iwan's 70's!

[Iwan]

I recently bought this 88/89 lj70 off my mate for £60, reasonably complete minus engine and box. Perfect platform to build something good....
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Way too good to scrap! Knowing how capable these are off road.
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Basic 1st view of the truck.
Only have limited time to work on this project- friday afternoons and saturdays every other week.
But have made some good progress.

"Rust like f**k them jap jobs dun they" lol!
Still a hell of a lot more floor to cut out and the remaining wheel arch!
Kept the main part of the roof with the back panel to delete the rusty sun roof
Amazing what a good wash can do! Not too rusty now, but still a lot to think about. I think at this stage there was still a 30mm scribe left. But a feel for the new look is forming.


Sweet welds , kind a no need to grind them down on the inside.
Its really taken on the feel of a pickup cab,
All in all quite a good mission so far. Have a bit of working out with the section of wheel arch and filling in of the rear lights etc. Kinda work it out as it happens, no worries
Have a bit more done but no pictures. Hope you like what you see!

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi, how cool will that be when you're done, what a sweet truck that will be!!

You look like you're enjoying yourself, I would too, if it were me!

more photos please as she comes along. What engine are you going to fit?

 

[Ben]

Nice project.

Is it going to be a challenge truck?

 

[Iwan]

Cheers guys! Been thinking of what engine to fit, possibly a 4.0 lexus v8, 1kzt, have a mate with a pattern to fit a daihatsu 2.8td on to the toyota gear box. Will try to make it a cost effective or see what happens. Any suggestions?

To make a challenge truck is the plan Ben!

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi Iwan looking good will have to come and see you one day keep it up tonytoyota

 

[Iwan]

Just thought I'd add the starting pics again as the 1st attempt failed!



Quite mad looking back the change it has taken with not a massive amount of effort so far!

 

[Mud_dog]

Watching with interest !

 

[Iwan]

Dug it out of the back of the shed!

Have had the urge to do something with this classic shaped Lj70. A plan has been hatched!

So last night decided to get it out in the open. Started by removing the front panel and Lh/s inner/outer wing..





Ready for lift off!



Quite easy when you have the kit!




Nice to see it is actually very solid below



My mate "Buddy" is a handy chap to have around!



So got stuck into it with the grinder and wire wheel. Quite satisfying to see it getting cleaned up. There's no sign that this truck has been off road.



A bit of welding on the rear corners, not too much of an issue..



Nice building from the chassis up!



Really happy that the tube work in is fine shape.. A bit more welding needed to the underside of the chassis rails right at the back..

Have changed the plan with the cab, have managed to buy a pretty much mint shell from a 1990 jap import, no welding required so after doing the chassis, suspension, new brake lines, new fuel lines and paintwork. The new body will drop straight on!!

Of course retaining the round headlight front end

A lot more to come

 

[Shayne]

No pics when i click on the link it says invalid attachment specified ?

 

[Iwan]

Was working on it lol!!

 

[Iwan]

Power plant, 2kd ftv engine conversion

Last September I had the chance to buy this 2004 D4D hilux mk5 with the 2kd ftv engine in it. I had a hard impact to the rear passenger side.



The motor has done 54,000 miles and runs as sweet as a nut.



I am attempting to fit all thats in this engine bay into the LJ70!



I have been working on removing un needed wiring and can say it has reduced to quite a percentage less!



The engine still starts up from the key!



Luckily my good friend Ed is an ECU engineer... so there are a couple of options.

Firstly to disable the immobiliser from the ECU.

Can either make a vehicle loom from whats left from the hilux in cab loom.

Or

To modify and re wire into the 2LT/E in cab loom.

It's quite fortunate to have sourced the Japanese LJ70 import shell...

All in all I think its worth a go to get this working, if not possible then can sell the engine and buy a 1KZT and fit it in the way I had done previously to my 1st cruiser back in 2009.

Has anyone here done a rewire like this? Any input would be welcome

 

[Gav Peter]

This should be a fun thread - watching Iwan but can't offer much more than daft comments & pats on backs!!!

 

[clivehorridge]

This should be a fun thread - watching Iwan but can't offer much more than daft comments & pats on backs!!!

Yep, and plenty "good luck"

One be way to ensure getting the engine in is to mount it on the chassis and build the cab around it

Plan B, Put it in the back

 

[Jente]

Good to sea that there's progress Iwan!!

Should be done in time before our next greenlaning trip right?

 

[Iwan]

Yep, and plenty "good luck"

One be way to ensure getting the engine in is to mount it on the chassis and build the cab around it

Plan B, Put it in the back

Hey thanks Clive! Will for sure fit the engine, gearbox, props and exhaust before the body goes on

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi Iwan let's have sum pics and it,s a big job but get on with it Tony

 

[Shayne]

Nothing would give me more satisfaction than driving a vehicle i had built up from scratch like this i did it with a motorbike when i was young and it's impossible to describe the .... erm ..... relationship that develops between yourself and the vehicle as a result . Every knock , click or squeak speaks to you , there's no need for diagnosis you just know instinctively "that's the third bolt on the lower cross-member of the flux capacitator" Good luck with it Iwan i know if i tried this with a truck i it would be a project for life until i finally admitted defeat and threw the whole thing in a skip . Not that i have any doubts that you will do a good job of it Iwan of all the trucks on the forum your 60 is the one i'd like to own

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi Iwan let's have sum pics and it,s a big job but get on with it Tony

 

[Iwan]

Good to sea that there's progress Iwan!!

Should be done in time before our next greenlaning trip right?

Cheers Jente, I will try my best! As with these things you have to see how time allows.

At the moment work is full on, which is good but have to strike when the iron is hot!

Hi Iwan let's have sum pics and it,s a big job but get on with it Tony

Yo Tony, are you well man? It's a bit of a job going down, but all fun mate!! Will try to add more pics,,, but my pc keeps crashing when I add pics to the forum

Nothing would give me more satisfaction than driving a vehicle i had built up from scratch like this i did it with a motorbike when i was young and it's impossible to describe the .... erm ..... relationship that develops between yourself and the vehicle as a result . Every knock , click or squeak speaks to you , there's no need for diagnosis you just know instinctively "that's the third bolt on the lower cross-member of the flux capacitator" Good luck with it Iwan i know if i tried this with a truck i it would be a project for life until i finally admitted defeat and threw the whole thing in a skip . Not that i have any doubts that you will do a good job of it Iwan of all the trucks on the forum your 60 is the one i'd like to own

Hey thanks Shane! Great comment about the 60 series,,, it's a hefty lump of an old beast lol! Glad you like it

This should be a fun thread - watching Iwan but can't offer much more than daft comments & pats on backs!!!

Cheers mate!

 

[Iwan]

Had a bit of a "Mr Hectic" hit on the 70 tonight..


I wire brushed the trailing arm's and painted them up with the POR 15 rust prevention black paint...



So what is the best route for me to take with the worn bushes on these arms??? Where can I get replacments from? Not to keen on the thought of poly bushes. But are less reliant for articulation as the earlier lj70's have pin and nut connection, different to the later square light set up.



Put a healthy coat of the chassis paint on the frame.. pleased with the result. . Be even more pleased when it's all coated!

Thinking suspension also... rear first. Popped by Gwyn Lewis 4x4 last night. Handy guy.. we saw that LR defender springs are the same size dia as the rear of the 70. So may use the lower mounts off a LR to fit them. He gave me some scrap parts out of the skip to investigate!