Builds Almost beautiful HDJ81

[ZeGerman]

Are you happy? You know who you are! Im finally doing a build thread. Ill try to remember all the crap I have mollested this Diesel with and document here so future owners can complain about how I have managed to mangle the cruiser with and what an ass I am.

Future owner; this is for you

Now to the history of this thing.

Im too cheap to have a regular cruiser. 9-13 mpg I will not do. I have plenty of gas guzzlers in the house and I don't need another. Plus I wanted range. And I can not bring myself to get a Prius (cough cough) So a Diesel Cruiser it had to be. Also I am one of those unreasonable car guys that simply will not allow myself to get a motor other than Toyota. So HDJ81 it was to become.

All the ones they were selling in the US were bloody expensive. So I widened the search to include Canada. Specifically British Columbia. I liked the fact that in Vancouver, there are some very competent Toyota Diesel Shops. ATEB & EBI Cruisers especially. My goal was to fins a Cruiser that is serviced by either one of these shops.

Then one day the RSS feed dinged me and I saw a cruiser for 10k Canadian. At the time that translated to 7k US. I called the guy and he told me everything about it. I booked a flight to Vancouver cash in hand hoping to drive the thing back to Atlanta. My bags basically consisted of tools and I got some weird looks and a lot of questions while checking all the stuff in.

To my delight, the PO picked me up at the airport at 2AM in the cruiser. It was dark so I could not see much. But I did smell much and hear much. He dropped me off at the hotel and he came back the next morning to pick me up to go to his place for a thorough inspection of the beast.

This was the first time I laid my eyes on the cruiser:

Ugly as hell. Pin striping all over. The interior was abysmal. No carpet, a slight funk. Faded paint. Peeling clear coat. I fell in love with this damn thing. Mechanically this cruiser was fantastic. Cosmetically it was a total piece of s***.

I paid the man and got all the paperwork done. Now I was ready to drive back. An epic little adventure taking me through all the places I have always wanted to go. Only problem is that it was end August. Ill be driving through the desert with no AC. And so the adventure begins:

 

[ZeGerman]

Table of Contents:

Importing a car from Canada - A Definitive Guide
WOOHOO!! Finally got the HDJ80...... 4432 km's away.

Stereo Install

High output alternator install

Fixing the dash and repaint

Redoing the door cards 1st time

Refurbishing wiper arms

Slee Dual Swingout bumper install

First facelift plus Satoshi grill mod

Interior Insulation

New black interior and upgraded door cards

Slee 4" suspension lift, 4.88 Nitro gears

Cowl vent filter fix

Birth of Black Mamba - Paint time

New Shoes 35" Toyo on Level 8 Bully Pro 6

 

[ZeGerman]

WISHLIST FOR FUTURE

1. Increased Fuel Capacity - larger main tank as well as long ranger aux tank
2. On Board Air - Engine Driven York Compressor with Tank dependent on @NLXTACY
3. On Board Drinking water
4. Heat Exchanger for hot water shower
5. Front Bullbar
6. Slee Dual Swingout Bumper
7. Slee 4" suspension kit
8. King remote reservoir internal bypass shocks
9. Bigger Turbo - Gturbo?
10. Water to Air Intercooler
11. Bigger Tires - 35" or 37"
12. Drawer system with kitchen
13. Fridge with drop Down slide
14. Prinsu Rack
15. Winch
16. Upgraded Coms - UHF, VHF, CB, Sat etc
17. Lighting system Overhaul
18. Insulation and carpeting
19. New Interior
20. Upgraded Sound System
21. Functioning AC
22. Facelift
23. Roof Top Tent
24. Snorkel
25. 3 link front
26. Harrop Locker front & rear
27. Discoball
28. Atlas 4 Speed Transfer Case
29. Wholesale Automatics 5 speed paddle shift conversion.
30. Paint
31. tailgate storage
32. sPOD switch system
33. Redarc Manager 30 system
34. Solar

For now thats all I can think of. Will add to the list. Crossed out means its done

 

[ZeGerman]

When I got the Cruiser it may have been ugly but it had some good stuff on there already.
The PO was great at keeping this thing in top mechanical condition. He used only the best fluids. And it was regularly serviced.

