- Thread starter
- #461
Oh nice, no I did some digging and everything on Partsouq and Amayama was out of production. Didn't know about that option
Builds Ikarus' HDJ81 Aussie-Style Build (3 Viewers)
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Is that Nutty Putty Cave??
I know a few people have asked about the Rosen visors so I took a pic. I like em, probably give them an 8/10. Could be a little larger and could be a little darker tint. But compared to the old broken sagging visors, they're great.
- Thread starter
- #463
Yeah kind of an eerie place, knowing that guy is still in there
- Thread starter
- #464
How do you know about it?
Just from the YouTube videos about the accident!
- Thread starter
- #466
I bet that's hard to watch, what a nightmare. Pretty weird out there, you can hop down 4-5' to where the entrance used to be and they have a little memorial plaque.
Same here, I watched the YT vids about it. That poor dude is now just clothes and bones. I thought it was reopened? Maybe just the part he is in is still closed off.
- Thread starter
- #468
I think they talked about reopening it but they eventually dynamited it and poured concrete in.
- Thread starter
- #469
Installed the PDI airbox today. It's well-built, 4" in, 4" out and uses a 200 series filter.
There's a drain at the bottom that uses a Toyota duckbill style valve as well (I believe these came stock on FJ Cruisers, 105s and VDJ79s.. don't quote me on that. Bought this separately in the US.)
First step was to remove the factory airbox. I also removed the inner fender intake since I'll be adding a snorkel soon.
To remove the two piece fender intake, there are 3x 10mm bolts. Undo the first one toward the front and you can move the front intake section out of the way in the fender.
Then remove the cruise control cover and you can access the two nuts for the rear intake section.
Both will slide right out. Rear:
Front:
Next you transfer the OEM rubber mounts and metal inserts from the old airbox to the PDI. Took me a second to figure it out but you just squish them in there
Then you figure out the piping from airbox to turbo -
I capped off the PCV inlet on the PDI pipe with a 5/8" coolant cap and OEM hose clamp.
Some messing around and cutting silicone to find the right length of each section and setup.
I initially tried to install the airbox with the battery installed on the RHS but there was no way to access one of the bolts connecting airbox to body. So I removed the battery and battery box.
With that done, it was no problem to install the airbox and get the piping all fitted up. I have the airbox inlet running directly into the fender right now until I get the snorkel installed.
The fit is extremely tight with the battery box. It just barely fits but that moves up designing a new battery tray up on my list of priorities.
All buttoned up:
I did run into one snag. Some of these HDJ81s with all the options have a steering box with a solenoid that tightens up/makes the steering more heavy at high speeds. The wire connecting the body harness to this solenoid can be seen here crossing directly underneath the airbox:
The plug was interfering with the PDI airbox so I unplugged it and figured i'd work it out later. I assumed it just wouldn't activate the heavy steering at high speeds but nope - it did the opposite. Now my steering is super heavy all the time. haha oops.
I'll have to get back in there and either unwrap the body harness to give me some more slack and reroute, or extend those two wires. Not sure yet.
I started it up and did a quick test run. I have a winding mountain road on a steep incline nearby that's my "test track." Goes from 5K feet to 6K feet over the course of 3 miles.
To be a little scientific, I drove this road before:
40° ambient temps, stock airbox, intercooler: foot down for almost 2 miles, at the end of a long straightaway, I saw 1300° F EGTs
After:
35° ambient, PDI airbox, intercooler: foot down at straightaway, 1200° F EGTs. Also I'm approaching the limits of my testing abilities there as this time I was almost 10 mph faster than before at that point. And as you know an 80 just isn't built for canyon carving hahah
I was impressed so far, feels like it spools up a little faster and it sounds good too. I'll repeat again with the snorkel.
There's a drain at the bottom that uses a Toyota duckbill style valve as well (I believe these came stock on FJ Cruisers, 105s and VDJ79s.. don't quote me on that. Bought this separately in the US.)
First step was to remove the factory airbox. I also removed the inner fender intake since I'll be adding a snorkel soon.
To remove the two piece fender intake, there are 3x 10mm bolts. Undo the first one toward the front and you can move the front intake section out of the way in the fender.
Then remove the cruise control cover and you can access the two nuts for the rear intake section.
Both will slide right out. Rear:
Front:
Next you transfer the OEM rubber mounts and metal inserts from the old airbox to the PDI. Took me a second to figure it out but you just squish them in there
Then you figure out the piping from airbox to turbo -
I capped off the PCV inlet on the PDI pipe with a 5/8" coolant cap and OEM hose clamp.
Some messing around and cutting silicone to find the right length of each section and setup.
I initially tried to install the airbox with the battery installed on the RHS but there was no way to access one of the bolts connecting airbox to body. So I removed the battery and battery box.
With that done, it was no problem to install the airbox and get the piping all fitted up. I have the airbox inlet running directly into the fender right now until I get the snorkel installed.
The fit is extremely tight with the battery box. It just barely fits but that moves up designing a new battery tray up on my list of priorities.
