Builds Dick's '84 Saudi 45

[DickM]

Next move was to remove the factory "headache" rack and the camel restraint system in order to work on the rear cab finish and to replace the hardened weather strip at the rear curved windows. The lift made it pretty easy for one guy.

The first curved window was a real challenge as the glass would not stay inserted into the weather strip channel. It was like the weather strip was too big. On the windshields I have done this is usually the easiest part. I finally used duct tape on the outside of the weather strip and glass to hold it inserted so it could be placed in the opening, and start the rope trick on the inside. It was fiddly work, going slow, and working the weather strip around at the same time using the rope on the inside. I had better luck using soapy water rather than glass cleaner as a lubricant as the cleaner evaporates and dries pretty quickly, and actually becomes sticky.

Hopefully the driver's side curved window will go a little better.

 

[DickM]

Driver's side did go better. A couple of more tricks that helped - soak the pull cord in soapy water before inserting it in the groove and prep the metal in the opening with a light coat of fluid film to prevent rust in any paint nicks and to help the weather strip seat as you go. Glad to have that done!

 

[DickM]

The work for the last week is neither very interesting or photogenic, but I want to document it so I remember most of what was done to the truck.

Next was try and free up the siding back windows while I had access to both sides before the headache rack gets reinstalled. They were both frozen in place and packed with sand. Small scraper in the tracks, then nylon bristle brush, vacuum, compressed air..... and repeat. Small quantities of Fluid film for softening and lubing the runs. After a couple of hours of back and forth they are good for one hand operation.

The headache rack was 99% rust on the forward side recesses and top with decent paint and patina on the rear and sides. I decided that I didn't want to deal with trying to Fluid Film between the rack and cab regularly, so I masked off the patina areas, lightly sanded the rust areas, hit them with rust reformer and then a couple of coats of 464 Cruiser Corps paint. All of the highly visible, easily accessable areas remain patinaed, but no maintenance between the rack and cab.

 

[DickM]

Continuing, there were a couple of sections of the underside of the pickup bed that were surface rusted and a couple that were dirty galvanized with no rust at all. Cleaned, lightly sanded and painted with rust reformer.

While the camel restraint system was off of the truck, I needed to remodel it a bit so that the spare tire could be mounted in the front of the bed vertically behind the driver as the larger spare no longer fits in the factory location underneath the bed. The front lower crossbar was too close to the front face of the tub, so it got cut out and replaced with a square tube 3" further back.

The front bumper area was the next random attack area. The chrome carriage bolts were removed one at a time, the rust around the bolt heads cleaned up, and the heavily rusted nuts and washers replaced. The license plate holder was painted and reinstalled with a homemade rubber isolator under it (similar to the hood hinge cushions). The inside of the bumper got cleaned, CLR'd and hosed down with Fluid Film as there was a bit of rust on it.

Since I was crawling around the front of the truck, I grabbed a grease gun and greased the center arm. After cleaning around the the knuckle grease plugs, I pumped most of a tube between both sides into the knuckles. Since the steering stops had not been adjusted since the new tires were on, and since only one on each side was hitting the stop, I cleaned them up and adjusted them.

 

[DickM]

As part of the bumper work I needed to rewire the fog lamps and turn signals and rework the horns that were fed unfused directly off of the battery to a relay, and controlled by the factory switch leg.
The fogs and turn signs were hard wired without the bullet connectors that allowed them to be removed without cutting wires.
All of this work had been accomplished without any connectors or heat shrink tube, just twisted wires and a lot of different colored cheap electrical tape.
There was also no fusible links on the truck, so @Coolerman has the correct configuration headed my way. Following is a picture of that area and the "quality" of all of the electrical work there and elsewhere.

 

[DickM]

The Poppy's Patina shine Juice finally got here, so I applied it to the hood, fenders, apron, cowl and windshield frame. It was simple - wipe on , let dry for 30 minutes, wipe off and polish. The finish is supposed to be matte/satin and semi permanent. After assembling the hood parts and pieces and installing the hood, I am happy with the look. The rest of the truck got the wash, CLR, compound and wax treatment. I still need to deal with the inside of the bed.

For the last hood area work, I installed the windshield washer nozzle and tube to the new reservoir and pump, and the wiper arm and shaft covers.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Just missing a camel in that pen. Love the patina!!!

