Front Sway Bar installed – Survey Says?!

Survey says: “Awesome.” Survey says: “don’t drive your lifted 60 on the road without one.”

True, I’ve no honest notion of the state of my shocks, my springs or my steering joints, but installing the front sway bar has made an enormous difference in my truck’s handling.

Used to be the truck felt like the front wheels were tucking under the front of the car. The truck would dive and lean to the outside of every corner and that feeling limited my speed. Truck didn’t feel like it would tip but I was definitely losing grip from the lean.

Now the truck is tastefully flat in the corners, the truck handling really is transformed. Amazing. Amazing.

To any doubters I say: try this! $60 for extended links, $6 for bottle of epoxy spray, its a huge value. I’d have paid $1000 to have the handling this much better.

Installation Process:

Hardened Steel Tap for Chasing Threads

First thing the brackets bolt onto the frame, there are holes waiting with threads. The previous owner had coated the frame with some rust preventative coating so bolts wont’ go in, first every threaded hole must be chased with a tap. If you don’t know, a tap is a special hardened steel screw that cuts threads into metal. But running the tap through the threads I clean them out so bolt will not be damaged.

Tap with Tiny Wrench. Gently spin tap in and out to clean out the existing threads. Idea is to clean, cut as little as possible. Avoid cross threading!

Holes tape about 5 minutes each to tap. After chasing the threads my precious new Toyota bolts thread cleanly.

Tapping frame on passenger side.

Bolt bracket into place.

Sway bar bracket bolted into place on passenger side.

I pre-installed the Man-A-Fre extended sway bar links to sway bar. This was a mistake:

1) No way to thread the sway bar into place with the linkages in place.

2) I installed the linkages the wrong way.

Stock BJ60 Sway Bar with Man-A-Fre extended sway bar links installed pointing the wrong way!

Don’t be stupid like me – the front diff hump is on the passenger side.

Next steps were very simple. These steps should be done for each side before moving to next step:

• Chase threads where brackets bolt to axle housting (there are only 2 of these)
• Thread the sway bar through springs so it lies in front of bracket mounts.
• Apply grease all over the rubber bushing, wrap it around the sway bar and insert it into metal bracket.
• Insert bracket tab into axle housing.
• Bolt other side of bracket into axle housing.

Now you have a sway bar that can be rotated on the axle housing. Next:

• install linkage between frame bracket and sway bar end. You’ll need two wrenches for this.

Now take a victory lap and enjoy the new responsiveness and non-scary turning.

Back home and hose it all down with Fluidfilm. You’ll not be touching it for a while except maybe to check that bolts are still torqued tight.

Sway Bars installed, looking back at passenger side.

 

Frame, frame bracket, man-a-fre linkage an sway bar on passenger side.

Drivers side bracket.

 

Door Latch No Worky and the Secret of Releasing the Window Opener

Getting out of the car yesterday, dang, the drivers inside door latch doesn’t work! Roll down the window and fortunately the outside latch works.

Gotta get it fixed!

Clearly I need to take off the inside door panel, something I’ve not been able to do before. Well now I need to.

How to get that panel off to check the opener mechanism?

 

I undo the door handle by releasing two Phillips screws.

I undo the plastic piece that fits behind the inside door latch, that’s one more Phillips screw.

Now I need to get the window roller arm loose! Shoot! There’s no Phillips there to undo. I gently pry at it with some flathead screwdrivers. It seems like its stuck!

I check my factory manuals, but I don’t have anything covering the interior. Dang!

Search the internet!

• One guys says to crush the window opener handle with vise grips and buy a new one.

NO!

• Several folks say to use the special Toyota tool (which looks like a pry bar.)

Hmm. Well.. there needs to be a better way.

• One generic internet help site suggests:

“If you don’t have the special Toyota tool then gently thread a clean shop towel between the handle and the plastic washer. Move it all around and eventually the handle will pop loose.”

Hmm, the description is for a 2005 Toyota but maybe it works here too. I’ll try that.

I find an old T-Shirt in the rag box, gently thread the edge through, wrap it around and start flossing. After about 4 seconds I hear a click and the handle pops loose! Wow! Magic!

