1981 BJ44V with 2B Diesel Motor

[theadamnc]

I picked up this thing down in Florida a few months ago. Drove her all the way back from Florida to North Carolina.

My only plan was to drive the thing around for fun, but as with all things this old, she needs some love, and some of these problems can't be ignored.

I figure since I am going to be doing the work, I might as well document it here. There isn't a lot of information out there about the BJ44V and it's 2B motor. As I find parts that work I will include those items here as well.

First order of business was getting the lay of the land. Had to find all of the rust and start to understand the things that didn't work. I removed all of the floor coverings and seats. Surprisingly most of the rust was surface rust minus a large hole under the driver side. I cleaned out a ton of fine black Japanese hair from the rear heater fan, and got it to work again. I then cleaned out the entire interior as well and found a few Japanese Yen as well, so that was cool.

 

[iliketrucks]

I'm excited for the updates. I got a 44 this year too and I'm obsessed with it

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

I've had my 44 for 16 years... No longer all original, but an awesome platform. Welcome to the MWB sickness!

 

[theadamnc]

I've had my 44 for 16 years... No longer all original, but an awesome platform. Welcome to the MWB sickness!

I scoped your rig out when I was looking at this one. Hope you update your thread soon!

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

I scoped your rig out when I was looking at this one. Hope you update your thread soon!

Ha! Me too! I did a separate thread on a tranny pull and clutch job but need to update the main thread. Hoping to get that done this week.

Will keep an eye here to see you progress!

 

[theadamnc]

Digging into the front end.

Finding more and more rust as I go along.

The previous owner did me a solid with the suspension, but it is time to clean up some engine work.

Also trying to figure out the belts as it has AC but no power steering. If anyone has a lead on what the belts are, I would appreciate it.

The radiator overflow looks like it has about 40 years of brown sludge in it. The fluid doesn't look terrible considering it has probably not been changed very often and I am certain the radiator is disgusting.

Part of this "tune up" is going to be flushing the cooling system.

The bracket for the overflow tank.

I plan on stripping all of these parts off and getting them to a powder coater so they can be reclaimed and used.

If anyone was wondering what the engine bay looks like....


Upcoming to do list.
-Flush cooling system.
-Build Battery cables.
-Swap in new belts and thermostat.
-Check Charging System.
-Investigate AC.

 

[theadamnc]

Today I took some time to knock out the battery cables. The old ones are 40 years old and all.

NEW

OLD

 

[Jollopy41]

I picked up this thing down in Florida a few months ago. Drove her all the way back from Florida to North Carolina.

My only plan was to drive the thing around for fun, but as with all things this old, she needs some love, and some of these problems can't be ignored.

I figure since I am going to be doing the work, I might as well document it here. There isn't a lot of information out there about the BJ44V and it's 2B motor. As I find parts that work I will include those items here as well.


View attachment 2880231

First order of business was getting the lay of the land. Had to find all of the rust and start to understand the things that didn't work. I removed all of the floor coverings and seats. Surprisingly most of the rust was surface rust minus a large hole under the driver side. I cleaned out a ton of fine black Japanese hair from the rear heater fan, and got it to work again. I then cleaned out the entire interior as well and found a few Japanese Yen as well, so that was cool.
View attachment 2880271
View attachment 2880273
View attachment 2880284

Welcome to Mud. Slowly but surely does the job. Tons of info here, especially for JDM models. And tons of cruiserheads willing to share info's and experience. Happy wrenching.

 

[roscoFJ73]

There isn't a lot of information out there about the BJ44V and it's 2B motor

Is it the original engine? I thought by 81 they were all 3B.

EDIT. But no, they kept using them till 82

 

[DFWTX80BJ44]

Very cool, picked up my 44 back in Oct. Let me know if I can help, I'm no expert but it's all original (other than suspension) so I have some points of reference.

 

[84scrambler]

Very cool, picked up my 44 back in Oct. Let me know if I can help, I'm no expert but it's all original (other than suspension) so I have some points of reference.

Will be watching yours closely as well. I also picked up a 1980 BJ44 in September!! I have found a bit more rust then I wanted to see but the shear rarity of these things really cant make us to picky.
One of my most recent challenges was trying to find 24V bulbs which I was ultimately able to get from www.jacksonelectricsupply.com. Only bulb I haven't been able to source is the orange tinted one for the front blinker. I'm still fighting a a fast click sound before my blinker actually starts to work but that is only short lived and 20 seconds later it stops blinking.

