Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (6 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I’m a big fan of selectable lockers. Without lockers you can really beat stuff up. Lockers fix a lot of that problem.

arb
Harrop
Cable lock

all are pricey but are excellent choices. I wheeled a 55 on 35s without power steering or lockers. It’s was hard. Got some arbs and much easier.
 
Well, thanks to my dad's great thinking we have made a rear door table that will be helpful for cooking when I'm cross country! Both the overhead storage compartment and this have been made out of just scrap wood we have laying around. The cutouts in the wood are to be able to store whatever we want in the rear. I'm guessing they will be a helpful cupholder for the rear passengers.

View attachment 2663436View attachment 2663437View attachment 2663438


Yeaaaa, not afraid just would feel horrible to do that to a brand new door. Guess it'll be the last resort
I have that same old pump up Coleman stove. I keep trying to replace it with something smaller and lighter, but nothing works as well. The integrated wind block helps amazingly in windy conditions. The propane stoves are wonderfully convenient but nothing beats liquid fuel if you go up to high altitude such as driving cross country through the Rockies or in extreme cold when you can't get enough pressure from the gas. If you mix some kerosene or diesel in with the gasoline you using the stove say 50/50 it'll be a little pain in the ass to get it going, but it'll get so hot you can deep fry fish with it.

I made a fold down table back there too I haven't done it yet but there is room in the center of the door also if you cut a little metal out with a jigsaw.
Old military kit pouches like ammo pouches, canteen pouches, butt packs, squad automatic weapon ammo pouches etc.. are great for securing inside the vehicle in various places with sheet metal screws or pop rivets. I've repurposed a lot of my old school army kit for this. My modern kit stays ready for the zombie apocalypse.

There is enough room inside the small rear door for suntan lotion, bug spray, rain x, no fog ,wipe down rag, first aid kit, and a roll of toilet paper, if you make a small access door.
 
Hello,

I asked about the dent marked in yellow.

View attachment 2663519

I was curious on how it happened.





Juan
Ahhh I see. It's been there since I have had the car and probably since its come in from France. Below is a picture from last April when I just got the new suspension in and you can see it there as well. However it looks worse in the photo above, maybe lighting or hitting bumps and stuff is actually making it worse, no clue. One day I'll get everything (major) sorted out on it body-wise. Don't know if ever want it pristine or perfect cause then I'd just be afraid to drive it.

IMG_6899.JPG

I’m a big fan of selectable lockers. Without lockers you can really beat stuff up. Lockers fix a lot of that problem.

arb
Harrop
Cable lock

all are pricey but are excellent choices. I wheeled a 55 on 35s without power steering or lockers. It’s was hard. Got some arbs and much easier.
Yea, don't want to beat stuff up. If it was a $500 Geo Tracker or Cherokee then it would be a different story. One day, very long from now, I'll have onboard air and all the fancy diff locks, etc etc. But as a cheap alternative for a couple of years, I'll probably throw an auto locker into it.
I have that same old pump up Coleman stove. I keep trying to replace it with something smaller and lighter, but nothing works as well. The integrated wind block helps amazingly in windy conditions. The propane stoves are wonderfully convenient but nothing beats liquid fuel if you go up to high altitude such as driving cross country through the Rockies or in extreme cold when you can't get enough pressure from the gas. If you mix some kerosene or diesel in with the gasoline you using the stove say 50/50 it'll be a little pain in the ass to get it going, but it'll get so hot you can deep fry fish with it.

I made a fold down table back there too I haven't done it yet but there is room in the center of the door also if you cut a little metal out with a jigsaw.
Old military kit pouches like ammo pouches, canteen pouches, butt packs, squad automatic weapon ammo pouches etc.. are great for securing inside the vehicle in various places with sheet metal screws or pop rivets. I've repurposed a lot of my old school army kit for this. My modern kit stays ready for the zombie apocalypse.

