ih8mud inspired build (1 Viewer)

[Dagha Boy]

Jeez, more than a month since I've been on.

The 3 some turned out to be another false alarm. I'll keep your need for a 75 in mind Grant. I'm going to be spending 3 weeks in the Karoo in Dec/Jan and plan to do a farm-to-farm Cruiser exploration.

Thanks for the tip on the transmission in EL. (I was born and grew up there, haven't been back since 94 though)

Work on the Dagha Boy has progressed quite nicely over the past month.

Believe it or not, I'm still battling to get a cam follower... maybe this week.

Just as well I decided to do the head. Turned out it was toast. Damn! Anyway not too bad as I managed to find a very good one which has now been completely redone good as new.

I decided to bite the bullet on the transmission and had that completely rebuilt. Expensive, but peace of mind. I don't want to sell this thing and have come backs on anything.

The transmission has now been thoroughly cleaned and painted. The only thing that needs done is the hand brake. Got all the new parts for that from Toyota yesterday. Only thing I'm battling to get is the rubber boot for the tfer case shifter shaft. Luckily it won't hold up the build.

I got the new floor for the load bed - very nice, but the wheel wells were a disaster. Anyway, I made up new cross supports out of 75 x 2.5mm square tubing. I noticed when I took the old one apart that the factory had not painted the cross supports and that this caused bad rust, so I painted the replacements really well. Inevitably, where I weld the floor down, it will burn some paint away, but at least 99.9% of the steel will be well coated with paint before going down and will stay that way.

I have all the holes drilled for the button welds and now just wait for wheel wells to fit before welding it all together.

NEW SUPPORTS IN.

TEST FIT 1

TEST FIT 2

While waiting I have also been assembling on the tub.

I re did the harness with all the nice goodies I got from Coolerman and Racer. Got it all nicely wrapped (That wrap works a treat and 3 rolls does it nicely - thanks Coolerman) and inserted in the right place. I removed all the terminal blocks and replaced them with new and soldered all the wires. The firewall grommet had been a problem to find, but I found a very heavy oval shaped rubber plug on a wrecked Toyota Condor, cut a hole for the harness in the centre and forced it into the round hole. It fit tight and neatly as can be. That still left me with the problem of the little bent end on the original. The same vehicle had a rubber goose neck grommet for its electric window wiring where it passes into the door. I took that and cut one end off. It pressed perfectly into the plug in the firewall and looks like it could be original. Problem solved.

LOOKS REAL

THE GENEROUS DONOR.

Dagha Boy is a '77 and I found a grommet on this same Condor that I think may fit the later model. I will get hold of the Toyota part numbers for the rubbers in case somebody else wants to do the same.

 

[Dagha Boy]

It seems I am in the home stretch on the Dagha Boy build now.

Just some small irritating hold ups, like I still don't have my engine back. Hopefully this week I will get that back and be able to stick it and the gearbox together and into the frame. Once that is done the tub can go on for the final time...

I did all the tub assembly on the stand so it will be plug and play when it goes on.

Yesterday I did the final bits for the tub, the plastic covers and the instrument cluster. I had half-done the latter almost a year ago and never finished it properly. Mainly because the bezel had not been painted. That was done last week and tomorrow I'll just stick it in.
THE BACK

AND TA DA!!! THE FRONT.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I've been looking for ideas for my next build and this picture

made me think how cool it would be build a '45 6x6

 

[Dagha Boy]

The colour on the pics does not show up well. But one of the benefits of having a body shop on site is that they can colour match perfectly. We polished up a well preserved ashtray cover and got a really good match to the original pewter.

Cleaning all the old overspray and crud from the interior plastic covers left them very dull and full of fine scratches. I had hoped to avoid painting them, but had to in the end. I used Rustoleum's direct to plastic paint. The final product is not too bad, but still too shiny for my taste.

It has been quite funny working in an environment where the aim is not for quality but for quantity. The guys have been puzzled by my slow pace and meticulous way of doing things. Much ragging went on until it all started coming together and they came to realise what a difference it makes. Now I have a bunch of enthusiastic critics checking me on each step.

