Build Ochenta sin Nombre Moves to San Diego

[Dan2722]

I think this is the first birf rebuild post I have seen with more pictures of booze than of the actual work being done.

No wonder you and Bushdoctor drunk dialed me after the sake and drinking those mezcal concotions.

 

[bushdoctor]

As if dripping/pouring transmission fluid all over the garage floor, on my clothes, in my hair, and everywhere else wasn't enough, I decided to take on the classically messy knuckle rebuild project not even a week after replacing the transmission valve body. After a quick call to Bryce @cruiseroutfit for a rebuild kit and a stop at the hardware store for some ABS pipe and 12 pack of shop towel rolls, I was ready.

Yuck. Not a moment too soon.

Ran into a challenge seating the longer axle shaft and trashed the inner axle seal. No solution for that on a Saturday evening. @bushdoctor was over to help, which he did, but his decision to quit working on the truck and go get some beverages was his most appreciated contribution.

Pictured here, the FIRST bottle of sake. Not helping that inner axle seal at all.

Then some sort of Applejack, Cynar, and mezcal concoction took all thoughts of finishing a knuckle rebuild out of mind.

The next morning after sleeping in, finding a new inner axle seal locally, drinking lots of water, the job is finally done. Should be good for quite a few more kilometers!

At times, you just have to STOP everything and recalibrate. Which we did, and guess what, you got it all buttoned up the following day... ..

 

[bushdoctor]

I think this is the first birf rebuild post I have seen with more pictures of booze than of the actual work being done.

No wonder you and Bushdoctor drunk dialed me after the sake and drinking those mezcal concotions.

@Dan2722.. You were a no show bro!

 

[perrobravo]

Continuing the theme of messy maintenance projects (after valve body and knuckle rebuild), I decided to take on a leaking power steering gear box. Thanks to @cruiseroutfit for the OEM rebuild kit and @96r50 who posted this amazing write up, for making things easier.

Leak from input shaft making a mess and worsening over time

Messy bits

Not what you want to find when you're more than half way through reassembly

This should help

Following day...all buttoned up and hopefully sealed for another 300K kilometers

Reinstalled, added fluid, bled the system, and Ochenta is back on the trail.

 

[perrobravo]

Birfs, valve body, steering box...why stop there when it comes to messy jobs?

Ochenta developed a slight leak coming from the injection pump on cold starts. It seemed to be getting worse, so with no other messy work to do, the time had come for a rebuild. Thanks to @orangefj45 for the encouragement to pull the IP myself and have it rebuilt locally...which I did...spoiler alert.

While I was in there and the truck was down, I took care of a few other fun/messy bits including adjusting the valves and changing the intake manifold.

After hours of surgery, the dirty, leaky heart had been removed

The day after I dropped off the IP (and injectors) at Advanced Diesel Injection in San Diego, I received this scary picture

I also dropped these greasy old things to be rebuilt. 330K kms and they looked ready for some attention. Note that I had multiple conversations with the shop to ensure they knew what they were getting into with the pump and these dual stage/spring injectors after reading stories here about very few people in the US being able to properly rebuild these.

I'd gone this deep, so why not also replace the seeping intake manifold gaskets? The old crusty gaskets and just about every hose in the lower half of this picture were also replaced with Toyota parts in the process (except the 12mm fuel lines which I had on hand).

I decided taking on the tangled mess of fuel lines would be best done on the bench and with a sexy new ratchet I recently picked up

Injectors after their spa treatment and with new rubber rings (not pictured: new injection nozzle seats)

Something went haywire with the delivery of Toyota's SST to set the timing on the injection pump, so I played with another SST and checked valve clearance...which lead to more downtime since I needed 5 new shims to get valve timing spot on. Thanks to Partsouq, those were in hand quickly.

Fast forward several days and MANY engine rotations to get to TDC to set the IP timing, and here's the nearly final product:

Still need to do a few fuel-related adjustments to dial everything in, but Ochenta is feeling pretty good. No fuel leak, far smoother idle, not a hint of smoke, and hopefully I'll be able to tune in a bit more power/torque with a refreshed injection system.

