Builds Last of the BJs: 1989 BJ60 restoration, 15B-T swap (1 Viewer)

[Eurasiaoverland]

Drag link assembly

Original drag link bar and clamps, new drag link ends, bolts and hardware. Toyota have discontinued the RH drag link as a separate part, but you can buy it in a set with a brand new drag link rod (45044-60H01).

But it's the same story with the drag link as with the track rod. No chance of getting the ends wound in far enough to be spaced by the specified 1001 mm. So a pair of M21x1.5 taps was acquired for the restoration. I was really asking myself why I didn't just use the new rod... but I love to save an original part. I think however the threads on the new ends must be longer, as this time the tapping was not only hard work, but I was certainly cutting new threads into metal towards the limit of my tapping.

With bulging biceps and amazed at having not stripped the paint off the rod despite all but jumping on the vice bar to keep it in place (and asking myself why the hell I didn't just use the new rod), the new drag link ends thread smoothly into the old rod (with a cool 'Teq' stamp in the metal) and are set to 1001 mm.

Right hand end with taper for mounting the steering damper.

Left hand end (this is actually a 70 Series end, 45045-69075).

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Brake master cylinder and booster

My BJ60 would have come from factory with drum brakes front and rear. The previous owner replaced the front axle with a disc brake version, but never changed the master cylinder. That means it still had the original drum brake master cylinder and no proportioning valve. The original master cylinder was leaking, the booster was full of brake fluid and the brakes were woeful.

Obviously this needed to be addressed, so I aimed for the best factory 60 Series brake setup from an Australian HJ61 - a dual diaphragm booster (only on 87+ high spec models), 87+ disc master cylinder and late style brake PBV (proportioning and bypass valve) to stop the rear drums potentially locking up under hard braking. The first setup I bought (from a scumbag ebay.com.au breaker) leaked brake fluid from the booster vacuum port as soon as I picked it up. But I scored a very good example from a 1988 HJ61 from a member of the Australian 60 Series FB group, complete with PBV.

As a matter of course, I will add a new brake master cylinder 47201-60380. Amazingly, these are still available new from Toyota. On opening the used one, I found the bore of the cylinder to be perfect, so I may put new pistons in and keep it as a spare.

New ThreeBond genuine gasket on the cleaned up booster (not a hint of brake fluid inside thankfully).

With the original PBV bracket.

Looking very nice!

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Brake proportioning and bypass valve assembly

These brake proportioning valves are no longer available and are not meant to be user serviceable. There are no rebuild kits or individual parts available. There were 3 or 4 different BPVs supplied on 60 Series Cruisers, and this one, 60030, is the latest iteration. I have three of them; one is seized solid and is in the junk pile. Two are good, but even the 2 good ones were stuck and when disassembled, despite being undre spring tension, needed to be tapped with a hammer to be freed up and spring out of the iron cylinder.

Fully disassembled. These valves are pretty clever. The proportioning valve (blue) works to moderate rear brake circuit pressure under hard braking. The bypass valve (yellow) is usually imobilised by spring pressure (hence why they seize solid) unless there is a dramatic loss of pressure in the front brake circuit. In this circumstance, the pressure imbalance between the two circuits overcomes the spring tension and all braking pressure is sent to the rear circuit. Hopefully the bypass valve will never be used!

The O rings on the bypass valve are standard imperial O rings, so I replaced them. the other two seals are fine.

All cleaned up, assembled and painted.

And this finished off the master cylinder assembly. The presence of the BPV on the master cylinder obviously means that the original brake pipes will have to be adapted to fit correctly. A blessing in disguise as this means the old unions can be replaced. I'll just need to find a decent flaring tool which can make nice flares in steel tube.

EO

 

[PapaGiamati]

Hectic work!

I see a brake booster rebuilt and clutch master cylinder rebuild in my future. Thanks for the good documentation.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Hectic work!

I see a brake booster rebuilt and clutch master cylinder rebuild in my future. Thanks for the good documentation.

Thanks! I'm enjoying your thread, seeing a very nice example of a Canadian BJ60.

One of the few things I think have truly improved on cars since our BJs were made is brakes, so I want mine to be as good as they can be with original parts.

