RJ70 Build Thread.

[clivehorridge]

Mine too Rich, but Ben isn't the sort not to know what he's doing or why.

Good luck with it mate, and hurry up! I can't wait to see that V8 running

 

[StarCruiser]

Totally Clive and that's my point I think. Ben always has solid reasoning. No procrastination and a clear way forward, no doubt. I just don't see the LJ RJ swap about bit. And that is me not seeing so I'm keen to know what I've got wrong.

I think I'm the one asking the question in the classroom and Ben is John Cleese in the Clip.

 

[clivehorridge]

I know from earlier posts that LJ's chassis and running gear as a unit has had a lot done to it, suspension lift, new suspension components, axle rebuilds, diff repairs and the like, so I can see the attraction in keeping it as a unit.

For the fun concept, Ben wants the benefits of the soft-top body of RJ, so it's logical to swap the RJ body to LJ's chassis.

The sadder part is all the work Ben's put into making the V8 fit RJ, but it's not wasted because it will pull and drop onto LJ's chassis just the same.

Now I hope I've got that right, but it will be interesting to hear Ben's reasoning.

My next question would be what engine does Ben plan to have in the LJ 78?

Will it be LJ's engine? If yes, then what engine will go on RJ's chassis along with LJ's body?

Oh, my brain's staring to hurt again....

 

[StarCruiser]

Ok, thanks Clive, that is starting to make sense, sort of.

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Dont worry, my head hurts too just thinking about it, or is that because I know how much work lies ahead!

LJ
So LJ is getting the soft top body off RJ with the V8 I've been fitting.

The 78
The 78 gets LJ's 1KZ 3TD engine.

RJ
RJ gets LJ's hard top body and the 2lt 2.4TD engine out of the 78.

So 3 engine swaps and 2 body swaps!

 

[Gary820]

I think in Mercedes AMG style you need a little plate on the engine with your signature on!

 

[StarCruiser]

I like that Gary! That's a brilliant idea.

 

[Ben]

Yeah thats a cool idea!

 

[clivehorridge]

Powered by Ben's elbow grease

 

[Beau]

Have you thought about getting another 1KZ-T and ditching the 2.4 motor? Not sure how easy those are to pic up in Australia. Mechanical pumps are rare.

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Work is progressing well!

Got 4 hours done on it after work yesterday and the soft top body is completely stripped and is jacked up high above the chassis ready to be lowered on to the trailer this morning and moved out of the way!

Have you thought about getting another 1KZ-T and ditching the 2.4 motor? Not sure how easy those are to pic up in Australia. Mechanical pumps are rare.

No not really, as I just want to get RJ sold ASAP, with LJ's old body on and the 2lt out of the 78. The sale of which is going to pay for the paint work on the 78 and on LJ.

Granted the 2lt is a slug of an engine, but thats what the LJ70's came with over here so people are familiar with that engine in these Bundera's.

If I was keeping the car then I wouldnt even consider putting the 2lt in, it would be getting sold straight away!

I think manual fuel pumps for the 1KZ are even rarer here than back in the UK! They wernt sold in anything here AFAIK.

 

[StarCruiser]

Sounds like you'll get it done before wednesday…

 

[Ben]

Last night I stripped the dash and the rest of the interior out of the soft top body.









Started lifting and jacking the body up.





Got it supported on some 2" x 1" steel box section and my big chassis stands.





I could then push the chassis out from under it.



This morning I was out in the garage at 6am ready to start a huge 12 hour day working on the LandCruisers.

I reversed the trailer under the body.



Slid the body onto the trailer and towed it out.





Then it was time to pull the V8 out of RJ's chassis.



By 7:30am the engine was out.







Put the V8 on a trolley.



Put a cover over it and moved it out of the way.



Back to RJ's chassis.



Pulled the bell housing off.



Supported the gearbox/transferbox with the engine crane.





So I could swap my modified cross member for a standard one.





RJ came with Superior Engineering adjustable panhard rods, which I will be keeping for my other LandCruisers so I needed to fit some standard ones.



I also wanted to remove the braided brake hoses and fitted standard ones in their place.



With the body removed you get a clear view of the unusual rear suspension design.

I'm not sure what Toyota were thinking designing a system with 2 completely different shocks, on different angles with different top mounts.

But we will let them off as this was their first ever coil sprung 4wd!









Next it was time to pull the engine out of the 78, but first I needed to get some shade from the hot summer Queensland sun!

A quick look online for the cheapest price of a good quality pop up gazebo.



Followed by a trip to my local BCF and I got this.





And a nice saving as they price match any online price!



Perfect!





Started removing the bullbar.



Whoever messed with this car shouldnt be allowed anywhere near any automobile!

Twisted wires together to connect the light bar.





All after market wiring will be getting pulled out and I will rewire everything properly.

Bullbar off.



Badly butchered grill and bottom panel.





Pulled them off and they will be going in the bin.





Drained the rad.



Rad out.





After a few hours removing bolts and disconnecting everything it was time to pull the engine out.







Got the engine on trolley.



Its got a major oil leak and I suspect it is coming from the rocker cover judging by the amount of silicon everywhere, that and the cracked oil cap.



Gave it a good degrease and pressure clean.



