1996 Toyota Hilux Surf 2.7 Petrol Manual

[eurasiaoverland]

Thought that this restoration deserved more than odd Facebook posts. The UK Hilux Surf forum is practically dead, and I was not so keen on starting a thread on the US 4Runner forum... so here I am.

I'm a long-term Hilux Pickup owner. I bought it in 2005, it was my first car, and in 2007 I left the UK and started a 4.5 year continuous road trip in it around much of Eurasia, a trip which saw me cross all countries of the Former USSR, and much of Western and Southern Asia. There's a short overview of the trip (and two subsequent ones) on my site: eurasiaoverland.com/odyssey/

I returned from the initial 4.5 year trip in December 2011 and did a full nut and bolt rebuild on the Hilux (that's on the Hilux Pickup Owners' Club (HPOC) forum), then two subsequent trips. It's now in dry storage in the UK.



Anyway, for my next trip I plan to drive right across Russia in autumn 2016, park the car up and fly back, then return to Far Eastern Russia in February 2017 and drive back to Europe via Ice roads and rivers, driving through the coldest inhabited part of the world where temperatures will likely be -50ºC or lower, drive across frozen Lake Baikal, and the up into the Russian Arctic to see some reindeer herders etc.

So I decided I would need something with; (a) a petrol engine, and (b) room to sleep comfortably inside.

Now I've always thought of the Hilux Surf (which I'll just call a 'Surf' from now on) as a poor man's Landcruiser, and they are surprisingly cheap. That's not really a good thing as they are typically owned by people who cut corners on maintenance (to be greatly expanded on below). But this aside, they are a 1990s era Toyota 4x4 and from the point of build quality and ruggedness, cars don't get much better than that in my opinion. So despite the image, it's still a good 4x4.

So I wanted a petrol Surf. I hate automatic gearboxes so it had to be a manual too. Now that's a pretty rare truck. I pretty much gave up on finding one.

Then one day last November I was flying over to the UK (I work in the Netherlands) to buy a Landcruiser 100. It was a rare manual diesel but it was an absolute dog; I hate to think how neglected such a good truck was to be in such a state. I walked away from it, but by amazing chance there was a Surf 2.7 petrol manual on eBay that weekend. I missed the auction but it didn't reach its reserve, and by Sunday night I was on a train (well many trains) from Kent to Wrexham. The Polish fella selling the car met me at the station, I drive it for 15 minutes, it felt OK and I gave him £1500 cash. I had my second overland truck.

Now normally I would not buy a car in the dark. I also should have taken better note of the boiling sound from the engine, and the leaking radiator cap. But what the hell; here was a seriously rare truck for a bargain price. I was pretty happy as I headed onto the M40 at around 23:00.

The truck had a cheapskate LPG system fitted which was top of the list of things to do to the truck in my mind (i.e. take it off), but I brimmed her with petrol and was running on that. There was pretty violent hesitation at 1500 - 2000 RPM, but I guessed this was either the dregs of the old petrol left in the tank while the previous owner ran it on LPG, or dirty petrol injectors. There was also a bouncing from the rear axle which I guess was a badly out-of-balance wheel (but later turn out to be a totally stuffed shock absorber).

Then it overheated as I couldn't keep up with the water coming out of the radiator cap....

I got picked up by a rescue truck at about 02:30 from the M40 and carried to Oxford Services. The battery was dead but the rescue guy got her started off a booster. There was a lot of steam pouring out of the back and i figured this was the head gasket done....

My Old Man came to meet me at Oxford Services. We switched cars as I had to get to Gatwick to catch a flight back, but with a new radiator cap he managed to nurse it home.

A couple of weeks later I flew to the UK again, put a new thermostat in the engine, filled it with antifreeze and drove it down to Dover and back to the Netherlands. I was expecting to break down somewhere along the way, but amazingly the journey was totally without a hitch; the Surf was sitting happily at 110 - 130 km/h all the time, no sign of overheating.

And here she is, finally, parked-up in Assen in the north of the Netherlands. 



All I had to do was find a garage to rent and start dismantling.

Only then would I discover just how good this truck is... by which I mean, that it could still start, run and stop given just how knackered it actually is.

This is not going to be a cheap truck....

[eurasiaoverland]

Now the Netherlands has got to be pretty much the most car-unfriendly country in Europe. Purchase prices and road taxes are absurdly high. The city where I live (Groningen) has been deliberately designed to frustrate the driver (I'm not joking) with its awful traffic system. It seems that garages have also been built to frustrate the car owner, as they all seem to be sized to snugly fit a VW Polo. It took me a while to find a suitable garage, but I found a good one. High roof, shutter door, electricity. Perfect. Only problem was that it was in a completely different town, 30 mins away by train or car. Oh well.




So I back her in and immediately take off the bonnet to begin the rebuild. I'd bought a compression tester (this is my first petrol car) but the spark plugs had a 16 mm head (unlike any other fitting on the truck) and I couldn't get them out.

