Builds 'Little Yellowy' 1982 BJ42 LX build (1 Viewer)

[plink01]

I installed a rear Lockrite difflock. (Aussi locker). It was pretty easy really, I just had some dramas that were self inflicted.
Once I put the gears in and took the measurement my clearance appeared to be too small. Which seemed to be the opposite of most people who's clearance's are too large.

I measured it about a billion times and decided i needed a thinner spacer. So I ordered one from Toyota and it turns out I'm an idiot and I bought a thrust washer instead. So after waiting for a week for it to arrive it was the wrong thing and its non refundable. So I now have a $30 washer I will never use!

I decided to measure it again for the trillionth time thinking I must be doing something wrong. I measured every piece of the locker with the digital veneers and I put the smallest ones all on the tightest side and it worked! Even though the thickness differential of a part might have been .001mm, when put together with the other parts that were also I micro millimeter smaller it was enough to make it work.

So I put it all back together and got the misus to give me a hand to test if it worked and it failed! I felt like I was going to throw up, what should have been an afternoon project had already blown out to a week or so. Now it didn't even work!
I sat down and calmed down and read a heap of stuff online and called her in and tried again. I was more forceful this time and it worked. I think as I hadnt refilled the diff with oil yet, the grease used during assembly was preventing the locker from working correctly.

I was super happy but still a bit nervous for the test drive. I creeped the car out of the shed super slowly and listened for any sounds that sounded like the diff was gonna explode. But all good! It seems to work fine. I took it out to the bush down the road and I got both wheels to spin up on a steep hill in 2 wheel drive.

I'm really happy with it so far, I havnt heard any clunking or banging people sometimes complain about. You wouldnt even know it's there unless someone told you. Maybe because my clearance are so crazy tight it makes it work better, I'm not sure. I have been driving it a little bit slower in the wet at high speeds but it's still never given me an indication its gonna do something strange and have the back end light up.

Super clean gasket surface! It was another pain in the ass, the old gasket wouldnt budge and was turning into a nightmare. I bit the bullet and wire wheeled it off with the drill.

 

[cruiser182]

Enjoying your build mate. Nice to read about a RHD diesel 40 as they're a bit more common in this part of the world. And also the model I'll buy if I ever get another Land Cruiser.

Shipping that bar from the states must have cost a packet? The number of times I've loaded up a virtual cart at the likes of Summit or similar site then hit cancel when the freight is calculated, I can't even count. Though the AUD is usually a bit stronger against the USD than ours so that must help a bit.

 

[plink01]

Yeah it cost more than I'd like but I couldnt find anything similar in Aus and my welding skills aren't up to that level.
Turns out as soon as my mate who does the roof racks saw it he said 'you should have told me and I could have made that for half the price'.
The shipping is pretty brutal. I usually try and hold off on buying stuff from the US until I have a big list of stuff and I'll order it all in one big batch to save on shipping.

 

[60 40]

Yeah it cost more than I'd like but I couldnt find anything similar in Aus and my welding skills aren't up to that level.
Turns out as soon as my mate who does the roof racks saw it he said 'you should have told me and I could have made that for half the price'.
The shipping is pretty brutal. I usually try and hold off on buying stuff from the US until I have a big list of stuff and I'll order it all in one big batch to save on shipping.

Howdy from California!

Just finished reading though this build thread and really like how you're truck is turning out. The three wipers is so strange, lift and tires looks great and really like the OEM theme. I think you should go with OEM hood latches painted stock color.

Super clean bumper! It's surprising that you ordered it from here but probably hard to make unless you have one already you could reproduce.

Cheers to your build and ordering more parts!

 

[DavidA]

Nice little find mate. Pretty much exactly what I have been looking for too (and may have found if I can get the owner to sell it to me - it literally sits in his yard and doesn't get driven, but get reregistered every year) Im looking forward to following this build.

 

[plink01]

Howdy from California!

Just finished reading though this build thread and really like how you're truck is turning out. The three wipers is so strange, lift and tires looks great and really like the OEM theme. I think you should go with OEM hood latches painted stock color.

