Thanks for the explanation Ben. I can work out a lot of the acronyms (not that you tend to use many) but some leave me stumped.
There I was thinking you had got another new toy.
There I was thinking you had got another new toy.
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LJ78 Build Thread
- Thread starter Ben
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Thanks mate. 
I pushed the 78 out of the garage this week so I could wash all the mud out of the cavities in the body. The sills and floor pan had a bit of silt in them so I suspect it has been bogged at some point.
I also cleaned the floor pan up which had a few rust spot on it.
Found some rot next to the rear storage box in the floor.
It looked pretty rusty in that area and when I poked it with the screwdriver it went straight though.
So I cut it out.
Tack welded some new steel in.
Then fully welded it and ground the welds down ready for paint.
I then hit it with some black enamel in my spray gun.
And while I was at it I gave the underneath of the car another coat.
I had a hole to weld up on the A pillar from the previous owners attempt at a snorkel.
Welded it up and then gave it a coat of etch primer.
With the floor pan now repaired and the paint dry, I could load all the panels in ready for the panel shop.
This is the new hole I created in the drivers side guard for the side repeater to fit below the snorkel.
Got all the panels loaded in the back.
The last panel to go in was the bonnet.
But that needed a slight modification first, so I could fit the triple jet Hi-lux jets.
As they are a different shape and a bit bigger than the standard 70 series ones.
Got the bonnet on the bench.
And started looking at what I needed to do to make them fit.
Step drill first to drill them out to 12mm.
Followed by the die grinder.
With a nice small bit.
Followed by a quick spray of etch primer.
And then the bonnet could be loaded into the 78 too.
So its now pretty much ready for the panel shop, as the guy has said he will sand all the blue primer off.
I will arrange for a tilt tray to take the vehicle there and back.
I got the engine mount, reinforcing brackets made this week.
I really dont think they are necessary but they will certainly keep any engineers happy in the future if I end up having to get an engineers certificate for the engine swap.
Cut and drilled some 40mm x 5mm steel flat.
Bolted one piece below my engine mount adapter plate.
And the other piece to the chassis, into an M8 captive nut.
Made a cardboard template and then cut another piece of flat, to go between the 2 plates.
Tack welded it in position and then unbolted the whole thing.
Cut a gusset to brace it.
And welded it altogether with the MIG cranked up.
A quick coat of paint and it was finished.
Bolted it on.
Cut and drilled some more steel for the other side.
Bolted the engine mount one on.
Chassis side was tricky as the brake lines are in the way.
Tack welded the middle piece in and then unbolted the whole thing.
Welded a gusset in the middle.
I gave it a coat of paint and got it fitted.
I had a phone call a few weeks ago from a Romanian guy named Claude who had seen my Gumtree adds for some LJ70 parts I was selling.
We got talking and it turns out he lives locally and owns a KZJ78.
We've become friends and have been helping each other out with work on our 78's.
This is his super rare (in Australia anyway) KZJ78.
He has recently had a 3" exhaust built and fitted and they made a great job of it.
Decided I will follow the route and basic layout of his, so I took a heap of pics to help me remember when I start building my stainless one.
I will be starting my exhaust system very soon, although I may have to order some more mandrel bends.
This is how the 12mm thick turbo flange came out.
And finally........
I've been messing around with the drivers side door lock barrel.
Sadly some one has had a go at it with a screwdriver which has damaged the casing and front of it, although it still works fine with the key.
So I wanted to try and change the face and little flap bit that was missing.
Started by removing the bits off the back.
That wouldnt let me remove the cylinder sadly, so I put it back together.
I had another look at it this morning and decided I would have to remove the cover off the front, which would involve prising back the lip off the back all the way around.
And the cover plate popped off.
And I could now remove the barrel itself.
I removed the lock cylinder from an old 70 series fuel flap.
And discovered that the cover plate on this one s simply held on with 4 little tabs, so it will fit back onto my lock beautifully!
So I bent the tabs up.
And pulled it off.
Along with the other bits I needed for mine.
Annoyingly though I cant get the little sprung loaded flap to stay in place as when they screwdriver'd the lock they broke the side out on the lock cylinder.
