New (to me) BJ70, whats parts for 'birthday' present

[hotgemini]

Picking up a BJ70 on thursday, it's in pretty good nick particularly for the money.

It needs CVs and the left front axle seal is leaking, so will drop new ones in there, but wondering what else I should be looking at for an initial freshen up (will be daily driven).

So far I've got:
CVs
Swivel Hub Rebuild Kit
Front Wheel Bearings
Tie-rod end kit
New greasable pins and shackles
Polyurethane leaf spring bush kit
Clutch slave cylinder (current one works but is weeping)

I believe the brakes are good, so no need for pads/shoes/discs/drums. Any other common 'consumable' parts I'm missing?

Having a quick read around suggests the leather diaphragm in the diesel pump, should I replace this on the assumption it'll have holes, or wait and see?

Thanks.

-Adam.

[shorty_f0rty]

To help out the engine, i'd do the following:
- replace oil and filter
- fuel filter
- air filter
- reco injectors
- as you mentioned the governer diaphram on the injector pump (although you'll need the arms and flexibility of a 9yr old to replace it in the vehicle)
as for other stuff.
- also dump and replace the gearbox and transfer oils, check to see if the seal between the gear box and transfer is still intact (its common for it to fail and a work around is a bypass tube allowing oil to flow between boxes)
- as you are doing the front end, replace diff oils in both ends
- grease up all drive shafts
- while your there do the rear wheel bearings and oil seals too.

[drr]

Other than a good service (all oils, brake fluid, coolant, air, oil and fuel filters etc.) Some speedy sleeves for the axles may be needed. They tend to wear grooves in the surface where the inner axle seals run.
New drive belts can also be a good idea, often overlooked if there not noisy.

Front and rear lockers, snorkel, winch, bar-work, 35's..............

All depends on how generous the family is with their gift giving.

[bj on roids]

To help out the engine, i'd do the following:
- replace oil and filter
- fuel filter
- air filter
- reco injectors
- as you mentioned the governer diaphram on the injector pump (although you'll need the arms and flexibility of a 9yr old to replace it in the vehicle)
as for other stuff.
- also dump and replace the gearbox and transfer oils, check to see if the seal between the gear box and transfer is still intact (its common for it to fail and a work around is a bypass tube allowing oil to flow between boxes)
- as you are doing the front end, replace diff oils in both ends
- grease up all drive shafts
- while your there do the rear wheel bearings and oil seals too.

Wow, thats what I would do, over the course of a few months.

[hotgemini]

Will do all fluids, hadn't thought of the belts, will price them up and probably do them, must remember to have a look at the radiator and heater hoses too I guess.

With regards to the gearbox to transfer seal and leak, every other landcruiser I've played with has had the bypass hose fitted. Is this just because its easier than fixing the leak or is the logic that if you fix it, but then it fails again that you'll end up running the gearbox (transfer? whichever one it is that the oil pumps away from) dry and kill it without any obvious external leak? Its got a minor leak somewhere in the engine/box/transfer, so depending on how lucky I get with the roadworthy man, I may need to be replacing seals there, is it worth splitting the gearbox/transfer to replace that seal, and if so, is there anything else I should replace while I'm there.

Good hit on the tailshafts greasing, just did this on a mate's BJ42 but hadn't actually twigged that I should be doing it on my new bj70. It's added to the to-do list.

Will do filters.

Where in SEQ gets the recommendation for injector reconditioning?

Is it worth just replacing the glow plugs on a precautionary basis, or wait and see?

I added one more item to my list, the brass axle bushes. Actually two, splurged on a pair of new pedal rubbers for the brake and clutch pedals.

As for 'upgrades', that will come in good time, I've got another project car I have to finish before I'm allowed to make any significant mods to the cruiser.

It's got an aftermarket turbo on it, but doesn't seem to have the grunt of my mates similarly turboed BJ42. I guess the first step is to put a boost gauge on it and compare what its running to the 10psi my mate's bj42 has, and I suppose wait and see what difference the reconditioned injectors make.

Will try to get some photos up thursday or friday.

-Adam.

[shorty_f0rty]

oh yeh.. forgot about glow plugs.. you'll have to replace them all at once but thats not a big deal. best of to replace them and then you'll know they are good, any starting issues wont be the glow plugs. looks like you've got most things covered. I wonder if replacing the radiator hoses is worthwhile?

The bypass hose is a cheap fix for an otherwise expensive fix that might re-occur, you can usually see when the see is gone as the transfer leaks (well at least i did).

Not sure who does injector reconditioning, they usually do it on a swap over basis, eg, give them yours and they'll give you some reco'd ones back.

Got any more info on your mates bj42? Also, what injector pump is on yours is it inline or a rotary? I've read the rotory injector pump (3BII) is da bomb for turboing..

