Hilux 4x4 Forum

Hi Gary, all in good time. Things have been a little "crazy" and I haven't had much chance of using it since returning from the Scheppie Saus w/end in the Cape. There's also a few issues that I will have to sort out first ... one of them being the brakes ...

You'll be hearing a bit more later.

There are still a lot of decent specimens out there. The SC might be more of a challenge since I think the DC's were far more popular and one doesn't see that many SC 4x4's about. Good luck.

From the vast Scheppie Sous image repository:
Mr B

Thanks Bretton .... never saw the ones you took with your camera!

3 more...
Standing guard...

Hi Andy,

How does the 22R compare to the 4Y?

I assume you have a Gearmax difflock at the back?

What is your fuel consumption currently? I suppose the BFG's will make the vehicle a bit more thirsty, especially the 31 inch tyres.

Mud Dog wrote:Thanks Bretton .... never saw the ones you took with your camera!

Nie gedink daar is (was) sulke mooi trokkies in die "Vellerrif" omgewing nie :wth:

Difficult to say really, Jaco. To start off, there is in reality only a 129cc difference in displacement between the two motors .... not a lot. Compression ratios are the same, while bores and strokes are just marginally bigger on the 22R, giving only 5kw of extra power according to the specs. That said, this motor has a mildly cut cam (I suspect it's a brospeed cam) ... my feeling is that the 4Y had more spunk on a trail (lower revs), while the 22r seems to be at it's happiest between 80 & 90 kmph. I actually haven't calculated the fuel consumption ..... been too distracted with other issues, but it didn't seem to be too bad, but then again we took it easy on the return trip and did'nt push it. I suspect that a heavy foot on the 22R will punish you quicker than the 4Y will. I'll still post those consumption figures once I've got around to doing it.

It handles the 31" tyres a little better than the 4Y, especially on the road, but the 4Y was never really unhappy with 31"s either. They are IMO the best size for these two motors, and with 31's the SFA speedo is fairly accurate. I observed a 1.5km/h under read against the GPS on the speedo during a steady speed along a long flat straight section of road.

Thanks Thinus .... that bakkie does make a nice picture!

smaak that kleur!!!!!!!

Still trying to get used to it .... shows up every little bit of dust!

Andy, that LTD looks great. I've always wanted one.

I'm currently getting 5.5km/l with mine, but it has the factory fitted Brospeed conversion, with an after market CRD cam.
Really potent at around 120km/h, if you're not careful you'll be doing 140 - 150 km/h in a flash
Idles fine as long is the choke is active, otherwise it idles low and uneven, but doesn't stall.

Stef, daai wit LTD van jou is smart, ek het hom met sulke honger ogies beloer by Berakah.

As jy ooit jou LTD soek, staan hy dalk langs Andy se LTD voor my huis.

Baie geluk Andy, jy lyk sommer klaar tuis agter die stuur.

andy
daai is nou wrastig prastig......

Thanks to all the guys for their good wishes and compliments! Although appreciated, I was even further saddened that I could not share all of your enthusiasm due to the problems that I was having but holding back on sharing. ( viewtopic.php?f=13&t=16131" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) I am slowly working my way through all the faults and even finding more as I go along.

I had noticed before, but when I did the head gasket replacement my attention was again drawn to the power steering reservoir. It wasn't straight from the start ... not level, always sat at a bit of an angle. On the 22R there is no place to mount it straight to the pump at the motor because of the dizzy position. It's mounted separately to the side on the wheel arch and connected with a supply and a return hose. There should be three bolts that secure the mounting bracket, but there was only one in place. Looking at it more closely, wanting to replace the missing bolts, I could see why. The pipes were too short and wouldn't allow the reservoir to pivot to the full upright position so the bolt holes couldn't line up and it was left with just one bolt. How disappointing that anyone could pass off a job like that when all that was required was a slight re-routing of the pipes and the remaining two bolts fitted. Took me less than fifteen minutes to achieve. :roll:


Something else that had been on my priority list was the missing battery clamp. It too had been missing for some time, as the bolt hole for the clamp was quite rusted. I had to first tap the thread before fitting a clamp that I made up.

Then there was always this rattle from the driver's side mirror on harder vibrations or when one closed the door. The mirror glass felt loose, so I started there and took it out just to find that there was nothing behind there to hold it but a Scotchbrite pad! This may have been done as a part of the door repair that I was told about.



Got some high density foam and cut a piece for the mirror cavity and re-fitted the mirror with the new 'full size' foam. No more rattles.