Who would have thought this? I bet a lot of people destroyed a lot of stuff before the internet. I take it out along with a little gold colored clip in the shape of an Omega. By flossing this clip was pulled free of the groove in the arm, and of the groove in the splined metal window opener post inside the door. Cool!

Window Opener Handle with the magic “Omega Clip”

 

I gently pry the clips free from round the panel, then unhook the panel from the door (It hangs from the top of the door).

Revealed is a pretty decent job sealing the car from the door. This is a good thing as it keeps the door panel from disintegrating due to moisture.

Door is sealed with cloth tape, silicone and plastic. Good job PO!

Close up of wire going into door. Since the wire moves I know the problem is where the wire meets the mechanism.

I gently peel back the plastic and tape until I can access the mechanism.

And there I can see the wire has popped out of the mechanism.

Wire loose from the mechanism.

 

1. I click the wire back into place with my fingers
2. hose down the inside of the door with Fluidfilm (because I couldn’t reach well inside the doors when I used the sprayer)
3. Gently replace the tape and plastic
4. rehang the panel
5. bang in each clip with the heel of my hand
6. Now, to replace the window roller handle I slide the omega clip over the handle’s slot, then press the handle onto the splined post. Click, the handle is locked in place again.
7. Screw on the handle and that piece of plastic that goes behind the latch.
8. Climb into drivers seat, close the door and…
9. I can open it again!

Hooray for the internet, couldn’t have done it without you.

 

BJ60 Battery Replacement

Yeah, I left the lights on:Mountain biking at some distant location last weekend. Arrive back to the frankencruiser in the afternoon, load the children into the car and lo, the car doesn’t turn over, just a “Click!”

 

Oh jeese. I left the lights on. Couldn’t see them shining in the morning light. Good thing this car doesn’t need electricity to run and that I parked on a good slope. Release the brakes, back the truck out, then roll forward under the courtesy of gravity. Pedestrians walking side by side up the parking lot are loath to give way to a silently accelerating land cruiser. Shift into 4th, pop the clutch and engine catches instantly. I suppose startup was helped by being warmed all day in the blazing sun.

Drive 2 hours back to seattle and put the batteries on the charger. Batteries accept the full 6 amps. 3 hours later its still taking 5.5 amps. Oh boy, maybe the batteries are toast.

Next morning the batteries are taking 3 amps. On starting the voltage is very low, like 10.5 volts but dropping to 6 when I hit the glow button. Such low voltage after charging all night is a bad sign. I notice that the left battery has a crack in the plastic near the positive terminal, oh man, wonder if its leaking? Out comes the baking soda, distilled water. I fill the 2 cells that are low, scrub the batteries down with water and baking soda. The baking soda boils ominously, especially down the side of the battery and into the battery tray. Boilage means there is acid all over the thing. Not a good sign, its leaking…

I leave the charger on all the next day but signs are not good, looks like I’m in for a new pair of batteries.

Sure enough the engine starts right up the next morning. I drive to work and back home. That night I attach the charger again. 2 minutes later, walking past the rig I hear an odd hissing or buzzing. Hmm. Scan around with the ears and zoom in on the left battery, the one with the crack in it. The battery sounds like its boiling or off gassing something serious. Smells bad. This is not good, not something that should happen when only 2 amps are applied. Now I’ve no doubt. I disconnect the charger with plan to get a battery the next day.

The old batteries:

For the record the batteries in the truck were 3 year old Energizer Deep Cycle 27DC. The side of the battery said “Marine Deep Cycle” but I doubt they were truly deep cycle as they listed 850 CCA each which is high even for a starting battery. Also amazing they list 180 reserve capacity, which is huge and probably optimistic. These batteries are both dated 1/10, so dead after only 3.5 years and they did not age well, I suspect the high CCA came from thin plates and they didn’t survive the deep cycling that previous owner applied.

Cracked case to the right of the positive terminal, leaking acid all over everything.

The new batteries:

First temptation is to get the super awesome excellent batteries that the previous owner had installed. Searching old messages they were Optima D27M, “Blue Top” deep cycle batteries. “Spiral Technology”. They’re also $215 each. I search a little more on the internet and learn something about batteries. First that the optimas are really expensive and don’t seem to last longer than regular batteries. Really the longevity of batteries depends upon their usage.

Research online, perhaps the best overview of batteries is this solarpower web site:

http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html

By Wikipedia CCA is cold cranking amps, means (from Wikipedia):

Cold cranking amperes (CCA) is the amount of current a battery can provide at 0 °F (−18 °C). The rating is defined as the current a lead-acid battery at that temperature can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain at least 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a 12-volt battery). It is a more demanding test than those at higher temperatures. This is the most widely used cranking measurement for comparison purposes.

This value matters as a starter needs sufficient current to turn the engine over. There is not much benefit to actually having huge CCA, but often a higher valued battery will be able to deliver more current when the battery is drained. The CCA has to do with the amount of surface area of the plates in the battery.

Downside of CCA is that the plates will be thinner, will corrode and wear more quickly, so there is a tradeoff.

Another orthogonal measure of battery performance is Reserve Capacity (again from Wikipedia):

Reserve capacity minutes (RCM), also referred to as reserve capacity (RC), is a battery’s ability to sustain a minimum stated electrical load; it is defined as the time (in minutes) that a lead-acid battery at 80 °F (27 °C) will continuously deliver 25 amperes before its voltage drops below 10.5 volts.

This matters if you are drawing current over a longer period, for example running a fridge in the back while the engine is off.

These two battery properties are balanced against each other to form 3 categories of battery:

Starting Battery: used for starting, short draws of high amperage. These batteries will be quickly ruined if they are discharged more than about 2-5%.

Deep cycle battery: used for continuous low power draw these generally tolerate a 50% draw without damage.

Marine battery: these are a balance of deep cycle and starting. They provide sufficient CCA to start a motor, but otherwise are built with thicker plates or lead sponge to survive a deeper draw.

Replacing the batteries:

End of the day I was convinced by a set of posts I saw that generally suggested:

Get the biggest heaviest battery you can find that has the Lowest Sufficient CCA

That is, CCA must only meet your needs, unused CCA compromises durability. An example is Golf Cart Batteries, or forklift batteries, which have CCA of 30-40 and which weigh 100 pounds. Those batteries tolerate deep discharge to almost 20% because their plates are so thick.

I see Costco sells the Interstate 27DC under its own Kirkland brand. They’re $88 each, rated much more conservatively at 600CCA and 115 amp hours. Seems a good price compared to the other stores I visited and both Interstate and Costco have a fine reputation. It seems to meet my “heavy and low cca” requirement.

New batteries from Costco, made by Interstate.

Canadian BJ60 with Arctic Package comes with two batteries. As a 1984 it is still 12 volt, same as nearly every other car on the road. The two batteries are connected in “parallel” meaning that the batteries are connected: positive to positive, negative to negative. By connecting the batteries in this way the voltage remains at 12 but the capacity is roughly doubled, double the CCA, double the reserve capacity.

I put on my gloves and disconnect the batteries, pull them out of the truck.

View of the two batteries, one on each side, with connector cables.

Out with the old, in with the new.

The new and old batteries

Once the batteries are out its an opportunity to inspect and clean the battery tray. They look amazing and new, until I tapped the base with a screwdriver. Uh oh, looks like the rubber coating has detached from the metal, no doubt there is rust underneath:

Oh yeah! Classic Rust in battery tray. Battery acid is nasty stuff! This is right before I peeled that rubber coating off the metal.

Turns out they are both pretty rusted, the one with the leaky battery maybe a little more so. I peel and scrape, then sand. Then clean with degreaser. Even scrape from underneath. Let the water dry and then apply a coat of zinc galvanized repair paint:

Galvanized paint to the battery tray.

Yes, this is not a professional job. I should take the trays out and media blast. That would take days though and I need this done by the weekend.

After an hour for the first coat to dry I pull up any remaining loose rubber coating and apply a second coat.

Coat of zinc galvanized paint.

Later that evening the paint is dry to the touch. I find some awesome black epoxy suspension paint and recoat everything, also sand down and repaint the battery hold downs. Let it all dry overnight.

