First Gen 4-Runner. European family adventure wagon.

preach (fs) said:

Bill, we use hydraulic jacks a bunch at work to break stuff free. Put the wrench on and jack that crap until something gives. Beats the crap out of drilling.

I would have put that little wrench on the fastener and put the portapower to it until the fastener snapped. Sometimes it takes some creative blocking to get there though. Remember to duck and please use safety glasses.

We use hydraulics to torque stuff too, up to like 40k ft/lbs on some stuff. There is fear involved, fml.

hahahahaha, yeah.  I'm not above said shenanigans :

But in this case I would have been holding the jack vertically and trying to jack horizontally.  Plus the picture really doesn't do the place justice.  I'm having legitimate concerns about being able to drop a bolt back in from above (it's that tight).

Good times.

Well, as you've just read, we've decided to order a new transmission.

Despite much effort and many phone calls placed by my new German friend, he wasnt able to come up with a direct bolt-in replacement unit.  He's pushing me to do a diesel swap, but I'm not interested at this point in time (The 3-liter 1kz-te is his engine of choice).

GZWG found a G58 mated to a chain drive t-case in Austria and with our current exchange rate $450 would be a steal!  We could order a new bellhousing and shifter fork from the US (to get things on the correct side of the engine) and the internet claims it should fit with that crossmember.  But, in my experience, even simple swaps like this usually need a lot of little stuff and if you couldn't tell, resources out here can sometimes be "scarce".  Plus the question came up "who knows what the guts are like.  What if it craps out the first time you get it on the highway?"

In the end, Mrs. Hungary and I decided that the best (albeit, most expensive) option was to start again new.  Worst case, we lose our old transmission and get our money from the guys who lost it.  Best case, we get everything back and have spares (and I get to rebuild my first transmission!).  So I guess I have to stop the countdown at a whoppin 10-days.  ETA for the new trans is August 20.  Total cost so far was $1780 (incl shipping).

Enough about that, though!  I had a track day yesterday in the Mazda so after unpacking there wasn't much time to play with the Toyota.  I was able to get one brake calliper assembled, and I'm happy with the way the paint turned out

I had also stopped by the hardware store previously and got the bolts I needed to replace the broken ones in the passenger hub as well as the ones I drilled out of the tire hoist:

Unfortunately (luckily?) for me, I couldn't find a way to reasonably disassemble the hoist to spray it all sorts of cool colors (black), so tomorrow that might be getting in stalled.  Honestly, I'll be glad to finally be done with it.

I also picked up an easy-out set, and the bearing puller I ordered arrived in the mail today, so maybe tomorrow I can get away with not wire whipping something and get some actual progress made!

Good times

Ok, the bellhousing, the clutch fork (used, with release bearing), and the rubber clutch fork boot are all on order.  With the transmission, we're batting just over $2100 which is about where we expected to be.  I'm happy with that. 

So as i mentioned yesterday, my bearing puller kit arrived:

What I didnt mention is that I went all over town before I ordered this looking for this little guy (read:  I went to both hardware stores in town).  No one had what I was looking for, but the conversation was comically similar so I thought I share:

me:  "Hi, do you have a bearing puller like this?  (shows photo)"

Them:  "No, but we do have a 3-jaw puller"

Me: (politely declines and explains, with a photo of the bearing, why I need the photoed unit above)

Them:  "Ah!  See, what you do is remove one of these claws and insert one end in the bearing and you hook it like so.  Then you WACK the other side with a hammer and the bearing will pop right out"

So... well... I mean, obviously I have to try it but the truck being at its home station, I thought it would be a good idea if I had the proper tools (in case I completely screw everything up).  So stay tuned for much bearing hooking and whacking

Today though, I really want to get that spare tire hoist done and over with.  Too much posting on that one, and too little progress:

That took way longer than it should have because I dont have a ratcheting 13mm (I have a 12, and a 14mm, but not a 13...)

Since I had the old one out, I thought I'd see if I could free it up.  Who knows, maybe someday I'll need to canabalize parts from it or something.  If I did, it'd be nice to be ahead of the game.

In the vice it goes, and out comes the ball-peen and punch set:



The C-Clip (shown above) popped right out, no issue.  But no amout of percussive persuading got anything else to move.

SO!