There is enough room inside the small rear door for suntan lotion, bug spray, rain x, no fog ,wipe down rag, first aid kit, and a roll of toilet paper, if you make a small access door.
My dad has had it for many MANY years. There are so many places in this car just to cram extra stuff. Next, I'll look into the sides of the car that are behind the bench seats. Might be able to do something with that
 
The makeshift wood bumper should read "I got rear ended by a Jeep and it got destroyed".
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you... The Worlds Ugliest Exhaust Manifold!

IMG_8748.jpg
IMG_8746.jpg
IMG_8750.jpg

It's absolutely horrendous. But hey, I saved $200:cool: I have no clue how much "performance" this design is gonna sap from the almighty 3B but hopefully not too much. Will be starting turbo stuff tomorrow.
The makeshift wood bumper should read "I got rear ended by a Jeep and it got destroyed".
No more need for the makeshift bumper as I just got the frame replaced and will be having a custom bumper done for it. By custom, I mean about as custom as my exhaust manifold is. so Just a steel log with some D-Ring mounts.

IMG_8728.jpg
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you... The Worlds Ugliest Exhaust Manifold!

View attachment 2668331View attachment 2668333View attachment 2668332
It's absolutely horrendous. But hey, I saved $200:cool: I have no clue how much "performance" this design is gonna sap from the almighty 3B but hopefully not too much. Will be starting turbo stuff tomorrow.

No more need for the makeshift bumper as I just got the frame replaced and will be having a custom bumper done for it. By custom, I mean about as custom as my exhaust manifold is. so Just a steel log with some D-Ring mounts.

View attachment 2668334
That is not ugly at all. It looks pretty sweet. Especially compared to mine. That's some good welding in my book. What did you weld it with? Mine was done with flux core wire and a always hot spool gun powered by 24V aircraft batteries.(a little challenging). What kind of bolts are you going to use to bolt it on? You may need allen bolts or some special torx head bolts. Standard hardware store metric hex bolts have heads that are so large they might interfere with the manifold. I think you did a great job there.
The autoparts stores sell 2.25", 2.5", and bigger fuel hose by the foot. It's expensive, but its strong reinforced and alot cheaper than trying to buy silicone turbo fittings. The parts stores tend to only have larger silicone turbo fittings in stock.
Your oil port on the engine is a 1/8 BSP thread not a 1/8 NPT . You can force thread a brass 1/8 NPT into it with teflon tape, but it will leak a bit. Mcmaster car has the correct fitting.
Do not forget to block off the vacum fitting on the intake that routes to the valve cover. You will also need to route a full size hose from your valve cover vent to your air cleaner snout that feeds the turbo. You will have more blowby and crankcase pressure. If you don't suck this out/vent it out your turbo won't drain oil to the pan properly and will weep oil into the exhaust creating clouds of smoke.
You don't need the wastegate on the TD04. You can remove the vacum actuater and wire the waste gate shut. You also don't need to water cool the turbo. It only adds more heat to your coolant. Just let the turbo spool down for 15 or 20 seconds at idle before you shutdown.
2" wide header wrap tape will keep anything under the hood(battery, fuel filter?) safe from heat from the turbo. Foil faced self adhesive duct insulation sold by the roll at lowes is also a good thing to stick to the firewall or other components too close to the turbo.
 
Last edited:
Making progress, will respond to people at the end of the day haha been real busy

View attachment 2668948

View attachment 2668949

View attachment 2668950
For my downpipe I welded an iron pipe elbow fitting to a piece of 3/8 plate cut to fit the turbo. They call it "iron pipe" but you can weld it no problem. It makes a good Sharp 90 but it's still a curve to flow. If you feel like you got enough room by all means make it a more gradual curved tube. It's slow going but you're better off cutting the plate with a metal blade in a jigsaw. If you use a plasma cutter you'll warp it a little bit and it won't bolt up flat to the turbo like it should.

