Builds Cayman Islands FZJ80 DIY build-up

[mmajsw]

To have the fenders all look the same, I also sprayed bed liner on the back passenger side fenders. When replacing the splash guards, they looked a little dull so they also got the bed liner treatment. And I decided to jazz them up a bit.

And installed.

That piece of the bumper is really looking dull now. Hmmmm......

 

[2fpower]

Great work... always love following this thread.

 

[mmajsw]

Thanks 2fpower.

 

[cjmoon]

Good Friday was good to me. Took the Cruiser out of storage and decided to install two items. The first was the lower control arms above.
And I have to admit, it took about 15 mins for the driver's side and 10 minutes for the passenger side. Simply loosen the two bolts with an impact wrench and slide the bolts out. I had to loosen the lower shock bolt to pry the shock a bit forward to allow the bolt to retract enough to allow the control arm to slide off. Thankfully, there was absolutely no corrosion on either bolt where it inserts into the bushing.
Dropped the old arms out and slid the new ones in. The measurement precautions taken above worked. Did the driver's side first then the passengers. I wish all upgrades were this easy.

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The second item was a Hudd Expo GIS skidplate. I had bought the weld it together kit , welded it up and painted it but never got around to installing it. Well, today I did.
It is a well thought out piece of equipment and everything fits together well. You cannot make any mistakes once you know what side the parts fit on. I can now confirm that it fits a 97 4.5L with the A442F trans and the H1FA part time transfer case. There are enough details in ih8mud so I do not need to repeat anything here.

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Well, it's Easter and we have been in lock down since March 24th. Spent the first two weeks organizing the garage and fixing outstanding projects. This long weekend and next week is work on the truck. Perhaps the Wit's end power steering cooler is next!
Also have a factory auto trans cooler sitting on the garage floor to install.

just saw this post, awesome. glad it worked out for you. the H1FA has a shorter case with the drain horizontal. I made shorter one with a cut out on the back to make draining easier but haven't had anyone to try it out with. in theory it will be tighter fit for the shorter case.

 

[mmajsw]

Stripped the plastic bumper pieces off and bedlined both sides. Looking much better overall.

I also ended up changing the auxiliary park /brake lights that I previously installed in back in post #71. I was informed that when a left hand drive car is behind me, they cannot see the right hand turn signal due to the tire blocking their view. I have always maintained safety first, hence the need for an upgrade.
These were additional units purchased from Amazon for my trailer build. 75 LEDs and pretty bright. Easy to swap out if there are any issues because I used 5 pin automotive electrical connectors at the back

The supportive and protective light frame was made from old bed frame. It is deep enough to protect the lights from any damage. A couple cross pieces to bolt the light to, a dash of paint and they are done. The mounting had to be unique on my project as it had to fit into the space left by the previous light. They are bolted in.

Electrical connection was made to the 7 pin trailer connector in the rear bumper. Now, once I do not have a trailer behind me, you can see what I am doing.

 

[mmajsw]

Noticed over the past little while (more like a couple years) that the parking brake was really not working like it should. It would barely hold the truck on a medium incline and when I tried to stop the truck on a flat with only the parking brake, it was a little shorter than coasting to a stop. The parking brake lever would get to almost vertical before you felt the brakes starting to do their job.
Well, time to dig into the factory manual and here on mud.
Turn it it is not a difficult job, assuming that all the parts are working correctly.
I started out on the driver's side, stripping the rear assembly down to just the parking brake shoes. There was a lot of brake material on the pads. The parking braking surface was clean of oil, rust and dirt. I took the parking brake adjuster apart and while the outside had some surface rust, the male and female rotating surfaces were still greased and moved freely. I reassembled everything back together and noted what I had to do to adjust the shoes. Then did the adjustment. I adjusted the shoes until they were affecting the rotation of the disc, then backed off a few notches until it rotated smoothly.
But the wheel back on and off to the passenger side. There I did not disassemble the unit, but repeated the shoe adjustment until I felt resistance, and backed off a couple notches until the assembly rotated freely.
Put the wheels back on and go for a test drive.The road in front of my house has about a 2.5% slope. Using 10mph as the test speed, I went down the road in both forward and reverse and in all cases, the parking brakes were able to stop the vehicle in a reasonable distance - about 25-30'.
I consider that a successful adjustment. The only change/upgrade needed is that I have to replace the parking brake cable as mine is stretched to its maximum.

