1976 HJ45 pickup project.

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Driver side firewall area:
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Brake MC could come off straight away without making a mess cos brake cylinders were removed months ago.

A few things still to disconnect in this area. Engine cutoff cable, parking brake cable, throttle cable, speedo cable, steering column, clutch MC (slave to be disconnected first to avoid making mess):
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Throttle cable was a little tricky. Was hoping to remove it at the pedal end and pull thru firewall into engine bay but it doesn´t go that way. Had to disco from the throttle linkage at the engine. I was trying to avoid this as the end of the cable was wired very neatly to the linkage. Removing parking brake cable also difficult until I realised removing the steering column first would make it a doddle.

Nothing in front of the firewall now stopping the tub from being removed.
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Truck was stood for years with some diesel in the tank. I put diesel in almost 12 mths ago and here´s the tank being drained. The diesel was perfectly clean. I have an idea to one day setup a veg fat to bio diesel processor and I guess I can feed this into that, if it ever happens.
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transfer case lever comes off easily enough but I need to research gearbox shifter lever removal. I guess that silver pin knocks thru but will RTFM before I start bashing anything.
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That alternator isn't original, it should have a vacuum pump on the back for the brakes
 
That alternator isn't original, it should have a vacuum pump on the back for the brakes

This truck has single circuit brakes and no booster, I think that´s standard for this year and model but could be wrong. I will most likely address this when it´s rebuilt. I can get booster and MC off a hilux for next to nothing, I reckon I can make that work. Hadn´t thought about the alternator but yeu´re right I´ll need to get one with a vacuum pump on the back.
 
Don't knock those pins out.

Try pressing the hemispherical cup inside the shifter "turret" down while turning the cup counter clockwise about 1/4 turn. Some shifters come out this way.

That cup would press down and turn slightly, but nowhere near 1/4 of a turn. I guess there is a special service tool for this. Anyway, tub came off over top of shifters no problem with 2 people.
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Chassis in great condition. Hard to believe it´s 37 years old. With tub n tray off, it´s time to degrease everything and see what´s what.
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These pics may help you remove your transmission lever Canarias:

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Here I have a short section of tubing as my special service tool. I push down on it and rotate it clockwise:
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And when I release the pressure, the lever just pops out. Voila!
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PS... Have it in neutral first...


:beer:
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Picking this build up again now.

The 45 is still being stripped down, working out what is to be replaced, reconditioned, painted, polished or cleaned. Working towards a bare chassis for prep and paint.

Sump, diffs, transmission and transfer case drained, and all oil found to be fairly clean considering age. No evidence of problems on the magnetic drain plugs. (are those original on a ´76?)

Rad didn´t drain, bottom of drain pipe snapped off when trying to get drain plug off. Still fluids didn´t come out and snapped section of drain pipe completely blocked with hardened sludge. Let´s see if rad can be flushed clean. Put it aside for now while continuing the stripdown and will price up new rad in the background. It´s hot and hilly in this part of the world so maybe a new rad would give better than standard cooling and be a worthwhile upgrade anyway.
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Yes keeping it original except for some minor details...
-may upgrade rad as mentioned above
-colour will change
-rear lights moving to bumper
-will insulate cab floor and firewall
-roof and door seals likely to be non-Toyots
-would like to use quick release instead of bolts for cab hardtop
-will run with half doors when top is off
 
The concensus seems to be that toyota door seals are better, and I agree. They are more pliable than aftermarket stuff, so if you can afford it, I would suggest it. I went with all toyota rubber with no regrets. fit was excellent and my doors seal up tight.

Are there many hj45's around you? I cant seem to find a good used car site for the Canary Islands.... I'm on the lookout for an hj45 to import.
 
The concensus seems to be that toyota door seals are better, and I agree. They are more pliable than aftermarket stuff, so if you can afford it, I would suggest it. I went with all toyota rubber with no regrets. fit was excellent and my doors seal up tight.





Will see if I can have some seals custom made. Not gonna use anything if it doesn´t work properly so mind is open to original parts if I have to, but for the 1000+ euros its gonna cost sure I can get something else that works well.





Are there many hj45's around you? I cant seem to find a good used car site for the Canary Islands.... I'm on the lookout for an hj45 to import.

You can find them but you have to go into the hills and get friendly with the locals and let them know you are looking. Then you might get a call 6 mths later with something interesting. I´m hunting them all the time. (45s, not the locals, honest).



BJ40s are a little easier to find. In the classifieds, basket cases start at about 2000 Euros and road legal runners 5000. Again, can find bargains with a lot of networking (how´s your Spanish?).

If you do find a 45 on the web, then chances are it´s someone who has figured out how much north Europeans will pay for them, and you will have to spend 5 figures. Even if it doesn´t work. I´ve walked away from a fair few due to bad condition, the hardest thing with the 45s is finding one with a surviving rear tray. Many have got home made wooden flatbeds or ugly 70 series trays. 70 trays look nice on a 70, but not a 45.


What part of the world are you in?
 
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I'm in Ottawa, Canada. Just finished a bj42 that took me three years and now I'm jonesing for another project. I would really like a 45, particularly a diesel one. They were never imported to Canada, only gasoline ones. To find a clean enough shell to work on is rare, so I would most probably be importing one anyways even if just to convert it to a diesel.

Thing is, I really enjoy stock cruisers. I'm not above a few functional upgrades but to me, there is something lost if you convert it to another engine.

Bj42's can be found pretty regularly here but rust here takes on a different meaning. Due to the salt on the roads in winter they are usually no better than parts trucks unless you replace the whole tub.

It's true that all the rubber for my 42 cost around 2k$, but I did replace everything with OEM. Just the door seals arent that bad, around 70-80$ I think. The trick is that most of the companies selling toyota oem parts cannot ship outside the US. If you order parts from an independent shop, sometimes they will allow you to tag on OEM parts that you ordered and delivered to their shop. Getting parts at the best price was a big part of the resto, and I'm glad I did. The end product is quite nice!
 
Fantastic. I studied in Sevilla, Spain a million years ago. I never went to Canarias. I have a lead on a mid 70s FJ45 short bed pickup just like this one. I will follow this project with interest.

I just had a specialist add a brake booster from a chevy to a Nissan Patrol down here and makes all the difference. Must have power brakes I think. I am keeping the 4 drums.

Good luck.
 
I'm not above a few functional upgrades but to me, there is something lost if you convert it to another engine.


Agreed. My experience of B & H engines on and off road doesn´t leave me wishing for more power. You notice the uphill stretches at speed, but it´s not a problem. I can imagine if I really needed to make an upgrade I might look at going from a B to a 3B or an H to a 2H and maybe turbo for altitude driving, but see no need to go for a non 40 series engine.
 
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