Builds Mark_BC's Apocalypse BJ60 Build

[fjbj40]

Finally made some progress on the rust repair at the corner behind the back left door. I was left with some welds to grind down in a spot I couldn't get the grinder into (last photo). How are you supposed to get rid of them? I'd go through tons of dremel stones to get those flush. I went to the tools store and wasted some money on some rotary files that didn't last. I got some HSS small saw blades to go into the drill and those managed to get it off but wouldn't last much longer than that.

This sure takes a long time.

Pencil grinder with carbide burrs will make quick work of those hard to reach areas.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Hey Mark what are those little magnets? I need to get a bunch. Friend of mine has a bunch of those super high powered ones on her fridge, I gather they’re the same, she offered me some but their way way smaller than yours. Strangely the tiny high powered magnets scare the crap out of me, must be the mom in me. My 6yo is intensely impulsive and I worry he’d do something dumb.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Pencil grinder with carbide burrs will make quick work of those hard to reach areas.

I looked up that tool, they aren’t cheap but a set of carbide bits for a dremel might be a worthwhile option. I love my little dremel, it’s just a one speed older unit but I reach for it frequently in tight spots.
It’s great for the rivets too. I grind off the face and then punch them out. I imagine if in a tighter area it would still be a bitch.

I’m glad to see someone else’s struggle w/ rust. Makes me feel better about the stupid s*** I’m doing down here in CT.

 

[FJACS]

Lots of burr talk. I posted in the other thread, but will mention it again. If you haven’t used Roloc’s yet you don’t know what you’re missing. These are great on a die grinder, but you can run them on a normal drill if that’s what you’ve got.

Some 60 grit flap discs to replace the abrasive grinder disc make quick work of welds too.

 

[cruiserpilot]

You are doing an amazing job! I see you are using choroseal, I had an old hot rodder tell me about it.
I used it extensively when I peeled up the old floor and sound deadened it. It’s going into the door
bottoms next. Compliments on your patch work, very, very nice work. I’d not heard of the 3M, it’s a
better product is it? I just use factory style black stuff. Do you hit it with primer before or after the sealer?
If memory serves, I sealed first.
Thanks for saving another one! Nice axle swap, wasn’t sure why you were doing that. But makes sense
now. If you hold off buying suspension I see Trail Taylor is building up a coils replacement system for the 60.
Might make it interesting? Of course would add a couple $K to your build costs I expect.
BTW, I got a headliner from SOR about 12-13 yrs ago. It’s actually held up well and is good quality.
What part of Vancouver you in?

 

[Hojack]

I looked up that tool, they aren’t cheap but a set of carbide bits for a dremel might be a worthwhile option. I love my little dremel, it’s just a one speed older unit but I reach for it frequently in tight spots.
It’s great for the rivets too. I grind off the face and then punch them out. I imagine if in a tighter area it would still be a bitch.

View attachment 2121635

I’m glad to see someone else’s struggle w/ rust. Makes me feel better about the stupid s*** I’m doing down here in CT.

I just saw that set at Airgas yesterday on the counter.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Lots of burr talk. I posted in the other thread, but will mention it again. If you haven’t used Roloc’s yet you don’t know what you’re missing. These are great on a die grinder, but you can run them on a normal drill if that’s what you’ve got.

Some 60 grit flap discs to replace the abrasive grinder disc make quick work of welds too.

I’ve got 36 grit zirconia fiber discs that Matt directed me to also. They do a nice job, literally eat right through welds.
I found these little roloc like discs for a dremel. They might be a good option for small spaces too.

 

[diesellibrarian]

I stuck my scope camera up the drain hole and from the minimal amount I could see the gears seems ok. Maybe because it was just turning without 4wd engaged so no force applied?

If I'm not mistaken, 80 series are full-time 4wd.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

If I'm not mistaken, 80 series are full-time 4wd.