I think rebuilding a clutch booster is something of a specialist operation, and one which is not very common any longer. Toyota have long since discontinued the kits, which is why I have not attempted to repair one. I do believe there are still places that do it though.

As for the master cylinder, these old iron cylinders tend to rust if the brake fluid has not been changed somewhat regularly, so check the bores with your finger for imperfections before putting new pistons in. My concern is to preserve the booster, so I took no chances with a used master cylinder.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Steering column rebuild 5

Back onto the steering column, after the usual wait on parts judged to be defective and painting of some parts of the shafts.

New, genuine UJ 04371-10011 ready to go into the intermediate steering shaft...

...gently tapped into the shaft...

and the splined yoke.

New, non genuine UJ ST-1639 for the No.2 intermediate steering shaft.

This was tricky to install because the needle rollers are tiny and very short, so very easy to disturb when installing the caps. I actually wrecked one joint installing it (luckily I ordered two). As I mentioned earlier this is not meant to be a user-servicable assembly (hence no genuine part is available) and the shaft as a whole is no longer available. Great care is needed when installing the UJ as the yokes on the shafts are thin and tend to bend. I made a spacer piece to keep the same distance between the yokes during installation, so I could happily tap/press the bearing caps in. The paint will need touching up again after a lot of tapping and clamping for installation. A much harder job than the bigger intermediate shaft UJ.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Steering column rebuild 6

Time to start assembling the entire steering shaft assembly with all the new bearings and joints, so it's ready to bolt into the vehicle.

Start by bolting the pawl shaft into the upper steering column support bracket.

Assemble the tilt lever to the tilt support bracket with the No.1 (LH) tilt collar. Note that the No.2 (RH) tilt collar is in the tilt support bracket, which I have painted with a thin dusting of rattle can silver (it's an unplated and unpainted steel bracket from factory. I thought this tilt collar was somehow press fitted and spot weding into the tilt support bracket as I tried hammering it out but got nowhere....

New spline bolt 90114-08002 for the tilt steering as the old one was damaged by my sloppy removal.

The spline bolt is pressed in with a hammer and punch to attach the tilt support brcket to the upper bracket.

Looks good so far.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Steering column rebuild 7

Next, add the pawl which keeps the tilt steering in one of its six positions.

Add the sleeved tilt lever spring and tilt lever pin.

Add the tilt lever retainer.

Then add the shim (mine is 1.4 mm) to the RH tilt hinge and tighten the nylon locking nut. At this stage, things looked very nice but on trying to check the operation of the tilt steering, it was stuck tight. If I really forced it, it would move but would undo the RH nut. I soon realised that the No.2 (RH) tilt collar should be free in the tilt support bracket. So all that assembly had to be immediately undone.

I found an old bolt (the old steering box adjuster bolt) to use as a punch to try to extract the collar from the tilt support bracket, put the back on a large socket and gave it some really good hits with a hammer, eventually freeing it. It's amazing what a great bond a little bit of rust gives. While I have everything apart, I will replace both No.1 (LH) and No.2 (RH) collars with new ones, which are apparently still available (these tilt steering brackets were used from the late 1970s all the way to the 2016 70 Series). I went for the second to largest LH collar and the largest RH collar. I am waiting for these parts to arrive. Hopefully, with a touch of a reamer to get the thin surface rust off the tilt steering bracket holes, I can have perfectly operational tilt steering with no free play. I'm not sure if I ever tested the tilt steering in the short amount of time I drove the vehicle, but for sure it will not have been working correctly. Satisfying to (hopefully) fix yet another problem.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Steering column rebuild 8

New No.1/left (45813-22030) and No.2/right (45814-22020) collars have arrived. I put the tilt support bracket back into the electrolysis tank to remove the rust in the right hand collar bore, and gave it a new light coat of spray can silver. The new collars fit perfectly in the bores.

With that, I built up the steering column assembly back to how it was before I had to take it apart again. This time however, the tilt bracket moves freely. Very satisfying to fix that with relatively cheap parts.

