Builds My First Land Cruiser - Cdn 🍁 BJ60 "Wabi Sabi" (8 Viewers)

[PapaGiamati]

The vacuum pump is a vane-type pump which requires oil both to lubricate the vanes and, I believe, to seal the vanes against the housing. It's the same principle as the power steering pump.

The fault-finding is aimed more at defective alternators so if yours works fine (i.e. putting out about 13.8 V) it's not really necessary. The brushes are the only thing which regularly wear out.

The vacuum pump should be spotlessly clean when you put it back together though, and I would also replace the copper washers on the banjo fitting if you disturbed them.

I think that's a pretty rare alternator with a vacuum pump and an internal voltage regulator, so take care of it

Good to know! Ill make sure to be a good steward of this piece of Toyota history!

Couldn't really clean in the vacuum pump as it was behind that block off plate, but I made sure no debris got in. Time will tell how I did.

 

[PapaGiamati]

took the interior carpets to the car wash today. They had so much road dust and silt in them it was not even worth using a rug doctor vacuum.

Before pictures of the dusty duo.

Rinsed then soap, then a LOT of power washing the dirt and dust out.

I noticed a HUGE difference in colour and smell post wash. The foam underneath held a TON of water so they were a pain to load into the back of the car. Left them in the garage now on hangars and left the fan and small heater on them all night since it’s supposed to be -7 tonight.

We will see how they look and smell once all dried out!

 

[PapaGiamati]

The time has come! My buddy flew in from the island and were hard at work for the long weekend.

First on the list was building an SST equivalent to the one to get the crank pulley off. Some rebar, and 14 gauge sheet worked wonders.

Next was getting that pesky exhaust manifold stud out. A nut welded to the rest of the stud worked with a washer on to give it a little more space to weld to. After some failed attempts, it came out with some force. We cleaned up all the threaded holes with brass bore brushes for the new studs and bolts.

And last on the list was a slide hammer for the crank pulley. Ghetto, but did the job.

All worked wonders to get the timing cover off. The crank seal at the front was old and very leaky. That was replaced and now onto another few hours of scraping paper gaskets off the block and the timing cover.

Some eagle eyed viewers might notice the numbers stamped on the gears aren’t aligned properly, they’re 180 degrees off. But the truck runs and I don’t want to mess with it. So

Clearly the PO was in there before.

Hopefully putting the 3B back together today and fired up tonight.

 

[PapaGiamati]

And here is how the carpet looked after the power wash. So much stuff came out.

Before:

After:

 

[PapaGiamati]

Max has been crushing it with the welder and getting the seats back in place. We came up with a plan and he executed flawlessly.

Both sides of the rear seat mount were shaped and tac welded in. Then we measured where the rear seat mount needed to go and used the previous datum holes I drilled to line up the seat brakcets.

Once the outer wheel well pieces were welded in, the seat mount pieces were reinforced with some 18 gauge sheet and then spot welded to the now “new” sheet metal in the wheel well. This provided a great seal to the outside and some solid metal to weld the seat brackets to. I am still contemplating if i want to weld some reinforcement to the outside of the sheet. I have some steel tubing that we cut in half to replicate those original curved metal. But that would introduce some areas for moisture to hide in...hmmmm...

Drivers side. (Not finished)

Passenger side (not finished)

Inside view (unfinished). I will need to come up with a plan to fill that empty space behind the old wheel well wall and the new plate on the outside. Some type of spray sealant perhaps?

Test sets fit to see if the datum and current positioning of the seat holders were correct. Needless to say he was bang on.

Passenger side test fit.

 

[PapaGiamati]

While max was ripping beads, I cleaned the gasket surfaces of the timing cover, and remainder of the accessory bits I had off.

Got the oil cooler back on, the oil filter housing back on and the push rod cover back on all with new gaskets.

New OEM Toyota hardware for the exhaust manifold. Bought more studs than I needed in case I do this job again. I put some anti-seize on all the bolts before I put them back in the block.