I wire whip a shiny spot to attach my jumper lead, and attempt to drown it in the electrolysis bath 

We'll see how that turns out.

Speaking of "turns out", I am very happy with the way my driver's side calipers look with new pads and haredware installed.  Look at these guys, they look brand new!

No leaks or rips in the boots, and no rust or seized pistons, so I left the guts the way they were, but I'm excited to try the new pad compound I got.  Hopefully it changes things for the better.  My previous compound felt like they might have been made of wood.

We were getting close to the end of the morning, but before I called it quits I decided to split the passenger's side caliper and get it ready for a good whippin.

Good times
 

Definitely makes sense to get a known good gearbox, instead of one in unknown state (..and searching for a reliable shop that fixes it.. ).

Let me know if you happen to be close to Vienna, I am definitely interested in seeing this thing running (or the RX-8, for that matter :-).

In reply to Gzwg :

Will definitely do!

There's an english book store and a mexican grocery store there that we haven't been able to visit for quite a while.  Supplies are low enough that we're due for a nother run that way within the next couple of months.  We'll be sure to give you a shout

J.G. Pasterjak posted an article about build log pictures that I thought was kind of interesting (mostly because I, too, look at the backgrounds of peoples pictures for easter eggs).  If you want to read it, here it is

In the spirit of that article, here's two pictures that might give you a better world image of what it looks like when work is happening on the Family Runner:

It's a cramped mess with the floor serving as the primary area of storage, but it's my cramped mess and I love being out in the thick of it

Good times

So let's see, where were we at?

OH!  The spare tire hoist that was soaking in the electrolysis bath.  Well, I pulled that out, and boy did it get things clean!  Unfortunately it didnt get things any less stuck...

That thing just looks like it fused itself together somehow.  I'm just about done removing stuck bolts (or at least I hope I am), so I took all that used brake fluid I had and poured it in a bucket for another soak:

Hopefully that does something.

Speaking of brakes, with that driver's side caliper all put back together, and the dust shield all shiney and looking new, I got all excited and started putting the driver's spindle back together

Except then I remembered I wasnt really supposed to do that until my spindle bushing grease tool gets here, so I stopped.

Then I remembered that there is rain in our immediate forecast, so I wrapped things up like this:



After that I had a fair bit of time to whip and paint that half-caliper you saw in the vice, but no pictures were taken as I'm sure you're familiar with what that looks like by now.

and just to wrap up what little time I had left, I took a gasket scraper with a razor blade to my back window.  I had the truck painted back on page 1, and this is what the back window looked like afterwards:

And here she is after the razor treatment:

Good times

Now it's Monday, and boy did I have a rough time getting out of bed...

I did things a bit backwards today:  I started on a side project, and then went back to wire whipping with whatever free time was left.  In that spirit, I decided that I wanted to make a mount for a fire extinguisher and that it should go under the passenger seat.

I have some flat bar stock that I'm supposed to be using to make "Bill's learning to weld" coupons out of, so don't tell my welding instructor (and fellow GRM member) what I'm doing with the material.

First up, I gotta grind the sharp inboard corner so it matches the curve of the transmission tunnel a bit better:

Then I put it in a vice and just wack it with a hammer, or push on it really hard, to bend it to get the general shape I'm looking for

It's still not cut to length, but it's pretty close to where I want it to be

Drill drill drill.  I started small and worked my way up.  I expected my bits to chew right through this stuff, but it actually took a bit of work!  Plus I can never hit the second hole just right, so it always ends up slotted (I was half a hole off...).

Just a quick test fit before I grind off all the sharp edges and send it off to the paint booth   (or... cardboard..)

And hey!  I also had enough time to whip out another half a caliper!

Unfortunately I forgot to drill the holes for the fire extinguisher holder into the mount, so I'll have to do that tomorrow.

Good times.

You're making stuff out of metal. As one half of your long-distance welding school instructors, I approve of this use of steel. 

I love the Tacovatos sticker. Reppin' in Hungary!

preach (fs) said:

I love the Tacovatos sticker. Reppin' in Hungary!

Man, I'm hoping I can drag their good name all over this continent.  Borders are opening up, but then again cases are going up too.  They're predicting a third wave in September (right about when I was planning a shake-down run for this ol girl).

Fingers are crossed.