Eish!
This reminds me of the forum member who found a brick behind his door pannel!!

Hope you find all the little surprises and get them sorted, so that you can be a Happy Luxer again!

Been meaning to update this thread for a long time ..... just never seemed to get around to doing it. So many little things on this vehicle that had been neglected and needed doing or had been done Heath Robinson style and required to be re-done. Ironically it had 'passed' a roadworthy test less than 4 months prior to me buying it! When I put it through again after doing most of the repairs listed below, it went through with a clean sheet (and without any R100 notes attached to the application). Where to start? .....

OK, the head gasket was the first thing done, but that was in my opinion a co-incidental failure.

Repaired bonnet catch release cable and serviced the mechanism .... was never lubricated. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16009" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The spare wheel was lying loose in the load bin ... most undesirable situation ... secured it. (I still want to remove the second tank since it's a really crappy job that was done, although it works, and put the pare back where it belongs).

The canopy door hinge was repaired.

The missing gas lifters were replaced with new ones and I had to make new brackets for the lifters since those were missing as well.



The tail gate needed some adjustment since it was scraping

The tread plate on the rear bumper was missing 3 bolts ... replaced them and one mounting bolt that was also missing.

Fitted forum stickers!

One rear driving light worked intermittently ..... removed, cleaned the socket and re-did the bird's nest wiring behind.

One rear licence plate lamp was missing altogether and the remaining one was badly cracked The stealers wanted R375 each so I replaced them with non OE that I modified.



There was no roll bar. Got a replacement which didn't fit with the canopy on, cut it down, welded, sprayed and fitted it.



Sorted out the rattling mirror as in the post above.

Re-secured the loose power steering reservoir (as in the post above).

Made my own and fitted a battery clamp since there was none (as in the post above).

The front RHS park light lamp stood proud and was loose. It had been stuck in with double sided tape and prestik since two of the lugs were broken off. Repaired.



The front RHS mud flap was loose ... missing screws ... replaced screws.

Both front fender linings were loose ..... re-secured.

The LHS fender flare was loose and stuck out on the front edge. The rivet had torn out ... re-secured.

The grille was loose and rattled because of missing screws and holders .... repaired and secured.

The spot lights worked intermittently ... bad connections and too many ..... re-did the wiring.

Headlights were out of alignment .... adjusted.

Brake booster vacuum reservoir was not holding the vacuum .... re-did the vacuum pipes and non return valve.

Bonnet was missing a buffer rubber .... replaced.

Window washer bottle had debris in it .... cleaned out. Two of the four washer nozzles were clogged ... cleared and adjusted.

Window wiper blades replaced.

Squeak from behind the dash sorted .... loose screws and wiring harness. (There is still an occasional rattle that I still have to find.)

The clinometer was connected to the dash lights but didn't illuminate .... replaced the back light bulbs.

The stalk switch for the lights was faulty ... removed, cleaned contacts, assembled and re-fitted.

All four door panels were loose ..... clips were missing or had pulled through the backing .... clips replaced and backing repaired.

Rear door speakers were fouling against the window winding mechanism. Made up some spacers for the speakers and fitted.



One rear door window handle loose ... no clip .... replaced.

Drivers door window winding mechanism loose and rattling .... secured.

There was a stupid arrangement with a cargo net across the rear cab window, also badly fitted .... removed.

Diff oils were contaminated .... drained and replaced. Also fitted high level diff breathers. See viewtopic.php?f=93&t=16855&start=60" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Difflock "engaged" signal not working ..... replaced contacts in diff.

Gear lever was very floppy .... re-did bushes and pivot pin.

Handbrake was non-existent ...... serviced and adjusted .... works like a bomb.

Shackles and hanger pins removed, greased and re-fitted. Also greased the leaf packs.

Greased the universals and slip-joints on the prop-shafts.

Winch connections got very hot when winch was in use .... cleaned and re-did the connections.

Might have forgotten some items, but will add if I remember, as well as a couple of pics taken along the way ..... still a long way to go, not even half way done yet.

Eish oom Andy, I'm lost for words. So basically you bought a project car? Through all of this I admire how you handled the situation up to so far and your character. No wonder you're married 30 yrs,

Anyway be strong and of good courage, it's just a pity that some people are the way they are,

All the best!

Andy,

Sterkte.Ten minste weet jy wat alreeds gedoen het nou 100% reg is.

You've been busy.

When in East London again I'll come and inspect the result.

Andy. Sounds like a true labour of love. Just keep doing it right. Lux looks realy nice.

Thanks guys ... this one has to last, so I've go to look after it!

Traveler wrote:You've been busy.

When in East London again I'll come and inspect the result.

Heinrich, if I hear you've been here and haven't at least popped by to say 'hello', you're a dead man! There's not a lot of visual difference ... all small niggly 'behind the scenes' stuff that's not immediately apparent.

I'm going to include a few pics into the relevant places in the post above ......

On Friday afternoon I used the lux to go to the shops ... I heard the grinding of brake pads ... very faint, at first I thought I had imagined it but next time I applied brakes I listened carefully .... sowar! they were grinding!. Did a quick check and the disc pads were right down ... fortunately the ridge on the disc was the first thing to catch so I didn't damage the braking surface. Got a set of ATE pads on Saturday morning and set about changing the pads ... a job that shouldn't take more than 1½ to 2 hours ... how wrong I was.

It seems that every time I open something up, I find a can of worms. The whole calliper and space between the disc and backing shroud was gunged up with muck and Atlantis sand (or beach sand) .... not even a couple of kettles of boiling water released it. I ended up digging most of it out with a narrow screw driver (hate using tools for purposes that they were not intended) after which I washed it all down with paraffin before I could start.

Long story short, I spent most of the day on the lux. The shocks and steering damper were quite rusted in places, so I cleaned those up at the same time, treated with a converter and painted them again.

I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I never thought to take any "before" pics, and with dirty black hands, I wasn't about to touch a camera. Only later after one side was completed and I was already starting to paint on the other did I think to take a few snaps.

All done, cleaned, rust treatment done and starting to paint.

Painting finished .....

The extension housings of the hub locks were so dirty that they never came clean with normal washing of the vehicle .... I had actually thought that they had been sprayed with a gun metal colour. Only with the parafin wash did the silver start shining through .... cleaned them up nicely.

Yes Andy, some people just don't care. That is why I bought my bakkie 8 years ago. Although it was in an accident, I could see that the previous owner cared for it. My dad was in the motor trade and he taught me what to look for. On the other hand, maybe I was just lucky.

Respect Andy! I'm impressed with your dedication in less than ideal circumstances!

The yellow brake calipers look great!

Two weekends ago I pulled out the dash to locate a niggley rattle ... sorted it and some crappy wiring at the same time ....... but this has been bothering me for some time now.


I thought it also looked very 'Heath Robinson' .... not a lekker job done there and the gauges didn't seem to be working either. Decided that I would put an ashtray back there (was missing the use of an ashtray) and relocate the gauges if necessary. Asked around for an ashtray and Dawie (Lollie) was kind enough to donate one to me. A little while ago I then pulled the gauges out to find that they weren't even connected! ... so much for the operational dual battery system and long range tank that the vehicle was supposed to have! To add insult to injury, there was a real mess of wires behind there with bare positives hanging loose ... thank the powers that be that I never had a short or a fire! Sorted the wiring, but still couldn't fit the ashtray since the sleeve had been removed as well. I asked Dawie if by any chance he still had the sleeve that goes with the ashtray as well as the console face plate since there were big holes cut into it for the gauges. Luckily he had and sent them on to me I wanted to pay Dawie but he wouldn't hear of it. Thanks a ton Dawie!
I fitted the sleeve and the ashtray




I really wondered about the console face plate. Unfortunately the one that Dawie had sent me had some over-spray that I couldn't get off. Also had a 'few' scratches, so despite Dawie's kindness I didn't want to fit it yet till I could make some plan to restore it a bit. (I fitted the cig. lighter.)


Then I thought, what the hell, the old one is buggered .... let's see if I can do something with the old one .... if it didn't work out, I still had the one from Dawie to fall back on. The old one also has a "Lights" switch fitted, which I thought would be lekker for either roof mount spots or rear facing work lights.
Looked in my store for some sheet metal but most of it was the thin stuff. Found some older off-cuts that were 0.8mm galvanised ... DIRTY, but the right stuff, so I set about bending it up on my home-made bending-break.



Made use of the spare face plate as a template for the profile ...



The finished cut was cleaned up and fitted like a glove.


Since there were already going to be holes in the console behind the metal plate, I thought I would make use of the plate to fit some extra lighter sockets for GPS, cell charger, plug in spot lamps etc., etc.


And it fitted snugly without interfering with the ashtray or the radio.


All that was now needed was a lick of matt spray-paint, and to connect them up.