Manifold on, new hardware and new gaskets. Feeling GOOD.

 

[PapaGiamati]

Put some new belts on yesterday.

Went to fire up the 3B for the first time since replacing all the gaskets and we noticed a big spark come from the front of the engine once it fired up. After some investigation we found that I had installed the idler pulley wrong, which meant that it bound up and basically welded some of the washers together as it got ripping hot. Based on the blueing of the steel, looks to have reached nearly 200-300 degrees C in a matter of seconds. We couldn’t touch it for some time as we had to let it cool.

Once we could take it off, we realized that the sleeves in the middle were not long enough to keep the outside surfaces of the bearing from rubbing the large washers. The bearing was totally fine and so were the belts. We went to Home Depot and got some M10 washers and property spaced out the pulley so that it could spin freely. Upon next start up, worked like a charm, no issues.

We were in a mad dash to finish so I didn’t take to many more pictures. The brewery had celebratory beers with our names on them.

I replaced all the old body mount hardware with some new bolts and nuts all around. I re-used the old rubber for now until I can find a better alternative that doesn’t cost $$$. The bolt supply store did not have the standard M10 x 1.25 ~100mm and ~120mm, so I got some M10 x 1.5 100mm and 120mm. They worked just fine. Put lots of lubricant in the holes to delay corrosion again.

We reinstalled the front carpets and put in the rear ones for now, as we were driving around for some sound deadening. I will be taking it all back out and laying down the butyl mat this weekend if I have time. Then I can put all the door trim and interior back together for good.

I topped up the oil with 10W-30 T4 Rotella and Prestone max life green coolant.

After some burping and checking the fluids, all seemed to work. Oil pressure was in the right operating zone, temps were steady, if not a little on the colder side. Probably need to do one more burp of the cooling system, but it needed ~12L of coolant as per the manual and it took all 12L!

As well the alternator was putting out 13.8V which is exciting that I didn’t ruin the alternator by taking it apart.

When we put the seats in, some seed (barley?) came falling out of the passenger seat. Yeah, for sure it’s a farm truck.

And off we went for our first drive since October! Lots of looks and waves from people. Just a fun truck to drive and something that people love to see on the road.

It went well, the only major issue was a coolant line from the thermostat housing backed off and leaked coolant all over the engine bay. Luckily the hose didn’t blow off completely. Those 5/8” oem hose clamps were not small/tight enough for some of the fittings. So I had to reuse some of the wire ones and some screw clamps. Not the sexiest look, but it did the trick

Back in the garage now after about 60km of bombing around town. No major leaks from any of the gasket surfaces so far! I’m pumped!!!

 

[PapaGiamati]

New custom transfer case shifter extension came in the mail from my buddy.

He has a small lathe and turned this for me from a fusion360 drawing I sent him.

I’ll toss some gloss black on it and I think it will blend in nicely, and unnoticed to the untrained eye.

 

[Dekeman]

Awesome work. That carpet, however, does not deserve to go back into your truck. Get new carpet. Not that expensive and you will forever be thankful for installing new. @dnp sells a perfect-fit carpet in your OEM colour. Easy install too.

 

[PapaGiamati]

Started working on the butyl mat for the panel deadening now that the welding is complete.

Bought two boxes of butyl mat from Vevor for relatively cheap. (50sqft) working my way from back to front.

Was a very relaxing job after all the engine work that destroyed my hands. This was a breeze. Only did the back cargo area tonight.

And here is the painted transfer case shifter extension for good measure.

 

[PapaGiamati]

Here is the full passenger side welding pictures. Already soaked for a day in rust converter around the bare metal edges then primed. Paint for the interior and then bedliner for the underneath im thinking is the plan. I have some bed liner to re-do the wheel wells.

PASSENGER SIDE

Thinking I should coat the spaces between the sheet metal with flex seal or something aerosol?

 

[PapaGiamati]

DRIVERS SIDE

This side was far worse but still buttoned up well.

