Picked up an HJ61 in February. Here’s what’s been happening! (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Threads
2
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21
Location
New York, NY
Hi all!
Picked up this HJ61 with H55 trans and factory winch bumper back in February. Posted on here before purchase and all your guidance for my first JDM diesel cruiser helped a lot. Changed the fluids off the bat and so far been upstate New York a few times and out to Indiana and back to Brooklyn’s handled beautifully. Had a few issues when I purchased it but slowly attending to each of them getting to know the car and enjoying every bit of it. This forum has been a big help and I thank you all for it.
Past few updates have included:
-installing a dc to dc converter(12to24v)
- this came with its own interesting finds. LOTS of excess wire sitting under the passenger seat. Massive birds eat of speakerwire being used as electrical for something somewhere at some point. Also lots of electrical leads to nowhere.

- many a severed wire throughout the truck. I figure it’s one of two things:
- either there was an overload of electrical and some kind of fire ensued which put the owner into quick thinking mode and their answer was to snip the source under the hood before the whole care burst into flames.
OR
- they found himself in a dire situation where the truck was either taken from them or they needed to sell for cheap fast so decided to sabotage all of their very badly done electrical hacks so that the next person would need to figure it all out for themselves. Twisted sense for right of passage type thing.

suppose we’ll find out if the car fries once everything’s working hah

<back to updates>

- original Koito. headlights were rusted through and had me driving to Indiana with high beams as my lows. Recently changed out for Hellas for the win thanks to a thread on ‘semiscientific headlight test’
And a great deal on eBay.
-drivers window didn’t roll down when I got it. Opened up the door and found a short in the original harness with the multimeter. Opened up the oem relay box to find the arc in the box had split. Tried to bridge the gap with dialectic grease to see what happened; blew a fuse in the ‘power box under the hood:no dice. Had me scratching my head until I traced some aftermarket electrical to a 12v motor switch under the dash. Rewired that And cleaned up some of the previous connections. Still want to trace that short but at least I have natural ac on the drivers side now...

.....Oh yeah, coming up soon is finding an ac belt:)
And likely changing all the belts while I’m at it

currently building a drawer set to go out and utilize my 4x4 fishing permit in montauk. Striper season is soon to be here!

decided to clean the carpets before laying wood on top. Pulled the carpets, underlay was filthy. Tossed that and found myself down to bare floors. Installed new insulation and cleaned old carpets sound proofed the rear wheel wells and inside the vinyl panels in in the back.

drawers are finished but have to figure out a system for extending the sleeping platform over the rear passenger seat. First time doing something like this so I’m taking and making the plan as I go along.

looking good so far!
See pictures below

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Hey nice thread . I just got one of these in June. Kinda some boat, going through all the crazy DIY wiring from the PO.
 
Hey nice thread . I just got one of these in June. Kinda some boat, going through all the crazy DIY wiring from the PO.


Yeah its been a blast! Wish I was back in California. Id take it down to Mexico tomorrow! From San Diego originally
Looking forward to using the sleeping platform this weekend. Going beach camping on long island.
 
I found my twin.
looks like you’re having the time of your life with that thing.
have you found the belt P/N?
Did the sound deadener make a big difference?
I always consider doing it, and while I’m at it take care of the disastrous wiring I have in mine as well.

E2BC4CA6-6A1B-4069-AA9B-163941EFE6AE.jpeg
 
- many a severed wire throughout the truck. I figure it’s one of two things:
- either there was an overload of electrical and some kind of fire ensued which put the owner into quick thinking mode and their answer was to snip the source under the hood before the whole care burst into flames.

I cant stress strongly enough how important it is to eliminate all the bad wiring. I came home from a long trip one night. As the FJ73 pulled into the driveway , the headlights went dim and when I opened the door, the interior light was also dim. Then there was lots of smoke in the car and a sense of urgency prevailed.
Luckily I had butterfly nuts on the battery and undone the terminals with my fingers.
I'm guessing the PO had gone on a trip with a fridge in the rear or in a trailer( the wire was long enough) and had connected a wire from the fuse panel and then bundled it all up inside the rear panel.
The plastic on the wire had rubbed through to the metal inside the rear RH 1/4 panel causing a short. Most of the plastic was deformed on the 5 metres of yellow wire.

Glad to see you are enjoying the 61 they are amazing vehicles.
I had one for a short while, it was a very basic model with bench seats, no rear heating or aircon and had the low roof and single headlights with 5sp. Owner begged me to take it for $2K:cool:
 
I found my twin.
looks like you’re having the time of your life with that thing.
have you found the belt P/N?
Did the sound deadener make a big difference?
I always consider doing it, and while I’m at it take care of the disastrous wiring I have in mine as well.

View attachment 2555749
Wow. Awesome. In jersey too ey?
I’m across the island in Brooklyn. Yours looks super clean. Always loved those fender mirrors and been on the scout for roof rack mounts under 100$ hah

picked up a set of belts from Napa based on the make and model but have yet to install. Will keep you posted.

sound deadening was a huge difference. Also kept it much more insulated.
How long have you had yours?
 
Glad to see you are enjoying the 61 they are amazing vehicles.
I had one for a short while, it was a very basic model with bench seats, no rear heating or aircon and had the low roof and single headlights with 5sp. Owner begged me to take it for $2K:cool:

damn 2k is a steal. Love this thing. I’ve gone through a lot of short while cars and this thing ain’t one of em. At 180k kilometers I’m hoping to hold onto this thing for a good long while.
 
Glad to see you are enjoying the 61 they are amazing vehicles.
I had one for a short while, it was a very basic model with bench seats, no rear heating or aircon and had the low roof and single headlights with 5sp. Owner begged me to take it for $2K:cool:

damn 2k is a steal. Love this thing. I’ve gone through a lot of short while cars and this thing ain’t one of em. At 180k kilometers I’m hoping to hold onto this thing for a good long while.
 
I actually have a set of Yakima mounts and crossbars you can buy for $80. That’s how much I bought them for second hand.
Let me know if you’re interested.
I lived in japan and purchased it there in May of 16 and imported it in June.
When I moved there I had 1 goal to leave with a land cruiser. I’ve been through a lot of learning curves owning in the US if you have any questions let me know. I still have some parts I need to source but otherwise runs like a champ.
 
damn 2k is a steal.

Yeah but I got greedy and sold it for 4k a few months later. It had 300000klms on it and had a complete new gearbox fitted at a 130000klm by Toyota free of charge according to the records. I think the first owners towed horse floats with it, they were a popular float tower in their day as the supply of American pick ups in RHD here was fairly spasmodic in those days.
I replaced a 31 inch tyre, fixed a wheel bearing and removed a damaged alloy bullbar and running boards. It had a dual battery system with a switch, but it only had one battery. The PO had removed the dead battery but left the leads bare. I didnt notice the loose lead on the oil supply to the injection pump and in flash , it blew a hole in the line. Toyota drones looked at me like I was an idiot, "we aint seen them oil lines here since the wayback days" Luckily I found someone who could weld or solder it up. I forget which. Body was getting rough with a few small dents and some rust holes in the roof sealed up with duct tape.
At first I was going to use the 12HT as a swap into 7* series , but decided to go with a 1HZ instead. A good 12HT goes for anything north of $6-7k now. I used the profit for a little drive through central Australia to Uluru and Alice in my 75 series with my son.

I’m hoping to hold onto this thing for a good long while.
I dont blame you, but I would be on a constant look out for parts. If yours is an auto, you may find a 5 sp gives them a some extra get up and go. I have driven 3 others apart from mine and the 5 speeds was always better.
 
I actually have a set of Yakima mounts and crossbars you can buy for $80. That’s how much I bought them for second hand.
Let me know if you’re interested.
I lived in japan and purchased it there in May of 16 and imported it in June.
When I moved there I had 1 goal to leave with a land cruiser. I’ve been through a lot of learning curves owning in the US if you have any questions let me know. I still have some parts I need to source but otherwise runs like a champ.
That’d be awesome. Where in jersey are you located?

any tips on installing a stereo system? Hah
Current stereo doesn’t work. Previous owner seems to have routed the power to come off of the inverter. Does it require a 24V stereo & speakers to power off of the main harness? Still searching for options on Craigslist and marketplace.
 
