JungleBiker's FJ45 (1 Viewer)

[JungleBiker]

Well here it is.

Arriving home from where me and some friends picked it up:

I was glad to see it had the 2F engine (I still prefer petrol/gasoline engines to diesel), but it was locked up. I broke it loose pretty easily, but couldn't get compression on three cylinders. This thing seems to have sat for maybe 20 years in one spot--somebody had stolen the oil filler cap, so when I removed the valve cover, I found this:

And about 50 dead cockroaches, thankfully I had dumped about 15 liters of mixed (filtered) used oil/diesel/petrol, so these little guys were all dead, but over the years they had lived in there, they had left about pound of cockroach poo behind:

Well, I couldn't get 3 of the valves to close, so I had to pull the head, where I found yet another surprise. That's a dead gecko in #3, should I send it to the guys at Icon? Also notice the large amounts of rust around the pushrod holes--that combines with the fact that the crank still can't be rotated by hand, even with the head off makes me think that the bottom end should come apart:

Did a little cleaning, removed the locally produced "coffee tray" bed:

Found a local mechanic who had a big stack of LC corner glass, he let me have 2 of them, complete with the gaskets. He also had maybe half-a-dozen H41 and H42 transmissions, so we snagged one of those too, to go with the 2 extra ones that we got with the truck when we picked it up:

 

[lostmarbles]

I'm guessing this FJ45 is in PNG. Right?

Looks like it may take a while to get her running unless you're planning on swapping the engine.

Nice to see it's being saved.

The wheels look pretty clean but I guess you put those on just now to get it mobile..

And I'm guessing "broke it loose easily" coupled with "can't be rotated by hand" means the crank does rotate fully but is very stiff (and needs leverage) to turn.

But I'm surprised the engine can rotate at all with all that rust (and those dead bodies) inside..

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

Welcome aboard JungleBiker !

That is a cool FJ45, though the 2F looks to be a goner. What are your plans for the rig?

Regards,

Alan

 

[JungleBiker]

I'm guessing this FJ45 is in PNG. Right?

Looks like it may take a while to get her running unless you're planning on swapping the engine.

Nice to see it's being saved.

The wheels look pretty clean but I guess you put those on just now to get it mobile..

And I'm guessing "broke it loose easily" coupled with "can't be rotated by hand" means the crank does rotate fully but is very stiff (and needs leverage) to turn.

But I'm surprised the engine can rotate at all with all that rust (and those dead bodies) inside..

Lostmarbles, yes, it is in PNG, in the Eastern Highlands Province, near Kainantu. I picked it up near Goroka, about 100 km from here. I knew it'd been sitting for quite some time, nobody seemed to know how long, but there is a lot of graffiti scratched into the paint, some of it with dates and so far the oldest believable date I have seen is 1996. There is also 1986 scratched into it, but I rather suspect that to be the birthdate of the artist rather than the date that he chose to immortalise himself on the side of a dead Land Cruiser.

The wheels are clean because they are ones I brought along when I picked it up. It only had rear wheels on it when I got it, and the tires that were on those were flat and rotted. Those 15" white wheels don't actually fit properly, the offset is wrong and on the front they rub. I've got a set of wheel spacers coming up from Australia that I will put on until I can come up with something better. Eventually I'd like to switch to 16" rims and 9.00 x 16 tires, but first things first...

When I first tried to turn over the engine (with a long breaker bar and a piece of pipe on the end of the crank), it was pretty hard, but it did eventually break loose and the more I rotated it, the easier it got. However it eventually got to a point where it wouldn't get any easier. I got into the head, found the troubles there, pulled it, pulled out the pushrods, etc., and assumed that the stiffness was just from the top end, but no, even now with the head off I can't turn it without a breaker bar. Mind you, it's easy to turn with the breaker bar, I just can't grab the harmonic balancer with my hands and turn it over like I can with my F-135 (which is in running condition). So, I'm a little worried about what might be lurking in the crankcase. I'm guessing a mix of water, oil, petrol, diesel and rust!

Hi all,

Welcome aboard JungleBiker !

That is a cool FJ45, though the 2F looks to be a goner. What are your plans for the rig?

Regards,

Alan

Goner?! HA! That 2F will live again, my friend. I'm not very good at giving up on engines, and I happen to have access to a big, decently equipped workshop. Although the valve springs are pretty bad, and the bottom end is suspiciously stiff, the valves themselves look surprisingly good, as do the pistons and the cylinder bores. There's enough good left in this engine to warrant a resurrection, I reckon.

