

 

[The Phoenician]

7.75

Close. Estimated to have 7.25 gallons in there right now, but there's still room at the top of the radiator to add more.

 

[The Phoenician]

I want to thank the guys at land cruiser specialist in Austin for installing the larger radiator and doing all the required fab work. I drove it hard with the AC on full blast. Did about 75mph some of it long uphill stretches. The temp gauge stayed at 190, which is what my thermostat is set at.
Will have to see how well it does in the 3 digit heat while towing and the AC on full blast. But so far, huge improvement.

Here's a shot at the knuckles, fully rebuilt. No more grease coming out of them.

Tomorrow I plan on installing the woody drive shaft and possibly changing out the fan to a metal one.

 

[davegonz]

Are getting rid of the electric fan now?

 

[The Phoenician]

Are getting rid of the electric fan now?

The electric fans are on there, just took them out of the shroud. The plastic fan flexes a little but doesn't touch the new hose. For peace of mind, I'm debating switching to a metal fan that doesn't flex.

 

[The Phoenician]

I joined the guys at a buddy's workshop and installed my new front drive shaft. He basically has my dream set up.

The truck drove well, had the AC on the entire time and in some sections I did 80mph. On my was back I seem to have shorted a wire somewhere, the horn kept going. Had to pull over and take the fuse out. Will deal with it later.

 

[davegonz]

What the heck? We only removed your lights. Strange that your horn was affected.

 

[The Phoenician]

What the heck? We only removed your lights. Strange that your horn was affected.

Happened about halfway home at a red light. The guy in front of me thought I was honking at him and was getting annoyed. I removed the fuse and its fine, but gotta figure it out before inspection time.

In other news, locked the hubs and drove at around 70mph, no vibrations. Put it in 4wd and drove about 45 mph, no vibrations. So as long as it doesn't snap at round up, I think offset U joints are the way to go for me.

 

[The Phoenician]

Took two fog lights off last week. @davegonz idea. It took me a while to get used to the look, but now it's growing on me. You can at least see the TOYOTA in the front grill.
In theory, it will improve airflow.
I also added leak sealer and power washed the bottom of the engine bay. Trying to figure out where this oil seepage is coming from.

 

[Hojack]

Took two fog lights off last week. @davegonz idea. It took me a while to get used to the look, but now it's growing on me. You can at least see the TOYOTA in the front grill.
In theory, it will improve airflow.
I also added leak sealer and power washed the bottom of the engine bay. Trying to figure out where this oil seepage is coming from.

View attachment 2034962

Looks like your ready for the Australian Outback Mike

 

[The Phoenician]

I think you're not allowed to do an SOA in Australia. If that's the case then Big Red already surpasses all their standards .

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Cummins are fun to find leaks. As soon as you fix one another starts.

 

[The Phoenician]

Cummins are fun to find leaks. As soon as you fix one another starts.

I don't usually mind them so much, but I'm staying in an apartment complex during the week, and you can tell where I've parked. You can do a pattern of life study on me.

 

[The Phoenician]

Well, the good news is it's not the oil pan or the rear main seal. Bad news is this tube looks like it would be just as annoying to get to and fix.

On a separate note I noticed the toyo tires don't like any psi above 30 in the front.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

That one is easy. Several ways you can do it. The block drain pipe is just a press fit with an O ring. I got mine out twisting it with some channel locks. On the 75 build I found a AN fitting for the block and made the line straight from the turbo drain. On the 80 I will copy the same soon as mine is starting to look like yours.

 

[The Phoenician]

It seems easy until I start doing it. I have limited use of my right hand so everything is a PITA to work on.