Build HZJ75 Troopy - campin' roadtrippin' wheelin' build

[TreadingLight]

I hear you on the advantages of LEDs but I am not after efficiency. I have plenty of electrons to spare. Instead I am after rugged (no cooling fans or circuit boards on these bulbs!), ice melting, and for a wee bit of sentimentality, period-correct color temperature. The massive price difference doesn't hurt.

I have seen and installed a lot of LEDs on peoples rigs. The retrobrights are the best LED headlight I have laid hands on, but still, not for me.

I might go with LED fogs but def not at Baja Design prices. Maybe if I were building a race truck with sponsorship

That money goes into the fuel/turbo/onboard margarita machine fund.

 

[TreadingLight]

Not many options in Halogen that I can find. Used/old stock IPF 840 fogs are out there and Hella still makes the 450 fogs. They are annoyingly rectangular (I like round things) but I will probably go this route.

I see now that the Hella Rallye 4000 is available in an sae/ece halogen fog. Round. But kinda big at 222mm / 8.75". I found two smaller Hellas - the FF50 (117mm/4.6") and FF75 (155mm/6").

And expanding my search to vintage trucks and big rigs, I see some Union Pacific street legal fogs out there (~5").

I'm paying attention to width/diameter as I am hoping to use the existing mounting holes in my bumper and need to watch for clearance to the roo bar.

 

[TreadingLight]

I made a final decision on lights.

• I am using Hella Rallye 500s for the fogs in a clear lens.
• For the aux driving lights, I traded some work to a friend for a pair of Hella ~9" e-code driving lights. Way bigger than I'd planned to use but that's $300 saved for the margarita machine fund. If this hadn't come up I'd have gone with Hella 4000 compact driving beams.
• I also added a pair of Hella FF75s with fog optics to replace the RFI-spewing LEDs I am currently using for cornering/ditch lights.

I'll replace bulbs with Osram Night breakers as needed.

This should give me good lighting that is street legal and not a hazard to others on the road. Will post pics once installed.

 

[TreadingLight]

Lights are backordered but should be arriving soon. In the meantime, I have this rad new rear step that @hairy_apple built for me in exchange for some work on his 40. It has adjustable height, can be broken down for storage, and reversable if I want to leave it on the bumper for a short drive.

@Owyhee Jackass asked for some pics so here we are. Not yet powder coated.

 

[TreadingLight]

My doors are in pretty rough shape and I'd like to get a few things sorted. Most urgently, the weatherstripping on all of the front doors is ragged and leaky, the window tint is scratched and fogged, and the lock cylinders don't work smoothly. While I don't plan to paint them, I do plan to spray some clearcoat to protect the uh, patina.

I have most of my parts sorted but I'm not sure about the weatherstripping/seals/runners. I'm trying to pick through the Front Door Panel & Glass diagram to find replacement rubber but I'm not sure I've found the right pieces (1990 RHD Troopy w/vents).

Am I missing anything? Clips, etc?

Description​	Left Side​	Right Side​
WEATHERSTRIP, FRONT DOOR	67862-60030	67861-60030
WEATHERSTRIP ASSY, FRONT DOOR GLASS, OUTER	68210-90K01	68160-90K01
WEATHERSTRIP ASSY, FRONT DOOR GLASS, INNER	68220-90K01	68170-90K01
RUN, FRONT DOOR GLASS	68141-90K03	68141-90K03
RUN, FRONT DOOR GLASS, NO.2	68143-90K00	68143-90K00
WEATHERSTRIP, FRONT DOOR VENT WINDOW	68182-90K00	68181-90K00
WEATHERSTRIP, FRONT DOOR VENT WINDOW GLASS	68176-90K00	68175-90K00
FILLER, FRONT DOOR GLASS CHANNEL	69971-90K00	69971-90K00

 

[prwillard2]

I do plan to spray some clearcoat to protect the uh, patina.

I'm kinda in the same boat as you with regards to my paint. Seems to have lost all it's clearcoat from sitting in the middle eastern sun. I was planning to try and use this:

Poppy's Patina - The Original Patina Clear Coat.

Located in Tulsa OK, Poppy's Patina is widely know as the Original Wipe-On Clear Coat for classic cars and trucks. Restore paint or preserve patina. Poppy's Patina is not just a "sauce" that wipes off. It seals your patina in UV protected coat. Find products to preserve your patina/paint in...

poppyspatina.com

 

[TreadingLight]

I assumed I would rattlecan some 2k semigloss or satin clearcoat from Napa but I have seen Poppy's mentioned a few times. I don't want a ridiculously shiny finish but otherwise I haven't done a ton of research.

I don't think mine has ever had a clearcoat and the white paint has worn through in a lot of spots.

 

[TreadingLight]

I have most of my parts sorted but I'm not sure about the weatherstripping/seals/runners. I'm trying to pick through the Front Door Panel & Glass diagram to find replacement rubber but I'm not sure I've found the right pieces (1990 RHD Troopy w/vents).

Am I missing anything? Clips, etc?

Some of my door plans are inspired by @Honger rebuilding his quite thoroughly. Any advice for me on parts I should include?

 

[janyyc]

I assumed I would rattlecan some 2k semigloss or satin clearcoat from Napa but I have seen Poppy's mentioned a few times. I don't want a ridiculously shiny finish but otherwise I haven't done a ton of research.

I don't think mine has ever had a clearcoat and the white paint has worn through in a lot of spots.

I’d be interested in anybody using a product like Poppy’s too. The paint on the 70 series (even brand new from factory) is super thin.

