LJ70 Build Thread!

[Ben]

so this morning we did a bit on the landy and managed to get the axle back on. but we realised one of the studs for the diff needs replacing, so we decided to leave it till weve got a new stud.

axle going on.

so front inner arches.

removing my truck from the spray booth.

out.

masking tape and newspaper removed.

i then tried starting her but she wouldnt even turn over.

yesterday she went first turn having not been started for a week. but not today so i used the bobcat to push her into the yard ready to start on the reassembly.

my first thought was maybe the batteries were dead, so i put them both on charge and began fitting bits.

got the fuel filler cap on.

rear number plate light.

front badge and side repeater.

followed by passenger side inner wheel arch.

engine bay side.

fitted battery trays.

and batteries.

ironman snorkel.

fitted other inner wheel arch.

door handles.

rear vents.

front grill and side lights which are now indicators.

winch tray.

wired up winch.

needs my front ARB style bumper on to finish the front end off nicely.

rear lights arnt working so i need to trace and fix that fault before i screw the lights in.

she still wont bloody start.

the batteries are both fully charged and the starter is brand new. the ignition turns on and everything works apart from she wont turn over. anyone have any ideas on what it could be? is there a solenoid or anything for the starter?

how do i go about bypassing this ignition circuit and wiring in a switch to turn the engine over?

im thinking that might be my best option, as i will be fitting the new engine soon.

electrical faults is the thing i hate most about vehicles.

need to get it sorted ready for laning in the lakes next sunday.

 

[Simon_LJ70]

Ben, hats off, this is better than any bestseller looking forward to the finished shots. What's the next project?

 

[Red Oktober]

 

[sae70]

Looks good Ben

If your starter looks like the one in the right of the picture (lump on the side) this is the solenoid. This should have a larger cable going to in (finger diameter) & a thiner much lighter wire going to it (shoe lace or less), this one is the feed from your ignition & is normally conected to the starter via a spade conector. Remove this & take a feed directly from your battery to the male spade tab on your starter solenoind. Just splash it on to start with, this should turn over the starter. If not you may have an earth problem, get a jump lead from the negative of your battery & clamp it directly onto the body of your starter (avoiding all other cables, terminations & conectors!!!) If Still nothing suspect dirty solenoid, remove starter, strip & clean test on floor with foot on top

If you don't have a starter with a lump (solenoid) on the side of it then follow the heavy cable (finger diameter) back from the starter till you find the remotely mounted solenoid, then follow the same proceedure as above

Would be good if you have a volt meter of some kind to see if your getting 12v comeing out the end of the solenoid feed wire when you turn the ignition key

And check your fuses

Good luck

 

[Ben]

thanks Simon.

hoping to have my truck some near how i want it by xmas.

so engine swap, after Lincomb, then finish rock sliders, build back bumper and the get them both powder coated. also want an X-ENG hand brake, KAM lockers front and back, and new wheels.

hows your engine swap coming on?

id still like to see some pics of how your rock sliders are mounted, particularly the exhaust side.

Steven, thats a huge help, thanks mate. id forgotten your a sparky by trade. i suspect it is an earth fault, so i might try the jump lead to negative terminal on battery, to body of starter first and see if she turns over.

i will report back later with how i get on. would be nice to be able to start driving to work and back again.

 

[Simon_LJ70]

hows your engine swap coming on?

id still like to see some pics of how your rock sliders are mounted, particularly the exhaust side.

Am collecting the cruiser a week today, they are just finishing the wiring this week, looking forward to firing it up!

Will make sure I send you the slider pics when I pick it up.

 

[John_McCartney]

You may need the famous "Clicky Starter" fix. The solenoid contacts get burnt back and won't pass current to the starter in the end. Just a thought. Plenty of "how-tos" on the forums.

 

[Ben]

thanks lads.

i used Stevens technique and my truck now starts perfectly, after lifting the bonnet and touching a wire on the battery + terminal.

might put a switch on the dash if i get time.

i still cant get any rear lights working though.

ive got headlights main beam, side lights, and front indicators, and everything else works, like electric windows, sunroof, stereo etc. but no headlights, reverse, brake, rear or rear indictor lights.

ive checked all the connectors i can see and they all look ok. i was careful when welding not to burn any wires so i dont think that is the problem

its just wierd that everything was working ok before and now isnt.

im getting very tempted to get the new engine fitted.

car electrics are the work of the devil.

 

[Ben]

few pics.

cut the ignition wire to the starter and fitted a new wire.

taped and cable tied.

so now ive got 2 wires next to the battery, one for the glow plugs and one to the starter.

got the bumper fitted.

having to work outside in the rain now ive lost the workshop.

sexy red diff cover now fitted on Mitch's truck.

yesterday i did some more underbody protecting.

rear arches.

all done.

back lights fitted.

rear number plate fitted.

new bottom tensioner pulley, courtesy of Mr Carl.

the old one was completely knackered and i was worried it might jump off and through my rad.

added front number plate.

still got loads of electrical problems. ive used 3 different auto electricians in the past ond have not been impressed with any of them, or the £50 an hour they charge. so im dammed if im going to pay for any of them to look at it.

Mitch recently bought a good electrical tester thingy from the snap on man, so i will use that and try and trace the wires back from the fuse box, and see where they stop being live.

any advice on trying to trace these faults?

its the rear lights i really want to get working.

the starter, glow plugs, and over charging can all wait till the new engine goes in, although im sure all those problems are linked and i think its the charging circuit regulator.

