Builds spinning the roulette wheel (twice) on a 1996 Middle East HDJ81 at auction (1 Viewer)

[John Young]

I went by the shop again this afternoon after work. They've got the frame inside for more cleaning.

The area around the steering box looks very good.

Things are starting to accelerate. The shop foreman told me they were going to start stripping the recipient truck tomorrow.

I'm insisting that we use the locking diffs from the donor on the recipient. They do need some more attention. Maybe sand blasting, but nothing looks really serious. The frame itself is as good as one could hope for, I think.

 

[lp2k]

Looking good, I just did a bit of axle R&R myself. Mine were not as rusty as shown in the photo above, but I am certain you can clean them up and make them stronger than before. I sanded, primed with John Deere and Painted with John Deere blitz black. If it is good enough for a Heavy Duty tractor, I am sure it will add some security on my little toy 80.

 

[John Young]

I've got a serious question for your collective wisdom. I told the shop foreman I wanted to do a small lift on the truck. Only an inch or so. This is what the recipient truck looks like now:

Yes, there is some stuff in the back. But even so, the front looks a little lower than I'd prefer.

I want to replace all the body mounts while we are doing this. I could go stock OEM for about 500 USD. Or 300 USD for non-OEM. I mentioned all this to the shop foreman and he said what they normally do is stretch the springs when they want to raise a vehicle. I've never heard of doing that but it sounds kind of logical. I've got, at this point, plenty of spare springs to fiddle with.

What do you all think?

 

[John Young]

Looking good, I just did a bit of axle R&R myself. Mine were not as rusty as shown in the photo above, but I am certain you can clean them up and make them stronger than before. I sanded, primed with John Deere and Painted with John Deere blitz black. If it is good enough for a Heavy Duty tractor, I am sure it will add some security on my little toy 80.

Hmmm. John Deere. Might have to go with a Jotun (Japanese paint) here. It looks worse than it actually is, I think. This is after some pressure washing. It looks like surface rust for the most part to me. But we will find out!

 

[Honger]

I've got a serious question for your collective wisdom. I told the shop foreman I wanted to do a small lift on the truck. Only an inch or so. This is what the recipient truck looks like now:
View attachment 2678519
Yes, there is some stuff in the back. But even so, the front looks a little lower than I'd prefer.

I want to replace all the body mounts while we are doing this. I could go stock OEM for about 500 USD. Or 300 USD for non-OEM. I mentioned all this to the shop foreman and he said what they normally do is stretch the springs when they want to raise a vehicle. I've never heard of doing that but it sounds kind of logical. I've got, at this point, plenty of spare springs to fiddle with.

What do you all think?

Knowing the jankity ways they do creative things like "stretch the springs" I would stay away from this solution. Just my $0.02.

Also, go OEM on body mounts. Solid prices and availability there in the UAE...

 

[John Young]

Here's the way our Middle East 80 presently in Florida looks:

I very much like this height. It is high but not too high. Some of it is the tires.

ARB has a small store here in Dubai. I started the process to order a complete set from them-about 1200 USD-but then stopped. I don't want to give the Roads and Transport Authority any reason to reject the truck. And the criteria is not always clear. So I went ahead and ordered a complete set of the rubber parts of the body mounts. OEM rubber cost me 1450 AED or about 400 USD.

I've not made up my mind about the springs. The truck is definitely sitting lower than it should.

 

[Honger]

One thought for you... you added an OEM winch to the front, correct? The 80 had different OEM springs depending on options/engine. Perhaps you've weighed down the existing setup. Also, have a look at your springs. My GCC 80 ended up with a broken spring on one side in the rear and it sat funny.

 

[SNLC]

The OME 861/862 springs are a great combo for low lift.

They are technically supposed to be like .75” of lift but since any OEM coils that been in there for decades will have sagged they will probably give you 2” from where it sits now.

I am happy with mine and I bought them just to get me by.

Cheers

 

[John Young]

The OME 861/862 springs are a great combo for low lift.

They are technically supposed to be like .75” of lift but since any OEM coils that been in there for decades will have sagged they will probably give you 2” from where it sits now.

I am happy with mine and I bought them just to get me by.

Cheers

Thank you for that, SNLC. Does this require the camber adapter I've heard so much about? With a low lift like that I'd guess not....?

 

[John Young]

One thought for you... you added an OEM winch to the front, correct? The 80 had different OEM springs depending on options/engine. Perhaps you've weighed down the existing setup. Also, have a look at your springs. My GCC 80 ended up with a broken spring on one side in the rear and it sat funny.

Well I have not added a winch yet to the Omani truck. Yet. I need to find another one I think. The 1FE weighs 265kg; I can't find the 1HZ but the 1HD-FT weighs 348kg, so it really is a lot more...not even including another 50kg for a winch. That is something to think about....

 

[John Young]

Today I drove up to Sharjah to look for an OEM windshield for the Omani 80. It was bloody hot. Seemed hotter than the forecasted 40c 104f. I felt a little faint at times. I went first to Sharjah Industrial City because I knew there were a couple of 80s up there. Sadly both windshields were cracked.

There are several graveyards that specialize in Land Cruises but at this point 80 series are getting hard to find.

But I did enjoy a couple of interesting sights.

That looks to be an intact Maybach slowly dying in the sun.

 

[John Young]

Then I went to the older part of Sharjah and things have changed a lot in the year+ that I. have been away. A lot of the old 80s are gone and some 70 series have taken their place.

