Builds Broke College Kid Build Thread

[DarkHorse1HDT]

You know what they say... if it's got tits or tyres it'll cost you money... but in my experience both are worth it!

My approach (for the tyred examples) is to write up a wish-list, and order it by priority - so in your case the leak-stops (hopefully) first, other service/mechanical stuff, then drawer bits, then whatever else you want to do to it. Don't get too hung up on the exact sequence, but that will give you some idea of where to direct any discretionary funds that become available, and also let you draw a provisional line at some point where the value for money equation changes from necessity to practicality to luxury to ridiculous.

Then keep an eye on Marketplace/Craigslist etc and see if you can catch deals like your front end suspension on stuff that saves you a heap of cash over retail.

Your truck is looking great, and should give you many years of good service if you look after her. They are great vehicles to learn to spanner on too, so get yourself a workshop manual and do as much work as you feel confident doing yourself - that also of course saves a heap of money!

 

[landcruisertx]

You know what they say... if it's got tits or tyres it'll cost you money... but in my experience both are worth it!

My approach (for the tyred examples) is to write up a wish-list, and order it by priority - so in your case the leak-stops (hopefully) first, other service/mechanical stuff, then drawer bits, then whatever else you want to do to it. Don't get too hung up on the exact sequence, but that will give you some idea of where to direct any discretionary funds that become available, and also let you draw a provisional line at some point where the value for money equation changes from necessity to practicality to luxury to ridiculous.

Then keep an eye on Marketplace/Craigslist etc and see if you can catch deals like your front end suspension on stuff that saves you a heap of cash over retail.

Your truck is looking great, and should give you many years of good service if you look after her. They are great vehicles to learn to spanner on too, so get yourself a workshop manual and do as much work as you feel confident doing yourself - that also of course saves a heap of money!

Thank you! I have largely adopted the order of working on the car in the way you stated above, first mechanical then cosmetic. Scavenging for deals is my favorite past time as most us of like to do the same as well. I want to do a Toyota diesel swap in the future, either fte with auto or 1hd-t with 5spd... since your username gives hints, have any advice on Toyota diesels??

 

[DarkHorse1HDT]

Thank you! I have largely adopted the order of working on the car in the way you stated above, first mechanical then cosmetic. Scavenging for deals is my favorite past time as most us of like to do the same as well. I want to do a Toyota diesel swap in the future, either fte with auto or 1hd-t with 5spd... since your username gives hints, have any advice on Toyota diesels??

Re: diesels... until recently in Aus it was a no brainer choice to get an oil burner if you were buying a cruiser, or any big 4WD (these are 'big' by our standards down here!) because mileage was better and fuel was cheaper. That's not so much the case any more as petrol (gas for you, which is what we call LPG) motors got better and fuel prices changed. Being torqueyer, low revving motors they are better suited in terms of economy to heavier rigs, but that goes out the window just as fast if your right foot is heavy.

Landcruiser diesel motors are still excellent for what they are. 4ish litres won't give you the same grunt as a big Cummins for example, but they can be built and tuned for very impressive power when fitted in a 3T truck running up to 35" tyres.

The 1hz is a tractor motor. Nothing exciting about it, but it will keep chugging away for ever. Can be had very cheap down here these days (was used in base-spec 100-series and 70-series for years as well) and isn't considered 'run in' until around 500,000km/350,000 miles. Responds well to turbo charging IF supporting mods are done, which basically involves using factory 1hdt bits like pistons, crank, manifolds etc... otherwise they have a reputation for hand-grenading soon after.

The 1hd-t has all the benefits of a factory turbo motor - power and reliability. Produced in a very mild state of tune, direct injection and stronger internals meant upgrading bolt-ons only (turbo, intercooler, fuel pump, injectors, airbox/snorkel) turn them into pretty respectable power plants on relatively small spend. Factory boost around 10psi can be tweaked up to 14psi without upgrades, then around 24psi before internals need attention. By then the rest of the factory driveline is on borrowed time, especially if it is being pushed and running 35"+ rubber. The factory update from 12 to 24 valves (1hd-ft) was a subtle but not insignificant improvement to driveability and a slight bump in power and torque. Even being 30yo tech, an hdt is an expensive motor to buy used today.

