Dilspec HDJ81 build (1 Viewer)

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Dilspec

SILVER Star
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Threads
53
Messages
855
Location
Chicago IL
First I would like to say thanks to my friends and the Mud community for the amazing knowledge, resources, and new friendships. I wish I made this thread sooner, but I like to fly under the radar. However, on the flip side I want to return some content for other members to enjoy and as a way for me to reflect.

My family has a long history of Land Cruisers. I couldn't help but continue a similar cadence when I was able to finally afford one. I'll save the long winded story for camp sites.

HDJ81 acquired on 12/22/17 with 195101KM stock for the most part but maintained at ATEB. No records of any maintenance unfortunately so I went in knowing I'd have to baseline.

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Stock 1HDT

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New tires BFG KO2 33x12.5, the originals were rather dry rotted.

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Lewy, Mikey, and David came by to help with the timing belt/wp job.

Timing Belt replaced
Water Pump replaced
Tensioner replaced
Alternator/AC/Fan belt replaced

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My friends thought this would be funny. The night was full of shenanigans. Best part of wrenching with amigos.

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As time goes on I'll add part numbers and more technical detail.
 
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I scheduled the BEB's to be done at @SteveJackson's shop LCD in Springfield MO since I don't trust myself when it comes to that. I noticed the injection pump was leaking while cleaning the truck. That was also beyond my scope. Ryan, Scott and Steve took care of me. Mikey and I dropped the truck off. Peter and I went to go pick it up!

The injectors were due for a rebuild. Steve has a shop that rebuilds Denso pumps and injectors, they did a phenomenal job with the repairs. As you can see they were due to a rebuild.

This was around the 200,000KM mark.

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New injection pump. Goodie.

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I went with a replacement stock turbo for now with concerns of being reliable. Hindsight is always 20/20 though... because I wish I went with the Grunter or bad boy...

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BEB's replaced, not as bad as we thought. Appears that they were done. But nothing wrong with doing them again.

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We were drooling over this 70 series, probably one of my favorites.

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Highly recommend LCD, great shop. My next import will be through them.
 
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Grad School is the place to grab a bite to eat whenever passing Springfield MO

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Dropped by TJ's @Josey1972 to sell him the OEM bumper/winch setup to put on the white truck I sold him (3FE w/4 speed manual trans). He helped me install the ARB bumper with the nice JIG he made.

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"Are those battery warmers!?"

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ARB Bumper w/ Warn M8000 winch. We realized we needed brackets for the M8000 to mount up properly.

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80 series starting line up. He's got one hell of a rig.

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Canadian winters took a toll on the exhaust, which was due for a replacement.

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3" SS Exhaust fabricated by Exact Performance

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He also fabricated the sliders

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Once I got the truck back I installed the boost gauge and EGT gauge from ISSPro.

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My brother helping me trim the center console slot for a CB radio.

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91 HDJ81 rear rotors are hard to find. @Onur came through with Terrain Tamer rotors and OEM pads.

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My friend David helping with the rear brake setup.

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EGT and Boost Gauge install (please excuse the arrangement of photos)
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Thanks! Looking forward to seeing you again at SAS @8cam.

Got the truck ready for FJ Summit 2018. At this point it's already July and we all powered through to get the truck baselined and ready in a short 2 month time frame. I really couldn't have done it without my friends and Mud.

We had a night run planned at FJS and the stock 80 series lights are inadequate at best. I went with the KC HiLites, seemed to be an affordable option. The truck is all loaded up and ready for it's first journey out west with me.

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We drove through the night and managed to hit Denver around 8 AM. We were planning to spend the night in Denver, but decided to continue our drive to Ouray.

Here we are at Independence Pass and The FJ Company 40 series showed up.

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Since we were ahead of schedule and the first time out here and first time wheeling... Jimmy @WheelDrivenADV was super kind enough to take us up Yankee Boy Basin.

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We were due for Imogene later in the week.
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Here we are!

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That was a freaking blast, i'll never forget my first trail...
 
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We ate like kings...

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Peter just hanging out before reaching the summit (Imogene). At this point I realized the turn down exhaust was a horrible idea. It made for a real dusty trail, that became something I would have to address later.
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Clearly didn't belong with the FJ Cruisers, but it made for a fun time.

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We bailed on Black Bear Pass. Had a long day up Imogene and didn't feel confident enough for that trail at this point. Instead we went to Moab for the day.

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I forgot to mention the AC wasn't recharged at this point... so 3 sweaty dudes in a 25 year old truck.

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Director/JDM POSE
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He was loving it.
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That wrapped up the trip... 3000 miles later, back in Chicago. Got back a day early and enjoyed some lunch with some friends. Already thinking about what's next for the HDJ81.

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Awesome man.

Dream rig for living dreams. Well prepared for the long haul.

Glad we bonded over a shock bolt (for me) on engineers pass.

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Nice meeting you at SAS4, @Dilspec.

Quite a well built rig you have and happy to know there are others out there in the US (and on mud) that have HDJ81s.

I was wondering if you wouldn't mind posting some of the PNs you mentioned while we are at Animas Forks the other day.