So my rough plan of priorities:

-Remove gas system
-Do a top-end engine rebuild (hoping the bottom end will be OK)
-Replace the entire suspension with aftermarket shocks and springs go give a slight lift
-Service the rear brakes as at least one drum was binding

[eurasiaoverland]

Here's the engine I wanted specifically. It's a Toyota 3RZ-FE, a 150 HP 2693 cc inline four. Double overhead cam, distributor type EFI, timing chain and double balance shafts. It's a very rare engine in Europe, only found in a short run of petrol Hiaces and a few grey imports (such as this Surf). However, after spending a bit of time on the US 4Runner / Tacoma / Toyota forums, I saw that this is a really bulletproof motor, with no known faults aside from a tendency to crack exhaust manifolds. But of course they don't run them on LPG over there.




Top end of the engine looked surprisingly clean, but I guess this was just due to the car running on LPG. Intake valve clearances were all good, but exhaust valve clearances were a little tight. Given that LPG is known to burn exhaust valves and valve seats, this is not a good sign!

[eurasiaoverland]

So I hire this van and go and pick up a friend of mine and his engine crane and huge floor jack...




...and it's out.



Of course, the van is a modern Volkswagen and it went into Volkswagen-mode on the way back; on the dashboard an orange light came on and the thing was running on 2, maybe 3 cylinders. With my foot pinned to the floor it would judder and lurch to about 2000 rpm and then cut out. I had to crawl back at 40 km/h and ditch it at the hire company. It didn't even have the decency to belch out any smoke. What a P.O.S.

[b3nson]

Bookmarked after the first paragraph, off to check out your website now...

[kevstarlet]

Best of luck with the build. Loving your first hilux! The workshop I'm sharing is crammed full of toyota hilux's and landcruisers. Never seen a petrol surf only the older uk/irish hilux in petrol. 80 series landcruiser came with a decent 4 litre petrol plant, my friend has two, one of which is running lpg.

[sceptre]

Bookmarked. Looking forward to hearing more about your saga

[eurasiaoverland]

Thanks guys!

I liked the idea of a Landcruiser, and the 100 Series diesel which I drove had a beautiful, torquey and smooth 4.2 l intercooled turbo, but it also felt like a real barge, which put me off. The Hilux feels like a car and for off-road conditions, I think there is a lot to be said for lightness.

Regards petrol versions, the 80 Series petrol is very rare as a manual, and that 4.5 l 1FZ engine is notoriously thirsty. I like the 4 banger in mine as it's pretty economical, apparently more so than the 3.0 l turbo diesel alternative.

This 3rd Gen Surf has the same chassis and running gear as the Toyota Landcruiser 90 (Colorado or Prado), but that was only available in Europe with the 3.4 l V6, and only as an automatic in the UK. Nice engine, but as an overland truck I'm looking for simplicity so a V engine with two head gaskets is not really my thing.

[Deleted]

I like your first Hilux. Will be following this thread. Keep up the good work.

[b3nson]

A fair few pages into your website now, I have to say that it why I love the internet! Such an interesting story so far and something I can click onto and read a few sections at a time. Hugely jealous of your commitment and balls for such a massive journey.

[nug]

Love the Hilux. Good luck with the Surf Overlander project. I myself considered buying one a while back but decided to go for a Delica L400 (used to have an L300 a while back) Found one cheap (2 actually), but both need loads of work. I have been sorting the best one out as the second one will be a parts car I think. Why oh why do people not maintain these things properly ? They either bodge every repair or just do the absolute minimum to get through an MOT ! I can't leave anything unfixed or poorly repaired so its been a shed load of work before I even get to start on the Overlander mods.

[deano123]

Nice plan's, I have a similar plan to do another overland L200.

A few years back I was working between Poland, Hungary and Serbia, I used to drive between the three in an L200. It was absolutely freezing in the winter and that was around -25

[eurasiaoverland]

May 18, 2016 19:46:54 GMT b3nson said:

A fair few pages into your website now, I have to say that it why I love the internet! Such an interesting story so far and something I can click onto and read a few sections at a time. Hugely jealous of your commitment and balls for such a massive journey.

Hi b3nson

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read it! Keep at it. I would say my favourite parts of the trip were after the halfway stop, so Stages 15 and on. In terms of adventure stakes, I doubt I'll ever match driving the Hilux through Afghanistan in local dress with Pakistani-style plates!

If you're interested in my upcoming trip(s), you might like to subscribe to www.facebook.com/eurasiaoverland which is where I post pictures and stories en-route.

Again, thanks for your interest,

Daniel

[eurasiaoverland]

May 18, 2016 21:10:41 GMT nug said:

Love the Hilux. Good luck with the Surf Overlander project. I myself considered buying one a while back but decided to go for a Delica L400 (used to have an L300 a while back) Found one cheap (2 actually), but both need loads of work. I have been sorting the best one out as the second one will be a parts car I think. Why oh why do people not maintain these things properly ? They either bodge every repair or just do the absolute minimum to get through an MOT ! I can't leave anything unfixed or poorly repaired so its been a shed load of work before I even get to start on the Overlander mods.

