Build Ikarus' HDJ81 Aussie-Style Build

[FMC80]

My plan is to reinstall my driver/passenger seatbelts that I just got back from Safety Restore. Though, I'm a little bummed. I chose color matching, but these are clearly not matched to the tan or beige that would be much closer to stock than dark brown!
Maybe color match to them meant to the upper housings over the bolts.
Oh well...View attachment 3994913

Would love to hear your feedback on how they turned out. Do they return nicely? The belts in my 80 just won’t return on their own these days.

I have the oak interior, and safety restore absolutely screwed up the color match.

They didn’t match anything close to the original and I ended up sending my seatbelts back twice and ended up with a full refund.

The brown oak they matched looked more burgundy. If you do a search, the pictures are there.

I tried being kind and patient with them. These guys are clowns and I wouldn’t ever do business with them again.

 

[CrzrGuinevere]

I have the oak interior, and safety restore absolutely screwed up the color match.

They didn’t match anything close to the original and I ended up sending my seatbelts back twice and ended up with a full refund.

The brown oak they matched looked more burgundy. If you do a search, the pictures are there.

I tried being kind and patient with them. These guys are clowns and I wouldn’t ever do business with them again.

Yea. I only went with them because they had the color match option. Not that I was expecting it to be exact, but I thought it would be a little closer then what I got. In certain lighting, it really doesn't look too far off, so I'm letting it slide. Luckily too, that slightly darker brown is in the seat fabric. I only went with color match too as I didn't want to have to re-do all the belts to match, at $100/belt that gets pricey quick!

 

[ikarus]

To pull the sunroof…..does the headliner have to be pulled? I don’t have the firm headliner like you do, mine is cloth.

I think there's a way to remove just the glass but I'm not sure. Would have to look around Mud

I liked the sunroof in mine, but didn't like the reduction in headroom. It was great at getting hot air out of the truck on a summer day.

Current 80 has no sunroof, and there is a good 1½ inches or more extra headroom

I'm the same, I like sunroofs ok but when I buy new cars I try to order them without. I don't need the headroom in the 80 luckily so I'm thinking I may leave it as is. If I could easily get a non sunroof headliner and fully take advantage of the headroom I might go through the hassle to delete the sunroof.

 

[ikarus]

Back to the H152 for a sec. The rear countershaft bearing has a very small c clip groove (2mm) that you need to pull on to remove the race. My puller set was too large so I found a cheap puller on Amazon and ground it down so it would fit. Race came right out.

Remove the 2 piece bearing -

And the counter shaft drops out.

 

[ikarus]

Decided not to do a sunroof delete. Tracked down a new sunroof and a new combination switch. It has a few differences from my current switch, mainly automatic lights, but I never use those. Hoping it'll plug and play.

 

[ikarus]

Got the new countershaft in, bearings pressed on, and reassembled.

Ordered a bunch of random small parts from Partsouq like c-clips and got hit with $0.30 in tariffs

Homemade SST to reinstall the reverse gear clutch hub on the output shaft. Part of a harbor freight jack and a 2x4 with a hole in it

Oil seal pressed into the new input shaft bearing retainer

And all ready to get FIPG'd back up

 

[ikarus]

It was here that the FSM calls for installing the shift lever shaft, which uses a roll pin.

I dropped that roll pin right into the case and just sat there for a minute thinking about how annoying it was going to be to disassemble it and redo all the FIPG.

First I fished around with a magnet, shined a light into the few remaining access points but couldn't find anything. At this point it was 1am so as a last ditch attempt to not open the transmission again I picked it up and shook it upside down until the roll pin miraculously fell out into the oil receiver chute.

I very carefully installed the shift lever shaft using a magnet to hold the pin and then called it a night.

The next day I got everything buttoned up. Here's a few reference photos.

The transmission had sealer on the bolts from the factory in these 2 top left bolts in the picture:

The bellhousing uses 9 bolts that are all one size, and then one shorter bolt. That one goes here by the shift fork pivot.

Haven't got around to the transfer case yet. Installed the clutch master in the mean time.

 

[ikarus]

I pulled the AC evaporator core as part of an overhaul of the AC system. It's pretty grimy. Not the worst I've seen but I'm sure the new core will be a big improvement.

It's funny, the FSM is always pretty good but I feel like once you start getting to this level of disassembly sometimes the instructions are comically light. Like they didn't expect many people to do it. "uh just remove 4 nuts and remove it" is basically all you get for under dash HVAC components. But as always I enjoy understanding how all the puzzle pieces fit together and it's not that bad once you dig in

I removed the blower as well. All the foam is crumbling so this too will be getting a deep clean and all new foam, as well as a new blower fan.

So that leaves me here. This worked out great because I've been meaning to pull that harness to the left of the AC lines and repair a bunch of exposed wiring/broken loom and delete some stuff for the manual swap. This harness has EGR and transmission wiring.

 

[ikarus]

I pulled the automatic brake pedal to build a new manual version. Had the bucket and pedal powder coated. I could have reused the old bucket, but the pedals are different, obviously with a smaller pedal on the manual version, but also a slight difference in the bend of the pedal.

Took apart the HVAC blower assembly. Easy but lots of small screws and parts that I can't find on the EPC so I'm trying to be very careful.

 

[ikarus]

Looks like this 28 year old plastic is going to clean up just fine. Threw it in the parts washer (my kitchen sink ((don't tell my wife)))

 

[glinskonian]

Air saw got a workout today. Started with the OTC transmission tunnel plate. It seems like it was designed for 80s without airbags as mine has an airbag module and some additional sheet metal on the transmission tunnel and it couldn't sit properly. I marked what I needed to cut but ended up measuring again and cutting a little less.

