DanS HJ-45
SILVER Star
I'm sure a few of you noticed a 1976 HJ-45 on eBay a couple weeks ago in Colorado. In fact, I'll bet I was bidding against a couple of you on it.
Anyway, I bought a blue one. 1976 HJ-45 LWB pickup originally from Honduras. It's ROUGH. Well, the wiring is worse than any PO pics I've seen or heard of. It's been beat up, and had some interesting repairs. Ever seen someone weld patches onto a muffler to save money? Neither had I until I got this. (but it's an original Toyota muffler, albeit with some nasty patches).
Anyway, this thing popped up on eBay and we (my Dad and I) just had to go check it out. I've been more or less on the prowl for a diesel 40 series for a couple of years now, and this one was within driving distance. So we headed up to Colorado (in my 1991 Toyota--converted to a Toyota diesel) to get a good look at it.
It's pretty much something right up my alley. It needs bodywork/replacement and electrical help--which are both things I'm pretty good at. The cab tub has rust through in the right rocker and the left rear floor. Easy enough. The fenders are beyond shot. The front bib will need a *little* straightening, the aprons are straight, but have been hacked on the insides (the bracketry), and the hood is in really nice shape. The doors are fine, and the upper half of the cab rear is probably salvageable. The steel top is in fantastic shape. The bed is another story. Hard to tell. Someone went to town with Bondo on this truck (for no good reason--it's like they tried to french the fenders and runing boards together with the stuff--they even put it on top of some perfectly smooth aprons), so the bed is really hard to get a good look at just yet.
The frame has had some *interesting* work done near the rear axle. Looks to me like someone overloaded it and cracked the frame right over the axle. They also welded on some pretty impressive patches. But the patches might just be there to prevent the frame from cracking--I'll take them off just to see what I have going on in there. The frame is, however, straight and true.
The engine is pretty clean. And it will kick over on ether, but past that is anybody's guess. I suspect it's an EDIC or fuel pump problem, but because of all the other work to get it roadworthy, and some other projects right now, I'm pacing myself to not tinker with it too much at the moment (which is NOT easy to do). I don't really mind rebuilding it, and I might think about repowering it with a 2H or possibly 12HT, but I might very well leave it as is. I'm not exactly concerned with having tons of power or going fast.
The transmission and T-case seem like they are in good condition, but that's based more on the aura they give, than anything else. Either way, we've got a spare H42 sitting around with about 30K on it, and I will probably investigate an H55 to help out highway economy.
Basically, my plans are to do a frame off. Compared to other trucks I've restored (and am in the process of restoring) this should be relatively easy. Easy because parts are somewhat available, and because most parts of this thing can be lifted by hand. The current project (a 1949 White semi truck) has a rear axle housing that weighs as much as a 2F, with the third already out of it.
Like I said, the basic plan is to do a frame off and keep it mostly stock. Maybe replace the H with a 2H, maybe put in an H55. Without a doubt new suspension, probably just OME Heavy 2.5" kit. Probably box/rebox the rear frame area for more strength. Not sure if I care about power steering or not, if I were able to source a pump for the H engine, then I'd look for an OEM unit, even though I know they are hard to find and pricey--I just like Toyota quality, eh. I think I'll just get it restored without the box for now, because I'm kind of tempted to weld up a flatbed/stakebed for it because I like the way they look (and it's easy)--that would also make it easy for me to add a second fuel tank, which I am leaning towards because with another 20-30 gallon tank there, I could have a solid 800-900 mile range to help me avoid buying petroleum based diesel (I'll definitely viton it up for Biodiesel).
Either way, it's going to have to sit for a while before I can get to it. The White truck is about to have it's frame powder coated, and is about to start coming back together, and I think the HJ-45 will be best suited if I save up a big chunk of cash to try and do it all in a short span of time. So probably about a year before I have the White far enough along, as well as have the money saved up to sraight up order the suspension, new body panels, etc... In the meantime I'll probably put in slow work on the bodywork, so that by the time I'm ready to do it, the rust holes and whatnot are already taken care of.
