Builds BJ74 - new owner, old truck (2 Viewers)

[LuckyDragon88]

1989 BJ74
24v
RHD

So I bought this truck recently off Vancouver Island, I believe I'm the 3rd owner since import but who knows.. If anyone recognizes it or knows some of the history that would be great, I didn't get as much info as I would have liked. It's a great truck with lots of work already done and fantastic bones, very minimal rust on the body and frame. It's a substantial project for me, and it will likely be a slow go. I owned a 60 for a bunch of years and this is the only vehicle I have ever driven that compares to the amount of "smiles per mile." It's been a while since that old 60's been around but this quickly rekindled my love for cruisers.

PO -1 head gasket blew, scored the piston...typical story on these when the head gasket gives. He ordered a full rebuild and installed new sleeves, bearing, pistons, seals etc. T case was rebuilt as well.
PO-2 reconfigured battery trays, installed 3rd battery, 12v winch, 12v compressor, glued a solar panel on the hood and installed ARB lockers front and rear. Removed rear seats and built a sleeping arrangement.

MY GOALS - short term
-baseline vehicle (change fluids and monitor)
-remove all 12v wiring and accessories
-remove undersized batteries for 24v system and 3rd battery for 12v system
-install 2 new batteries to OEM spec
-install 24v winch and compressor
-5 new tires
-wire in/plumb compressor for arb lockers
-clean up interior missing trim and hardware
-replace leaky door seals

MY GOALS - long term
-bodywork and paint
-sound-deadening and undercoat
-Battery charger/solar setup



Not my first land cruiser, but my first 70 series. Definitely more going on than my old Canadian 60, I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions.

Rodger

 

[OGBeno]

Welcome, Rodger. Good luck with your 70 series journey.

Everything you need to know has most likely been discussed in the preceding 20+ years of MUD—. Both here and in the Diesel/24V section of MUD.

Search through Google and delimit your responses to MUD and you will get years of reading for most every malady or modification you might ever have on your BJ74.

Best of luck on your journey.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Pulled the batteries and started to chase all the extra wiring. Bit tedious but looks much cleaner now. PO "customized" the battery trays..More parts to track down. Made a few phone calls, front is available from Japan for $$$ shipping, rear is NLA. Anyone?

Was feeling wild, pulled the solar controller, winch and wiring, compressor, wiring and switches and the fog lights wiring, and the ancient inverter from the glovebox, much cleaner now.

Pics of before.

 

[Felde]

Hi
Welcome to the madness
I don't see any fusible links on your batteries? I recommend to check the general fusing. Also the ground wire to the inner fender panel looks a bit dodgy. Yes, there should be a ground in that place, but actually a smaller one. Additionally there should be a heavy duty wire to the engine, in order to pic up the starter amps straight away. Make sure your engine and starter is not grounded via the body. Checking ground wires on the frame is a good idea anyways. Many electric gremlins have their root cause in bad grounds.
Diagrams from e.g. Partsouq.com, amayama.com and from the workshop manual help to understand the to-be setup.
You need manuals for your rig. I'll shoot you a PM with a link for download.
Enjoy your rig. Looks great! And Good Luck Ralf

 

[MistyGoat]

That looks just like the one I saw for sale a few months back in Squam! With the red snork intake
Enjoy it, I'm doing similar things to my BJ74 right now

 

[LuckyDragon88]

That looks just like the one I saw for sale a few months back in Squam! With the red snork intake
Enjoy it, I'm doing similar things to my BJ74 right now

Yes probably the same one, I went to Nanaimo to pick it up.

Bad timing with a big relocation right after, but its been a couple years since my old cruiser and I couldn't say no!

Any chance yours has a fuse box cover? I'd love to know what fuses are what

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Hi
Welcome to the madness
I don't see any fusible links on your batteries? I recommend to check the general fusing. Also the ground wire to the inner fender panel looks a bit dodgy. Yes, there should be a ground in that place, but actually a smaller one. Additionally there should be a heavy duty wire to the engine, in order to pic up the starter amps straight away. Make sure your engine and starter is not grounded via the body. Checking ground wires on the frame is a good idea anyways. Many electric gremlins have their root cause in bad grounds.
Diagrams from e.g. Partsouq.com, amayama.com and from the workshop manual help to understand the to-be setup.
You need manuals for your rig. I'll shoot you a PM with a link for download.
Enjoy your rig. Looks great! And Good Luck Ralf

Hi!

Sharp eye! Some poor grounding for sure, the fusible link is there but in dire need of replacement. I'm working on getting the wiring cleaned up and back to oem/spec. It seems that the PO removed the glow screen connections to reduce battery draw to the undersized batteries, and moved some things around to adapt the 3rd battery.
I think I've found a source for a new fusible link, still trying to figure out the glow screen connection.

I'm trying to chase down a diagram of the connection at the glow screen, this is what mine currently looks like...

