Kevdebbi's 120 V6 Grande

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Shifter Lever repair.

As I had the centre console apart it was a perfect time to have a look at the shifter. I have been reading that there is a bit of weakness in the shift mechanism so thought I would carry out the upgrade amts cleverly designed as seen here.

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...ver-repair-kit

My shifter was Ok but with the upgrade hopefully I won't have any problems in the future. If I had thought about it earlier and had been better prepared I would have ordered amts repair kit which is extremely good value. But I wanted it done now. so I used a 6mm drill bit cut down to approximately 5mm longer than the original, then I rounded and polished one end. I also cut the original spring down by about 5mm.


original bullet


My longer bullet


all greased up read to be put back together.

[Nick74 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Nick74]

I recognise ur rig from around town. I have always looked at that rear bar and wondered which company made it. And it turns out to be you. Are you interested in doing one for a 150 once I get it?

Bloody awesome rig mate. Keep up the good work!

And there is nothing wrong with a clean and organised shed

Cheers
Nick

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

Wait til AJ sees this!

Great job on the mods kevdebbi

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Thanks Madkore, AJ's bar is a work of art and was the inspiration for me building this one. Hopefully I will get some time soon and can finish the spare when carrier and twin jerry can holder. I started in a new job this year and sadly there is very little extra time for "extra curricular activities" there

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Hi Nick check out AJ120's rear bar build thread listed below. Its possible there may be some interest in a 150 bar, maybe.

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Wheel-Carrier

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Rusty Grande Sunroof

Rusty Sunroof.

I had to recently replace the sun roof after something fell on it and broke the glass whilst out camping. When it was pulled out and replaced there was a lot of rust around the front part of the frame. Looks like it was on its way out so glad it was replaced under insurance. I don't really use the sun roof and would have preferred a car without it. The rust seems to be a bit of a common issue, now that I have had the sunroof replaced I will see what I can do to prevent it rusting again. I was thinking if I sprayed come Lanotec under the rubber seal this should form a barrier to moisture between the glass and the rubber.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

My Custom Rear Drawers

My Rear Drawers

I have been wanting to do a set of rear draws for some time now. Over Christmas I finally got the time to get into it. I made the frame of the drawer system from 3mm alloy which I folded and riveted into shape. I used 6mm alloy for the centre divider as it needed to support both drawers. The top was made from 15mm marine ply which was wrapped in marine carpet. The drawers themselves are made from 2mm alloy with a 6mm alloy front piece which was also covered in carpet. The drawers are approximately 1060mm wide 950mm long and 300mm high. They are held in place with turnbuckles at the rear and bolts at the front which I screwed into the factory holes in the floor where rear seats folded down and latched into.

I used heavy duty drawer slides which have the built in lock.http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/141203953...84.m1586.l2649
This enables the drawers to be locked in the closed position, fully open position and the half open position. having the drawers lock open and closed was important to me as I have a steep driveway and its also very handy when out bush.

I have loaded these drawers up with heaps of stuff and they are very strong and no annoying rattles. I can fit the majority of my camping gear in the drawers, much better than having it bouncing around the back.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

My Front Diff drop Install

Since raising my car I have been interested in ways to minimise the angle of the front drive shafts to prolong the CV life and maintain reliability. I have read a fair bit about the front diff drops people have been doing so I thought I would give it a try myself. I machined two spacers from alloy they are 50mm in diameter and 25mm thick. I measured the drive shaft angle before and after the drop to see if it made any real difference. Before the angle was LH 8deg RH6deg after the drop it was LH 6deg and RH 5deg. This was measured on my drive way which is not totally flat but I think the difference between the two readings is the important bit, approximately 1.5-2 degree improvement. Will this make any real difference, I'm not really sure. It would be interesting to measure a standard height Prado to get a before lift angle so I could compare.




Before Diff drop installed.


After Diff drop installed.

The CV angle reduced by approximately 1.5-2 degree, going from 8 degrees down to 6 degrees which gives approximately 25% reduction in angle. Not bad for some simple blocks and a few minuets work.