Cruisin Offroad Sliders - Super kickass shop. I really wanted their bumpers but they stopped making them.

2.5" Ironman suspension lift with Foam filled shocks installed by Cruisin Offroad

3" Custom Exhaust beautifully routed and tucked under the frame

EGT, Boost, Trans Temp Gauge Installed

ATEB power rod mod

A dial to easily adjust boost

VHF/UHF radio

Ridgid offroad lightbar

 

[ZeGerman]

Placeholder just because

 

[ZeGerman]

I can live without AC. I can live with whatever that smell was. I can live with Ugly. But I can not drive that many miles without tunes. I use spotify and needed a deck that I can pair with my phone for music and talking. a quick google search yielded several stereo shops in Vancouver. So day one - rip out the dash and install stereo:

I got a cheap JVC unit that would pair with the phone. I knew that I will be switching it out with a double din unit in the future. So now that I have tunes and communications sorted, I could make my way back to the South. I will post links to those in the table of contents.

 

[Kaninja]

Awesome. I have a '96 1FZJ80 with the gas chugging 1FZ-FE. I Just couldn't do a right hand drive so I will be swapping in a Toyota diesel one day. Diesel range is what I want.....and $.80 cheaper per gallon in Vancouver right now doesn't hurt.

 

[ZeGerman]

Awesome. I have a '96 1FZJ80 with the gas chugging 1FZ-FE. I Just couldn't do a right hand drive so I will be swapping in a Toyota diesel one day. Diesel range is what I want.....and $.80 cheaper per gallon in Vancouver right now doesn't hurt.

I was a bit worried at first getting in on the right side but it took maybe 15 minutes to get fully used to it. I have quite frequently driven in England, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan so I did not mind sitting on the right side. The combination of sitting on the right and remembering to stay on the right side is what got me at first. If a Diesel is what you want, I suggest you take that plunge. Its easier than you think.

 

[ZeGerman]

A few shots from the trip for all you photo whores

And finally back home! Fittingly the Cruiser parks on the dirt

 

[ZeGerman]

The trip home did not without its hiccups. Everything went well until I parked the Cruiser in Hays, Kansas. I noticed a s*** ton of oil dripping. At the time I had no idea about the diesel. I had no clue where the oil was coming from. I looked underneath and the entire bottom was coated in motor oil. Even the rear glass looked like the Exxon Valdez had spilled its gut all over it.

I checked the oil the last time in Moab and all was well. I checked it again and it read low oil. So I went and found a small shop that would allow me to use their lift and inspect where the oil was coming from. Lots of cleaning and degreasing later, it turns out that the oil inlet for the turbo was leaking. I was in no position to fix it there cause I had no parts. And at the time, @beno had not yet entered my life so I did what every great engineer does. Buy a tube of RTT silicone and apply liberally around the affected surface.

The PO gave me a 5 gallon tub of Royal Purple so I needed to stop every couple hundred miles to refill the oil. I got home unscathed but managed to use up all of the oil.

 

[ZeGerman]

So now that I am home in Atlanta, I started searching for parts. Several members offered help and @Rock40 had the part I needed. He sent it over. At the same time @beno entered my life and all was good in my world. For those of you who don't know him, he lives, breathes, eats Toyotas. This man is an encyclopedia of everything Land Cruiser. He knows every part, every screw, every o-ring. This dude has forgotten more about Toyotas that I will ever know. Not only that, he can get you every part you need also. And get the parts he did.

Sure, there are a million places to order from and some of those places may be cheaper but the advice that @beno gives you is priceless!!! And for this endorsement I want a sticker

 

[ZeGerman]

My first order of business was to get that smell out. It was a combination of mildew and old New York City cab. Not the most pleasant smell in the world. This was the scrubbing stage. From bleach to degreasers to Fabuloso. (the purple one)

Everyone that has known me has at one point or another accused me of being a dumbass. Why? Because I do dumbassed things like wash the engine compartment. The cruiser had a double battery for the 24v starter so at the time I did not even know that I had killed my alternator. My dash lit up like a Christmas tree. Of course I did not know what that meant at the time. Then one day I was at the supermarket and was ready to go home and I turned the key and all i got was "click" Dead battery. It took quite a while from when I washed it to the batteries getting drained. Got a jump and drove home and diagnose the problem via ih8mud. Confirmed, alternator is screwed.

