LJ70 Build Thread!

[Iwan]

As I thought........................

Sold by Holden here as a Jackaroo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_Trooper

Will see if I can find the parts now.

Good luck with it mate!

 

[clivehorridge]

Those disc brake conversions look so simple, and neat. I wonder if I could find a conversion kit for my drum-brake only rear axle on my 80?

Good luck with the good work on LJ, Ben

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Just bought these:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130835864956?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

They will mount in the dash pod I got from work which replaces the altimeter. Will leave space for one more gauge so thinking fuel gauge, so might buy this kit for when I build my stainless steel aux fuel tank behind the front seats.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/251007763497?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

The other option would be to try and fit the clocks out of a 79 series as they have an aux fuel gauge built in, but I dont know easy/doable that is.

 

[Ben]

OK time for some pics....................................

I picked up some oil and fuel filters.



Some genuine seals for the axles so I can change the rear wheel bearings and strip and re-grease the fronts.



Wheel bearing kits and UJ's.

A word of warning to any of the Aussies on here buying these wheel bearing kits, they always used to contain Koyo bearings (like Toyota fitted in the factory) but now they've switched to cheaper Korean bearings. I opened up the boxes on the counter of my local bearing place to check and told them I needed Koyo bearings. They managed to find some kits with Koyo bearings but I had to pay slightly more.



I cut and bent some alluminium for the storage boxes inside the rear quarter panels.







Welded up the corners.



Test fitting.





Fitted my roof rack.



The next morning I drove LJ to work.







Alternator died on the way.



So left it on charge all day.



My awning arrived.





After work I drove to the local motor factors and bought some fuel hose.



I got LJ on the hoist.



And started dropping all the oils.



Engine oil was a year old and of course very dirty.



Rear diff oil was very clean and didn't really need changing.





Front diff oil was very dirty, no water or mud but maybe grease ingress from the cv's/hubs.





Also worrying a little bit of swarf. Could just be left over from past failures though.



Since the engine conversion/the new exhaust the fuel lines were very close the exhaust down pipe, so I've wanted to change them for a while.





New hose and clips.



My plan was to run them along the other chassis leg instead.

Riv-nuted some holes in the chassis to give me something to bolt the clips to.



















Dropped the transferbox oil.



Looked reasonably clean as well.



Same with the gearbox.



Terrible pic I know but its meant to show what has to be the easiest way to put oil into all the diffs and boxes. 44 gallon drum with a really quick hand pump on it.



Dropped the hoist and put some engine oil in.



Moved LJ to next to my welding bay to begin mounting the awning.



I cut and drilled some spacer blocks.



And bolted them to the awning.









This is how they would attach to the roof rack.



















I've never owned an awning before but I must say I'm impressed! Will be great for cooking under and will provide some much needed shade from the scorching Aussie sun!

Batteries had been on charge again as I'd started the engine a few times and was conscious of my 20min drive home with the lights on and a dead alternator.



The next day I got to work early and had half an hour before work started and 20 mins at lunch time to clean the roof rack up ready for powder coating.



This air tool worked brilliantly to remove and surface rust, weld splatter and grind marks. Leaving all the metal shiny and smooth.





I started making a press tool which will enable me to press the old rear wheel bearings off.

Drilled some 70mm holes in my 2 pieces of steel.



So one piece of 12mm thick flat, one piece of 6mm and a piece of galvanised tube.



In position to be tack welded together.





I turned the amps up to maximum on the big 3 phase welder and fused the 2 together.



Didn't weld the other piece on yet as I want to drill the 4 holes for it bolt on to the drum brake backing plate, but this is how it will go.



So yesterday morning (Saturday) I made an early start on LJ.





Alternator first. My boss had told me to remove it and bring it in and we can put it on the test bench and work out what needs replacing.



With the airbox removed I immediately spotted what could be the cause.



The nut was missing off the tensioner.



My multimeter wasn't working properly so I went out to get a new one. I wanted to buy a decent Fluke one but they didn't have any, so I will keep this one in LJ and buy a Fluke one for my tool box.



