Building my HDJ-80 and dads HZJ-80, EU

[Vitek]

Nice truck- and yes it will be a long road and a lot of euro to rebuild. It is worth it. The license plate can be replaced or repaired.

The truck will be parted out, local rules do not allow it anymore to get plates being a RHD vehicles. s***ty rules, I know.

Some addition to the VX hdj80, for towing bee hives, I know its like an anchor, but works a charm with the trailer for now and can be easily removed

 

[Vitek]

So the exhaust system which already had some s***ty repairs gave up. I dont intend to weld patch etc, like the owners before.

Sourced this barely used 2,5" stainless still system, at a very friendly price. This will go on and hopefully make some improvement at the low rpm turbo lags.

Also as my relatives recently came to EU from the USA, I took the opportunity to save a lot on shipping and import duties and asked them to bring me some goodies:
- BH3D printing cup holder
- Huddexpo dash mat
- Enduro seatcovers from @alia176

 

[alia176]

Yay, you got the seat covers. Whew!!!

 

[Jorgito]

Sunshades

that link is not working, are they out of business?

 

[Vitek]

Alia176: yes, I will install them asap when they are washed I got home! Thanks a lot for them!
Jorgito: Its an advert, so the link will expire from time to time, but I will send it you in PM.

 

[Vitek]

Just had my 2 weeks of holidays at home (in Hungary as currently I live in Denmark) and had far less time to get things done on the car than expected
But things are happening left the car at the workshop to get the rear axle and everything associated to it rebuilt. There was nothing broken, except the diff actuator so its more like a preventative maintenance thing. I wanted this to be done as the front axle was also done and the car is at 467k kms.

- rear axle full dissassembly, sandblasting and powder coating, new bearings, seals, axle studs
- rear differential will get all new bearings, seals, locker actuator rebuilt
- new brakes: rotors pads and calipers rebuilt and the crappy handbrake also will be renewed
- all new bushings stabilizer links

I was shopping for parts for a while for this, and was good to see that they actually will go on the car now

As I dont really have pictures for this, here is a picture with a fellow cruiser, a nice 2020 limited edition vdj76.
Will upload things as work progresses.

 

[Vitek]

Beside the rear axle rebuild there will be some other things sorted out:

- replacing the brown air bag with the proper grey coloured one
- replacing the cruise control actuator
- all new body bushings and hardware will go on the car, this time I broke my only toyota/oem parts rule and went with febest for their great price and avaibility within the EU
- new oils for tranmission and transfer case and of course new filter and oil for the engine
- the 2,5" stailness steel exhaust will go on, I wanted a 3" system, but the 2,5" was a great deal, 1/3 of the price of the 3".... and will be still and improvement over the current crappy one
- new steering arm ends, relay rod ends

Also received my quad headlights from Australia, however I will need to get a bunch of parts are all the bolts, springs are rusty, also debating if I should buy new sealed headlights units OEM or Hella, or go down some LED way? I have read that many 80s are running the stedi led in them in AU, would that work for me too maybe?

 

[Vitek]

I also decided to bite the bullet and fork out the money for a new set of springs and shock absorbers from Terrain Tamer. The current OME 4" lift what came in the car is way too much for me and no castor correction is installed, so handling is crap. Also IDK the spring rates but they were definetly chosen for a weight that I do not carry now.
Also when the springs will go in, all new oem bushes will go everywhere in the front. Except the TT castor correction one.

Springs: TTCS-2417T for the front and the TTCS-1459 for the back.
Shock absorbers: TGS12490P and TGS12489P
Castor correction rubber bushes: TSBK0012R
Steering damper: T14024

At the front I plan to have a light metal bar and have a winch installed and for the back, at some point i will have drawers, fridge etc.
But as I am waiting for the stock confirmation in the EU warehouse, I am happy to hear opinions on my choices!

 

[Vitek]

So it begins:

Also in case someone did not know this yet ( personally just found out) there is a difference in the width of the corner lights for the quad and one piece headlights:
One more order fromOzzy inbound.