I would like to get this truck up to a high enough standard to be able to use it for PNG road trips, trips to Lae (230 km), Madang (260 km) and any other place that they eventually build roads to in this country. That may not sound like a big goal, but any vehicle used for that kind of travel here needs to be very reliable and able to handle bad roads, occasional water crossings, monsoons, mud, the odd attempted hold up, and so on. But mostly it will probably just be used locally, which means lots of dirt roads, some of them quite rough. I also would like to improve it's off-road capability a bit, not sure yet how far I want to go in that direction. Pretty sure I'm going to shorten the frame a bit in the back and make up a custom bed for it, something like the one on the back of Roothy's Big Red (look it up if you're not already familiar with it--I like that truck). The suspension needs a lot of help on this one, (front springs are completely shot) so right now I have a good opportunity to try to improve it. I'd like to put a locker in the rear end at least, and unlockable hubs on the front axle.

 

[ozcrusier]

Welcome aboard it's in amazing condition for a 1979 I'm guessing it was in a shed.

 

[JungleBiker]

Welcome aboard it's in amazing condition for a 1979 I'm guessing it was in a shed.

Surprisingly, no, it was actually parked next to a shed, out in the open. Perhaps the tree that grew up through the frame in the rear provided some protection? The weather in the highlands is pretty stable, and things take a long time to rust away here. There is some rust, however--the floors need to be replaced because the duct work under the cowl vent has rusted away and so rain water was just pooling up on the floors until they eventually succumbed. Also the sun and rain have burned/washed the paint off of the roof, so there are little rust holes here and there in the roof.

 

[JungleBiker]

Fired up my F-135 spare engine today--it's probably been 6 or 7 years since it last ran, but it was running good when it was pulled out of another Cruiser by somebody who wanted a diesel. I don't think it has a lot of miles on it, I know it was in a home-grown firetruck from 1976 to 2008 or so and got very little use during that time. I did a valve adjustment and compression check first, then had to fiddle with the points and had to rearrange the plug wires (somebody had scrambled them at some point), but once all of that was out of the way, it fired right up in a huge cloud of smoke, then settled down, stopped smoking and sounded good. A couple of the cylinders had pretty low compression, but I'll run it up to temperature on the stand and then do another check to see if they have improved. Guess I'll have to rig up a cooling system before I do that.

Couldn't believe how good it sounded. It's got an old Australian made Bendix/Stromberg carburettor on it, I have several others like it that I assume also came off of 1960's Land Cruisers, but I have never even seen one of the Aisin carbies that apparently came on these engines. Maybe there was a dealer here in PNG many years ago who swapped out all of the Aisins for Aussie-made Strombergs?

 

[ozcrusier]

So what's missing off the old girl after sitting all those years. It would have been a tempting spare parts rig.

 

[JungleBiker]

So what's missing off the old girl after sitting all those years. It would have been a tempting spare parts rig.

Mostly little stuff, oil filler cap, brake master cylinder reservoir filler caps, clutch master cylinder filler cap, battery cables, plug wires, points, rear shocks, door cards, window cranks, inside door latches, instrument cluster, headlights, one headlight mounting bucket, tail lights, front wheels, seat covers and seat foam, seat belts...like I say, little things...

I was actually more surprised at how much was still there: starter, alternator, carburetor, 6 new spark plugs, radiator (it was still full of water!), newish distributor cap, brake drums, and so on. I think the reason why a lot of the parts under the hood were still there was because most Papua New Guineans prefer diesel power and would be much more likely to support a diesel powered Cruiser over a petrol/gasoline powered one. A lot of the local mechanics who I work with here are comfy with diesels, but quickly get lost when they have to work on gasoline engines. This is good news for me because it means that when I find F, 2F parts the people who own them are more likely to be willing to part with them.

The gas cap is still on it, but only because the keys are long gone.

 

[ozcrusier]

If you need parts from OZ I can help as I will have most of that stuff you need.

 

[JungleBiker]

Cheers, mate. I definitely will be needing parts from Oz, still need to make up a list. I have a shipping address in 4870 (Cairns), so will definitely be letting you know when the time comes. Are we talking new parts or second-hand?

 

[ozcrusier]

Seconds mate from a 79 and 80 truck not much left but some of the stuff you need. Dash, booster/master, clutch master plus a complete running 79 2f engine with 77 aisin carb and manifolds, heater and all plumbing if required. All cheap need it gone.

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

\
Hi all,

I can't think of a better vehicle for this sort of rough country travel than a Land Cruiser 40/45 Series!




Regards,

Alan

I would like to get this truck up to a high enough standard to be able to use it for PNG road trips, trips to Lae (230 km), Madang (260 km) and any other place that they eventually build roads to in this country. That may not sound like a big goal, but any vehicle used for that kind of travel here needs to be very reliable and able to handle bad roads, occasional water crossings, monsoons, mud, the odd attempted hold up, and so on. But mostly it will probably just be used locally, which means lots of dirt roads, some of them quite rough. I also would like to improve it's off-road capability a bit, not sure yet how far I want to go in that direction. Pretty sure I'm going to shorten the frame a bit in the back and make up a custom bed for it, something like the one on the back of Roothy's Big Red (look it up if you're not already familiar with it--I like that truck). The suspension needs a lot of help on this one, (front springs are completely shot) so right now I have a good opportunity to try to improve it. I'd like to put a locker in the rear end at least, and unlockable hubs on the front axle.

 

[JungleBiker]

\
Hi all,

I can't think of a better vehicle for this sort of rough country travel than a Land Cruiser 40/45 Series!




Regards,

Alan

I agree--I love my Series IIA 88" Land Rovers, but they top out around 80 kph and are just too s-l-o-w for the paved road. Also too small too carry any sort of useful load back from Lae, and a little too cramped for my 6'2" and shall we say "generously proportioned" frame.

When it's done I'm hoping that this FJ will be better than the Series IIA's for the odd road trip and still be good off-road, too. If I can get a top speed of maybe 120 kph out of it, I'll be happy. I won't usually drive that fast, but having the ability to do so would be nice. Crossing the Markham and Ramu valleys (long straight stretches with good paved roads) takes forever and you're at risk of falling asleep if you can't top 100 kph.

 

[JungleBiker]

Seconds mate from a 79 and 80 truck not much left but some of the stuff you need. Dash, booster/master, clutch master plus a complete running 79 2f engine with 77 aisin carb and manifolds, heater and all plumbing if required. All cheap need it gone.

PM sent (or "conversation started")

 

[JungleBiker]

Guys, I desperately need new front springs and might be interested is just getting all four of them. Is there one brand (in the USA or AUS), that outshines the others in terms of what you get for you money? I guess what I'm saying is that I don't have tons to spend, but I want good springs.

Anyone?

 

[winnie]

wow, nice bones on that 45 ... can't wait to see what it looks like with your rebuild ... I have OME i.e. Old Man Emu (heavy) springs on my truck ... rides a little rough, but I expected that ... its a nice package (springs, shocks, steering dampener, etc) but pricey ... I'm sure others have their views ...

 

[JungleBiker]

wow, nice bones on that 45 ... can't wait to see what it looks like with your rebuild ... I have OME i.e. Old Man Emu (heavy) springs on my truck ... rides a little rough, but I expected that ... its a nice package (springs, shocks, steering dampener, etc) but pricey ... I'm sure others have their views ...

Thanks, the whole frame is pretty good except for a couple of patches in the arch above the axle on the left side. I am thinking of cutting them off because they look like just random scraps welded on to the frame. I'll redo them with something better.

 

[65swb45]

Guys, I desperately need new front springs and might be interested is just getting all four of them. Is there one brand (in the USA or AUS), that outshines the others in terms of what you get for you money? I guess what I'm saying is that I don't have tons to spend, but I want good springs.

Anyone?

After snapping a main leaf on my custom-made Alcan springs ( many happy years of off road use) Ironman donated some of their 45 series which have been on the rig for about three years now. Seem alright. We just don't get them here anymore.

Mark

P.S. It looks like the yard sold you a deisel- spec tranny.

 

[45Kevin]

Guys, I desperately need new front springs and might be interested is just getting all four of them. Is there one brand (in the USA or AUS), that outshines the others in terms of what you get for you money? I guess what I'm saying is that I don't have tons to spend, but I want good springs.

Anyone?

I got Belton springs on the front of my truck and use an extended shackle on the back to get a 2-3" lift. The Beltons have held up really well for 10 years or so now. They are made in Malaysia I think and Belton sells (sold) them out of Aus.

They were very reasonably priced at the time.