Hj61 sahara overhaul (1 Viewer)

[goldchaser]

Hey fellas,
its been a long time coming but ive finally got my 61 off the road and a respray and interior fitout is underway.
I picked it up last saturday from a panel beater i know as he welded and glued a section of roof i cut out of the rear of another sahara where that stinking sunroof used to be.
The plan is to have a 61 sahara with no sunroof(they all have them) and as little electrics as possible,i will be keeping the central locking.
Its getting a full respray and colour change by a mate of mine,im doing the preperation he's shooting the paint.He sprays hotrods etc so it should come up quite good.
Some interior bits are allready made but not finished.
The plan is:
Full respray with special attention to future rust areas.
Sunroof gone,manual windows,abs plastic door panels,rear storage system,custom centre console and overhead plus rear overhead as well.
All seals and rubbers replaced.
Carpet or vinyl floor,not sure which yet.
Headliner gone and roof will be insulated then trimmed with marine carpet.
The whole interior will be black trim basically,seats will be covered with black canvas covers,stratos front seats allready in.
The arb winchbar and kaymar rear bar are going in for a blast and powdercoat.
US solid rear windows are going in(sliders suck too much dust for this little bloke).
Triple battery system,one in the rear storage system.
Safari snorkel.
There is more,brainfailure.

 

[goldchaser]

a few more

a few more

 

[MutleyFJ62]

Talk about down to the jocks eh Goldchaser! Are they jap import rims on the truck or steelies with coloured centre? Have you done any work to the 12ht?

 

[goldchaser]

i picked them rims up off ebay a cuppla years back,16x8 centre is painted rim is chrome.

ive got 6 weeks to do the interior and paint and a few other bits and pieces,currently we are in victoria but weve just sold our house and moving back home to nsw in 6 weeks,after im back home the box and transfer will be next then i'll wind the boost up a little,the motor seems pretty good,it does use oil on long trips but i think its too much oil pressure for the turbo seal,ive done the turbo seals,valve guide seals,i have to restrict the oil flow to the turbo im sure to stop the oil burning,i have @80psi cold and 50-60 when it warms up.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Nice work,looks like your simplifing the rig quite a bit. Dual A.C.? Mike

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Not only do you have a HJ61, but you are restoring it. I am jealous

 

[Tennessee Jed]

I'm a little confused where "as little electrics as possible" and "three battery system" come together. Can you kinda sketch out your electrical plan?

Also curious about how you're going to fix the marine carpet to the ceiling.

Gonna be a super rig - congratulations!

 

[goldchaser]

It had dual ac,i pulled it out last year,regassed it and sorted it out to run as a normal system,i only had to change a couple of pipes.It is handy in hot outback weather but rear storage is a problem with the rear ac box in,dark tinted windows will help the single ac hopefully.
Natural im deleting a few items that can be troublesome when you don't need it.Electric windows converted to manual(allready done)rear ac removed(done),rear heater removed(done),sunroof removed(done),triple batteries are quite simple,its just another wire running off the solenoid to the third battery,one aux battery is nice but when running a fridge and stereo etc etc two is so much better.All interior power will run off the aux batteries including the stereo which will i'll run through a relay so it still turns off and on with the ignition key.
Im could do with some advice on the roof trim,what type of rubber insulation to use and do i glue the carpet to the rubber first then the roof or rubber on first then the carpet,is it neoprene rubber? Something about 5-8mmm thick.I'll do it in three sections to make life easy,the 3 roof supports im putting in will cover the joins.

 

[Tapage]

nice 12H-T wonderfull engine ..

 

[Crash_AB]

Saw you dynamatted the inside as well. looks good. Funny that you're pulling the sun-roof, I'd kill for one in my 60. When are you sahara bound?

 

[cruiserjunktion]

keep the pix coming


awesome!

 

[87CRUSR]

Have you decided on carpeting or replacing with another more outdoor friendly alternative?

 

[goldchaser]

Im not sahara bound,the high roof hj61's were called saharas,well most.
If you want a sunroof make your way to our local tip next week cause thats where that one will be,you don't use them that much and they are a leakage and rust spot.
Carpet or vinyl floor,im not sure yet.
More boost and exaust system straight after body work tapage.
Not alot done on it today,2-3 hours of sanding,ive got something on this afternoon,roof is ready for primer.

 

[goldchaser]

this is the colour we are painting it

 

[saucebox]

Very nice, thought about using a very similar color if I can ever get it ready for a respray.

 

[goldchaser]

I dig that colour,the 79's etc look great in it,im just wondering if it won't be too much on a 60,you know alot more body,we might do the window frames in black i think.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Not only do you have a HJ61, but you are restoring it. I am jealous

x ALOT

-Carl

 

[goldchaser]

Not alot to report guys,pretty boring work at the moment,sanding and filling/repairing dents and scratches etc,some of the flaws have turned out to be old repairs.
See the photo of the cowl drain,if you have your guards off unscrew them and throw them in the nearest bin.My passenger side one was blocked in the plastic pipe that runs below that off take elbow,man was there some leaves and s*** in there,there's a lip on that elbow also,a great place to trap water.Ill treat and paint this area.

 

[goldchaser]

Dash is out,what a mess,i was going to pull everthing to dynamat the firewall on the inside but ive chickened out.The saharas have a fair amount of sound proofing up there allready and my air con was regassed a while back so i think i'll do this in a couple of years when i rebuild the motor.
I will tidy up some of the wiring and paint the dash,something i wanted to do was check the blower out while in the dash,i pulled it and opened it up,checked the brushes on the motor which have heaps of life left on them,after 24 years i thought they must be pretty worn,they have years left.
Pulled a bunch of old looms running to the roof for the sunroof rear air con etc.

 

[Tofudebeest]

Giving me flashbacks...