"The Great Pumpkin"- 45 Crew Cab buildup

[40Flipper]

Been meaning to start this thread for weeks so now seems like a good time.

FINALLY found a 45 crew cab down in AU. It's a 1983 HJ47. I was bidding on one years ago and was outbid by my amigo in New Hampshire. This one popped up on eBay Australia for a very nice Buy It Now price and I grabbed it. Think it was on eBay for 3 hours!

Been wanting one for a long time. They were originally built by a conversion company for the Australian coal mines as vehicles for their executives and surveyors. I would hazard to guess that it was very gently used.

Mine was then owned by a gentelman who did a road trip throughout AU and it must have been a fun adventure. Plenty of little dents and the bull bar has some serious dents in it. He liked it so much that he pulled the motor and transmission and scrapped it.

The scrap guy pieced together a Holden (Austalian GM) small block and a 3 speed to get it as a running vehicle. I knew about the V-8 but not the 3 speed. I wasn't bothered cuz I had plans already which I'll explain later.

Bought it in May and it just arrived 2 weeks ago. It was in great condition. Dents are manageable, paint was awful, interior was passable but coated with a think coat of yellow (not mustard tone which was the original paint code.)

 

[40Flipper]

more

The body was a very nice surprise. As good as the pics. Some major bondo on the drivers door and some scattered in small spots elsewhere. It's mostly all metal which is nice.

Top leaks a tiny bit and there's a patched hole in the top center of the fiberglass. The top is not removeable but I bet with some minor cuts and mods it'll come off quite easily. Seems to be a few small tack welds holding the back edge.

The rack on top is like new.

The rear bed has some dents but that's certainly expected.

 

[40Flipper]

The paint was essentially tan primer. After some sanding and minor bondo work I decided to paint. I'm going to go back and do a bunch of bodywork on it this winter and ongoing so a rattle can job seemed the best route as it won't be painful to sand off then re-coat.

I painted a 40 last winter with Pollux Orange #304 and it came out great but it was a very bright tone. I copied Al Jacob's formula for original pumpkin orange off the CCOT site and had custom rattlers made locally. Took 9 cans to get it to where it is now. Extremely happy with the result and the tone is much more reddish and deep. Paint job took 2 hours total. Me likey.

Need to get a can of Cygnus for the top then the rack goes back on.

Added some original rims with clips that I had sandblasted and painted gray. Threw on some BFG A/T's 33"x10.5X15. Looks much better.

 

[40Flipper]

I bought a 1976 FJ40 that JJS was selling. it has a brand new chevy 350 with a 4 speed in it. Parting out the rest. (parts link below....)

I had planned on doing the swap myself this winter. Plans have changed since the I just sold all the body parts (one piece fiberglass unit 40 body) so now the engine will be sitting out in the rain for a good while. The whole point of me buying the 40 was for the engine and drivetrain so rusting it up isn't an option.

With the cash from the sale of the body burning a hole in my pocket and the Fall Gathering coming up in a month I decided to have my mechanic do it. I'm taking the day off next Wednesday so I can help him do the swap. I've always wanted to do one and never have so this will prolly be the best way to learn. If I'm spending money on it I might as well get an education at the same time.

That's where we stand now. Quickly stripping the 40 so the body can go to it's new owner on Saturday and so we'll have easy access to the engine and tranny next weds.

Future plans are bodywork, disc brakes (have them in a box), interior pimping, bedilner, undercoating (salty roads up here) and anythign else the wallet will allow.

 

[a.greenspan]

... and ongoing so a rattle can job seemed the best route as it won't be painful to sand off then re-coat.

a) sweet, congrats
b) read this
50$ paint job
Rickwrench, Alfa GTV, Falcon Squire, Corvair

Cheers
Peter

 

[mstruble]

Looks good. I couldn't picture her before, but VERY nice.

 

[40Flipper]

a) sweet, congrats
b) read this
50$ paint job
Rickwrench, Alfa GTV, Falcon Squire, Corvair

Cheers
Peter

That's exactly how I painted the 40 in my garage last winter. I decided to do that after reading that site. Came out great but took a month of wetsanding and doing coats. Prolly took me 30 hours total to paint the truck that way.

