Slow, But Sure...

I was able to drain & see the rad fluid, it doesn't look bad & doesn't look good either. No milky though.I also removed the throttle body.I only got 8 bolts off the upper intake, WOW THAT WAS FUN! It took 3' of exstention to get them from the underside. I have no clue how I'm going to get those back up in there & torqued?

A Blown Head Gasket...

I haven't posted this, but I have been chasing some P0401 EGR problems & some other hidden issues that finally surfaced resulting in a diagnosis of a blown head gasket in cylinder #6. This is a textbook failure for these 80 series vehicles around the 175,000 mile mark. I did get it hot climbing a big hill in Hollister & I belive it has slowly been failing since. Last week it over heated on the 7 minute trip home from work & thought it was the fan clutch that went out. I got a new one in & realize the LX was 1 gallon plus down on radiator fluid. At this time I couldn't understand where it all went... I'm not a great diagnostic trouble shooter, so at this point I didn’t realize it was going out the tailpipe yet through the blown head gasket. It was only yesterday when I went to my friends house that he was able to figure it out & explain to me the series of events that lead to this point.

I'm pretty bummed.

I will be replacing the HG myself & will be posting the progress... Stay tuned.

Stretched Fj40s

Here some of the best streached 40s. I will do my best to list in wb lenght.

Just having fun with a dream, I call it ~FJ40X~

Let me tell you about the Toyota J4 body, it is the most versatile body for moding because of its straight body lines,  it can become just about anything you want it to be with little body work. Toyota themself's made many versions from the short trucks to long troop carriers & many inbetween. The J45 came in a truck & wagon style called a troop carrier, most call them a troopy. All these versions are almost practically bolt up to to make changes from a single cab truck to a troop caring wagon. It's all about what happens behind the "A" pillar or the door post, samething. These are all in a two door of corse. (Toyota did make a four door called a Toyopet Fj45LV). These rigs are preaching the 50 year mark & are hard to find let alone purchase at a very high cost & then cut them up. It's better to get a US spec Fj40 & mod that.

I have been wanting a J4 body style Cruiser for some time now. The idea of having a 4 door version is pretty daunting at best with all the sheet metal work. I have seen several rigs that are very close to what I want. It's all about the top, just changing the top makes a huge difference in apearence. This version can have doors add later. So, here they are basically they are streachted 40s and or cut & bobbed troopy. How ever you want to call it, but I call it ~FJ40X~. X for extra. Hard top or soft top versions are below. Also below is some qiick scribling from my phone & a old school drawing. Enjoy, because I'm just having fun with a dream.

 

 

Airbag light after battery replacement

I had battery problems months ago & ever since I had the air bag light on. I have been playing with it for a while with the paper clip AB to Tc thing not getting anywhere very fast, but today I got it! My problem was the test light I was using...

 DO NOT USE A TEST LIGHT, IT WON'T WORK!

 I changed to a clamped piece of wire & got it on the 2nd try. Hope this helps.

How to find the "PHH" pesky heater hose LX450 FZJ80

A full tune up... Bigtime mpg jump!

A few days ago I did a full tune up (plugs, cap & rotor) since I had to take all of it off to change out the leaking valve cover gasket & the EGR valve. Before this time my mpg went from 12 down to 10 since check engine light came on.
Well I'm happy to report an amazing jump in mpg. I was able to trip 300 miles on one tank of gas. This is with 4:10 gears & 35s. I added 15% which came to 345 miles with 23 gallons of gas... that's 15 mpg. AMAZING!

Getting the old race box trailer ready for family camping

I haven't used the race trailer since my wife & I went camping before kids... My girls have been enjoying it ever since as a play house for many years.
It won't take much to get it ready. It's a 6' x 12'  single axle so hopefully the LX can pull it up the hills. The only negative is no windows, other than that it ready to be put back in service.
I ordered up some bunk bed cots so we can all fit on there.

Hollister Hills family day trip slideshow

Hello! ggrainer shared a video with you. View Video,
http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/ggrainer/media/Family%202015/HollisterHills%20family%20trip%204.18.15_zpsgfgashgo.mp4.html

Hollister Hills, CA family day trip...

The family made the 2 hour jurney to the Hollister Hills SVRA here in California. It was our first family road trip adventure besides the many trips to the local sandy creek bottom just 2 minutes from the house.
I have done a lot of wheelin back in my younger days & know if the rig you're in is not set up it can be a very misrable trip. Of course I have been doing my best to get the LX all dialed in & comfy.
Well, I can humbly say it was a successful day trip & the family had a blast. They are asking when the next trip will be.
We didn't take many pics, but I did a video walk through of the McCrayZ man made course, it was absolutely insane, you just have to see it.

I'm working on the vid.

We now have cup holders...

There is no cup holders in a 80 series vehicle. Absolutely none. My LX450 is one of them, well until today, as you will see below I went with these cool 3D printed holders. After a lengthy web search there really no other options for the LX. With a LX450 a speaker is where the cubby hole is on a 80 series is.
No more leaking water bottles rolling around in the back seat. This was a good purchase for the family.

Interior LED lighting for the LX

The stock interior lighting is not the brightest. I came across these LED lights while doing another search & was amazed how bright they where. The price was also very low cost. I've seen others that where to bright, these are just right. They where very easy to install & have sticky tape on the back, in fact it was a perfect fit so I didn’t need to peel the backing off.  Pfran is the name, they came in a kit so I didn't have to worry about getting the wrong one's.

Enjoy!

http://www.pfranleds.com/80-series-interior-led-kit-1/

My tight little ride just got a bit brighter...

Pfran LED backup lamps for the LX

I can see now when backing up.
The stock reverse light are not very bright, in fact they are terrible. To see I had to apply the brakes. I came across these LEDs on the web so I snagged them. They are Pfran 7 watt. I installed only one for the pictures,
there is a definite difference.

http://www.pfranleds.com/land-cruiser-80-series-lx-450-fzj80/