The good Canadians on this site informed me that I can use the alternator from a Toyota Tercel. Off to eBay I went where I spotted a 140amp high output alternator. So I got it. It sat side by side with my old alternator and looked the same so I switched the pulleys and proceeded to install it. Then came this:

Mother******!! Time for some modification. An hour later everything functioned again and all is good in the world once again.

 

[ZeGerman]

2 previous owners ago, the dude decided that the black dash in the toyota was simply too nice looking and proceeded to paint it red followed by a dooky brown. While the brown was still wet this artsy fartsy mother****** decided to use a brush to simulate wood grain. then he slathered the whole thing in polyurethane and called it quits. The poly was so thick that none of the switches and inserts would fit properly. I wanted it all to go back to black. A s*** ton of sanding priming and spraying later, I was back to what Mr. Toyoda had intended.

Back to black and everything fits and functions like its supposed to except for that damn "Lo"button because broken tab :

 

[ZeGerman]

So there I was with a fully functional cruiser. Ugly as hell but fully functional. This cruiser was called the Land Cruiser VX Limited Bed Cruiser edition. Im like WTF is a bed Cruiser?? Shag carpeting is what. Most of you guys have a bit of carpeting on the bottom of the door cards. I had full blown shag carpeting. Filthy sticky 25 year old shag carpets. The interior of the cruiser was this blue just like an early 90s Chrysler Town & Country minivan. A remnant of the 80s deplorable aesthetics. That was the next thing I needed to change. I started experimenting with the door cards. This is the first iteration:

Looks good but I wanted better speakers in the future and the stock location just did not have the depth to put anything decent in there. But this will do for now. So now I am that guy with the butt ugly cruiser with mismatched door cards, peeling paint and an eyesore of a silver bumper that would blind oncoming traffic in the sun.

 

[ZeGerman]

Then a whole bunch of stuff happened with leaks through the windshield and sunroof etc etc and fast forward to the fixing of some rust spots like my wipers:

I went out and got new wipers and came home to put them on and of course I get nailed with RHD syndrome yet again. I need the mirror image of the wipers I got. So now Im back to sanding etc and spraying etc.

Before:

After:

 

[ZeGerman]

This is where I will piss off a bunch of people here. There was this ad on craigslist on Sale dual swing out bumpers for $500. I responded so damn quick telling them I had cash in hand and waited. I thought it must be a scam as did everyone else that posted the ad on here. Guess what? It was not. Thats right bitches. I snagged me a Slee bumper for $500

Cut out the hole for the hitch receiver:

And new to me bumper:

Then took off the tire crap winch thingamajig from underneath the rig and voila!!

 

[ZeGerman]

Now the cruiser has a real nice ass! But the face was still busted so it was time for a bit of surgery. First was to change the color of the bumper to black:

Then it was time to tackle the lights and blinkers. I saw this Satoshi mod. Loved it. Went ahead and did it. I don't need to give a step by step cause there are plenty of threads on that already. Yes I am aware its an underexposed pic but its the only one I got:

Oh and I temporarily plastidipped the peeling hood.

 

[ZeGerman]

Then there was this episode with my headliner:

The reason for that is that I really need to get to my sunroof to fix the damn leaks. I really wanted to put in new carpeting because the damn car was loud and there was a ton of heat transfer from the front and transmission.

With the drain hoses replaced and stabilized it was time for interior beautification.

The insulation and dampening phase:

Thermo decoupler to keep the heat out:

And then there was carpeting and recoloring of panels. Everything black.

 

[ZeGerman]

And now it was time to add a few luxuries. I removed the old manual seats and got seats from an FJ80. Reupholstred it black so I can feel the heat and burn my ass in the hot summer sun.

Also redid the door cards to match the seats and have space for proper speakers which I do not yet have.

 

[Lumpskie]

This thread...

Entertainment, check...
Information, check...
Diesel, check...

This might be the best thread ever...

Now, where'd you get the replacement leather for your seats and how hard was it to reupholster?