Builds New Guy Intro with an FZJ75 Troopy (1 Viewer)

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Looks really good. It's tough to cover the Spectrum with bedliner if it's sprayed with a lot of texture. We have been trying varying ways of applying or smoothing down the Spectrum for a more uniform finish. I'm obsessed with that super fine finish for some reason.

Make sure you really let that Raptor cure before using it. I think between the Spectrum and the Raptor, especially when thick, it takes a lot of time to cure. It will feel cured and be useable but it's still a tad soft and cargo can leave indentations. I've gone back and felt some of them after 6 months or a year and they're very solid.

You're going to experience a night and day change with that setup!
 
Threw the original panels back in with some cheap plastic 8mm diameter interior trim clips, started throwing the original carpet back in, and shoved some piles of replacement parts back in the Troopy.
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Then went for a late night cruise. First time driving it for more than 5 minutes since March. I did notice after driving it on the highway that my hubs were a bit warm. They were still able to be touched by bare hand, but warmer than what I think is normal. I'm hoping it's just the new bearings breaking in a little.
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Definitely noticed the Spectrum doing it's job on the highway when I could barely hear most other car's tire sounds that are passing by me... And I still haven't touched the doors.
 
Threw the original panels back in with some cheap plastic 8mm diameter interior trim clips, started throwing the original carpet back in, and shoved some piles of replacement parts back in the Troopy.
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Then went for a late night cruise. First time driving it for more than 5 minutes since March. I did notice after driving it on the highway that my hubs were a bit warm. They were still able to be touched by bare hand, but warmer than what I think is normal. I'm hoping it's just the new bearings breaking in a little.
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Definitely noticed the Spectrum doing it's job on the highway when I could barely hear most other car's tire sounds that are passing by me... And I still haven't touched the doors.

Doors make a world of difference to the overall package.
 
Looks really good. It's tough to cover the Spectrum with bedliner if it's sprayed with a lot of texture. We have been trying varying ways of applying or smoothing down the Spectrum for a more uniform finish. I'm obsessed with that super fine finish for some reason.

Not to hijack this thread but I will probably go over the spectrum in my 75 with tinted raptor when I get it back to the US and would like a fairly smooth finish. The spectrum is definitely kinda rough. I assume you can sand it smooth and then coat with the raptor? Not sure how rough the raptor is so how do you keep it smooth? Just taking notes from the master....
 
Love what you're doing with your truck. I have GOT to get my roof and floor done with Spectrum soon...

For the ultimate; lay Damplifier Pro and then spray or paint Spectrum on top. I like the Spectrum but I can't imagine it's as good as the Damplifier. I just don't care for the Damplifier look; thus a few coats of Spectrum on top.
 
For the ultimate; lay Damplifier Pro and then spray or paint Spectrum on top. I like the Spectrum but I can't imagine it's as good as the Damplifier. I just don't care for the Damplifier look; thus a few coats of Spectrum on top.

That's what I did inside the body panels in the back... and that's the plan for the roof, and the doors. Have some Damplifier and Spectrum in the garage now waiting on a few other projects to get knocked out.
 
Not to hijack this thread but I will probably go over the spectrum in my 75 with tinted raptor when I get it back to the US and would like a fairly smooth finish. The spectrum is definitely kinda rough. I assume you can sand it smooth and then coat with the raptor? Not sure how rough the raptor is so how do you keep it smooth? Just taking notes from the master....

It's super easy to sand the Spectrum smooth. We did that with the Troopy in the front section as I kind of figured that at some point I may not want anything on the floors but I wanted the heat and sound proofing under my feet and seats which is why we used Spectrum over Damplifier up there. When we do 40 tubs, we sand the Spectrum so it's somewhat level.

You could smooth down that Spectrum until all the high spots are gone....but you'll have some low spots. Probably could do a skim coat over it with a plastic bondo spreader....maybe mix up some of the Sludge stuff in it so you just fill in any low spots. Sand again until smooth. Then spray Raptor. For the finest texture, get that Raptor Pro gun...it's a nice piece. It can shoot a VERY fine texture....so fine in fact that you'll see any imperfections so get that Spectrum smooth. We sprayed the rockers on the Troopy as fine as I could get it and you have to really look and feel to see the textured areas.
 