As well as the starter and bell housing.



Then it was back into the garage to fit the engine into RJ's chassis.





It proved difficult to get the bell housing to pull up against the engine so a ratchet strap was needed.





And thats where I'm up to.





RJ's old body is in the garden wrapped in a tarp waiting to go off to the sand blaster.



And LJ is waiting to be driven into the garage tomorrow, to then have the body jacked up off the chassis, supported on steels and chassis stands, while LJ's chassis is pushed out and RJ's pushed in and the body lowered.



I cant wait to build my dream workshop and have lots of space and a hoist! A hoist would have been a huge help today as it was a struggle at times having just one pair of hands, even getting the gazebo up single handedly was tricky.

 

[StarCruiser]

"…and yet, during all this work, the blur that is Ben finds time to buy garden furniture and casually post up his efforts on the Landcruiser forum…"

Think I might throw my tools in the sea this afternoon…

I was wrong. You'll have it finished by Tuesday…

Lunchtime!

 

[Gary820]

"…and yet, among all this work, the blur that is Ben finds time to buy garden furniture and casually post up his efforts on the Landcruiser forum…"

Think I might throw my tools in the sea this afternoon…

I was wrong. You'll have it finished by Tuesday…

Lunchtime!

I think the most productive thing I've done today is eat cake and receive hugs from the pretty female staff

 

[StarCruiser]

I think the most productive thing I've done today is eat cake and receive hugs from the pretty female staff

Oh god how awful for you Gary!

Was that a last ditch effort to try and make you stay?

 

[clivehorridge]

It's a tough life sometimes Gary, chin up mate, grin and bear it!

 

[AndyCook]

Epic !

 

[clivehorridge]

Interesting Ben's having to shelter from the sun and heat when we've got into our 5th sub-zero week, straight

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Its been too hot here lately, this is the longest, hottest summer on the GC in over a decade!

Hopefully it will start cooling down a little bit soon.

I had a late start on Saturday as I had to take Lexi to the beach in the morning.

On the way back I went shopping.

Picked up some steel and a fan.



Nice big industrial fan to keep me cool.



And some 50mm x 50mm x 3mm steel box section to use as bearers under the body while I swap chassis, these will then be used when I build some rock sliders/side steps for the 78.



Got the fan assembled and setup.



Pushed RJ's chassis outside and used LJ's winch to help drag the RJ's chassis around as it was facing the wrong way. Then I could get LJ into the garage.







Got LJ in and began stripping down the front end.







Without a doubt the worst modification I ever made to LJ was fitting a body lift!

It puts too much strain on the body as its no longer properly supported and with all the off road driving and corrugations it had done some damage.



This front body mount had been torn completely off the inner wheel arch.









And a few cracks.





I'm not sure how much beach driving I want to do in future either as sand has gotten everywhere, despite never getting stuck or driving aggressively.





It took the rest of the day to finish stripping LJ and undo all the body mounts.





Sunday morning, bright and early I began jacking the body up.





It soon became apparent that I really needed to drop the fuel tank as its mounted to the body, leaving it on would have meant having to lift the body really high.





It was then just a case of jacking it up bit by bit and putting blocks of wood between the chassis and the body until it was high enough to get the steels in place.











If I had had 2 trolley jacks and could have jacked the whole body up at the same time with a jack each side it would have been a lot safer and easier.

I'm not going to lie, it was quite a worry at times that the whole thing could come crashing down, possible on top of me.

Eventually it was jacked high enough and I decided as the rear of the chassis slopes up, that I should remove the rear wheels and push the chassis out with the back end lowered.









And shes out!



With the chassis out I put the back wheels back on.



I then had to push the chassis's up and down the sloping drive on my own.





I could then push RJ's chassis under LJ's body.





Before I could lower the body back down I had a few things to fix up.

One body lift spacer (with a rubber on top of it) had been pushed through the body.



And both rear spacers had chemically bonded the alluminium spacer blocks to the steel bolts.





The 2 rear spacers got cut off.



Did I mention I hate body lifts?

Never fitting them to any of my vehicles ever again!

Lowered the body back down using the jack and blocks of wood again.











The body is now fully fitted and bolted in position!





Now I could begin swapping all the good bits off LJ's body with all the spare parts that I dont want to keep. The idea being I will end up with all the good bits on my other 2 and can sell off all the other bits on RJ.

Swapped the mirrors for the older style small ones.





And began pulling the interior out ready to swap it all.





Dash, door cards, seats, center console, heater matrix, aircon, peddles, hand brake, gear sticks, everything is coming out and being swapped for the older RJ parts.

Even the steering wheel is getting swapped.



Loads still to do and I dont have much time in the week sadly.

But I will have another full weekend on it this weekend.

I cant decide what to do about the engine electrics, as the 2lt out of the 78 is EFI and has an ECU, where as my 1KZ has a manual fuel pump.

So do I keep all the electrics on the engine and try and take some of the loom out of the 78 and the ECU, or do I source and fit a manual fuel pump and do away with the electric fuel pump and ECU all together.

I'm thinking sourcing a manual fuel pump might be the best way to go as their quite easy to get thanks to the 2lt eating heads, theres lots of blown engines around that are too expensive to fix.