 

[saltycoconuts]

Birfs, valve body, steering box...why stop there when it comes to messy jobs?

Ochenta developed a slight leak coming from the injection pump on cold starts. It seemed to be getting worse, so with no other messy work to do, the time had come for a rebuild. Thanks to @orangefj45 for the encouragement to pull the IP myself and have it rebuilt locally...which I did...spoiler alert.

While I was in there and the truck was down, I took care of a few other fun/messy bits including adjusting the valves and changing the intake manifold.

After hours of surgery, the dirty, leaky heart had been removed

The day after I dropped off the IP (and injectors) at Advanced Diesel Injection in San Diego, I received this scary picture

I also dropped these greasy old things to be rebuilt. 330K kms and they looked ready for some attention. Note that I had multiple conversations with the shop to ensure they knew what they were getting into with the pump and these dual stage/spring injectors after reading stories here about very few people in the US being able to properly rebuild these.

I'd gone this deep, so why not also replace the seeping intake manifold gaskets? The old crusty gaskets and just about every hose in the lower half of this picture were also replaced with Toyota parts in the process (except the 12mm fuel lines which I had on hand).

I decided taking on the tangled mess of fuel lines would be best done on the bench and with a sexy new ratchet I recently picked up

Injectors after their spa treatment and with new rubber rings (not pictured: new injection nozzle seats)

Something went haywire with the delivery of Toyota's SST to set the timing on the injection pump, so I played with another SST and checked valve clearance...which lead to more downtime since I needed 5 new shims to get valve timing spot on. Thanks to Partsouq, those were in hand quickly.

Fast forward several days and MANY engine rotations to get to TDC to set the IP timing, and here's the nearly final product:

Still need to do a few fuel-related adjustments to dial everything in, but Ochenta is feeling pretty good. No fuel leak, far smoother idle, not a hint of smoke, and hopefully I'll be able to tune in a bit more power/torque with a refreshed injection system.

I’m surprised this didn’t turn into a head gasket job

 

[perrobravo]

Having dialed in the tune after rebuilding the injection pump and injectors (adding some preload on the boost compensator, aneroid pin twisting to get full range of fuel delivery, maxing out the smoke screw, a quarter turn or so of the fuel screw, repeat, repeat, repeat) Ochenta was feeling pretty good.

So, why not tear into it again?

Plan: Add an air to air intercooler to bring down EGTs a bit. Then bring them back up by adding more fuel. Maybe match that with a bit more boost. Then watch @bushdoctor in the rearview mirror while he mashes his lead foot through the floor of his gasser 80. OK, maybe not, but I'll use this as an excuse to spend a bunch of money on shiny bits.

Went with Performance Diesel Intercooler (PDI) from Perth. Their kit comes with a high BTU transmission cooler (as pictured) since I'd have to lose the OEM cooler I installed a while back. The intercooler, pipes, hoses, clamps, brackets, etc. arrived within a week without issue.

The teardown begins. Lots of old dirty parts to get out of the way in order to install, but the kit and provided instructions made the pretty straight forward.

No going back after cutting 2 3" holes in the radiator support. For fun I painted after cutting using body color paint I picked up to respray faded/cracked door handles. Out of laziness, I did exactly zero prep for this. At least this paint work won't likely be seen ever...unlike the door handles which reveal my painting skills (lack of) daily.

Super tight clearances between the radiator, brake lines under the batter box and AC dryer, but the gang at PDI got the bends in the pipes spot on for this application.

The PDI intake piece came with 2 holes drilled and tapped which saved me from having to drill a hole for the boost sensor which threaded right in. Nice! Note the shiny new bolts on the valve cover...added when I adjusted the valves pretty much solely to make @beno proud.

Money shot...of sorts.

With some pipe/hose adjustment and then some more adjustment, the hood actually closes and the grill...well it doesn't quite fit the way Mr T intended it. I trimmed off the lower mounting tab, but more trimming is obviously on order. It is off by only a small margin (hitting the sides of the transmission cooler) and was pretty close despite the bumper, winch, cheap light bar, and almost everything else essential that could have gotten in the way.