[drr]

If your lucky and have a couple spare hands to help, you can replace the leaking o-ring on the transfer idle shaft without pulling the transfer case apart. The trick is to keep a little torque on the output shaft and pray to god that the thrust bearing doesn't drop, or else you'll need to find out why they're called a split-case transfer. Then it's just a case of replacing both O-rings on the shaft. The bypass hose is a cheap fix/insurance, not an ideal solution though.

Genuine toyota radiator hoses are usually surprisingly cheap. You may get away with $30 for a pair, my RJ70 ones cost about $25 from memory, mates rates. They tend to be cheaper than aftermarket ones.

[Ice]

To help out the engine, i'd do the following:
-
- as you mentioned the governer diaphram on the injector pump (although you'll need the arms and flexibility of a 9yr old to replace it in the vehicle)

i dont remember it being all that hard to do on a bj70.

if it starts to idle high this is a good spot to check

[dogbreath_48]

Buy yourself a genuine workshop manual

[BJMorgo]

What excellent advice - I wish I had seen this thread a few years ago when I bought my BJ70.

The only thing I can add is some fish oil to slow down the rust in the roof. I removed the inside lining (only around the edges) and sprayed it in behind the tubular structural section. Be careful not to get too much in the cavity above where the seat belt lives. Then some rust converter, bog, seam sealer and paint finished the job on the outside.

[hotgemini]

Apologies for the terrible camera phone photo, here's the suspension bits I've picked up.

http://www.qutcliffhangers.com/gallery/ ... alNumber=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I, er, 'purchased' a free pdf copy of the factory service manuals, plus was given an ellery's service manual with the cruiser.

Was just looking through working out what fluids to pick-up and thought I'd put the details (courtesy of the castrol website) here for other people's reference.

Engine oil: 5.8 litres
Gearbox: 4.9 litres
Differential: 2.5 litres (see below)
Transfer Case: 2.2 litres
4wd differential: 3.0 litres (from their notes I think they're saying the rear takes 2.5 and the front takes 3, but it isn't clear)
Cooling System: 13.8 litres

No volumes are specified for the power steering, brake or clutch.

And a picture of the new BJ70 as it sat pre-purchase.

http://www.qutcliffhangers.com/gallery/ ... alNumber=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The turbo was fitted by mike vine, haven't had a good crawl over it yet, but obvious items on the upgrades list will be a 3 inch exhaust and an intercooler. There seems to be a split between those people who try to sneak the dump pipe down inside the chassis rail and those who go outside the rail and come back under further rearwards. Anyone got an opinion one way or the other? I'm considering stepping the dump up to 4 inch, then dropping it in the press and flattening it back down to 2" thick, but obviously I'll need to go have a closer look, just ideas at the moment.

-Adam.

[zombie_response_team]

Dump pipe straight out the front guard. Pro Street style.

Don't be soft.

[hotgemini]

Wow, so leaf spring fixed pins which clearly haven't been dismantled in 24 years are quite hard to get apart. Any tips? I've tried hammering, a stonking great big pry-bar, swearing and fire so far. Next up I think I'll fabricate a custom puller to push the pin through unless someone has another idea.

I added two more things to the birthday shopping list, a new hard brake line to the caliper as the passenger's side one snapped off while I was unbolting the brake line's tube nut out of the caliper, by the look of it someone before me had let it support the weight of the caliper. Which brings me to the second addition, caliper rebuild kit. On the caliper I've started pulling down the fluid was pretty damn ugly and the small pistons are siezed in enough that 100psi of air pressure won't shift them. Looks like I might have to dummy assemble it again, fit it back to the car, bleed it, chock the big pistons and then use the brakes to push the small pistons out.

Oh, if I was doing the shopping list again I'd probably add swaybar mount and end-link bushes but I can't be bothered now, they're not terrible but not great either. I'm umming and aahing as to whether I just the brake master, wheel cylinders and clutch master so all the hydraulics are in known good shape... will see.

[hulsty]

Just cut out the shackle pins, stuffed already and new ones are cheap.

[hotgemini]

Have new fixed pins, thats why I'm trying to remove the old ones.

Fair suggestion, I might grind both sides off and try dropping the spring out so I can get to the bush and remnants of the pin.

[RIPNMUD]

AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THE CAR JACKED UP SO THE SPRING HAS NO TENSION ON IT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HIT THE PIN OUT WITH A HAMMER AND WHEN IT GOES INSIDE THE BUSH USE A 3/8 EXTENSION AND HIT THE REMANDER OUT

[hotgemini]

Unfortunately no joy with that, with no weight on the fixed eye the pin is still well and truly seized inside the bush. It very much looks like it hasn't been apart in the last 25 years and going by the rust and pitting on the pins in the shackles, its a good thing I'm replacing it.

I should have another try at removing it tomorrow morning, will post an update with how I go.

