Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy

[Redline70]

I love Yoshi. I’ve spent the last two months sourcing parts for my 70, and Yoshi by far has had the best communication, best website platform, fastest shipping time, best parts availability, vs amayama and megazip.

Probably not news to most, but the quoted pricing across sites I’ve found to be unreliable. Between parts availability issues, and shipping costs, it can be very difficult to compare. I will be making yoshi my first stop from now on.

They are based in Thailand, but source and ship from Japan.

And just finished your thread and saw the disappointment and then the massive win. My personal experience only, Yoshi has come through on a couple parts that every other vendor said were NLA, but it may be hit or miss depending on the part.

 

[theglobb]

well... that was a pain, and not even cause of the lack of any windows/windshield!



I did make it home last night but pretty dang late so I just fell asleep with no update. My brakes fully went out about 1/3 of the way into the trip. The SOFT clutch hose wore through the HARD brake line, I previously had rags and zipties (real professional I know) between the two, preventing them from rubbing. I failed to check if those were still in place during my pre flight checklist with the Red Rocket and paid the price for being negligent. I cut the line and tried to plug the pressure with the vicegrip at the end of it but it would still piss out a pinhole stream of fluid, so I pulled out the mig welder I had in the Red Rocket and welded it up, then vice gripped it shut. Even then... my brakes wouldn't build pressure even though it wasn't leaking from the cut line anymore... there are 2 lines going to the rear, I'm pretty sure the LSPV had something to do with the weird lack of pressure being built so I took the brake fitting that was on the line and welded it into a nut to hold pressure for the other line going to the rear. That worked!


kinda hard to tell what you're looking at but there's my welded up plug!

Y'all like my welding setup?? Shoutout to Orileys Autoparts for letting me steal some power from them. I broke down in the middle of the ghetto, so throughout the entire time (like 1-2 hours) I was trying to fix my brakes I kept having some sketchy fellows approach and ask what I'm doing, eye me up real good, check out all of my stuff, and then go on their way. I'm pretty sure they didn't wanna mess with the disgusting white dude in the hood who was welding his car with no windows back together in a random parking lot

I was back on the road with front brakes, all was well for another 140 miles or so, then I lost all of my brakes again... NOW WHAT????

Well I limped it on the side of the road to a gas station and started to diagnose. It would build barely any pressure and then leak away. Tried to bleed it on my own but it just wouldn't build any pressure. Paid a homeless dude $10 to pump the brakes for me while I tried to bleed them and still to no avail. There was a very loud whooshing noise coming right from the master cylinder that wasn't there before. I'm assuming it gave up the ghost (lucky me). Called a tow truck and made it back to Boone around 11:30pm, it broke down only about 35 miles away from my house so I'll count this as a partial success! The troopy is infact, in Boone, under my temu carport, waiting to be cut apart even more now.

I got more working room than I had thought in here!

So yea, the no windshield thing for 300 miles seems like an absolute walk in the park compared to the brake nightmare I had to deal with.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

bets on if the roof just rips off at highway speed?

the A pillars were shaking quite a bit! side to side, I was actually getting pretty concerned haha

that helmet is totally mad max looking. You need about 6 feet of chain to rap diagonal across your shoulder when you drive the troopy like that.

I've really liked the 2 most recent movies they have put out. The cars they design for those films is absolutely nuts! I'm hoping one day to get a really really REALLY crappy Mercedes 300D that's all rotted away and make it into some crazy Mad Max machine. Hoodstack exhaust, tractor flap, no doors, 27"ATV mud terrain tires, etc etc

 

[bj70bc]

nice
the landcruiser gods smile down upon you

 

[theglobb]

nice
the landcruiser gods smile down upon you

debatable this Landcruiser is now 20% 1970s American school locker and 25% Isuzu NPR. At least it still has the stock axles and transmission/tcase. It has certainly been well loved, that cannot be denied

 

[Broski]

Always an adventure glad you made it safely!!

 

[Felde]

Good lord. What a journey. Glad you made it home safely.
When reading the story, this came to my mind:

Cheers Ralf

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I had a brake line blow in the rear of my fj80 on the way back from taking the praxis in Greenville NC. I crawled under and wacked the line to the rear with a ball pin hammer I kept in the tool kit and crimped the line. I had a little front brakes if I pumped it and Zero rears. Then I used the Ebrake most of the way home and getting on the ferry. Getting on the ferry was the worst part and the fact that I drove like 100 miles going 35 or 40.

 

[onemanarmy]

should have taken the rear door glass out too for flow through air.....and for stellar MPGs!

 

[theglobb]

My parts have arrived from Pakistan! a-pillars and the firewall/cowling area are now in my hands. It'll be a while before I go to install these and start cutting apart the front end of the troopy, I'm gonna try and get the rest of the body totally ironed out and finished before I tackle the windshield frame area. Mostly I'll just be redoing work that I'm not happy with looking back at it now, the welder I was using was broken without me knowing, leading to some pretty horrible welds and some pretty great ones, it was totally hit or miss. I'll remake some rocker panels, wheel wells, areas for the rear floor, etc etc.