Finished!

x3 siggie lighters, you must quit.... :!: :!: :!: Chainsmoking ain't good for you....

Glad to know I am not the only committed smoker

Why dont you rather use the Hella plugs? They have a nice lid that covers the hole.

Lighter for cigarettes, cigars and pipe! Nice!

Neat work, Andy!

Andy that is some serious neat work that you have done there!!! Looking very good!!!

george wrote:Glad to know I am not the only committed smoker

Why dont you rather use the Hella plugs? They have a nice lid that covers the hole.

Had the lighters lying about, so I used 'em, but the Hella plugs ain't a bad idea at all .... might just swop them out and let the lighters lie about again.

Andy

Dit lyk genuine baie mooi.Well done job

OOOOMS wrote:x3 siggie lighters, you must quit.... :!: :!: :!: Chainsmoking ain't good for you....

Well done oom Andy, looking very neat I may add. Let's hope these were the last of the surprises.

Andy, looks very good! Why don't you simply spray the ashtray matt/satin-balck as well?


-F_D

Family_Dog wrote:Andy, looks very good! Why don't you simply spray the ashtray matt/satin-balck as well?


-F_D

The discolouration on the ashtray looks like a bit of sun / age damage. I thought that I would first try a light sandblasting to get the natural underlying colour back and a polish to give it a sheen again. Painting would be the last option .... it would scratch too easily and might end up looking worse than it does now.

Nice oom Andy!

Thanks Trevor!

Eric ... just realized that you've suggested something I know nothing of ..... what colour is "balck"?

Just thinking about it now, I'm wondering if a light sandblast is even necessary .... should just buff it first and see what happens. Off to the workshop to put it on a buffing wheel .... will report back in a mo.

Used a relatively fine buffing wheel at a slow to medium speed because I didn't want too much friction heat being generated on the plastic. (Fortunately the machine is pretty quiet so my neighbours wouldn't have heard anything.) The surface layer is supposed to be the same gray as the rest of the dash. The underlying plastic is actually black and the marks were where the surface layer had worn through, so I polished the whole surface through to the black. Not grey, but at least it's even coloured. Can still try the matt black spray-paint if I decide later that I'm unhappy with it as it is.

Ek kort so bruin paneel vir my bakkie...vorige eienaar lyk my het 80 radio's ingehad of iets... Toe dit opgecover met nog 'n plastic....

Looks good Andy.Is your freezer on all the time?

I used an airbrush with model airplane paint. The colour was easy to match in the hobby shop.
After I re-sprayed mine, it lasted until I sold the LTD 5 years later.
I don't know how those ashtrays get scratched like that - keep thinking it was a lady driver with long nails.

Besides that useless info.... your black (or balck) looks great!

george wrote:Looks good Andy.Is your freezer on all the time?

I'm still looking where they hid that freezer! Must be really frosted up by now!
Ja, there's plenty evidence that the vehicle was once set up for overland trips. At some point I will have to rip out all the redundant wiring and stuff (done some of that already). The 'Freezer' temp indicator will have to stay for now till I think of something to replace it with.

Maybe you can fit one of these.Just have to make it a little more bigger
http://www.4x4direct.co.za/shop/index.p ... cts_id=181

Mud Dog wrote:

george wrote:Looks good Andy.Is your freezer on all the time?

I'm still looking where they hid that freezer! Must be really frosted up by now!
Ja, there's plenty evidence that the vehicle was once set up for overland trips. At some point I will have to rip out all the redundant wiring and stuff (done some of that already). The 'Freezer' temp indicator will have to stay for now till I think of something to replace it with.

I wanted to consolidate here the different threads of the things that I have done to the vehicle, but it's too much hassle and some are incorporated in other threads, like reconditioning of the winch that was chronicled in this topic - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17248&p=327901" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The slightly bent / twisted integrated front bumper was straightened and refitted at the same time.

Some time back I also dropped the suspension out and re-did shackle and spring hanger bushes, greased them (including the blades) and put it all back. There had been an irritating squeak from the rear suspension and this was gone after the job had been done.

The vehicle had a bit of a list to starboard and I noticed that the cause was the front RHS leaf-pack which was a bit too flat (sagging). I took it out and reshaped each blade after splitting the pack. Reassembled it all and refitted it. See this thread ..... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28052&p=331721" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It still remains level to this day, proof again that cold press bending is better than "re-tensioning" (a heat process).

