Offroad-Express

Shot in to see Nathan at Kaiapoi Repowers today to get some prices for a new exhaust, snorkel, EGR removal and desludge plus some other work and was impressed with the price offered.

I will have some time now before it goes in (later in August) to get the gauges installed and ready to be plumbed in between now and then.
I am bighting the bullet and getting as much done at one time as I can, it will save having to go back later for anything else.

After this it will just leave having to sort a winch bar (again Nathan has offered a sharp price on one), winch (which I have a sharp deal offered from winch.co.nz), then tyres and rims.

I think the tyres and rims might need to have to wait till towards Xmas though as funds are drying up rapidly.

He is wrecking 4 cruisers, he may have the diff lock switch you were after.

Id like the factory lockers out of one of the trucks he has there

By the way, if you are draining antifreeze, dont let your pets near it as apparently it will poisen them

cruiser80 wrote:He is wrecking 4 cruisers, he may have the diff lock switch you were after.

Id like the factory lockers out of one of the trucks he has there

By the way, if you are draining antifreeze, dont let your pets near it as apparently it will poisen them

Yes I forgot to ask about those switches when I was there, might ring him tomorrow.

The radiator shop has offered to replace all the coolant so I will take it in on Saturday.

A couple of stickers have arrived for the wagon

Gauges and probes have been ordered too;

Oil/Water Temperature Sensor, High Precision***
Item# PT100A-NPT
EGT Probe, Sealed Tip Mounting Type Option: 1/4 NPT
Item# TC-KEGTS
3 Bar, 48 PSI, Boost Sensor for Diesel Engine***
Item# AUBER-303
Automobile Multimeter, Dual Channel*** LED Color Option: Red/Green
Item# SYL-2813
Flashing Buzzer, 12 V DC/AC. 16 mm***
Item# FLBuz-12
(18 x ) Hi Temp RTD Extension Cable***
Item# RTDWIRE

tidy looking VX must be a $20k cruiser after the big birthday its been getting

derk wrote:tidy looking VX must be a $20k cruiser after the big birthday its been getting

And some

I reckon that second sticker might earn you a few disgusted looks!

zukmeista wrote::lol: I reckon that second sticker might earn you a few disgusted looks!

Lookin forward to it

By the way, if you are draining antifreeze, don't let your pets near it as apparently it will poison them

Antifreeze is really bad for animals, causes a slow painful death due to kidney failure and dehydration, doesn't help that they are attracted to is as well. Dilute any spilled and keep away from animals

The radiator shop has rung and apologised profusely for the cockup. I took the truck in there this morning and they drained all the fluid, flushed it and refilled it properly.

Now I am a happy customer.

In anticipation of my Auber gauges arriving, I have removed the compass/altimeter console by the mirror to see what clearances I have in there for fitting them.

There will be just enough room to accommodate the two gauges depth wise, that I have ordered, one to go on each side of the mirror mount with the buzzer in the middle. I may even leave the buzzer tucked in behind as the noise is enough without the light showing too. A decision on this will be made when it is all up and working.

The open area I have to work with.


Here you can see where I will have to cut away a little of the hood lining and the redundant plastic standoff for the altimeter mounting screw. This will need to be done on each side.


A mocked up cardboard box of the same dimensions as the gauges I used for comparison.


With the plastic standoff and hood lining trimmed it will sit further back giving it a neater finish.


I have yet to decide what I will use to blank the area off with, either black Perspex or some light sheet metal painted black. The sheet metal may be better to work with in the long run.

As for the head unit, well it will stay as it is for now, I am still looking for something suitable to replace it with, along with four new door speakers.

I will however swap over the existing the headunit so it sits below the cubby hole as I want my PRS radio to be the top unit.

I spent 1/2 the afternoon removing the old head unit to place it under the pocket but decided to put in an old head unit I had in the junk box.
It was a bit of a bugger getting the PRS radio lined up on top of it as it is about 10mm narrower.
I still have to blank off the sides a little.


I spliced the head unit wiring into the existing wiring harness and it sounds so much nicer than the old one I actually thought the speakers were shot the way it used to sound
Even the factory sub in the boot still functions even though it is a baby sub. (that'll all change when the drawers are built)

I am going to make some along the lines of these ones that will incorporate the sub box in the back of them.


Anyone know where to get some catches like these ones, or something similar?