Now time to add the upper steering column bearing housing, which in previous steps I rebuilt with new bearings. It's held to the tilt support bracket ith three bolts.

One of the bolts is a special security bolt (45897-12030) with a necked head...

...which is tightened until shearing to leave a conical stump.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Steering column rebuild 9

Now the steering column tube is bolted to the upper steering column bracket.

Add the lower bearing (this one is the original, which I am reusing as it feels like new), snap ring and dust seal to the steering column tube bracket.

This is then bolted to the plate which mounts on the bulkhead, behind the pedals.

The tube is held onto the lower bracket with a clamp.

Looking good.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Power steering pump rebuild 1

From the outset with this project, the aim has been to swap the old 3BII engine for either a 14B* or 15B* platform. All these later, non-Landcruiser engines come with an onboard, timing gear-driven power steering pump, which would make the original power steering pump redundant. Because I could not be sure that I would get this new engine up and running and plumbed in, I decided to rebuild the original power steering pump so that it would be ready to go, and hopefully not leak, in case I had to run with the 3BII as an interim measure. For this reason, I did not document the pump rebuild in such detail, and was perhaps not quite as fastidious as usual.

The pump, fully disassembled and laid out. (the rotor and vanes were kept together in a spotlessly clean container).

New seal kit and Nachi bearing (sold in Europe in SNR packaging for some reason).

Bearing pressed onto the shaft.

With the shaft in the front pump housing, the rotor, vanes and cam ring can be installed.

The rear plate, pressure port and seat with O rings.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Power steering pump rebuild 2

Rear end plate and tension spring installed.

Then the pump can be reassembled with a new oil seal.

The old reservoir cap leaked and had been bodged with bits if rubber and cardboard in a poor attempt to remedy this. Sadly Toyota no longet make the metal 'T' cap, so it has to be the later plastic type.

Finished.

New bearing for the power steering belt tensioner pulley (which will be painted later).

Since rebuilding the pump, and buying a 15B-T engine from a Megacruiser with a huge onboard power steering pump (to drive 4 wheel steering), I decided I would like to keep the original power steering pump. This is for various reasons (aesthetics, not having to fabricate new lines and find a place for the reservoir and having the ability to easily diable it in case of failure), so I wish I had been more thorough with the rebuild. I have a new shaft and seal kit on hand in case the slight groove in the original shaft causes a leak.

EO

 

[OGBeno]

Steering column rebuild 5

Back onto the steering column, after the usual wait on parts judged to be defective and painting of some parts of the shafts.

View attachment 3685931
New, genuine UJ 04371-10011 ready to go into the intermediate steering shaft...

View attachment 3685932
...gently tapped into the shaft...

View attachment 3685933
and the splined yoke.

View attachment 3685934
New, non genuine UJ ST-1639 for the No.2 intermediate steering shaft.

View attachment 3685935
This was tricky to install because the needle rollers are tiny and very short, so very easy to disturb when installing the caps. I actually wrecked one joint installing it (luckily I ordered two). As I mentioned earlier this is not meant to be a user-servicable assembly (hence no genuine part is available) and the shaft as a whole is no longer available. Great care is needed when installing the UJ as the yokes on the shafts are thin and tend to bend. I made a spacer piece to keep the same distance between the yokes during installation, so I could happily tap/press the bearing caps in. The paint will need touching up again after a lot of tapping and clamping for installation. A much harder job than the bigger intermediate shaft UJ.

EO

Just to give you a frame of reference: 04371-10011 are, in fact, Corolla front CV shaft ujoints.

Talk about a re-purposing!

Nice work.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Just to give you a frame of reference: 04371-10011 are, in fact, Corolla front CV shaft ujoints.

Talk about a re-purposing!

Nice work.

Thanks Onur. They are a vintage part and I'm glad that they are still in production. They seem to go back as far as 1969 on the EPC, maybe even further? Reminds me that I need another three for my PTO drive shafts. I love the ancient looking guidance sheet printed on unbleached paper which comes in the packet. Feels like getting a NOS part in a modern box!

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transfer rebuild 1

It's been quite some time since I covered the H55F complete strip down and rebuild, which included fitting the front section of the transfer case. Here I'll start to cover the long journey of rebuilding the transfer.