 

[mmajsw]

I drove the Cruiser for the past couple days to work on logging my 200 miles/year !
Came home and parked it in the driveway. Stepping outside a little later, I noticed that the brake lights were on. I initially thought I needed a new brake light switch. But when I was feeling around the top of the brake pedal, a couple bits of plastic dropped on the mat.
The issue was this small plastic pad (highlighted in red below) that it attached to the brake pedal that acts as a contact point for the brake switch.

I have no idea what is it called nor its part number, and I am not going to dismantle the whole brake pedal to fix it. It is about 5/8" diameter and about 1/8" thick. The dealer is closed and would probably have to order it in - maybe a month or two if I am lucky in this current Covid climate?
The first thing was to pull the stop light fuse and check my options.
The solution was a piece of 1/8" thick plastic (to match the thickness of what fell out) about 5/8" diameter (best guess on the diameter). I used Kydex (it was on hand and readily accessible) but any hard plastic should do as long as it can be glued. A test fit showed that when my new piece is in place, the brake light goes off.
A dab of polyurethane caulking on one the side that goes to the brake pedal, center it on the stop light switch and I left it to dry overnight with the pedal/switch pressure holding it in place. No further issues are expected. Due to where the pad fits, a square piece of plastic 3/4" square would have also worked.

 

[baldilocks]

Top notch analysis.

 

[gofast]

Love this thread. Your approach is on issues is always pragmatic - Nice work

 

[mmajsw]

I took the cruiser for a drive and while the driver's window went down, it would not go up. Problem was with the power window motor.
I had the original motor stop working about 6 years ago and swapped it for a Dorman unit. That installation required a bit of rewiring - mainly because the up/down action of the switch was reversed.
I kept the factory motor and rebuilt is according to instructions available on mud and it was standing by, ready to use. But to reinstall it meant reverting the wiring back to the factory setup. I needed a solution. Enter polarized marine connectors.
I had seen 1 pin connectors somewhere but none were available locally. I bought the 2 pin units and, using a box cutter (proved to be the best way after a couple failures) divided them along the purple line. There are some units where the wires come out joined and others, like the units below, where the wires are separated.
The idea is to continue to have both the male and female plugs still insulated by rubber. If your cut is bad, one can use heat shrink to insulate.

After the operation, you now have two single pin, marine grade connectors.

The next step was to modify the window motor to accept the new plugs. All connections were soldered and heat shrink was used to seal the wiring. I used the female connector here and the males on the power source.

Then a similar modification was made to the factory wiring.

Finally, I modified the Dorman motor connector.

The end result is the next time I need to change the window motor, a quick swap of the connectors will allow me to reverse the wiring , if needed, to allow the window switch to operate as it should.

 

[baldilocks]

Do you recall where you found the motor rebuild info? Is there a kit that be ordered?

 

[mmajsw]

The details are

Do you recall where you found the motor rebuild info? Is there a kit that be ordered?

Here on mud. Got Slow Windows? Here's the Fix. - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/got-slow-windows-heres-the-fix.840926/#post-9607389
It usually means a cleaning of old grease/carbon/rust from the motor. New lubrication of the bushing and gears - I used marine grease for brass bushings and lithium grease for the gears. Clean the commutator with electrical cleaner and 600 grit sandpaper, then reassemble. Bench test to make sure it works.
Replacement brushes should be readily available - if needed. Got mine from a local parts store.

 

[mmajsw]

Had a door lock problem where the key could not or was barely able to turn the locks. Worked well for ignition but the 3 door locks were yes/no/maybe. It became more "no" that anything else as time passed. I did silicone spray, brake cleaner and other usual treatments but nothing worked.
Started to look for a replacement lock set online but the only one I could find was about US$450 and may or may not fit.
A bit of research in IH8MUD shows that the brass key wear out faster than the hardened tumbler pins in the lock.
Dealer would not order new keys based o n the VIN (said they never heard of that before) so I called a mobile locksmith to sort out the issue.
He had a device that scanned my old key and determined what the original key shape should look like. The machine cut the new profile in a blank and it worked. Got a spare cut for the wife. Headed to a normal key cutter tomorrow to get spares cut. One will be labelled as the original and kept for future reference 25 years down the road when the next replacement is needed.