The 1hd-fte was a big step in terms of tech, power, and resultant complexity. Electronic injection was the showpiece, meaning more control and management, by way of aproximately half a million additional sensors and wires, plus a heap of emissions and economy junk. Factory intercooled in the 100 series it put out 200+hp and 320ft-lb... not bad for a stock motor. Unfortunately it was superceded pretty quickly by the 1VD V8 diesel, so it is a bit of a no-man's land motor in terms of tech/output vs price.


As with anything, it's horses for courses really. It depends what you want, what you're going to use it for, how much effort you want to put in, and ultimately how deep your pockets are. Your market and resources over there are going to be very different to mine, so I can really only offer you very general advice. It's probably obvious from the tone of my descriptions above that I think the 1hd-(f)t is the sweet-spot for older Landcruiser motors. The 1hz will really offer you no improvement over your current petrol motor, so there's no point. Even a 1hdt will be a lot of work for the conversion, so you'd have to really want it, and find a good deal on a healthy motor. An FTE will be an absolute ball-ache getting all the ECU/management side of things done and working, and if you're going to those lengths you might as well go a V8. Plenty of people have done the 6BT thing, or if you wanted to stay on gas an LS V8 slots in pretty nicely too.

To be honest, and just in my opinion, motor swaps are an expensive, complicated, and time consuming exercise whichever way you go. I wouldn't even consider it unless you had to... so as long as your current engine is still going strong I'd leave it in there. They do take boost quite well too... just sayin...

 

[landcruisertx]

Re: diesels... until recently in Aus it was a no brainer choice to get an oil burner if you were buying a cruiser, or any big 4WD (these are 'big' by our standards down here!) because mileage was better and fuel was cheaper. That's not so much the case any more as petrol (gas for you, which is what we call LPG) motors got better and fuel prices changed. Being torqueyer, low revving motors they are better suited in terms of economy to heavier rigs, but that goes out the window just as fast if your right foot is heavy.

Landcruiser diesel motors are still excellent for what they are. 4ish litres won't give you the same grunt as a big Cummins for example, but they can be built and tuned for very impressive power when fitted in a 3T truck running up to 35" tyres.

The 1hz is a tractor motor. Nothing exciting about it, but it will keep chugging away for ever. Can be had very cheap down here these days (was used in base-spec 100-series and 70-series for years as well) and isn't considered 'run in' until around 500,000km/350,000 miles. Responds well to turbo charging IF supporting mods are done, which basically involves using factory 1hdt bits like pistons, crank, manifolds etc... otherwise they have a reputation for hand-grenading soon after.

The 1hd-t has all the benefits of a factory turbo motor - power and reliability. Produced in a very mild state of tune, direct injection and stronger internals meant upgrading bolt-ons only (turbo, intercooler, fuel pump, injectors, airbox/snorkel) turn them into pretty respectable power plants on relatively small spend. Factory boost around 10psi can be tweaked up to 14psi without upgrades, then around 24psi before internals need attention. By then the rest of the factory driveline is on borrowed time, especially if it is being pushed and running 35"+ rubber. The factory update from 12 to 24 valves (1hd-ft) was a subtle but not insignificant improvement to driveability and a slight bump in power and torque. Even being 30yo tech, an hdt is an expensive motor to buy used today.

The 1hd-fte was a big step in terms of tech, power, and resultant complexity. Electronic injection was the showpiece, meaning more control and management, by way of aproximately half a million additional sensors and wires, plus a heap of emissions and economy junk. Factory intercooled in the 100 series it put out 200+hp and 320ft-lb... not bad for a stock motor. Unfortunately it was superceded pretty quickly by the 1VD V8 diesel, so it is a bit of a no-man's land motor in terms of tech/output vs price.