  1. ISSPro boost and EGT sending units and gauges
  2. Alternator bracket and wiring harness adapter to accomodate the US market FZJ80 alternator
  3. Name of the guy in BC who fabs 81 series sliders
Many thanks and hope you got home safely!

Cheers,
Austin
 
Hey Austin,

Great meeting you as well, hopefully next year we can run more trails together.

Gauges:

As far as the ISSPro boost and EGT gauges, I have 2 different models. I went with the EV2 boost gauge and a classic EGT gauge, differences below.

ISSPRO R607VW - Classic Series Pyrometer Gauge (EGT) - This is the classic version. Works fine, but harder to read at night. There is a much more easy to read version out there which is the EV2. (Alternative to the classic is R32092 EV2)​
ISSPRO EV2 Boost Gauge R17133​

Alternator:

You use the existing alternator brackets off the 1HZ/1HDT platform for the 1FZ alternator. However, you need the conversion plug.

Something like this will work just fine.

If you wanted to run a higher output alternator (example, TT from Valley Hybrids you need a different upper alternator bracket)

Thanks @KiwiDan80 for getting me going in the right direction, 5mm difference just like you said. Here's what I've learned so far.

My current alternator is definitely pooched. Apparently it was burning up the housing, so the rebuild shop can't even repair it without a core to work with, but there are no cores available anywhere because it's the oddball alternator. Yay.

There was the original 80amp alternator used in pretty much every diesel 80 from 91-97. During the 95-97 production years, there was a different 100amp version, which is apparently what I have/had. The 100amp version doesn't really exist in the aftermarket, and the OEM version available from overseas is well over $1100CAD.

That is an unacceptable cost to me.

There are two different upper brackets that were offered for these trucks to accommodate the different size housings on the alternator, stamped either #1 being the 80A, and #2 being the 100A. The cruiser shop had one of those brackets available, stamped #1. When I get home tonight I'll be pulling the A/C compressor off so I can get at the bolts, and hopefully I have a #2 bracket, which will mean I can put this other more readily available alternator on instead.

27060-17181 - 100amp alternator
27060-17171 - more common 80amp alternator
16381-17020 - the #2 100amp bracket
16381-17010 - the #1 80amp bracket

Here's a look at the different brackets side by side from some Russian website where someone has apparently gone through this already.

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This also means that if someone really wants an extra 20amps out of their diesel 80, but still stick with OEM Toyota parts, they can order the bracket for like $5, and then try to find an alternator for the price of roughly one mortgage payment.

More as this story develops.



Sliders:
Skids and Sliders from Jason at Cruisin Offroad.​
-Another option is White Knuckle.​

Hope this helps!

Adil
 
Hey Austin,

Great meeting you as well, hopefully next year we can run more trails together.

Gauges:

As far as the ISSPro boost and EGT gauges, I have 2 different models. I went with the EV2 boost gauge and a classic EGT gauge, differences below.

ISSPRO R607VW - Classic Series Pyrometer Gauge (EGT) - This is the classic version. Works fine, but harder to read at night. There is a much more easy to read version out there which is the EV2. (Alternative to the classic is R32092 EV2)​
ISSPRO EV2 Boost Gauge R17133​

Alternator:

You use the existing alternator brackets off the 1HZ/1HDT platform for the 1FZ alternator. However, you need the conversion plug.

Something like this will work just fine.

If you wanted to run a higher output alternator (example, TT from Valley Hybrids you need a different upper alternator bracket)





Sliders:
Skids and Sliders from Jason at Cruisin Offroad.​
-Another option is White Knuckle.​

Hope this helps!

Adil
Adil, this is incredibly helpful!

Really appreciate all of the details.

For sure down to run some more trails next year if not sooner.

Love hearing a chorus of turbos spool at 13k + feet 🏔

Cheers,
Austin
 
Adil, this is incredibly helpful!

Really appreciate all of the details.

For sure down to run some more trails next year if not sooner.

Love hearing a chorus of turbos spool at 13k + feet 🏔

Cheers,
Austin
One last question, that blue sea temp gauge you had for ambient temperature. Was it the round variety? Or were you able to find one that fit nicely in the rocker switch knock outs?
 
Correct, they were the round ones. I used a whole saw bit to make them fit. I'll take some detailed pictures later.

The USB outlet from blue sea fit nicely in the 12V cig lighter/outlet area.

I recommend a cleaner way to go about this. Install a square USB outlet in place of a blank switch and install the volt meter or temp gauge (round) in place of the 12V cig lighter. At the time I couldn't find any Bluesea square outlets so I settled for the round one.

Also, do you mind sharing the rear tail-gate storage setup you had in the rear? Definitely a solid design.
 
Correct, they were the round ones. I used a whole saw bit to make them fit. I'll take some detailed pictures later.

The USB outlet from blue sea fit nicely in the 12V cig lighter/outlet area.

I recommend a cleaner way to go about this. Install a square USB outlet in place of a blank switch and install the volt meter or temp gauge (round) in place of the 12V cig lighter. At the time I couldn't find any Bluesea square outlets so I settled for the round one.

Also, do you mind sharing the rear tail-gate storage setup you had in the rear? Definitely a solid design.
Hey -

Sorry for the delay. I didn't see this as it wasn't a reply!

Here is the link on the 80 series tailgate storage.

Thanks again.
 

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