Rejuvenation Treatment for Old Girl LJ73 / build (1 Viewer)

[Gun Runner 5]

^^^^^^^
Most Land Cruiser builds have two expense ledgers......
1) The first ledger reflects the real cost and stays hidden.
2) The second ledger reflects the amount you told your wife that you were spending.

 

[TonyP]

I've said it before; looking at the total money spent on a project is a bad idea. It's like looking up old ex's on Facebook, all you're going to get out of it is sadness and the need to drink. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Beautiful @drujba ! Definitely one of my favorite builds out there! And a left hand drive KZJ73 with manual transmission is one of the ultimate combinations in my opinion. Cool to know that some of these came with rear disk brakes in parts of Europe too. The Japanese ones came with this, but they are all RHD.

Does it have a rear e-locker? (maybe you said already). Are they 4.875 diff ratio axles?

How do you intend to use it? Keep it pristine, or do some traveling?

 

[drujba]

First of all, many thanks to all of you for your appreciation. I will try to answer all your questions.

But before that, let me come back to the story of the reinforcement for the upper steering arm. This is part number 45613-60060 for LHD vehicles. This is the steering arm that connects the steering rod with the steering arm of the steering gear (or steering case). Sorry for my English, but this is the best explanation I could come up with. Even I have a hard time reading it...

In case you install a stronger steering gear, this may happen to the upper steering arm:

I found this very suggestive picture on a Russian Land Cruiser site. This happened to me as well.

To avoid that you have to weld 2 iron parts in a shape of a crescent or half moon, around the first two holes.
They should be 5-6 mm thick.

Something like that:

And a detail:

This is cast iron, so the best way of welding it is TIG/WIG.
Within these 2 pictures you can also observe the reinforcement of the knuckle bolts. I used M14 X 1,25 mm thread bolts. They are normal VW-Audi bolts for alloyed wheels, that were machined to fit the centring cones on the knuckle.

Coming back to your questions and comments; I would say that there is also another ledger which reflects the amount of work and the personal time you spent for the project. In my case it was almost one year of work after my daily "productive" working hours. And most of the week-ends.
Regarding the costs, I don't have a problem to share this information, they are in the range of 32.000 EUR without the initial cost of the car. My wife knows that already, so she moved back at her mom...

Regarding the specs, as @GTSSportCoupe correctly pointed this became a KZJ73 after the engine swap.
The actual specs of the car are:
3.0 liter, 1KZ-T engine, 92KW
R151F, 5 speed manual transmission
2" lift Tough Dog suspension kit
255 85R16 BFG MT KM2
4,875 diff ratio
Front and rear ARB air lockers

What will I use it for... That's a good question, for the moment I did not have the hart to take it off-road. We just made some pictures for a local off road magazine, that published the story. But other than that, for the moment it is parked in my garage.

 

[drujba]

I still have some pictures:

 

[drujba]

And some more

Led Lights:

Engine bay:

 

[drujba]

A lot of attention was paid to the interior. The original LX grade interior and upholstery is rather poor and dull.
A lot of efforts were done to change that:

 

[drujba]

And some more:

 

[drujba]

And the door panels:

 

[drujba]

Well, that's it. This project is now done and I hope you enjoyed watching it. I will be happy to answer all your questions, should you have some.

 

[Reinhardtius]

Well, that's it. This project is now done and I hope you enjoyed watching it. I will be happy to answer all your questions, should you have some.

View attachment 1847557 View attachment 1847559 View attachment 1847545
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I just love when a beautiful restoration takes place on ‘MUD in a matter of days, rather than in real time over months. It’s like bingewatching Netflix.

 

[clintnz]

Great work! Interesting to know a Patrol steering box is possible. I have an entire Y60 front axle (no broken steering arms for me!)

Did you ever consider putting on an intercooler? There is plenty of space behind an LJ7* grill.

Cheers
Clint

 

[tmarx]

Very very nice, thanks for sharing !

 

[drujba]

Thanks for your appreciation!

