Builds Tenerife to Texas: a 1997 HDJ80 Tale

[bottombracket]

Good eye. It’s….not quite stock anymore.

I’m lucky to have a couple of cool rigs.

I didn’t make it to SAS, some life stuff got in the way this year. But I swear to God I’m making it to number eight.

 

[77mustard40]

I didn’t make it to SAS, some life stuff got in the way this year. But I swear to God I’m making it to number eight.

Galen let’s make a plan for that, I’d love to wheel the 80 in the high mountain air

 

[bottombracket]

It took all damn day and most of the night to get stuff moved it around in the car barn.

Time to get the truck in here and pull things apart.

The double cab is now 90 degrees orthogonal to its usual garage axis.

 

[bottombracket]

I did two days of work, just to get ready to do work. Now it’s 80 time!

 

[bottombracket]

Go time.

The radiator was actively dripping… I am glad I caught it just in time.

 

[OffRoadScott]

I did two days of work, just to get ready to do work. Now it’s 80 time!

View attachment 3399193

What pickup is that? Super sick looking.

 

[ikarus]

Legit. I'd have trouble concentrating on the 80 with a double cab like that in the shop too!

Why did you choose a green wheel G turbo? Just curious, I'm trying to decide between red and green.

 

[bottombracket]

@OffRoadScott double cab 79 on an 80 frame. Build is in the 70 section.

@ikarus my goal for this truck is very nearly stock with just a leeeetle bit of extra zoom. Only removable modifications are planned at this time. The single cab gets a red wheel on its FTE with +30 injectors and the double cab will probably get a UFI21L.

 

[bottombracket]

I finally was able wrench a little tonight. I only broke one bolt, which instantly turned this from a one day project into a two week project. I was just going to do the radiator and get the 80 back on the road… Now I will probably do more of the things I was planning.

 

[bottombracket]

It’s pretty cool to see that a 26 year old truck still has the factory paint marks on something as silly as the radiator shroud.

 

[bottombracket]

This truck is a 1997. Of course I wanted the earlier Toyota grill with turbo instead of the sombrero logo. That left the well known roughly 1 inch gap between the bottom of the 94 grill and the 97 valance. I picked up the appropriate early valance from @Hamachi last year. I will probably get it on there now.

 

[suzuguru]

Great thread! I know it's been a while, but congrats on the HDJ80. I actually just bought one from there myself, and it should be on the way to Tennessee soon. Shane's a great guy to work with. I started out with someone else, and it produced little results with 2 trucks getting away. I switched over to Shane at Canaria, and had a truck almost immediately. He comes highly recommended from me.

 

[ToyotaDyna]

Great thread! I know it's been a while, but congrats on the HDJ80. I actually just bought one from there myself, and it should be on the way to Tennessee soon. Shane's a great guy to work with. I started out with someone else, and it produced little results with 2 trucks getting away. I switched over to Shane at Canaria, and had a truck almost immediately. He comes highly recommended from me.

Thank you! Much appriciated, you are great to deal with!

I am looking forward to seeing your 80 in the US soon!

Shane / ToyotaDyna

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[bottombracket]

Hey look! It’s 18 months later and the truck is still parked exactly where I left it.

Long story short, I’ve been going through what feels like a never-ending divorce and I just didn’t have the energy to tackle any projects. But 2025 is here, I’m back in action, and let’s get this truck back on the road.

I got the exhaust manifold ceramic coated, a G turbo green wheel bolted up to it, a 3 inch stainless exhaust ready to install, and a PDI front mount intercooler.

The valve cover was filthy, and I took everything apart to go vapor hone at @aljollano ‘s shop, where @davegonz joined us for a much needed beer.

 

[bottombracket]

The FT valve cover and its gasket (11213-17020) has 12 holes. The FTE valve cover gasket (11213-17030) has 17 holes. This gasket fits onto Yanmar 6LPA valve covers, which allow a front mount intercooler to be used. A factory FTE valve cover has a hump in the middle, so if you are doing a front mount on an FTE, or using an FTE head on an FT… You need a 6LPA cover.

Yanmar 6LPA on left, FT on right for reference.

 

[77mustard40]

Hey look! It’s 18 months later and the truck is still parked exactly where I left it.

Long story short, I’ve been going through what feels like a never-ending divorce and I just didn’t have the energy to tackle any projects. But 2025 is here, I’m back in action, and let’s get this truck back on the road.

I got the exhaust manifold ceramic coated, a G turbo green wheel bolted up to it, a 3 inch stainless exhaust ready to install, and a PDI front mount intercooler.

The valve cover was filthy, and I took everything apart to go vapor hone at @aljollano ‘s shop, where @davegonz joined us for a much needed beer.



View attachment 3808213View attachment 3808214View attachment 3808215View attachment 3808217View attachment 3808218

@davegonz for the win with the beer selection, good to see you in action G

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

I did two days of work, just to get ready to do work. Now it’s 80 time!

View attachment 3399193

Hardest part is keeping a barn clean where zen can be felt and happen. Can relate! Good job!!!

 

[bottombracket]

CD, you haven’t been here, have you? This place is a gosh darn mess. Marie Kondo would have a stroke in this barn.

The vapor hone got the valve cover decently clean, but not perfectly burnished. I can live with that. I popped the valve cover on with new hardware.

Tiny details like this make me nerd out and love Toyota

Here are the valve cover bolts, 90901-19047 (x12). The 28 year old originals appear to be a two part plastic and rubber integrated seal.

The upgraded ones are three part and have some knurling on the bottom of the stud portion. Design change? Part supersession? Shared part with something else that just worked in this application? Either way, I love it, and I still love fresh OEM hardware.

 

[Workhorse]

@bottombracket

Dude, is your 80 still sitting in the exact same spot it was when I was there last to help remove the intake manifold to be vapor honed and reinstalled with said green wheel and intercooler? Man time flies. I would love to head back down to help sometime so it gets finished up and running. You will love the green wheel and new fuel ramp profile on the aneroid, seriously.

 

[bottombracket]

Currently, it’s sitting about 8 feet farther forward… But yes, in the same place. It’s time to get that sucker back on the road.