[ZerosFJ]

I guess this is the beginning of the next chapter. Don’t get me wrong, I am still in love with ‘Eddy’ my FJ but for the last year plus I’ve been living in him off and on and sleeping in him for 3… whislt this works just fine for a couple of weeks holiday an FJ just isn’t big enough for all my kit, Zero’s stuff and the both of us to be comfortable in.

So last summer I started to hunt for an alternative, something that was still going to be capable for overland and trails, not massive but big enough. Luckily (and about the only advantage) living in the UK is whilst the offerings may be sparse I am free to import just about anything.

Cutting to the chase, after a lot of hunting the Middle East, South Africa and Australia a bit of a battle with dealers and a very long wait for shipping this arrived on the drive of my borrowed drive (“Build HQ”) at 09:00 this morning…

A Land Cruiser GRJ78 ‘Troop Carrier’.

Brand new, 2021 build 30km on the odo.

colour choices were limited…Taliban Tan or UN white…🤣🤣

The former being out of stock I chose UN white 😜 . BTW Toyota call it “French Vanilla” so I guess that must be reference to the French flag (a slip of Brit Mil humour for you all 🤣) But it is 058 again so Iceberg will do too.

So I thought I’d document the build and bring you along foe the ride as it is transformed from a 9 seater ‘bus’ to a camper with a limited budget and some basic skills…

And for the first time ever I have a “shed” in which to do it!

 

[ZerosFJ]

I was surprised to see the dealer had apparently bothered to wash the outside, though not removed the film wrap…or maybe it was jusy cleanish anyhow…but under the hood is a different story so that’s on the to do list

If it looks familiar it is that’s a 1GR… but the earlier SVVTI version despite it being a 2021 build!

The 1GR is only available for the Middle East Domestic Market. And I really didn’t want either if the diesel offerings!

some other ‘oddities’
Arabic on the mirrors

And a ‘prized in Australia) bonnet emblem, spring loaded for pedestian safety (when they’re not hurt being struck by 3tonne of truck you don’t want a Toyota badge killing them!!🙄)

And an Arabic flavour to the (very very basic)interior.

Yep that is a 5speed manual trans that hasn’t changed for 30yrs! The only bow to ‘modern’ is the plastic cup holder and dual USB. The bas model get plastic seats and wind up windows.

 

[Zed 71]

Wow that is pretty awesome! I wish we could get that over here!

 

[Winterpeg]

That's great!

I look forward to seeing the build!!

 

[ZerosFJ]

Some more pics of him.

Yes that’s a factory winch!

 

[ZerosFJ]

So the first jobs are to address the modifications required to get him through ‘IVA’. Individual Vehicle Approval for non EU/UK homologated vehicles.

First up changing the speedo dial to show MPH. The method is fairly simple but the scope for screwing it up great… I think I got it right, yet to road test and check the readings against a gps speedo.

so he’s been in my possession about an hour and already the dash is in bits…

Yes the needle dropped back below the 0 despite following the instructions to the letter so I had to pull it off and reset again. Hopefully it is right now. I shan’t put the dash back together until I’ve checked.

 

[FJraja]

Man that's super cool
Keep updating 👌

 

[ZerosFJ]

Lol FJ’s are becoming too common here (must be at least 100 in the country now rofl) so had to find something rarer🤣

 

[debFJVT]

Awesome Sarah…you ROCK 👍💪 Can’t wait to see the build!!!

 

[FJNewGuyCO]

This is going to be fun.....

Congrats!

 

[flyrod40]

Wow. Keep the updates coming!

 

[iLuveKetchup]

So neat! Can' wait to see what you do with it.

 

[FJtest]

This is going to be an epic tale ... PLEASE keep us updated with every little detail.

Already have two questions:

1. On your instrument cluster, it looks like there is the typical plastic pushrod to actuate the trip-meter reset switch. However, on the clear window covering the cluster there appears to be a rubber boot or some other kind of dust seal for the push rod ... is that what I'm seeing?

2. What are the winch ratings, and where are the controls? How has Toyota wired the winch power, what kind of high-current relay or solenoid is used, is there a manual power cut-off switch?

 

[ZerosFJ]

@FJtest Answered within your message:

This is going to be an epic tale ... PLEASE keep us updated with every little detail.

I’ll try to. This is my record o the build so that’s the plan

Already have two questions:

1. On your instrument cluster, it looks like there is the typical plastic pushrod to actuate the trip-meter reset switch. However, on the clear window covering the cluster there appears to be a rubber boot or some other kind of dust seal for the push rod ... is that what I'm seeing?

Spot on… Just a dust cover over the pushrod.

2. What are the winch ratings, and where are the controls? How has Toyota wired the winch power, what kind of high-current relay or solenoid is used, is there a manual power cut-off switch?

Not much info and it’s not really visible. I found a link on someone repairing one:

Wits' End Toyota JDM Winch Rebuild Project

absolute-wits-end.com

Interesting read.

As far as I’ve seen so far it is just hooked straight to the battery, no isolator or fuse! I shall address that. I shall also try and figure the connections for the wired remote and then hook up the wireless unit I pulled off my Superwinch on the FJ… but that’s a ow priority for now.

I have managed to acquire a ARB style bumper that is Aluminium (East Coast Bars, Australia) for a bargain price so I shall try and make it work with the factory winch, I can tell you it is on a separate winch plate behind the bumper.

 

[ZerosFJ]

Today was addressing the lighting requirements for test and approval. This meant adding a right hand fog (left one standard) and swapping the headlights for right hand drive, (i.e. left hand dip) As i was having to do this I decided to swap for upgraded projector style.

The fog was easy. Thanks to @bazross for sending me the unit (Oz is the home of the 70 Series and there are more mods available there than for the FJ in the US I think!)

I had to run a wire from the left side to the right, this meant taking it external as no internal route and running it along the rear crossmember (with the main loom) and back in. Then the harness for the new light had a twin stop tail connector so I had to pick out the 21W side of that to hook up. .. all easy enough

Original RH unit, reverse only and the new one…

‘Smoke still in the box…’ 😝

 

[ZerosFJ]

Headlights:

Should have been straightforward to pull them out but the clips on each end of the trim underneath them ( a single strip of metal so not like the FJ) were absolute pigs… finally I managed to get them using an old faithful tool… a long skinny flat head driver that i originally bought to adjust my brake shoes on the J70… a cheapo thing but is about the most useful tool I have!

Turns out they are super long clips with a release catch on one side but you can’t get at them without bending the panel that folds under to hold them.

The replacement lights are best Chinesium… but still not cheap! Projector beams using H7 bulbs and LED parking and DRL ring.

Lights needed some tweaks to fit. The parking light uses a connector into the OE bulb holder but this is really long and the hole in the housing wasn’t deep enough (back of lens) to accommodate it so I had to cut and shut the wire through a grommet to seal the hole and then wrap the bulb holder in amalgamating tape before sealing up with waterproof heat shrink so it could sit external from the housing…

Then I found the ballast box (think that’s what it is or controller for the projector main beam shutter) was stuck to the back of the lens housing just where it jammed up against the body panel so I had to move that so I could seat the light properly.

Still need to check the alignment (bench tested they look good) and hook up the wire for DRL function on the LED ring but otherwise all good.

 

[ZerosFJ]

I also gutted the rear. (I had to so I could access the wiring for the Fog. So now I can clearly see my ‘living’ space

Next job is to add 160 sheets of sound mat and then insulation on top of that…

 

[ZerosFJ]

Oh and when I bought it the pictures I was sent had some ’mystery‘ boxes in the rear… We joked about them being full of AK47s headed for Algeria enroute but we couldn’t guess what was actually in them.

So this is what I found (x2) 😮

Someone must think 180 litres of fuel on board is insufficient🤔 ( 2 x 90 litre tanks)

 

[ZerosFJ]

Found this on the base of the cans…

Genuine Toyota!

Part number:

 

[AMMO461]

To say I'm jealous would be an understatement!!! That blank canvas is SCREAMING to have an OD paintjob.......Just kidding. You do you and I will be watching every step you post. You lucky, lucky person you.