Builds HJ61 Cruiser build (1 Viewer)

[TLC Norway]

As some of you might know, my previous HJ60 went up in smoke.
With a lot of support, good help and donations, I lucked out and managed to get another 60 series in less than a month. Thanks to everyone!
So... i admit... I do have an addiction!

A few months earlier i sold the other LJ73 Diesel Cruiser, and misc other parts and stuff, to put in a good few months of work on the beloved 81 model HJ60.
I also had an patrol (wtf) to get to and from work while getting the cruiser ready for stage x.
When everything settled after the fire, i realized i could sell the patrol, scrape up some savings and get another cruiser, but everything i looked at was rotted and needed ton of work.

But i did find the king... the boss... a almost stock HJ61 with all the goodies!
12H-T, 5spd, pto and cable lockers. Only thing missing, is the a/c.
Ten years ago the PO did blast off most of the rust, did a re-paint and got it back in good running condition. After 530 000 km, the rig was in a pretty good shape even back then.

Went to look at it, at the other side of the country, and i instantly fell in love!
It didn't look like much, since it had been sitting outside last few years, waiting for love!
There were no interior, (just a mess) rear hatches or seats. Every panel was just hung back on after the paint job.
PO got sick, and had to pause the project.

I figured it was time to move on and made a deal. so i picked it up a few days later, and after tears, laughter and emptying my funds, we brought it on a trailer over to Tønsberg, three hours away.
A friend of mine bought the 94 off me a few days earlier, and was happy to tow the cruiser over the mountain

One happy cruisernerd!

We put it on the green lawn at my gf's parents house.
Started to scrub it down, inside and out.

 

[TLC Norway]

After a full day of steaming, elbow grease and sorting out misc small electric issues, we had it cleaned out and most of gizmos working.
Handbrake did an amazing job cleaning up the interior and used the deck cleaner to get all the old juice out. She pretty much knows the inside of this rig best, after also doing a build up on the previous cruiser.

She also did the magic trick on all the door panels, seats and carpets!

I found the rear doors to be swapped... it has inside body stamped and configured for manual windows, front doors are stock for power windows and locks. To be a project!

Anders helped out a few days, and made the mean green go away on the rear upper hatch.

Night came, and the rig was put together, lined up the fenders, doors and hood, painted the green upper hatch, blue lower hatch, fresh fluids and filters all over.

And got the lights working... sweeeet!

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Awesome job cleaning it up! It came out good!!

 

[TLC Norway]

After inspecting and adjusting all the brakes, lubing driveshafts, adjusting steering box, check all bolts to frame and axles, misc electric issues and getting the front power windows working, we put the rtt on, and handbrake had finished up the interior.
We ordered a trial licence plate, since the rig had no plates or inspection for 12 years.
The first test run was a fact!
No door lock cylinders, not even on the fuel lid.
No wipers, horn, rear wiper or spray... -And no fuel.
I put one lock in the rear hatch to operate the push button, but none of the keys that followed the rig worked.
Put in 85 liters, and just drove around to get a feeling for what needed attention.
You can spot a few of them in this picture

Had to bleed the brakes another time, and flush the cluth fluid a few times to get it working as i think it should.
This pedal feel is new to me, as there is a clutch booster. sweet!

Temporary air hose from filter box, taped it up and put a new filter in, along with the new air and fuel filter. The batteries it came with had to be replaced, so i got a few things sorted as we drove around.
Had to rig up a couple battery stays, and a quick disconnect for the neg pole to cut off the 24v until i figure all the gizmos out.

Handbrakes brother did a clean job on the light doors, grille and toyota logo.
he masked off most off the not flaking chrome on the light doors, and made the toyota logo like new
All done in matte black, mirrors too.

The turbo logo had to be glued in place, here its curing. sexy!

Rear seats in thanks to my better half!

 

[cruiserpilot]

Fantastic!! Very happy to see this rig, quite a good machine by the looks. I like the rims, close up shot would be nice. J

 

[TLC Norway]

Awesome job cleaning it up! It came out good!!

Thanks! And yeah, it did turn out to be a beauty! Its not the original white paint, newer toyota colour.
Epoxy primed and three coats of this ALL white. Its a pain to keep clean...