After a quick test drive, it looks like EGTs are down, but maybe not as much as hoped. More testing for sure needed and since it is ridiculously hot here in sunny San Diego, that could throw off my unscientific test. The most obvious change is that as soon as you let off the pedal, EGTs drop. That should make controlling temps when under full load a bit easier. Time will tell, but solving that puzzle is part of the allure of an old mechanical diesel in my opinion.

Some pieces to follow up on:

1. The outside air temperature sensor needs to move. I had to relocate it to install the Slee bumper and with new intercooler leaves it looking for a forever home once again. For now it is just sort of wedged in somewhere.

2. Same for the giant Blue Sea power switch for the winch. I'd previously put this on a bracket coming off the air filter housing, but now there's a shiny pipe and hose occupying that space. For now I just flopped the whole thing in there so that won't work for long.

3. The grill (obviously) needs some help. Trimming and tweaking will hopefully be enough.

4. Why have I put off fixing the AC on this thing for the last 3+ years? Having the windows down to enjoy the turbo spool goodness is great, but...

 

[perrobravo]

Not to be outdone by @Dan2722 in the Satoshi-style grill department and not wanting to inhibit all the airflow-induced, neck snapping horsepower the PDI intercooler could bring, I decided to chop up my OEM grill and hope for the best.

Before, as seen while @Dan2722 and I were suffering our own intake air temperature issues at 108F in Anza Borrego

Bought way too much material from a local industrial supply shop (hint: if you're in San Diego and want to make your own grill, say the word)

A half hour later with my angle grinder and a rough cut was complete-ish

More time hacking away and I was almost ready for paint (and realizing I need to wash my LS430 which sadly is used as a workbench/photo backdrop)

And...the finished product... Hard to tell here, but that's OEM blue-ish with a couple coats of clear. Added the original "turbo" emblem for street cred. Like sexy lingerie, one can see just enough to want more...of a trans cooler and intercooler. @bushdoctor , you know what I'm sayin'.

 

[perrobravo]

There's no denying it. Land Cruisers are a slippery slope. Let's just embrace that together, shall we?

With that, when you just spent a small fortune on an intercooler, rebuilt your injection pump and injectors, installed an "extreme" valve body, yada yada and still feel the itch and haven't heard back from the Long Ranger folks about an auxiliary fuel tank, there's really no choice. It's not your fault. Right? You have to replace your turbo and try to squeeze more juice from the lime, right? Right? Right.

Enter turbo porn. NSFW. You've been warned.

It seems a small, legitimate miracle of modern commerce, but I placed an order late Thursday night (San Diego daylight time...after X number of procurement-influencing beverages) and on Monday...yes Monday, this piece of art arrived. Amazon has nothing on the folks at GTurbo.

Mmmmmm. All the bits that you need.

Gratuitous AF (you were warned)

Don't blame me...

Out with the old, in with the new as they say. Still bleeding CT26 all sooty and messing up my Harbor Freight moving blanket right. New, moving from the right lane to the left goodness on the left.

Sadly on an HDJ81, this is the last we'll see of this beauty.

Initial driving impressions are very good. Without any tweaks to fuel, boost compensator, aneroid pin, smoke screw, or all that other cool stuff you read about here or whatever craziness @ForealBoreal got us into here or here...c'mon...seriously? And @Dan_J-spec_fj62 , your posts from a long time ago didn't help my bank account. Just sayin'. I'm pretty pleased with this upgrade and am looking forward to putting all the massive horsepower and torque gains to the test this weekend with @Dan2722 who'll likely only see tail lights and dust with his gasser 80.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

There's no denying it. Land Cruisers are a slippery slope. Let's just embrace that together, shall we?