So I need to come up with a solution to that little issue. I might try and cut the section I need off another barrel and then bond it onto mine with chemical metal.
I did discover something interesting while messing with these locks..........
When I bought the 78 it only came with one key, the original, very worn Toyota one. I went and got a second key cut as a spare and the key didnt look anything like the one I gave the guy, as he simply cut the new one off the Toyota code engraved into the original key, rather than having to copy my badly worn one.
While there I also got a spare key cut for my soft top RJ70, but I hadnt got an original Toyota key for this lock set so was forced to have a copy of my badly worn one cut, which isnt ideal, although it does work.
Anyway......I discovered while messing with these locks that the key code is stamped onto the drivers door lock barrel.
Meaning with my other 70 I can get a new key cut, simply by using the code stamped on the drivers door lock barrel, so I wont have to settle for a badly worn key anymore.
This could also be useful if you ever lose your keys, but your Landcruiser was unlocked, or if u bought an old one cheap that didnt come with keys, with that code you can order new keys.
I pushed the 78 out of the garage this week so I could wash all the mud out of the cavities in the body. The sills and floor pan had a bit of silt in them so I suspect it has been bogged at some point.
I also cleaned the floor pan up which had a few rust spot on it.
Found some rot next to the rear storage box in the floor.
It looked pretty rusty in that area and when I poked it with the screwdriver it went straight though.
So I cut it out.
Tack welded some new steel in.
Then fully welded it and ground the welds down ready for paint.
I then hit it with some black enamel in my spray gun.
And while I was at it I gave the underneath of the car another coat.
I had a hole to weld up on the A pillar from the previous owners attempt at a snorkel.
Welded it up and then gave it a coat of etch primer.
With the floor pan now repaired and the paint dry, I could load all the panels in ready for the panel shop.
This is the new hole I created in the drivers side guard for the side repeater to fit below the snorkel.
Got all the panels loaded in the back.
The last panel to go in was the bonnet.
But that needed a slight modification first, so I could fit the triple jet Hi-lux jets.
As they are a different shape and a bit bigger than the standard 70 series ones.
Got the bonnet on the bench.
And started looking at what I needed to do to make them fit.
Step drill first to drill them out to 12mm.
Followed by the die grinder.
With a nice small bit.
Followed by a quick spray of etch primer.
And then the bonnet could be loaded into the 78 too.
So its now pretty much ready for the panel shop, as the guy has said he will sand all the blue primer off.
I will arrange for a tilt tray to take the vehicle there and back.
I got the engine mount, reinforcing brackets made this week.
I really dont think they are necessary but they will certainly keep any engineers happy in the future if I end up having to get an engineers certificate for the engine swap.
Cut and drilled some 40mm x 5mm steel flat.
Bolted one piece below my engine mount adapter plate.
And the other piece to the chassis, into an M8 captive nut.
Made a cardboard template and then cut another piece of flat, to go between the 2 plates.
Tack welded it in position and then unbolted the whole thing.
Cut a gusset to brace it.
And welded it altogether with the MIG cranked up.
A quick coat of paint and it was finished.
Bolted it on.
Cut and drilled some more steel for the other side.
Bolted the engine mount one on.
Chassis side was tricky as the brake lines are in the way.
Tack welded the middle piece in and then unbolted the whole thing.
Welded a gusset in the middle.
I gave it a coat of paint and got it fitted.
I had a phone call a few weeks ago from a Romanian guy named Claude who had seen my Gumtree adds for some LJ70 parts I was selling.
We got talking and it turns out he lives locally and owns a KZJ78.
We've become friends and have been helping each other out with work on our 78's.
This is his super rare (in Australia anyway) KZJ78.
He has recently had a 3" exhaust built and fitted and they made a great job of it.
Decided I will follow the route and basic layout of his, so I took a heap of pics to help me remember when I start building my stainless one.
I will be starting my exhaust system very soon, although I may have to order some more mandrel bends.
This is how the 12mm thick turbo flange came out.
And finally........
I've been messing around with the drivers side door lock barrel.
Sadly some one has had a go at it with a screwdriver which has damaged the casing and front of it, although it still works fine with the key.
So I wanted to try and change the face and little flap bit that was missing.
Started by removing the bits off the back.
