Builds Trapper50's Build Thread - 99 UZJ100 "Penny" (4 Viewers)

[Trapper50cal]

Well that went really well...didn't stop to take photos, I was busy trying to be helpful.

A HUGE SHOUT OUT to Steve Powers - my Cruiser mentor who I bought my first Cruiser from
in 2003 or so - an FJ55 named Montecore (Who just got sold again to a new person here on MUD
who's going to love on it. BobM had it for quite a few years IDK who it went to offhand)
Steve is here on Mud but not often @spcruiser I think is his handle. I could not get anywhere
near all of this done in a day without him manning the wrenches as well.

We got the T-Stat in after cleaning up the mating surfaces of the housing, then putting some dielectric
grease on the gasket to make sure it didn't pinch during install.

We got the new belt tensioner on after figuring out that we needed to take the pulley off the power
steering and move the alternator. Timing belt Covers #2 and #3 took a little finagling.

Idler pulley was super easy and new serpentine belt went on pretty smoothly.

Oil Change with Mobil 1 Synth and a small bottle of Marvel's Mystery Oil in the mix

New OEM Toyota coolant mixed to 50/50 with distilled water topped off.

We pulled a Heater T and it was not brittle and clearly newer than the car, they were in
great shape so we left well enough alone on that one rather than switching to metal
and breeze clamps. The OEMs had to be no more than 5 years old.

The toughest part, which I could only offer minimal assistance with, was getting the skid
plate back on. We had to elongate the holes for the mounting hardware with a dremel bit.
It will now come off and go back on easier in the future now. Bump-It Off Road...heavy
and super stout. It had to come off to drain the radiator but I think with the right diameter
tube the tap of the bottom of the petcock could be used w/o removing the skid and the
front skid has holes for filter and oil drain plug. The 2nd skid has a hole for TC drain.

Safe to say Penny is super happy with the PM.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Hey guys

I just wanted to post up that I found a '98-'99 100 Series hood (4P3 Metallic Desert Bronze) in the Classifieds
and have made arrangements to purchase it. My current hood has nearly 100% clear coat failure and about
20 hail dings. This new/used hood in the correct factory color has like 2% clear failure and NO hail dings so
it represents a major upgrade without the need to repaint. (Maybe just shore up the clear in a few places)

The major hurdle will be getting it from Helena, Montana to either Durango, CO or to Denver where @shellb
the PO of the truck has graciously offered to house it until I can find arrangements for the final leg down here
to Durango or go get it myself.

Here's a link to my Mudship thread in case anyone knows of folks traveling the route over the Holidays in a manner
that would facilitate moving something big like this hood.

MUDShip - UZJ100 Hood needs a ride - Helena, MT to Denver or Durango

Looking to get a 100 Series hood from Helena, MT to Denver or Durango, CO. I would be happy to pitch in $$ for gas. I'm hoping to find someone perhaps traveling for the Holidays or coming to Colorado for a ski trip, etc.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[trdcorolla]

Hey guys

I just wanted to post up that I found a '98-'99 100 Series hood (4P3 Metallic Desert Bronze) in the Classifieds
and have made arrangements to purchase it. My current hood has nearly 100% clear coat failure and about
20 hail dings. This new/used hood in the correct factory color has like 2% clear failure and NO hail dings so
it represents a major upgrade without the need to repaint. (Maybe just shore up the clear in a few places)

The major hurdle will be getting it from Helena, Montana to either Durango, CO or to Denver where @shellb
the PO of the truck has graciously offered to house it until I can find arrangements for the final leg down here
to Durango or go get it myself.

Here's a link to my Mudship thread in case anyone knows of folks traveling the route over the Holidays in a manner
that would facilitate moving something big like this hood.

MUDShip - UZJ100 Hood needs a ride - Helena, MT to Denver or Durango

Looking to get a 100 Series hood from Helena, MT to Denver or Durango, CO. I would be happy to pitch in $$ for gas. I'm hoping to find someone perhaps traveling for the Holidays or coming to Colorado for a ski trip, etc.

forum.ih8mud.com

@Riverrunner runs a auto transport company

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[Riverrunner]

Unfortunately, I only do rolling vehicles. Uship.com might be a good source for this. The focus should be on finding someone that has their own truck and can communicate directly. Someone with a box truck should be able to get it done.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Unfortunately, I only do rolling vehicles. Uship.com might be a good source for this. The focus should be on finding someone that has their own truck and can communicate directly. Someone with a box truck should be able to get it done.

Do you have a guesstimate of what something like that should quote out at (ballpark/$$)

 

[Riverrunner]

Do you have a guesstimate of what something like that should quote out at (ballpark/$$)

I have no idea of freight prices. I would think $500 maybe to Durango?

 

[Trapper50cal]

I have no idea of freight prices. I would think $500 maybe to Durango?

Jesus, that's twice what I paid for the hood so that's a non-starter.

Cheers, Thanks for the info and opinion. It is appreciated.

 

[Trapper50cal]

@plaidwagon seat back nets

Thanks Kyle! Great product and easy to install...
Once you get past the somewhat tense moments of taking off seat backs
with 25 year old plastic clips

 

[shellb]

Omg I love that! Those seats are so good and now even better. Wow!

 

[Trapper50cal]

So I feel like I hit the jackpot.

While mindlessly meandering around the classifieds, I noticed something in the background of FS thread for a part out 2UZFE engine...
A 4P3 Desert Bronze metallic hood. I reached out and was able to pick it up from the seller of the engine ( @3_puppies )

It travels its first leg of its journey today...from Helena, MT to Bozeman, MT. Thanks, Drew!
Shipping it traditionally would have been cost prohibitive so having an option
that involves rock star mud members helping out is the only way this would have made sense.