NISSAN PATROL axles: it is also possible to install the whole axle. They are wider than the J7 axles, in fact they are comparable with J8 axles.
Of course it is not a direct fitment, so you have to be very familiar with fabrication and welding. I mean designing mounting parts on your computer, than laser cut them, than welding them together to create custom mountings for the TOYOTA arms.
The rear axle is even a problem, as the Y61 or Y60 rear axles have the diff in the middle, while TOYOTA has it on the right. There are older NISSAN models that have the diff on the right side, the K160 for instance. But these are quite rare, at least in my area, so to find one for parts it's almost impossible. Yes, you could use a J8 rear axle the has the diff on the right, but the diff ratios won't match - another headache. But nothing is impossible, it only depends how much energy you're willing to spend.
Well, let's say that you decided to do that and you locked yourself in the workshop for 2 weeks. At the end of these 2 weeks you come out smelling funny and wearing a beard, but your J7 sits on PATROL axles.
You have solved the steering arms problem and you have more solid and wider axles on your J7. That's perfect. But you lost serious clearance as the PATROL axles have a bigger diameter diff. The clearance difference is more than one inch when sitting on the same tires. So now you have to go for bigger tires. But the J7 is quite unfriendly in this respect, even with the 2" suspension lift, you can go for 33" tyres at most. And as the PATROL axles are wider, I am not sure even that will fit, without bending your fender.
Bottom line is: It does not make any sense to do all that effort, unless you plan to go for at least 35" tyres or more, and do some serious body work. Beside that, the J7 axles can handle the 33" tyres alright.

Regarding the intercooler - I did it in another J7 with 1KZ-T engine (3.0 litre and 92 KW) and the result was a lot of turbo lag and not necessarily an increase of power. The standard turbocharger is CT12 than can output max 0,7 - 0,8 bar (or about 10 PSI). So it makes sense to install an intercooler only when you go for a more powerful turbo charger. If the boost pressure can go as high as 1,5 bar (about 22 PSI), than yes, it makes sense to have an intercooler. But for this project I decided to keep the engine in it's original shape.

 

[clintnz]

Thanks for your appreciation!

NISSAN PATROL axles: it is also possible to install the whole axle. They are wider than the J7 axles, in fact they are comparable with J8 axles.
Of course it is not a direct fitment, so you have to be very familiar with fabrication and welding. I mean designing mounting parts on your computer, than laser cut them, than welding them together to create custom mountings for the TOYOTA arms.
The rear axle is even a problem, as the Y61 or Y60 rear axles have the diff in the middle, while TOYOTA has it on the right. There are older NISSAN models that have the diff on the right side, the K160 for instance. But these are quite rare, at least in my area, so to find one for parts it's almost impossible. Yes, you could use a J8 rear axle the has the diff on the right, but the diff ratios won't match - another headache. But nothing is impossible, it only depends how much energy you're willing to spend.
Well, let's say that you decided to do that and you locked yourself in the workshop for 2 weeks. At the end of these 2 weeks you come out smelling funny and wearing a beard, but your J7 sits on PATROL axles.
You have solved the steering arms problem and you have more solid and wider axles on your J7. That's perfect. But you lost serious clearance as the PATROL axles have a bigger diameter diff. The clearance difference is more than one inch when sitting on the same tires. So now you have to go for bigger tires. But the J7 is quite unfriendly in this respect, even with the 2" suspension lift, you can go for 33" tyres at most. And as the PATROL axles are wider, I am not sure even that will fit, without bending your fender.
Bottom line is: It does not make any sense to do all that effort, unless you plan to go for at least 35" tyres or more, and do some serious body work. Beside that, the J7 axles can handle the 33" tyres alright.

Regarding the intercooler - I did it in another J7 with 1KZ-T engine (3.0 litre and 92 KW) and the result was a lot of turbo lag and not necessarily an increase of power. The standard turbocharger is CT12 than can output max 0,7 - 0,8 bar (or about 10 PSI). So it makes sense to install an intercooler only when you go for a more powerful turbo charger. If the boost pressure can go as high as 1,5 bar (about 22 PSI), than yes, it makes sense to have an intercooler. But for this project I decided to keep the engine in it's original shape.