That wouldnt let me remove the cylinder sadly, so I put it back together.
I had another look at it this morning and decided I would have to remove the cover off the front, which would involve prising back the lip off the back all the way around.
And the cover plate popped off.
And I could now remove the barrel itself.
I removed the lock cylinder from an old 70 series fuel flap.
And discovered that the cover plate on this one s simply held on with 4 little tabs, so it will fit back onto my lock beautifully!
So I bent the tabs up.
And pulled it off.
Along with the other bits I needed for mine.
Annoyingly though I cant get the little sprung loaded flap to stay in place as when they screwdriver'd the lock they broke the side out on the lock cylinder.
So I need to come up with a solution to that little issue. I might try and cut the section I need off another barrel and then bond it onto mine with chemical metal.
I did discover something interesting while messing with these locks..........
When I bought the 78 it only came with one key, the original, very worn Toyota one. I went and got a second key cut as a spare and the key didnt look anything like the one I gave the guy, as he simply cut the new one off the Toyota code engraved into the original key, rather than having to copy my badly worn one.
While there I also got a spare key cut for my soft top RJ70, but I hadnt got an original Toyota key for this lock set so was forced to have a copy of my badly worn one cut, which isnt ideal, although it does work.
Anyway......I discovered while messing with these locks that the key code is stamped onto the drivers door lock barrel.
Meaning with my other 70 I can get a new key cut, simply by using the code stamped on the drivers door lock barrel, so I wont have to settle for a badly worn key anymore.
This could also be useful if you ever lose your keys, but your Landcruiser was unlocked, or if u bought an old one cheap that didnt come with keys, with that code you can order new keys.
Last edited:
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OK..................
Time for an update.
Drivers Door Lock.
So I had another look at the lock and came up with a great fix to the issue.
So my broken lock on the left and an intact one on the right. The side bit that is broken off my one was what held the little flap in place that covers the key hole.
Both Toyota Australia and Amayama in Japan said the same thing, Toyota wont supply a coded barrel. They will sell you a new lock, with a different key to the rest of the barrels on the vehicle or they will sell you a complete new set of lock barrels and keys.
I wasnt happy with either of those options and so decided I would adapt the spare, intact barrel I had to take my key.
Normally without a key inserted in the barrel there is 6 pins that stick out and prevent the barrel from turning. (Sorry forgot to take a pic of that).
Once the correct key is inserted all the pins pull/drop into the barrel and the barrel can be turned, like this.
By putting my key into this spare barrel I found only the middle 2 pins stayed out, the other 4 all dropped.
So I carefully filed these middle 2 pins down until they too were flush with the others.
My barrel then looked like this with the key inserted.
And with my key removed, 4 pins shoot back out.
Apart from obviously the middle 2 that I filed down.
This effectively means that the lock barrel on my drivers door is slightly less secure than the others as it has 2 pins less to stop a would be lock pick from gaining entry.
But seriously who's going to pick a lock anyway, they would just smash the window or prise the door open and if their good enough to pick a 4 pin lock I'm sure a 6 pin lock wouldnt be much harder for them.
So with the new lock barrel now accepting my key I could reassemble the lock.
Barrel back in the lock.
Into the vice ready for the delicate bit.
Spring in first.
Followed by the flap.
Then the outer cover.
Which just needed the tabs bending down to secure it.
And there we have one new lock!
I cleaned all the paint off the other locks.
Found a scotch pad worked well.
I also brought all the handles to work so I could clean those too.
They were covered in primer.
Exhaust.
I made a good start on the 3" mandrel bent stainless steel exhaust.
Down pipe first which I made using a 30 degree bend and the flange I made a few weeks ago.
With that tacked together I could try it on the car.
I bolted an inner guard on to check for clearance.
Added some more tube and a flange and fully welded it.
Next section.
Quick check for tyre clearance.
More welding.
I cut some stainless steel out of the section of a scrap medical trolley for my first hanger/mount.
And knocked up a bracket.
Which I've tacked on.
And thats where I'm up to with the exhaust.
I've just ordered a tight 90 degree bend and a stainless weld in boss for the EGT probe and I should have all the bits to finish the exhaust system then.
Amayama.
I got another delivery from Amayama this week, this time from the warehouse in Japan.
Front mud flap to replace the one that was missing when I bought the vehicle and a drivers side replacement mirror glass.
And a load of oil seals, enough for both 70's.
I've had a very slight set back from my panel shop in that they are going to start the body work and respray on Wednesday now instead of Monday, but thats OK.
So I might even be able to get the exhaust finished now before it goes.
I've been feeling a little overwhelmed by this project this week, just because there is so much work still to do and I dont feel like I'm making much progress. Its also the first time in 7 years when I havent had a LandCruiser on the road and I miss being able to go on our camping/4wding trips.
I'm also thinking I'm going to have to sell my motorbike to pay for the rest of the bits and work I will need to do to get it finished, as with over 50% of both our wages going straight in our savings account for a house deposit I dont have any spare cash.
But needs must and this car will be finished!
I still need to order/pay for:
-Sound/heat deadener for the floor pan. $200
-Fan for my engine. $60
-Oils, filters & coolant. $175
-Aircon to be re-gassed. $100
-Windows to be tinted. $350
-Registration and RWC. $600+
Then theres the interior fit out to do and auto electrics which is probably going to be another $1k + with the water tank, false floor, drawer system and load barrier.
Time for an update.
Drivers Door Lock.
So I had another look at the lock and came up with a great fix to the issue.
So my broken lock on the left and an intact one on the right. The side bit that is broken off my one was what held the little flap in place that covers the key hole.
Both Toyota Australia and Amayama in Japan said the same thing, Toyota wont supply a coded barrel. They will sell you a new lock, with a different key to the rest of the barrels on the vehicle or they will sell you a complete new set of lock barrels and keys.
I wasnt happy with either of those options and so decided I would adapt the spare, intact barrel I had to take my key.
Normally without a key inserted in the barrel there is 6 pins that stick out and prevent the barrel from turning. (Sorry forgot to take a pic of that).
Once the correct key is inserted all the pins pull/drop into the barrel and the barrel can be turned, like this.
By putting my key into this spare barrel I found only the middle 2 pins stayed out, the other 4 all dropped.
So I carefully filed these middle 2 pins down until they too were flush with the others.
My barrel then looked like this with the key inserted.
And with my key removed, 4 pins shoot back out.
Apart from obviously the middle 2 that I filed down.
This effectively means that the lock barrel on my drivers door is slightly less secure than the others as it has 2 pins less to stop a would be lock pick from gaining entry.
But seriously who's going to pick a lock anyway, they would just smash the window or prise the door open and if their good enough to pick a 4 pin lock I'm sure a 6 pin lock wouldnt be much harder for them.
So with the new lock barrel now accepting my key I could reassemble the lock.
Barrel back in the lock.
Into the vice ready for the delicate bit.
Spring in first.
Followed by the flap.
Then the outer cover.
Which just needed the tabs bending down to secure it.
And there we have one new lock!
I cleaned all the paint off the other locks.
Found a scotch pad worked well.
I also brought all the handles to work so I could clean those too.
They were covered in primer.
Exhaust.
I made a good start on the 3" mandrel bent stainless steel exhaust.
Down pipe first which I made using a 30 degree bend and the flange I made a few weeks ago.
With that tacked together I could try it on the car.
I bolted an inner guard on to check for clearance.
Added some more tube and a flange and fully welded it.
Next section.
Quick check for tyre clearance.
More welding.
I cut some stainless steel out of the section of a scrap medical trolley for my first hanger/mount.
And knocked up a bracket.
Which I've tacked on.
And thats where I'm up to with the exhaust.
I've just ordered a tight 90 degree bend and a stainless weld in boss for the EGT probe and I should have all the bits to finish the exhaust system then.
Amayama.
I got another delivery from Amayama this week, this time from the warehouse in Japan.
Front mud flap to replace the one that was missing when I bought the vehicle and a drivers side replacement mirror glass.
And a load of oil seals, enough for both 70's.
I've had a very slight set back from my panel shop in that they are going to start the body work and respray on Wednesday now instead of Monday, but thats OK.
So I might even be able to get the exhaust finished now before it goes.
I've been feeling a little overwhelmed by this project this week, just because there is so much work still to do and I dont feel like I'm making much progress. Its also the first time in 7 years when I havent had a LandCruiser on the road and I miss being able to go on our camping/4wding trips.
I'm also thinking I'm going to have to sell my motorbike to pay for the rest of the bits and work I will need to do to get it finished, as with over 50% of both our wages going straight in our savings account for a house deposit I dont have any spare cash.
But needs must and this car will be finished!
I still need to order/pay for:
-Sound/heat deadener for the floor pan. $200
-Fan for my engine. $60
-Oils, filters & coolant. $175
-Aircon to be re-gassed. $100
-Windows to be tinted. $350
-Registration and RWC. $600+
Then theres the interior fit out to do and auto electrics which is probably going to be another $1k + with the water tank, false floor, drawer system and load barrier.
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Good work as usual Ben. I should have chipped in earlier, you can pull the 'tumblers' out of the lock barrels and swap them over. They will pull out quite easily with long nosed pliers, then there's a tiny spring, which you could leave in place. Then you could swap them like for like into the new barrel…if you weren't already past this stage of course. 
Fancy being able to put half your wages into savings…
Fancy being able to put half your wages into savings…
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Thanks guys.
I know I shouldnt complain, but its just hard when for the past year I've basically had $75 a week left after paying the bills and depositing in the savings account and as I'm sure you can imagine, $75 doesnt go far towards LandCruiser parts.
But by the end of the year we will have $80k in the bank and can finally buy a house.
Rich, wish I'd known that the tumblers just pull out.
You know I'm going to have to do that now, right?
Perfectionist in me will have to!
I know I shouldnt complain, but its just hard when for the past year I've basically had $75 a week left after paying the bills and depositing in the savings account and as I'm sure you can imagine, $75 doesnt go far towards LandCruiser parts.
But by the end of the year we will have $80k in the bank and can finally buy a house.
Rich, wish I'd known that the tumblers just pull out.
You know I'm going to have to do that now, right?
Perfectionist in me will have to!
I think I may be a lapsed perfectionist…
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I actually feel a bit stupid for not thinking of or trying to pull the tumblers out, seems quite obvious now.
I came across my bag of spare lock bits at the weekend and had a go at pulling one of the tumblers out with a pair of needle nose pliers and as you said, they just pull straight out!
Anyway.......
I got to spend most of Saturday working on the 78.
I broke out the big grinder Friday evening to clean the rest of the rust off the fuel tank guard.
I then brought it in, gave it a coat of the rust convertor and left it overnight to do its magic.
The next morning it was ready for painting.
I hung it up outside and gave it a coat of acid etch primer.
Followed by a coat of black enamel.
While that was drying I carried on with the exhaust.
I needed to trim one of my 30 degree bends down slightly.
This is how I've been marking all my tube, using a piece of paper wrapped around the tube and a Sharpie to give me a really accurate line to follow with a thin cutting disc in the grinder.
A bit more cutting, grinding and tack welding later and I had the next section of exhaust.
This tight 90 degree mandrel bend that arrived this week, was tacked onto the end of that section of tube, ready to direct the next section of tube to my silencer.
With that tacked on the end.
I could start mounting the silencer.
Found some bolt on 70 series exhaust hangers.
Cut the bracket off one.
Bent it to be the same angle as the other one and clamped it in position for welding.
TIG'd it.
And bolted it on with some exhaust rubbers.
Used a milk crate and some axle stands to position the silencer where I wanted it.
Measured what length tube I would need to join it to the rest of the exhaust system.
*not sure why my text turns red at this point, I've tried editing it and changing the colour to black but it keeps changing back.
Cut a piece of tube to length and tacked it in position.
Cut and bent some 10mm stainless steel rod.
And welded 2 pieces to the silencer.
This was probably the trickiest part as because I'm doing the whole exhaust system with TIG and TIG alone, trying to clamp the stainless steel rod to the round silencer, underneath the car, then trying to get in a position where I could get the TIG torch in in one hand and the filler rod in with the other, to tack it was pretty difficult.
With MIG it would have been easy as you only need one hand for the torch, freeing up the other hand to hold stuff and its just point and shoot for an instant tack.
But I got the rods tacked in position and then removed the silencer and fully welded them.
So that was the exhaust system built all the way up to the rear axle.
By this point the fuel tank guard paint was dry and I could refit the fuel tank and guard so I could see what direction the exhaust needed to take next.
Next section of tube cut and tacked together.
I've never been a fan of exhausts on 4wd's coming out below the chassis as they are too exposed and vulnerable to damage when dropping off rock steps off road.
So following on from the success of the my idea on my LJ70, I will be bringing the exhaust out above the bottom of the chassis and out through the rear bumper.
So that next section of exhaust comes up.
And over the chassis.
I've ordered one final 45 degree mandrel bend which should complete the system.
I've started designing the rear bumper as it will have to tie in with the exhaust.
At this stage I'm thinking I will make something very similar to the standard bumper, consisting of 2 x corner sections, one each side. Which I will get cut and folded locally out of 3mm steel. These will be braced back to the chassis just behind the rear wheels (something the standard bumper corners didnt do) and will bolt on in a similar way to the chassis as the standard one, making use of the plastic cover trims that the standard one had.
I will make sure the bumper has plenty of clearance to the body though so I can keep that area clean and prevent future rust issue.
I also want to keep the step area that the standard bumper has as I think thats quite a useful touch for climbing into the back.
I also want to make a new towbar with a receiver hitch so I can use it as a recovery point and I will also be incorporating lifting points for my high lift jack adapter in the rear bumper/corners, so I can safely and easily change tyres while out in the bush.
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Loverly stuff Ben, maybe the text is getting hot with all the welding that's going on.
I hope the hangers welded to the silencer can don't cause it to crack, I see you've got plenty of area there to spread the load. My silencer hangers are welded to the seam where the cylinder of the can meets the end plates, it looks stronger there.
As long as there's no tension in the system, (mounts pulling in different directions) I recon it will be fine.
Lovely work as usual, I can't imagine the mess I'd get into, trying to do that.
I hope the hangers welded to the silencer can don't cause it to crack, I see you've got plenty of area there to spread the load. My silencer hangers are welded to the seam where the cylinder of the can meets the end plates, it looks stronger there.
As long as there's no tension in the system, (mounts pulling in different directions) I recon it will be fine.
Lovely work as usual, I can't imagine the mess I'd get into, trying to do that.
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Thanks guys.
I did think about that Clive and ideally I would have liked to have had the correct machine (probably a big set of rollers) to allow me to bend the rod so it went all the way around the silencer in basically a big U shape. Then it would have only needed a few small welds to help keep it in place.
I will just have to keep and eye on it and hope it doesnt crack. Its not under any tension/pressure so hopefully it will be OK.
I did think about that Clive and ideally I would have liked to have had the correct machine (probably a big set of rollers) to allow me to bend the rod so it went all the way around the silencer in basically a big U shape. Then it would have only needed a few small welds to help keep it in place.
I will just have to keep and eye on it and hope it doesnt crack. Its not under any tension/pressure so hopefully it will be OK.
The machine of which you speak Ben is an iron pipe, slightly smaller than your silencer diameter, securely fitted to a solid wall. You must have loads to choose from in the hospital.
Keep the bar long and chock it against the pipe from the wall with a piece of wood then pull the rod round the pipe just past 180 as it will relax back a bit. Remove the wood and you have your U bend.
Keep the bar long and chock it against the pipe from the wall with a piece of wood then pull the rod round the pipe just past 180 as it will relax back a bit. Remove the wood and you have your U bend.
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I had a few more deliveries this week.
45 degree bend.
And a weld in bung for my EGT sensor.
But I had no time to fit any of it as I had to pull the exhaust system off.
Because it was time to push the 78 out of the garage ready to put it on a tilt tray.
The guy turned up as promised at 6:30am.
I followed it down to the panel shop and helped unload it and explained to the spray painter exactly what I wanted.
So now I've got a week or so wait until I can get it back.
My Mrs will be glad when its back and I can finally start putting it back together as currently I've taken over the double suite with 78 parts.
And the single suite with LJ parts.
Thres a single bed under there somewhere.
Leaving only the queen suite free for guests.
Shes definitely a very understanding wife and I think I will keep her!
