My collection of BJ44 model kits

Already a while ago I started to collecting the BJ 44 modelkits produced by the Italian modelkit brand ESCI.
ESCI was the only one who produced a high quality Model kit of the BJ44 in the early 80’s.
They released 3 different versions:

• The soft top version
• The Phillipines Taxi
• The Kenia Safari edition

By now these modelkits have become a rare item to find, sometimes you see them coming by on Ebay for about 180 USD.
Especially the Safari edition is the most hard to find, which I only saw once in the last 6 years on Ebay.

If you are interested in buying one, this might be your lucky day!

Since the kits are never going to be put together by me, I’ve put the 4 kits I currently own on Ebay.

They could now be yours! Check the auctions on ebay.  (*** SOLD ***)

A star is born

How nice is it when you’re asked if your beloved Toyota Land Cruiser can be part of a fashion photo shoot? Lemme tell you, I was exited! After months of hard work, Its nice to be able to show your rig to the world.

New suspension

This upgrade was already on my list since the beginning. The original suspension pack installed by the factory was over 30 years old, therefore lost its flex and lowered the cruiser about 5 cm from its original height. Besides that the driving behavior also changes during that time, in the end the steering tends to react too much on road conditions and curves. It starts to drive a bit nervous and therefore dangerous and exhausting.

Winter has started

Since my last post in October, I enjoyed driving the BJ44 a lot, Wondering if new minor problems would show, but nothing happened. I kept a sharp eye on the levels of all fluids (Oils, Coolant, Brake fluid) noticed some points need attention, like a very small leak of coolant from the pump. Need to clean the pump and replace the gaskets for that one in spring.

Let’s go outside!

Yes, the last few sunny weekends, I already made some great trips around town, through the countryside and last weekend I headed towards the sea, which is just 30 minutes away from my hometown Amsterdam.

Replacing exhaust manifold gasket

So now the tank was installed, the engine was running perfect and I started to make some test drives… I felt great!! Although there was something not right… It sounded like an old Volkswagen Beetle, like it had a serious cold.

Installing the recoated tank

Its been a while since my last post and that can mean two things, good or bad news… fortunately it was the first one!!! I’ve been driving alot the last few weeks.

Install sliding windows

This week I finally installed the last windows of my Land cruiser. The iconic sliding windows only seen at the later model (1980+) Land cruisers. I made a comprehensive photo report to show you how this works.

Installing window weatherstripping

Now the frames are painted, the weatherstripping is in and the glass is thoroughly cleaned and scraped with razor blade (for getting the persistent dirt off), It is time to assemble everything.

Painting sliding window frames

Just something that was on the list for along time, didn’t do it because I had not found the right weatherstripping yet, well if you’ve read my previous post, you know that problem is solved, so onto the painting then.

Sliding window weatherstripping

This week I received the long awaited weatherstripping for my sliding windows. Like many other parts, this was no longer available through Toyota, so I had to source for an alternative.

Getting rid of the last rust

I’ve sanded the cruiser to the metal, repaired all the imperfections, welded every hole… so I thought this was it! No more rust! Boy, was I wrong… I never looked in the fuel tank.

Hood silence pad

Driving noise is something you have to live with when owning a classic land cruiser, even more when owning a diesel version. That’s why Toyota assembled the Diesel cruisers in some markets with a factory silence pad under the hood.

OEM Door weatherstripping

Ok just a short notice: bought the aftermarket front door weatherstripping/seals a while ago and tried to install them properly… That turned out to be a big failure!!!! So this time, I bought the Genuine Toyota ones from cruiserparts.net.. what a difference!!

New Tires

This weekend I got myself a nice pair of sneakers!! And then I don’t mean a new pair of “hard to get” Nike’s, but 5 brand new BF Goodrich All Terrain Tires.

Sand & paint the rims

This post actually covers a few weeks of work, but always done on the side, and to my opinion never interesting enough to make it a separate post. I started sanding the almost new Toyota rims I bought somewhere in January if i remember correctly.

Seat belts are in.

Ok, I know this whole restoration kinda speeds up lately, probably because the finish is in sight… (not the end of this blog though.. :)) Today I also installed the Seat belt kit I received a few days ago.

Installing shift pattern plate

Today I brought one of the shift pattern plates with me I had received earlier this week, Time to make a “how to install” for this nice plate. As mentioned before I decided not to order the plates with pre drilled holes. The case might be that the holes wouldn’t align perfectly with the holes in the glove box door.

Rooftop installed

You all still owed this one from me… Already installed the roof top last week, but because of the bad weather over here (NL) the pictures were all dark and not good enough for posting.

JDM Emergency Flare

Since we are talking safety, lets focus on a very nice and Japanese Domestic Market only item; the Safety flare. Due to Japanese traffic regulations, every Japanese car needs to have an ’emergency flare’. This is basically a piece of firework that can be ignited the way you lit a match.