If the bottom of the outlet on your turbo is lower than the top of the valve cover you're going to need to clock it in an angle instead of having the pipe go straight across to your intake. That large fuel hose I was telling you about is nice because it's flexible and you can curve/bend it a little bit. If you have to step up or step down in size exhaust pipe fittings work well.

I had to relocate my fuel filter and power steering pump reservoir to clear the down pipe. I also had to bend and turn the steel fitting and tubing connecting to the power steering pump in order to clear my air intake hose. There's a lot of different underhood configurations on the 70 series so yours may be very different from mine.
 
Well, it all works! Kinda... just got a small oil leak from the oil feed (just didn't tighten it enough) and I gotta mess with the timing, fuel, boost, etc etc until I get what I want. I'm surprised it went this smoothly, enjoy cool turbo noise ;)





IMG_8837.jpg


Your oil port on the engine is a 1/8 BSP thread not a 1/8 NPT . You can force thread a brass 1/8 NPT into it with teflon tape, but it will leak a bit. Mcmaster car has the correct fitting.
I found this perfect little kit on ebay for this. Worked great
Screenshot 2021-05-09 213533.jpg

Do not forget to block off the vacum fitting on the intake that routes to the valve cover. You will also need to route a full size hose from your valve cover vent to your air cleaner snout that feeds the turbo. You will have more blowby and crankcase pressure. If you don't suck this out/vent it out your turbo won't drain oil to the pan properly and will weep oil into the exhaust creating clouds of smoke.
I don't have anything going in/out of the valve cover. Is this just a thing with just the 3BII that's in your rig? If so then how do I go about this with no vents or holes in my valve cover? Guess I'll have to figure it out when plumes of smoke start coming out of my exhaust.
I had to relocate my fuel filter and power steering pump reservoir to clear the down pipe. I also had to bend and turn the steel fitting and tubing connecting to the power steering pump in order to clear my air intake hose. There's a lot of different underhood configurations on the 70 series so yours may be very different from mine.
Usually not having power steering is a pain to me, however in this rare instance I didn't have to worry about power steering. Fuel/Water separator will have to be moved though, just have it bypassed at the moment (its been bypassed for the past year at least I never paid much attention to it and recently saw it was bypassed cause it was totally rusted out😑) Glad I didn't get any water in my fuel.
You don't need the wastegate on the TD04. You can remove the vacum actuater and wire the waste gate shut. You also don't need to water cool the turbo. It only adds more heat to your coolant. Just let the turbo spool down for 15 or 20 seconds at idle before you shutdown.
2" wide header wrap tape will keep anything under the hood(battery, fuel filter?) safe from heat from the turbo. Foil faced self adhesive duct insulation sold by the roll at lowes is also a good thing to stick to the firewall or other components too close to the turbo.
I'm keeping the wastegate there, for now, just skeptical of possibly running 120312031923lbs of boost through my engine. It would be nice to be able to take off the wastegate and just mount my turbo in a way where I could just do a 90 degree turn into the intake vs the 230-degree turn I got going on now. Stuff to mess with later. Thank you so much for all the useful info
Looks good. Did you order up new hinges?
For what it's worth, I had hinges on a rear gate bend from taking a drop off a shelf in Moab once. I'd try them first.
Yup, new hinges came yesterday. The old ones were definitely bent from the crash. New hinges in combination with adjusting the rear door has made it straight again😄
 
Well, it all works! Kinda... just got a small oil leak from the oil feed (just didn't tighten it enough) and I gotta mess with the timing, fuel, boost, etc etc until I get what I want. I'm surprised it went this smoothly, enjoy cool turbo noise ;)





View attachment 2670049


I found this perfect little kit on ebay for this. Worked great View attachment 2670062

I don't have anything going in/out of the valve cover. Is this just a thing with just the 3BII that's in your rig? If so then how do I go about this with no vents or holes in my valve cover? Guess I'll have to figure it out when plumes of smoke start coming out of my exhaust.

