Build Golden Boy / was 'an as-yet unnamed gulf spec diesel 1991 HZJ pickup'

[AirheadNut]

Are yours 16x8 or 16x6? JDM 70-series often came with 16x6 (that's what I have). In the US 4Runners, Pickups and 80-series came with 15x7 in that style. I haven't seen any 16x8 though.

Also, I wonder if those steelies would fit a 100-series. Might look really nice on a de-flared truck with some skinny tires.

 

[John Young]

Are yours 16x8 or 16x6? JDM 70-series often came with 16x6 (that's what I have). In the US 4Runners, Pickups and 80-series came with 15x7 in that style. I haven't seen any 16x8 though.

Also, I wonder if those steelies would fit a 100-series. Might look really nice on a de-flared truck with some skinny tires.

The four I found were 16x8, AHN. Strange you should mention using them on a 100, but that's just what I was thinking. Here in the Middle East everyone wants fat balloon tires for the sand, like this:

But these would be horrible up in the mountains.

 

[Blomdala]

Are yours 16x8 or 16x6? JDM 70-series often came with 16x6 (that's what I have). In the US 4Runners, Pickups and 80-series came with 15x7 in that style. I haven't seen any 16x8 though.

Also, I wonder if those steelies would fit a 100-series. Might look really nice on a de-flared truck with some skinny tires.

Yours came with that shape in a 16x6? my 93' 77 came with 15x7 in that style, the 16x6 were all a different style.

 

[AirheadNut]

Yours came with that shape in a 16x6? my 93' 77 came with 15x7 in that style, the 16x6 were all a different style.

Yep, a few posts up I have a couple of photos of them, I think the skinny 16" wheel/tire combo looks great. I had them on my FJ62 for a little while and really liked them in that application too. It seems like most of the JDM Prados I see here in NA have those wheels in 16x6.

 

[Blomdala]

Yep, a few posts up I have a couple of photos of them, I think the skinny 16" wheel/tire combo looks great. I had them on my FJ62 for a little while and really liked them in that application too. It seems like most of the JDM Prados I see here in NA have those wheels in 16x6.
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Do you happen to know what the Offset is of those 16 versions are? The ZX 15s are -20, but it seems like the 4runners are 0.

 

[AirheadNut]

Do you happen to know what the Offset is of those 16 versions are? The ZX 15s are -20, but it seems like the 4runners are 0.

They’re a 0 offset as well.

 

[FJ73Texas]

Yours came with that shape in a 16x6? my 93' 77 came with 15x7 in that style, the 16x6 were all a different style.

Does your 77 have the factory flares? If you put on the factory LC 16" steelie on a 77 with factory flares, it will look funny. At least I think so. Here is a pic of when I tried that set up.

 

[Blomdala]

Does your 77 have the factory flares? If you put on the factory LC 16" steelie on a 77 with factory flares, it will look funny. At least I think so. Here is a pic of when I tried that set up.

View attachment 2208181

Fortunately/unfortunately yes it has factory flares and I totally agree! The -20 offset is certainly a minimum requirement for minimizing the goofiness! Which is difficult to achieve aside from aftermarket steel or quite wide wheels. Neither are very high on my list! SCS, 4x4 engineering, and one or 2 others are about the only options to get into the 16 range and -20 or more offset it seems.

 

[John Young]

Today was a red letter day! I actually used the pickup for its intended purpose--picking up something bulky that won't easily fit in a station wagon. We had a server and a tool box to fetch from the datacentre:

Pretty cool, right!? (That's my colleague Waseem filling out the DC paperwork.)

The mechanics had mentioned a new noise when you make a sharp turn. I thought it might be the new, big tires rubbing but it wasn't. The whole front axle has shifted some more and the steering box arm is now rubbing against the tie rod.

Got to find out what that retaining ring is for too. I seriously considered calling a flatbed once Waseem helped me figure out what was happening--he was looking from outside while I slowly drove in a hard turn. In the end I decided to chance it and drive back to the garage.

As my reward I found the re-cored radiator waiting for me!

Arjun, the shop foreman, told me that they made a point of picking the best radiator specialist in Dubai for this--I think they are getting what I am asking for. The work looked good.

I should mention that this is not the radiator that I've been driving around on. That radiator has pinhole leaks in the top tub and I decided I did not want to try rebuilding it. Where there are three pinholes (what I saw) there will be many more waiting. This is another radiator I found up in Sharjah and paid 250 AED for it. Re-coring it was 850 AED, for a total of 1100 AED or exactly 300 USD for a brass radiator that has been completely gone through. Money well spent, I think.

 

[yourID10Tdriver]

Seems like the guys at the garage are motivated to really outdo themselves on this truck. I'm 100% sure it will be an amazing finished product!

 

[John Young]

Today was a big day for the 75's in our family. I drove down to Abu Dhabi and picked up the HVAC boxes out of the rusty pickup. The metal fittings were a bit rusty, but really all I need is the aircon box--I have the fan and heater core box already. Had to buy the whole set as the seller insisted on it.