All buttoned up:
I did run into one snag. Some of these HDJ81s with all the options have a steering box with a solenoid that tightens up/makes the steering more heavy at high speeds. The wire connecting the body harness to this solenoid can be seen here crossing directly underneath the airbox:
The plug was interfering with the PDI airbox so I unplugged it and figured i'd work it out later. I assumed it just wouldn't activate the heavy steering at high speeds but nope - it did the opposite. Now my steering is super heavy all the time. haha oops.
I'll have to get back in there and either unwrap the body harness to give me some more slack and reroute, or extend those two wires. Not sure yet.
I started it up and did a quick test run. I have a winding mountain road on a steep incline nearby that's my "test track." Goes from 5K feet to 6K feet over the course of 3 miles.
To be a little scientific, I drove this road before:
40° ambient temps, stock airbox, intercooler: foot down for almost 2 miles, at the end of a long straightaway, I saw 1300° F EGTs
After:
35° ambient, PDI airbox, intercooler: foot down at straightaway, 1200° F EGTs. Also I'm approaching the limits of my testing abilities there as this time I was almost 10 mph faster than before at that point. And as you know an 80 just isn't built for canyon carving hahah
I was impressed so far, feels like it spools up a little faster and it sounds good too. I'll repeat again with the snorkel.
- Thread starter
- #471
Started working on the snorkel tonight. Taped up the fender and traced the template from Radius -
Zapped a hole in the middle with a step bit and went to town with some metal shears/tin snips.
Got it to a roughly good point and started working with the snorkel to see what else I need to trim.
Ran into my first dilemma. The airbox extends into the fender, and the snorkel extends into the engine bay. So one will have to be cut down. I'm thinking there's enough room on the inlet of the airbox that I could cut and weld that while retaining the bead and leave enough for a hose clamp.
Thoughts?
Zapped a hole in the middle with a step bit and went to town with some metal shears/tin snips.
Got it to a roughly good point and started working with the snorkel to see what else I need to trim.
Ran into my first dilemma. The airbox extends into the fender, and the snorkel extends into the engine bay. So one will have to be cut down. I'm thinking there's enough room on the inlet of the airbox that I could cut and weld that while retaining the bead and leave enough for a hose clamp.
Thoughts?
My vote would be to cut the snorkel, small increments with lots of test fitting. Looking at the pictures, cutting the snorkel seems easier. I would be concerned with cutting the tube from the air box IMO. In the end, you can’t easily put back what’s been cut off. Looking good so far. I’ll bet cutting into the fender was a little nerve racking.Started working on the snorkel tonight. Taped up the fender and traced the template from Radius -
Zapped a hole in the middle with a step bit and went to town with some metal shears/tin snips.
Got it to a roughly good point and started working with the snorkel to see what else I need to trim.
Ran into my first dilemma. The airbox extends into the fender, and the snorkel extends into the engine bay. So one will have to be cut down. I'm thinking there's enough room on the inlet of the airbox that I could cut and weld that while retaining the bead and leave enough for a hose clamp.
Thoughts?
- Thread starter
- #473
Yeah if people don't like the amount of cutting they have to do for a Safari snorkel they shouldn't even consider this style. haha
I also realized that the snorkel enters on one side of the inner fender, but the airbox is perfectly centered. So they're misaligned by a few inches. Gonna puzzle over that as well.
Nice airbox! Do you recall the turbo inlet diameter, is it 4" on the factory turbo? Thanks!Installed the PDI airbox today. It's well-built, 4" in, 4" out and uses a 200 series filter.
There's a drain at the bottom that uses a Toyota duckbill style valve as well (I believe these came stock on FJ Cruisers, 105s and VDJ79s.. don't quote me on that. Bought this separately in the US.)
First step was to remove the factory airbox. I also removed the inner fender intake since I'll be adding a snorkel soon.
To remove the two piece fender intake, there are 3x 10mm bolts. Undo the first one toward the front and you can move the front intake section out of the way in the fender.
Then remove the cruise control cover and you can access the two nuts for the rear intake section.
Both will slide right out. Rear:
Front:
Next you transfer the OEM rubber mounts and metal inserts from the old airbox to the PDI. Took me a second to figure it out but you just squish them in there
Then you figure out the piping from airbox to turbo -
I capped off the PCV inlet on the PDI pipe with a 5/8" coolant cap and OEM hose clamp.
Some messing around and cutting silicone to find the right length of each section and setup.
I initially tried to install the airbox with the battery installed on the RHS but there was no way to access one of the bolts connecting airbox to body. So I removed the battery and battery box.
With that done, it was no problem to install the airbox and get the piping all fitted up. I have the airbox inlet running directly into the fender right now until I get the snorkel installed.
The fit is extremely tight with the battery box. It just barely fits but that moves up designing a new battery tray up on my list of priorities.
All buttoned up:
I did run into one snag. Some of these HDJ81s with all the options have a steering box with a solenoid that tightens up/makes the steering more heavy at high speeds. The wire connecting the body harness to this solenoid can be seen here crossing directly underneath the airbox:
The plug was interfering with the PDI airbox so I unplugged it and figured i'd work it out later. I assumed it just wouldn't activate the heavy steering at high speeds but nope - it did the opposite. Now my steering is super heavy all the time. haha oops.
