Aarons HDJ81

[rightlane80]

A bit behind on a build thread so we will see what I can come up with. Picked up this 1992 HDJ81 5spd back in April or May of 2022. It had 165,000km on it and now present day sits at 200,000km.

 

[rightlane80]

Parking lot picture is on the way home from Mississippi my dad and I took a much needed break in New Mexico. After a few weeks of having it back home I had a very good friend of mine @madorbit help me do the connecting rod bearings which is a common issue on the diesel 80s. After getting that all wrapped up the next thing on the list was the turbocharger. It was leaking a good amount of oil so I ordered a replacement hiflow CT26 from Australia

 

[rightlane80]

After getting the turbo sorted out it went off to the body shop to have some rust taken care of. I ended up getting it back 2 months later and I was beyond happy with their work. Highly recommend Perfection Unlimited in Aurora. I also got it on its first camping trip out to utah in early 2023.

 

[rightlane80]

Back in october of 22 I ordered a front mount PDI intercooler and it sat in my spare bedroom for 9 months or so. But I had another friend come over and help me knock it out in a day

 

[rightlane80]

Sometime in between the turbo and intercooler I ordered a boost, egt and water temp gauge which I highly recommend.

 

[rightlane80]

During July 2023 I did a 3600 mile road trip out to oregon to see a good friend of mine. While out there he built me a SS 3in exhaust which sounds incredible. Went through wyoming, Montana, idaho, washington and oregon.

 

[rightlane80]

Welp now that were almost caught up on my way home from oregon I noticed my knuckles were weeping a bit so I ordered a knuckle rebuild kit from cruiser outfitters. I also needed new front and rear brakes so while doing the knuckles I got the new rotors and pads from powerstop on.

 

[rightlane80]

Wrapping this up for now Ive been helping my friend from oregon prototype his airbox build along with a catch can mount.

 

[rightlane80]

Ill update in the next few weeks when I get to the rear brakes. I have a new replacement caliper for the back left because the bleeder valve is pretty seized. Im headed out to utah to catch the eclipse next weekend

 

[rightlane80]

Checked out the eclipse in valley of the gods and went down to arizona to monument valley. 81 did great and it was a fun trip