With that, when you just spent a small fortune on an intercooler, rebuilt your injection pump and injectors, installed an "extreme" valve body, yada yada and still feel the itch and haven't heard back from the Long Ranger folks about an auxiliary fuel tank, there's really no choice. It's not your fault. Right? You have to replace your turbo and try to squeeze more juice from the lime, right? Right? Right.

Enter turbo porn. NSFW. You've been warned.

It seems a small, legitimate miracle of modern commerce, but I placed an order late Thursday night (San Diego daylight time...after X number of procurement-influencing beverages) and on Monday...yes Monday, this piece of art arrived. Amazon has nothing on the folks at GTurbo.

Mmmmmm. All the bits that you need.

Gratuitous AF (you were warned)

Don't blame me...

Out with the old, in with the new as they say. Still bleeding CT26 all sooty and messing up my Harbor Freight moving blanket right. New, moving from the right lane to the left goodness on the left.

Sadly on an HDJ81, this is the last we'll see of this beauty.

Initial driving impressions are very good. Without any tweaks to fuel, boost compensator, aneroid pin, smoke screw, or all that other cool stuff you read about here or whatever craziness @ForealBoreal got us into here or here...c'mon...seriously? And @Dan_J-spec_fj62 , your posts from a long time ago didn't help my bank account. Just sayin'. I'm pretty pleased with this upgrade and am looking forward to putting all the massive horsepower and torque gains to the test this weekend with @Dan2722 who'll likely only see tail lights and dust with his gasser 80.

love this post!!!! Side question, what's the green wheel? I think the red is extreme, what's green? Grunter?

 

[perrobravo]

love this post!!!! Side question, what's the green wheel? I think the red is extreme, what's green? Grunter?

Hopefully with the ~300K kilometers on Ochenta, green is for go...fast(er) without breaking anything or falling farther down the rabbit hole of adding fuel, increasing boost, adding fuel, increasing boost.

GTurbo seems to have added to their color-coded collection of turbo offerings for the 1HDT starting with a stock replacement then green Grunter, red Badboy, a 3.5" red Badboy, and a blue Badboy Extreme which according to their numbers, has the potential to make you want to learn the difference between kW and HP between runs at the drag strip.

 

[perrobravo]

Tough times for Ochenta. Things were going smoothly as I slid down the slippery slope of diesel tuning, chasing that dragon-like concoction of more fuel and boost. Rebuilt injectors and injection pump? Check. Air to air intercooler? Check. GTurbo? Check. Dreams of making a fortune street racing? Check.

Then things went south with the transmission in a sudden and expensive way on day one of a planned week long trip around the American southwest, and the truck has been down for a month.

Short version of an ongoing story: Transmission temperature spiked and it dumped a lot of ATF outside Baker, CA. After a very long and expensive tow, had the truck "fixed" at a Toyota dealer in Henderson, NV near Las Vegas. Then a week later entering the highway (again far from home), the truck shuddered violently then wouldn't move...leaving me on the side of the road and in need of another LONG tow. The truck is sitting now at a local transmission shop, in for a full rebuild.

As an aside, if there is a silver lining to this, it is that I have a renewed appreciation for the closeness of those in the Land Cruiser community. Within minutes of reaching out for help (late at night days before Thanksgiving), I had calls back from both Kurt (@cruiseroutfit ) and Onur (@Onur ) and have received continued support, references, tips, part numbers, ideas, etc. Incredible and very much appreciated.


Trying to be a responsible tuner, I ordered an AFR reader and had a oxygen sensor bung welded in. AFRs revealed an opportunity to add more fuel/boost. While waiting for a new aneroid pin from @torfab , it was time to hit the trails.

Took the truck out to the desert with my son and his friends (who drove Lefty, my FJ60) and enjoyed the increase in power from the GTurbo and the lower EGTs from the PDI intercooler. So far so good.

Then, I headed out on a planned week long road trip. As one does with these rigs, I was staring at my transmission temperature gauge on the way up every grade, including the one out of Baker, CA heading toward Las Vegas. Suddenly the temperature spiked and I pulled off the highway immediately. Trans fluid (when the engine was running) poured out of the bell housing. Not good.

