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FZJ80R from Devon

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Version 3 of the bedding cargo net and it finally seems to work.

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It is made from 2 scrap seatbelts.

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Doesn't hang down too badly when unloaded.

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Unclips so you can jam your gear in.

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Found out if I move the caribiner forward on the straps you can tension it so it sits up out of the way.

Not as good as the ones you can buy but for no cash cost I am pleased with it.
 
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Tank is mounted. Ran pipes along the underneath of the cab floor above the axle, then used the bolts for the fuel pipe clamps to run the pipe up to the n/s of the transmission.

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Spent some time making this stone chip guard, this is to cover up the rust along the leading age of the bonnet until I can get a replacement bonnet, my one has had it.

My advice is unless you are Adrian Newey or actually understand aerodynamics, don't bother trying to make one! I have tried clipping it, tying it down, sewing more seams in it, whatever I did it seems to balloon and inflate in the middle, then flap terribly. I did 3 goes at modifying it, now I have Mono-bolted it to the bonnet. Still inflates a bit but it can't flap. And the rust is covered. So a success. Ish.
 
Regulator/evaporator mounted.

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The bracket is just mild steel, as I used the flimsy bracket that came with the evaporator and strengthened it.

So close now... only a few more fiddly bits to do!
 
Took the 80 for a run, out to Blue Anchor bay,

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Some progress was made earlier on the slide out removable kitchen...

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I think I will add some support legs, as I am using 2 Snap-On tool box drawer runners welded together to get the length, they are very strong but there is a lot of leverage.

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I will make the support legs flip down and rest on the tail gate then I don't have to make them adjustable for different height ground.

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Also bought this piece of 'camping equipment', 16ft Canoe. Came with paddles, oars, electric outboard, pole for punting... and a sail! If anyone knows any must see canoeing places on the Dordogne please let me know!
 
Camping was a reasonable success although we gave up on Sat due to wind and rain, the weather wasn't going to improve and I didn't want all our gear wrecked before France in 2 weeks.

The engine is still making a howl from the belt drive, I was worried it was the alternator, but on further investigation it is the new aux. idler pulley. What has happened is I have crossed the threads in the bloody thing so I can't tighten it fully. Probably because I took the old one off with the belt on it. It's totally stuck now, I suspect I will have to take the radiator out for access and helicoil the mounting hole. Should have stopped when I felt it was tight not wound it in with the bar. Probably won't learn my lesson though.

LPG is going to be switched on on on Monday, a few jobs left to do on the LPG before that though. Air con is also getting filled and tested to see if I can get that working, it has been empty and belt cut off since I had the truck, although I cut the belt off so I am hopeful it may be able to work.

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Started refurbishing the spare, this wheel used to be on the N/S/R of the truck,

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I knew it was a bit buckled, but when wire brushing noticed this odd line...

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It's cracked... So not much point doing any more work on that, and I won't have a spare for France. I will just have to take the spare tyre with no wheel, hopefully won't need it though.

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Got my 2nd hand rear diff lock, in better condition than mine, although reportedly not working.

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Lovely corrosion.

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I have cleaned it up, moved the screws and bolts ever so slightly, and left it soaking in penetrating oil. It can stay there for a while.

Jobs still left do to before holiday:

Grease and change front axle oil again.
Replace broken coil spring (probably going to abandon this as I don't have a spring)
Fix windscreen washers.
Fix A/C
Finish LPG and get it working, adjust the flashlube rate.
Replace brake fluid, and fit front pads if it needs them.
Finish rear kitchen base and cupboards.
Make and fit wind deflectors for hob.
Make rails for the grille pan.
Wire in the electrics for the tap.
Fit another 12v socket for the tap power supply.
Make some kind of bracket to hold the fridge down.

Quite a lot to do still.
 
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What would you do if you were in the desert as my boss always says...

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Fill my diff lock with sand of course!

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Pretty manky but the casing is intact and so are all the gears, it's just all seized!

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ZE COOLER - 2 WEEKS!
 
Got the software and lead for the LPG ecu, just emailed Tinley and they sent me a link to it, tried it on the ECU and set a few bits and pieces, all seems to be functioning.

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Also updated the firmware on the ECU to the later version.

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It's all piped up now, realised I have done a mistake though as I have the MAP port on the regulator plumbed to the gas pressure sense pipe at the sensor, will correct that. Regulator not getting warm yet hopefully an air lock in the pipes, getting some gas on Friday.

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The map for the LPG. More instruction manual reading required to understand it.
 
Took the canoe out for her maiden voyage,

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Tried to fit the reciever dryer I bought from Opie a few weeks back, it's slightly different unfortunately, should have checked it before really,

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Refitted the old one for the air con to be tested on Monday.

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Sink plumbing is done,

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Tap relay. Toyota of course...

Got the LPG gas tank filled, it was 51p a litre, so a tank full was £41.... a lot less than the usual £100 fill at the Shell garage. The man at Calor was quite interested in the LPG conversion, (I had to ask him how to operate the pump as it was the first time I was filling it) he asked if I had done the conversion myself, and said he has 2 or 3 people a week in asking where they can have conversions done, turns out there is nowhere around the south west apart from a place in Plymouth and then its up as far as Bristol.

