Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (9 Viewers)

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Looking back on trips I took with my friends.....it was the trip/visits/destination that mattered way more than the vehicle.

Of the 5-9 others going on this Montana trip....the Troopy is the only 'cool' truck that can be sourced? I'd put some pressure on the others to pull a little weight.

I was just messing with you, yes the destination is the fun. I thought he mentioned they are getting a Sequoia ready to go which should have plenty of room.
 
A 5-doors rav4.1 and you put a couple of buddies in the trunk on a pillow, not so different from the troopy.
Those things cost nothing nowadays, are very reliable and are actually quite capable offroad for a SUV...
No so different, there extremely different 🤪
 
I offered my 87 Suzuki samurai for the clown car effect!

IMG_20220711_174257027.jpg
 
For the 2 guys seated in the trunk that would feel quite similar x)


Yeah at their age they should be able to fit 7 inside with a little effort and motivation.
Sorry just don’t see any similarities between a RAV4 and a Troopy besides being made by Toyota JMHO 😎
 
The compression numbers in a previous post are really low. Is that your problem? To repeat what someone told me before I did a in-frame rebuild on my 3B: Overheating can cause broken rings on a tight engine built with minimal ring gap because there is no room for the rings to keep expanding when the ends are butted against each other.

Your engine will run with broken rings but it will have lower compression and you will begin to hear some ticking/Piston slap as the rings aren't doing the job as well. If you have at least 1 good ring it will still run, but if that piston with one good ring pinches it or it breaks then that will likely be it for that cylinder having enough compression to run.

I'm coming up on around 10K miles on my inframe rebuild. We've talked in person about that before. I'll send you a PM.
 
I don't think your luck could be any worse, I'm in disbelief. Dang. Honestly I'm scared to drive my cruiser at times, because if something were to happen to it, it'd end up parked for a while waiting for me to get the time and money to make it right again, it sounds like you're in that boat. I'm sure it's tempting to blow it up at this point, but this was a great (yet slow) era for engines, mechanical diesels are the bees knees, and basically not being made anymore, someone is going to be really glad for any part that can be salvaged, either now, or 40 years down the road. Heck I'd be interested in spares if I wasn't so far away. On the up side, you're pretty blessed to dive into this at your age. I had some fun with my old Jeep around then, but certainly didn't drive it as far as you've taken this! Plus to have a big friend group to share the fun, I could almost say I have that but it's really hard to get everyone together at once. Anyways you have MANY miles left to go in your troopy, in the grand scheme of things, you're just getting started! But it's going to take some patience in the short term unfortunately.
 
I offered my 87 Suzuki samurai for the clown car effect!

View attachment 3057989
Love these samurais!!! I have been trying to convince my fiancé we need a samurai for years haha. Also I know this is out of the ball park @theglobb and I am so sorry to hear about your 3b again! but somthing like a converted camper school bus or somthing like that would be really cool for a trip out west. But long live the troopy! Safe travels on your trip if you do end up going!
 
The compression numbers in a previous post are really low. Is that your problem? To repeat what someone told me before I did a in-frame rebuild on my 3B: Overheating can cause broken rings on a tight engine built with minimal ring gap because there is no room for the rings to keep expanding when the ends are butted against each other.

Your engine will run with broken rings but it will have lower compression and you will begin to hear some ticking/Piston slap as the rings aren't doing the job as well. If you have at least 1 good ring it will still run, but if that piston with one good ring pinches it or it breaks then that will likely be it for that cylinder having enough compression to run.

I'm coming up on around 10K miles on my inframe rebuild. We've talked in person about that before. I'll send you a PM.
Something is up with the compression.
#1 and #2 were 450 and 425 respectively before the engine came out of the silver Troopy.
(My gauge broke before I could do #3 & #4)
 
Something is up with the compression.
#1 and #2 were 450 and 425 respectively before the engine came out of the silver Troopy.
(My gauge broke before I could do #3 & #4)

If thats the case, then most likely a head gasket or loosened head all the way. I "almost" find it impossible that it went from over 400psi to barely 320ish.

Now it's either some serious gauge discrepancies or the gasket let loose.

@theglobb do you have another gauge to try?



Either way, a mechanical knocking is a bad sign.
 
Swallowing a cracked exhaust seat after overheat will cause knocking and damage a piston maybe or maybe not beyond repair. Bits of steel will embed in the aluminum piston. In my case it didn't damage bore, rod, or crank. broken rings causing piston slap is more of a "tick" than a "knock". lots of smoke from the oil fill is sign of overheat...........on my 3BII a repaired freeze(by previous owner) plug blew along with all the water from the engine at 60mph on the highway. Water went away from the temp probe and I never saw the guage go up, and I was monitoring it.................I think when J. pulls his head the problem will reveal.
 
Sorry for no response… lots I had to do in the past 2 days. Nonstop work on the sequoia: new rotors/pads, coolant flush, double down on all the bolts in the new suspension, and that HORRIBLE starter. Man that starter is in such an inconvenient spot being under the intake manifold, got it done tho. Greased everything I could grease, seafoamed it, heavy dose of injector cleaner. Running like a champ.