Conveniently the scene of the crime was the one exit in the area with a decent place to camp and cell phone signal...so messages went off to Kurt and Onur.

Shortly thereafter, Onur and I were on the phone talking possible root causes and fixes. His prediction: this seal on the front oil pump.

After hanging up with Onur, Kurt texted and said he'd stop by. What? He and his crew were on the way back from racing in the Baja 1000 (and winning, by the way) and sure enough 30 minutes later the showed up at camp, rolled around under the truck, agreed with Onur's assessment on the seal and Kurt made a few phone calls to figure out shop options. What more could one ask for from an online community?

Next day, finally arriving into Las Vegas...just not how originally planned.

The recommended dealer in Las Vegas pulled the transmission and ultimately found that not only was the front oil pump seal bad, but the bushing it goes into was toast. Not good.

The culprit

Had to leave the 80 in Henderson while waiting for parts from Dubai (the dealer couldn't/wouldn't help with parts)...PM if you want more information on this part of the saga.

Meanwhile, I took this rented off road vehicle through 5 or 6 western states.

Several days and quite a bit of money later, and I was back in Ochenta, happily camping in Afton Canyon on the way back to San Diego.

Days later after the aforementioned shuddering, I was stranded again far from home (this time along Interstate 8 on the way to Anza Borrego), Ochenta got another long ride home.

Assuming all goes to plan, I should have the truck back this week which will hopefully help me forget the giant hole(s) left in my bank account. Spending large amounts on turbos and intercoolers is one thing, but shelling out thousands for transmission repair doesn't have the same appeal. Doing it twice is even less appealing.

Tune in next week...

 

[perrobravo]

Ochenta is back on the road after a significant bank account draining. To celebrate, I spent the weekend catching up on a backlog of small projects.

Big old box of carnage

Thankfully all this is now in a box and shiny new stuff is installed. That's a brand new oil pump. Well, was... Shifts are bit odd and will require some tweaking, but overall the transmission feels pretty good. Temperatures are way down and unlike before, you can feel the transmission lock up which I assume is a good thing. For now am staying within AAA's reach while my confidence builds and my bank account refills.

While waiting for the transmission rebuild, a small backlog of projects developed.

No more droopy visors with the addition of some replacements from an LS430. Came pre-smudged from eBay which is nice.

Continued to evolve my gauge pod collection, this time using these individual pods that block my view a bit less, don't move around, and look slightly less bad

The most exciting bit is an @torfab ground aneroid pin hiding under this diaphragm.

Installed in minutes and what a difference! Mid range power is notably better as is the top end. Still have some tuning to do in order to get off the line power right, but that might be more about me getting used to the transmission changes. AFRs look good across the rev range...and with a Torfab air box en route, there should be more power to squeeze out of this old 1HDT.

 

[perrobravo]

Unfortunately started to see blue smoke in the exhaust and oil seeping out from under the head at the back of engine. Maybe the added boost and fuel were too much for a 30 year old head gasket or maybe stuff just happens, but either way, after spending some time on the phone with shaman and Land Cruiser seer, @Onur , a parts list was put together and the work started...

Ochenta is back on the road now, this time after pulling the head, getting it refurbished, replacing the head gasket and a number of while you're in there items.

So many bits to install

So many nuts and bolts later...

Made life a bit more difficult by forgetting to disconnect the grounds at the back of the head

Off to the shop for a once over (valve grind, stem seals, crack test, etc.)

The original exhaust manifold "o-rings" put up a fight. Seen here, new bits in place an hour or so later

Back from the machine shop all shiny and in spec. Thanks @Loober for the shop recommendation!

My arms won't be the same for a while after yanking on the 26 head bolts, then again, then again...

The truck fired right up which was a relief. A bit of smoke as expected, but it idled perfectly...then started dripping oil.

Thankfully I tracked the leak to the dipstick o-ring I had apparently tweaked while pushing the intake manifold, injectors lines, etc. around.