[BJMorgo]

Forgive me for asking a stupid question but I assume you removed the little bolt that holds the fixed (anchor) pin in position as well as the big nut? Anyway good luck with that - I just finished changing the suspension on my HZJ73 - no problems with getting pins out of bushes out but the positioning of the tow bar was a pain making a simple job time consuming.

Another thing worth doing (unrelated to suspension) is swapping the front drive shaft around so that the fatter end is attached to the diff and the thinner slip yoke end is at the transfer case. Otherwise the front drive shaft tube gets damaged when it rubs on the gear box support cross member when flexing up. I don't know why Toyota did it that way on the early models but they changed it on the later models. Plus it won't suck in so much dirt and mud.

[shorty_f0rty]

I had the same issue trying to replace the fixed pin on a 60.. was an absolute karnt to get off and in the end had to take it to my mechanic to get off (not sure what he did in the end). I wailed on it with all manner of things, tried pry bars with extensions and still had no luck. I think in worse case scenarios, a gas axe is nearly the only real sure thing.

[hotgemini]

Success. A pain to try angle grinding them off because of the way the pin sits within the big hole in the chassis mount, worked that out while I was 3/4s of the way through angle grinding one off.

Hit them with the mapp gas torch for about 15 minutes a side, then got my wrecking bar in behind them and was just able to get them to shift. On the side that I'd mauled with the grinder there wasn't a nice lip to lever off so I had to weld some scrap steel to the pin to pry off.

Got them out, cleaned up the eye and fitted the new bushes/pins. Success!

Also picked up engine, gearbox and diff oils today and oil/air/fuel filters.

Hope to get down on saturday and knock over the rest.

-Adam.

[hotgemini]

Apologies for the lack of pictures for all of this but I can't find the bloody camera.

So over the course of an extended weekend I did the front CVs, swivel hubs, spindle bushes, the four tie-rod ends, front wheel bearings and brake caliper rebuild.

A few noteworthy things, 3 of the nuts holding the steering arm to the swivel housing on the passenger's side were finger loose and the fourth was only just any tighter.

The upper trunnion bearing on the driver's side was odd, basically 1/3 of the circumference of the bearing was flat, like a 'D' shape when vied top down, I think it must have copped a mighty hit at some point in it's life, probably explains the +/- 5 degrees of camber variation it had on the right hand side before the rebuild.

The driver's side CV had obviously eaten water at some point, the rust/water/oil/grease mix had the colour and consistency of peanut butter. Both swivel housings had a combination of different grease in them, looks like the CVs themselves were packed with moly grease but then the swivel housings were filled with HTB. I reassembled it all with castrol LMM in the CVs/trunnion bearings/swivel housing and Morey's HTB in the wheel bearings.

From how seized the tie-rod ends were and the rust only on one half of the circumference of the tubes, I suspect it may never have had a wheel alignment in its 14 years.

The brake calipers... 6 out of 8 pistons were seized such that 100 psi of air wouldn't shift them on its own, ended up with using vicegrips to pull/twist the piston while they had 100 psi of air behind them and as mentioned earlier, the last two pistons I had to reassemble everything, put it back on the car, bleed it and use the hydraulics to shift them. This is the third early landcruiser that I've played with the brakes on and all three have had at least 2 seized pistons per caliper. So if you haven't had your calipers apart, it's something I'd add to the to-do list. Cost me $210 for the rebuild kit with 8 new pistons, although it would have been nicer if it included new bleed nipples and the four flat o-rings (2 per caliper) which go between the caliper halves.

Yesterday I grabbed a new windscreen and fitted it, cleaned up the windscreen surround while it was apart but it was actually in good condition, in fact great condition if you compare it to most 70 series cruisers, its had one small repair previously at the bottom corner on the driver's side and a couple of spots (maybe a total 10mm wide by 75mm long) which I cleaned up with a little brash brush on the die-grinder, hit with some rust converter and gave a coat of paint.

Everything that came apart has been degreased, scrubbed, sandblasted, painted in VHT gloss black caliper paint, cured in the oven and reassemble with anti-seize (or loctite where appropriate) and all looks a million dollars.

Only issue now is that the brake pedal is low, initially just bled the fronts to get fluid in them, but then went through and bled rears then fronts. Got a constant stream of new fluid with no bubbles at all four, but by the feel of it I reckon I'm not getting pressure on the rear circuit, took it for a test drive and it stops okay and will lock fronts. Tomorrow I'll try bleeding it again in the hope that it will come good, might try cracking a line off at the master on the rear circuit, I did that initially when I first re-assembled the fronts but only for the front circuit, so maybe I've got a bubble in the master on the rear circuit side. My money however is that in bleeding the brakes I've gone and shredded a seal in the master cylinder on some crud in the bore. If it doesn't come good with a big bleed, I'll just fit a new master, it's only $90 so it simply isn't worth fucking around on it.