Here's a pic of it with the bed, this pic was on eBay. I've got to resize my other pics, I should be able to resize those later today.
Dan
PS-longest first post ever?
Anyway, I bought a blue one. 1976 HJ-45 LWB pickup originally from Honduras. It's ROUGH. Well, the wiring is worse than any PO pics I've seen or heard of. It's been beat up, and had some interesting repairs. Ever seen someone weld patches onto a muffler to save money? Neither had I until I got this. (but it's an original Toyota muffler, albeit with some nasty patches).
Anyway, this thing popped up on eBay and we (my Dad and I) just had to go check it out. I've been more or less on the prowl for a diesel 40 series for a couple of years now, and this one was within driving distance. So we headed up to Colorado (in my 1991 Toyota--converted to a Toyota diesel) to get a good look at it.
It's pretty much something right up my alley. It needs bodywork/replacement and electrical help--which are both things I'm pretty good at. The cab tub has rust through in the right rocker and the left rear floor. Easy enough. The fenders are beyond shot. The front bib will need a *little* straightening, the aprons are straight, but have been hacked on the insides (the bracketry), and the hood is in really nice shape. The doors are fine, and the upper half of the cab rear is probably salvageable. The steel top is in fantastic shape. The bed is another story. Hard to tell. Someone went to town with Bondo on this truck (for no good reason--it's like they tried to french the fenders and runing boards together with the stuff--they even put it on top of some perfectly smooth aprons), so the bed is really hard to get a good look at just yet.
The frame has had some *interesting* work done near the rear axle. Looks to me like someone overloaded it and cracked the frame right over the axle. They also welded on some pretty impressive patches. But the patches might just be there to prevent the frame from cracking--I'll take them off just to see what I have going on in there. The frame is, however, straight and true.
The engine is pretty clean. And it will kick over on ether, but past that is anybody's guess. I suspect it's an EDIC or fuel pump problem, but because of all the other work to get it roadworthy, and some other projects right now, I'm pacing myself to not tinker with it too much at the moment (which is NOT easy to do). I don't really mind rebuilding it, and I might think about repowering it with a 2H or possibly 12HT, but I might very well leave it as is. I'm not exactly concerned with having tons of power or going fast.
The transmission and T-case seem like they are in good condition, but that's based more on the aura they give, than anything else. Either way, we've got a spare H42 sitting around with about 30K on it, and I will probably investigate an H55 to help out highway economy.
Basically, my plans are to do a frame off. Compared to other trucks I've restored (and am in the process of restoring) this should be relatively easy. Easy because parts are somewhat available, and because most parts of this thing can be lifted by hand. The current project (a 1949 White semi truck) has a rear axle housing that weighs as much as a 2F, with the third already out of it.
Like I said, the basic plan is to do a frame off and keep it mostly stock. Maybe replace the H with a 2H, maybe put in an H55. Without a doubt new suspension, probably just OME Heavy 2.5" kit. Probably box/rebox the rear frame area for more strength. Not sure if I care about power steering or not, if I were able to source a pump for the H engine, then I'd look for an OEM unit, even though I know they are hard to find and pricey--I just like Toyota quality, eh. I think I'll just get it restored without the box for now, because I'm kind of tempted to weld up a flatbed/stakebed for it because I like the way they look (and it's easy)--that would also make it easy for me to add a second fuel tank, which I am leaning towards because with another 20-30 gallon tank there, I could have a solid 800-900 mile range to help me avoid buying petroleum based diesel (I'll definitely viton it up for Biodiesel).
Either way, it's going to have to sit for a while before I can get to it. The White truck is about to have it's frame powder coated, and is about to start coming back together, and I think the HJ-45 will be best suited if I save up a big chunk of cash to try and do it all in a short span of time. So probably about a year before I have the White far enough along, as well as have the money saved up to sraight up order the suspension, new body panels, etc... In the meantime I'll probably put in slow work on the bodywork, so that by the time I'm ready to do it, the rust holes and whatnot are already taken care of.
Here's a pic of it with the bed, this pic was on eBay. I've got to resize my other pics, I should be able to resize those later today.
Dan
PS-longest first post ever?