 

[DickM]

Thanks to @Coolerman, the electrical mess in post #65 is now cleaned up with the correct fusible link set up. The direct wire to the horn relay is now fused as well and the starter cable connections have been cleaned up.

 

[DickM]

Ordered and installed parts from a 70 series in bed spare tire holder. I got the part number info from a MUD post from @OGBeno. And of course, I had to move the camel carrier cross bar (again) to make it all work and remodel the tire clamp piece to work with the FJCO Braid rims.

 

[DickM]

Time to catch up on my build. Once again no great earth shattering work to share.

Part of my lack of production was due to the fact that I got distracted because the 40 demanded some attention. The dual fuel tank switching valve crapped out and left me on the side of the road. The local NAPA parts store still stocked the valve which meant that the existing plug and electrical were good to go, so it was only a matter of switching 6 hoses to the new valve and installing it. Except that it did not work. After several hours over a couple of days of head scratching, troubleshooting and practicing my sailor talk, I tore the "new" valve out, got a second one from NAPA, installed it and finally finished the repair.

Next, the 60, obviously jealous of the attention that the 40 got, decided that it deserved some of my time too.
We were 1/2 way or so up the Transfer Trail near Glenwood Springs when this horrible noise came out of the front of the truck whenever I got on the throttle in the steeper sections of the trail. @Mtntopper caught up and after opening the hood and driving forward with him watching, we could see that the fan was hitting the shroud, and that's right, a broken drivers side motor mount. I turned around, got off the trail and drove the 30 miles home without any further issue. Once back in the shop I confirmed the trail diagnosis, ordered 2 OEM mounts, and finally went back to work on the 45.

 

[DickM]

First projects were to clean up the engine bay some. I pulled the air cleaner, prepped and painted it. New @ToyotaMatt decal for that OEM look.

Next was removing the valve cover for cleaning and polishing. Prep and paint the accessory holders that mount on the top of the cover. Re-install with OEM gasket and new OEM seal washers.

Replace the worn, cracked, brittle hoses on the brake booster.
General cleaning of the driver's side engine bay.

I finally get around to troubleshooting the install of the windshield washer system which had been bugging me for a while. Despite all new parts except wiring and dash switch, it did not work. Confirmed power and ground wiring was as it should be and pulled the dash to look at the switch, which also checked out. Drained and removed the reservoirs and removed the pump motor. The new impeller was cracked and not running true in the reservoir recess, so it was binding the motor. I robbed a used impeller from the 40 stash, installed it and finally achieved success.

 

[DickM]

Since the dash was already removed in order to check out the wiper switch, and it needed to be repainted eventually, my next random attack was to modify it to accommodate my future mods.
I removed the cigarette lighter, enlarged the hole and mounted a USB outlet with digital volt meter. It is powered of the inspection light wiring. I have never had or used the factory inspection light in one of my Cruisers so this works for me.

My wife and partner in all things Land Cruiser requested seat heaters for our long Colorado winter. I had 3 blanks in the dash, so I modified 2 of them to installed the seat heater switches.

I also needed to mount the 3 switches for the Vintage Air heater and defroster unit, as well as install the defrost supply tubing to the factory vent locations under the dash while I had as good access as I was going to get. The tubing was a bit of a pain as the vents and the tube were different diameters and things are pretty tight under the dash, but I eventually got it done.

The switches for the heater come mounted on a "control panel" that would mount under the dash. To me, it looks pretty crappy, so I decided to remove the non functioning AM radio, install a delete plate, and mount them there. I really couldn't find an aftermarket delete plate that worked with my scheme. They all seem to have a logo of some sort that doesn't work for switch layout, are made of plastic and seem somewhat flimsy, or don't mount in my particular dash.
So I decided to take a thin piece of steel, paint it to match my repaint on the dash and attach it to the dash with same look as the silver countersink phillips head screws that hold in the factory dash. The 3 switches are mounted with the correct labeling decals on it.

 

[JLawson]

Yep, the lengths we will go to to keep the spouses happy! I put power steering in the 43 that has stock tires.....but the wife is happy AND..... she is telling me I should buy the 45 Troopy I have my eye on! She's the best!