View attachment 3963023

View attachment 3963026

View attachment 3963028

Using the OTC plate as a template, I cut out the holes in the trans tunnel for the H152 shifter and transfer shifter.

View attachment 3963029

View attachment 3963030

Beautiful work on this.
I am right in the middle of a H152 swap myself and am also using the same OTC trans cover plate.
Any advice for cutting material from the bracket at the front of the tunnel?
I'm mainly concerned about 1) not cutting the actual tunnel beneath the bracket (although you just have to be careful there) and 2) removing the material once it's cut. Were you able to pry it away from the its spot welds? Any tips?

 

[ikarus]

Beautiful work on this.
I am right in the middle of a H152 swap myself and am also using the same OTC trans cover plate.
Any advice for cutting material from the bracket at the front of the tunnel?
I'm mainly concerned about 1) not cutting the actual tunnel beneath the bracket (although you just have to be careful there) and 2) removing the material once it's cut. Were you able to pry it away from the its spot welds? Any tips?

Which bracket are talking about cutting? If you're talking about the bracket that holds the shift console in place right in front of the airbag module, I didn't cut that. You can see here in a later post how I got everything to fit but I did have to cut the OTC plate and trim the OEM shift boot plate:

Build Post in thread 'Ikarus' HDJ81 Aussie-Style Build'

Aug 5, 2025

Mocked up the center console and shift console. I found the shift console on eBay Australia.

Looks like everything fits fine. The forward mounts line up, but the rear mounts in an auto are on the auto shift plate so I'll need to design a bracket for that.

Worked on widening the airbox inlet. Not the prettiest but it'll work.

Hate to cut up NLA parts but I took a 1/2" off the front of the shift boot metal surround and the rubber boot.

Part no. for the shift boot bolts. The Toyota bolts are NLA but Yamaha shares some part...

• ikarus

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[glinskonian]

Which bracket are talking about cutting? If you're talking about the bracket that holds the shift console in place right in front of the airbag module, I didn't cut that. You can see here in a later post how I got everything to fit but I did have to cut the OTC plate and trim the OEM shift boot plate:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/ikarus-hdj81-aussie-style-build.1306303/post-16030426

I'm talking about the bracket in my pic below. So yes what the center console bolts into.
Mine needs a chunk taken out of it right in the middle so the OTC plate can be bolted down in that spot.

Was yours not like mine from the factory, or did you never have a continuous bracket across the tunnel like in my pic?

 

[ikarus]

I'm talking about the bracket in my pic below. So yes what the center console bolts into.
Mine needs a chunk taken out of it right in the middle so the OTC plate can be bolted down in that spot.

Was yours not like mine from the factory, or did you never have a continuous bracket across the tunnel like in my pic?

View attachment 4056317

Gotcha. Mine is a late model so it looks different from yours - this is how it was from the factory, I didn't make that cut and the bracket is two pieces, spot welded.

 

[logicbyondreaso]

Gotcha. Mine is a late model so it looks different from yours - this is how it was from the factory, I didn't make that cut and the bracket is two pieces, spot welded.

View attachment 4056327

Take a look at my post 315 here. Looks to be same as your setup. No issues using OTC bracket.

Build Thread '1998 HDJ80 with 1HDT - Refresh'

Apr 23, 2023

Purchased this '98 from a TX dealer that had it on BAT. To me it seemed very clean, rust free, and as original as can be. It has 246,000 kilometers or 153,000 miles.
Looking up the VIN on some sites does validate that it was factory produced with a 1HDT motor and had a build date of mid 1997. The available paperwork from Costa Rica have it registered as a 1998 for many years going as far back as early 2000's so its likely a 1998 model when sold new - remember these were sold till 2007 in some markets.
I was told it came from original owner in Costa Rica before making its debut in the USA...

• logicbyondreaso
• Replies: 411
• Forum: 80-Series Tech

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• 

 

[glinskonian]

Take a look at my post 315 here. Looks to be same as your setup. No issues using OTC bracket.

Build Thread '1998 HDJ80 with 1HDT - Refresh'

Apr 23, 2023

Purchased this '98 from a TX dealer that had it on BAT. To me it seemed very clean, rust free, and as original as can be. It has 246,000 kilometers or 153,000 miles.
Looking up the VIN on some sites does validate that it was factory produced with a 1HDT motor and had a build date of mid 1997. The available paperwork from Costa Rica have it registered as a 1998 for many years going as far back as early 2000's so its likely a 1998 model when sold new - remember these were sold till 2007 in some markets.
I was told it came from original owner in Costa Rica before making its debut in the USA...

• logicbyondreaso
• Replies: 411
• Forum: 80-Series Tech

• 
• 

Hey @logicbyondreaso, you appear to have the same style of bracket here where it doesn't span across the entire trans tunnel. My bracket goes all the way across the trans tunnel, and so need a chunk taken out of it to fit the OTC plate.

 

[ikarus]

Not too much to report, been too busy with work.

Worked on dismantling and cleaning up the steering column a bit, the grease was baked on and sticky.

I'll probably go ahead and take it apart to replace the bushings and bearing. Just need to go buy a slide hammer with metric fittings

 

[ikarus]

Checking out a new local shop with @Dirty Koala. Giving me motivation to get the cruiser running and painted for the summer.

 

[Broski]

Checking out a new local shop with @Dirty Koala. Giving me motivation to get the cruiser running and painted for the summer.

View attachment 4077047

Couple of kool SKEs there

 

[ikarus]

Wanted to try out a new dry ice blasting place so I dropped off my transfer case. Took em about 20 minutes - pretty great.

Before:

After: