Box Rocket 1995 FZJ80 Build

[Willman]

Adam - Glad to see my favorite 80 is still getting better and better! Keep up the great work!

 

[Box Rocket]

Adam - Glad to see my favorite 80 is still getting better and better! Keep up the great work!

Thanks Nic. Hope things are going well. Haven't seen you in ages.

 

[The_Dude]

Haven't decided on which bumper yet. Looking at a few different ones. I like the Slee Shortbus, but it's expensive. I also like the one from Costa Fabrications, the Binks Fab bumper is also nice and I like the Trail Tailor one too. I've even considered the Trail Gear low profile bumper. I really liked the TG bumper on my Tacoma.

Bump it off road tube bumper?

 

[Box Rocket]

Bump it off road tube bumper?

Actually ended up building a custom one. Love it. Glad I went this direction.
IMG_2376 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[pyrate]

I am very interested in how the bad elf works. I have a Garmin 60csx that I used when off road riding but I no longer have the bike and am looking for a bigger display, like my iPad and wondered if this works best or Garmin Glo. Are you doing any trips in the near future that you can test it out? Most of the threads talking about it are pretty old.

I bought a bad elf and it works great. I was amazed at the battery life too. My only challenge was how the map downloads work. There there are several topos that worked great. But I couldn't get the satellite downloads to really work well. I don't know if I needed to do a separate download or not. But I would look at the topo and it had tracks marked. But sometimes I would come across a path that I wanted to take (not on the topo) and wanted to see what the satellite image showed but it was very blurry and couldn't get any detail. I'm sure it was my error.

Sorry for the hi-jack but thanks for the recommendation. I am very pleased and thrilled it will work for my nautical adventures too and I don't have to buy GPS units for each. YAY!

 

[Box Rocket]

while working on some Cruise Moab prep items I had a little time to address something I've wanted to do for a long time, update my dash lights. I found a post on IH8MUD that linked these LED bulb replacements and decided to give them a shot. I replaced the 4 main backlights in the gauge cluster with white LEDs and also replaced the backlights in the shift indicator and Heater controls with smaller LEDs. Was a fairly simple modification, just need to take the dash apart enough to get the gauges and heater control unit out.

Here's the LEDs I used for the gauge backlights. They came with the twistlock sockets and were super easy to change once the gauges were out.
LEDs by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KT1BH1Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_QF6Mzb5TPTKGK?tag=ihco-20

Here's the LEDs I used for the shift indicator (I have a "D" light again!) as well as the heater control backlights. Note, the heater control sockets are slightly smaller so I used an exacto knife to shave a little off the plastic housings of the LEDs so they would fit in the sockets. Didn't have to remove much material for them to fit.
LEDs2 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KVXTVZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_NpmWdYNP64Nm3?tag=ihco-20

These are a huge upgrade in brightness from the standard incandescent bulbs. There is some question about the longevity of these LEDs so time will tell how long they last, but they are inexpensive and pretty simple to replace if I need to change them again down the road. Some might find the shift indicators too bright, but personally I don't mind it at all.
IMG_2685 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_2686 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Lights on during the daytime.
IMG_2687 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_2688 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Lights on at night. Note, the guage backlights and heater control lights are dimmable.
IMG_2689 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_2691 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[2scars]

12.5 MPGs, whew. I thought my Dcab was drinking it down. You still have a long commute Adam?

 

[Box Rocket]

12.5 MPGs, whew. I thought my Dcab was drinking it down. You still have a long commute Adam?

I commute about 60 miles/day but the 80 isn't a daily driver anymore. I still drive it a couple times a week but it's not getting full time use.

 

[Photog3221]

Awesome build Adam! I just bought essentially the same rig two weeks ago and have spent the last two days reading thru your thread. Great inspiration and awesome pics the entire way! Looking forward to my own build and seeing where it takes me. This is my first Cruiser having come over from a 97 D1 Rover.

 

[Box Rocket]

Awesome build Adam! I just bought essentially the same rig two weeks ago and have spent the last two days reading thru your thread. Great inspiration and awesome pics the entire way! Looking forward to my own build and seeing where it takes me. This is my first Cruiser having come over from a 97 D1 Rover.

Sweet! thanks for the compliments and congrats on the new Cruiser! Gonna be a whole new experience for you. I owned a D1 Rover in the past and the 80 series is huge upgrade IMO. Let me know if I can answer any questions or be of any help with your build etc.

 

[Box Rocket]

Couple recent mods I haven't posted yet. First, one of the final parts to complete the Slinky suspension is the addition of a new HD Blackhawk rear swaybar. This swaybar is designed to work as part of the Slinky kits and is noticeably larger than the factory rear swaybar. I have had this on for about a month or so and the change is significant. The whole truck feels more "planted" and body roll has been reduced when cornering. I'm really looking forward to this change in the dirt since my offroad speeds have really increased since adding the Slinky suspension. This swaybar will help to keep the truck controlled even more, and as a bonus it all but eliminates any roll steer from the back end.
IMG_3841 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3851 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Next is a little experiment I'm working on to help reduce engine bay temps. Weather temps have been hot lately, mid 90's for the past 10 days or so which makes it a bit more apparent. My coolant temps haven't been terrible but have been between 190*-199*F most of the time on the highway. I've been driving Parley's canyon here in Utah a lot lately and climbing the canyon the coolant temps have been as high as 213*. Given the conditions it's not necessarily out of the norm but still warmer than I want it to be. Intake temps have been around 140*F even with the snorkel.

Here's some context of the rest of the cooling system stuff. HG replaced 2 years ago, new OEM radiator installed at the same time. Blue hub fan clutch with 30K oil.

Anyway, the plan is to increase airflow through the engine bay and vent some of the heat to get temps down. As I said, the truck seems to be cooling adequately for the conditions so this is something I've wanted to experiment with for a while. I've added a hood scoop to increase pressure inside the engine bay and I plan to add a couple of vents to let the air escape and hopefully drop the temps in the engine bay. I'm still looking for the vents I want to use, but I got the scoop portion done over the weekend.

The scoop is from Ebay and is meant for a 2011 Mustang. I needed to modify it for what I'm doing. First off the bottom needed to be sanded to fit flush to the 80 hood. This was designed as a cosmetic piece so it wasn't a "real" scoop and the inlet was blocked, so I cut that out to open it up. It's a thick, sturdy polymer and I have no concerns about the scoop itself holding up. It's currently attached with HD 3M double sided tape meant for body mouldings. Seems very strong. I could pick up the hood by the scoop so I don't think it's coming off anytime soon.

I'm sure someone will ask about water getting into the engine bay. I put a 1/2" rubber lip all the way around both openings in the hood and another all the way across the width of the opening about halfway back under the scoop. It's still possible that some water could get in but I think this will stop 99% of the water that would run across the hood from getting through the holes.

I know not everyone will like this mod, that's ok. Looking for function and don't mind a bit of experimenting. If it becomes a problem, I can always cover up the the holes (leaving the scoop in place) and solve any issues if this somehow makes temps worse. Or I can replace the hood pretty easily. So far it seems to be helping and coolant temps haven't been above 195*.

IMG_3961 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3957 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3975 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3974 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3960 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3969 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3971 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

IMG_3973 by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Loubaru]

Kind of late now but I think a vent on the backside of the radiator/fan would work better for what you are looking for. This is what they do in a lot of racing applications. Pressure in the engine bay is already going to be pretty high so the vent would let some of the hot air out before it gets the the engine. Especially since I'm assuming your belly is relatively closed with skid plates.

 

[Box Rocket]

Kind of late now but I think a vent on the backside of the radiator/fan would work better for what you are looking for. This is what they do in a lot of racing applications. Pressure in the engine bay is already going to be pretty high so the vent would let some of the hot air out before it gets the the engine. Especially since I'm assuming your belly is relatively closed with skid plates.

If you read what I described there will be vents to let hot air escape too. Just haven't finished that part of it yet. Also FWIW, I don't have any aftermarket skid plates, never have in 20 years of wheeling an 80 so the underside is pretty open and isn't keeping heat in.

 

[dallen341]

have you checked temps with and without the lights? Just wondering how much (if at all) the lights affect airflow thru the grill

 

[Box Rocket]

have you checked temps with and without the lights? Just wondering how much (if at all) the lights affect airflow thru the grill

Yeah, I haven’t noticed much difference with or without lights. If you look back a few posts you’ll see I’ve had 3 lights on the front bumper for a long time. I’ve removed the center light now to allow more air to directly hit the grill/radiator. Not much change.

As I mentioned earlier, in general my coolant temps aren’t that bad. But it just gets really hot in the engine bay and I think any reduction in those temps can only help so I’m trying a few things.