Our new baby

[Gengis]

Or an HZJ76 to be more precice.
We picked up this little girl with 235000 km on the clock and full service history, to replace a much loved old Land Rover which being built in 1969 was getting a tad long in the tooth.

The Landy spent her last 10 years with a B engine and H55f box and case, and I am rebuilding a 12HT engine as a hobby, so I do come with some Toyota credentials.

First impressions are very good, and , of cource lots of plans are being made for her future.
After the B engine in the Landy, we should live quite happily with the Hzzzz , so the mods will revolve around our wonder lust which take us into the desert at least thrice a year.

We don't like the front bumper and, in close to 40 years of offroading have never needed a winch, or lots of extra lighting, so a lighter weight ,or standard bumper will be the first mod. Any company make a lighter weight alternative.

Then to re-route the exhaust down the drivers side ( right hand side) for a water tank fittment next to the propshaft.

Anyone found a rev counter really usefull on these babies. I am missing not having one, but will probally get used to it.??

And tyres please. What is the standard tyre for these girls, She curently has 265/70R16, and I am a big fan of the 235/85/R16 which i don't think will be a problem.

That's about it for now, looking forward to becoming a regular pest here , at least until we are sorted.

G

 

[Gengis]

Oh well, the missus and I are happy anyway.

First thing is a crappy second battery holder. I see that some really nice dual battery holders exist, but in the 76, there is a fuel filter in the way of putting them together. Has anyone used a similar dual rack and relocated the filter??

 

[PATHnz]

Nice wagon! Is the HZJ76 still available new in your location?

 

[Gengis]

No, only V8's for the last few years, plenty of spares and support for the Hzzzzz though.

G

 

[Gengis]

OK, So I now have a few city miles on the vehicle, and , so far am very impressed with the engine / gearing /tyre combo, but i still need to replace the tyres at some stage.
Anyone have any real time experiance of useing 235/85 R16's on a HZJ76 wagon?? Will i loose the nippy pull away and ability to get into 3rd quite quickly???

Also, has anyone pulled wires up a window pillar or door post to power an overhead console ?? I guess that tracing the interior light wire may be a good start, but someone out there may be able to add some wisdom. I'll have quite a busy console, with AC, 12 v power points speakers and possibly even a gauge or two.

G

 

[coldtaco]

Does yours have interior trim pieces on the A pillars? My old truck has bare metal. If you have trim pieces there then remove them and run wires behind them. I have seen a lot of gauges pods for the A pillars in pictures from 70 series trucks in Australia, if these are full length then this might be an option too to hide the wires. Otherwise get creative with some kind of wire bundle sleeves or clips attached to the A pillars, might look crappy but if you get creative you could make them look pretty good. Otherwise run the wires up the B pillars then forward.

 

[Gengis]

Ja, I have trim on both pillars, so i will spend the weekend crawling and fiddeling and skinning knuckels.
A quick "pillars 101" please. Do they run A, B C maybe even D, from front to back??
So the front windscreen pillar is A, and B between front and passanger door???

G

 

[coldtaco]

Ja, I have trim on both pillars, so i will spend the weekend crawling and fiddeling and skinning knuckels.
A quick "pillars 101" please. Do they run A, B C maybe even D, from front to back??
So the front windscreen pillar is A, and B between front and passanger door???

G

yes, A first, then B C D

 

[gkanai]

What is the standard tyre for these girls, She curently has 265/70R16

That is the OEM size.

235s would fit on the OEM wheel but I would not do that especially in Africa where you'd be airing down for sand, etc. except for snow tires where you want a smaller contact patch. 265/70 or 265/75 is quite good as you have experienced. I run 285/75 but I also have a 2" OME lift.

If you want a thinner tire, you can run the one piece OEM steel 8" rims, or the ring wheels, both which support thinner tires.

 

[Gengis]

Next up is repairing some damage caused by the 2nd battery holder.
I need to get some cracks in the wheel arch sorted and am not sure of the best way of going about this.

I have a welding company that can do thin body work in mig or tig or whatever but I will be doing the prep work.

I guess that drilling a hole at the end of each crack is a good idea to prevent further running??

The new holder comes with some large washers, and I am thinking of getting these spot welded on top of the repaired work, so between the new bracket and the body work??

I would guess stat some "Weld through" primer, followed by some seam sealant would not go amiss either.

Any thoughts or advice would be apriciated.
George

 

[roscoFJ73]

Anyone have any real time experiance of useing 235/85 R16's on a HZJ76 wagon?? Will i loose the nippy pull away and ability to get into 3rd quite quickly???

I'm using that tyre size on my HZJ75. Ive used them on 4 landcruisers now. Ill never switch to anything else. 235/85 r16 are very close to the diameter of the original split rim and tyre. It brings the odometer within + or - 1% . Handy for navigation.
I have 16x7 inch heavy duty ROH rims.
I don't have a huge need for extra lighting either. In remote locations I prefer to get off the road after sunset for safety.
Maybe you could cut that bullbar down.
Take off the bits around the headlights. Its nice to have some radiator protection.

 

[roscoFJ73]

235s would fit on the OEM wheel but I would not do that especially in Africa where you'd be airing down for sand

Where I live soft sand is everywhere. The 235/85 r16 are as good as anything else aired down. Its not the width of the tyre, it is the length of the contact patch as its deflated that gives you the traction.

 

[Gengis]

Cheers Ross
I may go for both and have a city set and a bush set. Funny you mentioned speedo correction. I thought i was doing so well on the 265/70R16's untill my missus tracked us on the GPS. Car 115kph vs GPS 105kph. Seems Japanese, my Subaru's also lie to me. Seems Uncle Toyo made do with the origional 75 speedo drive gears.


Unfortunately I had an aftermarket VDO in the Landy, which i had calibrated on the exact circumference of the wheels and the various gear ratios of the diff and speedo drive. Clearly the most sofisticated bit of the entire vechile.

G

 

[Gengis]

Sorry forgot to post pictures of the battery tray damage.
Going to visit the welder tomorrow, but a bit worried as i cant remove a lot od the wireing or tubing.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Cheers Ross
I may go for both and have a city set and a bush set. Funny you mentioned speedo correction. I thought i was doing so well on the 265/70R16's untill my missus tracked us on the GPS. Car 115kph vs GPS 105kph. Seems Japanese, my Subaru's also lie to me. Seems Uncle Toyo made do with the origional 75 speedo drive gears.


Unfortunately I had an aftermarket VDO in the Landy, which i had calibrated on the exact circumference of the wheels and the various gear ratios of the diff and speedo drive. Clearly the most sofisticated bit of the entire vechile.

G

Most speedos seem to over read by about 5%-8% from what Ive seen. I said before my speedo was accurate with the 235/85/r16. What I should have said is the odometer is very accurate. I think the speedo over reads by about 4%
Ive got cooper discoverys on the rear and something like a b/stone desert dueller tread on the front.

How much would you get for the bullbar?