Builds Middle East spec 1992 RJ77 -- 'Biscuit' (1 Viewer)

[John Young]

Hi all,
I've mostly been a Model 100 guy but just saw a local ad for a 1992 RJ77 and I liked the look of it. Took a drive over to the dealer who tells me it has been in his family since new--and he was kind enough to share a bunch of family photos featuring the truck. Here are a couple of photos I took as I first saw it:

It is quite tidy and like most of the old trucks in the Middle East that started life here, rust is not much of an issue. The seller has the rear tire carrier and I'm getting that put back on the truck.

The interior had been spruced up and one thing I noticed is that the plastic door sills were in really excellent shape--which always suggests to me that the truck was used gently. It has a manual 5 speed and a 22R four banger with a carburetor and mechanical distributor. I have not had a car with this since the 1970s, but part of the point of this truck is to teach my boys about old vehicles and how to drive a stick, so a low-powered EMP-proof truck is a good fit for our family.

I drove the truck a bit and I felt it had adequate power and I so enjoyed driving a stick again!

My sons liked the photos and my younger boy even suggested a name, 'Biscuit' which seems to fit very nicely. I slept on it and asked this forum for advice about the dry back of the Birf joints--consensus being it was the way it was supposed to be. I made an offer and we negotiated a bit and I've paid and have a receipt. Title transferring tomorrow. I've also gotten a quote for shipment to Virginia where this truck is going and it should be departing at the end of the month--just enough time to do a few things here in Dubai.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Cool truck! Looks good!

 

[John Young]

Here are a few more photos:

That crud that looks like rust on the radiator is not. It's just residue from some foam rubber that was used to fill the gap between the frame and the radiator. I understand that this is the original radiator however...

Here's my 1998 Model 100 'Dhanno', BTW. I have a fondness for this color in old Toyotas:

I went up to Sharjah this evening to look into whether I could get an OEM Toyota winch for the truck and also to look at getting some wheels a little more appropriate to the truck. I'm thinking of these used 17" steel wheels that I saw:

A little over 200 bucks for a set of 7. But now I have to research what tires/wheels will fit on this truck. I will be doing some poking around this forum for info. I also think if I buy these I will get them painted to match the body. I think that would look very nice.

 

[Nas90tdi]

Looks nice. I too like that color.
Those are a 5 lug wheel. Your new truck will be a 6 lug.

 

[John Young]

Looks nice. I too like that color.
Those are a 5 lug wheel. Your new truck will be a 6 lug.

Doh! Thanks N, I'm just so used to 5 lug axels...

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Are you really old enough to remember your avatar?

 

[John Young]

Yes, actually. And I even remember that episode. The Robot asked everyone to refer to him as 'Golden Boy'! I even saw the actual original Robot B9 (get it, 'benign') in the special effects shop at 20th Century years ago--I had summer jobs that took me on the lot and somehow I always found a reason to wander around there.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I would assume that the majority of guys on this forum aren't familiar with that robot.

 

[John Young]

I would assume that the majority of guys on this forum aren't familiar with that robot.

Well in that case, although it may be a bit off-topic, here is a link to Robot B9 blueprints: The B9 Robot Builders Club

 

[Nas90tdi]

Unfortunately, I remember it as well.

 

[yourID10Tdriver]

I think it needs more rust, it needs to match "ol' Krusty" somehow LOL

 

[roscoFJ73]

I remember the first episode, I knew Smith would be trouble.

Nice find on the 77, it looks very unmolested.
You should be able to use some 4runner/Hilux parts of similar years. Dobinsons make some good suspension kits for them.

 

[John Young]

Thank you Rosco. The first episode, "The Reluctant Stowaway" is a little misleading in terms of Dr. Smith's character. He was written as a true villan--an agent of an unnamed foreign power who sabotaged the Jupiter II with the intention of killing all on board. He appears to kill a guard and throw him out the garbage chute and programs the Robot to 'crush, kill and destroy' the Robinsons and Don West while they are frozen in suspended animation. He was pretty evil in this episode:

Jonathan Harris, the actor who played Dr. Smith felt that the role likely would not last so plotted to make the character more lovable (and important to the show). He discusses this in the interview here ( ) starting at 3:28 into the video if you want to jump there. Ultimately the character became, I think, the Achilles heel of the series--he just beacme so, so silly. In the last episode, "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" he plots to take the shuttle down to a planet they are passing to get some flowers for the Robot's birthday party to curry favor with the Robot, and somehow gets turned into a giant stalk of celery by a giant carrot.

I loved the first season with all my heart. It was pretty good, and serious, science fiction. I hated the later episodes with space hippies and so on.

But I digress...

Today I completed the title transfer for 'Biscuit' and drove her on the freeway for a good distance. Everything is fine but there are some repairs that need to be made before she is shipped home to Virginia. Most importantly, the tach is busted. And I could not tell how high I was revving the engine. She really seems to top out at about 90-100km/hour (55-62 mph), but without a tach I had no idea whether I was over-revving the engine. I played it conservative. Aircon works fine, no annoying rattles--but cabin noise is worlds different than my 2001 LX470 or even my 1998 100 now, thanks to my sons, with lots of sound insulation in it.

I took it to my favorite mechanic and dropped it off. Here are two shots of the interior:

As you can see, Biscuit is pretty tidy inside.