 

[TreadingLight]

Just doing the old 530k km service before heading down to Mexico.

 

[TreadingLight]

According to the clenchiness of my butthole when stopping, I've known I needed to do some brake work. I've replaced the calipers, master cylinder, soft lines, drums, and bled and changed the fluid multiple times. But it just wasn't right.

So before departing for ol' México, I decided to try bypassing the lspv. And wow that made a difference. I already have a bracket to reposition it per the suspension lift, so I think the lspv is just done for.

I'm undecided on whether it is worth replacing. But for now, a 6" hose, a couple plugs, and a cap on the exposed hard line has bought me some time to consider it.

Lspv bypass

The "T" on the frame under the master cylinder

Then I took off and am having a blast so far. Some bonus Troopy pics:

Aboard the ferry

Parked outside my hotel for the night

 

[coldtaco]

You probably know you can get a new one

 

[TreadingLight]

True true. All the parts are available. I'm just not sure if I'd get better results from a bypass hose or an lspv + bracket on a 2" lift.

 

[woytovich]

What are the likely consequences of bypassing the LSPV if my vehicle weight doesn't vary much?
AND: please elaborate on what specifically you did for the bypass....

AND: Have a great trip!

 

[TreadingLight]

What are the likely consequences of bypassing the LSPV if my vehicle weight doesn't vary much?
AND: please elaborate on what specifically you did for the bypass....

AND: Have a great trip!

I can't speak in detail to the consequences. To really know you'd need to do some brake distance tests in your vehicle. The FSM also gives brake pressure specs if you want to measure with a gauge. In my case I knew I had an issue because I wasn't able to lock up my brakes on a hard stop and they would overheat on twisty steep downhills (had to be pretty extreme, like Old Priest Grade off 120 near Yosemite).

Today is a driving day so can't detail more now but will do tonight, probably while sipping a tequila once I reach Tequila.

 

[woytovich]

Tequila in Tequila....epic!

 

[TreadingLight]

Oh man they do things right in this town. Down at the square for $5 they give you a clay cup full of tequila and who knows what else, refills for $4. Public drinking is encouraged.

So let that be my caveat against any inaccuracies to follow. This is based on my '90 RHD hzj75.

First I had a local brake hose place make me a 6" rubber hose with female m10x1.0 fittings. Since I am undecided about removing the lspv entirely i wantes to leave the T under the master cylinder in place, as well as the extra hardline that runs from the lspv back to the T (return circuit for front brakes).

So then @hairy_apple made me a couple male plugs by welding a fitting with a small piece of flared brake tube inside so it would make a seal, as well as a welded female fitting to keep any junk from getting into the disconnected hard line. If I were doing this again I might have had two rubber hoses made and bypassed the T as well as the lspv.

Anyhow, I disconnected the return line at the T, installed a plug in the unused port, and capped off the disconnected hard line.

I then went back to the lspv and disconnected the hard line for the rear circuit from the master cylinder, as well as the hard line going to the axle and wheel cylinders. I connected those two hard lines together with the rubber brake hose.

Then I started plugging the unused ports in the lspv but since I am going to toss this thing that was unnecessary and I only plugged one of the two ports.

Then I bled all 4 corners and went for a test drive. Huge improvement in brake distance and I can lock them up now.

The only question that remains: would a new lspv modified for a 2" lift perform better than my bypass hose? Not sure.

 

[prwillard2]

Oh man they do things right in this town. Down at the square for $5 they give you a clay cup full of tequila and who knows what else, refills for $4. Public drinking is encouraged.

So let that be my caveat against any inaccuracies to follow. This is based on my '90 RHD hzj75.

First I had a local brake hose place make me a 6" rubber hose with female m10x1.0 fittings. Since I am undecided about removing the lspv entirely i wantes to leave the T under the master cylinder in place, as well as the extra hardline that runs from the lspv back to the T (return circuit for front brakes).

So then @hairy_apple made me a couple male plugs by welding a fitting with a small piece of flared brake tube inside so it would make a seal, as well as a welded female fitting to keep any junk from getting into the disconnected hard line. If I were doing this again I might have had two rubber hoses made and bypassed the T as well as the lspv.

Anyhow, I disconnected the return line at the T, installed a plug in the unused port, and capped off the disconnected hard line.

I then went back to the lspv and disconnected the hard line for the rear circuit from the master cylinder, as well as the hard line going to the axle and wheel cylinders. I connected those two hard lines together with the rubber brake hose.

Then I started plugging the unused ports in the lspv but since I am going to toss this thing that was unnecessary and I only plugged one of the two ports.

Then I bled all 4 corners and went for a test drive. Huge improvement in brake distance and I can lock them up now.

The only question that remains: would a new lspv modified for a 2" lift perform better than my bypass hose? Not sure.

When people say "lock up the brakes" do you mean full on screeching and tires not moving? Because I can't do this in mine, just want to see if I also may need to do some additional brake work.

 

[TreadingLight]

Aye. Clearly you don't want to do that on the regular but you should have enough braking force to overcome the traction of the wheels on dry pavement. Ideal braking is when you can apply brakes just short of that point.

If you can't lock em up, either you're too heavy and are exceeding what stock brakes can do, or your brakes aren't working right.

With a bad lspv my front brakes were doing all the work with little action from the rears.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

When people say "lock up the brakes" do you mean full on screeching and tires not moving? Because I can't do this in mine, just want to see if I also may need to do some additional brake work.

We chose a paved road that had a fair amount of loose gravel on the surface to do the test. You could clearly see what brakes were doing what, without a lot of drama.