Some Pictures of my 1993 LH119

Having owned our Hiace for nearly 12 months and after having enjoyed looking at pictures of other peoples vans (because it's rare to see another out on the open road in the UK at least) I thought I would post some pics of our 1993 2.8D Japanese import.

Named Sushi by the previous owners, she has just over 100K miles on the clock and appears to be doing OK for her age. Repainted a few years ago, I believe the original colour was white however the bottom has now been painted with black Raptor paint.

Already had some great family holidays away (sleeps 4 + dog) but havent tried out the 4WD yet!

Hope to have the Hiace for years to come as it suits our needs far better than any VW T5 could ever do, but my biggest concern is sourcing spares which doesnt seem easy (in the UK at least).

Really great and looks to be in superb condition. Interesting to see how varied the LH119 can be (compare it to mine for example). I wanted something I can fit in my garage so it had to be a pop-top.

A few questions, please…

What are those wheels and tires?

Did you do the paint / Raptor yourself?

Do you know anything more about the tow hitch and how is it fitted underneath? Grateful if you can get some pictures of this please. Am looking to fit a towbar, ideally a receiver hitch so the ball isn’t there all the time. From what I’ve read it’s more difficult to fit a towbar to vans with a step in the rear bumper, but I’d actually like to have a stepped rear bumper; it seems much more practical. Dunno whether I can modify the one I have or have to replace.

Was this converted to a camper in Japan and finally,

Is that a diesel heater under the seats or it is the output for the rear heating?

Cheers

Hi there LH119V

You are correct. The sheer number and different variations of the Hiace is incredible, and I love looking at all the styles.

Our Hiace was converted direct from the factory and is apparently a Yokohama Motor Sales conversion. It stayed in Japan for a few years before being imported to the UK

No idea about the brand of alloy wheel i'm afraid as they were on when we purchased the van, but here is a close up if it helps? Biggest problem I have with the change  from standard is that the sppedometer and odometer now dont read true, so I have to use an app on my phone to know the correct speed. Tyres are Maxxis Brave AT771. Reasonable price and seemed generally well reviewed with the exception of some tyre snobs. They are stong enough for the Hiace, and lets be honest, the speed rating isnt a factor on a 2.8 non turbo Hiace  



Same with the towbar as it was fitted already. No sure what pictures you want, but if you wany any different angles let me know and I will gladly oblige.





Van was already painted with Raptor except the front grill which was the original chrome colour. It didnt suit the van at all so I bought 2 cans of Raptor and sprayed it myself. It is expensive stuff out of a can, but I love the effect it gives. If I can get enough spares to keep the van going until it needs a respray, I would like to get it Raptor coated all over. It's very hard wearing and can hide a multitude of sins (i.e. rewelded seems etc.)



Diesel heater for the rear of the van is under that seat. Put in recently by previous owner. The orginal heater is under the middle 3 seat row, but presumably it stopped working and the previous owner didnt want to repair it? The new style diesel heater is great, comes with a remote control and LCD control panel and heats up really quick. Obviously uses no battery power and very little impact on diesel from the fuel tank. It's one of these types I believe:



As mentioned, if you need any more photos of the tow hitch let me know.

Nice one and thanks very much for the info!

Sorry for the long response but here goes!

On the tires, from the picture it looks like yours are 225/70/R16. Mine are 195/80/R15 Hankook Dynapro ATM (96T) and are fine, though I’ll need two new rear tires before too long. I plugged in the numbers in to:

https://tiresize.com/comparison/

and you can see the difference there. Given the cost I won’t be replacing mine except to get the two new rear ones anytime soon, but interesting to see the difference. Also that you have '100' load rating. I normally drive using a GPS sat nav.

See the tires here:


On this picture:


the nearest tire is the spare and was told this is an original rim. The others are replacements. Before cleaning I didn’t even realise the spare was chrome. Pity they are not all original.

Thanks for the pictures of the rear bumper and towbar. From first impressions it looks like the rear cross member on vans with a rear step is different, not just the bumper. I say that as it looks like the front of your step comes nearly right up to the back of the fuel tank whereas on my van there’s quite a lot of metalwork in that area. Will need to look in more detail at the bodywork and perhaps mock something up though it seems that this might be a fundamental difference at the build level.

Yes, Raptor is hardwearing and it’s popular in Oz and the US for coating high wear areas especially on off-road vehicles. I’m not sure it’s the best thing for underneath but it’s got to be better than the nothing that Toyota used originally. I’m gradually getting my van ready for undercoating and will probably use a 2-part epoxy primer such as this:

https://www.rust.co.uk/product/cat/em-121-epoxy-rust-proofing-chassis-paint-7

Although not fitted to the van yet I've bought a 2kW Autoterm diesel heater. It was taking the chill out of the garage last winter and made it a more comfortable place to work though it's actually a bit small for that. it does have a nice feature in that it can be started (to high power) and turned off (both on and off through the proper sequences) via a rocker or momentary switch so it’ll be possible to turn on while arriving somewhere to park and be turned off after driving off, which seems useful. I also got the SIM modem module so it can be turned on and off via a text message, but that's not been tried yet.

The 2kW heater uses ~0.25L/h on full power. Yes, not a lot but if running for a few hours while working the level drops in the tank. Not such an issue when heating a van for a short time and relatively occasionally. I got a 10L tank for the garage but will run if off the diesel return line once in the van. It’s worth noting that on start-up and shut down these heaters draw ~10 A and while running ~2-3 A so not trivial if also running a fridge and lighting while off grid. Make sure you set a low voltage shutdown if your heater allows this to protect your battery.