 

[DickM]

I decided to get the fog lights and license plate off of the top of the bumper and out of harms way. @ToyotaMatt had mentioned that there was a factory option of the fog lamp mounting location if the truck had PTO, so I gave it a look.
The bumper had holes for the option of mounting the OEM license plate bracket on top of the passenger end of the bumper, but it was really hanging out there and blocking the new fog light location, so I took a used flip-up license plate bracket, modified it and was able to attach it under the bumper by using 2 existing holes. Cleaner looking, everything more protected and better air flow to the radiator with the license plate out of the way.

It is a good thing I am retired.

 

[wngrog]

Nice work all

 

[ToyotaMatt]

I decided to get the fog lights and license plate off of the top of the bumper and out of harms way. @ToyotaMatt had mentioned that there was a factory option of the fog lamp mounting location if the truck had PTO, so I gave it a look.
The bumper had holes for the option of mounting the OEM license plate bracket on top of the passenger end of the bumper, but it was really hanging out there and blocking the new fog light location, so I took a used flip-up license plate bracket, modified it and was able to attach it under the bumper by using 2 existing holes. Cleaner looking, everything more protected and better air flow to the radiator with the license plate out of the way.

It is a good thing I am retired.
View attachment 3923073







View attachment 3923071

Very very nice …

This is a very good solid reference resource image and example of the Factory PTO Winch Option Optional Factory Fog Lamps Option Equipped mounting location method for that now wide open and free front end real-estate for that NOS late model winch you have on the way ..

the sparky pewter engagement instructions adorned 4speed T-Case PTO knob & cap are indeed pure Bliss ….

.

 

[DickM]

It is finally time to start what i lovingly refer to as the "waterworks".
With warmer weather here it is time to go through the cooling system as the coolant is the last fluid left to be baselined/replaced, and I have a new water pump with a fan clutch to replace my "direct drive" model, courtesy of @Meshal. Here is the comparison of the two. The fan clutch model (with oil cooler 16100-61130) requires a different fan (Aisin FNT-002) . This configuration ends up a little less of 1" taller, but according to MUD wisdom it should fit no problem.

 

[DickM]

To start teardown for the "waterworks, I first needed to drain the system and flush it well because there was a mix of red coolant with some green in the overflow bottle. I ended up draining the radiator by removing the lower radiator hole as the Plastic radiator drain plug, in addition to leaking, did not align with knock out in the radiator support frame. Further inspection showed more weeping coolant in two more places, so what could be better than a new water pump but a new radiator as well. New hoses as well because they felt pretty bad, and were all installed with some sort of sealant that was everywhere.

During the flushing process, as the water temp gauge has not worked since I have had the truck, I was checking engine temps with the IR thermometer trying to get the thermostat to open, which never happened. I could feel some water in the top radiator hose, but it never got hot or felt full. So shut down, drain the radiator again and the block, and rolled the truck back into the shop where the bibb, radiator, support frame , shroud, and belts were all removed.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I started pulling hoses and got another surprise when the oil cooler hose to the thermo housing came off. It was plugged completely.

I popped the thermo housing top half off to see.......... nothing, no thermostat.

The other cooling system piece I wanted to check out was the oil cooler. It had been leaking for a long time based on the accumulation of the concrete-like baked sand, oil and coolant coating it.
In order to get to the cooler and continue the engine bay cleanup, I removed the radiator overflow/windshield washer bottles, coil and mount, battery tray and support, 2 lower splash guards, fuel supply and return lines, charcoal canister and mount, and the coolant lines (hard and soft) to the oil cooler.

 

[DickM]

Now I got to remove the oil cooler, simple, right-4 bolts. Except I could not even see the bolts. They were completely mounded over with what seemed like concrete. After I checked on MUD to find the bolt locations and sizes, I started chipping away.

The bolts are a tribute to Mr T's ability to engineer to a tight tolerance. In order to get the socket and extension on, the entire path along the cooler has to be completely clean, including the recesses that the bolts sit in on the housing. In the end it was done, but my quality time with the oil cooler rates right up there with rivet removal on the 60 frame c -channel replacement

 

[DickM]

Now that the cooler was on the bench, it was separated from the oil filter bracket, and both needed to be cleaned. I soaked the bracket in the parts washer for a couple of days, alternating scraping and wire wheeling where I could.

After all of that, it turned out that the cooler had previously been (badly) repaired by brazing. It still had a couple of holes, so given that I already had an oil cooler water pump and a return line fitting for the eventually to be installed heater, I ordered a new OEM oil cooler. Too much important fluid in one location to roll the dice on an aftermarket unit. New copper washers and o-rings from City Racer.