For posterity, here's a list of the "while you're in there things" I also replaced:

-Exhaust manifold studs, nuts, and gaskets
-Semicircular plug at the back of the head
-Turbo water bypass hoses
-Turbo oil pipe (slightly newer design)
-Thermostat and gasket
-Water temperature sender/sensor
-Intake manifold gaskets, rubber washers, nuts
-Coolant

So far, the blue smoke is gone, no obvious oil leaks and the truck overall is running very well. As a bonus, since I've been driving my BJ74 while working on Ochenta this thing feels like a luxury sports car! Time to hit the track.

 

[1973Guppie]

Unfortunately started to see blue smoke in the exhaust and oil seeping out from under the head at the back of engine. Maybe the added boost and fuel were too much for a 30 year old head gasket or maybe stuff just happens, but either way, after spending some time on the phone with shaman and Land Cruiser seer, @Onur , a parts list was put together and the work started...

Ochenta is back on the road now, this time after pulling the head, getting it refurbished, replacing the head gasket and a number of while you're in there items.

So many bits to install

So many nuts and bolts later...

Made life a bit more difficult by forgetting to disconnect the grounds at the back of the head

Off to the shop for a once over (valve grind, stem seals, crack test, etc.)

The original exhaust manifold "o-rings" put up a fight. Seen here, new bits in place an hour or so later

Back from the machine shop all shiny and in spec. Thanks @Loober for the shop recommendation!

My arms won't be the same for a while after yanking on the 26 head bolts, then again, then again...

The truck fired right up which was a relief. A bit of smoke as expected, but it idled perfectly...then started dripping oil.

Thankfully I tracked the leak to the dipstick o-ring I had apparently tweaked while pushing the intake manifold, injectors lines, etc. around.

For posterity, here's a list of the "while you're in there things" I also replaced:

-Exhaust manifold studs, nuts, and gaskets
-Semicircular plug at the back of the head
-Turbo water bypass hoses
-Turbo oil pipe (slightly newer design)
-Thermostat and gasket
-Water temperature sender/sensor
-Intake manifold gaskets, rubber washers, nuts
-Coolant

So far, the blue smoke is gone, no obvious oil leaks and the truck overall is running very well. As a bonus, since I've been driving my BJ74 while working on Ochenta this thing feels like a luxury sports car! Time to hit the track.

who did you use for a machine shop?

 

[Moki]

Unfortunately started to see blue smoke in the exhaust and oil seeping out from under the head at the back of engine. Maybe the added boost and fuel were too much for a 30 year old head gasket or maybe stuff just happens, but either way, after spending some time on the phone with shaman and Land Cruiser seer, @Onur , a parts list was put together and the work started...

Ochenta is back on the road now, this time after pulling the head, getting it refurbished, replacing the head gasket and a number of while you're in there items.

So many bits to install

So many nuts and bolts later...

Made life a bit more difficult by forgetting to disconnect the grounds at the back of the head

Off to the shop for a once over (valve grind, stem seals, crack test, etc.)

The original exhaust manifold "o-rings" put up a fight. Seen here, new bits in place an hour or so later

Back from the machine shop all shiny and in spec. Thanks @Loober for the shop recommendation!

My arms won't be the same for a while after yanking on the 26 head bolts, then again, then again...

The truck fired right up which was a relief. A bit of smoke as expected, but it idled perfectly...then started dripping oil.

Thankfully I tracked the leak to the dipstick o-ring I had apparently tweaked while pushing the intake manifold, injectors lines, etc. around.

For posterity, here's a list of the "while you're in there things" I also replaced:

-Exhaust manifold studs, nuts, and gaskets
-Semicircular plug at the back of the head
-Turbo water bypass hoses
-Turbo oil pipe (slightly newer design)
-Thermostat and gasket
-Water temperature sender/sensor
-Intake manifold gaskets, rubber washers, nuts
-Coolant

So far, the blue smoke is gone, no obvious oil leaks and the truck overall is running very well. As a bonus, since I've been driving my BJ74 while working on Ochenta this thing feels like a luxury sports car! Time to hit the track.