As with anything, it's horses for courses really. It depends what you want, what you're going to use it for, how much effort you want to put in, and ultimately how deep your pockets are. Your market and resources over there are going to be very different to mine, so I can really only offer you very general advice. It's probably obvious from the tone of my descriptions above that I think the 1hd-(f)t is the sweet-spot for older Landcruiser motors. The 1hz will really offer you no improvement over your current petrol motor, so there's no point. Even a 1hdt will be a lot of work for the conversion, so you'd have to really want it, and find a good deal on a healthy motor. An FTE will be an absolute ball-ache getting all the ECU/management side of things done and working, and if you're going to those lengths you might as well go a V8. Plenty of people have done the 6BT thing, or if you wanted to stay on gas an LS V8 slots in pretty nicely too.

To be honest, and just in my opinion, motor swaps are an expensive, complicated, and time consuming exercise whichever way you go. I wouldn't even consider it unless you had to... so as long as your current engine is still going strong I'd leave it in there. They do take boost quite well too... just sayin...

Thank you so much for your wisdom! Sadly I have the OBD1 1fz and there are no easy turbo kits available as far as I can tell, Wits' End turbo would be my route after college with a OBD2 truck

 

[CrusierCobes]

Fun seeing other students on here, I'm in third year uni up here in Canada,

First Truck was an FJ40 so i've been around these tractors for a while, now i have an FJ80 with a 3fe. Anyway I too was debating the Diesel route but now i'm thinking a 5 speed would solve most of my "issues" with the truck, it has a 3fe so doing a 5 speed will be relatively easy.

Id look into doing an H151 for your truck, will be hard to find but will help your truck a lot and if you do go to a H in the future your swap will be easier.

Cheers

 

[mleichty]

Has anyone found 40" locking drawers slides that do not cost an arm or a leg?

When I built mine, I went no slides and just put some UHMW tape down. Slides smooth and even with a good amount of weight, it’s not too bad to pull out. Plus, they don’t rattle and you gain a little bit of extra storage space. Just build the drawers so the side edges are the only thing that will contact (I even rounded the edges slightly, but I don’t think that really matters).

 

[changingground]

When I built mine, I went no slides and just put some UHMW tape down. Slides smooth and even with a good amount of weight, it’s not too bad to pull out. Plus, they don’t rattle and you gain a little bit of extra storage space. Just build the drawers so the side edges are the only thing that will contact (I even rounded the edges slightly, but I don’t think that really matters).

I too did UHMW slides, on both my son’s 4runner drawers and on my LX470. They work very well (my drawers are 40” deep and carry a big load), are inexpensive relative to ball bearing slides, longevity in a dirty environment, and conserve space.

 

[landcruisertx]

I too did UHMW slides, on both my son’s 4runner drawers and on my LX470. They work very well (my drawers are 40” deep and carry a big load), are inexpensive relative to ball bearing slides, longevity in a dirty environment, and conserve space.

View attachment 2292663

View attachment 2292664

Will give this a try, seems to be a very viable option! Thank you

 

[landcruisertx]

UPDATE 5/2/20
Since school has now been converted to online I have what seems like a lot less time on my hands. Right now I’m saving up to overhaul my PS system. And my awesome GF got me a one of a kind birthday present for my keys!

 

[landcruisertx]

UPDATE 6/23/20

Taking a big trip to Colorado next week, thus I needed to do some TLC. Started with an Engine oil change, as always I went with Valvoline blended 10W-30. Next, I ordered new magnetic diff plugs from Wits End, changed out my diff and transfer case oil to Mobil 1, 75W-90 synthetic gear lube. My front diff had some mad smelly soup in it. I'm guessing the breather has let water in and time/usage has spoiled the oil. I made a breather extension out of low-pressure fuel line and a fuel filter from Riley's. Finally I greased all the points on my drive line. So I think I'm ready to go. Please let me know if I need to check anything else.