After a few more days in the rain, camping in the tent, basically living in and under the cruiser, we were ready to drive it over for inspection.
Seat belts, wiper linkage and motor, tuned handbrake and toe in adjustment, horn and misc odds and ends were done properly. this was the rain-setup...

rear cargo area empty... will never see it like that again.
She fixed the rear carpet, attached to the rear seat. Also the flimsy quarter panels are in, just not in the photo. had no tools to make up new ones at the time.

Passed inspection and got plates out! PS are the initials of my last name

At that time it was nine days since we picked the rig up. It was running and braking!
Still alot is missing, but it was time for a wrencing brake, and to cruise aroud sourcing memories (and parts, and a fridge, and locks, and stereo, and camping gear)

This picture pretty much sums up my feelings that day!

 

[Spiva]

Looks great! I'm watching now.

 

[TLC Norway]

Fantastic!! Very happy to see this rig, quite a good machine by the looks. I like the rims, close up shot would be nice. J

Appreciate it, mate!
I have no close up of the rims, but i like the simplicity of them. I'll try to remember a shot of them tomorrow.
They're flaking and does not look that good up close. will keep them as a set for another set of studded winter tires.
maybe i can do some work on them, the shape is sharp.
Alloy 15x8,5 with 33.12,5 worn BF at.

Looks great! I'm watching now.

COOL! To be continued. ALOT. Will probably go much in the direction of the previous cruiser (in the sig)
Heavy springs, 35's and all that armor.

 

[TLC Norway]

Will post up from our 450k kilometer road trip after we got it licenced.
Just have to sort out a few photos.

Doing a little bit of small things almost every day...
this weekend from another thread:

Swapped in a new to me set of driveshafts, less vibes now. Wrinkled in a 24v ARB compressor, with 3mm clearance. will add a tank later...

So i had to do a test run, picked up a buddy with a drone quadcopter so he could train his flyingskills, will most def make more vids like theese!
watch in full screen... could not make the music work like it should, but who cares! put on your favorite music!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I flipping LOVE this new cruiser!! Left hand drive too!!!

Can't wait to see what else you do with it

 

[M0untaineer]

Looks great- That drone video is awesome! Good work bud- truly inspiring...there's just something about a 60 that just makes you wanna grin!

 

[The Phoenician]

I love that black Nissan Patrol in the first post, I wish they brought them to the US. I'm subscribed.

 

[Tapage]

I'm truly impress .. !

How long take all " resto " ..? you guys work fast !

 

[TLC Norway]

I flipping LOVE this new cruiser!! Left hand drive too!!!

Can't wait to see what else you do with it

Yeah, i cant wait either!?!!! It's soo cool... Now after breakfast im heading out to change the oil seal and gasket on the rear right axle. 10 minute job on the FF.
Thats probably alot of whats goin on in the near future. changing seals all over, since it was sitting for so long.
Knock on wood, there's no leak on front or rear mains on engine, and just a drop on the vac acuator on the TC.

I got new bearings and knuckle parts ready for the axles, but i wanna source everything i need before i pop them open.
I miss alot right now. Marlin inner seals, longfields, hub studs, knuckle studs, braided longer brakelines and rotors and calipers have to be changed too, as they had a bad rust spot in the cylinders. As long as i ride with new pads, its fine, but once i get down to half, they rub on the rust.
And i wish there was a Marlin seal for the rear inner axle, on the ff. -like in the front, they're just a tad smaller OD.

After swapping the driveshafts, it's a blast to drive now. no more wibes! And less of the jerky 12ht pedal feel! wohoo!
Arb compressor did fine... Not a beast, but i can trust that one to do its job in this climate. Truckers use them as backup on airtanks in this climate.

From the dead 60, i can probably use the belly protection, since it it made for a drop with the pto box. (remind me, i need to get new frame bearing for pto axle)
Maybe i will reuse the sliders, after i bend them back. Would need some serious cleaning up.
I was really happy with the high rear bumper i had, and its not bent during the fire... the aluminum plate on top did not fully melt, so i actually think that i can reuse it, but now i have those beautiful rust free quarters.... Maybe i'll have to ding them up before i can convince myself to chop them...?