Fitted a new nut on the tensioner and re-tensioned the belts.

Voltage before starting the engine.



And with the engine running.



So that wasn't the problem.

Alternator off.







The starter motor has been working fine but I bought a re-build kit for it years ago and the auto electrician at work said he loves rebuilding 1KZ-T ones as there dead easy and to bring it in and he will re-build it for me.

So I decided to remove that next, easiest way is through the passenger wheel arch.





Found that the starter motor was loose and the top bolt must have been missing.

But looking at the pic below you can see the remains of the bolt still threaded into the bell housing, so the head has broken off.









Rebuild kit.



Ready to go to work.



I wanted to strip the front hubs down next to inspect and regrease everything.













I left the front hubs for now and concentrated on the tie rod ends. Only one actually needed replacing but I decided to change them all for new anyway.



My good mate Nelson who many have you have met and who is flying out to come on the Simpson trip as my co-pilot recently told me an absolutely awesome way to split ball joints!

Get 2 similar sized hammers and smack each side of the ball joint at the same time and the ball joint will pop straight out with no damage to the ball joint, rubber or thread!



Works amazingly well, thanks mate.





Steering bar off.



Even worked faultlessly with gravity acting against the ball joint.



This is the standard configuration with the steering damper behind the axle.



But as I've pushed the axle forwards 50mm and the spring perches on the axle back 50mm it now wont work in this configuration.



New tie rod ends.



So I'm thinking of putting the steering damper in front of the axle like on the 80 series.



So I need a tie rod end with a mounting point on it for a ball joint and I've got an 80 series steering damper chassis mount off Karl that I can bolt/weld to my chassis.





Now interestingly some of the tie rod ends I've got say FJ80 on them, in fact the 2 that I've brought to go on the steering bar in front of the axle. So I'm thinking 80 series may/should have the same size thread as on my 70 series steering bar, but why don't these FJ80 ones have a mount for the steering damper? Left hand drive one(s) maybe?





The only one that is 70 specific is the one that goes behind my axle in standard form to mount the steering damper to.



Got the first bar in the vice and after measuring the center to center points of the track rod ends so I can fit the new ones and get the bar the right length I could start removing the old ones.









Sadly the one I actually wanted to fit, the one with the mounting point for the steering damper wouldn't fit as the thread is a different size, so I will need to source and 80 series one if its the same size thread.



I got the draglink completed and ready to go back on, its just the steering bar that I cant do without the 80 series tie rod end.





I will keep these 3 old ones as spares as theres nothing wrong with them.



So they've gone in the spares box ready to be hidden away some where out of the way in LJ.



I spotted an oil leak on the floor in the morning.



And with the starter motor removed it was clearer to see where it might be coming from.

Need some help with this one please guys, especially some of you 1KZ-TE experts.

Looking through the passenger wheel arch.



Its leaking oil some where and I'm 99% certain this isnt from spilling any when changing the oil and filter as its been leaking round her for a while now.



Should there be hoses on these 2 outlets and if so where should they go to?





Any idea where its leaking from?







I did a bit more on the front hubs.







I couldn't do anymore on the hubs as I need some petrol to clean everything up with, so thats a job for today. I also forgot the seal fitting tool from work so cant finish it yet anyway.

I removed the 2 brackets from the awning and will drop them off for electroplating and powder coating tomorrow, along with the roof rack.





The rear quarter panel storage/panels next.





But first I wanted to do a tiny bit of rust treating.



Now I know the body on LJ wont last forever, but if I can get another 5-10 years out of it I will be happy. I'm thinking it might be cool to drop a ute cab on the chassis eventually with a tiny tub/tube rear end.

Super light coiled all round, short wheel base 79 series.

Of course no good for camping but should have a duel cab 70 by then for that.


Anyway back to the job...............

So rust treating first.



I will also spray a load of Dinitrol cavity wax in there to hopefully fight the rust.

So back to the storage boxes.





