LJ70 Build Thread!

[Ben]

Honda City Cabriolet. The supercharger isn't standard though, as far as I'm aware, which means that someone's been playing

It is standard, thats what makes it so rare.

They only produced 120 for the Japanese market. Apparently they had to produce that many so they could race them.

My friend is in contact with Honda both in Japan and Australia and has had to send them pics of all the vin numbers and different codes and stickers under the bonnet, as they are trying to authenticate it.

He wanted some parts for it recently and it transpired that when Honda built this race version they raided the part bins from lots of other models. So locating the correct replacement parts has proved tricky.

Its great fun on the road because other people dont realise how quick it is.

 

[Doodle]

Interesting...they did the Turbo & Turbo II model which were pretty rapid for the time (100/110bhp in an 800kg car), and the Cabriolet used the bodystyling and wider track off that later model. No idea why they'd choose to race the ragtop version over the hatchback, but that's the Japanese for you - I know Mugen did a load of development work on the Turbo (1st gen) for a one-make series.

 

[Ben]

The container is due 2 weeks today!

Last night I went and met the customs guy and spoke to him for an hour. I now have a much better understanding of how it all works.

His brother owns a business in the local town importing furniture. Hes got his own bonded warehouse and even has a cleaning area for if AQIS (quarantine inspectors) decide something needs cleaning.

I'm going to see him as soon as possible and I'm hoping he will let me have my container brought to his bonded warehouse, where I will be able to unload the container myself and then have customs and quarantine come and inspect everything.

Thats what I'm hoping.

I will probably have to use his agent to arrange a truck to pick up the container and bring it to the bonded warehouse for me. I wanted to do everything myself, but apparently its not possible to book trucks to come onto the docks to pick up containers without having some sort of license, and everything is done online which is only possible if your a registered agent.

But atleast using the agent the chap always uses for the containers of furniture he has coming in, then hopefully I wont get f**** over.

Weve had torrential rain here for the past 2 days.

But atleast its still 18-20 degrees, so I've been wearing shorts constantly.

Should be back to high 20's/mid 30'2 next week!

Off shortly for a night of steak and beer with Tony!

Think I owe the guy a few beers after getting me the great job here!

 

[grantw]

Thats what I'm hoping.

This seems to be the way you roll ... so i'm sure it will work out!

 

[Ben]

Cheers mate.

I've been incredibly lucky so far, so fingers crossed that luck continues.

I'm not too worried though as I know things will work out.

Been for a nice meal and beers with Tony tonight.

Being in Betsy makes me want a 40 even more! Theirs just something about 40's!

 

[sae70]

Hi-Ya Ben or should we say G'Day cobber

Bet you can't wait for the container to land, hope all goes smoothly

I'm a bit worried about your diet though m8!!! All you seem to be eating is steak and drinking beer!!! You may be young now, but it'll catch up with you soon enough m8. Try getting some Veg and fruit juice in that diet of yours

 

[Paddler Ed]

Just had an email through from Ray's Outdoors which has got me thinking...

Waeco Fridges are on offer at most of them (Ray's, BCF or Anaconda)
Swag's are an OK price at Anaconda for the Dune ones, I've got the one they're doing for $250 with an Ikea Memory Foam Mattress topper as the mat in it
Cast Iron cooksets are a good price at Anaconda as well

Enjoy shopping!

 

[Ben]

Hi-Ya Ben or should we say G'Day cobber

Bet you can't wait for the container to land, hope all goes smoothly

I'm a bit worried about your diet though m8!!! All you seem to be eating is steak and drinking beer!!! You may be young now, but it'll catch up with you soon enough m8. Try getting some Veg and fruit juice in that diet of yours

Yes very excited and slightly worried about the container, but.............................

Cant wait to get my LandCruiser back!

So many amazing places I want to visit right on my door step, but I need to wait till I've got my cruiser!

Didnt I mention all the amazing fruit, vegetables and salad I've been eating?

Oh its amazing I love it all so much!

The steak is good out here!

Just had an email through from Ray's Outdoors which has got me thinking...

Waeco Fridges are on offer at most of them (Ray's, BCF or Anaconda)
Swag's are an OK price at Anaconda for the Dune ones, I've got the one they're doing for $250 with an Ikea Memory Foam Mattress topper as the mat in it
Cast Iron cooksets are a good price at Anaconda as well

Enjoy shopping!

Thanks Ed.

A waeco fridge is top of my shopping list, but I've been putting it off till my cruiser is here and on the road.

Then I want a roof rack, roof top tent, and waeco. Then I will be off up the high country!

 

[Paddler Ed]

The offers tend to come out around a long weekend; so these are the Easter offers; the next will be Anzac day and then that'll be it for a while. You're looking at between $150 and 25% off of a Waeco, the Engels never make it into the sales! There are some deals with a twin pack of 2 fridges, sort of a big one for the back and smaller one for some cans between the seats...

Crapmandu will have some good deals around now on camping gear, we picked up our gas cylinder and stove for not a lot from them, but also worth a look in K-Mart as well (we got our lantern and pole there) for those bits and pieces. Try to stick to Gasmate if you can; the parts are always available everywhere, and they're not that expensive.

Generally the camping season is coming to an end, the final fling is Easter and then the gear gets marked down a fair bit.

