|
|
|
Another bookmark from here. Got to say I've started to read your blog and the first thing that springs to mind, apart from the story itself of course, is that you must love filling out visa applications! Only ever had problems on one occasion when we decided to drive up to Bangkok from Kuala Lumpur for a quick week's work, tacking a few days on each end for a bit of R&R. When we returned to the border, we got a fine for a two day overstay. I'd not bothered checking in the passports, and you only got 10 days VOA on an overland crossing as opposed to flying where you get 30. Strangely, the vehicle did get a 30 day carnet, despite dire warnings of the consequences if I tried to depart without it! ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) Good old Thailand. Anyway, keep the good stuff coming, please.
|
|
Last Edit: May 21, 2016 2:38:16 GMT by georgeb
|
|
|
|
|
May 21, 2016 19:19:37 GMT
|
Another bookmark from here. Got to say I've started to read your blog and the first thing that springs to mind, apart from the story itself of course, is that you must love filling out visa applications! Only ever had problems on one occasion when we decided to drive up to Bangkok from Kuala Lumpur for a quick week's work, tacking a few days on each end for a bit of R&R. When we returned to the border, we got a fine for a two day overstay. I'd not bothered checking in the passports, and you only got 10 days VOA on an overland crossing as opposed to flying where you get 30. Strangely, the vehicle did get a 30 day carnet, despite dire warnings of the consequences if I tried to depart without it! Good old Thailand. Anyway, keep the good stuff coming, please. Wouldn't exactly say I like doing them.... but I'm well practiced! I have two full passports from the trip... mostly a pain in the ass, but sometimes funny, like bargaining with the Tajik Consul in Moscow (got him down from $250 to $120 for a visa), changing one Afghanistan visa with a cotton bud, vodka and pen, being told by the Russian consul in Tehran to invent a fake reason for coming to Russia on a 'business' visa, or getting into South Ossetia at the spectacular border with Russia after name-dropping a minister in their rebel government whom I'd been negotiating with to come and visit as a 'tourist'.
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
May 21, 2016 19:54:32 GMT
|
Now for the front suspension, not as bad as the back by a long way, but still in need of replacing... I was getting nowhere trying to get the grease caps off the front hubs; didn't want to butcher them off, so eventually got a small chisel and off they came. Both had done their job perfectly for 20 years, as the hubs were mint behind, amidst all the foul rust everywhere else. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0170_1.jpg) ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0171_1.jpg) Front struts out after butchering off all six nuts holding them into the front turrets: ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0180.jpg) A bodger has been at work here again... upper one (LH) is genuine, lower one (RH)... no idea. You've got to wonder if all this bodging is a super-cheap owner or cowboy garages... The six nuts holding the two struts on sat onto of the front suspension turrets, which are part of the chassis, ending high in the front wheel wells and hard to reach. It was some kind of dentistry to carefully burn through one side of each nut without touching the chassis, then chisel the nut off. One nut actually started to back off, then seized and rounded off, so I cut straight though it. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0181_1.jpg) Upper wishbones. Cotter pins were annealed with rust into the ball joint stud / castle nut, so I had to burn back the parts of the castle nuts holding the pins, then back them off. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0182.jpg) Lower wishbones and balljoints: ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0184.jpg) Didn't get a picture of the driveshafts, but they were surprisingly mint, no play in any joint, no split boots. When I took them apart all four boots contained the original factory grease a and the joints were fine. One less thing to replace.... And then wire brishing the front end of the chassis back, ready for epoxy mastic and then Dinitrol 3125 inside. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0189.jpg)
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
May 21, 2016 21:33:03 GMT
|
I'd been waiting for 8 weeks for some Dutch company to deliver an engine stand when I finally ran out of patience and got one on eBay from a German seller. Literally every tool and component I need has to come from abroad, there is almost nothing for cars here. You can't even buy paint thinner at the local equivalents of B&Q / Home Depot!! Anyway the engine was put in the stand, and now I had to open it up to see what it looked like inside. When I first got the truck in the garage in late February, I pulled off the exhaust manifold and downpipe (crushing my right fifth finger in the process) and heard something metallic rolling around ahead of the catalytic converter. Upending it out rolled a chewed up piece of valve stem... From this point onward, although I sort of hoped that a proper repair had been done (yeah right), or an engine swap (equally unlikely), I was preparing myself for a full engine rebuild. Anyway, here is the bottom end. Not too sludgy, but the sump was full of metal 'paste' around the magnetic drain plug, dirt and debris from old head gasket / silicone gasket material. The oil filter was full of the same and i reckon it had been on there for years. Why do scumbags have to run good cars into the ground to save a few quid? ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0205.jpg) Two chains at the front of the engine, one driving the two camshafts, the other the two balance shafts to keep this big four-banger nice and smooth. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0207_1.jpg) Some f***wit had fitted #5 intake camshaft bearing cap the wrong way round, even though there is an obvious arrow stamped into it. They had also lost one of the guide pins on the #2 exhaust camshaft bearing cap, and lost six out of ten valve cover bolts. People that work on cars this sloppily should have their hands cut off. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0210_1.jpg) Then time to take the head off... ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0215_1.jpg) ... sigh. #1 combustion chamber has been wire-brushed back, taking some material away but leaving an ok surface, though one of the valve seats sits ever so slightly proud. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0211_1.jpg) #8 intake valve was not closing properly due to a piece of old head gasket from botched repair work, which has stuck to the valve seat: ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0214.jpg) I thought I would still be able to run with this head, until I took the valves out and found a weld in #1 intake port, right below the valve seat. I don't believe this is from the dropped valve, I reckon that whoever changed the valve seat may also have been an idiot, and cracked the head by chiselling the seat out. So I will get a new head... ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0257.jpg) Plastigauging the nine crankshaft journals, all the oil clearances are just about factory, but when running my fingernail across them, particularly on the thrust-loaded faces, the surface feels like a nail file... so the crankshaft needs grinding. Crankshaft end-float and conrod side clearances are all OK. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0221.jpg) #1 cylinder wall is quite a sight; two nicks but an interesting high-spot, which you can see has been pinching up the piston rings, causing a distinctive wear-band in the cylinder walls. There is also quite some vertical wear from piston slap, though that is unrelated to the dropped valve. ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0232_1.jpg) I haven't got a photo of the pistons at present, but they all have considerable skirt wear from slapping. The two compression rings in #1 piston are seized in their lands, and the gudgeon pin is tight in the piston, with the little-end bearing looser on #1 conrod than the other three, though not with any detectable movement. So some cheapskate fits an LPG system with no extra lubrication for the exhaust valves / seats, engine drops a valve. I reckon from the MOT history that the truck then sat somewhere for several months, then was fixed by an idiot to cut costs. So thanks to LPG I suspect, and negligent owners, the engine is knackered.
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
May 21, 2016 21:46:39 GMT
|
But apart from that... ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) I sympathise about getting parts. The only things I've managed to buy here that was then taken out of the packaging and fitted directly to the car, were headlight bulbs and wiper blades. Literally everything else, including oil filters has to be shipped in.
|
|
|
|
Davey
Posted a lot
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,250
|
|
May 21, 2016 21:53:30 GMT
|
Wow that is a mess. I wish you good luck.
|
|
K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300 EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
|
|
nug
Part of things
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 30
|
|
May 22, 2016 21:40:30 GMT
|
Certainly got some tin worm going on there. I am fairly happy with the underside of my Delica. I had to Reinforce & weld the offside rebound bumpstop bracket back on after it had peeled itself of the chassis leg. Other than that its sound with very little surface rust. The L400 is not as robust as the L300 underneath in my opinion. I still prefer a proper chassis.
Ref the head issues. It seems to me that every vehicle with a diesel & alloy head seems to have issues at some point. I think people forget that the head gasket is almost a sacrificial element in as much as it has to deal with with the different expansion & contraction rates of dissimilar metals. It needs replacing before it fails, but this is never a scheduled procedure like it would be with a cambelt. Owners rarely maintain cooling systems to any degree & when something starts to fail or show symptoms of failure, they then bodge it or just drive it until something lets go.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I find it strange to believe that it is that terrible to live in the netherlands...
You can find that stuff you need just around everywhere over here !
|
|
34 B Ford V8 Flathead Hotrod 55 International L170 (Cummins 6BT) 65 Mustang V8 supercharged Coupe 58 Plymouth Belvedere (Christine) 05 Dodge Ram 1500 HEMI
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2016 19:54:58 GMT
|
I find it strange to believe that it is that terrible to live in the netherlands... You can find that stuff you need just around everywhere over here ! Hi! Well, up here in Groningen it's very anti-car. I guess it is different in Holland. There is very limited choice in the shops here. And when I want to buy online, ebay.nl is useless. So inevitably I order from the UK, and that takes 7 to 14 days to arrive. So that's pretty frustrating. I've ordered a couple of things from Datona before, but they kept me waiting 8 weeks for an engine stand so I don't think I'll use them again. On the plus side, I found an amazing motor engineering shop up here in Hogeveen (Drenthe Motor Revisie) which is far better than my local place back in the UK.