I still have and will keep the rear cabin heating that’s provided by a second heater matrix, fan, ducting and controls built into the right hand side of the van (opposite to the sliding door). While only providing heat when the engine is running (hence the addition of the diesel heater) it does provide a decent amount of heat when it’s working properly. All my van’s vehicle coolant system was badly underperforming due to some neglect and I’ve had the main radiator re-cored (and changed from a two-layer to a three-layer core) and the front matrix is currently away being done, too. Given the cost and that I’ve hopefully de-gunked the rear matrix enough, getting this re-cored is probably a step too far as there's now decent flow but do take a look at where on your van the rear heater is capped off, if this has been done. If done, I think this should be capped or with a simple and short return as close to where the pipes come from the engine as possible. This will avoid long and possibly fragile or potentially corroded pipework that will hold coolant at pressure but without it flowing anywhere. The pressure is not a problem as it won’t be in excess, that’s not how the system works but you might have a couple of long and unnecessary pipes that are a risk to coolant loss. When everything goes back there will also be a high flow filter to the radiator top hose and a couple of decent filters (~150L/h) upstream of both heater matrixes. After de-gunking the coolant system there must still be a lot of crud in the engine etc that will only dislodge over time and I don’t want this getting anywhere the re-worked system.

Finally, my van has a rather unsightly rear fog lamp fitted centre, below the rear bumper and was wondering where your fog is fitted? Mine also has additional rear reflectors and tail lights built into the tailgate but otherwise the rear lights (on the body) seem the identical to yours. If I fitted a towbar I’d have to move the fog and would like to improve this anyway.

Cheers!

Love that original chrome spare wheel. Be really cool to have a full set of those. I suppose they are like hens teeth?

That undercoat looks like it will be some great stuff. I'm a novice at all things car related but have spent the last number of weekends on my back underneath the van with a wire brush removing the old rust and flaky paint. I have been using a rust converter called Neutrarust 661 to try and convert the rust back in to a solid meatl and then using Hammerite underbody seal to protect it. I know I can stop whats rusting from inside, but with limited resources/budget I am hopping anything I do will be better than nothing at all. It will be interesting to see what rust comes back through over the next 12 months, but if nothing else it looks better.

Your fog lamp question was an interesting one. For some reason it's not something I had thought about. After spending 20 minutes outside tonight I have come to the conclusion I dont have one. This is a bit of a worry as it looks like UK legislation states that one is required. More interesting is the fact that the Hiace has been in the UK since 1996 and this doesnt seem to have been picked up previously. I have had the camper MOT'd myself by a decent local garage and they didnt pick up on it. Suppose I will have to investigate getting one fitted???

love the high top!  If you are going to do any amount of 4x4 ing I’d suggest increasing clearance as the rear springs tend to sag and the spare tire will get you hung up.  

I added longer rear spring shackles and new bushings which give quite a bit of clearance without any other modifications.  Highly recommend removing the tank to do this though.

Here’s a video of how I did mine

Toyota Hiace rear suspension lift
https://youtu.be/uVzz6J_80lA

I have a '93 Japanese import Hiace which looks similar to yours, but not in as good condition! I got nasty noises and oil leaks from the back axle just before lockdown so it has been parked up for over two years. I am back on the case now and, with my local garage looking for a replacement axle.
I see you are in Bristol. I live in East Harptree just south of Bristol. It would be good
if we can be in touch to share information, experiences, knowledge etc..

Merlin_ wrote:

love the high top!  If you are going to do any amount of 4x4 ing I’d suggest increasing clearance as the rear springs tend to sag and the spare tire will get you hung up.  

I added longer rear spring shackles and new bushings which give quite a bit of clearance without any other modifications.  Highly recommend removing the tank to do this though.

Here’s a video of how I did mine

Toyota Hiace rear suspension lift
https://youtu.be/uVzz6J_80lA

Thanks for the video link. Would love to jack the van up a bit, though mechanically I am useless so will have to find someone who can do it.

Having watched some youtube videos it;s incredible what Hiaces are capable of!

Harptree wrote:

I have a '93 Japanese import Hiace which looks similar to yours, but not in as good condition! I got nasty noises and oil leaks from the back axle just before lockdown so it has been parked up for over two years. I am back on the case now and, with my local garage looking for a replacement axle.
I see you are in Bristol. I live in East Harptree just south of Bristol. It would be good
if we can be in touch to share information, experiences, knowledge etc..

Yes. Be great to do that. I only live about 30 minutes away from you just the otherside of Keynsham. Would love to know of anywhere you recommend for spare parts, or trusted mechanics in the local area. I havent had to take mine to a garage yet, but the age concerns me, and how many people will know what they are delaing with.

I do have a Toyota specialist (first choice Toyota) just down the road from me in Warmley. I popped in last week and spoke with them. They do have a few old Hiace campers on their books, but did say they are finding it difficult sourcing some parts. Also their garage isnt high enough for a high top, which means they are limited by what they can do outside on axle stands. Also they were a bit vague with 4WD as it's not standard UK stuff. For the most part they seemed very good though.

You found anyone local trustworthy/knowledgeable?

Greetings from California. Nice 1993 LH119! I love the camper and high-top upgrades! Thanks for sharing all the photos of your HiAce.