Yes

 

[MarkBC]

Hey Mark what are those little magnets? I need to get a bunch. Friend of mine has a bunch of those super high powered ones on her fridge, I gather they’re the same, she offered me some but their way way smaller than yours. Strangely the tiny high powered magnets scare the crap out of me, must be the mom in me. My 6yo is intensely impulsive and I worry he’d do something dumb.

I got them from Lee Valley, I guess you don't have that store in the US. High power rare earth magnets. 1/2" diameter I think. They are very dangerous to babies, if they eat them they can snap together in different parts of the intestine and burn a hole through. Bucky Balls were banned.

 

[MarkBC]

If I'm not mistaken, 80 series are full-time 4wd.

I thought it was full time spinning the CV's, diff and front drive shaft when moving but no engagement in the xfer case unless 4wd was selected, either part or full time.

 

[MarkBC]

You are doing an amazing job! I see you are using choroseal, I had an old hot rodder tell me about it.
I used it extensively when I peeled up the old floor and sound deadened it. It’s going into the door
bottoms next. Compliments on your patch work, very, very nice work. I’d not heard of the 3M, it’s a
better product is it? I just use factory style black stuff. Do you hit it with primer before or after the sealer?
If memory serves, I sealed first.
Thanks for saving another one! Nice axle swap, wasn’t sure why you were doing that. But makes sense
now. If you hold off buying suspension I see Trail Taylor is building up a coils replacement system for the 60.
Might make it interesting? Of course would add a couple $K to your build costs I expect.
BTW, I got a headliner from SOR about 12-13 yrs ago. It’s actually held up well and is good quality.
What part of Vancouver you in?

Thanks. The repair weld has some holes but I'll skim over with filler and spray Fluid Film on the back side.

I read somewhere that the 3M sealant is the best replacement for Toyota OEM. I got it from Cool Cruisers of Texas. NAPA also has some good sealant made in Canada. I was applying the primer first because there is some light surface rust and I want the rust converter to work, don't want sealer on any rust.

Yeah I'll wait to see what TT offers. Interesting idea about putting a rear 80 locked diff in the 60 front.

I'm in North Van.

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks for all the tool suggestions, I'll order a few of these.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Look into this, but you want some kind of primer over the seam sealer before paint. So if you
lay primer and then seal, hit it with another thin coat to seal the ‘seams’ from the edges of the sealer.
Make sense?

 

[MarkBC]

I was making good progress on my 60 a few weeks ago. That's because I got laid off.... that only works for so long so now I'm back at the slow plod again. Doesn't help when I'm maintaining / building 6 vehicles and 2 properties while working 45 hours a week. This weekend I swapped out the warped rotors on my 4runner and did some fluid filming while I was in there to make it my winter adventure mobile. Happy about that.

On the 60 I finished a little project that has been going on for a while: replacing the rear hatch lock. Thanks to @ToyotaMatt I have a nice functioning lock again. A small victory but feels good to knock it off the list. I had to fix some bondo repairs first... it had been in a minor rear-ender and the lift hatch and tailgate are both pushed in and patched with bondo to make them look straight. I put the old rubber handle bumper thing back on which is kinda rusty. Maybe I'll replace it if I happen to come across a part # for it. But for now, I forced my INTJ personality to accept less than perfection and just get the bloody thing back together. I now have a perfectly functional rear hatch. Except for the struts that don't hold it up very well... but I did see those in a post above so that will go on the To Do List

 

[MarkBC]

I need to update my build thread more often. I post in all the "What did you do to your 60 this weekend" etc. threads but don't update this. Now I'll have to go back and search out all my old posts elsewhere and copy them here.

So the last couple days I managed to get the first oil change done (click that link for story). The PO or his mechanic put the last filter on with no oil on the gasket... that was fun.

3xx,257 km (I'll update later). Shell Rotella 10W-40. June 1, 2020. One big jug and one small jug filled it up nice. Napa Gold oil filter.

 

[MarkBC]

Today I dug into the 80 series front axle I'm going to put on when I can get a kit from TRAIL TAILOR. It's been neglected and I had to chisel off years of grease/dirt cake. But I got one of the few 80 axles in western Canada with a factory locker

The diff was dry but the knuckles still have grease.

