What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week?

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65swb45 said:
I see your dad in the support role. Good stuff.😊
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Yep! Everything I'm doing is stuff he taught me to do. I know that this project will be our last together and I'm really trying to savor it. He's still my hero and Alzheimers sucks.
 
msapers said:
Yep! Everything I'm doing is stuff he taught me to do. I know that this project will be our last together and I'm really trying to savor it. He's still my hero and Alzheimers sucks.
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Good on you. You just never know when something will inspire him to tell you a story that you never heard before, and you’ll go ‘Wow, that was cool.’

The Hudson’s Jewelers story that my dad told me (posted here) was one of the last he got to share. And one of the ones I hold dearest to my memory of him.
 
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@msapers personally I really enjoy your photos of this build but your YouTube video I can watch for hours. So I hope you are recording…
As my own options for this kind of stuff begins to fade it’s exciting to watch you guys wrenching away at this..don’t get me wrong, I did just change my entire suspension on my 40 but it took a few weeks 😂
 
Finished unwrapping my birthday gifts and got the fog lights mounted on the bumper. Tonight, I'll take it for a spin and get them set properly.
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I replaced my front window channel felt and all the chrome window trim following an excellent video and parts list from @greenEFSI - thank you for all the details! I had no idea how much noise my rattling windows were really making until I completed the install yesterday, absolute night and day difference. Interior rattles are probably down 90%, I was expecting maybe 50%. I’d highly recommend checking the play in your windows and doing this project if they’re fairly loose.

My only tip different from the video (and maybe I just interpreted this incorrectly) is to remove the lower channel felt with the window rolled up and still on the track, then remove the window from the track and drop down in the door to replace the upper window trim. For everything else I followed the video exactly and it was super helpful.

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GreaseMonkey said:
Huntsville, TX is getting a cold snap this week, so this morning between the cold, the choke, and the 4 year old Toyota TrueStart battery, I was dead in the water. Had to take the truck to work. But, as I am wont to do, the work computer instantly became a research vessel for my options to replace the battery. What I quickly discovered is that group 27/27R/27F AGM batteries are not available locally, and are expensive. My current Toyota TrueStart 27F battery has the poles reversed, which I like because on a '78 it keeps the negative cable away from my washer bottle. After much reading, I had to leave work, but here is what I jotted down on a sticky note:
Group 27
12.0625 L
6.8125 W
8.875 H
Group H7
12.4 L
6.9 W
7.5 H
Group 65
12.1 L
7.2 W
7.6 H

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So, observation of the battery hold down, the tray, and everything below it, has revealed to me that lead acid batteries "outgas" or leak, whatever, like crazy and eat up your metal stuff. My 74403-60050, aka the "12 inch battery tray" after 4 years looks like crud! So the goal now is to switch to an AGM Battery... but not spend a ton of money. Quick anecdote on AGM and why you want it: my 4 wheeler has a "PowerSport" battery, the ones you add the acid to after you buy it. Those things have always been good for maybe a year, and then you have to start putting the charger on them, and then within 8 months you are replacing them again. I put an AGM battery in there and now it cranks every time. I mean it is actually weird to me, to walk down to the shed and the wheel turns over, even if it has been sitting for 6 months. So now the diesel truck has 2 AGM batteries, and it is about time the 40 joined the club. So, the TrueStart came out, and let's clean stuff up. I made a baking soda solution to soak stuff in and measured the tray as thus:
12.25 L
7.0 W
7.5-8.5 H

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That's Fluid Film all in the bottom of the tray, it did not look so yellow in person. So, after everything was cleaned up, I test fit the battery... Note that 12.4 length, yeah that was kind of a problem. It was SO CLOSE. BUT, new batteries have this big lip around the bottom, because modern cars use that lip to lock the battery into the tray with a rubber block. So, for the 40, that lip can be CAREFULLY trimmed.

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Watch the center of your cutoff wheel and DO NOT get it into the body of the battery like I did. But it survived, thankfully. Just be careful, this is so close it does not take much, in fact I tried using a manual file first, but it takes a little more than that.

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The file was handy to cleanup afterwards. After this, I just made sure the tray and hold-down were clean and covered in Fluid Film, and then I installed the new battery. Oh, I kinda forgot the whole point: the H7 EverStart AGM battery is less than $200. And I have had good luck with this brand, they are all made by the same people.

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Things I like:
AGM
Price
My military battery terminals fit perfect into the sunken recess design.
After a bit of surgery, this is probably the biggest battery you are going to fit in that tray.
850 CCA.
Another option.
Things I don't like:
Having to cut on a new battery.
The battery is shorter meaning the hold down nuts have to be threaded WAY down.
The hold down angled corners do not touch due to the battery design, so the middle is all that is holding it.
Not Toyota (come on!).

So there you have it, I read many excellent write ups here on our forum about some of these options, but no one had touched the H7 yet, so thought I would share. The 65 might be a good one as well, but I wish the 27R AGM was more available and less expensive. Hope it helps someone. Have a great day!
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I did the same back in 2021 with an H7 AGM battery in my '79.

I pulled the battery from one of my other vehicles that was totaled and had to cut that lip off too.

It is the biggest battery to fit in the stock tray p/n 74403-60050

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Installed FJ Company 16" aluminum wheels and BFG KO3 235/85r16 . Coming from 33x10.5, these tires make it way easier to turn without power steering. They also ride a lot nicer than the KM2s they replaced.
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sleepycruiser said:
Anyone able to provide an estimated time for labor that a shop would take to replace the exhaust manifold gasket, swap out the carb and do a tuneup? Shop charges $150 an hour......
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3hrs? (also depends on what’s included in the “tune-up”)
 
Trigger6 said:
3hrs? (also depends on what’s included in the “tune-up”)
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They said 16 hours….lol. I was thinking 3 hours should be enough time. Swap out the manifold gasket, swap out the carb and dial it in, set timing/valves. I’m sure I am minimizing the amount of work that goes into it, but 16 hours sounds crazy.
 
sleepycruiser said:
They said 16 hours….lol. I was thinking 3 hours should be enough time. Swap out the manifold gasket, swap out the carb and dial it in, set timing/valves. I’m sure I am minimizing the amount of work that goes into it, but 16 hours sounds crazy.
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would add another hour (or so) to properly set the valves

the nice thing about the 2F is everything is so accessible.
 
sleepycruiser said:
They said 16 hours….lol. I was thinking 3 hours should be enough time. Swap out the manifold gasket, swap out the carb and dial it in, set timing/valves. I’m sure I am minimizing the amount of work that goes into it, but 16 hours sounds crazy.
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If you are still smogged, 3 hrs is insanely low to do that. So 1 hr for manifolds. 1 hr for carb remove and reinstall, tuning, 1 hr for plugs, wires and valve lash….
 
Jdc1 said:
If you are still smogged, 3 hrs is insanely low to do that. So 1 hr for manifolds. 1 hr for carb remove and reinstall, tuning, 1 hr for plugs, wires and valve lash….
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Mine is a 1F engine…no smog stuff. I’ve already done the plugs and wires.
 
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