Update time!
Everything is going well with the pregnancy and were now only 8-9 weeks away from him arriving!
As I hate my job so much were now thinking of moving back to Melbourne a few weeks after hes born, if everything goes OK with him.
Its going to be tough leaving this weather behind, its been the most magnificent winter I've ever experienced! So warm and mild, its reminded me of an English summer.
Lexi is really well.
But shes going to really miss this place!
This is her favorite place, her happy place! This is the off leash dog beach we bring her to every week for play dates with her friend Lexy.
But I think the pro's out weigh the con's so were definitely moving back and we cant wait!
OK time for an LJ update!
With time running out before the big move I've been very busy building LandCruiser's.
The 78 is almost finished and looking beautiful and driving perfectly!
So with that out of the garage work has started on LJ.
I got the new soft top body into the garage and up on my big stands.
And the remains of the other cab I got to repair the soft top with, got put onto LJ's chassis, just for somewhere to store it.
I did a tiny bit of work on the body, I removed all the studs that the soft top used to clip onto as they were rusty and I wont be fitting another soft top like that anyway.
I did some work on LJ's new engine next, the mighty Lexus 1UZ V8.
Bell housing went on to my KZJ78 transmission next.
I finally got round to fitting the new spark plugs I imported from the UK all those months ago.
Old ones didnt look very good.
Especially when compared to the new ones.
The old ones were also some cheap nasty make I had never heard of, so I was happy to change them out for some good quality ones.
I found a diagram online and worked out which HT lead goes where.
Re-fitted all the covers next.
And got the transmission bolted to the engine.
Chassis next...........
The donor body got pulled back off LJ's chassis and put on the trailer.
Then the body got covered in a tarp and pushed into the corner out of the way.
I moved the chassis down next to the garage ready to clean it all up.
A few things still needed removing, like the rock sliders.
Lots of areas of surface rust to sort out.
And these pretty rough looking engine mounts that I bodged together years ago when I was only really learning to weld and fabricate, needed to be removed.
Pulled some parts off.
Sprayed everything with degreaser.
And after letting it soak for a while I pressure washed it.
I moved the chassis forwards and setup my gazebo to shade me from that hot Queensland sun.
Got it supported on trestles and removed the axles.
I was then left with a bare chassis!
The last time LJ was this naked was 24 years ago in the factory in Japan!
First job was to cut off the engine mount extensions.
I cut off what I could, but realised what was left of the original mounts wernt salvageable.
So I made up some new plates, almost identical as the originals.
But I only put one little folded piece on one end, rather than both, as my adapter plates need to bolt on top as the Lexus mounts sit further back slightly.
I ground around the edges of the mounts coming off the chassis.
Then used some vice grips (mole grips) to carefully lever the old plates off.
I then clamped and welded my new plates on.
Next I needed to clean the chassis up and get it ready for paint.
I bought some new discs for the angle grinder that I've never used before.
They work well and dont clog like flap wheel discs, they also dont damage the surface below the rust or paint.
But a lot of it I did by hand using a scraper as I needed to remove the layer of bitumen paint that was covering the whole chassis.
Lots more cleaning later............
I cleaned up all the rusty spots that were easy to get to using the grinder and new discs.
I also used a wire wheel in the grinder for some of the slightly harder to reach areas.
After lots more cleaning I gave it another degrease and pressure wash.
I finally gave my sand blaster a go and I was very impressed with it, it worked really well in the hard to reach areas which I couldnt fit a grinder into.
Once I had finished prepping the chassis I gave all the rusty bits a spray of rust convertor.
Followed by a coat of etch primer.
And then it was ready for paint!
I went to my local auto paint shop and discussed my options with the guy. POR15 is supposedly very very good, but its designed to go directly on top of rust and isnt cheap. As my chassis was only rusty in places and still in very good condition in other places I decided it probably wasnt really suitable.
My next option was to use 2k paint, but I would need to first prime it, then paint it and then stone chip it.
So the third option, which I went for, is Raptor paint made in the UK. Its designed for the tubs on utes/pick up trucks but can actually be used anywhere on a vehicle, some people even spray the whole car in it.
What I really like about it is that its a 2k paint but you dont use a normal spray gun, you use a schutz gun. You pour a tin of hardener into the 1 litre bottle, give it a shake and then shoot it with the schutz gun!
So easy and virtually no clean up to do afterwards.
I bought a 2 litre pack that was only just enough.
As it needs to be kept dry for the first 72 hours, I put a tarp over the end of the chassis to keep the dew off.
Next I wanted to build a rotisserie for the soft top body to make it easier to clean, repair and paint.
First I needed my trolleys back.
So the engine and gearbox would have to live on the floor for a few days.
I positioned my trolleys, one at each end of the body.
And decided I would use the thick 50mm box that I bought when I removed LJ's old body, which will ultimately get used for the body of the rock sliders on the 78, to connect my 2 trolleys.
I didnt have much steel left to build the 2 A frames and pivot, so I did a rough drawing.
And went to work to use the workshop and off cuts of steel.
Their MIG/TIG machine isnt bad.
And the saw is reasonably accurate, just a bit noisy and lots of sparks.
2 hours later I had cut and welded some steel together.
Got home and cut and drilled some steel to connect the rotisserie at the back of the body.
As I designed it so that if I wanted to I could paint the whole thing on the rotisserie, I decided to mount it where the hinges mount and use pieces of tube to space the mounts away from the body, so that if it got painted on the rotisserie, the only un-painted bit would be behind the hinges.
Bolted the plates on.
And added the center frame section.
I welded some thick 50mm angle to the ends of my box section next.
I'm very happy with my little MIG! Despite not cleaning any of the rust or paint off the 2 metals it welded it beautifully!
Front next.
Next job was the pivots!
My inspiration for this entire thing was engine stands!
What I've built is basically 2 giant engine stands linked at the bottom, and engine stands generally use a piece of tube inside another piece of tube to form the pivot.
So thats what I did.
Worked out the position of my pivot, to ensure the whole body can rotate without hitting the trolleys below.
Drew out the A frame in chalk on the floor so I could get the angles.
And made 2.
Cut and drilled some 25mm angle.
Welded that to the bottom of the A frames so I could bolt it to my trolleys.
Cut and drilled some 50mm angle.
And that got bolted to the trolleys with the diagonal A frame braces welded to it.
Pulled my huge lorry axle stands out.
And it was now fully suspended by the rotisserie.
Quick test in the garage.
I got the axles back onto LJ's chassis and bolted all the suspension on.
And pushed the rotisserie out.
And round the back into the garden, where I have been busy cleaning the entire thing.
Its been great being able to have it upside down with de-greaser soaking away for a while, then being able to turn it onto its side and pressure wash it all off.
Meanwhile LJ's chassis got brought round the front.
And pushed into the garage.
Where I bolted the modified transmission cross member in.
And dropped the V8 in.
This week I'm busy bolting everything back on to the chassis that can go back on, before it goes back into the garden and the freshly cleaned body comes back in for the rust repairs.
I'm going to paint both sides of the floor pan with Raptor, I'm that impressed with it!
The body will be going Midnight Blue, same as LJ was when she left the factory.
Lots of rust to be cut out and repaired first though and I'm picking up some bags of proper blasting garnet this weekend so I can sand blast the rusty bits on the body.
8-10 weeks to go until LJ needs to be fully assembled and back together, ready to go in a shipping container down to Melbourne.