It's Tuesday morning now, and finishing things up I threw a coat of paint on those calipers (after assembly, as there's always something that needs touching up), and on the extinguisher mount:

(Now with holes drilled!)

While waiting for paint to dry on those, I decided it was time to get back on the horse and remove that pilot bearing.  For that, I got out my brand spanking new "bearing removal kit".

To recap, this is where we left off.  I've filled that back spacing with grease and whacked that 1/4" drive extension (it's a perfect fit) in there and instead of pushing the bearing out (as in the youtube videos), it just does a REAL good job of pushing grease through the bearing.

At this point I'd like to report that I've removed the bearing and all was good and well, but I'm afraid that's the NEW bearing you're looking at.  I'm photoed here "test fitting" the tool in it as I've pulled it through no less than three times now, and I'm wondering what in the berk could be going on.

That's right:  Three times, it's pulled itself free and that pilot bearing hasn't even so much as HINTED that it's going to move.

I decided to quit beating that dead horse and went at the next bigger size insert with a jeweler's file as I was sure the bigger lip on it would grab better if I could just get it to squeeze small enough to fit through the center of the bearing!



It didn't work   and it was about this time that I realized I was doing you all (y'all?) a great injustice!  I remembered that I was supposed to be hammering one claw of my three-jaw puller into this thing like the hardware store guys recommended (and as I promised I would).

Well, no luck there either:

I'm sorry to say that my smallest claw on my smallest puller (the one I was told would work for sure by no less than two different stores trying to sell me one of these), is just too darn fat to fit where it's supposed to go for this experiment (If the claw don't fit, you must acquit?).

I call this next picture "I'll take 'Everything Bill Hammered Into The Middle of That Bearing' for $500, Alex"

As much as I hate to do it, I gotta quit on a loss with this one.

I'm tossing around ideas in my head.  I can think of a few ways forward and most of them involve drilling, or prying, or both.  I'm not satisfied with any of them at the moment, as I don't want to risk damage to my crank, OR get half the bearing out and not be able to get the race out (I'd be good and stuck then!).  Maybe squirting brake fluid in there and rotating the crank 90-degrees every day for 4-days would get it good and loosened up, but how do I get all that grease out first?  Or could I get some heat on there without the grease catching fire or without me ruining my rear main seal....

Not sure yet.  More to follow.
 

New boss wasn't impressed with my bearing removal skills either

Mezzanine said:

You're making stuff out of metal. As one half of your long-distance welding school instructors, I approve of this use of steel. 

I kinda knew you'd be on here when I tattled on myself.  To make up for my lack of practice lately, I dedicate this post to you and Burrito (my two welding teachers).

Wednesday morning and I bolt upright in bed at 1:15am.  I was just attempting to go back to sleep after a dream where I got bit by a dog who had a psychotic lady for an owner and an idea hit me.  I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but back in school I'd subconsciously solve something I've been chewing on all day (like a math problem) and I'd have to write the answer down REAL QUICK or I'd forget. 

Anyhoo, I ended Tuesday night watching youtube videos where people hammer crap like bread into their pilot bushings (not bearing), or would weld on to it, etc.  My brain must not have stopped processing it in the background because right now, I REALLY need to move before this idea escapes me and I'm back to thinking about drill bits and pry bars again.  Here goes:

I've got some scrap flat bar stock that I've had in the garage since god-knows-when, a coffee can full of random hardware, a tig welder, and now I have a slide hammer!  I'm betting I have a scrap bolt that fits my new hammer.   From there, I'll just need to cut and grind the flat-stock so it will fit, bend it to give it some "grab", weld it all together, and I'll have myself a bearing puller from HELL!

(spoiler alert, these big ideas of mine never seem to work the way I hope they will)

Here goes:

I think the pictures tell the story pretty well here, and it's really the best way to tell it as that's how it was in my head.  I just kind of KNEW what the next step was and how it would turn out.

However, what I dont think I can accurately convey is the fact that you just cant pinch this thing closed and slide it through the center of the bearing.  You install it one claw at a time, and ONCE installed, it cant possibly come out unless the bearing comes with it.

That means, I have to do the welding under the truck in the trans tunnel while everything is held temporarily in place (If it's dark out, you don't need to wear your welding mask, right?)

Here goes:

The whole time I was worried about warping that nut.  I'd buzz it, and wait...