Roof tents etc never really drop out in to a sale, but swags dive in and out, and it's always worth having one in the back of the car in case you have one too many when you're visiting people...

Don't forget double demerits will probably be on over the Easter Weekend; even if they can't give you points... they'll give you a bigger fine...

 

[Ben]

Not sure why I said Waeco. I want an Engel.

Was looking at them at the 4WD show.

 

[Ben]

I've been busy building more portable jumps this week.

Got to drive the Manitou for the first time yesterday. Great fun, must get one one day.

Loving Betsy's new front bumper and wheels and tyres.

I thought Betsy needed a club sticker to show shes part of the best LandCruiser club!

Couldnt find a suitable spot on the front, so that only left the back. having white stickers meant my options were some what limited as to where to put it so it stands out.

Loving Tony's new Tyre Dog monitoring system.

Valve cap sensors monitor tyre pressure and temperature.

They send this wirelessly to the gauge suction cupped to the windscreen.

Something else I want to buy.

So I've been here a month today!

Cant believe how quickly its gone.

Things have been a lot easier than I envisaged and a lot of that is down to this great job/place that Tony found me.

I just want my LandCruiser back now so I can get out and explore the tracks. I cant wait to get out and have some more adventures in my 70!!!

Off to see the owner of the bonded warehouse in the next town shortly. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly and I can have my container sent there.

 

[sae70]

Love the TyreDog thing Only a little over a Ton on Amazon with free delivery

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tyredog-Pressure-Monitoring-Monitor-Koolertron/dp/B004CQZ5FS

 

[Ben]

Thats a good price!

$300 (£200) here.

Had a positive meeting today with the guy who owns the bonded warehouse.

I've got to get copies done of all my paper work and make a few amendments, and then drop them off to him tomorrow.

He will then pass those to his agents who will decide what needs doing and how much it will cost me. The idea is to have all the paper work done before the ship even reaches Melbourne, that way I wont have to pay $150+ per day for the container to sit on the warf.

So long as all the paper work is done, then the container can be lifted straight from the ship onto the back of a truck, and then off to the bonded warehouse.

I will then unload it, and 2 days later the quarantine inspector will come and inspect. If anything still needs cleaning, they have facilities available on site for me to clean the item(s).

What really surprised me was the total lack of security.

When the container arrives at the warehouse, their is nothing to stop certain items vanishing before the quarantine/customs come to inspect. Its literally just a unit on an industrial site.

So feeling pretty positive, just praying everything goes to plan and I dont end up having to pay too much to get my stuff.

 

[TonyS]

Hi Ben, good to know all went well today. I have just caught up with this thread, and it has taken me ages, and I have only caught up on the last few pages!

Got to Ewan's ok, and had to have a beer, then my headache went!

Heading upto Chris s tomorrow, and will call you before I leave.

Youre doing a great job there, keep doing what you're doing and enjoy! ;-)

Cheers,

 

[Chas]

Love the TyreDog thing Only a little over a Ton on Amazon with free delivery

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tyredog-Pressure-Monitoring-Monitor-Koolertron/dp/B004CQZ5FS

Maplins do a Wireless Tyre Pressure Monitoring System too. http://www.maplin.co.uk/wireless-tyre-pressure-monitoring-system-390208

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Never seen the screw on type monitors for real but always thought they looked like they might be a bit exposed / snag on stuff. Be interested to hear if that seems like an imagined problem rather than a real one?

 

[TonyS]

With the rock and rough stuff we went over this time, no problems with them. I had metal valve stems fitted, and then rebalanced as they are a bit of weight.

 

[Ben]

Hi Ben, good to know all went well today. I have just caught up with this thread, and it has taken me ages, and I have only caught up on the last few pages!

Got to Ewan's ok, and had to have a beer, then my headache went!

Heading upto Chris s tomorrow, and will call you before I leave.

Youre doing a great job there, keep doing what you're doing and enjoy! ;-)

Cheers,

Great! Thanks Tony.

Thanks again for getting me the job at the riding academy.

Will see you next year when I will be joining you on some trips in my cruiser!

Should have the High Country worked out by then!

Never seen the screw on type monitors for real but always thought they looked like they might be a bit exposed / snag on stuff. Be interested to hear if that seems like an imagined problem rather than a real one?

Good point John, certainly something I didnt consider.

I guess it depends where the valve holes are in the wheels. Mine are set in fairly well on the 37's, but on my set of 35"s their a bit close to the edge.

One thing I really like about this system is how quick it is to install, and then remove and swap between vehicles/sets of wheels and tyres.

I know some of the other systems you have to fit the sensor inside the tyre.

 

[Paddler Ed]

I'm sure I've seen some wheels where there is a collar to protect the valve stem, normally found on a steel rim...

If you went for a steel rim rather than an alloy rim I'm sure it wouldn't be impossible to weld a collar (or a half collar) onto a bare rim to protect the valve stem. I think the tractor trailers around here use a similar system to shield the valves; when I worked in forestry we had to watch the smaller bits of tree that were lying around so they didn't rip the valves of the trailers or the tractors, but I think it's improved a bit since then.

 

[Ben]

Good idea Ed, I've seen those on tractors and diggers before.

I want to get some beadlocks for the 37"s, so if/when I'm welding the rings to the wheels maybe I could weld some thing on to protect the valves. Some tube maybe, sliced in half.