[macaroon1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close macaroon1]

Hi Kevdebbi. I'm interested in your (ex) Sunroof! Curious to know if you did the work yourself or get a professional sunroof repairer?? I've an 03 Grande too and the same is happening to mine. Your right, it is unfortunately a common issue with grandes. I got a quote from Toyota @18 months ago now to get it repaired but walked out laughing. Thought about a breakers but I reckon they are all the same condition?? The repairer told me to do an insurance job but I think my excess is too high LOL!!! Did you source one from an aftermarket supplier like http://www.amayama.com/??
Thanks.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Hi Macaroon1, Because it was accidentally broken I was able to claim it on insurance so I'm not sure of their cost to replace. Before making the claim I did ring Toyota Newcastle and they quoted $820 for the new glass assembly. I thought the job to replace it would be a big one as I was told it required the removal of the hood lining. I decided it was best to pay my excess and get them to do it "properly". I dropped the car off at 8am on the way to work, at 9:30 they rang me and said it was ready to pick up, I was very surprised how quick they were.

When I got the car back I was very interested in how they did it so quick, they did not remove the hood lining at all I could still hear bits of glass rattling around in there. When I looked at the old frame it is only held in by only 4 torx T25 screws, these are easily accessed from inside the car by just removing the black plastic trim on either side of the frame. Gently pull it and it should pop off. So basically remove the trim pieces, take out the four screws then lift out the old glass. To reinstall drop the new glass in and check it is aligned centrally reinstall the 4 screws. Test the sunroof to make sure it opens and closes properly and if so refit the plastic trim. Job done, easy. In hind site I wish I had done this myself and avoided the hassle of insurance, my excess was $800, ouch. I still had to drop the front of the hood lining to remove the loose bits of glass as I didn't want any rattles.

[macaroon1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close macaroon1]

Many thanks Kevdebbi. The conversation with the (unused) sunroof repairer is starting to come back. I remember now he said it was not a big job as no hood lining needed to be removed.. Sounds very doable to me as my excess is similar! One thing I also remember, he mentioned to spray the inside (the grommets) with tectyl or Fish oil to coat all the inside and leave to dry standing up for a day or two. It's just finding one at a wreckers now as most seem to have suffered the same fate?? Mine's not too bad but I believe it's all under the rubber trim and will only spread!!?? May give that website a try one day when I get time....again many thanks for the valuable info.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Front Wheel bearing Change

When I recently rebuilt my front brake callipers I noticed there was some movement in the front wheels from the bearings. Over the last few weeks there has been some noise coming from them so I decided it was time to replace them.


Glad I didn't wait any longer, there was a lot of movement in the wheel, as you can see in the pictures the bearing is totally stuffed.




New bearing installed, nice and shiny.


These are the part numbers I used, I decided to stick with genuine. There were cheaper options on eBay but I don't think this is a place to skimp. The originals lasted 175,000km which I think is not bad.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Front strut lower bush replacement

I also noticed the lower bushes of the front struts were stuffed, they are around three years old with around 30,000km on them. I thought they would have lasted longer but they are defiantly stuffed. I spoke with my suspension guy and he suggested replacing them with Toyota bushes as they were the best around and were interchangeable into the Bilstein struts.

[foxclan Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close foxclan]

Hi Kevdebbi
You sure dodged a bullet with those wheel bearings, good one.
On the subject of the front strut lower bushes, did you totally remove the strut from the vehicle to allow you to press out the old bushes?
Cheers
Troy

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Hi Tony, yes since I had most of the front apart anyway it was very easy to remove the strut. I used a hydraulic press to change out the lower bush. If I had the gear it may have been possible to change it in situ but would have been a real pain in the ass as access is quite limited with the CV in the way. Checks amts description here:

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...l=1#post363592

Works very well. Make sure you don't fully tighten the bottom shock mount until the car is back on the ground and sitting normally to prevent premature wear of the bush.