Needed to remove some from them as the panels actually slope in at the top slightly.







Marked where the panel needed cutting.











The box will need welding to the back of the panel.



I added some holes where the cabin vents are.





Riv nutted the body where the panels will mount.





And drilled the panel to bolt through into the rivnuts.

Other side.

I put one of the old panels on top of the new one so I could drill through to mark where the fixing holes needed to be.









Didn't take many pics as it was completely the same process as the other side, but this is what I ended up with.



So tomorrow I will take them to work and weld the boxes on to the backs then I will send them to be powder coated black. I will also source some nice stainless steel dome head mounting bolts for them.



I had a measure up for the drawer fronts next.





Also need to get some latches for them.

I'm keen to make use of some of this previously wasted space down the sides of the drawer system and I'm thinking it would be a good place to store items not used very often such as spare parts.





I've also started sorting out some of the things that will live in LJ permanently.



The small drawer will always have all my recovery gear in and I also need to sort the tools out that I want to carry. I want to get away from carrying one bit rattly tool box and instead will use things like tool rolls to carry spanners, pliers, screw drivers etc. should pack better and obviously not rattle as much/if at all.

Lots still to do but I am making progress.

 

[Ben]

Now interestingly some of the tie rod ends I've got say FJ80 on them, in fact the 2 that I've brought to go on the steering bar in front of the axle. So I'm thinking 80 series may/should have the same size thread as on my 70 series steering bar, but why don't these FJ80 ones have a mount for the steering damper? Left hand drive one(s) maybe?

OK.....................

Looking back through what I'd just posted I spotted some 10 digit numbers on the tie rod end boxes that looked suspiciously like Toyota part numbers.

Put those into the parts cross reference search on Toyodiy and its come back confirming that part number 45045-69065 is from a left hand drive 80 (all models).

So this confirms to me that a right hand drive 80 series, steering box end of the steering bar, tie rod end (god thats a mouth full) will fit my 70 and allow me to fit a front mounted steering damper!

 

[Beau]

Ben, not 100% on where the leak is coming from, but that piece coming out from the bottom of the oil filter sack as meant to have a hose that goes all the way down to where the oil sump plug is. It's designed so that when you remove the oil filter, any oil spilt in the oil filter bowl drains down through the hose and into the container the oil is draining as well. If you ask me, it's quite a clever little idea.

Considering you've never had a leak before, I reckon that's the exact spot that oil is dripping from. And when you've driven it it's possibly blown over the rear of the engine? Nice work as usual with the truck, look forward to the next major update!

 

[Ben]

Thanks mate.

Thats very interesting.

Should there be a metal pipe bolted on there going down to the sump plug, or is it just a rubber hose?

I did have a bit of an oil leak in that area before the oil change though.

I think I will try and give it a good clean up and keep an eye on it.

 

[fridayman]

+1 on the leak probably being the drain pipe missing. It's just a small diameter hose that runs down to near the sump plug. There should be a small bracket down near the bottom, towards the back I think, that the end of the hose clips into.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Check what condition all the hose clamps are as well, I had one go on my old V70 that then emptied all the coolant... Sure you've though of this already, but no harm in having others think of things as well...

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

I'm pretty sure its leaking much higher up on the engine than the filter.

Will get some pics up shortly.

 

[Trevor]

If it's coming from high up and rear, whip the rocker cover off and look at the half moon piece of metal at the back of the head. Might be leaking from there, especially when you've been doing steep climbs. The wider flange sits on the outside of the head, just run some RTV on the half moon surface and refit to seal.

 

[clivehorridge]

Ben, the pipe at the highest point on this photo looks very wet (I've marked it with a yellow oval).

What is it? It's unlikely to be carrying oil, but the leak looks to be above or in front of it, for it to be so wet...

 

[Ben]

I went to the motor factors across the road from my house today looking for a parts cleaner brush but they didnt have any.

But they did have some tool rolls on special.



So I sorted out the tools I will carry in LJ.









They don't take up much less space than the tool box but should be easier to store and shouldn't rattle.



