Builds HDJ79 build #2: 2022 double cab with FTE (1 Viewer)

[bottombracket]

So I’ve been working on a single cab pickup build for the better part of three years.

Builds - Live in Texas, drive a pickup: HDJ79 single cab build

A few months ago, I was innocuously texting @joekatana and telling him much I was enjoying driving the HZJ80 poverty pack I had bought from him. He asked me what my plans for my next Cruiser project were, and I told him that I was pretty happy with the 80, sprucing it up while driving it daily...

forum.ih8mud.com

Last spring, I woke up in the middle of the night, and started to fret. I have three kids and three dogs, and here I am building a single cab pickup truck that can only fit me and roughly 1.5 dogs.

I got super bummed out, thinking to myself that this was a vanity project, an ego project, a waste of time and money….and that I should just sell it and find something that would fit my whole family.

I s$&t you not, I wake up the next morning, pop open Instagram, and find this:

The answer was clear.

 

[bottombracket]

Frank at Land Cruiser Heaven delivered far beyond expectations. The cab and body are brand new, and he was able to source a wiring harness, dash, steering column, cluster, air conditioning… And then he assembled the whole damn thing. And put it on a boat.

 

[bottombracket]

Since Austin was the closest to the port of Galveston, and I have a little bit of room at my place, we parked a 40 foot container full of magic, and Frank came down to open it up Thursday night. @Fern1109 coordinated the delivery and made sure that an 18 wheeler got in and out of the ranch safely. Lola and Murphy approved.

@Spallet loaned me his (Toyota diesel) forklift and Tetris forklift wizarded my cab and bed out without a scratch.

Happiness is about managing expectations. I am absolutely elated. Frank did such an amazing job with this.

 

[onemanarmy]

That is some serious packing efficiency!

 

[rick_d]

Toyota are fools. They could sell those things in the US.

 

[bottombracket]

@rick_d I KNOW.

But they don’t, so here we are.

The tentative plan is this: I am going to get the single cab build up and running and driving, and I will learn from the mistakes I have already made…because there are some for sure. @joekatana is stretching me another 80 frame. I bought all of the OEM cab bed and frame mounts from Megazip, and we will see if they can all be adapted. That should make fabrication easier.

I am planning on running my 1HD-FTE with +30 injectors, a stand-alone engine harness built by Mick Wallin in Australia, with a Unichip and a bigger turbo.

I sourced a new HF1A and assembled a new shifter from parts.

H152 needs to be sourced and I think I’ll have what I need to get started in earnest.

 

[sr5pickup]

Did you buy the entire container? I noticed what looked like another behind it on video of it being unloaded.

 

[bottombracket]

No, but there are several more fun things in there that belong to others. Unfortunately, all of them are spoken for.

 

[coldtaco]

Nice. You will be the envy of NA.

 

[fl4031003]

That looks like a GRJ cab. Does the tag on the door jamb say HZJ or GRJ?

 

[bottombracket]

That looks like a GRJ cab. Does the tag on the door jamb say HZJ or GRJ?

Neither, it’s a VDJ cab.

 

[roma042987]

Epic Galen

 

[FJ73Texas]

Neither, it’s a VDJ cab.

The hood told me it was VDJ right away. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[fl4031003]

Ah yes, the VDJ has the same ECU opening on the firewall as the GRJ

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

Can this be done on a 25+ year old 75 Series frame? Just curious.







Juan

 

[bottombracket]

Juan,

Sure can, might be a few mounting differences and a few inch differences. Nothing that couldn’t be overcome.

 

[FJBen]

Completely amazing what an awesome find Galen.

 

[bottombracket]

I ran out last night and unloaded the cab. It’s possible that I sat in the backseat just to see what it felt like.

I am really excited to get this build started.

In the past 48 hours I must’ve opened and closed the doors just to hear the satisfying new car ‘thunk’… At least 200 times.

 

[bottombracket]

The HF1A is available new.

It needs the rev counter from a 100 series… Which I just happened to have a spare sitting around.

Sensor got smashed in transit, but Megazip is doing the right thing and sending me a free sensor.

 

[bottombracket]

I spent a couple of evenings tracking down all of the part numbers for the HF1A shifter from a couple of different websites. It takes a lot of little parts. The shift lever itself is particularly difficult to find, but I found a working number on Partsouq. Dave at Japan 4 x 4 also has them. He has a different part number than the one I got, but I’m ordering another one to build one for the single cab (the shifting is so much better than the 30 year old one).

I will report back on any substantive differences. There are a couple of slight differences in angles of the shifter itself; I’m not sure if it makes a difference in fitment.

I like listing all the part numbers for posterity, but this may be too much. It’s a damn lot.