1991 Toyota Deliboy

Different sized nuts in itself could be embarrassing.

However, it seems to be par for the course.

Wipers are so important and like driving with your side/park lights on at sunset, it boggles the mind that people carry on like that.

Good result.

Function over Form

That’s all.


No psychiatrist needed.

Time marches on, and the MOT is becoming increasingly more imminenter.

You may remember that after a bit of scraping and poking, my front chassis crossmember (to which the body mounts and the bottle jack lifts) looked a bit like this:



Well, after a brief visit with Victor the mechanic today, it now looks like this:



Much more betterer. The MOT is booked for the 2nd of March. It'll be fine, I'm sure.

Since buying the Deliboy back in July last year, I had a nagging doubt about how well it would do in an MOT. Obviously the single wiper wasn't great, the engine clearly hadn't been serviced in a while, the rear tyres were shot, the wheels were a stupid combination of unsuitable sizes, and it turned out that at least 3 of the brakes had issues. There was evidence of a little rust on the chassis, and the exhaust was noisy (but not obviously leaky). The engine was more leaky, and the cooling system also got a bit emotional (but neither has led to any real issues beyond fixing a coolant leak).

In the intervening months, it's been to 3 different garages (one of which only managed to change the oil and plugs, so that was worthwhile...), and received professional attention at each. I've ordered parts from 4 different countries, and engaged in some worthwhile DIY tasks and blatant ham-fisted bodgery, all of which has led to today.

So... it passed it's MOT with no advisories. Extraordinary. I dropped it off with Victor the mechanic this morning, and he took it round to the MOT testing station (he is considerably more charming than I am, and I thought this might help ). It's more solid underneath than many of the modern cars Victor has to deal with, and I think the MOT inspector was suitably impressed. It's not every day a 30 year old JDM van turns up so you can literally poke and laugh at it, after all.

A job well done. Now to keep on fiddling with it. There is another package on it's way from Japan right now...

Great news and I'll just second what Grizz said

I like quick wins, even if it takes 8 months to get around to them. One of the first things Tony pointed out when he handed the van over to me in Exeter last July was that there was a pronounced rattle from the gearlever in 3rd and 5th gears. I've lived with it since then, but it does get a bit annoying, especially when it's starts rattling when cruising along a dual carriageway or motorway (not really the Deliboy's natural habitat, but these things happen).

There are two potential sources of rattle. The main vertical column of the shift mechanism has a lot of movement in it, as it runs parallel with the steering column, but is only fixed at the top and the bottom. The top mounting might have a worn bush in it's assembly somewhere, as it moves around more than I'd expect. The other rattle was coming from the horizontal shift lever. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the little rubber boot was showing it's age.



Some components of the shifter assembly are shared across various Toyota column-shift vehicles, so I was surprised and delighted to find that this little boot/sleeve is still available.



It arrived from Japan yesterday, and I took a few minutes of my lunch time to run out and fit it. There is a pin and an e-clip holding the lever in place, which I released after a brief struggle.

Before/After:



Installed:



They don't look much different, but there is a significant reduction in rattle. A very pleasing improvement. Of course, everything else on the van still rattles and makes noise, but an improvement is an improvement. 

Right, time to tell the headlights story.

As you may recall, a previous owner in the UK decided to fit some replacement aftermarket headlights with LED running lights. Not a terrible idea, until you turn on the actual lights and see this:



An LED bulb on the passenger side, a halogen bulb on the driver's side, and a beam pattern that looks like it's shining through a kaleidoscope. Not good.

The first step was to fit matching halogen bulbs which were MOT-compliant. However, it doesn't correct the wonky beam pattern, which is purely a function of badly-designed reflectors.

I've used my local headlight-testing road for the rest of the photos, to maintain some consistency. It's an uphill slope, which is slightly misleading, but at least all the photos are taken from the same spot, so it's easy to compare.

Dipped beam on halogens:



Notice that the funky light patterns spread far over to the right, and quite high. I have had quite a few people flash back at me when they've been dazzled by my dipped beams. The actual alignment is OK, it's just the light distribution pattern which is out of my control.

Main beam is actually worse:



The pattern evens out, and it lights up more of the hedge (and the sky), but LESS of the road. That's not just counter-intuitive, it's stupid.

So, the decision to replace the headlight assemblies was very easy. I could either get better-designed halogen units with either patterned or clear 'crystal' lenses, or try out some LED units. After a bit of research, I stumbled across some LEDs on eBay which were a similar price to the halogen housings, so I decided it was worth a shot. It was important to ensure that any changes I made to the lighting were completely reversible, so I wasn't planning on drilling any (more) holes in the body, and I certainly wasn't about to start chopping about the wiring harness. To this end, I sourced a link harness with built-in relays and a direct 12v feed from the battery. It takes the switching signal from one headlight connector and powers both headlights. Plug and play. Or rather, it would be if I'd bought the right harness at the first attempt. Toyotas of this era use a switched ground to alternate between dipped and main beam, and the first harness I received wasn't set up for this, so I needed to return it and try again with a Toyota-specific set (which looks almost identical, but actually works).

First attempt:



Testing:



The LED units came with adaptors to allow the wiring connections to be adjusted, which is a nice idea in practice, but doesn't allow you to swap from switched live to switched ground connections. All it meant was that I could have only dipped beam or only main beam. Not both.



Second attempt:



Success:

In dipped beam mode, only the upper LEDs illuminate, focusing down onto the road surface, and providing width without dazzling oncoming drivers:



Main beam illuminates through the biggest lens, projecting light everywhere else:



I set the headlight alignment quite conservatively at first, to ensure I'm not an annoyance or hazard to other road users. The cut-off of the light pattern at the top is quite pronounced:



Main beam is a bit different:



My neighbour spotted me heading out for testing:



Out on the test road, the conservative alignment and beam cut-off is very easy to recognise. Only drivers of Caterhams and Morgan 3-wheelers are likely to be disturbed. I'll gradually adjust the beam upwards to illuminate more of the road without causing offence:



And if you were wondering how tall the hedges are, please refer to this image of main beam:



The road surface here climbs up and then descends slightly, so it's a little misleading. The actual length of coverage in main beam is outstanding. No need for a WRC light pod for the speeds I'll be driving at.

Before and after, on main beam:



So, in summary, a massive improvement for a small investment, and all reversible if the LED units decide to fail or MOT requirements change again. I'm happy with that.

Great result I would say! Its been good to read your comment and the photo's of those led units as I have a similar issue with my Chevy 1500. Those headlights look remarkably similar to the chevys so would you be kind enough to provide a link please? I replaced mine with new sealed beams but they are still pants!