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2016 20:17:20 GMT
|
With the engine apart and in need of machining, it was time to find a machine shop. With the help of a local friend (Honda maniac with a S2000, absolutely lovely car!) we went early one morning to the town of Hogeveen, about 30 km south of Assen, where I work. My local engine shop in the UK is run by a few guys and is a glorified tool shed. This place was a proper machinists paradise with millions of Euros' worth of machinery, a dyno room, diesel lab and plenty of people working there. This was the place for me! The guy who took my knackered engine parts on a trolley, Geert was kind enough to give the two of us a tour at 08:30. I wanted to change jobs immediately! ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0260_1.jpg) ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0259_1.jpg) ![](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee422/EurasiaOverland/DSC_0258.jpg) Obviously, this is not my crank... 3 cylinder toot!
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2016 20:19:54 GMT
|
I think at some point that has been run red hot and started to or actually did sieze, thus causing the bore damage. LPG might have contributed to burning out an exhaust valve or 2 but that's about all it would do. At a guess it's been doing the rounds for a year or 2 getting progresively more bodged as time has gone on, each time it's probably been shifted on as a non runner or spares/repair.
The crank journals might polish and not need a regrind an engineering shop would tell you.
|
|
|
|
melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,987
|
|
May 23, 2016 21:01:29 GMT
|
Funny, I feel your pain re finding parts/ tools locally. I'm born in Groningen and I was very frustrated when first moving to the UK (and later to a few other countries) and not being able to find the parts and tools I needed. Just didn't know where to look I guess. Not sure if you speak Dutch, but I'm afraid it's very much a language thing as well as I found when living in Denmark and slowly getting access to worlds previously hidden from my sight by learning the language.
There is a very good machine shop in Groningen called Van Dijk Motorenrevisie (Struisvogelstraat), go check them out. They're old fashioned machinists in the best of ways, I can highly recommend them. For stuff like generic Chinese engine stands and the like try Power Plus Tools in Heerenveen or Datona in Haulerwijk, both have web shops as well. There are plenty proper (trade) tool specialists in Groningen as well like Lasaulec, Bus and Gebr. Hoen and motor factors like (again) Van Dijk, Roberts Automaterialen and even Brezan. If you need any pointers for specific stuff feel free to PM me.
|
|
www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2016 21:25:33 GMT
|
I think at some point that has been run red hot and started to or actually did sieze, thus causing the bore damage. LPG might have contributed to burning out an exhaust valve or 2 but that's about all it would do. At a guess it's been doing the rounds for a year or 2 getting progresively more bodged as time has gone on, each time it's probably been shifted on as a non runner or spares/repair. The crank journals might polish and not need a regrind an engineering shop would tell you. Started to seize? Interested to know what makes you think that? The engine dropped a valve, which is what has caused the damage in #1 cylinder and what, I presume, has caused the rings to seize. The vertical marks from piston slap are present in all cylinders but are usual in this engine according to what I have read. The engine was running very nicely, smooth, no noises, no oil consumption beyond what was leaking from the oil pan. I think I'm only looking at one bodged repair. But then there is chocolate coloured brown stuff in port #1 of the inlet manifold which suggests head gasket or cylinder head failure at some point. Anyhow, whatever happened, as long as the block is not cracked it should all be a like-new engine soon. Regards regrinding vs polishing... since I need a new set of bearings, I might as well have it ground as it's about the same price as getting it properly polished (given that the journals will be out-of-round), and I can be sure to have factory spec oil clearances. Cheers
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2016 21:38:13 GMT
|
I was going on the marks in the bore on number 1? It's similar to what I've seen on motorcycles that have done the same.
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2016 22:10:56 GMT
|
I was going on the marks in the bore on number 1? It's similar to what I've seen on motorcycles that have done the same. Ah OK. The other bores were fine (also with piston slap marks though), all still showed the original honing patterns and had absolutely no wear ridge at the top of the cylinder. The wear band you see is from the rings riding a high-spot, which tightens them up, similar to what happens when an engine is close to seizure. In this case however, I assume that the rings are seized in the ring lands on one side due to the force of impacting with a valve.
