Land Cruiser KZJ95.............

[SafariTecPeter]

Hi Andy!

Thanks for the heads up on the 80-Diff.
The J8 is rather rare over here, so sourcing a donor is definately not easy.
I have for now my hands on a genuine J9 complete rear axle, so I hope thats gonna keep me "locked"

 

[SafariTecPeter]

Even though this thread started out for a spesific vehicle, I now seem to have added another similar Land Cruiser to my fleet, its a MY 09/98
I have already put her to work..........

 

[SafariTecPeter]

As I have started to "share" I might as well show You guys the older on, MY 06/96 and abit rough around the edges... The rims are ..................shall we say "a matter of need".... The PO had run the rims that came with the vehicle with loose wheelnuts & some thin spacers, leaving only 5 turns of threads engaging.... So at least 1 rim is FUBAR`d. So while I await the steel rims I have inteded for the truck, the 20" will do.....

 

[SafariTecPeter]

It has been awhile again.............

I will try to fill in
The oldest Land Cruiser MY1996 has had some issues from Day1.
Mostly being related to sluggish start....

Some nice 18" rims from a J15 made their way to me
This prevented me from using it on a regular basis but she was around when needed

During a late night in the workshop, I decided to break her down for parts..... Did a rough calculation on what it would take to set her straight & thought -> NO! Threw out some feelers to people I knew where in the marked for parts....
Next das a buddy (@ the time) walked through the door, looking desperately for a bugdet 4x4. And talked me into fixing the one sitting there.... The sluggish start & a leaking headgasket pressed me to lift off the head... It was seeping oil........As the condition on the internals was MINT & I was on a budget I shopped around for some budget parts before we threw her back together. Once reassembles she strated straight up........
I must have done something right.....
Unfortunately the sluggish start did not quite dissapear.....
The Cruiser then failed MOT due to handbreak & a fuelleak. Ripped out the tank to find the suction stack & vapor return line gone. Good reason for the sluggish start too...........

Once repaird she ran as a star & passed MOT with a sparkeling eye.

My Buddy took her over as promised with a fresh MOT........However the financial side of the deal never got sorted & clear words had to be spoken...........
So the Cruiser is in some ways unfortunately back with me...........
To dress her up for the season I has some semidescent 235 MT`s kicking about & paired it with some neat alloys I bought
Fits like a glow in my opinion...

The odometer very rescently passed 512000 & she runs as nice as ever
Abit sad to see her go.......

 

[SafariTecPeter]

Then there is the green MY 1998...........
Late Winter I decided to dig into a small rust spot on the rear wheel arch. As the rest of the body is genuinly MINT, this did bug me
When digging further into this, I found an old repair (Toyota) that isn`t very well done... So all steel behind the bumper in the rear quarter has been replaced.
I then decided that this vehicle would be my new (budget) Overland Vehicle. Sent the boy off to the local racecar supplier & he picked up a nice SABELT seat for himself. My idea was to take out the rear seat bench & fit a signle seat for him, leaving plenty of space next to him for the huge SNOMASTER 82 dual compartment FridgeFreezer
Togehter with a fellow LC Buddy we where to dig deep into building HD steel rear bumpers.
On the front I wanted a 9,5 Winch w Plasma. Either with a AFN Bumper or a winchtray & factory bumper
+2" OME suspention & 255s on J6 Steel rims. Maggie Columbus RTT & Awning.....

So was the plan........... & Plan changes.
I have finally managed to source & fund the base vehicle I genuinly want to build into a true Overlanding vehicle. & YES It`s a BIG Toyota

So for now the MY1998 Land Cruiser 95 will be finalized in terms of repairs, MOT`d & hopefully passed onto a new owner

Pics to follow

 

[SafariTecPeter]

While surfing around the good old interweb I came across an add for a MY 1998 Land Cruiser VX with some problems........... Abit of debating back & forth....... I jumped into the car with one of my best automobile buddies & took a peek.
The vehicle itself looked fairly straight, the know problematic areas underneight where fine....
The HUGE ?? was the Auto box......The car had during highway cruising lost all forward momentum BUT when cold he managed to crawl onto the trailer on low gear......
So it was sort of running......
The colour of the AT dipstick did not look good.....
Short Story Long -> We trailered it back to my shop a good week later.
Damn those new V6 AMAROKS fly :-D

I did 8 flushings of the gearbox. I dropped the oilpan 6 of these times...........
The box still kept producing shrap metal & forwardmomentum in D proved that the box was not engaing 1st gear at all....
I did attemt to get hold of a second hand unit which I eventually did. The seller was asking a kindney, Arm & both legs for an auto tranny with transfercase but no converter.......... WTF
Knowing my converter definately was contaminated, there was no way I was using this again.

I did consider rebuilding the box but parts where not cheap at all.....& internals probably well bust!
Tried to shop around... & after abit of debating I opted for the bulletproof option at what we felt was a very reasonable price ->Genuine & Brandspanking new gearbox & converter purchased through local TOYOTA dealer which was airlifted to Norway from Japan. 8 days delivery time
So I drove the car onto ramps & set to it. All on my own with 1 floor jack & 1 bottle jack & wrenched out both AT tranny & transfer as 1 unit on a late late afternoon.
Thats one heavy lump of gearwheels when it rest on Your chest.....

Split the transfer from the AT Tranny & returned the busted AT to Toyota as it was a core return.
Managed to wrench in the AT box on my own the following day. Opted to fit the transfer separately..... Which I highly recommend!
The balance & weight of the Transfer is so that I wasn`t able to get it in by myself so my buddy & part owner in the vehicle came & lended me a hand. All lugs & stering pins well lubed (Lubegaard Assembly Goo!!) it slipped in like a charm.

The Cruiser now drives immaculately So spending money on a new box was well worth it.
The overall condition of the car itself taken into consideration is offcourse a factor.
PO had ket hos dog inside.... After having it parked up for 3 days in the sun it was reeking so bad that I got utterly sick........No way I was yanking that into my shop.
Trailered her off for cleaning & detailing -> Probably one of my smartest move yet regarding this vehicle.

I am currently awainting new rear shock prior to MOT`ing it & throwing her onto the marked.

My new to me Overland base vehicle is awaiting attention & spendings so I must have my priorities straight

Pics to followif anyone is interested