I will also always carry my Metrich spanners.





Thinking I might keep them in a box at the back of the drawer as hopefully they wont be needed very often.





I will also keep this socket set in the drawer.



I also like to carry a small selection of tools in the front with me.





I needed to replace the 2 back body bolts as the all thread I used when I repaired the rear end, when the body lift spacers had punched through the body, had sheared.





New high tensile bolts.





Was a bit tricky doing the passenger side one as the exhaust was in the way.



The impact driver made it a lot easier though.



I need to get another rubber from work for the other side as the only one I could find was badly cracked.



I turned my attention to the latch on the swing away wheel carrier next.





This is how I was thinking of mounting it.



Marked a piece of 6mm plate.



Drilled it.



Tack welded it on.





Bolted the latch on.



Bolted the swing away arm back on.





Took the rear bar off to drill and bolt the other bit of the latch on.







It worked well and the swing away wheel carrier was pulled in nice and securely.









Only issue is if I use the rear recovery point on a side ways pull it might hit the latch. So I might add some more recovery points, one each side of the rear bar.



Happy with the latch I pulled the rear bar back off and marked all the holes that need welding up and grinding down.









I cleaned my air filter out next and was surprised by just how dirty it was.











It looked like there had been some water ingress in the airbox and I suspect its from the rubber drain bung in the bottom.



So I'm going to TIG weld a piece of steel over the hole so its completely sealed up.



I wanted to finish the plate for the press tool next.





I marked and drilled the holes so it could be bolted to the backing plate.



Unfortunately I cocked it up and drilled the holes at 80mm centers instead of 90mm centers.

So I will have to make a new one this week at work.



And lastly a few pics of the engine/oil leak.

I'm guessing the tab in this pic is meant to have the oil filter bowl drain hose attached to it?



I looked further down but couldnt see a bracket to hold the pipe. So might have to make something.

This is where it appears to be leaking, above and to the right of the oil filter.







From tomorrow I will be working 12 days straight for my boss, then I've got 2 weekends off before the trip!

Lots still to get done on LJ but hopefully things should come together a bit more this week.

 

[Ben]

If it's coming from high up and rear, whip the rocker cover off and look at the half moon piece of metal at the back of the head. Might be leaking from there, especially when you've been doing steep climbs. The wider flange sits on the outside of the head, just run some RTV on the half moon surface and refit to seal.

Ben, the pipe at the highest point on this photo looks very wet (I've marked it with a yellow oval).

What is it? It's unlikely to be carrying oil, but the leak looks to be above or in front of it, for it to be so wet...

View attachment 14805

Thanks guys, missed your posts as I was writing.

I will have another look tomorrow at the bits you've mentioned.

 

[sae70]

I've got these two photos that show where the oil catch bowl drain pipe comes down to by the engine oil drain plug. It's held in place with a small 'P' shaped piece of steel that from memory is spot welded to the sump. Hope this helps with your oil leak detective work. I'd give the whole lot a good clean with some brake cleaner and then monitor the area to see if I could see the origin of the leak as it started to appear again. The mess around that area may be a combination of what Trev' spoke of and the fact that each time you've made an oil change since fitting the engine any oil that has been caught by the bowl has just dripped onto the engine below. If it is a leak from the engine it's not a massive one else you would have noticed drips below the truck and investigated. I bet the oil patch that you saw that lead you to investigate further came solely from the oil that spilt into the catch bowl from the recent oil change.

 

[watrob]

Hi Ben, thought you might like this, this is the 1988 RJ70 I picked last week?

 

[Edward Moyse]

Looks mint!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[peter kohler]

like new

 

[Iwan]

Hi Ben, thought you might like this, this is the 1988 RJ70 I picked last week?

View attachment 14874

Looks like something that I would buy!! Lol...

 

[Chas]

Hi Ben, thought you might like this, this is the 1988 RJ70 I picked last week?

View attachment 14874

Most of that will buff out, oh, and you'll need a filler cap on the tank.