On a Mission - Hilux Surf

[camryv6]

35 minutes ago, 808 Estate said:

Well a quick visit to Half Frauds where I was liberated of 50 quid, but I left will armfulls of cleaning products.

Spent the day scrubbing the interior with foaming upholstery cleaner and attacked the outside window rubbers and plastic moulding edges and door jambs with a toothbrush in a brave attempt to divest the vehicle of its acquired moss.  Then another as the first one broke. Then another as the second one ran out of bristles. By now the outside looked worse than yesterday before I jetwashed it, so had to wash the  outside again. Cleaning duties ceased at about 4 as I had used my entire new pack of cleaning cloths as well as all my bike cleaning cloths and had to chuck everything in the washing machine.

There are a couple of big squares of dried dhesive on the roof that appear to have evolved enough to support a vegetative habitat.

After using almost a whole can of label remover and a hand full of coffee stirers, theres still a load of hardened glue left. If anyone has any ideas for shifting it, please let me know.

Maybe petrol, I know @sgtberbatov has some he is trying to get rid of ?

[Arthur Foxhake]

My tyres for mine arrived today. 

265/70/16 Insa Turbo Dakar's, I hope they clear the front bumper ends! Same size as original but more tread, the bumper is quite close, I may have to raise it a couple of inches.

[Carlosfandango]

On 5/26/2020 at 7:02 PM, 808 Estate said:

Well a quick visit to Half Frauds where I was liberated of 50 quid, but I left will armfulls of cleaning products.

Spent the day scrubbing the interior with foaming upholstery cleaner and attacked the outside window rubbers and plastic moulding edges and door jambs with a toothbrush in a brave attempt to divest the vehicle of its acquired moss.  Then another as the first one broke. Then another as the second one ran out of bristles. By now the outside looked worse than yesterday before I jetwashed it, so had to wash the  outside again. Cleaning duties ceased at about 4 as I had used my entire new pack of cleaning cloths as well as all my bike cleaning cloths and had to chuck everything in the washing machine.

There are a couple of big squares of dried dhesive on the roof that appear to have evolved enough to support a vegetative habitat.

After using almost a whole can of label remover and a hand full of coffee stirers, theres still a load of hardened glue left. If anyone has any ideas for shifting it, please let me know.

I’ve used nail varnish remover (cheap as chips solvent) to remove stubborn sticky stuff that’s gone hard. In face it’s great for removing almost anything on both outside and some interior bits. 
 

CFD 

[chodweaver]

If you run out of foaming fabric cleaner, I've heard from a couple of different sources that old fashioned shaving foam* in a can is exactly the same stuff and a fraction of the price. I picked up a can of said in Tesco the other day for 70p and hit a bolster on the Corsa's drivers seat with it. To start with, I thought I'd bollocksed it up - a vigorous vacuuming of the cushion did not seem to get the stuff out again and it left a pasty whiteness. But 24 hours later, left to its own devices, it seems to have worked quite well. I will be performing further tests, but so far, it hasn't done any harm and does seem to have removed a fair bit of grime.

* not the gel stuff

[New POD]

My sister did a project on Gel shaving foam in 1986 in her industrial.placement on a chemistry degree.  It's basically soap with a foaming agent. As is normal shaving foam. So yes it should work as a cleaner. 

[808 Estate]

Well its taken some effort, but after 4 days of grafting, its a bit cleaner.

I did get through 3 bottles of foaming carpet cleaner, a whole bottle each of interior and exterior surface cleaner, half a bottle of glass cleaner and at last count, 22 cleaning rags had been used.  However, it seems as though the Waxing Herptiles did a decent job on the wagon.

It is now quite clearly obvious there isnt a single damage free panel anywhere. On the upside, car park paranoia is no longer an issue.

[808 Estate]

I  was unable to stop and get a photo at the magic moment..

[artdjones]

These are great except for the tendency to drink diesel.

[808 Estate]

Decided to make a start on the wheels today.

After 45 minutes of vigorous scrubbing, I ended up with this. ?

This might take longer than anticipated.

[808 Estate]

Several sacrifical cleaning implements later.

And having used almost a full bottle of wheel cleaner things are looking a bit better.

Although on close inspection, the wheels are still pretty crusty. I dont think anything less than blasting and powder coating will improve things much more to be honest.

[808 Estate]

Decided to have some "time off" and burn some meat.

 

[808 Estate]

Decided to "do something" about the tow bar and spare wheel carrier Both are looking a bit orange in places.

Getting the spare wheel off turned out to be a right bugger. Even using an 18" breaker bar, then standing on it, one wheel nut wouldnt budge.

Time for a good squirting of WD40 and go for a cup of tea.

Try again, nope, another squirt and another cup of tea.

Eventually it shifted. It appears the wheel had corroded and fused itself to the wheel nut.

I now have an eliptical wheel nut hole. ?

I attacked the frame with whats left of my cleaning pad and wire brushes and gave everything a good coat of Jenolite.

I will give it a day or 2 to do its magic and when the sun re-appears slap some satin black on everything.