What has really come home to me lately is the value of properly "bagging and tagging" everything together. Despite having moved the whole bang shoot in pieces from the bush to the coast, I have been able to easily lay my hands on everything I needed. I kept every screw, nut, bolt, washer etc (even broken ones) together with whatever it held down where I could and then put all the baggies together per category. Eg. Every bit for the glove box, ashtray, switches etc all in individual properly labelled baggies, and then all together into a box labelled "dash board." A piece of cake when it comes to re assembly.

I have re assembled with all new stainless steel hardware, but would have preferred to use re plated original stuff. Next time. I have kept all my labelled baggies with the left over stuff and will get them cleaned and plated to have in stock for the next one. Between that and Coolerman's bolts it should be possible to do it all with the right JIT stuff.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Hmmmm. Now there's a plan SBG.

I found the following on the Land Cruiser Club of South Africa today. Member's only site so I copied these for you.

FRAME EXTENSION PIECE

EXTENSION PIECE FITTED

6X6

This is what the guy said about it.

"Enjin (151kw @ 3400rpm and 430Nm @ 1200-3200 rpm ) will get Unichip to bring the 1VD-FTV V8 to deliver almost the same power and torque as the LC 200 ie. 173kw @ 3200rpm and 615Nm @ 1800-2200rpm.
Tyres to be changed to 37" that will result in a 20% increase of road speed at the same rpm.
Speed (km/h) at 3000 rpm for std weels and 37" weels:
1st gear: 25,30
2nd gear: 45, 55
3rd gear: 76, 91
45th gear: 112, 135
5th gear : 128, 154
In comparison the LC 200 do 160km/h in 5th and 197km/h in 6th gear at 3000 rpm.

Turning circle should not change dramatically.

The heart of the conversion is the multidrive gearbox that will supply front and both rear Differentials.
Differentials can be separately engaged to facilitate 2x6, 4x6, and 6x6.
The differential locks can be locked as follows: off, both rear locks and all three locks."

 

[70Cruza]

Awesome!!! THanks for the update Dagha!!!!!!

MORE pics as you continue the next phase!!!!

 

[boozewz]

Looking forward to seeing the finished truck Dagha!

 

[Dagha Boy]

Slooow progress but progress none-the-less.

I'll start with the load bed. I am happy to report that it is all done but for the tail gate that needs a bit of attention before getting paint. I decided that I would avoid going for absolute perfection on the load bed, after all, it is a pick-up and expected to have a few minor dings... It had amazingly few of those so in the main I have left them as a nod and a wink to a 40 year old working truck.

I did make very sure though that the prep and coatings were 100%. The idea of pre-painting the bottom of the floor and the cross members I've told above. It worked extremely well and very little of the paint got burnt so 99.9% of the hidden nooks and crannies between the floor and the cross members are properly coated (Red oxide primer, 2k paint left over from the wheels)

Then I masked up the sides and gave it a really good coating of Durabak. (Herculiner in the USA.) I was surprised to learn that it originates in South Africa and is exported to the USA! Then again, should I be surprised, after all us Africans invented fire and we all know what that meant to the world.

Having said that, I was quite nervous about the prep work between coatings and went quite overboard on that. The reason for my nervousness is a whole other story.

I also sealed up each and every seam with acrylic sealer before putting the MS undercoat on. I let the undercoat dry for two days before scuffing it up carefully and washing down with benzene before applying the Durabak which I left to dry in the sun for a week before putting the colour coat on. I am satisfied that there will be no peeling off.

I think that this steel is now properly protected and should be able to stand up to harsh conditions for many years. I have managed to get a wand and will spray Tectyl rust preventative into the cross members on Monday. (1000hr salt spray test without failing)

ALL DONE AND DRYING IN THE SUN

CLOSE UP

WHEEL WELL

SAME TREATMENT FOR THE INSIDE

COLOUR COAT ON TOP OF ALL THAT.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Looking forward to seeing the finished truck Dagha!

So am I!!!

But then there are the set backs. I had set end November as my target for completion, but still waiting for the engine... Hoping for next week.

And then there are the real unnecessary disasters.