Buzz it... and wait...

Buzz....

wait...

it worked (obviously, you saw the last picture) but did it get the bearing out?

YASS!!!!!!  I welded, it helded

All there was left after that, was a quick cleanup and the new one slid right in (with a little persuasion from a socket and a hammer).

Good times

Oh yeah, and this little guy right here?

He's going on my trophy shelf or in the secret Santa game or something! 

So I finished the pilot bearing (and my second cup of coffee) about the time my alarm went off to wake up (4:03).  I wasn't going to head back in, but I was going to calm things down a bit.  I'm old and I only have so much energy, I gotta pace myself!

With that in mind I decided to finish assembling the caliper, and thought I could go through with the extinguisher install:

I love it when I plan comes together.

Now normally, I'd quit there and drink a beer in celebration but I gotta get ready for work in an hour.

Keeping with this fit of productivity (and not wanting to touch anything else related to the clutch), i decided now would be a good time to go back at those snapped sway-bar bolts.  Back when I left off, the driver's front had been removed but the driver's rear hadn't.  I had it drilled slightly off center, but my largest easy-out broke free before the bolt remnants broke loose.

Well, I'm back.  And I brought lots of ammo with me.

I went at it right away with one of those larger thingies in the t-handle, but it sunk itself in about as far as it would go and then spun free.

I grabbed a more aggressive looking guy out of that blue case and tried again, but...

well, nothing else for it.  Whatever happened to this thing, that bolt now seems to want to be a permanent part of the 4-Runner's frame.

So away go the easy outs, and out comes the tap and die set

Easy money.

Good win on the pilot bearing!

Excellent work with that pilot bearing! When you wrote: "it cant possibly come out unless the bearing comes with it." I had lots to say about what could have happened with those soft steel legs inside the bearing...but success! Nice fix, Bill. 

So the sway bar bolt in the frame: you just tapped a new threaded hole into the old bolt itself? Or is it mostly drilled out and a new threads are cut into part-bolt-part-frame? Either way, I'd be satisfied with it. 

solfly said:

Good win on the pilot bearing!

Thanks man!  It's not every day my crazy ideas work out this well so I gotta revel in the moment while I can

Mezzanine said:

Excellent work with that pilot bearing! When you wrote: "it cant possibly come out unless the bearing comes with it." I had lots to say about what could have happened with those soft steel legs inside the bearing...but success! Nice fix, Bill. 

 

So the sway bar bolt in the frame: you just tapped a new threaded hole into the old bolt itself? Or is it mostly drilled out and a new threads are cut into part-bolt-part-frame? Either way, I'd be satisfied with it. 

You know, I was positive I was going to bend those soft steel tangs flat and get nowhere.  Absolutely 100% positive, I was going to pull those flat.  That's why I made them as fat and filling as possible.  If the tangs started to bend from the strain, I wanted to give them the best possible chance to mushroom an stuff the hole first (in a last ditch attempt to get some grab).

But yeah, it's about 1/3 of the bolt and the rest into the frame (that's what I get for saying "nah, I dont need to center punch first").  The threads are M8x1.25 and I'm not sure yet as to whether or not I'll have to notch the swaybar mount to match, but for good measure I'll be loctiting that one in place.

 

Thursday now, and after yesterday's shenanigans I decided I'd sleep in as much as my dogs would let me (they're used to going outside for potty business @4am by this point) and at 5 I finally got out of bed.

No work on the truck though.  I picked up a new camp stove a while back to replace our US purchased Coleman (can't find Coleman gas out here) and thought I'd see how it did with the morning coffee

I gotta be careful.  I keep starting mornings like this and I'll never get any work done on the truck.

good times

It is always excellent to read of your shenanigans. Be well, stay safe.

That looks like an excellent morning. Funny to see Campingaz still exists, I have a container here of that same blue brand that does not work with anything I own 

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) said:

It is always excellent to read of your shenanigans. Be well, stay safe.

Thanks man, and you too!  Although it wasn't intentional, I do like having a project vehicle to wake up to again.  It's been faaaaaaar too long.

Apparently Mrs. Hungary noticed a change in my behavior lately because she mentioned that I seem to need a proper "project project" in my life.  I'm hoping that means my next build's been green-lighted before I even had to ask