 

[MistyGoat]

Yes probably the same one, I went to Nanaimo to pick it up.

Bad timing with a big relocation right after, but its been a couple years since my old cruiser and I couldn't say no!

Any chance yours has a fuse box cover? I'd love to know what fuses are what

Here's a pic of my fuse cover at the kick panel:

Timing couldn't be too bad ... you ended up with this beauty! Interior looks clean too, is the carpet factory? One thing I'd check sooner than later is underneath the carpet in your floorpans, I've had bad luck with those holding water and rusting - good to catch before it rots out body mounts and rockers

 

[Combat Wombat]

Far out I love this spec.
13BT is a special donk

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Yea its actually in great shape rust wise, zero rust in the floor pans and usual spots. I'm planning to clean up the interior floor pans and then spray with sound deadener/insulation.
Previous owner just put the carpet in a few months before i bought it, so it hasn't suffered the usual moisture problems. Lots of interior trim pieces missing and a couple unfortunate holes in the dash but nothing that cant be fixed in time.

Thanks @Combat Wombat its a cool old rig, glad to have a fun project again.

 

[OGBeno]

Far out I love this spec.
13BT is a special donk

If you want to rebuild one, it’s “specialness” disappears quite quickly and the the bill at the end of the show could have bought you a new Toyota engine.

Caveat emptor.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Some Cruiser porn for everyone, opening day at the local ski hill. Takes longer to let the truck warm up than it does to get there +- 3km

 

[LuckyDragon88]

The Renogy DC-DC charger with mppt I ordered finally showed up (damn Canada Post strike)
I decided to gut the existing 12v setup and start fresh with 24v winch and compressor to keep things simple. Time to plan out some wiring layout and figure out materials to order before the new winch and compressor show up from Sherpa.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I saw that truck for sale here glad it went to a good home. I was almost going your way Monday but the person I'm
meeting is coming halfway back to Kelowna, so saving me some driving unfortunately. I went thru mine and stripped
a bunch of 12V weirdness from mine when I got it. You know a shot of black on the end of the snorkel will reduce
that redness and swelling. Best of luck, and if you need some little interior bits send me a pm. I might have some
kicking around in the shed. I'm in Ladysmith

 

[LuckyDragon88]

I saw that truck for sale here glad it went to a good home. I was almost going your way Monday but the person I'm
meeting is coming halfway back to Kelowna, so saving me some driving unfortunately. I went thru mine and stripped
a bunch of 12V weirdness from mine when I got it. You know a shot of black on the end of the snorkel will reduce
that redness and swelling. Best of luck, and if you need some little interior bits send me a pm. I might have some
kicking around in the shed. I'm in Ladysmith

Haha yeah, I'm not fond of the red snorkel either, just way down on the priority list for now.

 

[stayalert]

Nice truck!
Red snork bit makes it easier to pick out at the end of the day when all those pesky BJ74's are crowded about....

you must have good compression to cold start w/o glow screen at the end of a ski day! (my 13BT glow screen didn't work so I installed a 24 volt diesel webasto heater. Worked like a charm. Run that thing for 15 minutes & truck started like it was July regardless of the temp....sort of like bringing a gun to a knife fight though.....I can't find pictures of my glowscreen wiring but if I do I will send 'em.....

 

[cruiserpilot]

Nice truck!
Red snork bit makes it easier to pick out at the end of the day when all those pesky BJ74's are crowded about....

you must have good compression to cold start w/o glow screen at the end of a ski day! (my 13BT glow screen didn't work so I installed a 24 volt diesel webasto heater. Worked like a charm. Run that thing for 15 minutes & truck started like it was July regardless of the temp....sort of like bringing a gun to a knife fight though.....I can't find pictures of my glowscreen wiring but if I do I will send 'em.....

I would really like to know where you hid a Webasto in there with 13BT and two batteries in a BJ74! I’ve got one in my 60 but never could figure out where to mount it on the 74. Ya know, when it’s cold out!

 

[stayalert]

red snork bit makes it easier to pick out at the end of the day when all those pesky BJ74's are crowded about....

24 volt 13BT glowscreen

Arg! I've searched and read many threads and still can't find what I need! I've got an '87 RHD JDM 24 volt BJ74 w/13BT and the PO had disconnected the glow screen system (truck was most recently living in Mexico but has moved to Vermont, USA) As similar as these two climates are I...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[stayalert]

I would really like to know where you hid a Webasto in there with 13BT and two batteries in a BJ74! I’ve got one in my 60 but never could figure out where to mount it on the 74. Ya know, when it’s cold out!
View attachment 3794034

I'm having a diff. time located old photos.....but will keep trying....it was in the engine bay near the radiator

 

[cruiserpilot]

I'm having a diff. time located old photos.....but will keep trying....it was in the engine bay near the radiator

Last I saw someone put it down low near base of radiator. Low probability of survival on that installation. Webasto might be many things but tough is not one of them.