One yard did have a windshield tucked away...

But sadly, it too was cracked.

So no joy in Mudville today. I came back home and now I'm going to get on with ordering a reproduction windshield. I really wanted Toyota OEM but It does not seem possible here and now.

I did see an aluminum fold side box for the 70 pickup:

When I spoke to the guy he said he had pulled it off of a 2010 which probably means it would not work for my 1991 with its different frame spacing, but it was nice to see it. He wanted 2k AED for it. About 550 USD. I also saw a steel bed with fold-down sides that probably would work--it looked much older. I wanted aluminum but maybe steel would be just as good.

 

[Broski]

Here's the way our Middle East 80 presently in Florida looks:
View attachment 2680768
View attachment 2680769
View attachment 2680772
I very much like this height. It is high but not too high. Some of it is the tires.

ARB has a small store here in Dubai. I started the process to order a complete set from them-about 1200 USD-but then stopped. I don't want to give the Roads and Transport Authority any reason to reject the truck. And the criteria is not always clear. So I went ahead and ordered a complete set of the rubber parts of the body mounts. OEM rubber cost me 1450 AED or about 400 USD.
View attachment 2680777
I've not made up my mind about the springs. The truck is definitely sitting lower than it should.

If you do something with the spring buy new. DON"T HAVE THEM STRETCHED. JMHO

 

[John Young]

If you do something with the spring buy new. DON"T HAVE THEM STRETCHED. JMHO

It sounds like you have some strong feelings about it... Is there a story behind that....?

And do you know if I can just get the springs from OME and nothing else?

 

[Broski]

It sounds like you have some strong feelings about it... Is there a story behind that....?

And do you know if I can just get the springs from OME and nothing else?

Back in the day before lift springs were readily available, People would have the springs re-arched they would end up sagging in no time and it hard to get the lift right were you want it .
There are now many after market springs available for the 80, I prefer the Dobinson's they have a no lift replacement springs available that I think would be good for your application.

 

[MoJ]

It sounds like you have some strong feelings about it... Is there a story behind that....?

And do you know if I can just get the springs from OME and nothing else?

When a automotive coil spring is made it’s formed hot and then goes through a tempering process to achieve a certain hardness and lock in a “memory” for the position it should return to after flexing. When coils are “stretched” to achieve lift you’re permanently shifting it outside of its original “memory” and compromising the effects of tempering. You’ll also increase the pitch of the coil turns (the angle at which they rise) which can put the steel outside of its functional range and at a minimum will make the spring stiffer (ride like crap). To get a visual grab a spring from a ballpoint pen and stretch it increasingly taller.

 

[SNLC]

Thank you for that, SNLC. Does this require the camber adapter I've heard so much about? With a low lift like that I'd guess not....?

With OME caster bushes I have 3.1* of caster.

Without it was driveable but is much better with the caster correction bushings.

Cheers

 

[John Young]

I think I've got a plan. I'm going to use the old springs from the turbo diesel and shocks, as it to try to get it to pass Roads and Transport Authority inspection and re-registration. THEN I am going to start fiddling with a mild lift and new shocks.

I went by the garage again today. The guys work on it as other work permits--and I'm fine with that. It is taking me time to find parts and make decisions.

More cleaning.

And then some contractors for the landlord came by to fix the skylights in the warehouse I've rented, which is quite a relief.

A LOT of dust was coming through those big, 3 meter skylights.

And finally the donor frame is into paint!

A real milestone!

I\ve asked the guys to put another coat of semi-gloss on it. It looks a little duller than the most of the re-done frames I've seen.

 

[John Young]

The other thing that happened today was that my friend down in Abu Dhabi pointed out an ad for a 1998 G-wagon. I'm likely to sell my LX470 back to the prior owner (whose wife really wants it back), and I've always thought that I should try one of those so after work I drove up to have a look and give a test drive. 1-owner since new and I met the guy. His son was with him helping to sell it. Low mileage at 288K km, the price was right, and it had not been dressed up as so many of these G-wagons end up in Dubai.

Outwardly and under it looked good.

But when I sat in it, my knees were in the dashboard and I really felt boxed in.

My knee was pushed up against a hard unyielding surface. I could not drive this vehicle comfortably. But I had a nice time wheeling it around the block once. I don't think the G-wagons are for me somehow. Even the RJ77 and the pickups are much more comfortable. Really kind of strange. I imagine there is a fix for this--moving the seat back with an adapter or something. But I have my hands full with the cruisers. I was still nice meeting the present owners and we parted pleasantly. If a similar 2-door shows up I may have a look at that. Who knows....

The doors on these things really do sound like bank vaults.

 

[John Young]

I went back up today--the plan was to change the windshield on the Omani diesel 80. I got there about 6 pm and set up my chair to wait.

Relaxing and letting the pressures of the day fade. Time marched on...

Eventually, about 8, the glass guys came and started work. They did not follow the FSM procedure. I decided to stay silent.

Eventually, they got the old glass out.

One thing I want to mention is that this truck has the little beaded silver strip around the windshield. This turns out to be an aluminum strip with a plastic backing. On my truck it is all delaminating. The replacement rubber surround does not have space for this trim. Fine by me. I don't care for it anyway. I mention it here because the OEM part number for the rubber surround seems to be a single number with no option for a surround with space for the shiney trim.