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-   -   Introducing "Everest", my 1997 Toyota Landcruiser. Then and now (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-vehicles/134925-introducing-everest-my-1997-toyota-landcruiser-then-now.html)

A short introduction about myself...

I was born and brought up in a garage, my father was with TVS for nearly 3 decades and then moved to the gulf, before retiring as the Head of Service for Toyota. As you can imagine, growing up with spanners and bush kits instead of chew toys set the tone for my life by providing me with the skills and seasoning of this glorious alternate vocation. Should my current, gainful employment at this MNC decide to head south... well you see it. I can take them apart and put them back together.... thanks to all that elbow grease with dad.

So, my dear fellow gear-heads, I purchased this neglected beauty from a friend-who-knew-a-friend-who-knew-.... last year. Safe to say, this TLC was in extreme need of TLC, with its 4.2L 6 Cylinder diesel, manual FIP (and therefore quite serviceable) direct import from Japan with original VIN plates. Come to think about it, I kinda feel bad that the guy let it go for so less. The 1HZ J80 was rough, but I immediately felt major surgery, while an overkill, would at least rest my fears of shoddy previous engine jobs. Armed with all my Toyota and Hummer experience from the middle-east and my resolute Taurean plodding, I went about my project methodically over the last several months. I am brilliantly supported by the local Toyota dealership here at Bangalore, where the vehicle is now being restored to its deserved glory... so much so that I enjoy a certain 'autonomy' when it comes to working on my car within their environment, with their SST, and their resources.

• First up, with Toyota's help I conducted the engine overhaul . Considering that these predecessors actually helped build the Qualis, Innova and Fortuner, parts in India aren't that unavailable since components can be retrofit from late models. Which is perhaps why companies like Toyota are so reliable... they reduce-reuse-recycle like none other. You just need to get in touch with Toyota and they will sort you out with OE.
  
• Second, its 8KO color code (midnight blue) had to go... had seen too many scrapes and patchy rework. 14 years of poor management does that. And I have a thing for pearl white (plus it would also hide the ageing panel waves better than any darker color).
  
• Third, I installed a 6" Iron Man lift kit, replete with the heaviest springs and foam shocks, castor plates, sway bar extensions and adjustable upper and lower control arms and front and rear pan hard bars, steering dampers... yes... the complete works.
  
• Fourth, I also have the complete Ironman polyurethane suspension bush kit - but surprise surprise... all of the bushes are currently in good nick. I think I will go ahead and change them out in any case.
  
• Fifth, I already have the double cardan drive shaft ends (OE from Koyo)... so should any vibration still creep in (despite all the control arms and castor plates), I can cut the propeller shafts and install and balance.
  
• Sixth, and I hate that we dont get these in India... I am looking for 33" or 36" Yokohama Geolandar AT or equivalent... typically 315/75R16.. Any help is most welcome!!
  
• Seventh, and I have already sourced these... ...only need to hit the buy button. Re-gearing of the differentials to 4.88 as advised for a 36-inch tyres (4.51 for 33"), so tyres first. There are several brands but my partners swear by Nitro... lets see! And when I re-gear the differentials, I will get air lockers as well - and then it's smooth sailing over the roughest weather.
  
• Eighth, Rear brake upgrade from drum to discs, aided by Powerstop Evolution Series drilled and slotted rotors with ceramic brake pads.
  
• Ninth, and this is bound to be most fun really since I now have access to a friend whose business is fabrication, and he can happily laser cut (upto 20mm thick) steel in minutes... so all I have to do is pass over to him my 3d / CAD drawings of my ARB inspired designs and voila... cut, TIG-weld, fit. But i decided to keep it light and 'executive-looking' for now when it came to the bumpers. Didn't do much with the front, and none of the rear... so there are a couple of projects I am itching to get my hands on. So maybe I'll bump this up earlier from ninth.
  
• Tenth, complete exhaust overhaul with 3 inch downpipes, mufflers, mandrels and the works... ...need to make another trip though (this is where heading a global function at an MNC is very useful)
  
• And eleventh, (on the drawing board) and this will probably push the wife over the edge, but I am planning a turbo inter-cooler kit with boost compensator from Safari the next year.