Come out to Ramona one of these days when you have some time. We've got a few part-out 70 series cruisers that you could pull stuff from if you need little things and some fun newer 70 series stuff to check out.
~Pete
 
I drove it to work yesterday, and I now notice how much the roof could use some Damplifier. I was hitting some horrendous potholes, and I could hear the roof flexing and reverberating ever so slightly on top of being able to hear more wind noise on the highway now. Probably not going to touch the roof for some time though since it's not really that big of a deal. The stoke of driving this is too great right now.

Next few things I will be working on in no particular order, more of a note to myself than anything else:
  • Parabolic leafs + shocks from Terrain Tamer
  • Sound System (+adding door pockets with speaker inserts)
  • LRA Aux Tank or replacement tank, would like 500miles of range at US highway speeds
  • Spare tire relocation (rear bar or 78 series replacement door)
  • Adding secondary 12V system, and dual battery if I can figure out a product or OE solution to putting another battery in engine bay (maybe 24V cruiser tray?)
  • Rebuild rear diff, Rear brake maintenance
  • Replace front brake calipers
  • Replace master and slave clutch cylinders
  • Find or get the OE sliding rear glass doors
  • Order recovery points from Odd Iron
  • Rear mud guards
  • Replace hazard button on steering column (already have them)
  • Replace the sun shades (already have them)
  • Refine planted seat brackets a little more, I am still sitting an inch too tall in the truck for my liking
  • One Stone Armrest?
  • Replace tail light + Odd Iron Offroad LED lights (already have them)
Probably going to be super busy the rest of the year to really get all of this done due to work, but at minimum I'm hoping to make a trip back up to Oregon and Utah at year's end again.

Come out to Ramona one of these days when you have some time. We've got a few part-out 70 series cruisers that you could pull stuff from if you need little things and some fun newer 70 series stuff to check out.
~Pete

Yeah I'd love to! I sent you a message. I've actually been looking for a Diff Lock 3rd member. Both my front and rear need to be rebuilt. The front is OK for now, now that I have the manual hubs on. As a rule of thumb I like rebuilding a spare 3rd, and swapping them out for the old one - all in one go.
 
Not sure if we have one of those but I will look. Ill get Mike out here if you give me some notice. Hes a wealth of knowledge.
 
I drove it to work yesterday, and I now notice how much the roof could use some Damplifier. I was hitting some horrendous potholes, and I could hear the roof flexing and reverberating ever so slightly on top of being able to hear more wind noise on the highway now. Probably not going to touch the roof for some time though since it's not really that big of a deal. The stoke of driving this is too great right now.

After doing the floors and doors all I could hear was wind noise on the roof and some "groaning" from the removable top flexing. My pickup top is removable and a lot smaller so it wasn't that much work to get it done. The Damplifier took care of the wind noise and a new $32 cab top gasket took care of the groaning.
 
I drove it to work yesterday, and I now notice how much the roof could use some Damplifier. I was hitting some horrendous potholes, and I could hear the roof flexing and reverberating ever so slightly on top of being able to hear more wind noise on the highway now. Probably not going to touch the roof for some time though since it's not really that big of a deal. The stoke of driving this is too great right now.

Next few things I will be working on in no particular order, more of a note to myself than anything else:
  • Parabolic leafs + shocks from Terrain Tamer
  • Sound System (+adding door pockets with speaker inserts)
  • LRA Aux Tank or replacement tank, would like 500miles of range at US highway speeds
  • Spare tire relocation (rear bar or 78 series replacement door)
  • Adding secondary 12V system, and dual battery if I can figure out a product or OE solution to putting another battery in engine bay (maybe 24V cruiser tray?)
  • Rebuild rear diff, Rear brake maintenance
  • Replace front brake calipers
  • Replace master and slave clutch cylinders
  • Find or get the OE sliding rear glass doors
  • Order recovery points from Odd Iron
  • Rear mud guards
  • Replace hazard button on steering column (already have them)
  • Replace the sun shades (already have them)
  • Refine planted seat brackets a little more, I am still sitting an inch too tall in the truck for my liking
  • One Stone Armrest?
  • Replace tail light + Odd Iron Offroad LED lights (already have them)
Probably going to be super busy the rest of the year to really get all of this done due to work, but at minimum I'm hoping to make a trip back up to Oregon and Utah at year's end again.



Yeah I'd love to! I sent you a message. I've actually been looking for a Diff Lock 3rd member. Both my front and rear need to be rebuilt. The front is OK for now, now that I have the manual hubs on. As a rule of thumb I like rebuilding a spare 3rd, and swapping them out for the old one - all in one go.