I woke up this morning with some sort of very un-enjoyable sickness, I was throwing up and have just been extremely weak throughout the day. Well, I'm not going into work for the rest of the week as to not get my coworkers sick, kinda a shame though because I have little strength to get much work done on the troopy. I did grind down the welds from the new roof skin I put on last June and organized my work area.

would anyone with a 70 series be willing to grab a quick measurement of how far their factory driprails measure out to? My handmade ones come out to 1/2 an inch just trying to see if I'm somewhat close to original

If you have any kind of an air compressor go out and buy one of those cheap spot sandblasters at harbour freight. They are slow and messy but do a good job of getting rid of rust in areas you are going to weld an also will uncover what lays beneath all the bondo ( including where the layers are spot welded together).

Thanks again for the recommendation, I figured I couldn't go wrong for only $35.

I love Yoshi. I’ve spent the last two months sourcing parts for my 70, and Yoshi by far has had the best communication, best website platform, fastest shipping time, best parts availability, vs amayama and megazip.

Probably not news to most, but the quoted pricing across sites I’ve found to be unreliable. Between parts availability issues, and shipping costs, it can be very difficult to compare. I will be making yoshi my first stop from now on.

They are based in Thailand, but source and ship from Japan.

I honestly really like their layout and interactive parts diagrams, the best I've seen on any website out there for sure. What I didn't like was the fact they always have their 30% OFF SALE ENDING TONIGHT!!! going on all the time, that fooled me. And they raised the shipping price from $400 to $2000 after saying they could only ship 1/3 of the original parts I had ordered. Regardless they sent me a refund! No issues, no drama. I actually just used their website diagrams to find part numbers, then put them in Partsouq to actually buy

Good lord. What a journey. Glad you made it home safely.
When reading the story, this came to my mind:

Cheers Ralf

It's always an experience when I'm driving this thing haha, what a great welcome back it gave me after sitting for 9 months. Thanks for sharing the vid

I had a brake line blow in the rear of my fj80 on the way back from taking the praxis in Greenville NC. I crawled under and wacked the line to the rear with a ball pin hammer I kept in the tool kit and crimped the line. I had a little front brakes if I pumped it and Zero rears. Then I used the Ebrake most of the way home and getting on the ferry. Getting on the ferry was the worst part and the fact that I drove like 100 miles going 35 or 40.

The best feeling is when you're able to pull off something successfully that you should have most definitely NOT even tried to attempt in the first place my handbrake has seized after sitting for 9 months, guess I'll have to get a new cable

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

I love Yoshi. I’ve spent the last two months sourcing parts for my 70, and Yoshi by far has had the best communication, best website platform, fastest shipping time, best parts availability, vs amayama and megazip.

Probably not news to most, but the quoted pricing across sites I’ve found to be unreliable. Between parts availability issues, and shipping costs, it can be very difficult to compare. I will be making yoshi my first stop from now on.

They are based in Thailand, but source and ship from Japan.

Their site is great indeed!
Not sure they offer the best prices though.

 

[jblueridge]

I use Black Diamond coal slag abrasive from Tractor Supply in my blaster.
When it flies all over the yard, the black blends in pretty well with soil and gravel.
Get the fine grain.

 

[theglobb]

Diving in deep. Waiting for rust converter, cavity wax, and some fancy rust encapsulator paint to arrive in the mail before I go too crazy. Lots of cutting stuff out and making panels so when that stuff does show up, I can just get right to painting and then welding.

Went ahead and welded this since I can access everything from the inside.

Bottom of the rocker was all rotted, have the part cut out ready to weld in whenever I get the inside sealed

and cleaned the floor up well to find any and all rust. Will be cutting into the floor to the crossmemebrs that you cant see or access to clean them out, convert, and paint them, then I'll weld them back, drill a small hole in and fill it with cavity wax.

I'm still sick with whatever I have contracted, all of this today has me WORE out. Its the first time its been sunny and warm here in months, feels like such a shame to waste these beautiful days while I cant be at work

I use Black Diamond coal slag abrasive from Tractor Supply in my blaster.
When it flies all over the yard, the black blends in pretty well with soil and gravel.
Get the fine grain.

I bought some 2 days ago, not the fine grain... learned my lesson. Went back and got the fine grain stuff, works great! Thanks for the recommendation

 

[robmobile73]

Diving in deep. Waiting for rust converter, cavity wax, and some fancy rust encapsulator paint to arrive in the mail before I go too crazy. Lots of cutting stuff out and making panels so when that stuff does show up, I can just get right to painting and then welding.