I'll have to get back in there and either unwrap the body harness to give me some more slack and reroute, or extend those two wires. Not sure yet.
I started it up and did a quick test run. I have a winding mountain road on a steep incline nearby that's my "test track." Goes from 5K feet to 6K feet over the course of 3 miles.
To be a little scientific, I drove this road before:
40° ambient temps, stock airbox, intercooler: foot down for almost 2 miles, at the end of a long straightaway, I saw 1300° F EGTs
After:
35° ambient, PDI airbox, intercooler: foot down at straightaway, 1200° F EGTs. Also I'm approaching the limits of my testing abilities there as this time I was almost 10 mph faster than before at that point. And as you know an 80 just isn't built for canyon carving hahah
I was impressed so far, feels like it spools up a little faster and it sounds good too. I'll repeat again with the snorkel.
- Thread starter
- #475
I believe the stock turbo is a little less than 3". Maybe 2.75" but don't quote me on that - anyone else know?
2.75"
What did you do to get the snorkel and air box aligned? I was going to say maybe cut the snorkel back and use a silicon elbow to connect them.
- Thread starter
- #478
Still working on it. Waiting on a new offset silicone coupler that will hopefully get it right.
- Thread starter
- #480
I gave up on it for a bit. Here's a little update -
So I had a buddy (aerospace welder, good connection to have) cut, shorten and reweld the inlet on the airbox at a slight angle. Then I chopped the snorkel to get the two to connect and.... didn't work. No matter what I tried I just couldn't get them to line up properly.
I asked around in some Australian FB groups and the common consensus was that you need to buy your airbox and snorkel from the same company. Except in this case PDI doesn't make a snorkel and just about everyone on there said they don't like the Radius airbox. And on top of that, everyone agreed that the Radius template is bad. haha. I just hit up PDI this morning to ask them if they have a preferred snorkel to go with their intake. I'd love to keep the PDI airbox with the 200 series filter vs a pod filter that other brands use.
So I did more research and this is what I've come up with - I think a "short entry" or "mid entry" is much more forgiving. The long entry has to line up properly or it won't work. There's very little wiggle room between a metal snorkel and metal airbox with a short piece of straight silicone joining them.
The short entry on the other hand, goes into the fender, then straight forward where it is joined to the airbox with a 90° silicone elbow.
Did my best to sketch it out, hope that makes sense:
The other funny thing about the Aussies is how readily available parts are there. Bunch of guys were like "oh yeah, I ruined my fender trying to fit a snorkel. Grabbed a new fender and tried again." Needless to say we don't quite have that luxury here in the US though I was able to track down a couple fenders relatively easy.
I found a local junkyard fender from a 93 and threw it on:
Every time I've had my cruiser disassembled it gets me thinking I need a daily. So I started looking at Tundras and almost bought a TRD Pro. They're pretty sick. The amount of power and modern creature comforts really got me
I was about to put down a deposit when I realized I should look up the Tundra forum and get some opinions from real world drivers.
Man, it's crazy over there, I had no idea. Lots of trucks are fine obviously but they have a laundry list of problems. I think they have a thread with 20+ issues from engine failures (40+ verified just from that forum alone) to dead throttle pedals in the middle of intersections to interior trim breaking, brake pad replacements after 10K, wind noise, rattles, water leaks, you name it. I was blown away haha. Makes me wonder how the 250 launch is going to go... too many things relying on a small displacement engine with excessive computerization in my opinion. Tundras are built in Alabama though, not Japan.
The engines are the craziest, no one knows exactly what's going on but I guess it's a lot of spun main bearings. Toyota won't say anything. There are pics of year old trucks on flat beds, tundras in the shop with the body lifted off cause it's impossible to work on otherwise.
Anyway I should save that for the 250 section and go start some fights hahah
Long story short a local lease turn in showed up and I jumped on it just a few hours after they posted it. '21 Tundra TRD Sport, old man special, 6K miles, brand new inside. My wife says I have to lift it and get some bigger tires cause it makes us look "geriatric." Last of the V8s. Stoked! Trying to resist the urge to supercharge it.
And the best part - half the price of a new tundra. Vehicles are getting expensive these days!!
Took it on a little road trip to CO to pick up some land cruiser parts. Got a new driver and passenger side fender. So now I have 2x spare driver fenders, 1x chopped up, and 1x spare passenger side fender. Just in case. I'm getting to that phase of old car ownership where I start buying things that I know will just get more and more rare
I'm really impressed with the Tundra. Awesome truck. 38 gallon gas tank makes for a huge range even at 15 mpg. But mostly I'm glad that the 81 can be a dedicated offroad cruiser now and doesn't have any daily duties. Every time I had to take it on short cold trips I cringed at what I might be doing to the engine
Little detour through Dinosaur National Monument. Beautiful part of the state I'm going to come back to with the cruiser. Lots of trails I need to check out.
That's my update for now. I have a lot to do this spring and summer - I just went on a Partsouq shopping spree.
Last edited:
