Builds The White Whale - '97 FZJ80 build

[riffman12]

I'll use this thread to document my slow build. My plan is to build an overland rig that I can still drive daily. Nothing too crazy but I want it baselined and capable while still being comfortable enough to get to work.

Some of you may have seen my thread when I first bought the FZJ. 155k miles. Solid maintenance records. No lockers but really clean interior and overall in great shape:

 

[riffman12]

First things first I did some maintenance:

- New Thermostat and coolant flush
- New heater valve
- PHH long hose
- Oil / filter Change
- new plugs and wires
- distributor cap
- tightened the front wheel bearings


Then I got to tackling my factory roof rack removal:

All so I could mount my new-to-me Baja Expedition Rack. Bought it used for a really good price. It just a little surface rust so I'll be getting it powder coated soon:

 

[riffman12]

Then the nice Fed Ex man dropped these on my front porch. New Falken Wildpeak AT3W 285/75/16:

I'm having them mounted to the wheels you also see in the picture. Having them powder coated beforehand. Pics to come


Next weekend I'll be spending the afternoon in the garage with a orbital buffer, a clay bar, some compound, polish, and paint sealer. If you've noticed, my single stage white paint looks like old lawn furniture. It also absorbs the grease from my hands. Hoping i can get some shine back!

Stay tuned as I try and clean this thing up a bit.

 

[riffman12]

it's been a long week! After getting the new wheels powder coated and the new tires on, I had to do a full detail. My paint has been in decent shape since I got the truck, but it was totally flat and rough to the touch. It almost felt like a chalk board. If my hands were grimy, the paint would eat the dirt and it would be impossible to get off. Absolutely no paint protection.

After about 6 hours with a clay bar, an orbital buffer, polishing compound, finishing polish, and wax: this was the result:

I should have taken more pictures during the process, but the results were night and day. My paint is shiny, and glossy to the touch like it's supposed to be! It also has a nice thick coat of sealant to protect fro whatever I throw at it. If you have a white FZJ80 with single stage paint and your shine has long gone, then this is a must! I'm happy to put up details of the products I used if anyone is interested.

After the detail, I obviously had to go and get the cruiser dirty, so a buddy and I headed to Knoxville OHV between Lake Beryessa and Clear Lake. Perfect time of year to go. Still lush and green with tons of wildflowers. Highly recommended if you're near the SF Bay Area:

I was VERY impressed with these new Falkens. Great road manners but they bite great in the California rock/dirt. They're load E so I run them at 42 psi. Aired down to 25 they are very pliable. And still really aggressive looking. For $600 + mounting, I am very happy:

 

[riffman12]

Finally got my tent mounted: Tepui Kukenam Ruggedized. Can't wait to test it out this weekend!

Since the brackets aren't long enough to span 2 of the slats on my Baja rack, I had to do this for the front brackets temporarily which I'm not thrilled about, but it seems to be holding fine after 3 freeway journeys:

The rear brackets I have around the thick bar:

Plan is to get some longer brackets made so I can have them straddle two of the skinny bars and not bend so much. Any other ideas?

 

[ThomasMore66]

Looks good. Neither of mine came with lockers and now I've got Harrop e-lockers with the stock switch and lights in both. I actually think they're a better tool than the Toyota lockers.

 

[wardharris]

Looks good. Neither of mine came with lockers and now I've got Harrop e-lockers with the stock switch and lights in both. I actually think they're a better tool than the Toyota lockers.

Agreed.

• OEM Toyota "elocker" is actuated in the housing with a shift fork that is moved by a geared electrical motor mounted to the exterior of the diff/axle housing. There are a bunch of parts, mechanical and electrical subject to maintenance and repair, including an ECU and motor to operate the rod/fork. They don't like water, tree limbs or large rocks. There are remanufactured motors and also kits to convert to cable actuation. I guess they wouldn't be "elockers" anymore.
• The Harrop/Eaton provides electric actuation via a ring magnet inside the housing. Very simple, not much to go wrong.

Yes, I am biased; yes, we distribute/sell Harrops. Just some observations....

And a video of the ring magnet in operation.

 

[RFB]

Finally got my tent mounted: Tepui Kukenam Ruggedized. Can't wait to test it out this weekend!

Since the brackets aren't long enough to span 2 of the slats on my Baja rack, I had to do this for the front brackets temporarily which I'm not thrilled about, but it seems to be holding fine after 3 freeway journeys:

The rear brackets I have around the thick bar:

Plan is to get some longer brackets made so I can have them straddle two of the skinny bars and not bend so much. Any other ideas?

