1993 HDJ80 - 5 Speed / 1HDT / LOCKED / LHD - slow build

[BryceDP]

I’ll start with the history of the truck and purchasing: The truck came from France and legend says it was used for a couple weeks every year to trip to Morocco and back. The owner in France was the original owner until he passed. His daughter sold it to the man which i bought it from in Montana. It hd just about 275k KM on it and seemed to be beautifully maintained, yet used how a cruiser should be used.

Once I drove it to my dad’s garage in CO from Montana, I had a small list of things to do before drib=vine it home to CA.

- Rebuild the Starter with new contacts
- Change Oil w/ OEM Filter
- CLEAN EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING was coated in fine Moroccan red dust... EVERYWHERE
- Repaint the window trim. It was very faded and that black window outline is one of my favorite features of the 80 series.
- Install my DIY rear drawer system from my old cruiser.
- Install the Rhino Rack from my old cruiser.
- Swap tires with what was on my old cruiser

Once all was well, My partner and I took the long way from CO to CA and had out first amazing adventure in our new second home!!!

You can follow our adventures and the build on our instagram accounts: @bryce_drobny & @la.cruiser

More to come:

 

[BryceDP]

Once we setttled back into our place in CA, I got to work addressing everything I was not sure of. Again, the truck came with no records and I had no clue what fluids, filters, etc were used and when things were changed.

I unfortunately do not have a garage in LA. I work out of a parking space behind our apartment with a simple ratchet set and some pliers.



First on the list was:

- Installing an oil catch can... in hopes to reduce any oil reaching the turbo / intake. It was a super easy instal, just re-routed and mounted it to some pre-existing mounting points under the hood.

- I also ran a few full tanks with Sea Foam knowing I was planning on changing all filters and fluid soon.



I ran it like this with sea foam in the fuel system and a little in the crank case... More to follow.

 

[BryceDP]

Once the SeaFoam had run its course, I went ahead and changed every fluid / filter I could:

• Engine oil - Shell Rotella T4 10W30 (~9.5L)
• Transmission Fluid - 75W90 Royal Purple
• Transfer Case Fluid - 75W90 Royal Purple
• Front & Rear Diffs - 80W90 Castrol

• New OEM Oil Filter
• New OEM Fuel Filter
• New Resco .3 micron fuel filter (Used in fuel / water separator)
• New Fram air Filter

I also repainted the front grill with the closest match I could find to factory:


I should note that it is recommended with these old diesels to run a fuel additive. I have been using Hot Shot’s Secret... seems to be the best from the research I have done.

• I then did a coolant flush using Prestone flush and coolent / antifreeze. Ran distilled water through the system 3 times with the flushing additive... boy was that stuff cloudy and nasty!
• Once everything was changed, I coated the frame and underside of he car with Fluid Film. Should be good for a few years, living in southern CA.

Then we took an awesome trip to the Alabama Hills:

 

[joe80]

Nice truck. The 1hdt's are rare in the states yeah?

 

[BryceDP]

Nice truck. The 1hdt's are rare in the states yeah?

Thank you! Yeah they are hard to find. Especially LHD because most of them are JDM.

 

[joe80]

Well done on snagging one!

look forward to the rest of the build

 

[BryceDP]

Well done on snagging one!

look forward to the rest of the build

Couldn’t be happier with it. What a beast!

 

[BryceDP]

When we parted back at home I noticed a somewhat major coolest leak... F@CK! After investigating, it seemed at thought water pump gasket had failed after the flush...

I ran to specter off-road which is luckily down the street from me and snagged a new water pump, seals, gaskets, and a new timing belt kit (Since i would have to remove it anyways to get to the water pump)

After a couple of days of work, all was well! I tore my hands and arms to shreds trying to get the tension spring back on... UGH.

Only picture I took during the process...

My workspace... No power tools. Simple simple.

 

[BryceDP]

Next Job - Replace the intake Manifold Gaskets and bolts:

Job was fairly straight forward. I replaced everything with OEM, which was not what was in the truck.

everything torqued to spec and ready to roll! These projects are such a life savers while locked inside avoiding COVID-19

 

[BryceDP]

I finally got around to deleting the ACSD... what a headache. I heard it was a super simple job but... not for me. It was damn near impossible to get access in the LHD model. The steering pump blocks everything, PLUS I have an additional fuel filter that takes up even more space.

The 5mm Allen bolts round off soooooo easily... I spent two days trying to get the bolt underneath the ACSD with no avail... I eventually just cut my losses and pried it off. Luckily there were enough threads saved, I could use a longer bolt.

I had the plate my up in Aluminum by a buddy of mine. I used the original O-ring, because it seemed fairly new and fresh.


The rounded bolt... -_-

Green = Good / Red = Ripped threads

Access was tight...

Got it on, adjusted the idle and everything works great! WHJAT A HEADACHE!

Feels good to check this one off of the list.

 

[BryceDP]

Had to recover with a fun easy job... organizing the tool drawer! We don’t have a garage or any storage for that matter, so I store most of my tools in the truck:

Easy access to everything... ahhhhhhh

 

[BryceDP]

Got around to replacing the old fender flare seals. Passengers side had its fair share of damage and repair... Did the best i could. I think i would love to pull them off and got the truck a more ‘poverty pack’ look in the future.

The Old:

Found standing water and clogged drain plugs in the rear quarters:

The New:

All cleaned up and dry... Already feeling the need for a new project. Quarantine is gonna be the death of me.

 

[BryceDP]

Switched over to 15w40 yesterday to kill some time. Also sourced a small leak from under the timing belt cover, seemed to be some under-torqued bolts! I’ll keep my eye on it and report back!

 

[BryceDP]

ENJOYING IT AND GETTING OUT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

 

[BryceDP]

Installed the PROVENT 200 today. Easy job. Will continue to rework the bracket I made, but it will do the trick for now.



the old catch can... small and cheap.

 

[BryceDP]

Reworked the bracket for the PROVENT today. Much much better.

old bracket:

 

[BryceDP]

Spent the past couple of days doing some fun stuff!

1. New OEM wheels, caps, and lugs (Used but in great shape)
2. Used 33in K02s
3. Used OEM front bumper, trim, and rear bumper corners

Front Bumper:

Rear Bumper:

 

[BryceDP]

As the parts get shipped in, a camping trip was in order. Went to Lytle Creek... Aired down the 33s for the first time... WHAT A DIFFERENCE! also cycles all 3 diffs for some crawling. Motor and everything worked flawlessly. The more I drive it, the healthier it gets.

 

[BryceDP]

While I wait for the new manifolds, the new headlights arrived!
I just pulled the bulbs from the original lights and the popped right in. Pretty painless.
I love the look of these quad headlights so much more. Everything is reversable to OEM if I want to switch back.

before:

after

 

[BryceDP]

What a job this turned out to be...

I went to instal an EGT gauge and found a crack in my exhaust manifold... I ordered new studs, gaskets, manifold... the works. Wasn’t too pricey from partsouq. I think the total was around $500.

The old:

Removing the damn things was real pain... I ended up having to take part the exaust to the Cat and removing al brackets and hoses leading to the turbo. Two studs were stuck and i could not get to them with the manifold in the way.

I tapped the new manifold and ceramic coated the heat shields.

After wiggling and forcing the old manifold off, putting the new one on was just as annoying, but bolt after bolt, i did it. I ended up having to take out all of the studs leading in the block, then fitting the manifold to the turbo, THEN adding all of the studs back into the block through the manifold. Things were not lining up if i tried the other way around.