She is also completely dynamatted (pillars, floors, doors, ceiling) as well as the engine bay (firewall and hood supplemented with Dynamat Hoodliner). On cosmetics, so far, I have the NRG short hub adapter + NRG quick release + 3" deep dish steering en route. Adjustable bucket seats with four point harness are on the menu too. Of course, I have already recovered the DVD, amps and other paraphernalia, some from my Safari (which I now have sold after a 13 year relationship) and others OTS. Currently, I am awaiting some trims and plastic bits that my brother is ferrying over from the country that makes dreaming about all of this possible. Hopefully I will be able to sort her out and put her on the road this month.

So here she was... and here she is...

At the drawing board, many hours were spent trying to get it just right. While the blue looks cool in the renderings, test panels weren't all that WYSIWYG



Start of teardown


Engine Bay firewall - Dynamat + Hoodliner (after verifying from Dymanat)


Front Bumper - It is as easy as it looks... ...you technically have to get one half right.


Through my father's eyes (as Clapton sings it) - in fact, dad's advice actually made it into a sophisticated bad girl



Insides - All Dynamat


Spring is here!


My 5 year old calls this spaghetti...


Shocking!!!


Front axle


Rear axle


Just after suspension upgrade... ...what can I say about size that you all don't already know.


Awaiting the plastic bits


And here she will be.... when I complete her.

Wish me luck and some tyres too if you can help it.

Wow.!!! Rockycrawler, that is one passionate makeover you doing on the LC. It looks like a monster.

Couple of Questions:

Which Toyota A.S.S you getting this work done? I was also planning to strip the interiors of my Prado and get the damping done.

Details of conversion of the rear drum to disk would be great. I would be interested in knowing more as I also have rear drum in my Prado and I could take inspiration from you here.

If you intend to put a Turbo/IC, how do you intend to handle the fuel pump part?

Awesome is the first word out of my mouth!


Amazing eye for details and the 'ideal' way to get the modifications done!

Good show, Rockycrawler.

Thanks... she is a big girl.

The vehicle is currently at Nandi Bangalore. Not tough to apply Dynamat at all, and Amazon delivers to your door these days so order the right bits and you are good to go. I had to scrape out some stubborn glue residue from the underside of the ceiling (was thattough) but all in all took me about 2 - 3 hours to lay it on in there and smooth 'em all out.

Don't know about the Prado, but when I launch into discs for the rear, I know I will need fully float rear axle (which means this might head onto the scrap yard... ...or perhaps I could salvage this one and make it into a front axle for another vehicle out there... has been done before). There are some crossover kits, but i haven't really read reviews, good or bad, so i am waiting to hear back from some experience. It depends upon how good the drums et. Al. are currently. I am all for performance, but I also don't fix if it ain't (near) broke. Besides, it's not like i need to stop on a dime OTR. So I will just pull the drums out and service everything from callipers to spindle to bearings on a concall free afternoon.

Most TC/IC systems available are model specific so they do work with your standard FIP (turbo la.. ..ag will be felt). Much like my old Tata Safari with its FIP and turbo. My research is on for moving into direct injection. Will let you know if anything comes up.


Thanks Surya... ...I am sure opinion is divided a to the 'ideal' way but the devil is in the details and not many want to bother with the devil. I for one am foolhardy enough to attempt this. So keep wishing me luck... ...i need all the wishes i can get.

Mod's Note: Please do not make back to back posts. Use the multiquote option when you need to respond to more than one post.

Your posts have been merged.

Rockycrawler,

Your car looks great buddy :thumbs up

Are you going to be running your stock 16" wheels setup ? Or thought about any after market option ?

And why not M/T Tires ?

Also the headlights they seem to be non OE, the design is way too busy for a old schooler

PS - Give in a thought about using wheel spacers, will enhance the looks to a great extent ( only will reduce the life of your wheel bearings )

Ah, you are one enthusiast who knows his nuts and bolts, and knows them completely well. Hats off to the attention to detail and the precise TLC that your TLC is getting.:thumbs up

I cannot wait to see your girl in flesh, as soon as she is ready to rock and meet you in person. clap:

Thanks Karan...

Stock 16" rims for now. A/T preferred cause it is my daily driver too... (kids use the verna and the missus guards the micra). Will get a separate set of MTs to play in the dirt though.

Yes, headlights aren't OE but more energy efficient (i like green). Stock has semi-sealed halogen quads but too expensive. The guy who sold it to me had some dark grey angel eyes but they had to go (I have them if anyone is doing up a front end). The new ones are by ANZO.

Point noted about spacers... dont think i will be lucky to get my larger treads (305 / 315) any time soon in India (grrr... ISI) but Mich LTX or Yko Geos would sit comfy within the wells, now it is at 6" height, and there is a heck of a lot of clearance by the control arms.

And yes, Dev, I am nuts about my bolts and hope to showcase her real soon. I am in Marathahalli so lets catch up anytime.

Oh man that is one awesome looking TLC!!

When this much passion is involved, things are bound to go the right way.

Please post more pics of the exteriors and interiors..

Hooked to the thread:thumbs up

Congrats!!!! Great going and be sure to plonk in an aftermarket turbocharger. There are at least a dozen different firms in australia that specialize in Turbo charger kits for the 1HZ engine. Let me know if you need help with the contacts.

Can you post some details about this ? where to buy & how to fix etc ?

some more pictures regarding the lift kit & the prop shaft angle are welcome .

Sudarshan

You can get whatever tires you want. Just see the thread Karan created on importing tires through tirerack. Besides this LC needs those tires, it wouldn't look the part otherwise. Great job:thumbs up

Needless to say an 80 series Landcruiser in one of the most capable off road vehicle ever built. With a 2 inch lift it will clear a six inch obstacle off road with over 10 inches to spare under the front diffrentail thanks to a solid beam front axle

Mod team note: Back to back posts, please use Multi Quote (Quote +) instead. Thanks.

Sure Sudarshan, Apologies if I sound too preachy. But before driveline basics, some facts.

#1) It was surprising that the 80 series being arguably one the most popular cars out there, few actually had bolt on kits except for slee (very good, very expensive, greater poundage with full length DC drive shafts and so very expensive freight again) or ironman (aussie, proven, tried and tested). I even found a youtube link of someone who had lifeted their Tata Safari, Europe somewhere... memory escapes me.

#2) The car you own and the application sought for determines the lift. When you lift a car, you alter geometry, the change determined by the amount of lift. And even if we both had TLCs and same upgrade setup what works for you, need not work for me... ...Murphy's law.

When we lift a car, rear axle 'moves' forward and rotates backwards creating a more acute pinion angle. The forward axle front axle moves backward creating a castor from +3° (stock for my car) to -7° (for a 6” lift). Castor plates are used as an inexpensive alternate (the slee kit comes with full blown radius arms milled out of ¾ cold forged steel, hence the poundage and the $$$) to bring the castor back into spec (steering wont center, high speed wander etc…. if it weren’t corrected). This is what I am using on my TLC



Castor correction bushes also assist - the eccentricity solves the negative castor issue and bushes are available for 2°, 2.5° and 3° correction usually.



Similarly, the rear axle needs to be relocated and reoriented within the wheel well after the lift, and so the purchase of adjustable upper and longer lower control arms is prudent. This is the one I got (radial static load rating of 45,000 lbs with SS misalignment bushings on one end, and polyurethane at the other)



Ideally, 0° is optimal at the pinion / differential end. But then there is the prop shaft angle at the transfer case and for that one may require double cardan drive shaft joints. Notice the twin spicers i.e. two universal joints mounted back to back with a center yoke. A lot of fundamental information about such joints can be found here (http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/driveline/)



As I said, each car is different and you may never actually need a DC, or adjustable control arms or castor plates etc., but I’d have one and not need it, rather than need one and not have it.

What car do you drive and what sort of lift are you looking for?

Thanks Akshay... ...I am still open to the idea. But this whole deal about BIS has made me reluctant - none of us wants to park 1L worth of rubber at any rat infested customs warehouse wasting away. I checked within my network at TNT senior management, and they promptly told me not to attempt this since they are unable to extricate it out of customs without the ISI imprint. I am not sure how FedEx does it. Is there anyone that has followed Karan's thread successfully after the BIS notification?

Not at all, very few times I see some logical explanation to the mods which are done. Most do it the copy paste way.

This thread is fully worth reading & for learning too. Thanks for that.

Please carry on this ' preaching ' :thumbs up, with every line I see something very practical. Your language is simple & uncomplicated. Please carry on.


I have a series 2a Land Rover which I have restored myself few years ago, but I love to have it in stock condition

Another is a 1989 model mm540 Jeep which I am using since then (89) -- now its at the end of its life cycle, I am having some wild thoughts for re building it. But will do it only when I will be sure about what I am doing ( not just by lifting ideas from elsewhere).

Meanwhile I look forward to people like you for more information & to learn new things.

Again thanks for sharing this. :thumbs up

Sudarshan.