The PRS radio has not yet been hard wired in, I will have to get some new coax to replace the old wire and wire in the power feed to it too.
As the old aerial was mounted on the winch bar on the Terrano, I will have to find a suitable Z bracket to mount it from under the bonnet, until I get a winch bar for the Cruiser.

Now, where to mount my computer


It was mounted to the hood lining on the Terrano, but this bus has a sunroof, so that area is out of the question.

Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

ChurchurDan wrote:Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

Haha was going to suggest them too.

Hey pete have you allowed for the wires behind the gauges? I find they always take up heaps of room.
What about taking the whole box out and knocking up something out of .8 panel steel?

There is another place as well in Watts Rd (used to be in wordsworth st) but there name escapes me currently. They are on the opposite side of the road to 4wd accessories.

tomsoffroad wrote:

ChurchurDan wrote:Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

Haha was going to suggest them too.

Hey pete have you allowed for the wires behind the gauges? I find they always take up heaps of room.
What about taking the whole box out and knocking up something out of .8 panel steel?

I recon there will be just enough room for the wires.
I am going to use the Auber extension wiring to run 4 lots of feeds to there, it is only 1mm wire from memory. Plus run a park light feed, power is already up there just have to get them across the hood lining from top of the drivers A pillar.
It will be tight but I am sure I can do it and keep it looking as factory as possible.

rokhound wrote:There is another place as well in Watts Rd (used to be in wordsworth st) but there name escapes me currently. They are on the opposite side of the road to 4wd accessories.

Thanks, I will check them out later next week.

ChurchurDan wrote:Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

I had a look here http://www.transquip.co.nz/ but did not find what I am looking for, unless I looked wrong

kiwipete wrote:

ChurchurDan wrote:Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

I had a look here http://www.transquip.co.nz/ but did not find what I am looking for, unless I looked wrong

Bottom of page 8 of toolboxes

tomsoffroad wrote:

kiwipete wrote:

ChurchurDan wrote:Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

I had a look here http://www.transquip.co.nz/ but did not find what I am looking for, unless I looked wrong

Bottom of page 8 of toolboxes

Duh, told ya I looked wrong

tomsoffroad wrote:

kiwipete wrote:

ChurchurDan wrote:Have a look on Transquip's website for a latch, most of their ones are lockable as well.

I had a look here http://www.transquip.co.nz/ but did not find what I am looking for, unless I looked wrong

Bottom of page 8 of toolboxes

Wheres the price list for them.. cant seem to see it..

Reid and Twiname was the name of the other place I was thinking of. Those handles were about $30 ech last time I bought some (2-3 yrs ago).

This is the looks I am aiming for when my Cruiser is finished.



It only took 14 years to complete the Terrano; um let's back this up a bit, it was never finished.

for latches also try.

http://www.comac.co.nz/modules/SP_webshop/shop.php?cat=13

A wee bit more progress.

The PRS radio aerial has been installed along with some new RF coax (allowing for sufficient length to re-mount on the winch bar at a later date).


There was a factory hole in the guard that allowed me to poke the wire up through, I did not have a spare grommet so I wrapped some insulation tape around the coax and zippy tied it underneath to prevent it chafing.


I tied a length of pretty string (builders string) up and ran it through this grommet to allow for pulling future wires through.


To get a suitable power feed for the PRS radio I am trying to remove the lower dashboard shroud below the steering wheel, but I am having difficulty removing the knob off the hand throttle cable.
I want to completely remove this shroud so I can easily run a permanent hot wire from the 2nd battery to a new fuse box.


Whilst I was crawling around under the dash, I noticed the steering column dust boot at the firewall has seen better days and is now letting daylight shine through it.
Where is a good place to purchase a new one from? Shall I visit Mr Toyota?




Now this in itself leads to a couple of questions;
Is there an inner and outer one?
Is it an easy enough job to replace them?

Hand throttle should have a teeny tiny grub screw then undo the round nut holding it onto dash

I have always found the round dash nut to come loose from time to time as well

skid wrote:Hand throttle should have a teeny tiny grub screw then undo the round nut holding it onto dash

I have always found the round dash nut to come loose from time to time as well

Yeah that's what I thought too, but I did not see a grub screw in there at all, maybe I better have another look tomorrow

I found a link for doing the steering column boot replacement.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/and-next-on-the-list-rebuild-ps-gear-box-new-sector-shaft-pitman-arm.336799/page-3

Might go n visit Mr Toyota tomorrow and price one up.

Some of those idle speed knobs have a slot on the bottom that you push a small screw driver into to release a little tab then pull them off.