 

[PapaGiamati]

. That carpet, however, does not deserve to go back into your truck.

Ah I would have bought a full carpet but I pulled the trigger too soon in my parts buying excitement of the Rock Auto cargo area carpet (ACC Nylon) one. It fits perfectly and will cover all the bad spots of the rear cargo area OEM carpet and dampen the 80’s smell hahaha.

 

[diesellibrarian]

DRIVERS SIDE

This side was far worse but still buttoned up well.

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It doesn't hurt to smear some automotive seam sealer over the weld joints after priming. That will seal up any pinholes and extend the life of the repair.

 

[PapaGiamati]

Question to the masses,

I have heard a transmission whine recently, relative to the speed of the gears. Doesn’t sound like throw out bearing or input shaft bearing noise. Just sounds like it’s low on fluid. I haven’t checked or topped it up since I got it, and looks like it leaked a lot from the 1,200km drive across Canada to get it here.

What I am looking for is the fill plug! The PO did the TC to transmission connection with (plumbing?) fittings. And from the owners manual, it looks like he sealed up both fill plugs!

I’m worried to take off the fittings cause they look like they have sealant slathered on them and I don’t want to bust off a fitting in there.

Am I missing another opening for the fill plug, or do I have to just send it and take this thing off? I would like to replace it with a more modern solution. (Banjo bolts and some braided line)

cheers.

 

[PapaGiamati]

Today was finally the day. Final rust control, finishing up the interior with the sound deadening, and putting the interior back together.

I forgot to take photos of the laying of the sound deadening mats before I put the carpet back in cause I was in a rush to meet friends for a bday down by the river. First adventure drive with WS.

Here is some progress pics on the C Channels for rust control.

Before

Wire wheeled

Rust converted

Fluid filmed (black)

Not the prettiest c channels and will need to be done with time. But it makes me feel better that it won’t rust away on me within a year.

 

[PapaGiamati]

Finally added 3-4 layers of bed liner to the wheel wells to cover the weld job finally.

Once that was drying with a heater on it, I tackled getting the interior finally back together for the first time since November???

Feels great.

Very happy with today!

Off to the river to go for a cold plunge!

 

[PapaGiamati]

Bonus pic of the truck out n about in the wild.

Drove it about 110km total today. Was very well mannered on the highways, cruising no issue at 110km/h (70mph). As soon as there was a hill I would have to throw it into 4th and pull hahaha.
What a blast.

Some small things to work out, but the baseline is official. I know what it feels like and what it ought to drive like. Looking forward to my next big adventure and more wrenching.

 

[Dekeman]

Pull off that mad-hatter plumbing and replace with OEM. Check the parts diagrams to see what you need. See how hard it is to remove the fitting from the case, use heat if it's stubborn, careful of fire with that grease. Doubt it has a permanent hold. Those C-channels need replacing. @TRAIL TAILOR sells replacements. Getting the old buggers off is a royal PITA but doable. Yours are worse than mine were, and I replaced. Not a fun job, more a right of passage, like rebuilding the front knuckles.

 

[bcsteel]

This is just a suggestion as I’m a few steps ahead of you with my 60 and it’s maintenance. When you decide to upgrade your suspension have a good look back there.

1. Fuel tank and related sending unit and fuel pickup. Associated rubber hoses, filler neck and rubber hose. You can still get a new fuel tank from Toyota if necessary plus all the associated parts on a Megazip sale. Mine looked great outside. Figured it would be a walk in the park. Inside, full of rust. Every connection crispy and close to failure.

2. C-channels and how they connect to spring hangar. Knocking those dicks out requires the spring hangar to be temporarily removed from
The frame. Way easier when not attached to a leaf spring.

3. Suspension upgrade. Amazingly annoying job but satisfying in the end. If going with OME, pay attention to the reference points on the leaf springs that indicate which side they are to be installed. I did not on my first install and the truck leaned a full 1.5” the wrong way. My bad, reinstalled and lean was gone.

These are just suggestions. Nice job on your truck.