Are you looking for sliding glass windows for the rear set of windows? I'm going with sliders in the front windows and gull wings in the back. I'll be pulling my rear set of sliding windows accordingly. Would be happy to sell them off once I've pulled them. What's your time horizon?
 
Are you looking for sliding glass windows for the rear set of windows? I'm going with sliders in the front windows and gull wings in the back. I'll be pulling my rear set of sliding windows accordingly. Would be happy to sell them off once I've pulled them. What's your time horizon?

Yes i’d absolutely be interested! I’ve actually been wanting the rear more than the middle windows since my dog is usually in the back of the troopy.

Timing is whenever really. I’ll PM you.
 
Happy 2021. So I finished the whole front end and couldn't stand the sand-blasted-surface-rust-axle-housing as well as having new brakes up front, but not touching the rear so I tore out the rear axle.
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The rear diff ring gear was worn down as well, so i'm glad I pulled it out and took it to a local shop. The previous owner also put in a non-Toyota diff-lock sensor, so i'm glad I was able to replace it with 84222-12010 OE part. They also cut the original female plug that goes over it, but I have a harness from a 3rd gen 4Runner diff lock that should work... I still haven't spliced the OE harness back in though. So for now, the rear diff lock flashes continuously as if it's still "locking", even though it's working.
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Angle Grinder + 40 grit sand paper + POR15 + POR15 top coat
 
Happy 2021. So I finished the whole front end and couldn't stand the sand-blasted-surface-rust-axle-housing as well as having new brakes up front, but not touching the rear so I tore out the rear axle.
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The rear diff ring gear was worn down as well, so i'm glad I pulled it out and took it to a local shop. The previous owner also put in a non-Toyota diff-lock sensor, so i'm glad I was able to replace it with 84222-12010 OE part. They also cut the original female plug that goes over it, but I have a harness from a 3rd gen 4Runner diff lock that should work... I still haven't spliced the OE harness back in though. So for now, the rear diff lock flashes continuously as if it's still "locking", even though it's working.
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Angle Grinder + 40 grit sand paper + POR15 + POR15 top coat

Now it's going to bother you that the chassis is faded and dirty with two shiny, repainted axles...
 
During the diff rebuild I came across an issue with the 9" rear differential bearing races being a little different than a standard 9" 80 series rear differential. The bearings are the exact same as a US model 9" e-locker rear, but the races (at least in this particular 75 series with an e-locker) were ever so slightly taller. Photo below is the old one after it got rebuilt.
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32012J/IB-N was the one I needed, 32012J was just the normal one.
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Maybe someone can enlighten me more on it, but I found it interesting. Took a week longer to rebuild the diff and I left the axle housing like this:
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Some sweet merch did come in the mail though as I was waiting
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Snapped a bolt before a trip, and broke 2 of my extractors. Thankfully Cruiser Outfitters came in for the rescue and happened to have a spare lower leaf spring/shock mount in stock.
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First time offroad!
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One of my favorite things about the 11 seater troopy's is just laying one side of the benches down and having a built in bed. I originally thought about doing the classic aussie build out with a cabinet set up on one side, and a bed/drawer/couch on the other side of the aisle, but I like the troopy-makeshift-bed.
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Got tired of an exhaust leak "tick/woosh" that would get really annoying when going down a grade in gear with no throttle. Brought it to Ed Hanson's locally here in San Diego and got new resonators and 1 performance Magnaflow muffler (one of the types that you can see all the way through the muffler from inlet to outlet) with the goal of keeping it as quiet as possible. And wow, for a NA 1FZ-F, it really helped the engine to breath during acceleration.
 
For guys with 1FZ powered 70's:

Consider just getting a new OE radiator or fix the old one (if you can) when it breaks. The aftermarket ones can be odd (I honestly could only find 1-2 Chinese brands)
Things that are odd:
1. The second small tube of coolant leaving the engine doesn't have a spot to attach to radiator
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2. The charcoal canister (I think) bracket bolt holes are missing/not aligned
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3. The radiator shroud holes don't match up
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4. The main coolant inlet doesn't have the right angle to the engine (see harsher angle in photo above)

Probably cost me $300 after shipping etc. to get this one. I wish I had just paid the $2-300 extra to not have to deal with all of the extra stuff. Debating on just getting a new OE one...

In other good news though, she's back on 4 wheels for now.
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I'm in this same boat right now trying to find an OEM radiator. Can't find one anywhere.

Anyone have a lead on part#

1640066020 or​

1640066060​

 

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