I paid a wack of money to a professional vehicle restorer (CK Customs in Nelspruit) who does truly beautiful body work to do the final finishing on the body parts. I collected them in the dark and did not check them properly. Went home and transferred the full payment to him. To put it very mildly I was not happy with the quality of work. It all went back twice. The only part I did not sand blast and do any work on (because it needed nothing) was the back panel of the cab. He was supposed to have that sand blasted before finishing it.

Well, I discovered that he had not put seam sealer into all the seams, so I set about doing that. When I pulled the masking tape off it peeled huge chunks of colour coat with it. It became clear that no prep, let alone sandblasting had been done to it. Fu%^&#@*.

It was so bad that I had to take it off the tub and have it sand blasted. And now you know why I was so paranoid about proper prep between coats on the load bed.

I gave it a good coating of MS on top of the etch primer this morning and will do the seams on Monday. Then flat and colour on Tuesday.

Fu$%^&*#!!! (JUST LOOK AT THE CRUD UNDER THAT PAINT)

 

[Dagha Boy]

Ooops, forgot to post the after sand blasting pic.

CLEAN FOR A FRESH START.

 

[Dagha Boy]

In between I've been assembling the cab.

Sorry, poor pictures from cell phone.

Everything has now been done on the tub since these were taken.

All the other sections, like the bib etc have been fully assembled so when the engine is in it should just be a matter of fitting them, connecting the plumbing and plugging in the wiring. It's really getting close now.

One more pic of the load bed.

ETCH PRIMER SCUFFED AND READY FOR MS PRIMER.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

looking good!

 

[70Cruza]

Thanks for sharing Dagha!!! Sucks about the paint but still, it's coming together!

Look forward to more updates and pictures.

 

[Dagha Boy]

I got the rare opportunity to work for a few hours on Sunday.

I made up the wiring for the rear lights and licence plate light and fitted the lights to the tail gate, so the loadbed is now ready to go on the chassis once all the scratches and chips on that have been sorted.

Just had a call from the local Toyota dealership to say my long awaited lifter has arrived. That means I could have my engine back on Thursday!!!! Yeeeeeha!!!

That means I will not miss my deadline of end November by much more than a week. I can smell the proverbial stable...

Edit; Of course I did NOT fit the lights to the tail gate, but in the correct position on the load bed.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Are you still planning on bringing this to the States to sell? if so, what are your thoughts about converting it to LHD? there is a huge value difference between RHD and LHD - I may or may not have been shopping LR 110s, in that case, there are 2 very comparable 110s, one RHD, one LHD - the RHD has been for sale forever at 20k, the LHD was for sale 3 weeks before it sold at 60k (I know, I called and asked why it wasn't listed anymore)... I know it's really late in the process (sorry) but I missed that bit where you said you were planning on bringing it to the states and caught it recently.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Hi SBG

Ja, the plan is to be in the states from March to end June next year so plan to ship it in Feb from here and then sell it over there. I have spent far too much on it and won't recover the money if I had to sell it locally. Between 20 and 30k USD will cover me at the bottom end and give a profit at the top end. I gather it is not an easy exercise to get it into the States. That is bound to be a learning curve... Do you think it is do-able at say 25k for the Dagha Boy?

I realised this too late into the build so must run with this one as it is. If it proves worth while I intend sourcing the few bits required to do the LHD conversion while I'm in the States and will then do one in LHD next year. I love doing the work, but there is no market here to even break even at the level I like to work, so to be able to do it, I have to find a market that will at least allow a break-even.

I have a mechanically very nice HJ45 which I repoed sitting in a container waiting to be done. Mechanically it is very nice. Full on OME suspension as new, discs all round. A silky smooth gearbox and transfer case and good diffs. The engine (H) runs like a sewing machine. The body is totally shot though. My stepson used it for a year when he was out here and loved it, so it is an ideal candidate for conversion to LHD, even if I just do it and then send it to him. (He's in Portland, OR.)

I need to source a LHD firewall, dash board, steering box perch and steering box, and wiring loom to be able to do the conversion. I have been following 76FJ40's thread MY 78' BARN FIND FJ45 and he seems to have had no problems doing the conversion. The RHD 45 frames we get here are set up for both RHD and LHD - it's plug and play.

