Greetings. Picked up my HZJ81V about 2 months ago, with the intent of returning to the States with it when my tour is up. I was interested in something diesel, manual and with rear barn doors. Not knowing much about the 80 series, I did as much reading as I could to get schooled on it. Eventually I’ve decided that I should prioritize the rear barn doors and a manual transmission – as well as a close to stock as possible vehicle.
While I searched, I’ve noticed / realized a few things. Here in Japan, there’s not a whole lot of space. Meaning not too many people ‘overland’ or take their vehicles off pavement. Maybe a few folks would take it to an off road park, but nothing like the States, Australia or Africa.
Low mileage vehicles aren’t all that scarce – again, not a big country.
But there are quite a few vehicles that are lifted, in some instances 6 inches. Given what I mentioned, I questioned the quality and the experience of these lifts – since they aren’t generally being used or abused, I wasn’t sure of the correctness of the lifts done. I saw it more as a problem waiting to happen on the long term.
Engine swaps aren’t common here, very rare. I mention this because ultimately I wanted a turbo diesel. I was looking at a 1HZ, so wanted to understand the feasibility of swapping to a 1HD-T or better for the long term – driving around in the States. Don’t get me wrong, the 1HZ is a fine engine, and you won’t notice the lack of power, if you want to call it that here – again, a small country with relatively slower speed limits. What I didn’t know was that its nearly impossible for you to swap and engine, with the hassles of registrations etc here. If I was to obtain a new engine say from Toyota, they will only sell me an engine that’s registered to the vehicle (in my case, 1HZ) as a replacement. Can’t get a 1HD-T or any other turbo option.
As a result, there’s not a whole lot of knowledge or experience in swapping or modifying engines here. I think there’s more good information coming out of Australia and South Africa.
While you can find relatively inexpensive vehicles on internet auctions, and most folks here are meticulous with their maintenance, considering I was looking at a 20+ year old vehicle, I decided against getting something via auction. I haven’t been here that long, and I didn’t want to have to deal with the hassles of a private sale and trying to find a reputable shop to handle the repairs and making it road worthy, if for some reason it wasn’t.
A colleague of mine suggested that I look at a 4x4 dealership, FLEX. I think they are also known online for some of their cosmetic ‘upgrades’, such as round headlight grilles for the 80 series and some interior upholstery customizations. Almost immediately, I found a suitable candidate – which is what I ended up with. I was basically looking for a vehicle to travel with – this wouldn’t be a daily driver once I returned to the States, and it came with the accessories that I would have added later on – and the price, for what’s available here, was reasonable. Once I’ve committed to it, there was a bit of a shock – with my situation here, I am tax exempt (which is 10%) and other fees, to include inspection. However, to be able to register it and get it plated, I still need to comply with the local emission standards – which added about 50% of the vehicle cost. Ouch. I guess you have to pay to play – but, I would have no other fees while I’m here, and for me, get the vehicle that I wanted, I begrudgingly paid.
That being said, prior to delivery, they did preform some maintenance on the vehicle, to include replacing the front axle seals etc, fluids and new batteries and belts. I have a list of things they’ve replaced somewhere, and it was a fairly long list. It took a bit of the sting out of the extra I had to pay for the emissions stuff.
Now, I have to give credit to someone who’s helped me considerably – I wished I’d met him sooner, he’s been a great resource for me. That’s Dave from Japan4x4. I’ve seen him referenced here on the site, and I’ve reached out to him right around the time I took delivery of my vehicle. He’s been very patient with me, and answered all of my questions, no matter how sophomoric I sounded. Most recently, I needed to replace my rear barn door door check, and despite this being a discontinued part, he was able to get me a part number that I was able to order from Toyota and worked perfectly. Just this past week, I had a chance to visit his shop, and ended up spending 3 hours of his time, getting schooled on many things Land Cruiser. He was even gracious enough to let me experience a 1HD-FTE engine.
Dave, if you’re reading this, I can’t thank you enough.
So, with that being said – I guess this is useless without a pic.
While I searched, I’ve noticed / realized a few things. Here in Japan, there’s not a whole lot of space. Meaning not too many people ‘overland’ or take their vehicles off pavement. Maybe a few folks would take it to an off road park, but nothing like the States, Australia or Africa.
Low mileage vehicles aren’t all that scarce – again, not a big country.
But there are quite a few vehicles that are lifted, in some instances 6 inches. Given what I mentioned, I questioned the quality and the experience of these lifts – since they aren’t generally being used or abused, I wasn’t sure of the correctness of the lifts done. I saw it more as a problem waiting to happen on the long term.
Engine swaps aren’t common here, very rare. I mention this because ultimately I wanted a turbo diesel. I was looking at a 1HZ, so wanted to understand the feasibility of swapping to a 1HD-T or better for the long term – driving around in the States. Don’t get me wrong, the 1HZ is a fine engine, and you won’t notice the lack of power, if you want to call it that here – again, a small country with relatively slower speed limits. What I didn’t know was that its nearly impossible for you to swap and engine, with the hassles of registrations etc here. If I was to obtain a new engine say from Toyota, they will only sell me an engine that’s registered to the vehicle (in my case, 1HZ) as a replacement. Can’t get a 1HD-T or any other turbo option.
As a result, there’s not a whole lot of knowledge or experience in swapping or modifying engines here. I think there’s more good information coming out of Australia and South Africa.
While you can find relatively inexpensive vehicles on internet auctions, and most folks here are meticulous with their maintenance, considering I was looking at a 20+ year old vehicle, I decided against getting something via auction. I haven’t been here that long, and I didn’t want to have to deal with the hassles of a private sale and trying to find a reputable shop to handle the repairs and making it road worthy, if for some reason it wasn’t.
A colleague of mine suggested that I look at a 4x4 dealership, FLEX. I think they are also known online for some of their cosmetic ‘upgrades’, such as round headlight grilles for the 80 series and some interior upholstery customizations. Almost immediately, I found a suitable candidate – which is what I ended up with. I was basically looking for a vehicle to travel with – this wouldn’t be a daily driver once I returned to the States, and it came with the accessories that I would have added later on – and the price, for what’s available here, was reasonable. Once I’ve committed to it, there was a bit of a shock – with my situation here, I am tax exempt (which is 10%) and other fees, to include inspection. However, to be able to register it and get it plated, I still need to comply with the local emission standards – which added about 50% of the vehicle cost. Ouch. I guess you have to pay to play – but, I would have no other fees while I’m here, and for me, get the vehicle that I wanted, I begrudgingly paid.
That being said, prior to delivery, they did preform some maintenance on the vehicle, to include replacing the front axle seals etc, fluids and new batteries and belts. I have a list of things they’ve replaced somewhere, and it was a fairly long list. It took a bit of the sting out of the extra I had to pay for the emissions stuff.
Now, I have to give credit to someone who’s helped me considerably – I wished I’d met him sooner, he’s been a great resource for me. That’s Dave from Japan4x4. I’ve seen him referenced here on the site, and I’ve reached out to him right around the time I took delivery of my vehicle. He’s been very patient with me, and answered all of my questions, no matter how sophomoric I sounded. Most recently, I needed to replace my rear barn door door check, and despite this being a discontinued part, he was able to get me a part number that I was able to order from Toyota and worked perfectly. Just this past week, I had a chance to visit his shop, and ended up spending 3 hours of his time, getting schooled on many things Land Cruiser. He was even gracious enough to let me experience a 1HD-FTE engine.
Dave, if you’re reading this, I can’t thank you enough.
So, with that being said – I guess this is useless without a pic.