Here is a list of the work I am going to try to have done before she is shipped at the end of the month, in no particular order:

1. Inspection with replacement of all worn belts, bushings, hoses, etc.
2. Change all fluids, coolant, engine oil, transmission, transfer case, and both differentials
3. Re-grease wheel bearings during inspection
4. Source OEM steel rims for all 5 rims and have them painted body color
5. Get new, taller rubber on the rims (I need advice on max size for this Model 77--I will search the forums but would welcome a link). I don't like the existing rims or rubber.
6. Investigate the slightly loose steering--there is just a little too much play in it for my liking. I had the same trouble with my Middle East spec model 80--even replacing the steering box which helped but did not completely resolve the problem.
7. Repair and re-install passenger side tow hook that had been torn off
8. Investigate whether this truck has an oil pressure gauge or just an idiot light--makes me nervous not to check oil pressure. Does anyone know off the top of their head?
9. Remove window tinting all around--here in the Middle East people put on heavy tint and I can't drive with it like that--I feel like I can't see properly. I pulled off the front and driver and passenger window tinting on the way to pre-title transfer inspection--it was that dark.
10. See if I can find an OEM battery hold down--currently it is held down with a fabric strap and buckle.
11. Pull out the ends of the front bumper which appear to have been pushed reward a bit over the years to avoid tire interference.
12. Repaint the side-steps with bed liner black paint--but if we run out of time I can do that with my sons in Virginia
13. Replace one of the inside door handles with a spare the prior owner gave me.
14. Possibly fix a small hole in the dash left when the prior owner put a phone mount in. Or I might just put one in there myself as I need it anyways.
15. Sand blast, inside and out, the apparently OEM gas can and repaint with body color.
16. Repaint spare tire carrier with body color.

If any of you have suggestions for other things I ought to do before shipping, I'd appreciate hearing from you!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Good list!

With regards to tires: 235/85R16 (~32") or 255/85R16 (~33") are nice tire sizes for these trucks. Tall and skinny work well with the small engines. And honestly, it's amazing where they'll go with these tires. I was out a couple weekends ago with a large entourage of cruisers. I have 235/85R16 E rated Duratracs. There was a particular hill climb a number of us were attempting for fun. I was aired down to about 20psi and locked my rear diff. I walked up this hill no problem first try. A lifted BJ70 on 34" Toyo MT's could not make it up and had to use a winch. A lifted BJ42 on 33" BFG muds had to try four times to get up the hill. A lifted 4Runner on 33" tires tried multiple times and did not make it. I believe two of those trucks also had rear lockers. So there you go....bigger tires are not always better. I think I'd prefer 255/85R16, but I tow a camper trailer and need to keep the gearing that the smaller tires give me.

 

[John Young]

Thank you kindly, GTS. What you say makes sense re skinny with the pluckly little 4-banger. Honestly, the engine runs great and I have no plans to change it. Do I have to worry about rim width with these skinny tires? I'm going to have to take what I can get in terms of OEM steel from the junk yards. Also, is the 255/85R16 a close thing in terms of fitting in the wheelwell as I don't have a clear idea of the state of the suspension and it needs to drive enough to be loaded and unloaded.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thank you kindly, GTS. What you say makes sense re skinny with the pluckly little 4-banger. Honestly, the engine runs great and I have no plans to change it. Do I have to worry about rim width with these skinny tires? I'm going to have to take what I can get in terms of OEM steel from the junk yards. Also, is the 255/85R16 a close thing in terms of fitting in the wheelwell as I don't have a clear idea of the state of the suspension and it needs to drive enough to be loaded and unloaded.

A 6" wide rims works well for the 235's and a 7" rim is ideal for the 255's. That said, a number of 70 series owners have put the 255's on 6" wide rims with any real issues. Make sure the rims you buy are 0mm offset, or a negative offset if you get into wider rims (3.5" back spacing works well).

 

[John Young]

Thanks GTS. I was going to have my mechanic search for rims, but I might be better off doing it myself. I found the 235s from my favorite local online retailer in my preferred brand/model:

This is 900 USD after VAT, which is not too bad.

So to summarize, if I go with this tire, I can use either 6 or 7 inch rims, ideally with zero offset? I'm going to try to get old Toyota steel wheels, ideally just matching what is on the spare now, which appears to be original:

Was the original equipment a 7 inch if you happen to know?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thanks GTS. I was going to have my mechanic search for rims, but I might be better off doing it myself. I found the 235s from my favorite local online retailer in my preferred brand/model:
View attachment 1948114
This is 900 USD after VAT, which is not too bad.

So to summarize, if I go with this tire, I can use either 6 or 7 inch rims, ideally with zero offset? I'm going to try to get old Toyota steel wheels, ideally just matching what is on the spare now, which appears to be original:

Was the original equipment a 7 inch if you happen to know?

Looking at the tire spec's, Yokohama has rated that tire for a 6-7.5" rim. So yes, you'd be fine with the rims you're thinking about.

Here is a link to OEM wheel specs: Disc Wheel & Wheel Cap for 1990 - 1996 Toyota LAND CRUISER RJ77 | General sales region, , 18024511-936373

Looks like yours was 16x6" OEM size.

 

[John Young]

Thank you GTS, especially for the link! I don't think I would have found that for myself, and I've been looking.

 

[John Young]

A guy I have gotten to know up in Sharjah (the Emirate just North of Dubai) who deals in 70 Series parts--a very nice guy--came through with a factory Toyota winch that ought to bolt right in to a Model 77.

It looks pretty clean and seems to have a complete wiring harness too. Just missing the remote--but I have two of them already.

I'm very glad to be doing this here because of the weight of the thing it would be costly to ship it separately into the USA. Now I've either got to source a new bumper or have my garage modify the one I have. The existing bumper is not perfect so I don't mind bunging it up some more and using it until the truck is at home in Virginia. Then we can fabricate something or buy and modify something.

Thought you all might be interested in the winch.