The bureaucracy is the BIG stumbling block as I see it.

If it can't be done then maybe you and I can have a chat about the Buick you have sitting there rusting away... Now there's a project!

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Such nice work!

 

[Dagha Boy]

Thanks Cruiserkreutz. It will hopefully be in Portland in about March next year and you can have a close look at it if you want.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Last Tuesday I got a call from Abie (My man at the local Toyota dealership, Knysna Toyota) to fetch my lifters. (3 weeks from Japan) Dropped them and the rebuilt diesel pump with the engineering works. That was all that was needed for them to stick the head back on the block. All this was done before 08:00. When I phoned on Thursday PM, they said it would only be done next week Thursday. Oh well, it has been months so what's another week.

The frame is all ready to take the engine and gearbox. I gave it a good scrubbing down and dried it for a day in the sun and then touched up all the nicks and chips it has sustained along the way. Then I decided to give it a nice 2k clear coat over everything for some more protection against what's waiting for it in its future and to give some measure of protection to the plating on the brake pipes etc.

WASHED, DRIED AND WIPED DOWN READY FOR TOUCH-UP.

NICE AND SHINEY

AND A BIT OF BLING TO MATCH THE SHINE ...AND JUST-FOR-NICE

Very difficult to capture the shine with my photography (dis)ability. Take my word for it, it looks nice-nice.

All the bolts and nuts have been checked and torqued down to the correct spec as per the manual or for bolt size where not specified in the manual. The yellow markings are nail polish put there to prove to me that I have tightened it properly. I have found that there are so many distractions that I often lay awake at night wondering whether I had actually tightened all the bolts, so this is my solution to that problem. I only found a couple that I had not tightened properly, but for peace of mind it has been worth the exercise. I can now set my mind at ease that I have not missed a single one.

Now for the engine, gearbox and drive shafts...

 

[Dagha Boy]

My self-imposed and arbitrary completion date, 30 November, has come and gone. It is not only the engine that has held me up, but I misjudged just how much time consuming detail comes at the end, and how long it can take to "just connect the handbrake" and you have to fit and take it off 3 times to get everything right.

There have also been many last minute cleans and repairs, which should have been done earlier but had for whatever reason not been done. Like, the "fuel separator"(?) I had not cleaned and repainted them. All in the baggie, but still dirty and rusted. So it is clean up, paint, wait to dry and then fit. A 5min job becomes and hour.

IT'S ALL WORTH IT IN THE END.

Yesterday I tightened the windscreen hold down knobs in preparation of putting on the roof supports. One would not tighten properly - the captured nut was -not stripped but worn so could not hold against the torque. And so it goes.

My point is, it is easy to badly under estimate the amount to time needed for the myriad "quick little jobs" right at the end. I find that I was getting all stressed about that and then jumping from job to job and not completing any one and having to go back to everything and getting more stressed in the process. An unfinished job essentially remains an unfinished job, whether it is a quarter job or a half job.

It is not so critical during the broad-brush-strokes early part in the build, but at fine-brush-strokes end of the build, discipline and planning becomes essential. (apologies for the MBA speak) Half an hour's planning is worth hours in efficiency. Now it is by the LIST. List it, tackle it, COMPLETE it, and cross it off. Ah, that feels better. I think I'll have a Klippies and Coke.

Another unforeseen hold-up was the quality of plating I had done. The same @#$^$^&(#$%$ that screwed up the paint work plated three items for me. The only things I had plated. They came back beautifully wrapped, so I resisted the temptation to unwrap them until I needed them. When I did, they were beyond s***.

PROUDLY PLATED BY CK CUSTOMS, NELSPRUIT. (Look at the rust on the filler neck)

Now I have to send them off to be re plated and wait for them to get back.

My second unrealistic completion date is 15 December. I don't think (know) it will be possible, but the MWFD and I are off and out of Plett on the 16th for three weeks to avoid the worst of the summer holiday crowds. The plan is to travel around the Karroo (semi-desert area) looking for Cruisers and Cruiser bits and try to get them to follow me home.