For $150 in rattle cans, saving 28 hours of my life was well worth spraying and it looks almost as good.

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

Cool truck, cool color, nice paint job. Only 2 hours and 9 rattle cans? Looks great.

 

[patches84]

G'day John,

Congratulations on the delivery of your new rig. I guess Lionel was right, the Great Pumpkin really does exist.

How about a few snaps of the inside? I'd love to see how that back is configured. There is a troopie similar to yours here in Adelaide that I have seen on the road, but not been able to get a snap of. It looks like a troopie which has an entire 40 series body on it (minus the wheel wells, which have been moved to the back of the body), and then an aluminium tray back on the rear of it. It looks very cool, but I have not been close enough to see how it was done.

I think you will like the new engine you will put in. I love the Vortec in my troopie. However, as I've said many times, the 5 speed and 3:73 gears are what make it a comphy, modern ride. I comfortably keep up with traffic, and I get respectable fuel economy.

What size is the Holden you are taking out? As I understand it, the 5.7 litre Holden is the exact same engine as the 350 Chevy. Holden is owned by GM, and they are really just an assembly plant for US-type cars- a bit like Canada is in North America.

The Holden Commodore is very similar to the Chevy Caprice cop cars in the US. The Holden Rodeo (now the Colorado) is just an Isuzu Rodeo/ Chevy Colorado, the Holden Barrina is just a Geo Metro and the Holden Jackaroo is just an Isuzu Trooper.

You may be able to simply re-build/sell that engine as a Chevy 350. I'm looking forward to the progress on this rig- can't wait to see it evolve.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[daniel.watters]

great pumpkin

Congrats on a good looking truck... very rare too.

 

[40Flipper]

G'day John,

Congratulations on the delivery of your new rig. I guess Lionel was right, the Great Pumpkin really does exist.

How about a few snaps of the inside? I'd love to see how that back is configured. There is a troopie similar to yours here in Adelaide that I have seen on the road, but not been able to get a snap of. It looks like a troopie which has an entire 40 series body on it (minus the wheel wells, which have been moved to the back of the body), and then an aluminium tray back on the rear of it. It looks very cool, but I have not been close enough to see how it was done.

I think you will like the new engine you will put in. I love the Vortec in my troopie. However, as I've said many times, the 5 speed and 3:73 gears are what make it a comphy, modern ride. I comfortably keep up with traffic, and I get respectable fuel economy.

What size is the Holden you are taking out? As I understand it, the 5.7 litre Holden is the exact same engine as the 350 Chevy. Holden is owned by GM, and they are really just an assembly plant for US-type cars- a bit like Canada is in North America.

The Holden Commodore is very similar to the Chevy Caprice cop cars in the US. The Holden Rodeo (now the Colorado) is just an Isuzu Rodeo/ Chevy Colorado, the Holden Barrina is just a Geo Metro and the Holden Jackaroo is just an Isuzu Trooper.

You may be able to simply re-build/sell that engine as a Chevy 350. I'm looking forward to the progress on this rig- can't wait to see it evolve.

Cheers,

Josh

Thanks for the good words!

The Holden is the 5.7 liter but the bolts are metric I believe. Parts won't fit it that they sell in the local stores. Anyway, the transmission adapter is completely different from a chevy 350 and the block seems much wider for some reason. Don't think it'll match up to anything here. It'll go for one round on eBay with no reserve then off to the junkyard.

I do have pics of the interior. Not pretty but that's my new project for the winter now that the engine swap has been fast-tracked to next week.

Essentially it's a 40 top welded onto a troopy body with a metal panel to close off under the rear window. It was done professionally so it looks great.

 

[40Flipper]

Cool truck, cool color, nice paint job. Only 2 hours and 9 rattle cans? Looks great.

Thanks! I didn't even tape anything off before painting!

My kid was taking a nap, wife was gone and I had no blue tape left. Couldn't leave to get more tape and couldn't pass up 4 hrs of uninterrupted cruiser time! I painted and got the new wheels on before he woke up!

Done enough trucks I have my rattler technique down that the overspray was minimal. A razor scraper for the windows and some 1000 grit for the rubber and it cleaned up quickly.