Super clean bumper! It's surprising that you ordered it from here but probably hard to make unless you have one already you could reproduce.

Cheers to your build and ordering more parts!

Thanks mate, i appreciate the good words!

Yeah the 3 wiper thing is a bit strange, i still don't know why Toyota went down the path with the LX version. It was only available from 1981 - 1984 i believe, so it was at the very end of the 40 series production life and not all 40's got it. It seems like a lot of work engineering all the LX stuff for a tiny amount of cars only available in AUS and NZ. And its not like triple wipers, zebra seats with a rear captains chair and crappy fake grass looking brown carpet really adds that much to the vehicle! I love that stuff though so i guess it worked on me.

 

[plink01]

I bought a Max Trax holder for the spare wheel online. I usually leave the maxtrax on the roof of the 80 series, but i didn't want to use up any of the already limited room i have on the 40 so i thought the spare wheel is pretty practical. I'm happy with it, i wont be leaving it on unless im in the bush, the blue looks pretty rude!

I replaced the rear wheel bearing while i was doing the difflock. It was a good thing i did, they were pretty rooted. The inner axle oil seal was shot and it looks like water had been in and all the wheel bearing grease was feral.

I'd never touched drum brakes before and me being an idiot didn't realise i had to take the handbrake off to get the drum off! So i smashed away at the drum with a big hammer for ages and nothing was happening. I tried putting the m8 screws through the drum to remove it but they didn't work.
I cracked the s***s and put the rattle gun onto the m8 and broke those little concave washers that the pins shoot through. After watching a youtube video i learnt that the drum wont come off unless the bloody hand brake is off! So once i tried that the drum came off without too much worries.

It was pretty frustrating, i had to get some new little washers and pins off Ebay which took a week or so. In hindsight i also should have replaced the brake cylinders while i was in there, im replacing the rest of the braking system and its a bit frustrating that i didn't do that while i was in there. The brakes all looked good though and worked fine, i painted up the hub and replaced the wheel studs and the whole thing came up really good.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

I'm thinking of getting the stainless bonnet latches from Cruiser Corps, part of me wants to go OEM, but part of me says Stainless must be better than zinc coated steel.

 

[plink01]

Yeah I rekon I'll go stainless. Once shipping and exchange is factored in they will be pretty similar in price. I dont think I wanna buy the Toyota ones and have them rusting again in a years time.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Yeah I rekon I'll go stainless. Once shipping and exchange is factored in they will be pretty similar in price. I dont think I wanna buy the Toyota ones and have them rusting again in a years time.

Mr Yota seems to have far better quality zinc plating than the aftermarket stuff, but I'm inclined to agree

 

[60 40]

Mr Yota seems to have far better quality zinc plating than the aftermarket stuff, but I'm inclined to agree

Well that's fine, you could get them powder coated or painted factory color, just seems strange with different color or shiny hinges or latches.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Well that's fine, you could get them powder coated or painted factory color, just seems strange with different color or shiny hinges or latches.

As far as I know, they're not meant to be body colour

 

[firefighterjed]

Great built thread. Thanks for sharing. Lots of great inspiration here!

 

[firefighterjed]

What size were your Yokohama tires? I’m trying to make some decisions about how much lift to put under my rig, and having that info will help. Thanks in advance

 

[plink01]

What size were your Yokohama tires? I’m trying to make some decisions about how much lift to put under my rig, and having that info will help. Thanks in advance

Thanks mate, the old Yokohama Super Diggers were 31/10.5 on 15 inch rims.

They were a bit too small for what I'm planning on using it for. 33's only require a two inch lift and that's it. Driveline angles, brake lines and gearing all stays pretty good, any bigger and it starts to open a can of worms.

 

[plink01]

Picture of the old girl while on its diff lock test run. Also first time in the bush with the new tyres and suspension. Very happy with it so far.

After getting covered in grease and oil while fixing up the rear end I felt like doing something a bit cleaner and easier.

My drivers side seatbelt reciever exploded for no apparent reason and it was well beyond repair. So I spent a few weeks trying to track down a new reciever. All the wreckers I rang laughed at me when I mentioned it was for a 40 series, they rekon all the parts for em were snapped up years ago.
I really wanted a genuine one but because it's an LX and has the brown interior/brown seatbelt it was impossible to find.

I had a lead or two on grey ones but the sellers wernt very helpful and I lost interest. I found an aftermarket one at Tojo 4wd Center online and he said he could do it in brown.

When it showed up I thought the color looked way off and was pretty disappointed, but once installed it actually looks pretty good. I think photos normally make stuff look better but in this case I think it's the opposite. My actual belt was a bit frayed so a full replacement was probably the right thing to do. I've held onto the old one in case I change my mind.

Receivers are obviously way different, but it's not as noticeable once I installed it. The old reciever is for the middle seat, nothing's wrong with it.

Like I wrote earlier, I think it looks closer in real life, especially installed. Old is on the right.

 

[DavidA]

View attachment 2303647

Picture of the old girl while on its diff lock test run. Also first time in the bush with the new tyres and suspension. Very happy with it so far.

After getting covered in grease and oil while fixing up the rear end I felt like doing something a bit cleaner and easier.

My drivers side seatbelt reciever exploded for no apparent reason and it was well beyond repair. So I spent a few weeks trying to track down a new reciever. All the wreckers I rang laughed at me when I mentioned it was for a 40 series, they rekon all the parts for em were snapped up years ago.
I really wanted a genuine one but because it's an LX and has the brown interior/brown seatbelt it was impossible to find.

I had a lead or two on grey ones but the sellers wernt very helpful and I lost interest. I found an aftermarket one at Tojo 4wd Center online and he said he could do it in brown.

When it showed up I thought the color looked way off and was pretty disappointed, but once installed it actually looks pretty good. I think photos normally make stuff look better but in this case I think it's the opposite. My actual belt was a bit frayed so a full replacement was probably the right thing to do. I've held onto the old one in case I change my mind.

View attachment 2303649

Receivers are obviously way different, but it's not as noticeable once I installed it. The old reciever is for the middle seat, nothing's wrong with it.

View attachment 2303650

Like I wrote earlier, I think it looks closer in real life, especially installed. Old is on the right.

The seatbelts look good mate. Safety is one thing that should never compromised for the sake of keeping the 'look' original so Im glad that there was someone out there with something close to original.

Little LX looks good in the scrub too.

 

[plink01]

I had a good find the other day. I found a Chasis and Body FSM on Gumtree for cheap as hell. I don't think the lady quite knew what she had. I bought it for $30, i probably could have got it cheaper but i was worried someone else would see it and buy it. Its actually not for a BJ42, only FJ40 and BJ40 but 95% of it is the same. Its actually probably better because the BJ42 one has 60 series stuff in it and most of the photo's are of 60's.

I started the front end rebuild. It was feral and the most filithest one i've done, i don't think its ever been cleaned before. I have done the job on my 80 series a few times so i was pretty confident i knew how to do it going in. I've never put any effort into really making it look pretty, so this time was a first. I had bought a parts washer a few weeks before hand and that turned out to be an awesome buy. I used it flat out and it made the job heaps easier. The old grease probably 6-10mm thick in some spots, it was ridiculous and it took ages to clean.

Before photos

The outdoor paint booth, it was like a minefield trying to navigate it at night.

Everything all cleaned except the hub. This was the most organised i've been and it definitely paid off. It made reassembly so much easier.

 

[plink01]

Fully stripped back, i didn't have too many dramas. There was a loud clunk, especially when offroad coming from the front left wheel. I rekon it was the trunion bearings, they were pretty ordinary and there was a bit of play in it.
The condition of the housing is really good, it doesn't appear to have had any major malfunctions over the years. Its in better knick than my 80 series.

The inner axle oil seals were both cactus, but the CV's still looked in good condition, i re greased them and put em back in.
I bought a seal puller to remove the axle seal, made it way easier than my normal method of bash the s*** out of it with a screw driver till it completely collapses.

I decided to rebuild the calipers. I have never done it before and i think it was good that i did. I'm pretty convinced both sides had at least 1 piston that was seized. A few of the pistons are pretty badly pitted, ill be keeping a close on them and any sign of leaking and ill buy some new pistons.

