Custom HZJ79 from parts, built in the US! (8 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

So it appears that Proffitt's pulled a '99 engine from a mine truck with unknown maintenance history, sandblasted it, painted it, bolted it into my truck, and installed a turbo kit..

A classic turd polish. :mad: After all of the aggravation and BS, in the end you may come out ahead. A rebuilt HZ under the hood will be pretty sweet. :cheers: to you for sharing the story, and to Beno for his integrity.
 
Yooper - haven't seen an update on your thread in a while just wanted to see how things are looking with the rebuild. I've followed this from afar and love the look of your 70.
 
It's not done yet. At nearly every step we've found that we need more parts or more machining or whatever. Our machine shop does excellent work but it's sloooow. Currently waiting on the machine shop to finish the head...
 
same here!

I have some reading to do Yooper, but it sounds like the suck!

Been crazy for the last few years, not on Mud much, just saw it when you where starting it.....damn it.

i missed all this, sorry to read.
best of luck in the rebuild.
 
Fixing the caster, yet another thing Proffitt's did wrong...



image-3421087610.jpg

image-3421087610.jpg
 
Undoubtedly quality control was not one of Proffitt's strong points. Glad to hear you are in the "short rows" with the necessary repairs. :)
 
Quality control was nonexistent.

This is the front control arm bushing they installed. Was supposed to be new. I'm replacing with new OEM and installing caster correction plates.

controlarmbushing.jpg



We found fuel lines rubbing on the frame and a kinked fuel line leading into the tank selector valve; I'm amazed this provided enough fuel. You can see the rusting transmission cross member that they built - just like every other custom bracket they made, it was coated with one layer of rattle can paint, not even any primer.

fuellinerubbing.jpg

fuellinekinked.jpg


The brand new aux fuel cell started leaking after about six months. It turns out that the front edge of it was never bolted in, they just rested the built in tabs on the frame crossmember. It's bolted in now and the straps have been blasted and refinished, as they were also badly rusted already.

fuelcellremounted.jpg
 
The business that built it no longer exists.
 
Are all these repairs and upgrades on your dime? :doh:

Thanks to beno the bulk of the engine rebuild was paid for by Proffitt's before they finally fully closed down in April.

Since then any issues that have cropped up, and there are many, are on me. It's my truck, there is noone else to pay for it. ;)

The biggest one was that I decided to have the injection pump inspected and in fact it was barely functioning, had lots of broken parts, and needed a full rebuild, which cost me over $1000.
 
Last edited:
That is a cool vid.
 
Cool video......
Really cool after the 3rd beer. :beer:
I thought the guy in the helmet was The Stig.
 
Last edited:
Cool vid even better truck - once you get this fully sorted out you're going to be one happy guy I'm sure. Love the truck
 
Even though proffits messed up a bunch of stuff, that's still a beautiful truck. :cheers:
 
That's about the coolest Land Cruiser in the USA. Congrats. Great video too.

Awesome truck. The best.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom