LJ78 Build Thread

[Ben]

With the insurance company sending a guy out to fit a new windscreen in the 78, after it got broken while I was towing it on a trailer, as its obviously not registered yet and a stone must have flown up and hit the screen causing the crack.

I needed to do a little job before the new one went in.

I needed to add the power point for a windscreen mounted GPS.

I covered the vents with a rag to keep any swarf out, selected a suitable step drill and put a magnet in place to catch most of the swarf.

And drilled the 30mm hole.

Used the little vacuum cleaner to suck up any bits of swarf the magnet missed.

And carefully removed the rag from the underside that had caught more swarf.

Cleaned up the edges of the hole with a de-buring tool.

And fitted the 12v cig socket.

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The windscreen guy turned up on time and was soon busy fitting the new seal to the new screen.



He gave me the option of using sealant too, but I decided against it as I found with LJ, when I had a new seal fitted it never leaked (which it had done previously with the old seal) and on the 78 it was the old sealant that had actually caused the rust below the screen. Not to mention it was bloody messy and your hands would end up black handling the old screen and seal and touching around the screen opening in the body work.

If I do find it leaks they will come back and seal it but the guy said its very unlikely because the new seal was ridiculously tight to fit to the new screen and then to get into the frame.

I thought he might break the new screen at one point, he was having to bash it and pull on it so hard.

But within half an hour of the guy arriving the new screen was in!

I went for a tinted one.









I had another delivery from Amayama!





2 rear door seals.



Drivers door window channel.



Passenger side mirror glass and some trim clips.



I fitted the plastic sheet back onto the drivers door.



Fished the new speaker wire through and fitted the door card.





Fitted the new mirror glass which proved much trickier than the other side as the plastic frame the glass sits in was almost too small, so prising it away from the last edge of the glass so it would sit in the frame properly was tricky and a bit nerve racking.



Rear door seals went on next.





Now I had replacement trim clips.



The rear tread plates could be fixed down.





I needed to seam seal between the front wheel arches and guards next, just like Toyota did before they left the factory.

I applied some masking tape, to ensure I would get a nice neat line of sealant and not get it all over the nice shiny paint. I wanted to have about 5-10mm of paint under the guard then it will go to stone chip over the seam sealant and all under the arch.





Next I applied the seam sealant.





Which looked quite rough in the pics above.

But heres the top tip to getting perfect silicon work, which I only discovered when I worked as a shower screen fitted for a few months, after working with silicon for over 12 years at that point and I had always just relied on soapy water/water.

Methylated spirit in a spray bottle.



Spray a generous mist of it all over (its basically just alcohol so its pretty harmless) then run your finger along it for beautiful results.







I decided to pull the front wheels off to make doing the other side a bit easier.

They needed to come off anyway as I needed to inspect the front brakes and change the front hubs for the manual free wheeling ones.





Pads had plenty of meat on them still but the discs were badly scoured.







Masked and sealed up the second arch.









With the tape removed I had a perfect neat line of sealant.







Decided I would also do around the bolts, to try and keep any moisture out and hopefully keep any corrosion at bay.









Even got a nice seam of it where I repaired the passenger side wheel arch.



I just need give all 4 wheel arches a coat of stone chip now to protect and seal them.

I stripped the front end down to remove the hubs that I will be changing.













Brake hoses were a bit cracked and needed replacing.







I've never seen CV's this rusty before.



Same on the other side.





So now I had a bench full of dirty parts to clean and inspect.





I bit the bullet and decided to replace the entire brake system.

$650 later (which was never in the budget ) I had all the parts.



And thats as far as I got.

Oh almost forgot.....

Last night I picked the freshly painted rear door up!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Those clips would be for a flare at a guess, and yes, you can buy them in Australia from BCF etc.

What condition were the metal of the door tops like? I've just been out to a friends place and one of their 'Cruisers has cracks in the door tops, where your (repaired) trim piece covers. Most of the 70's I've seen with ~300,000+km have those cracks on them.

 

[Ash Awbery]

Great work Ben I wish I was able to put that much time into my lj78, and yes it's a flare holder my wife was quite shocked when I told her the new off roader came with an emergency flare!

 

[StarCruiser]

That's one long standing question answered then as my JDM 81 had those clips in the footwell. I always wondered what they were for but a flare was one of my guesses when Ben mentioned them earlier.


If you ever set it off, can you video it and put it on the forum please.

 

[Ben]

Correct!

I had presumed that they would have been removed before the vehicles could be exported but it appears I was wrong.

Anyway.................

Update time.

I bent the rear door back to its original position, seen as it wont fit the 78.

Glazed it.

And removed it ready to sell.

Fitted the new one and gave the inside a good coat of Dinitrol.

Glazed it.

Refitted all the hardware to it, followed by the plastic sheet to the inside.

Followed by the door trim/card.

In order to finish putting the smaller door back together I needed to get the number plate light cover sanded down and painted, again.

I gave it another coat of silver, this time with some expensive paint.

But I'm still not happy with the finish so I'm just going to buy a brand new one.

I masked off ready for the stone chip coating in the arches.

It came up really good!







I picked up a cheap, second hand parts washer off Gumtree.





Got some of the proper cleaning fluid for it.



And made a start cleaning all the front axle parts.





Found 2 front wheel bearing kits I had been carrying in LJ.





Which contained genuine Koyo bearings.



I picked up some new Koyo king pin bearings with my brake parts.



And re-assembled the front axle using the manual free wheeling hub components, rather than the unreliable electric ones.



Along with all the new brake parts.





I also fitted some extended, stainless steel braided brake hoses, which go from the chassis to the axle.



And got the front wheels back on.



I foolishly sold the genuine KZJ70 radiator cowl I had years ago as it wouldnt fit with the 2" body lift I had on LJ (rad mounts to body not chassis).

Now that the 1KZ and rad are fitted in the non body lifted 78 and Toyota have discontinued the KZJ70/78 cowls, I needed to make one.

This is the old 2mm thick steel one I had fitted to LJ.





As that one was a bit rusty I decided to make the new one out of alluminium which I will then get powder coated black.

Cut some alluminium sheet.



Bent it in my folder.







Bit of trimming in my hand shear.





Drilled some mounting holes.



Clamped the 2 sides to the bench.





Cut and folded the bottom section.



Ready for welding.





Tried welding it but it didnt go well, it was a while since I had last welded alluminium and being super thin 1.6mm it was hard not to put too much heat into it.



Nice fusion weld section.



The rest was all rough as guts.





Lexi wasnt impressed with it either!



So that went in the scrap bin and I started again.

This time using 2.4mm and with a slightly different, better design.

Cut some more alluminium, no guilitine, so had to use a straight edge and a grinder.



I was at least using proper alluminium cutting discs though.



And I used the hand shear where I could, as it damages one section so cant be used for every cut.



Ended up with 4 main sections.



Which I tacked together on the vehicle.







I then removed them and got them clamped/weighted in position on the bench ready for fully welding.









Fully welded.





I then realised I couldnt get the damn thing back in position in the car.

So I decided to cut it in half.







Now it fitted.



Next I needed to fill in the edges around where the fan would sit.



Cut a cardboard template a bit bigger than the fan.



And marked some alluminium.





More marking and cutting.













I made some connector plates to join the 2 sections together.



Inserted some rivnuts.







Marked out the final corner piece.





Got the cowl back in place.









Cut out the final corner section.



Then tried it in position and marked out what needed removing to clear the power steering pump.

Then removed the cowl and welded it in position.





I also had to fill in around the cut out for the top rad hose.





Then finally I could fit the bottom section of cowl in position.





Then bolt the fan on.



Followed by the top cowl section.









Fitted the top rad hose.





I then made a list of jobs I needed to do and started working through them.



Picked up some supplies.



Fitted the new rear output seal on the transfercase.





And then pumped the box full of oil.



I fitted the Piranha diff breather hose next to the front and rear axles.







Gave the batteries a quick top up.



Started working through the maze of wiring from the original ECU controlled engine.







The old EFI fuel pump had lots of plugs connected to it off the loom, where as the manual one only has 1.





Got the battery trays fitted.





Bolted all the big relays and solenoids on next. They wont all be needed and some will get removed as LJ only had one of these big relays with the manual fuel pump engines fitted.





Got a battery in next.



And as the fusible links have been badly butchered and damaged I had to link one of them up temporarily with a wire and crocodile clip.

New fusible links are on order.



I was then able to get the engine turning over on the key!

Only reason I couldnt start it is because the fuel pump isnt connected.

I just need to work out which wires need to go to this 3 wire plug on my manual fuel pump.







I drew up some plans for the rear bumper/corners I want to make.







I ended up changing the design slightly, then I dropped them off at our local sheet metal fabricators for them to cut and fold the 4 sections for me out of 3mm sheet steel.

My plan is to closely copy the style and shape factory rear bumper/corners and retain the standard mudflaps, alluminium center step section and a few of the plastic trim pieces.

This is the standard one.









And the mudflaps.



I wanted to remove the towbar, damaged alluminum step section of the rear bumper and recovery point next.





The towbar is getting replaced with the KZJ78 one I got from that wreck.



Its a Hayman Reese one and not only is it much beefier.



Its also a receiver hitch one which is much more useful.



Recovery hook and step removed next.



And I looked at how the new tow bar will fit.

I'm thinking it will need modifying slightly to raise it up to sit under the chassis cross member.





And thats where were up to.

I will update you on the rear ring and pinion fiasco next time.

I'm still hoping its only a few weeks away from being back on the road.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Hey Ben,
Unusual I can give advice on mechanical/welding/cutting things, but did you know to use a bar of soap when cutting aluminium with a grinder? Just put some normal soap on the grinder wheel, and then cut the ali; works as a lubricant and makes it a hell of a lot easier!

Looks good - the fan shroud on my 4Runner is a two piece one as well, so not an uncommon solution.

Also do you want to coat my inner arches for me?

 

[Ben]

Thanks Ed, I didnt know that.

I know they sell an actual product that you can rub on the discs for cutting ally, but never heard of using soap before. I will give it a go next time.



The arches were easy!

It was stone chipping the underside of the floor pan that was the messy job!

 

[Ben]

I managed to get a lot of things ticked off my list over the weekend which was good.

I've been working on te rear bumper design and I'd like to retain the alluminium factory step in the middle, but sadly both of the ones I have are damaged.

So I'm thinking I will have to order a new one from Amayama. Not cheap but I want it to be right.

I got the nicely folded 3mm steel back from the sheet metal place.

Side sections.

Which should work with the factory rear mud flaps, once I've cleaned all that horrible blue primer off them.

And the rear sections.

I've also started designing a switch and gauge panel to house all my aftermarket switches and gauges.

On LJ I had my gauges fitted where the fairly useless, but 80's Japanese retro cool, altimeter used to be.

And my switches above the single din stereo I had fitted.

I had considered mounting the gauge pod next to the standard 78 temp gauge pod on the dash.

But decided it might look too cluttered. And the switch panel cant go above the stereo as I want to fit a double din head unit in there so I can have a reversing camera hooked up to it as visibility out the back will be poor once the limo black window tints go on.

I wont need all the switches as this vehicle wont have ARB air lockers or compressor and I will only have EGT and Boost gauges as I dont think I'm going to run an auxiliary fuel tank.

Instead I will carry a jerry can or even get one of the Boab plastic fuel tanks that fit behind the front seats, just for those extra big trips if and when.

So the switch and gauge panel doesnt need to be too big.

This is what I'm thinking.

Another litle tiny improvment I'm going to make to the interior is to change the dented glove box lid with its Japanese writing, for the correct English version, which is undented.

Old one.

New one.

My new Bosch wiper blades finally arrived from the UK, via ebay.

I couldnt find any decent ones at a reasonable price in Australia so got these ones.

Got them fitted to my freshly painted wiper arms.

And bolted them on.

The wiper arm covers both took an hour to clean all the paint off them.

I had ordered new ones using the part number off Toyodiy but the part number must be wrong, or some one has changed the arms because this is what turned up.

I also ordered some after market clips for the front weather strips on the doors but sadly they too were wrong.

I'm making good progress on the auto electrics and I must say a huge thank you to @iwan_t24.

I will post an update once I have finished correlating all the information as I'd like to post it all together to help other people doing the same conversion.

Now the rear diff with the 2 broken teeth on the ring gear.

I spent half an hour on the phone to the guys at Don Kyatt (Terrain Tamer) and thought we had the right part number so I got my old boss to order it for me.

A few days later a box arrived, with some diff breather hose he kindly donated to the build.

And the replacement ring and pinion.

Compared it to mine.

And instantly spotted a problem.

New ring gear was far too thin.

Got my diff in the vice to measure it.

It appeared to be about 35mm thick.

So I set a square up with a magnet to more accurately measure it.

Which confirmed my measurement.

So more phone calls to Donn Kyatt and it turns out they had given me the part number for the version without diff lock because for some reason on their system, like Toyodiy's system the diff lock ring and pinion part number has Japanese writing after it, so its not very clear which ring and pinion is which.

They checked the system and came back to say they dont have them and cant get them.

So at that point I was considering spending $1100 importing one from Amayama.

But they came back to say Toyota has discontinued that part and has no remaining stock.

However I may have a solution......

After posting about my diff issues on my favorite facebook page, the Toyota Bunder Australia group (which I highly recommend to any LJ/RJ/KZJ 70 series owners)

One of the guys who happens to live in Brisbane, owns an LJ78 with factory rear locker and he had his rebuilt last year, locally and was able to provide me with some very valuable information.

He has very kindly said I can borrow his old ring and pinion, so I will take that into Marks 4wd or Donn Kyatt and compare it the Hi-lux ones they have.

I'm not game enough to risk ordering one of the ones below from the states encase its wrong.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mgr-t488

So for now I've decided to refit the diff and I will have to drive very carefully until I get the new parts fitted.

I did want to do something about the chipped teeth though as they looked like they could flake and break off at any time.

Decided to clean u the break with the die grinder.

Diff got wrapped in surgical rags to keep any swarf out (the hospital use these cotton cloths to dry hands after they have been washed, before doing certain procedures and then they get thrown away, so my wife brings me some home after every shift! )

And cleaned up the damage.

The diff flange then got a good coat of silicon.

And bolted back in.

Then the new oil seals went in.

Followed by the half shafts/axles.

I then started cleaning all the brake parts up.

And started to reassemble the rear hand brake shoes.

And thats where I'm up to.

Hoping to get the rear brakes done this weekend and get all the brakes bled.

I'd like to do some more on the wiring.

And start making the rear bumper and switch/gauge panel.

I'm on lates next week so should get lots more done as I will have 4 hours each day before work in the garage.

 

[doyle61]

Hey Ben, check out oding (username) build thread on his 60 series. I was planning on using his switch idea for my project. The photos are on the second last page of the thread.

 

[Ben]

Thanks.

Is this the page?

Struggling to find it.

https://landcruiserclub.net/community/threads/tlc-hj61-total-reconditioning.142150/page-27

 

[Edward Moyse]

Maybe on this page?

https://landcruiserclub.net/community/threads/tlc-hj61-total-reconditioning.142150/page-23

 

[doyle61]

You can see it in that page Benbut Edward has the right page of him building it. I just really liked hoods design and location and thought I'd use the same one as oding.

 

[AndyCook]

I use those Bosch aero wipers , they seem to work well

I didn't know you could get slit discs specifically for aluminium, will have to get some of them, I have used ones for steel I past and didn't think they worked well

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys, gives me some more ideas. I do like how neat Odings switch panel and gauges look.

That part of the build is on hold for now, this weekends prioroties are getting the rear brakes fitted and the whole system bled. The fuel pump wired up so I can start and maybe even drive it. And I've made a start on the rear bumper.

I'm hoping to get a trip to Fraser Island in within the next few months before my son arrives.

But either way I need the 78 finished for when he does arrive as I want to pick him up from the hospital, in the 78. So he can say the first vehicle he ever went in was a might LandCruiser!

I use those Bosch aero wipers , they seem to work well

I didn't know you could get slit discs specifically for aluminium, will have to get some of them, I have used ones for steel I past and didn't think they worked well

Cool, they do look like good wipers!

IMO the alluminium discs are better than normal steel discs but only marginally. So I'd save your money and give Ed's soap tip a go.

I will say though that that German brand of discs that I pictured, are the best angle grinding discs I've ever used! They last the longest out of anything I've ever used and cut really fast.

 

[Ako]

Finally caught up to the end of this thread. Think you build faster than no can read

Great stuff and hope you get the diff sorted

 

[clivehorridge]

Finally caught up to the end of this thread. Think you build faster than no can read

Great stuff and hope you get the diff sorted

I'm sure he will, Ako, Ben doesn't let anything stop him....

 

[StarCruiser]

I'm sure he will, Ako, Ben doesn't let anything stop him....

Even sleep…

 

[Ben]

little update........

Rear bumper first.

I removed some bolt on plastic caps from the ends of the original bumper.

These close off the ends of the bumper nicely where they meet the center step section.

So they will be getting used on my new bumper in the same position.

Clamped the new steel section in position.

And the next section.

Ideally this side section should have been 20mm shorter in height, but I think I can make it work.

Both sections also needed to be a bit longer really. I was rushing when I measured them up as I knew I would be going to the sheet metal place that day at work and wanted to drop the measurements off at the same time.

But I cant justify another $140 for them to redo them for me, or the week lead time.

I'm confident I can make it work though and if I fail then I will just order some more bits.

The standard bumper rises up slightly on the sides, but obviously not quite as much as mine.

Started working out how I will shape mine around the lights.

And how I will finish the corners, whether I will angle them or round them.

Thats as far as I got but I'm hoping to get some work done on it this week.

I cleaned the rest of the brake parts from the other side.

And now the half shafts/axles were in place it was time to start re-fitting all the brake parts.

Calipers first.

And then on to the shoes.

I tried to closely follow the directions in the FSM.

But OMG what an absolute **** of a design!

I can see why people hate the hand brake/drum brake inside the rear discs on LandCruisers.

On my particular model there really is hardly any room to work to get all the springs and clips on.

Eventually I had one side done though.

These clips took me ages.

And the springs were a bit tricky too.

But eventually that side was done.

And the new disc could go on.

I cheated on the other side and found an easier way of doing things which sped things up massively.

I found fitting the retaining pins, clips and springs first.

And then holding the spring back with some needle nose pliers while maneuvering the shoe into position was a lot easier, still not easy, but easier!

And finally both sides were on!

I decided to change the hand brake cable next as a previous owner had tried taking slack out of the cable and had badly kinked it and its one component I really dont want to ever snap.

Old one.

Replacement one from the KZJ78 wreck.

Next my top tip for the week.......

Handbrake cables can be difficult to get in and out of the section that bolts to the floor pan as you need to squeeze all the little legs in before it will pop through the hole.

So my tip is to use a deep socket to push them all in and then you can push the cable out.

Works beautifully and so quick and easy.

Fitted the new hand brake cable and then I slackened these adjusters right off.

And used a screwdriver through a hole in the disc to turn the adjuster to adjust the brake shoes.

Before the wheels could go back on I wanted to pull the passenger side spring out to change the panhard rod.

As due to the design of it you cant get the panhard rod bolt out with the spring fitted.

Removed and comparing it to the new Superior Engineering adjustable one.

Now Superior Engineering say their Bundera panhard rods dont fit the later square headlight model 70's, only the earlier and much more common (in Australia) round head light models.

And they arnt lying.

The bolt hole in one of the metal sleeves in one of the bushes is too small.

But I have black smith drill bits and a pillar drill so I was soon able to correct that!

Pushed it back in the vice (I removed it in the vice too, using 2 sockets, but no pic)

And it was ready to bolt on.

I greased the rear prop shaft next and got that fitted.

I filled the rear diff with oil.

Then bled all the brakes and the clutch.

While on the subject of the brakes I'm really not happy with the design of the hand brake.

Now I could have fitted extended dog bones, dozens of companies make them, the biggest being Terrain Tamer and they have been on the market for over 10 years now and I'm sure that would improve how well it works.

But I know most people have issues with the hand brakes on LandCruisers and I think the design is fundamentally flawed.

So I want to look at changing the calipers for ones that have a cable operated hand brake section on and then do away with the handbrake shoes/drum brake all together.

The rear disc conversion I did on my other 70 is running this setup and the handbrake is awesome! And how much simpler and easier to work on are discs and calipers? In this day and age drums and shoes should be obsolete, especially on an off road vehicle where the brakes get submerged in muddy sandy water!

Back to the build and it was time to do some wiring!

iwan_t24 has been a huge help.

One of his posts early on in the thread from page 3 was very useful.

As was the email he sent me this week with pics of how he worked his out.

And the pics in full.

And his Jap import 70 which he has fitted a manual fuel pump, 1KZ-T engine into in place of the ECU controlled 2-LT.

So from all this information I managed to work out that that grey, coaxle type wire going to the alternator is the oil pressure sensor wire.

So that just needed pulling back to the bulkhead to be extended to the sensor.

From the information Iwan provided I knew that my manual fuel pump has 2 taco wires going to it, as well as the ignition live wire, bit I wasnt sure what went where.

But after doing some searching online I found a forum post where a guy said that the one that needs the ignition live going to it will go to ground, where as the other 2 wont.

So I used my test light to test this theory and found that only one wire was in deed earthed.

The yellow and black one.

Next I got setup in the cab to start working some wires out.

So basically there is 2 connectors on the ECU that connect part of the engine loom, to the other connector that goes back to all the gauges/switches/fuses/relays etc. in the cab.

So I needed to take some wires from that one connector and connect them to certain wires going into the ECU on those other 2 connectors there fore by passing the ECU.

The pic below shows the 2 engine loom connectors coming into the ECU and the connector coming from all the gauges and switches.

Using Iwan's info I worked out which wires on this 12 pin connector I needed to cut and connect else where.

I then cut, soldered and heat shrunk the wires I needed for the fuel pump and tacho.

*I selected some now redundant wires going into the engine bay and connected to these and then cut and soldered the other end, in the engine bay to connect them to my fuel pump etc.

Decided it would be good to clearly label everything.

I could then finally try and start the car!

But the bloody thing just wouldnt fire up!

I was confident I had the fuel pump wired correctly and I knew the wire going to it was an ignition live as I tested it with my test light, so the only thing that could be stopping it was fuel, or lack of.

I'd been pumping the plunger on top of the filter housing for ages but it didnt feel like it was doing much.

So I got serious and hooked up a 12 volt fuel pump and after a good 30 seconds of pumping air through it finally started flowing diesel!

I reconnected the fuel hose back to the filter housing and she roared into life!

So I drove it out of the garage!

And then took it round the block!

It felt great to finally be driving it again after 6 months of hard work!

Brought it back and after giving it a quick blast over with the garden hose to get the dust off, I got a few pics of it on the lawn.

Before putting it back in the garage.

The drive made me realise that the rear diff is completely locked solid for some reason!

It was scrubbing the tyres on the corners and tore the lawn up a bit.

I had noticed when I went to fit the wheels, before the prop shaft was fitted and I thought it was very strange that the diff would be locked, without any power going to it.

Any ideas?

I'm hoping I can unlock it and fix it without pulling the diff back out, by removing the actuator.

I also need to bleed the power steering as it was heavy and noisy.

And nothing worked electrically!

No taco, oil pressure, temp, nothing.

So obviously theres still a lot of wiring to sort out.

But I'm not too stressed by all that, if I dont manage to get it fixed I will get one of the auto electricians at Piranha Off Road to look at it when we move back to Melbourne.

This morning I got the other battery fitted.

And got the parts ready for the glow plug system I'm going to fit.

I need to fit my volt gauge so I can see whether the alternator is charging or not, but I suspect it might be after I connected 2 of the 3 wires to where I guessed they should go.

I know Rich told me not to encase the smoke escapes, but I took a chance.

I found this diagram that I think might help me fit that 3rd wire.

This week I've got 3-4 hours each morning in the garage before work and as my wife is working nights this week I will also get a few hours each evening if I'm not too tied.

So hoping to get lots done.

Main jobs are the rear diff issue, power steering bleeding, wiring and rear bumper.

 

[AndyCook]

Brilliant progress

I think Chris once posted similar tip with drum brakes about fitting springs first then putting shoes it
A pig of a job whatever !

 

[clivehorridge]

I have no words to compliment the above, other than well done mate! You are getting there...