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

[John Young]

When I next see the truck in person I will have a close look and take a lot of photos. The weekend is here in the UAE and most likely that will be Saturday. This is pretty interesting....

 

[hoser]

One important part of the LHD conversion... I'd check is to see whether they sleeved the frame for the steering box. Even with the OE reinforcements, this area is known to crack.

Below is a picture of a 70 series frame (@Shes Mad)....

 

[D21FJ60]

...and a US spec LX470 (long story about its origin)...

We have time, you're good at telling stories as is demonstrated in your Biscuit documentation

 

[Honger]

John, this is a great find! Love it.
I'm in the camp of it being LHD converted... far more common over there than people realize. But that isn't necessarily bad if it's done well.

I'm jealous again...

 

[John Young]

One important part of the LHD conversion... I'd check is to see whether they sleeved the frame for the steering box. Even with the OE reinforcements, this area is known to crack.

Below is a picture of a 70 series frame (@Shes Mad)....

View attachment 2081502

Hi Hoser, I don't suppose you can tell anything from this accidental partial view of the front left part of the frame I took pre-auction?

I will take better photos, perhaps tomorrow. I did drop by the garage after dark last night to pick up my troopy to see how it is doing, and I did take a couple more photos--of both door sills, neither of which have a tag.

I think that is a Japanese language tire pressure tag on the RH side pillar--which I think would argue for this being a Japanese market vehicle.

 

[John Young]

John, this is a great find! Love it.
I'm in the camp of it being LHD converted... far more common over there than people realize. But that isn't necessarily bad if it's done well.

I'm jealous again...

Well, me too at this point!

Don't be jealous; last night I went to pick up the as-yet-unnamed 1995/1996 troopy (when I took the two photos above) and I made it only as far as the gas station.

Made it to the gas station running on fumes only to find that when they changed the ignition lock they did not change the gas door lock. Tried poking around inside but could not open it. Then tried to start the truck only to find that it would not turn over. Thankfully my mechanics were still at the garage and were able to drive over in my 2000 LX470 which I had left for regular servicing and help me out. Battery was suspect when I saw how old it was anyways, but the young mechanic who came with the foreman/co-owner took a ratchet and knocked a few times hard on the starter casing in a couple of spots and it started up. So back to the garage with ol' troopster (got to come up with a name...) for a new starter and a new battery. At least I learned something new--maybe a sticky starter can be coaxed back to life with a few hard knocks--I might have seen that before but I certainly had forgotten it.

I had been planning to put a blow-up mattress in the back and about 50 pounds of ice, liquid refreshment, and a chair in the trooper Friday afternoon and go out in the desert and overnight for the first time--not far. Just walking distance from the road. Just to actually do it in the troopy. But I'm glad to have this problem at the gas station rather than out in the desert. Here's a little video of the guys driving away in the troopy. I will add that the 20 minutes or so I was driving the troopy from the garage to the gas station I was pretty happy with the engine, transmission and driveline noise. The odometer says 91K. Could -possibly- be true. Time will tell. Still, despite it all, I enjoyed last evening. Incremental progress--I drove the troopy away from the garage! And really, I feel very privileged to over-indulge this odd advocation at this particular moment in my life. I've got exactly one parking space here in Dubai, but somehow I ended up with three interesting old land cruisers, a reliable 2000 LX470, and a fun, pretty but troublesome 2005 SL500 (I got for cheap) to play around with and keep me busy.

 

[hoser]

Hi Hoser, I don't suppose you can tell anything from this accidental partial view of the front left part of the frame I took pre-auction?

I will take better photos, perhaps tomorrow. I did drop by the garage after dark last night to pick up my troopy to see how it is doing, and I did take a couple more photos--of both door sills, neither of which have a ta
I think that is a Japanese language tire pressure tag on the RH side pillar--which I think would argue for this being a Japanese market vehicle.

I can't tell much from those pics. I think you would need to remove one bolt from your steering box and prod in there with small screwdriver and flashlight.

 

[Honger]

Well, me too at this point!

Don't be jealous; last night I went to pick up the as-yet-unnamed 1995/1996 troopy (when I took the two photos above) and I made it only as far as the gas station.
View attachment 2082077
Made it to the gas station running on fumes only to find that when they changed the ignition lock they did not change the gas door lock. Tried poking around inside but could not open it. Then tried to start the truck only to find that it would not turn over. Thankfully my mechanics were still at the garage and were able to drive over in my 2000 LX470 which I had left for regular servicing and help me out. Battery was suspect when I saw how old it was anyways, but the young mechanic who came with the foreman/co-owner took a ratchet and knocked a few times hard on the starter casing in a couple of spots and it started up. So back to the garage with ol' troopster (got to come up with a name...) for a new starter and a new battery. At least I learned something new--maybe a sticky starter can be coaxed back to life with a few hard knocks--I might have seen that before but I certainly had forgotten it.

I had been planning to put a blow-up mattress in the back and about 50 pounds of ice, liquid refreshment, and a chair in the trooper Friday afternoon and go out in the desert and overnight for the first time--not far. Just walking distance from the road. Just to actually do it in the troopy. But I'm glad to have this problem at the gas station rather than out in the desert. Here's a little video of the guys driving away in the troopy. I will add that the 20 minutes or so I was driving the troopy from the garage to the gas station I was pretty happy with the engine, transmission and driveline noise. The odometer says 91K. Could -possibly- be true. Time will tell. Still, despite it all, I enjoyed last evening. Incremental progress--I drove the troopy away from the garage! And really, I feel very privileged to over-indulge this odd advocation at this particular moment in my life. I've got exactly one parking space here in Dubai, but somehow I ended up with three interesting old land cruisers, a reliable 2000 LX470, and a fun, pretty but troublesome 2005 SL500 (I got for cheap) to play around with and keep me busy.