I would def try and span two smaller bars with a longer piece. JMO and I clearly commented b4 reading your plans, lol

 

[riffman12]

First trip for the White Whale was a success!...for the most part. My gf and I went up to Prewitt Ridge in the Big Sur Area of central California. Highway 1 is closed in the area from a massive slide you you have to come from the East. Awesome trip for anyone who wants an easy trail to some incredible dispersed camping.

Only hiccup (you may have seen my other thread) was that my temp gauge started to creep up on some of the slow, steep hills in high range gearing. Went back to normal after pulling over and switching to 4-Lo. Ordered a new blue fan clutch so should be sorted out soon. Onto the pics.

This is what most of the trail looks like. Pretty well-maintained fire roads:

The views on the way up are stunning:

Some poser pics of the rig:

Our campsite on a high ridge overlooking the Pacific:

And on the way down we stopped at the Mission San Antonio which is really pretty:

 

[riffman12]

This weekend we got a chance to drive up to Usal Beach / Lost Coast. The Usal Road trailhead is about an hour north of Fort Bragg on Highway 1. Then another hour or so on dirt roads to the beach. My all time favorite camping spot so far, and the views on the way there are incredible. Some pics:

driving down toward the beach:

This is what most of the dirt road is like. Well-maintained this time of year. A couple of little muddy spots and steep climbs, but not difficult by any means. Anything with decent ground clearance and low range gearing will cruise through with ease:

We set up camp right on the beach. Someone before us had built a primitive camp site with a walled fire ring to protect from the wind:

We even made some friends:

 

[riffman12]

Highly recommended to anyone looking to escape the bay area madness. The scenery alone is worth it:

 

[riffman12]

Not a whole lot has changed on the Whale, mainly been doing some maintenance and sorting out some issues. Recent work done:

- Had the PHH changed as well as a new Toyota thermostat put in
- Flushed the whole cooling system
- New Aisin blue hub fan clutch with 15k cst fluid
- Flushed and bled the brakes
- snugged up my front wheel bearings
- replaced all fluids - 3x differentials, ATF, engine oil
- replaced leaking distributor o ring
- new Charcoal canister
- flushed the heater core with CLR


Remaining issues to address:

- still getting pretty hot coolant temps on long climbs. Heading up to Donner Summit on Highway 80, my torque app was showing 221 degrees at the end of some of the steep sections. I've spoken to many folks who can do that whole climb under 200 degrees. I've done the fan clutch, thermostat, and flushed the system. All that's really left is changing the radiator I guess?

- front engine oil leak, most likely from the crank seal / oil pump area. Will get around to it at some point

- Although I have service records to show a Rear Main Seal fix about 20k miles ago, I'm still getting a lot of oil under the bellhousing. In fact, it seems to be coming from the little square inspection plate on the bellhousing. Quite frustrating as I don't want to pull the motor

- my drivers seat won't move forward or back, need to order new gear and cap.

- passenger's seat is completely dead. No sign of movement anywhere. Not sure what's causing that.

- Rear suspension sagging BADLY under load. You'll see in the pics. Debating between buying an OME stock height setup, or waiting and saving for a 2.5"


Recent pics in next post

 

[riffman12]

Slick Rock trail:

 

[riffman12]

Corral Hollow:

 

[baldilocks]

At 279k my crank seals don’t leak. I’m pretty sure you will find that the leak is from the oil pan arch area.

I see well over 200 degrees (210-214) going over Donner summit during warmer months. Don’t sweat it as long as the temps recover quickly after the climbing is done.

I have a new HG, O2 sensors and complete cooling system flush and over haul including upgraded fan clutch, radiator, oem thermostat, pump, hoses, etc. and she runs like a dream. This leads me to believe many Mud members who claim their temp gauge never see’s 200 are full of poppycock. I installed a digital temp gauge in my water outlet pipe because I want to know exactly what is happening but after a good deal of experience driving mountains and high elevation I’ve concluded that Toyota set up the AC to automatically shut off at 226 degrees for a good reason: because that’s when water temp begins to matter. If you read too much of what’s been written about water temps here on Mud, you will go insane trying to keep yours below 190.