 

[DFWTX80BJ44]

Will be watching yours closely as well. I also picked up a 1980 BJ44 in September!! I have found a bit more rust then I wanted to see but the shear rarity of these things really cant make us to picky.
One of my most recent challenges was trying to find 24V bulbs which I was ultimately able to get from www.jacksonelectricsupply.com. Only bulb I haven't been able to source is the orange tinted one for the front blinker. I'm still fighting a a fast click sound before my blinker actually starts to work but that is only short lived and 20 seconds later it stops blinking.

I'm happy to report that mine is in really good shape. Had to have some body work done for rust on the rear corners (common) including frame rebuild back there. Hopefully that's the end of that, replaced the running boards and did a full service (including knuckles) but everything else is in great shape. Radio got yanked at some point, it's there but just doesn't work. No factory AC which kinda sucks but at this HP I'm not sure I miss it. Parts are hit and miss, Canada and Australia seem to be the best source with South America behind. Prices are all over the place though.

 

[theadamnc]

Finally got a thermostat gasket in from a supplier which had been holding me up for a while. My local Toyota dealership is perhaps the worst dealer on the planet and is basically no help as well.

If you see the previous posts I had some issues to work through.

One of the biggest problems that I found was that the alternator bracket mounting bolt was missing, completely. That explains why my batteries have been charging intermittently.

Couldn't find a new coolant reservoir, so I boiled the one that I have after letting some vinegar sit in there for a few hours. Actually turned out pretty good considering it had 40 years of sludge in there. Pretty certain I have a small amount of oil seeping into the cooling system at this point, but it is hard to tell if it is just 40 years of crud, or oil.

Hoses and belts were actually in pretty decent shape, so I held off on replacing those for a while. At least I have those spare parts on the shelf now.

Work completed.
- Complete radiator flush
- New thermostat and gasket
-New radiator fill cap
- Replaced alternator bracket mounting bolt
- Checked tension on belts and adjusted accordingly
- Replaced all battery cables
- Replaced all hardware as I went
- New Air filter

Next up

I want to get behind the dash.
1. I am not sure what is back there and am curious to see.
2. My windshield exploded shortly after getting the vehicle and I know there are glass chunks back there.
3. My cigarette lighter does not work and I found an OEM replacement.
4. I want to see if there are any brittle wires that I can replace.
5. I want to investigate if there is a tachometer harness so I can add in an OEM tachometer at some point.

The hiccup? My roof has some rust problems, and I am not sure if the roof is going to like being taken off, or if it will go back on.....

 

[theadamnc]

My door seals were garbage.

Taking them off revealed how badly the doors are rusted, and how badly they have been worked on before.

Got them cleaned up enough to be decent, but they are 100% not perfect. Just trying to keep her on the road.

Couple of days without the doors while the glue sets wont kill me.

Also replaced the shift knob with a new OEM. + 10 perception...

Also added this jack mount. Am I overlanding?

 

[DFWTX80BJ44]

Interesting idea for the hi-lift. I've been trying to figure where to put it. Hate the front bumper and don't like the extra weight on the rear door. I just replaced the seals on mine last week and it made a huge difference on the sound of the coffee can full of nuts and bolts that are continuously present while driving.

 

[theadamnc]

Interesting idea for the hi-lift. I've been trying to figure where to put it. Hate the front bumper and don't like the extra weight on the rear door. I just replaced the seals on mine last week and it made a huge difference on the sound of the coffee can full of nuts and bolts that are continuously present while driving.

Thanks! Mounting the jack to the front bumper is super dangerous. I don't want to eat that in a collision.

I got some more work done that I need to post up soon. Sealing the doors was amazing for sure.

 

[theadamnc]

Working on getting some things buttoned up. Replacing hardware and some odds and ends. Also got the doors back on..

 

[theadamnc]

Door seals were such a pain, but man were they worth it. So much quieter. I also replaced the hood pads and hood latches, all well worth it.

Also worked up a new tool kit because I hate to keep the OG one in there.

 

[theadamnc]

Got in some new headlights from City Racer. Thought I was going to enjoy a nice simple modification on a Tuesday night. I was wrong.

My headlight buckets and bezels are pretty beat up and all of the mounting hardware was completely seized/rusted.

The bezels themselves are falling a part so it looks like I am going to just have to replace them!


Good news is that the lights are significantly brighter, although I am not certain that I like the look as much.

 

[DFWTX80BJ44]

Hmmmm....guess it depends, what's your goal on the overall look? You going to keep the patina or are you going to fully restore and do more of a restomod vibe. If it's the latter then those are cool.