Usually not having power steering is a pain to me, however in this rare instance I didn't have to worry about power steering. Fuel/Water separator will have to be moved though, just have it bypassed at the moment (its been bypassed for the past year at least I never paid much attention to it and recently saw it was bypassed cause it was totally rusted out😑) Glad I didn't get any water in my fuel.

I'm keeping the wastegate there, for now, just skeptical of possibly running 120312031923lbs of boost through my engine. It would be nice to be able to take off the wastegate and just mount my turbo in a way where I could just do a 90 degree turn into the intake vs the 230-degree turn I got going on now. Stuff to mess with later. Thank you so much for all the useful info

Yup, new hinges came yesterday. The old ones were definitely bent from the crash. New hinges in combination with adjusting the rear door has made it straight again😄

That really looks great. Good job and congrats on getting it done. I put in a EGT guage and a boost guage to help tune the engine. Mine runs around 8-10PSI normal cruising. My max is about 15PSI at full boost(I lose about 2psi and 30-50 degrees C from the intercooler). It was peppier without the intercooler, but it got hot on the interstate quicker. If you use a wastgate with less than 15PSI setting you are missing out on power and raising your EGT's. I set my EGT guage to start beeping and flashing at 720C. 750C is supposedly where things start to burn/ crack/ melt. When my alarm goes off I judge if I can crest the hill before 750C or just back off or downshift. Full throttle run through the gears on level ground to 65mph you should be maybe 700C. Add or back of fuel screw accordingly. More fuel = more boost, more heat, and more power. If your wastegate is cutting in then more fuel = more heat only. You can probably get 17-22 psi with a td 04 and alot of fuel, but you will get it hot quick..........

ON the "surprising it went so smooth comment" You have some issues ahead, but nothing ridiculous. If you are smart and you analyze a project and plan it enough you will be surprised by how quick it goes. For about 2 years I dreamed, thought and planned of putting a 4BT in my 71 chevy years back. When I actually pulled the trigger and did it it only took my 16 hours to complete the swap.
 
The last time I saw that many young guys excited about something my cousin had pulled an old Playboy Magazine out from under his bed. 😁
D06CA32D-FE6B-463F-9AD4-44142CA84168.jpeg
 
That really looks great. Good job and congrats on getting it done. I put in a EGT guage and a boost guage to help tune the engine. Mine runs around 8-10PSI normal cruising. My max is about 15PSI at full boost(I lose about 2psi and 30-50 degrees C from the intercooler). It was peppier without the intercooler, but it got hot on the interstate quicker. If you use a wastgate with less than 15PSI setting you are missing out on power and raising your EGT's. I set my EGT guage to start beeping and flashing at 720C. 750C is supposedly where things start to burn/ crack/ melt. When my alarm goes off I judge if I can crest the hill before 750C or just back off or downshift. Full throttle run through the gears on level ground to 65mph you should be maybe 700C. Add or back of fuel screw accordingly. More fuel = more boost, more heat, and more power. If your wastegate is cutting in then more fuel = more heat only. You can probably get 17-22 psi with a td 04 and alot of fuel, but you will get it hot quick..........

ON the "surprising it went so smooth comment" You have some issues ahead, but nothing ridiculous. If you are smart and you analyze a project and plan it enough you will be surprised by how quick it goes. For about 2 years I dreamed, thought and planned of putting a 4BT in my 71 chevy years back. When I actually pulled the trigger and did it it only took my 16 hours to complete the swap.
Thank you!! Definitely still needs some work, gotta figure out a new intake since I had to relocate the battery due to the giant swing around of my intake piping haha. After that I'll have to take it to the exhaust shop and see just what they can do, it is unbelievably tight back there against the firewall. THEN I will get to tuning all the little stuff and getting all the kinks out of the system. Sure many other small things are gonna pop up after that, but for now, that's the basis of what I have planned.
The last time I saw that many young guys excited about something my cousin had pulled an old Playboy Magazine out from under his bed. 😁View attachment 2670311
Oh, you should have seen us the night before whenever we had just got the oil pan back on. Successful progress is a GREAT feeling.