I matched the Y60 front axle with an 80 series rear, width and ratios are close enough. It was not a 5 minute job but the end result has been worth it. 1UZFE + 36" Simex demanded a little extra driveline strength

Check out my build thread for all the details: Clints Cruiser Project - Offroad-Express


Interesting about the intercooler on the 1KZ. I'd seen them factory fitted on some Surfs and assumed it was a no brainer. Bigger turbo on those ones maybe?

Cheers
Clint

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thanks for your appreciation!

Regarding the intercooler - I did it in another J7 with 1KZ-T engine (3.0 litre and 92 KW) and the result was a lot of turbo lag and not necessarily an increase of power. The standard turbocharger is CT12 than can output max 0,7 - 0,8 bar (or about 10 PSI). So it makes sense to install an intercooler only when you go for a more powerful turbo charger. If the boost pressure can go as high as 1,5 bar (about 22 PSI), than yes, it makes sense to have an intercooler. But for this project I decided to keep the engine in it's original shape.

The thing I like about your build is how clean it is and close to OEM. Thus an intercooler might take away from that look. And I'm sure stock 1KZ-T power is not bad in an Lj73.

That said, there are many people running the CT12 up to 20-25psi on the 1KZ-T and 1KZTE (and making tremendous power). You're right; at this point an intercooler is necessary to keep intake air temperatures down. To get the higher boost, you need a boost controller on the turbo, but you also need to increase the fuel to create the extra exhaust energy for the turbine. On the 1KZ-T, this requires changing settings of the boost compensator (a bit of an art). For the 1KZTE, it requires increasing fuel at the Spill Control Valve. In the case of the 1KZTE, it also requires tricking the computer into not going to 'fuel cut' at around 15psi - an adjustable pneumatic bleed valve on the boost sensor works for this.

 

[drujba]

If a fabricated intercooler kit would have been available for this model, maybe I would have considered it. But apparently there is none. I've heard of a German guy who manufactured a FMIC kit for J7 when they were sold in Europe, this was until 1996, so they are no longer available. The Australians are producing some really nice Intercooler kits, but not for this model.

Of course I could have adapted something, but I wanted to avoid having welded pipes, going around and inside the engine bay. I attach a picture of how it should NOT be like:

In my opinion, if that is the best you can come up with, you better leave it original.

As for the CT12 turbocharger, I never saw one that could do more than 1,2 bar (~ 17 PSI). And this for a very short period of time, until it started to spill serious amounts of oil. Maybe this is because all the CT12's I have seen, were at least 15 years old. And they are quite hard to repair.
In my country I am racing a KZJ 73 inside of our local off road championship.
For this I've adapted a cheap Garret turbocharger, bought from a scrapyard. It came of a 3.0 litre IVECO Daily engine. This little turbocharger makes 1,5 bar (22 PSI) without any effort. Nevermind the intercooler, the problem is that the pump/injectors tandem cannot deliver the fuel it needs for 22 PSI of boost.

And @GTSSportCoupe , your right, for the standard KZJ73, the stock power of the 1KZ-T is more than enough. In fact it is even better than a similar 73 driven by a 1HZ engine, because it is much lighter. The curb weight of a KZJ73 is only 1.750 kg, so it feels very nimble when you need to move quick.

 

[drujba]

Great work! Interesting to know a Patrol steering box is possible. I have an entire Y60 front axle (no broken steering arms for me!)
......

I matched the Y60 front axle with an 80 series rear, width and ratios are close enough. It was not a 5 minute job but the end result has been worth it. 1UZFE + 36" Simex demanded a little extra driveline strength

Check out my build thread for all the details: Clints Cruiser Project - Offroad-Express
......

OK, now I put together your two posts. Congrats about your work. It's a long topic you made out of this, filled with many interesting details. And lot's of beer
I especially liked how you kept the original HDJ80 trailing arms.
Yes, for you it definitely makes sense to have the Patrol steering gear. Be careful about the p/n I mentioned before, that's for LHD vehicles.
I have one question, tough. Which diff ratios do you have? You mentioned that your Patrol and HDJ80 diff ratios are close enough.

I am planning a a new car for racing, starting from a LJ73, I am thinking front Patrol axle, rear HDJ 80 axle, R 151 F transmission, and 1.9 TDI VW PD engine. This is a very light weighted engine and you can easily make more than 200 HP out of it.