Project Hundy Build Thread - 2000 UZJ100 Land Cruiser

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
Does she know? Does she know about the new gal?

No, I'm not sneaking around on my lovely wife... I'm worried that the 100 Series knows I've brought home a rig that will eventually replace her. I've been on the hunt for a 200 Series for the last 6 months or so. Nothing super serious but a few classifieds alerts and such. Things changed early last month when I found a great 200 here locally and pulled the trigger.

new_200.jpg

This is the day I purchased it. Yes those are some hideous 22's and yes they will be gone very soon!

I'll detail the story in my upcoming 200 build thread but for the time being let's get back to the 100. I really think she is forcing us to spend time together.

I've been driving it less and less the last few months, it's been great but there have been a few things on my mind to clean up as the weather has warmed up and dried out. I still need to spend some time cleaning the under-carriage and re-applying some black paint. Nothing pressing but it's time.

More pressing things popped up earlier this week. I was getting what I would call a "metallic clicking noise" out of the driver side front wheel well. Was it a CV? It was more "tingy" than I would expect and my CV's were service not that long ago. Was it a bad wheel bearing? Odd noise but I suppose it could happen though again it was serviced before we drove to Mexico last November. Brakes? Pad thickness was great but perhaps a squealer was hitting something?

Problem number two seemed even more pressing. I popped the hood last night to use the air compressor and noticed the coolant recovery bottle was all but empty. There was a 1/4" or so in the bottom and the radiator appeared full when I popped the cap so I don't think there was any real issue BUT where was the coolant going? There were no signs of leaking or dripping. Head gasket? I sure hoped not. I started poking around and found signs of a link on an oil cooler line on the front of the motor behind the idler pulley. I don't know how long it has been leaking but I'm assuming that is where the coolant leak was coming from.

I had a couple minutes and the help of my pal Olly to diagnose and we pulled it in the shop today. Olly pulled the front driver wheel and we spun the opposite side at every angle hoping to duplicate the noise. Nothing, in fact the only thing we could now here was the "squeek" of the CV boot at full droop. We looked all over in the caliper, no signs of interference, brake pads and hardware were all correct. We figured we would start pulling the wheel hub down, inspect bearings and go from there. He pulled the dust cap and drive flange and again spun the opposite side, this time only spinning the drivers side CV still boot noise and nothing else. We then spun the rotor and sure enough a bit of noise could be heard when the noisy CV boot wasn't drowning it out. Time to pull it down and inspect bearings. He un-bolted the caliper and what falls out? A 1/2" odd shaped rock that was up against the back of the rotor, between the two caliper pistons. How it go there I will never know, one in a million bounce but it has a San Rafael Swell color too it so I'm sure I picked it up recently. We re-assembled, re-torqued and guess what? No clicking.

We then tackled the hose. A bit of a chore to get to but all fixed. Topped off the coolant and she is running tip-top without squeaks, rattles or bangs :cool:

hose_rock.jpg

The offending parts. You can see the small pinhole leak next to the hose clamp and of course the dreaded rock.
 

mervo

Observer
Fantastic build. I've been contemplating a 100 and this may have just sold me.

Quick question, haven't seen you mention the Helton hot water system. If your wife is anything like mine, she has demanded any build project will have a way of showering. Just curious if you've had a chance to put it throw it's paces?

Thanks for your time posting all of this.
 

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
Fantastic build. I've been contemplating a 100 and this may have just sold me.

Quick question, haven't seen you mention the Helton hot water system. If your wife is anything like mine, she has demanded any build project will have a way of showering. Just curious if you've had a chance to put it throw it's paces?

Absolutely, it's seen a fair bit of use on trips over the years. It's the first thing the Mrs. ask for after a dusty day on the trail.

Thanks for checking out the build. I just got back from a super fast Moab trip, ran Hells Revenge with some Toyota folks as part of the Ever-Better Expedition. It's a big/heavy rig for Moab trails but it did just fine, often with a newbie driver behind the wheel. I fall in love again with the 100 every time I drive it.
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
I drank the 100 kool-aid. Flying into PDX next week to buy one. 2000, always a California truck, super clean carfax and it only has 122,000 on it. Pretty solid price too. No big plans other than to lift it and drive it.

Cheers
 

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
I drank the 100 kool-aid. Flying into PDX next week to buy one. 2000, always a California truck, super clean carfax and it only has 122,000 on it. Pretty solid price too. No big plans other than to lift it and drive it.

Cheers

Right on Ian, congrats!

I'll be interested to hear what you think about it. Great rigs!
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
I drank the 100 kool-aid. Flying into PDX next week to buy one. 2000, always a California truck, super clean carfax and it only has 122,000 on it. Pretty solid price too. No big plans other than to lift it and drive it.

Cheers

Congrats! Does this mean the 80/62 is going to slow down, or become even more offroad biased?
 

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
Not much to update, it's just running solid. It returned to Baja last month as a desert race support rig. I did some fluids before heading south and send off a oil sample to Blackstone, figured it deserved it after this milestone:

199999k_sm.jpg


200000k_sm.jpg


And a little color switcheroo

red_to_black_1.jpg


red_to_black_2.jpg


I need to snap a shot of the finished product, both are now black.
 

texascrane

Adventurer
Kurt,
I know you've talked about ham radio in other threads... Did you install one in the hundy? I just recently passed the technician/general tests and picked up a Yaesu 8800R. I'm looking for mounting ideas. Thanks.
 

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