-Adam.

[De-lux]

Good stuff mate.

Your thread has made me nervous - this afternoon I'm going to attempt to remove my standard shackles on my BJ40 and whack in the superior engineering extended shackles I now have.

I was hoping this would be a 1 hour job...

[hotgemini]

Good stuff mate.

Your thread has made me nervous - this afternoon I'm going to attempt to remove my standard shackles on my BJ40 and whack in the superior engineering extended shackles I now have.

I was hoping this would be a 1 hour job...

So how'd you go with the shackles mr. lux? Probably just comes down to when they were last removed.

----

Had a sh*t of a day... went to take it down for a roadworthy, gave it a final once over to check lights etc. and noticed that the horn didn't work. Popped the bonnet aaaand... okay, no horns... fuck... It's okay, I've got two spare gemini horns... So fit them up, except then it promptly blows fuses, turns out geminis run a relay and so earth at the horns, while cruisers feed permanent power to the horns and switch them by earthing at the horn button. Unfortunately the terminal to wire the gemini horns in this manner isn't fitted (although there is clearly provision for it). So down to autobahn, pick up two new narva horns, fuses and terminals. Two of the wires had originally been bare wires (factory terminals torn off) so I'd terminated them with ring terminals to suit the gemini horns, had to cut off my nice new terminals and glue-filled heatshrink job and do the same thing again with spade terminals for the narva horns.

So I get it all wired up and bolted in, push the horn button and... nothing. F#*K! Out comes the test light and multimeter. Have power at the horns, pull the cover off the steering wheel, nothing... hmmm. Pull the steering wheel off, have power at the sprung brass terminal... Turns out the terminal had worn down enough that it no longer contacted the back of the wheel. Added a blob of solder onto the brass terminal to extend it back up (will order a new part if its not too expensive) and voila, a horn and it only took me 2 hours of my life.

So go and get the CTP certificate which I'm meant to get before going for the roadworthy, then tootle down to a local mechanics.

After basically a week of methodically removing parts and either replacing them with new ones or carefully scrubbing them immaculately clean and repainting them the landcruiser looks pretty damn good underneath, so I'm pretty confident that it'll walk through the roadworthy no hassles. I go grab a coffee and a bite to eat and then come back to pick it up.

So I wander back in and he explains that he's failing it... I'm like 'GUH!? why?'

Three things. First, one of the new tie-rod ends I'd just fitted needed its adjuster wound in half a turn...
Second, broken gearbox mount.
Third, the mod plate for the turbo has been modified.

So I'm like, oh well, fair cop on the gearbox mount. Illegally drive it home (meant to tow things if they fail) and pull out the bash guard, gearbox crossmember and gearbox mount. the damn thing isn't broken, it's just got a 1mm deep tear where the rubber pad meets the plate on two points (stuck a big fuck off pry bar on it with it in the vice to check), but fair cop, I'll put a new one in to keep him happy. Should be able to get it in and back down and still get it registered before close of business. Tried four places, nobody had them in stock, ordered it for monday, mongrels... there goes my sunday 4wd trip

So then I take the time to look at the mod plate. Turns out mr mechanic is pretty eagle eyed, under the engraving on the plate you can just see it did have stamped figures beforehand, but on every character that you can read, the engraving is identical to the stamping which it goes over the top of. My money is that it's been that way since it was first plated, but I guess someone could have gone back over it but seems like an odd choice.

Once I worked out that it wasn't going to make it on the road for the weekend, I looked for some way to salvage my day. So I've cleaned up and painted the crossmember and bashplate, so at least I get some benefit out of having it all apart. Also decided to pull the tailshafts out, clean them up, repaint them, replace the universal joints and regrease everything. There was a very slight thrumming which I suspect was the rear shaft so I might as well take care of it now while I can't do anything else and I'll reverse the front shaft. I'm sure a sunday spent replacing universal joints will be just as much fun as a day spent out 4wding with half a dozen mates, right? right?!

Even after replacing everything in the front end I'm still not over the moon with the steering, need to adjust some of the play out at the box and I suspect it could do with some caster plates because of the rather flattened springs, will see what the wheel alignment shows up once I can get rego plates on the bastard.

Once it's on the road, I'm still going to fit a new brake master cylinder and rear brake slave cylinders at the very least, I might go for broke and fit new drums, shoes, pads and rotors at the same time, although the bank account has taken a beating over the course of the week.

Oh, my mate found my missing camera, in the glovebox of his BJ42, so should have some photos next week.

-Adam.

[De-lux]

jeez... sounds like you had an interesting one!

It took my all of 2 hours to install the new ext shackles front and rear on my cruiser. The pins came out with a little nudge from the hammer. Easy as..