I was actually looking at Delicas way back when I was choosing a vehicle. They are great overlanders, more practical than a pickup if not quite as rugged. I met a Swiss couple in one in Mongolia in 2010. 

With this Surf build I'm regularly cursing the cheap idiot(s) who owned it before. But then I'm taking the purchase price as almost nominal and building a mechanically like-new 4x4. My philosophy is to splurge on renewing every single questionable component and having a like-new truck. My employer generously grants me almost eight weeks of annual holiday, but the days are still far too precious to spend at repair shops or waiting for spare parts to be shipped out to wherever I am.


Money is valuable, but time is priceless.

[eurasiaoverland]

May 19, 2016 17:41:25 GMT deano123 said:

Nice plan's, I have a similar plan to do another overland L200.

A few years back I was working between Poland, Hungary and Serbia, I used to drive between the three in an L200. It was absolutely freezing in the winter and that was around -25

A friend of mine had a turbo diesel L200 which kept blowing head gaskets and cracking heads... I'd go for a petrol!

I was in Russia in late 2010 with the (pre-rebuild) Hilux (diesel) down to just below -25º C, and once started it ran fine (faulty starter relay made starting an adventure of key-turning).

But -50º C is another ball game. The highest grade of winter diesel will start to gel at around -44º C; after that you need to start adding kerosene, or have a tank and line heater.
I'll also be running all fully-synthetic oils for the transmission and axles, as well as engine, as most mineral oils will start to gel below -45º C. 

[eurasiaoverland]

So with the engine out, I could start to attack the underneath, which is.... rusty. These trucks have something of an issue with chassis rust in the rear wheel arch area and this one looked pretty rusty. At some stage someone has sprayed the underside with a crappy bitumen-based underseal, which has hardened, cracked and trapped water and a lot of road salt underneath, generating some pretty advanced surface rust.

If I was really doing this rebuild properly, I would lift the body off and have the chassis shot-blasted. But, as the aim is to get an expedition-ready truck together by the end of August, I have to make do. In actual fact, there are only three rust spots on the chassis which need welding. Then it'll be a thick coat of my favourite paint, Jotun Jotamastic 87. This is an epoxy mastic paint, very high building, high solids and extremely surface tolerant. It's designed for coating rusty ship hulls and must be about the best surface coating you can paint onto metal, though it's not self-levelling and not so UV stable, so only suited to mechanical bits on the underside.

I take a hammer and punch to to the rusty chassis bits; here the punch makes more than a pinprick in the metal surface, I cut it out and will weld in some new 3 mm steel.
Then later on I'll spray in some rust converter followed by a heavy dose of Dinitrol 3125 cavity wax.

[eurasiaoverland]

Next, off with some suspension components and other underbody parts. Almost all of these were beyond sockets / spanners, so my good friend Mr Angle Grinder was on call...

Front and rear stabiliser bar drop-links:



Second from the left is the front-left drop-link, which has sheared at some point. A cheapskate would buy a £15 pattern part to replace it, but the scumbag previous owner gobbed on a bit of threaded bar and some odds-and-ends off the floor instead...

Rear shocks:



Both original Tokico shoks look bad as the flimsy upper covers have rotted away. Both have been leaking, but the pistons are still smooth and clean. One shock was totally blown, the other still had some damping.

Fuel filler pipe....



...starting to rot through.



Rear brake junction came away in my hand...



...and so did the main front-to-rear brake line in two separate places!




Fuel tank bash-guard is perhaps 80% rust:



And the rear axle housing is pretty foul.



I'm pretty sure previous idiots have had this in the sea, and for sure have never cleaned road salt off it....

With the exception of the rear axle housing, everything above goes straight in the bin.

[kevstarlet]

Damn that's rusty

[oukie]

Bookmarked and following,

It's weird how some grey imports get like this I've seen Delicas that seem to be made of cheese yet mine was like new underneath, I spent a fortune on maintaining it, with particular attention to the cooling system, the head still developed a crack.

I've got a couple of mates that have owned Surfs, both moaned about rusty components.

I wonder if it depends on where in Japan they come from ie near the coast etc.

Good luck with this rebuild and future adventure.

[eurasiaoverland]

May 20, 2016 22:11:49 GMT oukie said:

Bookmarked and following,

It's weird how some grey imports get like this I've seen Delicas that seem to be made of cheese yet mine was like new underneath, I spent a fortune on maintaining it, with particular attention to the cooling system, the head still developed a crack.

I've got a couple of mates that have owned Surfs, both moaned about rusty components.

I wonder if it depends on where in Japan they come from ie near the coast etc.

Good luck with this rebuild and future adventure.

What's strange on mine is that the chassis is quite rusty in very specific places , yet the body is nearly perfect. I think they are unsuited to the damn salt which gets put on the roads in the UK and imagine that they leave Japan in pretty good condition.

I think those Mitsubishi TDs are renowned for cracking heads, just like the previous generation of diesel Surfs. It's as if the heads just get to an age where they crack regardless of the quality of maintenance.

Thanks for following