While I was there I looked around and saw that they have new pulls of front and rear shock absorbers. I think I need them--they are off a new truck and I didn't have the ability to check part numbers--so if anyone happens to know if the front and rear shock absorbers off of a new 70 series pickup can be used on an early 75, I'd love to know it. He also had a new rear bumper and some other odds and ends that I took note of.

The pickup that the HVAC boxes came out of also had 16x6 steel wheels. The spare was pretty badly rusted. The left front looked better so I ended up buying it for 35 USD or so. We then took it to get the tire off

Then the guy who sold it to me took me to a sandblasting place where I got it sandblasted for about 10 USD.

I then drove to the garage to drop off the HVAC boxes and the rim for painting.

 

[John Young]

After unloading the rim and HVAC boxes in Dubai Investment Park I drove North again to Sharjah to pick up a set of front leaf springs.

The 'new' ones look really good. I'm going to put new bushings in of course.

Murtaza, the very nice guy who sold me the springs, also had a new rear bumper. The bumper on the pickup now is servicable, but just not nice, and the lamps over the license plate are kind of busted up. The new rear bumper, which appeared factory fresh, cost about 180 USD, which I thought was a reasonable price. I should add that several places in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi have these new bumpers. Murtaza explained to me that all of these pickup bodies, parts, tires and wheels are coming from trucks that are bought for conversion into a kind of armoured vehicle. They strip off the things they can't use, and then these go on the second hand market--where I buy the items that are common to early model 75 pickups, like seat belts for example.

I drove back to Dubai Investment Park from Sharjah just in time to watch the guys drop the transmission in the pickup. Here is a video, and it is worth watching, I think.

I also started looking more closely on the springs that currently are on the truck. The more I looked the worse they looked. The right side springs had two broken leafs. And both the front shackles were bent and abused. And most importantly, the springs were of different sizes, or perhaps one had been put in backwards. It was a real, excuse my language, 's***show'. The good news is that the new springs will be a vast improvement. I did find that I will need one additional front shackle that looks like this:

I also spent some time under the truck and I have to say it is looking pretty good for a 30 year old truck!

 

[NM Frontier]

I love how this is all coming together from driving around to yards and reusing parts, very entertaining! Way different than our builds here in the states.

 

[John Young]

I love how this is all coming together from driving around to yards and reusing parts, very entertaining! Way different than our builds here in the states.

Thank you very much NM. I've always been an antique car nut ever since my dad took me to the Harrah's collection in the early 70's back when it had 1500 cars. I like the process of finding and bringing back old cars, like a lot of us here, I expect.

 

[yourID10Tdriver]

I remember seeing that gold plated DeLorean they had in the Lobby at Herrah's. Too bad they sold a bunch of his cars, I can only imagine what it looked like back in the day. That was a fun trip.

 

[John Young]

I remember seeing that gold plated DeLorean they had in the Lobby at Herrah's. Too bad they sold a bunch of his cars, I can only imagine what it looked like back in the day. That was a fun trip.

My favorite was the actual, real Thomas Flyer, which won the round the world race in 1908:

 

[yourID10Tdriver]

Ah yes, I remember the Thomas Flyer too. It was a car that the museum acquired sometime in the past. They found it to be a shadow of its former self, it was broken, wheels were missing, the leather was in tatters, and was unidentifiable until they found the serial number on the car's frame I think. That was the only way they could confirm it was the actual car. So the museum rebuilt the car through the documentation they had on its specs, as well as the pictures taken of the vehicle on its journey. They rebuilt the car to be as close as possible to when it crossed the finish line, this included replicating the various make-shift repairs the team made to the vehicle to keep it going. Truly amazing car to see with my own eyes.

 

[John Young]

Back to Land Cruisers...

I had the pleasure of a couple of visitors in from the States. I could not resist showing them all three of my broken old Land Cruisers at the shop. Here are my visitors inspecting the pickup on the lift:

My parts guy is delivering new shackles and bushings for both new front springs today. OEM Toyota brought in overnight from Oman--about 6 hours drive away. Toyota Oman seems to stock many more of the old pickup parts than anyone in Dubai. Prices were reasonable. About 50 USD for a shackle and 4 bushings.

The transmission is out and we are having a problem with the seal on the back casting--the gasket itself. The guys are having trouble removing the back casting to fix the transmission gear oil leak. While it is out I had a look and saw that this area really needs a good cleaning.

I didn't take photos of the leaking tranny, but the leak is at the top of the rear of the transmission where the the back casting is bolted up to the back of the transmission. And this back casting seems well stuck on there. I will ask for some photos.

 

[John Young]

The new shackles and bushes have arrived.

 

[John Young]

Here are a couple of photos of the transmission with the leak at the top of the transmission where the rear casting bolts on:

The guys are having some trouble getting the rear housing off.

Anyone experience a leak like this or have any wisdom regarding removal of the rear housing?