 

[John_McCartney]

That is cool.

 

[Garry]

Hi Ben

Have you tried giving your rear lamps a seperate earth ? ie take a feed straight from the battery .With all the bodywork you have been doing and the body sealants there is a strong possibilty that you have lost an earth to the lamps . check your wirring as you have added the european lamps and i know you will have had to modify the original wires .

Garry

 

[mike hatton]

Ben, are you sure you have not mixed up your images

This one looks like a Land Rover to me

Could sell that to soilihul

Trucks looking very tidy ben

 

[Ben]

thanks Garry, i think it was a dodgy connection to the lights.

thanks Mike, its getting there.

i did some more on it last night. first i used a screw driver to scrape all the mud out of the bottom seam on the front doors, before using Henry to hoover it all out.

i was then able to give them a good coat of waxoil. i also did inside the sills after removing the 4 large rubber bungs.

next i turned my attention to the electrical problems.

this is the German made tester ive been using.

looking underneath the dash in the drivers foot well around the fuse box there were a lot of wires, relays, and fuses that didnt look original, and was obviously an old alarm/immobiliser system.

also spotted one little green wire on my loom that must have rubbed against something, as the outer sheaving had been damaged. so that is one possible fault found.

so back to removing all the alarm crap.

theyd splices wires into my loom left right and centre.

had to remove the ignition cowl to get to the last few wires.
one of my main ignition wires had been cut in half and had different coloured alarm wires going to each, so i had to reconnect this wire.

old alarm crap out.

i then put the tester probe into the connector going to the starter and got to Mitch to turn the ignition key, and the tester lit up saying live.
so i reconnected the ignition to starter wire and she turned over on the key and fired straight up.

i do remember ripping one wire out when i was stripping her down. i thought well the old alarm is dead so i dont need this old wire in her.

next i decided to try and get the back lights working. so i checked that the wires coming from the back of the fuse box going to the rear lights had got power when the lights were turned on. i then moved to the back of the truck and checked one of the connectors to see if id still got power, which i did.

after messing with the connectors for the back lights they all started working.

but then after id put it al back together, the passenger side indicator stopped working, which could just be a bulb. i will investigate further tonight.

so the other main fault i need to fix is the headlights, as ive only currently got side lights and main beam. also need to get the stereo working.

so its getting there but still lots to do before im ready to drive it up to the lakes this weekend to do some laning.

 

[John_McCartney]

I ripped the aftermarket immobiliser out of my KZJ after it comked out (the one and only time in 8 years) when I was 200 miles from home and towing a big caravan. Haven't missed it . . .

One of the problems I've had with the rear lights is a dry joint to earth on a bulb holder - it was a b*gger to find! Just a thought.

 

[Ben]

I ripped the aftermarket immobiliser out of my KZJ after it comked out (the one and only time in 8 years) when I was 200 miles from home and towing a big caravan. Haven't missed it . . .

One of the problems I've had with the rear lights is a dry joint to earth on a bulb holder - it was a b*gger to find! Just a thought.

thanks John, back lights all sorted now.

fitted the guard that protects the bottom of the rad.

fitted the steering damper.

investigated the rear indicator that suddenly stopped working. the bulbs all looked fine the other day, but when i removed the bulb from the indicator that wasnt working the bulb had turned white. replaced the bulb and the indicator is working again.

refitted both rear door cards.

cut a corner off each of the lids for the rear storage boxes so that they dont foul on the back of the front seats if the seats are reclined all the way back. the bits i cut off i screwed down onto the corner of the box, so that when the lids are closed the boxes are sealed.

bolted some lash down points to the side of the boxes to secure the spare wheel down from.

cut some strips of rubber matting to line the bottoms of my storage boxes.

filled the boxes back up with all my recovery gear and tools and spares that in always carry.

plan for today is to fix the non working headlights, remove, bend and re-fit the transfer stick.this should then allow me to refit the centre console, something i havnt been able to do since fitting the bodylift and finding the transfer stick catches on the back of the transmission tunnel. and any other little bits and pieces that need doing, ready for laning tomorrow. also need to fuel her up with 90litres of veg oil.

 

[Gav Peter]

Looking good dude - did I miss the engine transplant bit??

 

[Ben]

thanks mate. new engine is going in after Lincomb, about mid october hopefully.

 

[Ben]

finally got everything done today! so im now all ready for laning tomorrow.

i removed the transfer stick lever.

got it in the vice, and used a length of scaffold tube to bend it.

i also gave the centre console a good clean up ready to be refitted.

while cleaning it i noticed that the coin slots are actually switch blanks.

an ashcroft/ARB/KAM diff lock switch or 2 is going to fit perfectly there.

centre console back in.

refitted the rubber skirts that stop crap being thrown over the engine by the front wheels.

managed to remove the glass in the replacement rear door, remove the tinted glass from my old rear door, and using a piece of cord and some help, managed to pop the tinted piece of glass into my door.

also filled the holes from the spare wheel mount with rubber grommets, and re-attached my landcruiser badge.

investigated the faulty headlights, and found both the bulbs had blown. fitted new bulbs and the now work perfectly again.

so im now all set for laning tomorrow.

leaving at 5.20am.

 

[Red Oktober]

Excellent read Ben .. .. glad you've finally got there

try not to break it out laning tomorrow

 

[John_McCartney]

Cracking . . . . as they say in Barry.