 

[DarkHorse1HDT]

UPDATE 6/23/20

Taking a big trip to Colorado next week, thus I needed to do some TLC. Started with an Engine oil change, as always I went with Valvoline blended 10W-30. Next, I ordered new magnetic diff plugs from Wits End, changed out my diff and transfer case oil to Mobil 1, 75W-90 synthetic gear lube. My front diff had some mad smelly soup in it. I'm guessing the breather has let water in and time/usage has spoiled the oil. I made a breather extension out of low-pressure fuel line and a fuel filter from Riley's. Finally I greased all the points on my drive line. So I think I'm ready to go. Please let me know if I need to check anything else.

View attachment 2349592View attachment 2349593

Just the normal stuff - run it up to temp and up to 65mph, check for leaks, check any old rubber hoses (fuel, coolant, heater, power steering, brakes) jack each wheel up and give it a shake for bearing play, check levels of coolant, steering and brake fluid, trans oil, clean or replace air filter if you haven't recently, tyre pressures...

Just standard old car pre-trip stuff.

 

[Jgrauman]

UPDATE 6/23/20

Taking a big trip to Colorado next week, thus I needed to do some TLC. Started with an Engine oil change, as always I went with Valvoline blended 10W-30. Next, I ordered new magnetic diff plugs from Wits End, changed out my diff and transfer case oil to Mobil 1, 75W-90 synthetic gear lube. My front diff had some mad smelly soup in it. I'm guessing the breather has let water in and time/usage has spoiled the oil. I made a breather extension out of low-pressure fuel line and a fuel filter from Riley's. Finally I greased all the points on my drive line. So I think I'm ready to go. Please let me know if I need to check anything else.

View attachment 2349592View attachment 2349593

Probably Time for a knuckle rebuild, that "mad smelly soup" is grease from your knuckle mixing with the gear oil in your diff.

 

[landcruisertx]

Probably Time for a knuckle rebuild, that "mad smelly soup" is grease from your knuckle mixing with the gear oil in your diff.

The funny thing is that they are rebuilt, and professionally at that. I got them rebuilt at Land Cruiser Specialists in Austin two school years ago. I Hope not

 

[Jgrauman]

The funny thing is that they are rebuilt, and professionally at that. I got them rebuilt at Land Cruiser Specialists in Austin two school years ago. I Hope not

Were your breathers clogged before you ran extensions? If so that can cause grease to be pulled through the seals when diffs are up to temp and push gear oil back into knuckle when cooled down

 

[landcruisertx]

Were your breathers clogged before you ran extensions? If so that can cause grease to be pulled through the seals when diffs are up to temp and push gear oil back into knuckle when cooled down

Yes a while back I cleaned them out and they we’re packed with grease. I’ll be honest the diff oil was one part of maintenance I should get an F on. I should have been more observant. And it doesn’t help that the breather top was not connected so it was just the tube coming off the axle. Basically a straw for water.

 

[landcruisertx]

Staying the night in New Mexico, then onto Colorado in the morning with @MiataBriggs

 

[landcruisertx]

While driving out of New Mexico I noticed my brakes feeling unresponsive and In Pagosa Springs @MiataBriggs and I met Justin, the wizard mechanic and owner of High Country Cruisers. Not only did he spend a great deal of time helping me track down the reason my brakes were not working. But he also deleted my LPSV valve which was rusted shut and got me back on the road with new booster and master brake cylinder. I kid you not he’s the best cruiser mechanic I’ve ever met.
By nightfall we got to Lake City, CO, and spent the next few days doing Cinnamon pass, Engineer pass, Mineral Creek and a bunch more amazing trails.

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[landcruisertx]

I will be doing @LandCruiserPhil ’s charcoal canister rebuild in a few days. So far have a large amount of active carbon orders and got JB Weld Steel Sticks.

 

[Pkachoochoo]

I've been lurking the forum for a bit and just recently made an account but I just had to pop in and say excellent work my man! I know all of us can remember trying to figure things out when we first started working on our rigs. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to where your build goes in the future

 

[landcruisertx]

I've been lurking the forum for a bit and just recently made an account but I just had to pop in and say excellent work my man! I know all of us can remember trying to figure things out when we first started working on our rigs. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to where your build goes in the future

Thank you so much! It's been a crazy time and trying to get back to working on it...