Builds Just another 79 build.....

[c2dfj45]

GREAT meeting you today @cruisermatt.....glad @ca18sean brought you over. Next time we'll take that LV out for a spin

If you guys got to the shop one hour later, you would have heard this beautiful noise....

 

[c2dfj45]

Big day today....obviously got the truck running. Couple small issues but nothing major. The 1FZ tach doesn't work with the 1HDT so this mess was immediately created......and most likely resolved.

This is pretty interesting....to get the tach to work, the guts of the 1FZ tach were put in a 24v 70 housing with the 70 face. I vaguely remember when this was all done a back in the teens . It's pretty ingenious how the guy did it. Definitely homebuilt. But it worked.

I have always tried when I buy a motor to get 2 things....the harness from the truck and the gauge cluster. Always. Good reason for it too. We were able to scavenge the guts from the HDJ81s tach and swap out for the 1FZ. Fit the same for the most part. Really different.....HDJ81 on left, 1FZ on right

 

[c2dfj45]

I'm going to admit something that I'm not proud of but maybe someone else will be able to learn from my mistake....when we did these gauges many moons ago, I thought it would be good to paint the faded needles. Bought the special paint for needles...of course I didn't need to read the instructions....they're needles and I know how to work on cars. Come on......they need to be orange, how hard could this be? Well, if you paint your needles, DO NOT paint the entire needle....you won't be able to see them at night unless you look REALLY hard. Just paint the bottom...just like the factory did. Maybe Youtube wasn't invented in 2012 when I did the needles originally

Fixed now and hopefully I'll see some orange needles at night....not just a speedo or tach with a weird shadow. Ha.

Shorty one is the tach's needle....the other 2 orange longer ones I did for practice.

 

[cruisermatt]

Huh. Would have never thought of that on the needles. Great tip

 

[TaylorDurdan]

Tell them how many articles of clothing you ruined in the process

 

[c2dfj45]

Had a lot of work to do on the console area. It's really never been a very sturdy piece....kind of always one of those "I'll get to it one day" projects. That day came. The floor dimensions changed when I added the MLV flooring so I had to adjust the console..it actually turned out really well. Relocated the seat heaters and obviously the PRND32L shifter. Pretty cool.

One day I'll get around to changing it

The dog's seat went in.

 

[c2dfj45]

Huh. Would have never thought of that on the needles. Great tip

Well I'm glad to know I'm not the only one

They're pretty cool how they work. They're obviously clear plastic....they pick up light thru their backside....where the drive pin is. You can see in the pic that they have a clear area there....the light goes thru that and then thru the plastic on the pointer. Cover that pointer up with paint and no light transmits thru. They look great in the daylight though!

 

[c2dfj45]

Tell them how many articles of clothing you ruined in the process

I will not be telling anyone that while I was trying to thin out the paint for the needles that I bought 8 years ago so it flowed a little more, I didn't have the cap on all the way when I shook it up and not only ruined my shirt(what I get for wearing a light shirt in the shop), my shorts and even my left shoe. And got it on the wall in the utility room (don't tell the boss). #secrets

Won't mention the fact that when I did them incorrectly 8 years ago I didn't have to wear glasses to see them either

 

[c2dfj45]

In Florida, THE most important thing you do is make sure the AC system will work...even before the motor starts.

 

[c2dfj45]

My Ctek D250SE took a dump on the last trip we were on....Ctek took it back and sent me a new one. Really good customer service as they did some troubleshooting first, then wanted it sent in for evaluation. 2 year warranty....bought it about 1.5 years ago. A little disappointed it didn't last very long.

Installed it in the camper so the charging system and solar both do their thing to the house battery.

 

[c2dfj45]

Started thinking about how I was going to get this to work. The air cleaner was built for the 1FZ but it won't work for the 1HDT's intake tube....

HDJ81 lid not really going to line up easily.

Cut some metal....and cut the lid....

Tacked it together....

Test fit....

