thook

Wow. That's a lot of detailed work. Impressive. One day, mine ('86) will look that nice.

I really like those tires with the tread pattern and all. What are they?
And the steering wheel...is that wood? Too nice!
Where'd you get the FJ rags? Price?

soarerjzz30

Nice truck!! Could you tell me more about the skid plate?

I also see you have a sc/soarer, I had a 92 with a 1jz, really fun, great looking cars.

EUROJulian

Thanx for the good word.

Tires are Hankooks. They ballanced very well with minimal road force variation, I was really impressed. They are quiet at highway speed and rather on softer side.

Steering is wooden Grant.
It was part of my horn upgrade. Runner come with puny horn. I had to convert it to modern, dubble horn truck setup with power relay, cuz I got no respect down here.

What else, FJ rags? Can`t say, I have hook up. Check your local dealer if they instal aftermarket leather in FJs.

EUROJulian

Mine is 400 and I love it. I use turnpike to commute and SC rule as pike cruiser.

Skid plate that is on the truck now is just a looker. I had to temporary fill a void under the bumper. I have real skid plate from.... gues what yeah FJ! But I have to make winch bracket first.

I ordered locker harness today and it was quite cheap. I do not know what do I really get but at least I do not have to assembly connectors terminal by terminal.

EUROJulian

I went for some glider fun today with my familly and took couple of interior pics.




Cargo net, great way to keep small stuff organised and not moving around while wheeling.


Taco rubber bedliner, almost perfect fit. Will extend over to half tailgate when open, preventing small items from faling into gap, in simillar manner like done on Landcruisier...

Red Explode for red interior, isn`t that nice touch? Thank you Sony! (Who in hell would buy car with red interior? Beats me )

I`m watching gas price with troubled eye...

thook

You'z a funny guy...lol!

Thanks for the info. I understand about the rag source. I'll just do some looking around, then.

You've come up with some pretty creative additions. I like the Taco liner idea...keeping little things from falling out. The cargo net is just too cool, also. I've actually thought about doing something like that for a long time. Just haven' found one yet. And I just now noticed your shifter boot. That's the interior boot...w/o the factory feux leather...right? Neat idea how you covered it.

BTW, are those 17" wheels as stated above? They really don't look that large.

Hope you had fun gliding. Is that yours?

EUROJulian

I`m trying to keep Runner functional, for my familly to use, if only for weekends that is OK. Motivation for interior rework was simple, my girls didn`t want to sit in it....
I had to scrap oryginal carpet, was just to filthy. I`m happy with bare metal floor with HD rubber "matts" in pass. compartment. Problem was in cargo area, exposed metal floor was easly scratched by stuff. Taco liner nicely fixed the problem. It is very good, thick rubber, like 3/8 inch.

Small stuff and details. Suprised nobody noticed my wheel well liners from fender cover keep my engine compartment clean (clean-er I should say...)


Yes, wheels on the pics are 17inch.

Gliders? Let say I had fun first half part of the flight before we hit turbullences, view was breath taking, we live between Ocean and Everglades but to see them both at the same time is a spectacle.
For the second part I tryed hard to keep my lunch... nah I have no stomach for that... deep sea fishing not for me ider (note to self: money saved on blue water boat and glider )

thook

hahaha!....

I DID notice the wheel well liners. Very snazzy! Honestly, I didn't know what they were at first, though.

You know those heavy duty rubber floor mats they use in restaurants...in the kitchens and coolers? They're like 1/2-1in thick with all the holes in it? I'm looking for one of those. They're tough as nails. If the rear gets wet, water doesn't stay trapped underneath and can evaporate off. Plus, they can take quite a bit of impact, so I can throw firewood and other crap in without dinging up the bed. Then, I can just grab it and hose it off whenever needed. They don't look as nice as that Taco liner, though. But, it's all about function for me with this.

So, what made you decide to go with 17in wheels? That's awfully big. Not knockin' it, just curious.

EUROJulian

My truck came with nice vintage Centerline 15 inch aluminum wheels, light like feathers. They just need clean-up and paint coat, but big tires, wont stop... so they are for sale

I have instaled reman calipers, new rotors new rear brakes, first thing on the truck, but I wasn`t satisfied with brake performance , even with 265/70R16 Michelins MTXs I runned before.

Personaly I do not understand why Toyota would build trucks with no brakes all the way till XXI century?

Some can care less, since they are using truck primerly off road, forget brakes. For type of driving I do, I need highway speed performance with good braking and less side wall flex the better.
I have big brake setup with Sumitomo 4 pistons calipers and big ass rotors for a next project. I will fullfloat rear axle with stock calpers and rotors on the back and instal LC master cylinder.
17inch will clear big calipers and large tires have less side wall flex.

EUROJulian

Didn`t want to do it but finaly wend ahead with wire harness for my locker. I was thinking aftermarket actuator but reviews were mostly bad.

I`m building OEM grade harness. I will place computer inside rear quater panel just behind inspection plate, well lets make it custom since I make harness from scratch anyway:


In center locker wire aviable from Toyota, I was out bout $60 for it. Outside "circle" harness partialy done. This is waterproof part


Tools and suplies.

I will post some more later...

thook

I see. Yes, good braking is a plus. And you're apparently going all out...yowza! Even with 30x9.5/15's and stock brakes (recently repaired) my braking power is still not as responsive as I'd like in my '86. I envy my wife's '92. Stops on a dime....real smooth like. Not really sure what the difference is there....why her's are better.

I found one of those floor mats I was talking about....for FREE! Ha! It had been abandoned out back of a store in the shopping center I work at. I kept my eye on it sitting out for weeks unmoved. Mine now! Yay! Incidentally, I priced 'em brand new a few days ago. A 3'x3' mat (they are designed to connect together with other 3'x3' sections to make whatever size needed) and they run almost $30! Lucky me..hehehe.

You're doing full floaters in the rear, eh? Does this mean with locking hubs? I'm just learning about this idea.

misterzee

Nice touches man! My "Whitey" is originally from FL ... not sure where. Those airfield pix remind me of the Vero Beach airport...

ewong

That looks like a W56 5 speed manual witht he gear drive xfer case (VF1B?)

Anyway - whats up with the drive shaft? We dont have those here? Is it a Rezeppa CV ???

EUROJulian

Bro, I`m in Florida, Miama` area, we get the same stuff, just speak different languages at home... Lemme update my profile.

I presume you never saw uncorroded 20 years old CV joint shield, the way they came from factory, due to climate you are in....

It is oryginal factory park finish, I just used torx head bolts on the shield.

EUROJulian

Back to the harness. Looking pricewise vehicle harnesses are one of most expensive parts found on vehicle.

Bulding quality harness is not w/o challange, not all connector bodies are aviable and single terminals are very expensive. One have to have aviable donnor harness from late model Toyota car or truck. Best source for those are collision repair shops.

I was able to order factory connector bodies for locker ECU and ON/OFF switch. On the picture connectors are alredy assembled with correct type terminals, they will come from Toyota as plastic bodies only...



Female connector for pumpkin harness wasn`t aviable, so I had to change it to two watertight 4 terminal connectors to accomodate 7 wires.


Good tool to take connectors appart. Properly shaped pick tool will also do:


Solder, there is no way around it:


Making watertight harness: Silicone tape, it wrapes over the soldered wires, ist doesn`t have glue on it it sticks to itself. I would slide shrink tube over it followed by vinyl electrical tape.


Lastly rubber grommet sealed with FIPIG. This is where harness enters the body.


Thing to remember, hole has to be big enought for connectors to pass.
Hole in quater panel was almost right size (will post pictures later..)

EUROJulian

There is nothing like free stuff!

As for full floating axle, that is a plan. Locking hubs that is Mickey Mouse stuff, properly done floater is with flanges.


I may settle just for disc brake conversion, depends on funds... I`m bleeding money fast on this truck maybe, too fast. I have marlin rear bumper on order, just did Energy Suspension body mounts


Also I got some recovery gear last week (WTF $100 just for two shackless, three inch strap and Hi-Lift base)
but heck I need good recovery gear down here and solid mounts


well cage look good all of the sudden:

EUROJulian

Existing hole in right quater panel, hole slightly enlarged for connectors to pass:

Hole is close enough to the rear axle allowing for elements exposed part or the harness to be as short as possible.

Locker ECU placement:



I think is a good spot, high enough, easy access plenty of room...

EUROJulian

Good God! That wireing really is kicking my ass!

Duplicating factory quality harness turned out to be a bitch. I`m working and working and end is not in sight. I can`t say how many hours I have in this project, proly days now:



Waterproof part of harness alredy in, will need more work though. I want to use factory harness holders, it is zip-tied to the frame and axle for now.


There is lots of work up front under the dash. I will place locker switch in place of clutch cancel, and safety type togle switch next to it (switch will provide ground signal to ECU on speed and 4WD terminals... I do not want it to engage by accident in the wrong time...)



Plug between for ignition switch harness to provide power to the system from IG1 wire fused 20A, and power to locker switch (engage signal for ECU) fused 10A. Both with separate fuse holders...

Back to work.Wireing is really for patient people... I mean REALLY patient