 

[patches84]

G'day John,

Thanks for the interior shots- I like how it is set up. It looks like the PO didn't use much in the way of tape/masking either- looks like he just dipped the whole thing in primer! Once you get that interior done, I reckon it will look very nice- bit of tint on the windows, some carpet....

What year is the engine/tranny you are putting in? Remember that yours is an '83, so it should have the transmission mounts. This must have been removed when they put the three speed in (as the three speed does not have a place to attach the cradle to), but there should still be threaded bolt holes on the chassis rails.

That said, are you using an Advance Adapters bell housing? If so, and you have an '81-87 gear box to go in there, if you use a 60 series top loader, you will find that you can move the gear box forward far enough for the V8 and still come out of the factory shifter hole; I notice that the PO put the 'Budweiser Brigade bend' in the heater to get the shifter to fit better with a V8.

It is possible that you have a Marks adapters bell housing in there now, as that seems to be quite popular here. If you can find that stamped on the housing, then I would mention that in the Ebay add.

I did not know that the bolts are metric on the Holden 5.7- bloody Aussies and their French measurement. Enjoy that great rig!

Cheers,

Josh

 

[40Flipper]

Hadn't anticipated the extra plates for the trans but I would assume that there is one already mounted on the 40......least I hope there's one!

Motor is a late 70's chevy 350 matched to a stock 4 speed.

 

[fjdaveinoz]

The Motor would likely be a '253' 4.2 Litre or a '308' 5.0 litre.
There is no Aussie Built 5.7 of that vintage.

On a side note, I recently rebuilt a Aussie Made Commodore V6 Motor, and was suprised at the amount of Imperial Bolts and nuts throughout it (The motor is a buick Design)

The Aussie V8's are a very solid motor, and will last as long as any 350 chev, not as powerful, but use a damn sight less fuel.

dave

 

[apeterson]

very cool and different john

 

[40Flipper]

The Motor would likely be a '253' 4.2 Litre or a '308' 5.0 litre.
There is no Aussie Built 5.7 of that vintage.

On a side note, I recently rebuilt a Aussie Made Commodore V6 Motor, and was suprised at the amount of Imperial Bolts and nuts throughout it (The motor is a buick Design)

The Aussie V8's are a very solid motor, and will last as long as any 350 chev, not as powerful, but use a damn sight less fuel.

dave

Not sure of the actual size but it's going to the boneyard very soon anyway. Pontiac, GM, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Chevy are all the same make but all have different parts so the odds of a Holden using those parts is close is zero. Also don't want to deal with sending $$$ to AU every time I need an oil filter!

The 350 will be a guzzler but I probably have the least aerodynamic vehicle on the planet. Only gonna use it on camping trips and sunny weekends. Most likely will be a very rugged garage decoration for 90% of the year.

 

[patches84]

G'day John,

I get similar fuel economy with my Vortec 350/H55F/3:73/33X10.50X15 as I did with my turbocharged 2H/H55F/3:73/265X75X16. They don't need to be petrol pigs, just because they are no longer diesel. If I keep my troopie at 60-65 MPH, I get in the low 20s. She will very comfortably go 90 MPH, but then I truly do make the Arabs smile. At a cruisy 75 MPH with the air con on, my fuel economy is very respectable.

I get better fuel economy with my HJ47 Vortec than I do with my FJ40 LX (factory 5 speed), even when the air con is off- which it rarely is in Australia.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[40Flipper]

I bought JJS' 40 as a parts truck. I threw the tub and front clip fiberglass piece on eBay and it sold in 53 mins. Nice. Unfortunately the truck was still assembled as I thought it would take longer. I frantically disassembled the truck this week. Learned alot doing that as well. Never out one together but taking them apart sure is easy.

 

[40Flipper]

The guy picked up the tub, roll cage and the soft top/doors today. Plenty of cash to kick into the crew cab.

Tropical storm Hanna coming tonight. Got the 2 cruisers in from the rain. Supposed to get 7 inches of rain in my area. Wife isn't happy her car is in the driveway but that's how the cruiser crumbles.

coupla more pics