This will not be a pretty piece...it's going to be temporary. There is one final slippery slope for this truck which will involve a winch, front bumper, second battery and related charging/switching setup for it along with the Safari Airmax snorkel.

The slope of slippery: Battery #2 needs to go where the current air cleaner assy is....that battery will be for the winch(maybe lights) so that of course means a bull bar and winch(and lights) need to go on(which is a huge job...79 bar going on a 80 chassis...lots of modification to make it work)........the air cleaner will have to be worked fairly heavily to accept the Airmax which is for a VDJ79......and after all of that, the air cleaner should line up where it will require a stock air cleaner lid for a 1HDT. Let the parts collecting begin

 

[c2dfj45]

One part of the shop,

Other part of the shop.

 

[TonyP]

If you want to import some fancy AUS 78/79 airboxes I'll snag one

 

[c2dfj45]

If you want to import some fancy AUS 78/79 airboxes I'll snag one

Unfortunately I just need the snorkel that fits the VDJ....don't need the air box. Guess one of those would make a lot of sense for your build. Are you going to snorkel it?

 

[TonyP]

Unfortunately I just need the snorkel that fits the VDJ....don't need the air box. Guess one of those would make a lot of sense for your build. Are you going to snorkel it?

Not sure. I don't think I really need one to be honest. A decent filter/box should suit me fine. We'll see.

 

[c2dfj45]

Not sure. I don't think I really need one to be honest. A decent filter/box should suit me fine. We'll see.

I really like the lines on the Troopy without snorkels but then I see one with a snorkel and realize I really like the lines of a Troopy with a snorkel

 

[c2dfj45]

Popped in the shop to mount the gauge cluster. Did a quick test fire to see how the display looks...really cool. Used double stick tape to lock it down...not going anywhere.

Sony screen is huge.

From the back before the cover went on...

Ran out to our driveshaft guys to pick these up. Front one went longer, rear one got shortened and had one new joint installed.

 

[c2dfj45]

Since the Scheelmann seat that was supposed to be in this truck got hijacked for the other 79.....I sent an email to Toby at Scheelmann and to my surprise, @jmlockwood hasn't purchased ALL of them He had this one in stock and the next thing I knew, it was on the way. These seats transform the driving experience. We do a lot of seats......these are really special. You can really dial them in to fit your body perfectly. I find that in the stock seat, which I have no complaints with, I tend to start squirming around....shifting how I sit and basically just wiggling around. Not in these. These seats force you to sit properly....it's very easy to sit for a long time in this seat. Love the armrest(not on in the pic) and the heaters. These even had the fancy map pocket. Fully loaded as we say in the biz

We're a dealer for them..so if you're local and want to try them out, come on over and have a sit.

 

[svsisu]

Since the Scheelmann seat that was supposed to be in this truck got hijacked for the other 79.....I sent an email to Toby at Scheelmann and to my surprise, @jmlockwood hasn't purchased ALL of them He had this one in stock and the next thing I knew, it was on the way. These seats transform the driving experience. We do a lot of seats......these are really special. You can really dial them in to fit your body perfectly. I find that in the stock seat, which I have no complaints with, I tend to start squirming around....shifting how I sit and basically just wiggling around. Not in these. These seats force you to sit properly....it's very easy to sit for a long time in this seat. Love the armrest(not on in the pic) and the heaters. These even had the fancy map pocket. Fully loaded as we say in the biz

We're a dealer for them..so if you're local and want to try them out, come on over and have a sit.

View attachment 2423502

One day... one day.

 

[c2dfj45]

I've been really slacking on picture taking.....my hands have been dirty as I've been working on misc. parts of the truck. I wanted to be doing some shakedown driving this weekend.....hopefully that happens. Going to be tough as we don't have the exhaust built.

Finished the air cleaner lid......ended up cutting it in half once it was fully welded as I got a little worried that there could be a piece of welding wire in the inside that could get sucked into the turbo....so we cut it and cleaned out the inside. We'll use a silicone coupler to put the 2 pieces together. WAY too much time in this part.