 

[Shoredreamer]

Yo Mike, this is Chris. The guy you bought the Baja Rack from. Truck is looking good! I saw you had the Tepui brackets mounted kinda funky. Did you fix that yet? I mounted mine with both bolts passing between one gap and the bottom metal plate would tighten across 2 of the skinny rack bars. That kept it plenty solid. You can see it in the background here.

As far as cooling goes, good news is summer is over haha. There are so many factors with an engine cooling system it's really hard to compare numbers unless you're driving together with a few other 80s in tow. I rebuilt my black hub Aisin clutch with 10k and replaced the OG brass rad recently and I'm actually thinking the truck is running too cool! Best thing to do is have a true temp monitor in place and get in there and ensure the system is working properly, which is what you're doing. keeping my rpm's high (above 2000) while climbing have given me the best results to prevent heat soak. a bogged down engine gets hot really fast. (Imagine a guy riding a beach cruiser up a steep road.) Low rpms, and your water pump is not spinning as fast either. You wanna move that coolant thru the system fast!

If leaks aren't hitting the ground, I wouldn't stress over it. We all have the same leaks, I run Mobile 1 10w-30 high mileage and it reduced my seeping vs standard 5w-30.

Cheers!

 

[riffman12]

At 279k my crank seals don’t leak. I’m pretty sure you will find that the leak is from the oil pan arch area.

I see well over 200 degrees (210-214) going over Donner summit during warmer months. Don’t sweat it as long as the temps recover quickly after the climbing is done.

I have a new HG, O2 sensors and complete cooling system flush and over haul including upgraded fan clutch, radiator, oem thermostat, pump, hoses, etc. and she runs like a dream. This leads me to believe many Mud members who claim their temp gauge never see’s 200 are full of poppycock. I installed a digital temp gauge in my water outlet pipe because I want to know exactly what is happening but after a good deal of experience driving mountains and high elevation I’ve concluded that Toyota set up the AC to automatically shut off at 226 degrees for a good reason: because that’s when water temp begins to matter. If you read too much of what’s been written about water temps here on Mud, you will go insane trying to keep yours below 190.

That's refreshing to hear!

However you get 210-214, and mine seems to get to 220 up to Donner summit pretty quick unless i really baby it. I just can't help thinking that Toyota designed these things to be able to cruiser up any hills without fear of overheating.

Yo Mike, this is Chris. The guy you bought the Baja Rack from. Truck is looking good! I saw you had the Tepui brackets mounted kinda funky. Did you fix that yet? I mounted mine with both bolts passing between one gap and the bottom metal plate would tighten across 2 of the skinny rack bars. That kept it plenty solid. You can see it in the background here.

As far as cooling goes, good news is summer is over haha. There are so many factors with an engine cooling system it's really hard to compare numbers unless you're driving together with a few other 80s in tow. I rebuilt my black hub Aisin clutch with 10k and replaced the OG brass rad recently and I'm actually thinking the truck is running too cool! Best thing to do is have a true temp monitor in place and get in there and ensure the system is working properly, which is what you're doing. keeping my rpm's high (above 2000) while climbing have given me the best results to prevent heat soak. a bogged down engine gets hot really fast. (Imagine a guy riding a beach cruiser up a steep road.) Low rpms, and your water pump is not spinning as fast either. You wanna move that coolant thru the system fast!

If leaks aren't hitting the ground, I wouldn't stress over it. We all have the same leaks, I run Mobile 1 10w-30 high mileage and it reduced my seeping vs standard 5w-30.

Cheers!

Hey man good to hear from you! Yes glad summer is over, and that I recently flushed my heater core enough to get good heat!

I ended up making some new brackets for the roof tent so that each bracket spanned 2 of the roof rack bars. I've had it like that for about 4k miles and it seems solid.

And yes I try not to fret too much over the coolant temps, just hard when you hear about peoples' head gaskets popping!

Last time I climbed up to Donner Summit I down shifted to 2nd to get the engine RPM up nice and high, but it didn't seem to make a bit of difference. Still got to about 121 at the top of the hill. It's hard to keep these things out of a high load engine situation because they're so damn slow!

 

[riffman12]

good day today! Got my oil analysis back from Blackstone.

This was after 5,000 miles on 5w-40 Shell Rotella t6 with the small Toyota oil filter. On this oil I had 2 off road trips and 2 climbs up to Donner pass (8,000ft) pushing the engine pretty hard. Added just shy of a full quart in the 5,000 miles.

Needless to say I'm happy with the results!

Oh and here's some stock flex from the weekend: