Builds Project F u k u s h i m a... my 1990 HZJ73 build thread (1 Viewer)

[sbechtold]

I've built a few 40's and I've always liked the 70 Series, so I decide the time was right to pick one up. Many thanks to @SteveJackson at Land Cruisers Direct for answering a million questions and helping me decide on a truck. I bought the HZJ73 in February of 2016 from Land Cruisers Direct and it landed at my place a few weeks later. Steve was awesome to deal with and I am really enjoying the truck. I was concerned about registering it in California, but to be honest it was a very simple process. This truck will be my daily driver and weekend warrior for easy camping and fishing trips. I already have a dedicated trail rig for the Rubicon weekends. Anyway... I have a fair amount to learn about the 70 Series, but I intend to keep this thread current as I learn and improve the truck.

Here are a few pictures of the truck on the day it arrived.

 

[sbechtold]

The first order of business was to address the front seats. I like comfy seats and after 26 years the 70's seats were tired. After a trip to the upholstery shop and a quote that was out of this world I headed over to craigslist. As luck would have it I found a set of 2009 BMW 328 sport seats in gray to match the interior. They are obviously 12v and I'll have to figure out how to power them, but they are in great condition.

Here is the driver's seat...

After pulling the factory seats out I started building a new seat mount. I used 1" hrew tubing that I had in the garage and some plate and angle. Started by making the mounting points, then notched some tube for the uprights and eventually ended up with something workable.

Here is the start of the seat brackets...

Ended up with this...

Mounted to the bottom of the seat...

And finally the seats installed...

Pretty happy with the way they turned out and they are really comfy. I was able to figure out the electronics pretty easily and after stealing 12v from another one of the cars I got them into position where I like them. I ordered a Redarc unit and will be adding a 3rd 12v battery to the truck and I will power the seats from the 12v battery. I will pull the brackets and get them powdercoated when I install the Redarc.

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

Did you get suspension seats?





Juan

 

[sbechtold]

Yes it came with suspension seats.

 

[John Galt]

Good looking truck. Is the project title you chose meant to imply the truck came from the radioactive area around the disabled nuclear facility of the same name?

 

[sbechtold]

Good looking truck. Is the project title you chose meant to imply the truck came from the radioactive area around the disabled nuclear facility of the same name?

One of the guys at work called it ***ushima. After translating the word I learned that ***u roughly translates to "fortunate" or "good luck" and Shima translates to "Island". I liked "Good luck island" and thought it appropriate given the truck came from Japan (it's an island) and I'm going to need a lot of "good luck" figuring this thing out (especially getting parts). So the name kind of stuck... hopefully it doesn't offend anyone as it's not meant to. As far as I can tell from the import papers this truck was nowhere near the Daiichi plant.

 

[sbechtold]

Yesterday I installed an OME lift kit. I went with heavy front springs and medium rear springs. I will be adding front and rear bumpers and I plan to make some sliders. Cruiser Outfitters hooked me up with a complete 70 OME setup.

The goods...

The rear shackles were fun... I didn't want to drop the fuel tank, so out came the cut off wheel. I ended up using the cut off wheel a few times to persuade things to come off.

I've never installed a complete OME kit. I've installed a number of newer vehicle kits with coilovers or coil springs. It was pretty easy... I did soak everything with pb blaster the night before. Here is the front setup installed.

The steering stabilizer didn't want to come off. I ran down to autozone and borrowed a tie rod end puller. Worked like a charm... then I installed the new OME stabilizer.

Post install picture... sorry it was raining all weekend and I didn't get any good pics.

I ordered some 15x8 Mickey Thompson Classic III wheels in black. Also order a set of BFG KM2 in 33x10.5. I'll drop the truck off at the tires shop one day this week to get the tires mounted.

That was it for this weekend... now I'm going to be order up some parts to rebuild the knuckles, wheel bearings and trunnion bearings. Nothing is wrong with the truck, but it's probably time for some preventative maintenance.

 

[OGBeno]

Looking very nice.

The teenie-tiny wheels next to the KM2's are awesome.

 

[NM Frontier]

Looking nice! And great title, it is gonna be killer with the black MTs!

Those seats look comfortable.

I love seeing how every one cuts their rear shackles of differently.

 

[sbechtold]

Looking nice! And great title, it is gonna be killer with the black MTs!

Those seats look comfortable.

I love seeing how every one cuts their rear shackles of differently.

Thanks! The seats are super comfy. I need to get them powered, so I can play with the lumber... it's fully deflated right now. My first choice to cut the shackles off was the plasma cutter... but decided against it given the tank.

 

[SteveJackson]

Looks great! Nice work on the seats, excellent upgrade. Looking forward to watching the progress. Thanks for being an awesome customer!

And no, this truck did not come from the radiation zone, but I do like the name. All vehicles are checked for radiation before loading, anything that is contaminated is refused exit. The Japanese government has a fund to compensate loss when a vehicle is purchased and cannot be exported due to radiation contamination. Ask me how I know.

 

[cruiserdan]

I love those factory flares......

 

[sbechtold]

Mickey Thompson Classic III in black 15x8 with 3 5/8 backspacing

Brown was nice enough to deliver 3 of the 5 Mickey Thompson wheels today. Can't do much with 3 wheels other that test fit them and make sure they clear. Good thing... since they didn't clear the front calipers. I had a 1/4" wheel spacer in the garage, so I threw it on there and they now they clear the calipers. The wheel studs are too short (as expected) with the 1/4" spacer. I have some 1" wheel spacers in the garage that I will probably run for now. At least until I can pull the hubs apart and figure out the dimensions on the wheel studs and find some longer ones. We did the longer wheel studs and 1/4" spacer on my son's Tacoma and it worked great. I think we bought some Lexus wheels studs that had the same shanks, but were ~5mm longer.

I think they'll look great once tires are mounted...

Tie rod clears fine with and without any spacers... (pic is with 1/4" spacer)

Front caliper clears by about 3/16" with the 1/4" spacer...

Rear wheels:

The wheels fit on the rear without any issues. The caliper is VERY close, but no closer than the wheels that I took off.

Here is the rear brake caliper and how it clears. Not a whole lot of room. Probably no more than 3/16-1/4" clearance to the wheel surface.

I decided to throw a 1" wheel spacer on the rear. I like the stance WAY better and the clearance is MUCH improved.

And the best part is the lip of the wheel is now almost flush with the fender flares. Maybe I'll run 1" spacers all the way around for now.... hmmm.

Hopefully Brown delivers the remaining 2 wheels tomorrow...

 

[FJRanger]

I love seeing people post up the 70s I've lusted over on Steve's site, it means I'm saving money. However seeing them makes me want one even more. Great buy @sbechtold!

 

[sbechtold]

I had time to drop the tires and wheels at the tire shop today. I installed the 1" spacers on the front. I like the stance, so much so that I ordered a set for the rear.

Here are a few shots of the truck with the wheels installed. It's starting to look like a trail rig. I really like the MT wheels. Very nice quality and not super expensive.

Here is a picture to show the difference in the stance front to rear with the 1" spacers in front and nothing in the rear. Note the front tires are just outside the fender flares while the rear is about 2" inside the fender flares.

Last one to show the stance from the front...

Now I need to start working on building sliders. Those are going to be fun with the exhaust routing on the driver side. Oh... and @Delancy I'll have your wheels ready to ship to you this weekend.

 

[Delancy]

What kinda Cruiser has BMW seats AND cupholders?

 

[sbechtold]

What kinda Cruiser has BMW seats AND cupholders?

The kind that I drive... Gotta be comfy driving my import while drinking my latte.

 

[wardharris]

What kinda Cruiser has BMW seats AND cupholders?

Careful, Chris. REAL 70s have BMW seats, cup holders, LHD and a Chebby.....

 

[77cruiser77]

I really like your Classic IIIs in black. I went with the polished aluminum and still not sure if I should've gone with the black.

A few questions:
-what size tires are you running?
-I never had issues with calipers but I also got the 16" version. What made you want 15" rims? One reason I wanted 16's was to get into E load rated tire which I find to be a nice upgrade
-did you have any troubles fitting over the front hub? I had to grind my rim down a touch, wondering if mines a one off on that issue.
-lastly, did the 1" spacers help with stability? Considering doing the same but unsure how much difference they really make

 

[ChuckB]

100 and a 70, I like your style