The 88 BJ74 build

[blowery]

Back into Land Cruisers again after a small hiatus. This will be a little bit of crosspost from mud.

This is a 1988 BJ74 from Australia I got from a friend of mine. He imported from Australia a few years ago.

The stats:

1988 BJ74 LX
13BT
12 Volt
5 Speed
Full floating rear
16" OEM Chrome wheels - these are way hard to find
OEM rear rollbar, shoulder belts
ARB commercial bumper
OEM snorkel, replaced topper
ARB lockers front/rear
ARB compressor
Narva offroad lights
Lift kit and Maxi Trac shocks, not sure what the actual leaf springs are
Fender flares
Redarc dual battery isolator
Homemade (I think) rear bumper, but it's pretty decently made
Rono overhead roof console
235/85r16s will be replaced with 255/85r16s of some sort

Interesting facts about this cruiser:

#1 Check out that VIN. Its correct on the title, frame and frame tag. How is that possible? Coincidence? Anyway I've nicknamed her Number 1.

#2 Interesting fact: It's a 1988, but it was first sold in February 18, 1991 by Torque Toyota in Redcliffe Australia. Seems like a long time to sit around.

Service records agree. First service at June 18, 1991 at 1,949km at Motorama Toyota. Morooka Queensland.

Factory manuals and fun stuff

 

[blowery]

The inside is pretty clean as well on this rig. It's an LX, but has manual windows, locks. Non-suspension seat, A/C and cassette radio.

Nice overhead console by Rono. It's fiberglass and covered in carpet.

The older ARB compressor under the drivers seat. Not sure what vintage this is.

ARB turbo timer, it's pretty old as well. Not sure if I will keep it or if it works, but it's a neat piece of history.

Door cards in great shape.

 

[blowery]

The outside is in pretty good shape for the year and it's definitely not beat like a lot of the Australian cruisers are.

This is the worst spot of rust I have found so far.

Underside is pretty clean, I need to clean it.

Some of the rear bumper

This is what all the wheel wells look like. Not much rust or anything.

 

[blowery]

So we get to the crux of the cruiser. 480,000 kilometers.

When my friend was driving, it blew a hose and overheated. It then lost the headgasket and scored a cylinder wall. The good news is that the 13BT is sleeved. The bad news is that you are still having to repair an engine.

With that said, he went ahead and ordered a full engine gasket kit and engine rebuild/refresh kit from australia. New sleeves, new pistons and all gaskets. The head was sent off and rebuilt.
Basically at the moment, the block is still in the frame, but I plan on pulling it and building on the stand. New bearings/seals etc.


Thats the current state it sits in. Re-assembly.

I plan to clean clean clean and reassemble and replace a few things along the way. I'm going to put in a new water pump, thermostat, hoses and radiator. Get the engine all cleaned, rebuilt and running right before I tackle anymore at this point.
Progress might be a little slow, but I will try and update as I go along.


The dog approves

 

[Deshet]

I can't see any of your pictures. I just bought of these myself and wanted to compare your to mine.

 

[battleaxe]

Me neither, pics are broken

 

[blowery]

I can't see any of your pictures. I just bought of these myself and wanted to compare your to mine.

Me neither, pics are broken

Weird, they were working. I fixed a few but will come back later and fix the rest.

 

[blowery]

I can't see any of your pictures. I just bought of these myself and wanted to compare your to mine.

Me neither, pics are broken

Are the pictures working now?

 

[battleaxe]

Pics in post 1 & 2 work. 3 & 4 are still broken.

Cruiser looks great! I'd love to have one of those. Dad had a LHD BJ74 when I was a teenager. I wish I had bought it off him.

 

[blowery]

Pics in post 1 & 2 work. 3 & 4 are still broken.

Cruiser looks great! I'd love to have one of those. Dad had a LHD BJ74 when I was a teenager. I wish I had bought it off him.

Thanks fixed those as well. Google is being annoying.

Are you sure that was a BJ74 and not a BJ73? I haven't heard of any BJ74's being LHD and no one online has pictures or info on one save for one that was converted.

 

[battleaxe]

Could be, I`m not 100% sure... I get lost in the variances between models other than it was a 13B LHD 70 series.

 

[4runnerteq]

That's a pretty sweet rig

 

[blowery]

More parts, more cleaning. Just going through every metal, hard part that can be cleaned and cleaning it.
Is there any cleaning solution that can clean the Cad plated parts without removing the yellow?

Rebuilt head:

Back seat

16" OEM chrome rims. I was glad this had OEM 70's rims. I've always liked those, and the ones that were on the FJ40's in 80s.

Radiator, thats going to need to be fixed or replaced. My guess is that this is the actual cause for hose failure and overheating/head gasket.

What is more 80's than YO.

 

[battleaxe]

That's such a sweet truck. I'm seriously contemplating selling my Taco and getting into a 70 series.

 

[blowery]

That's such a sweet truck. I'm seriously contemplating selling my Taco and getting into a 70 series.

The 70 series land cruisers are pretty sweet. Quite a bit different from a Taco for sure and you won't see hardly any on the road. Good news is you can still get most parts for them, and the drivetrain (minus engine on some models) is basically the same as 60 series. The cool factor is off the chart on the 70 series.