For the front... This time i really wanna stick to the pto winch, and build or integrate it into a beefy bumper.

Next thing on my order list, is another set of the flip kit from @lcwizard , i've already hung up on the old ones already, and almost broke off the new shock. I'll be in touch, Dave!

Looks great- That drone video is awesome! Good work bud- truly inspiring...there's just something about a 60 that just makes you wanna grin!

It was fun filming that! will go out again some less widy evening in more terrain. funfunfun!

I love that black Nissan Patrol in the first post, I wish they brought them to the US. I'm subscribed.

It's a nice rig, was my DD for almost a year. 2.8 traight six turned up the fuel a tad, and the turbo sung!

 

[TLC Norway]

I'm truly impress .. !

How long take all " resto " ..? you guys work fast !

Thanks, mate! we picked the rig up on a Thursday. The second Monday we got it registered!
And then we were at a birthdayparty, i attended a bachelor party, and we spent one day on the sea.
So basically one week labor to get it up and running smooth!

we're a pretty good team, handbrake and me!

 

[chappohj47]

Great job mate

 

[maat]

looking good TLC keep the pics coming!

 

[TLC Norway]

The joy continues. Morning duty went fine, stopped the rear leaking.
But in the pissing rain on my way home, the wiper linkage popped of the motor again.
Witch i reconnected in Tønsberg, Copenhagen, Ålborg and outside Tønsberg again.
And now it stays off until i can find a new one, or some better solution. (rain season just started)
I think i already stole the one off my donor, if not i need to take the complete linkage out of that one, wich is a pita to install in the dark without an extra set of hands at home... Any pro's on linkage install alone in the rain?

Soo, back to the first road trip after getting it road legal!
poser shot with the new three step ladder strapped to the rtt.
The folding and zipping the cover back onto the tent was a hazzle without the ladder, premium equipment!

A couple of hours into the first day, the right rear started sweating gear oil, and we pulled over to brew some coffe, and fix the leak with some permatex for now. One happy camper:

this is second night, and we had pulled into a camping area to have showers and such...
Made dinner out of the back for the first time, and life was good!

Since i enjoy reading and looking at other's setup, i'll overshare some more:
This was out current setup. Folding chairs and table, cooking on the crappy wobbly can can, made stable as the toolbox as a base. Black box is a black box. Food, cooking gear and lights, knives, axes and such go in there. Blue bag is the cold bag. Witch after 4 hours was warm, the day before! (but she's smiling)
Life was simple, after everything i owned went in the fire with the old 60.
Some changes had to be done

 

[TLC Norway]

The route led us onto some highway driving, turned out great. Beyond the grass, cows and the sea, just on the edge of the horizon, you can spot the two towers of the nearly 16km long bridge (almost 10miles) from Sweden to Denmark. What a view!

And since we were going to explore Copenhagen by foot, with no locks on the rig, we opted for a city camp with guards, locks, fences and i removed odds and ends from the engine bay so no lucky bastard could enjoy our cruiser. Lots of comments and eyes on this setup:

With the extra 5'th gear i was impressed by the highway performance of the cruiser!
I'm running 33x12.5's on 4.11's (i think) and there's plenty of umph in the 12ht.
From this toyota commercial looking hds picture you can see the needles all settled in for hours.
At 125km/h I'm at 2500rpm, oil pressure sits at 1/4 and temp is dead steady at 2mm above line two. charging at 28.x volts.
looks good to me! A few hours later, i found out that the fuel gauge reads full at full, and when half, its time to fuel....

Finding good campsites near our route seemed hard to find. We had to pull into a campground again.
So i cooked up some sweetpotatoes, beef and veggies into the finest gourmet deal!
Still using the plain setup, with minor tweaks, like hanging a trashbag at the table.

When we woke up early next day, there was this stunning sunrise trough the fog, and the landscape was soo not-danish. It reminded me of a roadtrip near lake garda in northern Italy, but this is Denmark at it's best: (the picture does no justice of how amazing it really was)

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Keep em coming