Went ahead and welded this since I can access everything from the inside.
View attachment 3860158View attachment 3860157

Bottom of the rocker was all rotted, have the part cut out ready to weld in whenever I get the inside sealed
View attachment 3860159

and cleaned the floor up well to find any and all rust. Will be cutting into the floor to the crossmemebrs that you cant see or access to clean them out, convert, and paint them, then I'll weld them back, drill a small hole in and fill it with cavity wax.
View attachment 3860156

I'm still sick with whatever I have contracted, all of this today has me WORE out. Its the first time its been sunny and warm here in months, feels like such a shame to waste these beautiful days while I cant be at work


I bought some 2 days ago, not the fine grain... learned my lesson. Went back and got the fine grain stuff, works great! Thanks for the recommendation

Glad you're moving forward again. ....On the sandblasting only thing I've ever used is sand. Which if you're short on cash you can go to a local playground and get a small bucket from the sandbox. Biggest problem with a dirt cheap sandblast setup is the sand getting damp from moisture in the air and clogging. Dump your air tank very often if you don't have a good water seperator. ...I'm actually curious how much better blast media is for simple rust removal. gray closed cell foam 3/8-1/2" "fatique mat is a very good and not expensive sound deadening material for your floor. They sell it at lowes or home depot in the carpet area. It is used for mats on concrete floors in work areas so workers that stand all day have some relief from standing on a concrete floor. You can use the "vinyl upholstery spray paint" to color it to the desired color..............before you weld your windshield frame together you might try bolting it in the LC in pieces and then tacking it in proper pos., before welding it complete so it doesn't warp/shrink/deform enough to become difficult to bolt in........I had a similar LC brake loss experience when I was 20 at Clemson in my FJ40. You are a much more competent mechanic/fabricator than I was at that time. .....My 72' FJ 40 was from Folly beach and flooded with salt water during hurricane Hugo. My wheel cylinders kept getting frozen with rust so I had to clean them which required removing the rubber boots and cleaning them. rubber boots fell apart(brittle), Which then caused them to freeze up more often. One was so frozen I drilled a hole through the wheel cylinder in order to drive out the piston with a steel bolt and hammer. I then put the bolt in the drilled out hole with RTV to seal the cylinder again.........some weeks later I drove up into the mountains exploring some 2 hours from Clemson when it blew and my brakes went out completely........I drove it home turning the 2 hour trip into 5 utilizing low range downshifting and the Emergency brake..........YOU welding it up behind the parts store is above and beyond your years. Outstanding effort.!
Good luck-R.

 

[AirheadNut]

Be very, very careful using sand (I wouldn't recommend it at all). Sandblasting with actual sand creates extremely fine silica dust, which stays suspended in the air for a long time and is quite a health hazard if inhaled. Regardless, make sure you use a respirator while media blasting, and you'll probably find that a face shield and safety glasses are really nice to have too.

 

[Broski]

Which if you're short on cash you can go to a local playground and get a small bucket from the sandbox.

Wow I can’t believe you’re actually suggesting taking sand from children.
It’s dirt/sand cheep.
This is the Land Cruiser community we don’t do that

 

[robmobile73]

Wow I can’t believe you’re actually suggesting taking sand from children.
It’s dirt/sand cheep.
This is the Land Cruiser community we don’t do that

You are off base and incorrect in your assumptions.

 

[Felde]

Waiting for rust converter, cavity wax, and some fancy rust encapsulator paint to arrive in the mail before I go too crazy. [...】I can just get right to painting and then welding.

Be very careful i.p. with the cavity wax.
Wax and welding is literally an explosive mixture. (Nobody knows better than you what that looks and feels like)
Remember that wax will melt and flow by induced heat from welding. It might suddenly show up in unexpected places.
Have a water hose and foam (!) fire extinguisher at hand at all times (don't use a powder extinguisher. Powder totals vehicles)
Also wax is very problematic when it comes to painting the rig.
Needless to say that creeping liquids like FluidFilm are even worse.
I strongly recommend to apply any wax / oil only after you are done with the bodywork.
Good Luck Ralf

 

[jblueridge]

The Black Diamond abrasive stuff is not a health hazard. Another reason to use it.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Diving in deep. Waiting for rust converter, cavity wax, and some fancy rust encapsulator paint to arrive in the mail before I go too crazy. Lots of cutting stuff out and making panels so when that stuff does show up, I can just get right to painting and then welding.

Went ahead and welded this since I can access everything from the inside.
View attachment 3860158View attachment 3860157

Bottom of the rocker was all rotted, have the part cut out ready to weld in whenever I get the inside sealed
View attachment 3860159

and cleaned the floor up well to find any and all rust. Will be cutting into the floor to the crossmemebrs that you cant see or access to clean them out, convert, and paint them, then I'll weld them back, drill a small hole in and fill it with cavity wax.
View attachment 3860156

I'm still sick with whatever I have contracted, all of this today has me WORE out. Its the first time its been sunny and warm here in months, feels like such a shame to waste these beautiful days while I cant be at work


I bought some 2 days ago, not the fine grain... learned my lesson. Went back and got the fine grain stuff, works great! Thanks for the recommendation

post the rust converter and cavity wax you use! I am glad to see you back to tackling this. getting all the swiss cheese out of the troopy! I am going to do my drivers rocker soon once I get some warmer too. what size welding wire are you using out of curiosity. .023 I am pretty sure is what I used on the salt wagon.

 

[jblueridge]

If you don't have an air compressor, this is a good kit.
cavity wax