I think that I may have mentioned this somewhere along the line, but at times when going over a bump or off-roading where the vehicle is jolted a bit sideways, there was a fairly loud 'clack' type sound from behind the dash on the RHS. I had opened up there twice trying to find the culprit, almost sure that I would find something loose, but alas, even when the dash had been removed there was no apparent cause.

One thing I had noticed was that the bonnet was not OEM and tended to shake a little from side to side in rough terrain. The thought occurred to me that the clacking sound could be the arms of the hinges that were coming into contact with the hinge housing which extends behind the firewall. I also saw that the centre of the bonnet edge at the firewall was lower than the curvature of the vent grill and that it would occasionally touch the centre screw holding the vent grill cover in place. I took some upholstery foam, opened the bonnet and stuck it between the body and bonnet after which I gently closed the bonnet down while watching it bow a little at a time. Got the curvature of the bonnet right and then beefed up the little rubber pads that the bonnet rests against along the insides of the fenders. The ribbing on the bonnet had gaps between it and the bonnet skin (typical non-OEM bonnet), and I caulked these gaps with some black Seca-Flex.

No more bonnet shake and no more clacking noises / rattles.

I built / fitted a fridge slide ( viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25073&p=302810" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Also built a battery box for the 2nd battery in the load bin ( viewtopic.php?f=14&t=24935&p=291003" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) and then made / fitted a rack for a removable solar panel that can be locked in place. See viewtopic.php?f=14&t=24935&p=291003" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also fitted some foot-well lights viewtopic.php?f=94&t=27586&p=349933" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As well as internal LED canopy lights / door courtesy lights and engine bay lights under the bonnet. Also replaced the dome light with an LED unit. viewtopic.php?f=94&t=22460&p=261641" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are undoubtedly some things I have done the he vehicle that I just don't recall at this time, but next on the cards .....


.... this is going to change a bit, .... soon! .... and not just a clean-up!

Chev 350?

Going the EFi route or a nice fat 4.0 V6?

Pieter wrote:Chev 350

Nope! Hopefully I will have a bit more power AND better fuel economy!

"Stef" wrote:Going the EFi route or a nice fat 4.0 V6?

Maybe .....

..... maybe not.

I think you've been making a few calls to LZ...

Andy my lips are sealed

Stef wrote:I think you've been making a few calls to LZ...

Nah, I haven't spoken to Louis in quite a while.

MonsterLux wrote:Andy my lips are sealed

It's all going to come together now!

Ag nee regtig Andy jy kan ons mos nou nie so in spanning laat wag nie?

very creative, good work

Ja OK ..... I think that by now most of you will know that I am a bit of a purist, so I'll be wanting to keep the vehicle pure Toyota. I looked long and hard at the 1UZ and it just wouldn't add up - for little or no fuel economy improvement I would be in the hole for a substantial hunk of change. I don't like auto, so besides the actual motor conversion it would have meant a drive-train upgrade as well (Kz box, Xfer box and KZ diffs front and back). For me that expense is not warranted. IRO a motor conversion, the WL diesel would have made a lot more sense, but that's Ford, not Toyota, so doesn't appeal to me that much. Looked at the JZ motors but they're getting old now and spares may become an issue further down the line - that straight six also poses some fitment and cooling issues. Also looked at the 5VZ-FE option, but that V6 is also notoriously thirsty, although tougher than nails.

So, I'll be going the 22RE route which simply means an EFI conversion for me. Will run a Spitronics ECU with the option of 2 maps, one for off-road and one for on-road. Won't be making use of a surge tank - just takes up space with extra fuel lines that could get snagged. Instead we'll be fitting an in-tank basket and HP pump. The existing tank will be further modified to add another 35 lit capacity and the 2nd tank will be removed (which was an abortion of a fitment in any case). With that tank removed there will again be space to fit a spare under there and a second spare will be fitted to a rear swing-arm at a later stage.

The 'problematic' warm cam that's been robbing me of low end torque is going to be doctored with a vernier sprocket so that we can 'dial it in' a bit more effectively. Hopefully this way (and in conjunction with the two maps) I will be able to achieve a much better and effective compromise between top and bottom end of the rev range.

So there you have it, we've already started - Dylan, ("AM Racing") is doing most of the work for me since my appetite for major jobs is getting thinner .... or I'm just getting too lazy.

Never figured you for a purist
...and I was right LOL ('bout the EFi bit)


The newer Spitronics are apparently quite good. My only gripe with the EFi is crawling offroad when you have an ICV fitted...tends to maintain the target rpm ( or try) when you want to be at lower rpm's