 

[mmajsw]

It's been a year and a half since I posted anything but I decided to continue playing with the Cruiser. The first thing I wanted to do was install clevis mounts to the front bumper. I was initially going to do that when I built the bumper, but could not find any 3/4" or 1" steel plate locally. I finally for some from Ebay.
Started with two plates 3" wide and 6" long, I cut a 1-1/4" diameter hole to fit the hook on my winch. I got the hook from Harbor Freight and is the Badlands Apex - forged and 12,000 lb capacity.

The large cutout at the top in the left image is to fit around the original plate bolted to the frame.
Just in case I had a need to place shackles on the clevis mount, I machined a adapter to fit a 3/4 shackle pin to the mount - when and if needed.

 

[mmajsw]

And all parts put together

Finally, the clevis mount is welded in

A bit of painting to do and grind some welds smother but the major part of the work is done.

 

[mmajsw]

I have noticed lately that the Cruiser is slow is stop. I tried some panic stop testing and I cannot lock the brakes up. Considering that the braking system is 27 years old, I decided that all new rotors, calipers and pads are needed.
I went shopping on Amazon and got the Power Stop Z06 kit with front and rear drilled/slotted brake rotors and carbon fiber ceramic disc pads. In addition, I ordered rebuilt front and rear calipers. The Z06 kit got good reviews and could only help my breaking capabilities.
I also looked at the Ceika kits, know that more pistons and larger discs equals more braking power.
The other thing is that bigger brakes means larger rims and new tires. Toytek Powerbrake kits would cost me over US$12K by the time new rims, tires and import duties we factored in.
But thinking long term, it would be best to stick as close to the factory setup as I can when parts are needed on small tropical islands!
The final option I considered was EBC brake pads. The yellow pads seemed to best fit my needs, and can always be added at a later date.
But the system needed a rebuild so that was my first priority.
The discs were received a couple weeks ago so I decided to paint then with high heat paint.
Both front and rear discs received a light sanding with 200 grit sandpaper, an acetone wipe down and application of 1200 degree high temperature paint and are now undergoing a 48 hr drying period. I will be placing them in the sun tomorrow for a solar baking and will take a temperature reading of the painted surface out of curiosity just to see how hot it will get from solar radiation.

Calipers are on their way and should be here next week. I also ordered POR caliper paint so they can be done before installation.
I also intend to repaint the unobtainable dust shields with a two-part marine epoxy paint. Again, looking at long term survival of these parts.

​

 

[mmajsw]

The solar baking of the paint did not work very well. The black part of the discs got to 120 deg F but the unpainted part where the pads go only went to 100. I checked the hood of my wife's black Outback and it was 210F. Guess the difference was because of the ratio of black painted surface area to amount of metal.
Such is life. More to come.

 

[mmajsw]

Started with the rear passenger brake assembly. Took everything apart and cleaned it using brake cleaner. The dust shield was still sporting its original paint and has no rust so I left it along. Save me a bunch of taking things apart.
Everything was put together and the new caliper was bled. Just the wheel to put on now.

One down, 3 to go.

 

[mmajsw]

Brakes are all completed and vehicle stops. Not sure if it is better than before but I have to put some more miles on it to have things broken in.
I was cleaning the truck out and noticed a tear in the rear hatch seal. Plus the old seal was not very supple - guess that happens to 27 year old rubber.
I went on Amazon and ordered a confirmed fit replacement. When taking the old seal off, I noticed a rust hole on the upper corner of the drivers side. It was noted for future repair. It is easy to access hence the delay.
The new seal fit very well and was an easy install. There was about 5' left over from the 20' roll.

 

[mmajsw]

The next item was the infamous oil pump seal and a while I am there front crankshaft oil seal. A full tear down of the front has been done and new harmonic balancer, brass radiator, thermostat, Gates belts and Toyota hoses will be installed when reassembling.