Appreciate the write up. I’m about to swap a turbo for a few reasons and plan to do some of the “while you’re in there” items as well on exhaust manifold, coolant, etc.

Good to see she’s running like new. Enjoy the mountain Cadillac.

 

[perrobravo]

Finally dealt with the displaced cruise control after installing the @torfab air box. In this case "dealt with" means bypassed entirely with a new accelerator cable.

Hard to see, but circled is the box that houses the moving parts of the HDJ81 cruise control system...all pushed aside and wedged into a corner.

Heading to shelf alongside a bunch of other original parts

Used 78180-60220 which I believe is from early US market 80s. Direct plug and play.

The hard part? Contorting under the dash. Seen here after installation with the previously installed throttle cable.

Where the magic happens...

Pedal feel is so much better with a single cable. Probably doesn't hurt that it is new also!

Note that cruise control didn't work on this truck and since I'm not a big cruise control user, I didn't feel compelled to diagnose and fix it. Also, the Wholesale Automatics valve body (I'm told) doesn't kick down when using cruise control, so its function was already compromised. So, smooth pedal feel and a bit of decluttering under the hood seems like a win.

 

[perrobravo]

Convinced that no amount of bleeding, burping, or otherwise purging was going to get Ochenta's 30 year old radiator to perform any better, I pulled the trigger on an OEM radiator (following as usual the advice of @Onur who recommended the radiator from a manual transmission 80). While I was at it, I figured it was time to address the AC pulley which was coming apart in a scary way. Then to celebrate, finally installed the Dobinsons springs that have been sitting around in their box for the last several weeks.

May the fins always be this shiny and straight...

Found the block drain plug on the 1HD-T and poured even more coolant all over the place. Captured this money shot instead of trying to move the drain pan.

What a pain! Had to remove both batteries and the battery boxes, some intercooler pipes, then spent what felt like hours chasing dropped nuts and bolts. Why can't they just fall on the floor instead into frame rails or down passageways my magnet can't reach?

In an unrelated thread here somewhere, @baldilocks asked, "What would the hobby be without unanticipated additional modifications?" I tried to summon that good attitude when I broke the fan shroud in half trying to reinstall it. JB weld to the rescue.

The AC pulley assembly on these engines is an interesting piece...held together with rubber that breaks down after 30 years. After removing the belt, I could remove the pulley by hand. Imagine if that thing let go while driving!

New and old

Now on a roll of adding new clean parts to the truck, I decided to finally install the Dobinsons springs I ordered a while back. These are the new 3" heavy "variable taper" C97-144VT (front) and C97-145VT (rear) that don't appear to vary in their taper.

Getting these things in place required some creative tool use (read: equal parts spring compression tool, ratchet straps, pry bars, swearing)

Added roughly 1.25" up front and a bit more in the back since the truck is completely empty at the moment. The ride feels solid, as tested on the way to get a spicy chicken sandwich. Hopefully they'll be better suited to carrying all the camping gear, fridge, etc. than the Icon flexy springs they replaced. They're certainly more colorful which I guess is good.

 

[perrobravo]

Given the rear seats in Ochenta are long gone, I took the plunge and deleted the rear heater. Greatly reduced the number of coolant hose connections and added significantly to my collection of OEM hose clamps for future use...not to mention I now have a bit of additional storage under the seat.

Before: Some of the hose clamps I fought so hard to replace a couple years ago

Before: Even more hose clamps. Pulled all those off and took the opportunity to flush the heater core...which surprisingly was pretty clean after 30 years.

After: Greatly simplified with a @LandCruiserPhil hose which fits perfectly even with an HDJ81 and 1HDT, FYI

Looking at those unused heater hard lines, has me thinking I could use one to vent the oil catch can.

Not sure what to do with this beast...

I shouldn't have been surprised to find a large hole in the floor after removing the heater

My minor case of hoarding saved the day. Sandwiched some random, perfectly sized, pre-drilled and insulated plates I found in a box of stuff

 

[chelo]

What is the hose number that does the loop? I circled it in the picture.