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Been on the road for 2 hours now. Plan to be in Montana in 4-5 days. If anyone still wants to meet up feel free to!! Just won’t have a cool troopy with us

Time for that Corolla or Prius.
Yup… really have no clue what’s next. The market is horrible to buy anything in at the moment.
Note that the 3B in the LWB BJ45 and BJ75 is a very European spec (probably for tax reasons on big engines in some European countries), rest of the world mostly had the 2H with the HJ47 and HJ75 for LWB.
(Everyone had the 3B in SWB and MWB)


I'll give 1 example to give some hope in the capability of the 3B with a turbo to survive.
View attachment 3057436
This BJ45 with a popup roof and outfitted for travel is not on the light side and has 460kkm on the clock. The owner travelled dozen of times to Africa, Eastern Europe, Siberia, Mongolia... All these destinations start by a lot of freeway to go there.
Seen it in person multiple times, still running perfectly fine.
This cruiser is awesome… like @gilmorneau said about the 3B’s, it’s probably been fully redone at some point or very greatly maintained before the turbo was eventually added. Still, I think all of this is a sign to not put a 3B back in. Doesn’t belong in a troop carrier in America.
And if you make it to Boulder, I'll have 1HZ and 1HD-FT powered Landcruisers for you to check out. You know, for research purposes.
If you still can make it up here, I'll see if you can meet/check out that 4BD1T 60 series.
Was pushing hard to stop in/around boulder before, now we DEFINITELY are no matter what. Thank you both

The guy who owned it between me and @theglobb decided or was convinced that the head needed to be pulled to check for cracks or something, which, lo and behold, they found when they pulled the head. My argument at the time was that you'd be lucky to find a 3B head that's not cracked, and many run reliably like that for years unbeknownst to their owners. If the compression is good, why open a can of worms? But open it they did, and drama ensued re: a replacement head, the relative quality of Chinese parts, correct valve sizes for different versions of 3B, and more. Glad I wasn't part of all that, but I was kept abreast of the situation by both parties (owner and mechanic). I don't know whether they ended up with a Chinese head, or how they solved the valve size dilemma.
Yea… the PO of the troopy between @gilmorneau and I is a great person with a great family, he’s who we are staying with in Montana for a week actually. Wish he wouldn’t have ever opened that can of worms, especially with the shop that I have now continued to find shoddy work done to my troopy with… can’t complain cause I still have a troopy, just wish it was never opened up in the first place. Would much rather I have done the work if it was even ever needed.

Here’s an email from that reputable shop who did the work detailing what was done to my old engine (and those “rebuilt” injectors are mentioned too)
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After testing for compression leaks, and finding combustion gases in the coolant. I scheduled
Time to do a head gasket. I ordered parts for the head gasket (no kit available). I removed the head and found the head cracked between the valves. At this time I contacted Jamie, and I was told to take in the head, and the injectors. The machine shop found the head to be cracked more than just between the valves, as one exhaust valve seat had a crack under it. Options were discussed. And it was decided that a new Chinese head would be bought and this would then be installed after the valves were switched over. Thus to get the Cruiser running to allow Jamie to drive it for a bit.

The first Chinese head was a bit off on the exhaust valve seat,(approx .050 diameter smaller) being the wrong size. I communicated with the supplier. They sent a different cylinder which turned out to be a 3BII head. So wrong in a different way. I then tried to get exhaust valves for the seats in the head, that did not pan out. I then read where some machines shops were sizing the old head valves down to fit the new head. This was discussed with Mountain High and found to be a viable solution to this. Mountain High’s billing reflects cleaning and testing the old head, both magnaflux, and pressure testing. Finding the cracks go under the valve seats and were deemed to be not fixable.

It was also found that the rocker intake arms need to be shimmed over about .090”. Mountain High provided shims for me to move the arms.

It was recommended to me to install the head with the old gasket, and snug up the head bolts. Then install the valve push tubes, the rocker arms then roll over the engine and check to see that the rods do not hit the block due to the angles. So, I pulled the head off and then drill out the tubes an extra 1mm. The difference between this head and the old head in these holes was 2mm.


After this was done, I then installed the cylinder head on the block (after cleaning the block and the pistons, and cylinder walls of carbon). I put on the intake and exhaust manifolds. Installed the injectors, the return tubes and injection HP lines, the glow plugs, bus bar, and all the bits needed. I installed a new thermostat and cleaned up the old housing.

I had previously adjusted the valves cold, I started the engine, warmed it up, adjusted the valves again. Put on the air filter and housing. I drove it around.
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There’s that to read if anyone cares



We are on the road. Sad it’s not in the troopy but the vehicle itself was only about 25% of the “fun” of the trip. This will still be amazing, and a pretty great end to what has been a pretty depressing and financially ruining summer. Will update the thread with pics whenever I got time as I think this thread is more than just the Red Rocket now. Thanks for everyone’s continued support

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'Sad it’s not in the troopy but the vehicle itself was only about 25% of the “fun” of the trip'

Good attitude to have! Yes, it is epic to do these trips in something kewl like the troopy, or any land cruiser for that matter. But that is a small part when compared to the things you will see and do with your friends and the memories you will make for a lifetime.

I pray the REST of your trip is without incident, and you guys have a blast. I look forward to the captions, videos, and general mayhem you fellers get up to, lol!! :clap: :cheers:
 

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