Pzj77 Build. That will probably never end.

[pradon35s]

Long time ih8mud reader and never been much of a poster but thought I'd start a build thread of the life of my truck and the things I've done to it over the years thats still going.

Purchased it as a stock standard ex Rural Fire Station work truck, bit rough around the edges, 200,000km, 5speed manual. Owner thought the gearbox had gone but after test driving it I was convinced it was only the rear diff whining so I purchased it for $3000nzd and took it home.

 

[pradon35s]

While I had the rear end apart rebuilding the rear diff I took the factory side decals off and gave it a general tidy up and a couple of rattle cans of black. Threw the rear end back together and drove it around stock for a while.

 

[pradon35s]

Then I got sick of getting stuck on wet grass so I threw a old set of 33" mudzillas at it and got rid of the glass house look by tinting the windows. And added a snorkel

 

[pradon35s]

Again kicked around for a while with the truck like that, but after a few off road missions with a mate and learning of the spring over conversion his truck had and the difference it made to offroad capabilities and articulation i decided it was time to change some stuff.

 

[pradon35s]

I got into a spring over conversion and did the following
- deleted the factory 8" high pinion front end for a full size 70 front housing
- got some custom leafs made moving the diff forward somewhere between 50-80mm, can't remember exactly
- spun the swivel balls to correct the caster
- added a high steer kit and some shock hoops with rancho shocks
And added a set of 37" tyres I had.
Was pleased with the outcome. Worked well and drove about as good as a soa leaf spr

 

[pradon35s]

After running the 37s for a while i was getting sick of my lack of power all round with the little 1pz, especially in the real boggy stuff and having to smash 1st gear to keep the wheels turning. So decided it was time for some boost. I wanted down low power and not much lag and I was only going to run low boost pressure so I went with a ct12 turbo off a 1kz-te engine. I made up a manifold (not ideal manifold I know but I like to keep things cheap..) and went with a 38mm external wastegate and added a 3" straight through exhaust. Tee'd into the oil pressure sensor hole to a feed and pulled the sump to add a oil drain.

 

[enui]

How's the 1PZ go with the CT12b? I've got a PZJ70 I'm looking at doing similar work to you to.

Is your mates coil sprung swb prone to tipping over? I've noticed that mine wants to lie down on its side a lot while offroad.

 

[pradon35s]

The ct12 turbo completely changed the engine, would definitely recommend anyone with a pz/hz engine to do it. The only other option is a HD swap, something id love to do.

The yellow swb in pics is a leaf sprung soa conversion too. Thats on small offset wheels and has never been on its side yet. I went with the ifs hub conversion and -44 15x10 rims to try help avoid it though.

 

[pradon35s]

Spent a while with the truck in that state, using and abusing it. Even drowned it pretty good one day. No damage to engine or anything luckily. Drove home after getting it out.

 

[pradon35s]

Then after the drowning incident I decided the didn't like the risky factory airbox not being a good seal so had a mate of mine make me up a custom air box in which I fitted a foam UniFilter pod filter. After that I decided to make up a front mount intercooler set up (removing my perfectly working a/c system which was something I have regretted occasionally , but luckily super hot days here in NZ are not common)

 

[pradon35s]

Added a winch to the front, tucked in nice and tight. And had my same mate that did the airbox make me up a front bar a side bars to connect to some sliders id made up. Fitted some Maxxis Razr 35" tyres for a bit more of a friendly ride on long tips. Awesome all rounder tyres.

 

[enui]

Is your truck certed? Also I'm a bit new to this but what exactly is a ifs hub conversion and how do you go about doing it? I was planning on running spacers but this seems like a better way.

Also your truck is looking sick with the intercooler setup. How does the 1pz go now with it? How much boost?

 

[pradon35s]

Na my truck was never certified unfortunately. Was planning on putting it through and spoke to a certifier before i started it and he said should be no problem, I know of others that went through fine.
But now I believe thanks to a LVV rule change around the new 'static roll over test' () a soa conversion would not pass unless you could get it as low as possible and as wide as possible.. this led me to give up on the soa, I was getting a bit tired of leaf spring life, especially after driving a mates coil sprung GU Patrol () for a few good drives.
I have pulled my diffs and am currently in the process of doing a 80 series rear diff with 4 link and GQ patrol front diff with 3 link conversion on coil springs. The 80/gq match up is a common thing here in New Zealand for simpleness of added track width, strength of components and ability to keep the truck nice and low at ride height while still highly capable in terms of articulation.
Have definitely been too slack lately but I will post up some progress once I get into it more as still sorting most of the parts at the moment.

 

[enui]

Na my truck was never certified unfortunately. Was planning on putting it through and spoke to a certifier before i started it and he said should be no problem, I know of others that went through fine.
But now I believe thanks to a LVV rule change around the new 'static roll over test' () a soa conversion would not pass unless you could get it as low as possible and as wide as possible.. this led me to give up on the soa, I was getting a bit tired of leaf spring life, especially after driving a mates coil sprung GU Patrol () for a few good drives.
I have pulled my diffs and am currently in the process of doing a 80 series rear diff with 4 link and GQ patrol front diff with 3 link conversion on coil springs. The 80/gq match up is a common thing here in New Zealand for simpleness of added track width, strength of components and ability to keep the truck nice and low at ride height while still highly capable in terms of articulation.
Have definitely been too slack lately but I will post up some progress once I get into it more as still sorting most of the parts at the moment.

View attachment 2584554

Ha I came to the same conclusion after talking to the cert guys

Na my truck was never certified unfortunately. Was planning on putting it through and spoke to a certifier before i started it and he said should be no problem, I know of others that went through fine.
But now I believe thanks to a LVV rule change around the new 'static roll over test' () a soa conversion would not pass unless you could get it as low as possible and as wide as possible.. this led me to give up on the soa, I was getting a bit tired of leaf spring life, especially after driving a mates coil sprung GU Patrol () for a few good drives.
I have pulled my diffs and am currently in the process of doing a 80 series rear diff with 4 link and GQ patrol front diff with 3 link conversion on coil springs. The 80/gq match up is a common thing here in New Zealand for simpleness of added track width, strength of components and ability to keep the truck nice and low at ride height while still highly capable in terms of articulation.
Have definitely been too slack lately but I will post up some progress once I get into it more as still sorting most of the parts at the moment.

View attachment 2584554

Interesting you've gone that way. I've talked to a couple guys who've done the 80/gq axle swap and it seems like the way to go. Have you seen Ethan's pzj77? It looks just like yours but it's had the 80/gq axle swap, 1hzt swap, and a tweaked auto put it.

 

[enui]

Ha I came to the same conclusion after talking to the cert guys

Interesting you've gone that way. I've talked to a couple guys who've done the 80/gq axle swap and it seems like the way to go. Have you seen Ethan's pzj77? It looks just like yours but it's had the 80/gq axle swap, 1hzt swap, and a tweaked auto put it.

These are the 2 guys trucks I've talked to who've done the 80/gq axle swap

 

[pradon35s]

Those 2 above were originally started by a friend of mine, if its the swb I think it is he sold partially done. Got some info on the swap from him.
And yep I know Ethan well, basically copying his set up after seeing his beast
His mwb is a 1hdt swap

 

[NickMooreMoto]

Then after the drowning incident I decided the didn't like the risky factory airbox not being a good seal so had a mate of mine make me up a custom air box in which I fitted a foam UniFilter pod filter. After that I decided to make up a front mount intercooler set up (removing my perfectly working a/c system which was something I have regretted occasionally , but luckily super hot days here in NZ are not common)

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Hey mate. What size intercooler was this? I’m looking to do the same to my pzj70