 

[Vitek]

This how the underside looks:

Quite some old dust, but under that the original paint. There is some surface rust here and there of course, but nothing serious I would say. What do you reckon? Should I get it undercarriage treated?

Part of the new exhaust is already installed. The reax axle is fully apart and being blasted and painted.
Order was made for the suspension from Terrain tamer and expected to get it by the end of August.

 

[SNLC]

If you can get your hands on one, a hot water pressure washer at 220* will clean the chassis and underside of body up real nice.


Cheers

 

[Vitek]

The courrier had something nice to deliver today

 

[Vitek]

Slow but steady. All rear axle components were sandblasted and painted. That took a good amount of time to get masked out.

In this rear axle work I was worried about about a few major components:
- rear axle shafts, but the splines show no signs of wear
- rear differential, but luckily both the spider gears and the crown wheel and pinion are in great condition, yet we will be replacing the bearings "if we are there"
- diff lock actuator is also working

Even the brake backing plates are in good shape. Overall I am impressed how well the car holded up against rust in its life!

Now we are waiting on the galvanizer for yellow zink coating for all the bolts and nuts and assembly can start!
I also have high hopes that with the rebuild of the rear brakes, new disks shoes and pad etc, the handbrake performance will also improve

The exhaust was a relatively bolt on fit, but there will be some little clearance issues to be sorted out.

We did not get any install templates for the castor correction bushes for the front, does anyone has a scan that I could print?

 

[Vitek]

Another delivery update:

I was not happy with the quad lights I got from an Australian wrecker, they were pretty rust, used and abused, and the beams should have been replaced. So I sold that set and spent some time with the part numbers and got a brand new set from toyota, with corner lights. The sorrounds will be also original toyota, they are still under delivery.

 

[Vitek]

PO must have loved the harsd rides, but I dont. These broken solid bushes got replaced with the Terrain tamer rubber ones, with castor correction.
The body mounts also got replaced this week, actually the bolts were not that seized up as expected, only a few broke, which will be replcaed.

I have high hopes for the new suspension and all this rubber parts that will get installed on the driveline/body. The ride previously was very stiff and bumpy, now it should float on the road nicely

Also it seems like my long going OEM winch bumper and winch project come to an end. This week a PTO winch with the mounting plates , cover and shafts should be picked up by the carrier to be delivered to me. It will be used to install my warn electric winch (my transfer case does not has the pto opening.
I also made a deal for this bumper, now just need to sort out transport from the Netherlands to my place in Hungary, while I am in Denmark. Sounds easy right?

 

[Vitek]

The puzzle is coming together (shafts from PTO to winch are there, just in a different pacakge):
I am tempted to buy the transfer with the PTO too... self control

 

[Vitek]

So the rear axle puzzle is slowly coming together. Had to order some bolts as those broke during dissassembly and some shims as they were worn. Partsouq came for the rescue. I did not order from them recently, as some shops offer better prices and avaibility, but this time they had everything, fair price and I know they will be the fastest.

 

[lp2k]

this goes back to what i said earlier... anyone reading this should be warned to prepare to not only replace the old worn part but you must also account for broken bolt/studs. some bolt will strip so get familiar with bolt extraction and replace the bolt/nuts with OEM toyota while you go in. they are already 30 years old

 

[thelal]

Interested in your source for the shades!

 

[Vitek]

Interested in your source for the shades!

The shades were made in France, but you need to be able to speak French with the guy. I am very satisfied with the quality and they do make a big difference in the summer! If you can have French connections, I can send the advert.

this goes back to what i said earlier... anyone reading this should be warned to prepare to not only replace the old worn part but you must also account for broken bolt/studs. some bolt will strip so get familiar with bolt extraction and replace the bolt/nuts with OEM toyota while you go in. they are already 30 years old

Everything that is used on the rear axle is Toyota and Koyo. But there is simply to many things to buy....
I fcous on stocking 80 specific rubber and plastic parts first, as those are hard to repair and replace if they are worn and while a bolt can be good for a relatively very long time, rubber will simply deteriorate with time