FullSizeRender.jpg
 
Well, the downpipe fits... just barely. Already got exhaust wrap all over it so it won't boil my brake fluid. That stuff really works well!
IMG_8929.jpg

IMG_8925.jpg


Also retarded the timing by about 11 degrees. Before I could kinda tell a small improvement in speed. Now I can feel a definite improvement, and it's a whole lot peppier as well. Kinda crazy how much moving the injection pump down by 1mm can totally alter the performance of a vehicle.
RenderedImage.jpg


Also, I just realized I haven't done it yet, but I'd just like to give a massive shout-out to @gerg. I had been looking at his 3B turbo kit for sale for a while but still just wanted a cheaper alternative. He has helped me so much with getting into the world of turbos, especially turboing a 3B and understanding everything. Every question I've had, he has answered amazingly whilst being extremely busy with work and moving etc etc, on top of encouraging me that I'd be able to do it on my own. A really stand up guy. If you're looking to turbo your 3B I'd 100% recommend his kit as he knows what he's talking about
 
Definitely safety third with this group of youngsters.
Hello,

x2.

They say that Land Cruiser mechanics are torture resistant but it is better not to push one's luck.

Keep hands and fingers away from any turbo intake. The spool turns both into ground meat in a heartbeat. Air suction holds the unfortunate limb in place until engine shutdown.

On the other hand, congratulations. The Troopie sounds nice.

Now to tune up. Careful with the boost. And careful with your right foot.





Juan
 
Last edited:
Hello,

x2.

They say that Land Cruiser mechanics are torture resistant but it is better not to push one's luck.

Keep hands and fingers away from any turbo. The spool turns both into ground meat in a heartbeat. Air suction holds the unfortunate limb in place until engine shutdown.

On the other hand, congratulations. The Troopie sounds nice.

Now to tune up. Careful with the boost. And careful with your right foot.





Juan
Noted. Don't feel like losing my fingers just yet to a Land Cruiser. Gonna be driving with my pyrometer, not my right foot haha. Seriously though, I appreciate the advice and safety warning 👍
 
Well, the downpipe fits... just barely. Already got exhaust wrap all over it so it won't boil my brake fluid. That stuff really works well!View attachment 2672822
View attachment 2672823

Also retarded the timing by about 11 degrees. Before I could kinda tell a small improvement in speed. Now I can feel a definite improvement, and it's a whole lot peppier as well. Kinda crazy how much moving the injection pump down by 1mm can totally alter the performance of a vehicle.
View attachment 2672821

Also, I just realized I haven't done it yet, but I'd just like to give a massive shout-out to @gerg. I had been looking at his 3B turbo kit for sale for a while but still just wanted a cheaper alternative. He has helped me so much with getting into the world of turbos, especially turboing a 3B and understanding everything. Every question I've had, he has answered amazingly whilst being extremely busy with work and moving etc etc, on top of encouraging me that I'd be able to do it on my own. A really stand up guy. If you're looking to turbo your 3B I'd 100% recommend his kit as he knows what he's talking about
That's a great looking downpipe. That self adhesive 1/4" foil backed insulation at Lowes might be good on the inside of the truck to keep from melting your floormats or other. Yes the exhaust wrap is effective. ..............I take it you don't have a boost guage. Try disconnecting your wastegate vacum/pressure line and putting a screw in the line to plug it. Then go drive somewhat conservatively and see what effect that has on your EGT's and performance. Many stock turbo wastegates for gasoline engines are very limited in the boost they allow. Like less than 12PSI. Boost for diesels is alot higher than gasoline engines as we are not worried about preignition/detonation of gasoline fuel.

At some point in the future it may be worth a larger exhaust. My stock exhaust was 1 5/8". a 2.25" straight downpipe ran better and had cooler EGT's than the stock exhaust. I eventually put in a 2.25" exhaust using the 2.5" $35 flowmaster clone they sell. I used flex pipe that didn't last on the downpipe. Seems OK farther back.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom