1GGZE into an RN85 Hilux Dual Cab 2WD [Beware - lots of pix]

[1JZ~lux]

Soldering in a car isn't always the best method. The vibrations eventually crack the join and u get a "dry join". What I do is tin the wire ends (apply solder to each wire end) then use crimps.

[TA-022]

yeah i have to disagree there .. wires are soldered from the factory.

i stand by heat shrink and solder all day anyday.

[Bullfrog]

I would only solder to solid things such as curcuit boards etc and when joining i would crimp but crimp properly with quality parts no cheap crap, and using correct crimping tools. Or in your case infotech i probably would have replaced the pins in the plugs with new ones attached crimped and soldered to the new wires just to be sure.

[2jzhilux]

crimping is just plain dodgey
if you solder wires correctly the car will rust away before the soldered joint cracks

[infotechplus]

crimping is just plain dodgey
if you solder wires correctly the car will rust away before the soldered joint cracks

That's an interesting discussion, one I never really considered although I am well aware of the 'dry join' phenomenon. I've seen it in hifi components and more recently in car audo especially head units. My Kenwood had dry joints on one of the RCA pre-outs - a pin had completely separated from the solder joint on the board

I strip away enough of the wire covering on each end, tin each end, trim and then apply iron and join. Each join is heat shrinked, larger wires twice. Then cable tied (as per photo) on each side, then use that special black shrink tape that you stretch. When the ECU is mounted inside the Lux I trust it will be a firm fit - I could even use a small rubber or compressed paper washer to reduce vibration if necessary.

Cheers,

[infotechplus]

Soldering in a car isn't always the best method. The vibrations eventually crack the join and u get a "dry join". What I do is tin the wire ends (apply solder to each wire end) then use crimps.

I've heard that's not a good idea. Can't tell you why, but that's what some people have told me. There are some excellent crimping tools available but I tend to steer clear of crimping.

Cheers,

[omp]

Because you would be crimping onto a solid wire not soft wire for the crimp to bite/latch/crimp onto......

[Herus]

Infotech,

Thats a nice setup you're doing there, looks like something I'd be interested in doing myself!

If only I could find someone in SA that had done all of this, that I could look into!

Good luck with your project!

Herus

[infotechplus]

Infotech,

Thats a nice setup you're doing there, looks like something I'd be interested in doing myself!

If only I could find someone in SA that had done all of this, that I could look into!

Good luck with your project!

Herus

When I'm finished (one day, I'm sure) I hope this writeup will encourage a few others to do this conversion. I've heard it is a very good combination of chassis and engine, and having driven a friend's similar conversion I'm looking forward to driving it - a long drive up the Freeway to the Mountains maybe.

Thanks for your encouragement Herus,

Cheers,

Peter

[Herus]

No worries,

Keep up the good work on the how to, and eventually ill get there...

I need to find myself an RN90R first!

Andrew

[infotechplus]

Well, not much happening on the wiring front. I extended all the wires on one of the connectors, and the two wires on the plug coming from the aircon (still haven't worked out how to wire it up but I'm assuming one wire is power and the other earth). I've checked out two Hiluxs with aircon over recent days and both had a single wire).

I went out to Aussie Sport Trucks at Penrith on Friday to pick up my new grille, and order some other panels. Damian tells me I should have these in the next week or so as he was awaiting a new shipment.

I thought I might have another look at the exhaust so I found the 7M-GE pipes and checked the fit. At first I tried coaxing them in by applying the hammer to one of the pipes but it was still fouling on the collector. So I got out the cutoff saw and trimmed all the pipes about 6 inches down from the flange. I guess the exhaust shop can do the rest. I bolted the flange to the header so at least that's out of the way!

So with rego coming up in four weeks I decided to get to work on the painting. Previously I'd half finished the job because I was reluctant to remove the doors. This time, however, I decided to do it properly and remove the doors.

I removed all the body plugs, door trims and interior handles and armrests.

I sanded the complete body with 320 paper, and 240 in some stubborn areas. Then I did a complete pass with 600 paper. Then I washed the car, dried it off, and wiped it over with W & GR. Then I masked off the front and rear windows.

One little trick I've learnt is that to get a good edge around the window rubber (without removing the glass) is to push some rope or cord under the rubber and then mask off. This allows the spray gun to get underneath the rubber. When you take the rope out it cleanly covers the paint.

This is the rear window with some nylon cord pushed under the rubber:



The doors removed and set aside, I masked up the interior with newspaper around the door jambs, sanded out a couple of runs from the old undercoat, W&GR and two coats of primer/filler (it is more forgiving if you aren't the most diligent of sanders).



And here's the finished product:



The rear was a little more difficult as I'd already applied a gloss clear to it (unlike the rest of the Lux which only had basecoat) so I had to spend a bit of time scuffing the gloss off, and then fixing a couple of small dings on either side.



And here's the finished job. It looks a little greyer as I used up a small amount of grey primer/surfacer on it before going over with two coats of primer/filler. Notice also I removed the body plugs and the air vent for a cleaner finish.



This is the driver's side which you can see was the unfinished side from my earlier respray. So there was a bit more work here but it came up quite well.

I made sure i removed all the stereo wiring and the cabling for the central locking, as well as the sensors that the alarm used.



The doors will be easier to paint off the chassis, and I think I'll clean them up fully and paint them completely blue even though you can't see the guts of them once the trim is back on.





The guards have been painted as has the windscreen cowling so I've set them aside for clear coating later.



The door trims have also been set aside to be cleaned up, although I'm thinking I might paint them black like the dash. I'll wait and see on that call!



So that was all a day's work. I've used up all my paint supplies and will need to replenish on Monday (VG Auto Paints at Girraween offer great prices and always looked after me).

Tomorrow I'm relaxing at the A1 GP so I'm hoping to finish the respray (primer/basecoat/clearcoat) next weekend.

My only other immediate concern is the fuel lines. I see from the BOSCH website my VL pump is a 0 580 464 070 - 130 Litres per hour at 3 bar. It has a 12mm inlet and an 8mm outlet which makes it really hard to fit up adequate fuel lines. My local Supercheap Auto has some EFI Fuel Hose but its too small for the inlet and too large for the outlet. What have other people done in this scenario? Do I just replace all the factory piping and run hose to the tank and another one to the engine?

Cheers,

Peter

[Grega]

peter
go to an LPG fitter and get some annealed copper LPG line. that will bend and flex (annealed) without breaking and make an ideal source for your fuel lines.

and yeah definately do those trims in the same color as the dash. one thing i've never liked about stupid commodores is the eleventy billion and ten different shades of grey/blue.

good work mate its coming along really well. always liked luxes, this will be awesome.

[Grega]

ps: awesome idea here : rope or cord under the rubber and then mask off. awesome. definate take home that one.

[Herus]

ps: awesome idea here : rope or cord under the rubber and then mask off. awesome. definate take home that one.

Gotta agree with that!

Copper line is very easy to work with, but is also very soft. dont go hitting it with a hammer cause it will squash!

also be careful not to kink it.

but good idea grega...

and the door skins need to be the same colour!

Andrew

[infotechplus]

The next step in the process is underway - Toyota Blue outer skin.

Yesterday afternoon I sanded back the primer/filler with 800 and 1200 grit wet/dry, and completed the undercoating of the body where the paint had run out.

This afternoon I put on a quick coat followed by two wet coats. I'm suprised its actually come up quite so shiny as it still has to receive a couple of gloss clear coats.













And a photo of my new toy, the Ryobi cutoff saw. I used it for the first time to cut the pipes off the exhaust y-pipe even though I've had it since last year.



Now later this week I will sand the roof back and give it a couple more coats of Toyota Blue, as it's not come up to the quality of the rest of the car. I think I should have used some stands and a trestle to do it. either that or I got the paint/thinners mixture wrong

Cheers,

Peter