That’d be awesome. Where in jersey are you located?

any tips on installing a stereo system? Hah
Current stereo doesn’t work. Previous owner seems to have routed the power to come off of the inverter. Does it require a 24V stereo & speakers to power off of the main harness? Still searching for options on Craigslist and marketplace.
I’m in south jersey. Near cherry hill/marlton.
I have a 12v converter under the seat but that reset the stereo every time I turned the ignition off. I then picked up a smaller power converter For the constant stereo power but that hasn’t worked out too well. Currently my stereo is removed and there’s a gaping hole, until I figure out what I’m going to do next. I have an idea to make a third battery backup and run accessories off it. I just need to build it and wire it up to charge when the ignition is on, and keep accessories powered when the ignition is off yet still be isolated from the starting batteries.
I also have an electric draw which is killing my batteries so I put an isolation switch on one of the poles.
There are some 24v stereos out there for tractors and busses. That may be a simpler option. Speakers and everything will be the same. I swapped out a set of Rockford 5.25” and they sound much better.
 
I’m in south jersey. Near cherry hill/marlton.
I have a 12v converter under the seat but that reset the stereo every time I turned the ignition off. I then picked up a smaller power converter For the constant stereo power but that hasn’t worked out too well. Currently my stereo is removed and there’s a gaping hole, until I figure out what I’m going to do next. I have an idea to make a third battery backup and run accessories off it. I just need to build it and wire it up to charge when the ignition is on, and keep accessories powered when the ignition is off yet still be isolated from the starting batteries.
I also have an electric draw which is killing my batteries so I put an isolation switch on one of the poles.
There are some 24v stereos out there for tractors and busses. That may be a simpler option. Speakers and everything will be the same. I swapped out a set of Rockford 5.25” and they sound much better.


Damn! Just came through there yesterday hah. Hopefully its not too much in the way but ill have to check back with you next time I'm down that way. I go fairly often for work and visiting my girlfriends family in Philly.

Ive got the same dash hole feature on mine hah. finding it hard to sift through head units to find which ones are quality and which are junk.
I considered the third battery option too but the idea of installing a second alternator kind of irked me. To be continued for now...

Having an issue where it keeps stalling when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. When it happens too often in the cold, the batteries don't have the juice to crank over again and I find myself pushing it off the BQE from the fast lane hah.
Just need to research and sift through the manual, i expect its got something to do with taking up some slack in the linkage either from the accelerator or the clutch pedal.
 
Yeah but I got greedy and sold it for 4k a few months later. It had 300000klms on it and had a complete new gearbox fitted at a 130000klm by Toyota free of charge according to the records. I think the first owners towed horse floats with it, they were a popular float tower in their day as the supply of American pick ups in RHD here was fairly spasmodic in those days.

I dont blame you, but I would be on a constant look out for parts. If yours is an auto, you may find a 5 sp gives them a some extra get up and go. I have driven 3 others apart from mine and the 5 speeds was always better.
Sounds like it gave you some good times in the garage but an ever better time with your son haha.

Mines got the h55 5 speed. wouldn't have it any other way. Great fun to drive. Haven't needed too much in the way of parts just yet. certainly on the look out though.
 
A few updated photos post platform build and in use out montauk way
Yeah man. Just let me know. If I’m off you can come through or we can meet up somewhere.

I’m always down to go out on some weekend trips. Especially after it warms up a bit.

Do you have the manuals? I’m not too familiar with the stalling and the trans linkages. I just realized you have a manual, hopefully it’s a little easier To figure out than an auto would be.
Kenny dean in Waretown is the best toyota/land cruiser mechanic in the northeast.
 
Great Cruiser, but I’m diggin’ the dog..
 

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