Something I've noticed about shoddy mechanics in this part of the world is their love for overtighteninig fasteners. I think the rationale is that to save $2 on a new gasket, they go for overtightening, assuming metal to be an infinitely hard substance. It was no surprise to find the transfer filler port threads ruined. In fact, once I had the case apart I could see that the hole had already been welded (quite a good job actually, reinforcing the area neatly) but then some idiot had come and stripped the threads again. It came with an oversized threaded plug which was not even in straight.

I touched it with an expandable reamer.

Then tapped it out for an M18 x 1.5 thread insert.

Wound the insert in.

Cut it flush on the back side

And now back to the correct filler plug, hopefully with stronger threads (not that I will let any mechanic near them with a socket).

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transfer rebuild 2

My transfer case is made from mis-mayched halves. The front half is a direct shift-type case, which I would guess is original to the car. The rear half is from a vacuum-shift type, dated August 1987, so both are the later, 38 mm idler type. With this, the damaged filler port threads and a snapped fin near the drain plug (also the work of some useless machanic no doubt), I long considered just buying a new case. But for something which is functionally fine, I couldn't really justify the expense, and it didn't really feel right to just replace something which could be easily made to work perfectly again.

The only difference on the rear vacuum-type transfer case half is that there are two ports for additional switches - one a front drive sensor and a smaller sensor whose function I forget. My case had the remains of both, both with the wires cut off. I looked through some part catalogues and found Toyota plugs to block these holes off.

For the smaller sensor hole, 90341-14015, which comes with thread sealant.

For the larger sensor hole, 90341-18023, which comes plain...

...gets some thread lock.

Both installed in the rear case half.

Cleaned up and plugged rear case half.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transfer rebuild 3

Still on the rear case half - new lip seal for the High - Neutral - Low selector shaft. I did not take pictures of installing the shaft, crank and lock bolt unfortunately.

Onto the front case half. My vehicle was originally a 4 speed (H41), but the PO took it to that Mecca of Land Cruiser parts, Kota Kinabalu (KK) in Sabah, Malaysia (where I would latterly get such treaures as a full floating rear axle, rear LSD differential, rear anti-roll bar and eventually a low km 15B-T fresh from a Japanese military Mega Cruiser). Unsurprisingly, the mechanics there were oblivious of the need to block one of the 4-speed transfer case bolt holes. Here I am using a threaded plug 90344-52003 after tapping the hole with a 1/4-19 BSP tap.

Installed with some thread lock

Now time to install the front output shaft, bearing, snap ring and oil slinger. I've already installed the front output selector shaft seal in the case.

The bearing pushes into the front case half by hand.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transfer rebuild 4

After pressing in the output shaft, add the snap ring and oil slinger.

Then tap in the front output shaft flange oil seal.

There are at least four different designs of seal for where the transmission output shaft enters the front transfer case half. This is a known weak point, with the very common issue (particularly on earlier cases I believe) of oil leaking between the transmission and transfer. There were 3 single-lipped oil seals, used until 1987. On the left is 90311-48012. On the right is the double-lipped oil seal, 90316-48003. For some reason, it is the single-lipped seal which is included in the OEM H55F rebuild kit I have, so I purchased the superior double-lipped seal separately.

Seal installed into the front case half.

This is now the point at which I installed the front transfer case half onto the transmission, which is here.

EO

 

[OGBeno]

Double-lip 90316 seal has been an upgrade to split cases since at least the early 2000’s. If not earlier.

Nice work.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Double-lip 90316 seal has been an upgrade to split cases since at least the early 2000’s. If not earlier.

Nice work.

Thanks 90316-48003 is the original specified seal for my 1989 BJ60, so I was a bit surprised that the genuine gasket kit, 04331-60160 came with the older style single lipped seal... glad I read the threads from Georg and was able to get the correct seal and put it in before building the whole case up!

EDIT: I just checked and my gasket kit is 04331-60160, which seems to have been current until 1988 when replaced by 04331-60240 - I assume the latter has the double lipped seal. Strangely, -60240 is significantly more expensive than -60160.