A Belgian HJ60 restoration progress (1 Viewer)

[BelgianHJ60]

Caught up with the present day!

The old undercoating does not come off easy.
The only way is with a heating gun (i use a full-on flamethrower) and a scraper. Afterwards many, many, many stripping discs in different sizes to be able to clean everything.
20+ hours of grinding in and only halfway of the underside paint prep. Will need to weld some rust holes though.

 

[BrickRunner]

First step:
Removing all interior seats, carpets, seatbelts.
Labeling all wires. Removing doors, hood and fenders for better access.
Removing everything in the engine bay until its just the engine itself left.

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Is that a cat under the airbox?!

Awesome build!

 

[BelgianHJ60]

Is that a cat under the airbox?!

Awesome build!

About the only orange thing in this car that's not rust!
Little fella got curious as to why I was spending so much time in there, so he decided to take a look for himself.

 

[kheld01]

Impressive work and level of detail so far! What is your plan with the 2H?

Santé!

 

[BelgianHJ60]

Impressive work and level of detail so far! What is your plan with the 2H?

Santé!

The 2H currently has 216 000 km's on the clock, so there's plenty left. Belgian laws don't allow me to upgrade sadly, have to keep the same type of engine.
For now, I'll freshen her up on the exterior but won't crack her open yet. Thinking new paint, maybe revise the IP. I already have new sensors, thermostat, filters and handpump ordered. Main objective is to get everything running perfectly as it was before, maybe in the future i'll get her redone. Kind of curious to find out how slow this engine is exactly, people on this forum keep commenting on that.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Its not bad with a manual transmission! Don’t hesitate to drive it harder than you think. Its a tough engine.

 

[BelgianHJ60]

Its not bad with a manual transmission! Don’t hesitate to drive it harder than you think. Its a tough engine.

Will do and can't wait. Hope it will be ready summer next year. Also got myself a new clutch, so I should be good to punch it!

 

[Samppahj]

The 2H currently has 216 000 km's on the clock, so there's plenty left. Belgian laws don't allow me to upgrade sadly, have to keep the same type of engine.
For now, I'll freshen her up on the exterior but won't crack her open yet. Thinking new paint, maybe revise the IP. I already have new sensors, thermostat, filters and handpump ordered. Main objective is to get everything running perfectly as it was before, maybe in the future i'll get her redone. Kind of curious to find out how slow this engine is exactly, people on this forum keep commenting on that.

It is really slow. Usefull rpm range is from idle to a bit over 2000. Between that all the magic happens, over that nothing. But in other hand there is really no difference what gears you use when accelerating. It is tough engine but not a quick one. But it sounds nice. And if you want it to move and hold the speed nice you will have to screw the pump a little. I have now adjusted it so that there comes a bit smoke with full throttle. Now it holds the speed better.

Nice work btw with the restoration.

 

[hj 60]

Nice job! Maybe do a compression test but it is slow and steady uphill, now with boat trailer in Croatia.
It is all the new cars ging 130 uphill and we driving in the truck lane right side doing 40 km/H.
Then I have to watch out not wanting to much from it.
Like steady in 2 nd gear 1800 rpm or try in 3th 2500 and over rev 2nd to 3500 to get to 3.

Same with our mobile home Fiat Ducato 280 2.5 diesel. In Norway had 4 km uphill in first gear with locked throttle steady going up and nobody behind us so no issue untill other drivers want to overtake you.

 

[BelgianHJ60]

Going to start uploading more progress. Have not been at it for a while due to work and house renovations.

Welding the holes in the underbody proved to be really difficult/impossible to do properly with all the rust still there.
Rented a sandblaster and went at it. Afterwards put a first coat of epoxy primer on all the parts that don't need welding anymore.
Now I have a clean surface to work on. Will be doing the underbody with Raptor Liner, tinted to match the eventual car's colour (Toyota Army Green 6V7).
First time using a spray gun, had some runs but this is just a first coating to prevent flash rust.
Next coat will be much better now i have the paint mix and the gun settings just right.

Also moved all parts to my workplace, should be easier and more accesible to make progress this way.

 

[BelgianHJ60]

Was about time to make the engine look a little less... crusty.
Painted everything i possibly could. Will attach fuel lines and headers when it's back on the chassis.
New glow plugs, new sensors, new valve cover gasket, new filters, new belts, new clutch, new engine mounts.
Also new waterpump, new thermostat and new thermostat housing, new rear main seal.

Still to do:
-fix EDIC mechanism (link is broken, but will do that once I have current to check the EDIC motor and relay as well).
-do a tune up of the valves (still need to learn how that works).
-new front main seal
-check timing?

-... solve my sand issue. As discussed in a previous thread, I managed to get some sand in the motor through a faulty rocker cover gasket while sandblasting.
I cleaned up everything as best as I could, took the pan off too. Haven't started the engine yet but any advice pre-start is welcome.
There's possibly only a little left. Current plan is to go ahead with the start-up anyway and just change oil and filters immediately after.
Rookie mistake.

Anything I'm forgetting?
Also, the original blue engine colour wasn't available to me. This one's called 'Ford Blue'. Blasphemy, I know.

 

[DFXR]

-... solve my sand issue. As discussed in a previous thread, I managed to get some sand in the motor through a faulty rocker cover gasket while sandblasting.
I cleaned up everything as best as I could, took the pan off too. Haven't started the engine yet but any advice pre-start is welcome.
There's possibly only a little left. Current plan is to go ahead with the start-up anyway and just change oil and filters immediately after.
Rookie mistake.

In a similar situation, I bought 2 or 3 gallons of cheap motor oil, pulled the drain plug, and poured it straight through from the top and out into a tub. Sort of a low-pressure flush. It would be even more effective with the pan off, but I had enough other stuff going on at the time that I did it with the pan in place.

I did all of this after reassembly but BEFORE any startup. And I still did a couple of oil/filter changes in the first 500 miles.

It's hardly scientific and difficult to verify total success, but it was advised to me by the machinist who rebuilt my head. I was concerned about debris (not sand) from when I had cleaned the mating surface on the block when the head was off. At the risk of jinxing myself, it's been a few years and thousands of miles and nothing has exploded yet. But I think we know that this kind of wear is a little more subtle.

Good luck - I appreciate how you just got neck-deep into this thing. Great work.

 

[BelgianHJ60]

Also went ahead and gave the alternator a good clean-up. 24V (40amp?) with the vacuum pump on the back.
I soldered in new brushes (or at least made a valiant effort with the POS soldering iron I have) and installed some new bearings.
Aluminium parts were waterblasted, the rest was painted. I am short one of those long screws though, and replacements aren't available on any of the parts sites I use. Bracket in the same colour as the engine, of course.