Still jealous! Ha!

New battery and starter in the Troopy and you're on your way to liquid refreshment in the desert... albeit it's still a tad bit warm for that there isn't it?

I'd go ahead and buy a whole new lockset for the truck... ignition, glovebox, doors, and gas door all matched to the same key. Not too expensive from the third party shops.

 

[Honger]

Hi Hoser, I don't suppose you can tell anything from this accidental partial view of the front left part of the frame I took pre-auction?
View attachment 2082068
I will take better photos, perhaps tomorrow. I did drop by the garage after dark last night to pick up my troopy to see how it is doing, and I did take a couple more photos--of both door sills, neither of which have a tag.
View attachment 2082075
View attachment 2082076
I think that is a Japanese language tire pressure tag on the RH side pillar--which I think would argue for this being a Japanese market vehicle.

Your right hand seat has the height adjustment that was usually reserved for the driver's seat... on my GCC 80-series that little height-adjusting knob was on the left hand seat only. And it appears your left hand seat doesn't have it (though it could be out of view of the pic).

Yeah... converted...

 

[george_tlc]

Interesting conversion though, since the front panhard is correctly placed for an original LHD drivetrain/chassis, unless they did a great job of cutting/rewelding all of that assembly off a RHD 80?

So, maybe a LHD chassis/axles and then a RHD body that was then converted to LHD?

cheers,
george.

 

[OGBeno]

Interesting conversion though, since the front panhard is correctly placed for an original LHD drivetrain/chassis, unless they did a great job of cutting/rewelding all of that assembly off a RHD 80?

So, maybe a LHD chassis/axles and then a RHD body that was then converted to LHD?

cheers,
george.

Agreed. Good call George.

Would really need to see the frame number on the RH side of the truck to see if it matches or is different than the data plate.

 

[John Young]

It was pretty darned hot out today. And muggy. Hopefully next weekend will be an increment cooler. Re keys, thanks for the suggestion Honger. Probably a good idea.

Tomorrow afternoon I will go over to the garage and take some more photos, including anything I can find on the frame. The guys told me that they had swapped in the two links I had gotten last week, but there was still something bent that they were having a guy come in and heat up and bend tomorrow. I was also told that the bent element prevented a full turn in one direction. Still puzzling that over. I'd prefer to just swap out the part. The two links I replaced cost me about 30 bucks from the salvage yard. But I try not to joggle their elbows too much. If they guys get it done by tomorrow afternoon I will drive the truck around the parking lot and see how it is doing. They've changed the fluids I understand.

On the frame serial number, I've seen the frame number on the left hand side in the peculiar Toyota script on my other cruisers. I assume they put it on the right hand side in the same location for the RHD frames...?

I really wish there was a rental garage here in Dubai like there exists in some places in the US so I could do my own wrenching a bit. I just really can't do it in my apartment garage space.

 

[OGBeno]

All Land Cruiser frame numbers are on the right hand side of the frame at the front.

 

[John Young]

Small update. My mechanics tell me that the bracket welded to the axel itself is bent.

(The black arrow) They are trying to fix it.

I sent out a couple of whatsapp to look at the cost of replacing the entire front axel and got this response:

He wants 2500 AED for the entire front axel/birf/brake disk assembly. Off of a fire truck with 37K on the clock. That is 680 USD. I'm mulling that over. I'm also wondering whether they might have different gear ratios to what I have.

Another friend in the salvage business got back to me and said that the front axel for LHD and RHD is not interchangeable. Does anyone out there know for sure? When I look at ToyoDIY I seem to get the same part number for LHD and RHD vehicles:

 

[OGBeno]

That’s correct. RHD and LHD axle housings are different.

 

[John Young]

That’s correct. RHD and LHD axle housings are different.

Thank Onur. Then the question becomes whether on this truck, which appears to be a conversion, had the front axel changed out. If you can, Onur, could you expand a little on how they are different? I can then try to get some photos to figure out which I've got...

 

[OGBeno]

They are almost mirror images of each other. Think about it.

 

[John Young]

They are almost mirror images of each other. Think about it.

Thank you for the reply, Onur. Here's a photo of my new acquisition taken from the front. You can just see the left rear tire in the back.

I've been under the impression that LHD or RHD that the differential was on the right hand side of the oil sump. It was that way on the 75 series pickup that I just got a new (old) transmission and transfer case for. One thing I love about this hobby is that there is always something new to learn.

I'm pretty sure that is the old transmission from my 75 pickup there in the background--you can see that the drive shaft comes forward from the right side of the transmission when you look at it with the bell housing forward.

 

[OGBeno]

I’m not talking about the differential. That always stays the same. But the steering bracketry will be mirrored between LHD and RHD.

LHD and RHD refer to the driver position and their control of the vehicle.

 

[hoser]

That red firetruck 80 is a RHD JDM... so that would be the wrong donor. Seems easier to just repair the bracket on your existing axle... granted the axle housing itself isn't bent.