The big LPG switch on is tomorrow. So we will see what my workmanship is like.
 
Air con charged and works - sort of! No serious leaks but it is over pressure and cutting out at 32bar. Think the viscous fan coupling has had it. Ordered a new one and a new fan from Ebay as a temporary. Also leaks slightly from the compressor gaskets. Perhaps because the pressure is so high. Should be about 18bar.
 
Hi Richard, Iv been following this for a while, I love your approach to things, its exactly how I go about stuff. If you can make it, Then make it!.... Keep it up. Cheers.
 
Air con charged and works - sort of! No serious leaks but it is over pressure and cutting out at 32bar. Think the viscous fan coupling has had it. Ordered a new one and a new fan from Ebay as a temporary. Also leaks slightly from the compressor gaskets. Perhaps because the pressure is so high. Should be about 18bar.
Its not LPG getting in the aircon then Rich?
 
It works!!! It actually works!!!

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Here is a picture of me drinking a celebratory bottle of IPA as a picture of an engine running on gas is a bit boring.

It runs great on gas, you wouldn't tell the difference, we have even mapped it so it feels a bit quicker on the top end than on petrol. Have only drilled the jets to 2.4mm which is the minimum you can get away with, I will see how that goes and can drill them larger if needed. The change over from petrol to gas is seamless, and the same changing back over, as it changes over 1 injector at a time so you have some cylinders on gas and some on petrol.

Have set the temperature it switches to gas at 30deg at the moment, but I can set it lower to reduce the amount of warm up on petrol.

It can start on gas straight away if the engine is warm, it starts exactly the same as on petrol.

Couple of mistakes I made - the vacuum take off I used for some reason has no vacuum at it. Have temporarily tapped into the fuel pressure regulator feed. Also I missed one wire from the gas level sender, so that's not working at the moment. I will sort those bits out later.

Cost was £925 inc vat for parts, plus stainless bolts, paint, steel, some wire and connectors etc etc,

Very pleased!
 
Congratulations Rich, great news and a great result. Love an IPA too!!
Amazing dedication and motivation all the way through, well done.
 
It works!!! It actually works!!!

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Here is a picture of me drinking a celebratory bottle of IPA as a picture of an engine running on gas is a bit boring.

It runs great on gas, you wouldn't tell the difference, we have even mapped it so it feels a bit quicker on the top end than on petrol. Have only drilled the jets to 2.4mm which is the minimum you can get away with, I will see how that goes and can drill them larger if needed. The change over from petrol to gas is seamless, and the same changing back over, as it changes over 1 injector at a time so you have some cylinders on gas and some on petrol.

Have set the temperature it switches to gas at 30deg at the moment, but I can set it lower to reduce the amount of warm up on petrol.

It can start on gas straight away if the engine is warm, it starts exactly the same as on petrol.

Couple of mistakes I made - the vacuum take off I used for some reason has no vacuum at it. Have temporarily tapped into the fuel pressure regulator feed. Also I missed one wire from the gas level sender, so that's not working at the moment. I will sort those bits out later.

Cost was £925 inc vat for parts, plus stainless bolts, paint, steel, some wire and connectors etc etc,

Very pleased!

great news. looks like i need to book you in if your up for it.;)
 
Higgy - thanks, always worth trying to make or do something first, I like trying to gather new skills plus it is recycling and saving money (sometimes it doesn't save money and I think it would have been cheaper to buy it, and then there are the tools to factor in... Perhaps saves money on average?)

Ben - the AC isn't connected to the LPG, there are a lot of extra pipes but they definitely don't connect. Pretty sure it's the viscous coupling as when I got home off the motorway I could still stop the fan with my bare hand!

Managed to get a little more done on the camping kitchen, another coat of Danish oil on the oak, electric tap tested and fuse uprated, and the wind deflectors fitted also. They are stainless wind deflectors in 2 sections so you can also use them as work tops.

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Next is to get the kitchen out again and finish the cabinet it sits in, there will be an extra deck for storage and some other cubby holes. Also need to paint and wax it.
 
Well done!
glad its all come together for you rich. Keep us updated on life with a lpg 80.
 
Thanks all for your encouragement, it was tough at times and very frustrating, doing the write up on here definitely helped me keep motivated!

I would do another one, it would be a lot quicker the 2nd time round, as a lot of time was spent prototyping and trying stuff in different places.

I estimate I spent more than 100 hours on this, and am happy that I did, but it would be possible to save a lot of time by:

Mounting the tank brackets directly to the boot floor.
Mounting the evaporator in the engine bay and running all the heater water through it before it went to the heater tap.
Running all the pipes and wiring under the car in one hit.
Mounting the ecu in the engine bay instead of in the dash.
Not removing the whole inlet manifold and hoovering the swarf out as it was drilled.

These would probably result in 1/3 or 1/4 of the labour time spent on it, perhaps less, and would save about £150 in parts.
 
All loaded up for trip to Dordogne,

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The 80 feels heavy... also 80 litres of lpg and 100 of petrol in the tank!

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Off we go to Plymouth to catch the ferry.

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Saw this at the ferry terminal, it has German plates on it, not sure if it is a 100 or a 105?

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Got this little wireless keyboard from eBay for £10, makes using the sat nav much easier.

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Tomorrow's route!
 
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