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
|
Just out of interest, why do you want to get rid of the gas system? Cheaper to run when you can get it and little weight when you can't.
|
|
14 Audi A3 Sportback - Easy driver 05 Audi TT MK1 3.2 DSG - Damn quick 73 Triumph 2000 - Needs work 03 Range Rover 4.4 V8 petrol. Had to get it out of my system.
|
|
|
|
|
I find it strange to believe that it is that terrible to live in the netherlands... You can find that stuff you need just around everywhere over here ! Hi! Well, up here in Groningen it's very anti-car. I guess it is different in Holland. There is very limited choice in the shops here. And when I want to buy online, ebay.nl is useless. So inevitably I order from the UK, and that takes 7 to 14 days to arrive. So that's pretty frustrating. I've ordered a couple of things from Datona before, but they kept me waiting 8 weeks for an engine stand so I don't think I'll use them again. On the plus side, I found an amazing motor engineering shop up here in Hogeveen (Drenthe Motor Revisie) which is far better than my local place back in the UK. If you ever need something in the netherlands, just give me a message ! I own a shop over here (unfortunatly for you on the other side, Brabant) and the most things i can get within a day !
|
|
34 B Ford V8 Flathead Hotrod 55 International L170 (Cummins 6BT) 65 Mustang V8 supercharged Coupe 58 Plymouth Belvedere (Christine) 05 Dodge Ram 1500 HEMI
|
|
MK2VR6
Posted a lot
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Mk2 Golf GTi 90 Spec
Posts: 3,329
|
|
|
Another bookmark from me. Fascinating reading so far. I'll click on your link to read about your adventures when I've got more time and a decent coffee to hand. At least with your Surf, it'll be a really decent one when you're finished with it. It makes me miss my old mk3 - I sold it few years back and it's now a faithful servant on a campsite near Lands End. ![](http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c250/waferswafers/Hilux/DSC00004.jpg) Good luck with the engine rebuild - looking forward to the next instalment!
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 26, 2016 19:27:56 GMT
|
Funny, I feel your pain re finding parts/ tools locally. I'm born in Groningen and I was very frustrated when first moving to the UK (and later to a few other countries) and not being able to find the parts and tools I needed. Just didn't know where to look I guess. Not sure if you speak Dutch, but I'm afraid it's very much a language thing as well as I found when living in Denmark and slowly getting access to worlds previously hidden from my sight by learning the language. There is a very good machine shop in Groningen called Van Dijk Motorenrevisie (Struisvogelstraat), go check them out. They're old fashioned machinists in the best of ways, I can highly recommend them. For stuff like generic Chinese engine stands and the like try Power Plus Tools in Heerenveen or Datona in Haulerwijk, both have web shops as well. There are plenty proper (trade) tool specialists in Groningen as well like Lasaulec, Bus and Gebr. Hoen and motor factors like (again) Van Dijk, Roberts Automaterialen and even Brezan. If you need any pointers for specific stuff feel free to PM me. Sorry but I missed your reply somehow. Thanks for the tips. I've heard about Van Dijk Automaterialen and will go check them out. Often the problem with these places is that they work 8-5 Mo - Fr, which is the hours I work... but they are open Saturday morning, so I'll check them out. Right now I'm in need of 2 mm sheet metal, some 12v electrical wire and a shop with a press to dismantle my front spindles. Do you think they can help me? I'm really happy with the machine shop in Hogeveen, but I am having delays with useless suppliers (one in the UAE, one in the UK) and my pistons, rings and bearings are holding up the engine build, so plans might change again. I'm afraid I'm not a Dutch speaker, but I do speak German so manage to understand let's say 50% of written Dutch. We need a Dutch version of eBay as I don't really have the time to search out shops. Again, thanks for your tips, Daniel
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|
|
May 26, 2016 19:38:48 GMT
|
Just out of interest, why do you want to get rid of the gas system? Cheaper to run when you can get it and little weight when you can't. Many reasons.... -LPG causes recession of exhaust valve faces and seats and ruins engines. I'm 90% sure that it is the cause of this engine having dropped a valve (as the 3RZ is renowned as a very tough and reliable engine). See www.amrautos.co.uk/index.php/lpg-systems-This is going to be an expedition truck, and I imagine most travelling will be done in countries with little-to-no LPG. -I am planning a trip in extreme cold, LPG is useless here as propane vapourisation becomes problematic -Space is something of a premium, I would rather have a second underslung spare where the LPG tank was -I buy a Toyota because of their unmatched build quality, I do not want some cheap aftermarket system spliced into the wiring of the EFI system -The kit was shoddily installed (all wiring loose in the engine bay, ECU jammed against the battery which was not held down by anything as the clamp no longer fitted) -Ultimately, in the context of a trip, the value of saving a few hundred dollars on fuel is negligible to me. If I wanted an eco-car I wouldn't buy a 1800 kg 4x4!
|
|
1993 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel 4x4 Manual 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol 4x4 Manual
|
|
|