Obviously not perfect, but SO SO SO much better than the current hood which has 15-20 hail dents and almost NO clear coat left.

Question for you guys:

What's the white paint (used by the wreckers, I assume)? What's the best approach for removing it.
Obviously, the sticker is razor blade and Goo-Gone territory.

It's my game plan to arrest the clear damage on this one by sanding it back a bit then re-clearing it.
I'm not looking for perfect...some patina that won't get worse is fine by me. I'll probably do the same
for the top shoulders of the front fenders as well and a couple other areas.

I have enough paint, though, that I can fully repaint the mirrors and door handles.

A reminder shot of the current hood...

 

[Trapper50cal]

Wrecker Paint removal - Looks like maybe acetone or acetone/ATF 50/50 is the call on that?...so says some YT vids

 

[Trapper50cal]

@REZARF getting my hood from Helena to Bozeman

 

[GerLC100]

I'd guess the white paint goes off when polishing/ buffing. Likely a kind of sharpie?!

Or you just wet sand with 2000 grit and polish over afterwards

 

[Trapper50cal]

I'd guess the white paint goes off when polishing/ buffing. Likely a kind of sharpie?!

Or you just wet sand with 2000 grit and polish over afterwards

It looks to be fat tipped paint pen - I'll test the acetone on a small portion to see. I want to lift it up and off, as opposed to taking the risk of spreading it around...we'll see.

 

[Trapper50cal]

I got some assistance to replace the inner boot on the pass. CV axle...messy job.
Old one had a snakebite that was slinging a little grease.

Got some assistance to tighten and reset the preload on the driver side wheel bearings,
There was a little play in there due to the key of the star/lock washer shearing off and
the nuts backing off a bit.

Had the e-brake tightened up at the shoes of the rear drum/rotor. 5 click lockdown now

AND...

So long to the big, bulky, potentially rocket-propulsion-inducing air tank, regulators and hoses...hello cordless, high-pressure tire inflator.
A little "Merry Christmas to me" present.

 

[Trapper50cal]

So the first update is that my hood is with @bryson of Wasatch Cruisers in SLC but not for long thanks to @racerdave who was kind enough to offer to bring it down to Moab next weekend where I'll drive out to meet him from Durango to get it the last leg of the way. Quite a journey that reminds me a little bit of quests in medieval RPG games except way more cumbersome.

Thanks to @bub and all the guys with WC - Great Club you got there!

I've been anxious about the whole 2UZ-FE "plugs walking out on their own" narrative so I wanted to confirm they were good before Cruise Moab. I figured if the coils had to come out to check that, I may as well do plugs while I was in there. I got a set of Denso Iridium TT plugs and although all the plugs and coils were operational, I wanted to have a few back-up coils on hand in case some were visibly damaged. Good thing I did...the first four I pulled had cracks all the way down the length of the tube.

I'm so lucky that Brian @BCM was selling some used (50K miles) coils in classified, we struck a bargain for 6X of the coils and like a Gentleman & a Scholar, he sent 7X and just kept one as a spare. I wouldn't have been able to afford $50-$83 a pop for new ones so this little deal came at an opportune time.

Somewhat Ironically, the plugs were REALLY hard to get out...I had to GENTLY use a breaker bar on one of them and the rest fought me all the way out but the new ones went in pretty pain free. The old ones were NGKs so if what I read recently is accurate, they have a coating that fuses the threads a little but is meant to break free upon removal (again, If I'm remembering the discussion correctly) but the plugs would have been fine and certainly weren't backing out.

I still achieved what I wanted to do, it just turned out not as necessary as it could have been. Glad I had 7X back-up coils on hand, that's for sure.

I wanted to get this done before driving out to Moab to retrieve the new hood. It is a good opportunity to make sure everything is ship shape for taking the family out for Cruise Moab. A dry run to identify any hiccups while I'm on my own...

Only got the passenger side done before I ran out of light and gumption...those plugs took it out of me. Just a fat old man.

I get the feeling I'm going to regret doing the easy side first.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Okay, driver-side done.

I'm counting myself lucky that the plugs on the port side came out WAY easier...because those back two are a little hard to get a tool onto and if they had been as hard coming out as the passenger side, it would have been brutal.

No cracks in the coil tubes of the port side either, which is good. Means I have 3 good spares now.

Penny LOVED the new plugs, she's idling ALOT smoother now and the power is up noticeably.

Also noticed a PCV hose that had seen better days so we replaced that and I think that effected the idle as well.

Penny is purring like an expensive designer kitten now.

Thanks @BCM again for the smoking deal on the lightly used coils!

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Well done! You should be all set for a long time now.
Did you try using the OEM plug tool from the tool pouch? I have often wondered if it would more convenient than conventional plug sockets?

 

[Trapper50cal]

Well done! You should be all set for a long time now.
Did you try using the OEM plug tool from the tool pouch? I have often wondered if it would more convenient than conventional plug sockets?

No I didn't think of that...I had a plug specific 5/8ths so I used that in conjunction with a number of extensions and wobblers.
The easy side was way easier than the hard side, but even the hard side wasn't bad for the first two...it's just those back two
where the wire loom/bracket/hardlines and brake booster make it like playing "Operation"...

I needed a fair amount of torque/leverage on that passenger side. Combined with a right shoulder that needs replacing, it was
a bit of a contortionist's adventure.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Side note: While we working on the last of the plugs/coils, we found that the hose for the PCV valve on the driver-side valve cover was cracked and leaking at both ends. I feel like once we replaced that, the idle smoothed out AND my brakes stopped doing that thing I reported on earlier where I needed to pump once to get full effect on the pedal feel. That seems to have gone away so I THINK it was just a vacuum leak.