This is fun, I'm using the YouTube videos by OTRAMM so it's pretty clear. Pretty much everything needs replacing but I think I'll wait for a new birf until I can afford it.

 

[MarkBC]

More stripping down the 80 knuckle. There is some pitting and scoring on the ball and from searching it seems the thing to do is clean it up then coat with jb weld and sand flush again. Then paint it to protect the areas not being wiped by the felts. First I'll use Ospho to remove the rust.

I can't seem to knock the swivel bearing races out.

I'm also doing some more fun build stuff along with fighting rust and general decay. My beef with the tailgate is you can't really use it for a kitchen countertop if you have a drawer system since the drawers will just knock everything off. Plus you don't want to lean over your food to get at stuff in the car. So I came up with a folding side table. It's a bit flimsy so I wouldn't cook up a big pot of stew on it but strong enough for a frying pan and plates, bowls etc. I was thinking about adding a leg underneath but that is just asking to get tripped over which could cause the heavy stuff to fall off. So if it remains a little bit flimsy that will prevent putting heavy things on in the first place. A second cable to the other corner would make it stronger but it will get in the way.

The cable attaches to the hatch strut upper mount which might change position a bit depending on how far the hatch is pushed up but it should be good enough. Once I play with it for a while and tweak it I'll make one out of materials that won't catch fire... (aluminum sheets and aircraft cable)

 

[MarkBC]

Pulled the other axle and knuckle off today. One broken stud in the steering arm.

And I got all the 3rd member bolts out but it was getting hung up; couldn't pull it more than 1/4". With some advice from @TRAIL TAILOR the e-locker should be locked for clearance to get the third member out and to easily reinsert the axles. It was unlocked at the time. Luckily I researched and Jerry rigged the locker activation circuitry when I first got the axle so it was easy to activate with my 120 VAC to 12 VDC transformer. Basically, the two large greenish wires get 12 V across them. You reverse the polarity to change lock to unlock and vice versa.

And the good news is the diff gears look good despite running dry before I got it. No metal shards but backlash is a bit high, I'll try to measure that tomorrow. 80 front axles always turn since they are full time AWD until the lockers are turned on then they become 4WD so there is thick black paste over everything, before I put some good oil in it to loosen it up. So I'll have some serious degreasing to do... it will need a full rebuild.

Since my goal is to make this truck as manual as possible, maybe someday I'll switch to manual lockers.

 

[MarkBC]

I mostly wrapped up the bodywork repair in the crotch for the left rear door today. I'm taking advantage of the last few weeks of decent weather to do bodywork and painting. The truck won't be in a garage this winter so it needs to be waterproof. I don't have the luxury of making it perfect and giving filler weeks to cure before painting. But with rust in the panel seams it would never be perfect anyways. So today I achieved "good enough".

I used the metal eating bits people linked above which were really good at grinding down the excess weld. This exposed a few small holes. Then I painted with Eastwood rust encapsulator as there were a few minor rust bits left, and it seeped into the rusty seams. It says you can paint right over clean rust and so far it seems to be holding up well from when I put some on my rusty 4runner frame 3 years ago.

Then I put automotive caulking in the seam and filled the little holes with it. It says you can paint over it in half an hour so I waited a few hours. Primer then final coat of rustoleum silver rim paint. And i put some eastwood paint in the inside too. I'll put some more in with the spray wand to get the nooks and crannies from the inside. Then when that hardens up I'll spray linseed oil on the inside. If that doesn't stop the rust nothing will short of dismantling the panels and sandblasting.

It doesn't look perfect but perfect isn't the theme of this build. I don't have the budget or time to do perfect bodywork. I just want relatively sound metal underneath that looks reasonably decent and is protected from further rust. I think this meets that criteria. Ugly paint is good as it deters attention and theft. I'll check yearly for any rust problems and touch up if needed. But honestly I see this lasting 10 years.