I made a pretty stupid mistake while cleaning the calipers. I put them in the parts washer for a soak but the detergent is absolutely stuffed from the front and rear axle rebuilds.
I need to replace the detergent as its full of bearing and moly grease and god knows what. So some of that grease got into the caliper fluid race's and was pretty hard to get out. I ran tons of brake fluid and compressed air through it and im pretty satisfied i got most of it out. I'm thinking most remaining residue will come out when i bleed them.
It was a pretty dumb mistake and i should have known better. I have spent hours cleaning these bloody things. The FSM says do NOT split the callipers, so it made it a real pain trying to clean them.

Caliper's all cleaned, they could still be cleaner but i've had a gutfull of cleaning them, it'll do! No one except me will ever see the bloody things anyway. I've been in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for the rebuild kit. I ordered it a month ago but they stuffed up at the shop and forgot to order it. So hopefully it will arrive next week sometime. It's like the difflock install, it feels as though it will never end!

I bought some new DBA slotted rotors. They were going to cost a small house loan, i think $220 per rotor! The standard no name brand ones were $70 each. The guy at Repco felt bad and he rang DBA direct and asked them if they could lower the price a bit. They agreed and i ended up paying $300 for the two of them. Not too bad, still a bit ridiculous! The old rotors had some pretty big gouge marks in them, they needed to be replaced. I'm not convinced how much difference slotted rotors will make on a 40 series, but it can use all the help it can get.

The nearly finished project. The old hubs looked like Warn's but there was no branding anywhere on them. Even the sticker in the cab is the same as the Warn one but it doesn't say Warn anywhere on it. I bought some brand new Aisin hubs and i had some dramas them

I bolted the Aisin hub on but it didn't feel right when i turned the dial. I took it back off and the spring exploded out of it it like one of those novelty can of worms! While trying to put it together the other spring came out and the whole hub fell apart. It was a disaster! It's not like i had intentionally pulled it apart so i had no idea how to put it back together.

After a lot of stuffing around and by using the other unopened hub as a reference i eventually got it back together. The reason it exploded out was because for the dodgy looking Warn hubs for some reason didn't use a snap ring on the end of the axle. So it must have moved the spring in a strange way when i did the test run then all hell broke loose. Toyota still stocks the the snap rings so i got some from my local dealer.
At least im now familier with the internal workings of an Aisin hub.

I'm a bit unsure whats going on with the new wheel bearings. I done them up and seated them correctly but i can't seem to get anywhere near the preload the FSM asks for with the fish scales. Its either way too loose and there is play in the hub, or i do it up the same way as normal but it feels a bit stiff and doesn't get many free rotations with the wheel on. I'm hoping they just need a bit of bedding in. I'll keep a really close eye on them during the first test drive and keep an eye on the hub temperature. I'm positive i installed everything correctly. I have read the fish scale method can be a all over the shop.

I replaced the wheel studs and brake line going from diff to chassis while i was at it.
I'm really happy with the way it all turned out. It took probably 3 times longer than it normally would have with all the painting and cleaning, but i think the result was worth it.
Its a bit impractical how carefull i have to install and remove the wheels as the hub scratches super easy, but the novelty will wear off eventually and ill go back to not giving a stuff about the hub paint! Now im just waiting on the caliper kit and tie rod kit order to come through and i can finally finish it off.

 

[frankenyota]

A minor thing, i bought some aftermarket hood latches and im pretty disappointed in them. I do live near the ocean so salt in the air definitely accelerates the rust, but these are only 4 months old! I can still buy genuine ones, but they are about $120 AUS. I'm not sure whether to bite the bullet and just buy some or buy some stainless steel ones from the USA. I like the idea of genuine but i have heard they rust pretty quick as well. I'm thinking i should probably go stainless.

Nice LX mate, might have to get one of those inspection lamps myself.
I have seen stainless bonnet / windscreen catches for sale from Mike Ferry on 40 series Landcruiser group Australia facebook page.
I was looking to get some myself. They were about $90 a pair from memory.

Matt