I also put the new batteries on the charger.

In the morning the epoxy paint still smells toxic but is dry to the touch. I pull out the pail of Fluidfilm and coat the battery trays top and bottom, all over everywhere including the frame where the washed out battery acid had dripped.

Connectors are shiny after buffing

I also take out the sander and buff all the cable connectors in the car (seriously corroded and nasty) so they’re all bright and brassy.

Install the new batteries, recoat the terminals and everything with more Fluidfilm.

Fluidfilm caked onto battery terminals. Prevents corrosion and arcing.

Result:

Holy moly! Since I first laid eyes on this truck the voltage has dropped from 12 down to 7 or 8 when the glow plugs are activated. Even when the engine is running the glow plugs would drop the voltage. Now I turn the key, voltage meter rises to 12. When I hit the glow plugs – The Voltage Doesn’t Move! Man that is some additional capacity. I’d no ideas those batteries were so dead.

Rust Treatment: Hosed It All Down with Fluidfilm

Purchased a gallon of fluidfilm at Granger, $38. Wow the stuff is thick. First I tried repurposing a kitchen hand sprayer. Ha. Then tried painting it on with a brush. Many hours under the car and little to show for it.

Finally went back and carefully reviewed the fluidfilm web site. Recommended sprayers, tip size, pressure. Trips to hardware store to try and rent on, then review craigslist ads for commercial sprayers, various rental stores. Dang, everything is expensive. $500 to buy, $200 to rent, lots of concern about contaminating the lines in their paint guns. Undercoating guns start at $120, $60 for spray wands, etc, etc. Prices seem so high!

I even call around local restoration shops and find good advice: “$100 isn’t much in this line of business”, no one around here applies undercoating. Quotes to be involved were on the order of $500+, really this is not a service thats offered around here.

In the end, the fluidfilm-developed spray gun looks like the best choice. Designed to do a good job hook to a normal air compressor. I call Fluidfilm and he talks me into the Kit #1, upgraded to the “pro gun”, and with a 360 degree flex wand, included another gallon of fluidfilm. I even ponied up $10 for a second wand since it seemed like it’d be suffering abuse. Total was ~$110 including shipping. Fine.  Neighbor has a 25 gallon compressor I can borrow.

The pro gun and wand from fluidfilm kit #1

Big day arrives, I put on my coveralls and mask, fire up the compressor. Holy crap the gun works well. Underside takes about 5 minutes to coat. Then attach a wand and do the inside of the frame, the inside of the rockers, every single hole gets zapped with the wand. In total the underside and frame took about 40 minutes. Gun creates a fog that goes everywhere, good to wear a mask! Spray from about 2 feet away its easy to get a consistent layer.

Doors were next, then inside of rear quarter panels and inside of wheel wells, engine bay, battery boxes, radiator, airbox, up behind the gas tank, inside the bumpers, etc, etc. Also did the body’s internal crossmembers from access holes inside the car. Best part, all the frame pillars (next to windshield, between front and rear doors, and by the tailgate) all have access holes, simply insert wand to the hilt, spray and slowly remove the wand. Also applied inside the rear tailgates even though they’re already rusted. I guess we’ll see how this stuff does in stopping rust.

I probably spent 3 hours spraying the car inside and out and most of that time was spent inserting the wand into all the access points.

The craftsman electric 25 gallon compressor worked well at 120-130psi. Generally I paused 20 seconds every few minutes for the compressor to catch up.  This application would have taken weeks with a paintbrush.

In all that time I used almost 2 quarts of fluidfilm (kit comes with 2 quart bottles). Real surprise to me, besides how easy the application was compared to a paint brush, was the violence of the spray. Need to use short bursts, tap-tap-tap. I thought it worked well.

At this point the only part left, I’d like to zap the inside of the roof seam which means putting holes in the roof liner. The wand that fits to the pro gun is 1/4 inch in diameter, too big I think. The kit came with an aerosol can with a smaller diameter wand, that might be ok. Also I don’t know what to do about the inside of the door’s window frames, pretty thin, no room for the wand.

Here’s a snap of the problem wheel well, all hosed down:

Problem wheel well, drivers side rear, all hosed down with fluidfilm. Wonder if its all gunna wash off?

I haven’t used any of the rubber plugs yet, there have been access holes or plugs everywhere I needed them. I guess I drive the truck a few days and see how it ages. The frame and internals are good now, I believe this will last for a few years at least. I’ll be surprised if the stuff can stick to the wheel wells in the rain. I’ll see I guess.

Finally, I was worried the stuff would reek but so far no complaints. No one seems to notice or mind the slight “sheepy” smell.

My Inept Rust Repair: It all started when I went to plug in the fuel level sender…

Note: These steps are embarrassing. This is not the right way to do this, this is what happens if someone believes advertisements for magic chemicals instead of just believing the professionals who say you need to replace with new metal. This does fix the main issue which is the puddle of water inside the car behind the wheelwell. I am intending to keep everything bombed with FluidFilm.

Yeah… so. Fuel gauge on dash not worky. Always shows E as in Empty. Previous owner says it’s just a matter of connecting the plug. There is in fact a plug inside the car above the driver’s side rear wheelwell – all virginal and ready to be Plug-Ed, and there’s a plug on the other side of the sheet metal right behind the driver’s rear wheel well. All that’s needed according to previous owner is to drill a hole for the wire to pass through.

Context From Inside the Vehicle: View from the inside looking forward at driver’s side rear wheelwell. The rectangular hole on the left had mud and water in the bottom. The leaking seam is at the forward edge on the right side (can’t see it in picture). The hole in the panel goes to a crossmember that bolts to the frame of the car. That sticky wet stuff is fluidfilm which never dries.

Clean It Out

I put on those safety goggles and under the car. Clean it out rear well. Hmm. Where should the hole be? The fact that there’s no hole here is a mystery. I can conclude that this portion of the car was rebuilt outta metal, and the last part was to drill the hole. I dig around on the inside and outside.

Lo! There be-eth a small puddle of water and a layer of fine mud about a cm thick. This car has a leak from the wheel well! Scrub out all the mud. The metal below is thankfully mint but there is a small amount of rust and crappy metal in a very hard to reach inside seam up against the wheelwell. I poke and prod with a screwdriver and manage to push a hole through the wheelwell. Its more like a seam.

The exact location is pretty difficult to photograph, I can barely get my hand in there. But being a hole I need to take care of it. Also need to get all that rust out before repairing. First I get my metal bristled brushes and go to town on everything loose. The area is so difficult to reach that I need to bend loose metal in the wheelwell in order to get access to the hole between the inside and outside, and in order to properly scrub and scrap everything. Get lots of cuts in my hands through the gloves since lots of sharp jagged edges.

I’m a little aggrieved at this hole. Clear that it’d need welding to repair correctly but the area is so congested that one would need to cut everything out and rebuild. Expensive and doesn’t seem so necessary. I’m going to go with the chemical fix, seal metal as well as I can, then bomb it all with FluidFilm.

De-grease

Since I had previously bombed the area with fluid film I need to use degreaser. I had Marine Clean from the local Auto Paint Supply, which is pretty strong toxic degreaser, spray it on, let it sit, clean it off, repeat.

De-Rust

Painted phosphoric acid (naval jelly) inside and out. Make a big ol mess of it. Let it sit and corrode all the rust for an hour, then wash with water. Repeat until metal is rust free.

Install that dang cable:

Install fuel sender cable. This is probably a mistake but I stuck the fuel sender cable through while the seam was open. Verified Fuel Gauge Works! Yay!

Fold Metal Back Where it belongs:

Next step I fold the remaining metal back where it belongs. I’m left with largish holes where I tore out bad metal.

Por-15

Metal is nice and crusty so I skip the metal-etch, I degrease again, then painted silver POR15 onto everything inside and out.

Close-up of the hole I made in my wheelwell. Fuel sender wire is visible through the hole. This big hole is not into the vehicle. There is a small hole into the vehicle if you reach through this hole and to the right.

Context: wheel well repair in context, its right behind the driver’s side rear wheel.

The other side of the wheel-well hole. Can’t see much. The little dab of silver is the bottom of the wheelwell panel with the hole seen in the other pictures. Note that CROSSMEMBER coming from the right. The inside of that sucker is accessed from inside the car. Through the portal I can see that the other side of that bold is rusty. Not a huge amount but it does need treatment.

JB Weld and patch the Seam

Next, before POR15 has fully cured I patch the seam with a strip of cut metal and JB Weld. I cut out a strip of galvanized steel, bend to fit over the seam, then cover one side with JB Weld and press into place. I use a cut down piece of wood to block the metal into place until the JB Weld can cure. This is probably really stupid thing to do instead of welding. Since I can’t hardly reach the seam with my fingers there’s no way to weld it without disassembling everything. Area is free of rust so maybe it will last? Live and learn. Probably best would have been to media blast everything to kingdom-come and do the repair with bare metal. Oh well. Live and learn. I can rebuild the entire wheelwell in the future.

POR15 over the JB Welded seam:

Coat of por15 over the jb welded seam. Little can goes a long way!

Epoxy Putty:

Cover seam on side and out with epoxy putty. Small tube of Quik-Steel. Knead in hands for a minute or so, then lay down epoxy putty. I jam it up against the far side of the seam from the outside, then cover the seam from the inside.

Soft putty in place to cover large hole in wheelwell. This is just to keep water in the wheelwell. There’s more goodness along the seam that you can’t see.

POR15 the epoxy putty.

Putty will absorb water so figure I should seal it with POR15. Bombs away.

Rustoleum Zinc Spray Paint:

Bomb everything with rustoleum zinc spray paint. This is a zinc primer.

Rustoleum Zinc Spray Primer over everything.

Wow, it sure looks worse in pictures than it does in real life. Well – at least the water isn’t getting into the car now. I really think next step I take a grinder and sand it all down so its smooth, then metal edge, recoat with por15, reprime.

Wow what a shit job I’ve done! Someone someday is going to curse me for it. I guess i wait and see if anything cracks loose.

A Pretty Green Facia

Had some time this afternoon and installed the front facia. Previous owner had wanted to paint it red. I’ll just try out the green and see how it fits. Better than a huge hole there. Also taking the bumpers off to have a go with the Fluidfilm, and fix the bumpers on properly with my new bumper bolts!

A pretty green facia! I purchased the mounting bolts for the facia from the Toyota dealer, with washers they were $1.25 each. My little one loves the green. Older one things its strange.

To put the facia in you need to remove the grill. To remove the grill you need to remove the headlight surrounds. So I got to discover all the bolts that you don’t need to undo to remove the headlight surround… Well, an opportunity to clean everything out and grease.

Facia is supposed to be held in place by 8 bolts, 10mm. They’re a gorgeous copper color. Sadly the bottom two mounts for mine don’t seem to exist. 6 is lots anyway. Quite a reach to the side bolts, needed to use 2 extensions on the socket.

Note the rust on the frame under the bumper. This is the area that needs rust treatment. Other than this spot at the end thats hidden under the bumper the rest of the frame looks amazing.

I applied several rounds of phosphoric acid to the backsides of both bumpers which cleaned up the rust quite a bit. Then washed well with water and then painted with fluid film. This is an experiment to see how well that magic stuff works. I’ll see I guess. Since both bumpers are bent I’d need to replace them to have it look truly cherry.

After hosing it all down with fluid film I got to enjoy putting on the rear bumper. See, its a little warped and bent so the holes don’t line up. Technique we developed, put on the left and right bolts but not tight. Then I backed the center of the bumper into a rock while the little one sat in the back of the car holding a board to protect the bumper. Sure enough pushed the bumped back far enough for the little one to drop a bolt into it. Had to do it once for each bolt (applying nut in between). So thats how you get all the bolts in place on a warped bumper. Dang that thing is on there securly now. The bolts used to attach it weight about 1/3 of what the bumper does. 10 Bolts, 10 washers, 10 lock washers and 10 nuts.

Front put back together with green facia.

And that dang warped rear bumper. Its going to take some doing to get that off! I think I know why it was so hard to get off the other one (had to grind each bolt).

Front is always much less trouble, more room for the socket.