 

[808 Estate]

I predict that stiff nuts will no longer be an issue.

[808 Estate]

The tubes at the back looking somewhat tidier.

 

[808 Estate]

Yay, got a new MOT.  Not quite as painless as hoped, required new rear droplinks, but luckily not too expensive.

Got advisories for front links, ARB bushes and steering rack bushes. Again, nothing too major. Looks like my friendly spanner man will have a few jobs to do.

[loserone]

This looks cracking.  Would.

[808 Estate]

Ooh whats this?

Shiny things

Full cam belt kit, alternator belts and a water pump. My friendly spanner man is visiting today.

Old alternator belts were pretty fucked.

Luckily the old cam belt was in surprisingly good condition and nowhere near to failing. The new one along with tensioner and pulley were promptly fitted.

Didnt have so much luck with the water pump though. Got the new improved one with integral rear housing, but it didnt fit (unless you dissassembled lots of the engine).

Sending it back for the quick and easy swap version. Rough Trax were very decent and understanding.

 

[Arthur Foxhake]

I bought some standard, rear struts and springs for my Surf recently, only to decide afterwards I'd buy a full +40mm all round kit from Roughtrax.

I have the springs and struts sat in my lock up doing nothing, if you'd like them for the cost of postage, I'd like to send them as they'll be there forever otherwise and I'll never do anything with them.

Had the kit fitted today and the difference is epic, mine had sagged a fair bit and the struts were finished, it handles so much better now. I'll take some pictures when it's light tomorrow.

[808 Estate]

Awesome, thank you. PM sent.

[808 Estate]

Would love to see it with the lift kit.

[Arthur Foxhake]

That's how it sits now, not too much of a lift, only 40mm over standard height.

[808 Estate]

That looks pretty epic.

[808 Estate]

The recent inclement weather combined with my now considerably longer commute has highlighted the ineffectivity of the windscreen smearage applicators. With weather and road grime unlikely to subside over the coming months action was necessary. Feeling "flush", I decided to invest in a pair of Bosch aeroblades.

They are certainly effective in their ability to remove water and road grime from the windscreen and clarity has been restored.

[808 Estate]

The recent lack of sunshine and an 85 mile daily commute has highlighted some deficiencies in the lighting department. Some online research has indicated Osram Nighbreaker Laser to be recommended by many as a good upgrade, so ebay and Amazzon were duly perused in search of a deal. While I was at it, I also got a set of Osram W5W  LED wedges for the side lamps. I have fitted these to my bike and they are noticably more prominent than the standard halogen jobbies.

The head light lamps were a doddle to fit, once the twin battery clamps were removed to provide decent acess. The side lamps were a bit more troublesome. A quick google revealed this important tip. "Give the lights a good yank". The thought of giving 26 year old plastic clips a good yanking provided no end of troublesome images in my brain, so a safer option was sought. Some gentle leverage seemed to be a safer option. Armed with the girlfriends favourite cooking spatula, I gently prised the side lights forward until there was a frighteningly loud SNAP and I heard something bounce around the engine bay on its way to the floor.

After much uttering of obscenities I looked down to see the light dangling by its cable and the end of the spatula totally missing.

Lucky escape methinks, although I still need to explain this to the missus. 😮

Once out, the LED replacement lamps fitted easily and the lights were refitted. Inspection of the wedges showed that replacement was definitely due, so a certain smugness was allowed for prempting a future failure.

Finally, once done a quick test to make sure everything worked as it should.

And finally an after dark test. The LED side lights are certainly eye catching and there is a definite improvement with the light emitted from the headlights. I look forward to Mondays early start and giving them a proper test.

[dome]

Just caught up with this. Looks ace. I love 4x4s and I love Jap engineering. You can probably see where this is leading...

[808 Estate]

Buy one you know you want to.

[Mrs6C]

I like the HiLux Surf. A colleague of mine from New Zealand was on long-term assignment to the UK and shipped hers over from back home, so she could drive it here.

You will have some explaining to do to your missus if that spatula belongs to your girlfriend!

[808 Estate]

After this mornings early start, I can confirm the Osram lamps are considerably brighter than the old ones. Highly recommended upgrade.

 

[808 Estate]

Just renewed the insurance. Last years policy was milage limited and I am about to run out of miles. As there is less than a month left on the policy, they wont increase milage allowance. Following some recommendations from the owners forum, I tried NFU. They were very helpful and offered me twice as many miles for £150 less. Sorted, I is now a fully paid up worzel.

The policy includes such gems as "no livestock to be carried in the vehicle (except domestic pets)" and you are not allowed to carry more than 2000 rounds of shotgun ammunition. 😬

Oh and while looking for the alarm installation certificate in the huge file of paperwork, I found this which made me properly happy. Last time I was underneath the wagon I thought the exhaust looked in pretty good shape, but didnt twig as to what was really there. I had a powerflow system fitted to a Mitsi Delica many years ago. It outlasted the vehicle and was sold off after the truck was scrapped.

[808 Estate]

I chose well.