Builds An HJ61 followed me home to Texas

[bottombracket]

Blink and three months goes past. I drove the 61 to Roundup and Georg borrowed the 62 for himself and medium G. Fun times were had by all. I brought my own son for the first time. He did a fine job driving the 61 on the ranch roads and one super easy trail.

 

[bottombracket]

So now it’s officially summer and hotter than the hinges of hell here in Texas. I’ve been daily driving the 61 without AC. I finally collected all the parts and started reassembling the cooling system.

The trucks original condenser was crusty and literally falling apart. The HJ61 condenser is of course NLA from Toyota. I’ve been searching the globe for a replacement for months but I think I finally have a solution.

The readily available FJ60 condenser is a near match except at the inlet elbow points off at about 2 o’clock instead of 12 o’clock on the 61. The outlet adapter can be swapped over because the outlet elbow and fittings are the same. The isolator mounts are different between 60 and 61, but five minutes with a grinder will turn the 60 style into the 61 style.

I found an awesome old-school A/C shop here in Austin, and dropped off my condenser yesterday. They told me they will be able to braze and pressure test it and it should be done by tomorrow.

60 on top, 61 at bottom. 61 inlet (on the right) needs to point very nearly vertical because of the quad headlights and the location of the compressor.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

So now it’s officially summer and hotter than the hinges of hell here in Texas. I’ve been daily driving the 61 without AC. I finally collected all the parts and started reassembling the cooling system.

The trucks original condenser was crusty and literally falling apart. The HJ61 condenser is of course NLA from Toyota. I’ve been searching the globe for a replacement for months but I think I finally have a solution.

The readily available FJ60 condenser is a near match except at the inlet elbow points off at about 2 o’clock instead of 12 o’clock on the 61. The outlet adapter can be swapped over because the outlet elbow and fittings are the same. The isolator mounts are different between 60 and 61, but five minutes with a grinder will turn the 60 style into the 61 style.
View attachment 2705685View attachment 2705686

View attachment 2705688

I found an awesome old-school A/C shop here in Austin, and dropped off my condenser yesterday. They told me they will be able to braze and pressure test it and it should be done by tomorrow.View attachment 2705691

60 on top, 61 at bottom. 61 inlet (on the right) needs to point very nearly vertical because of the quad headlights and the location of the compressor.
View attachment 2705689

Galen, you’re welcome to bring the 61 to my place and I’ll help you draw down the system and get it pressurized etc. not sure how far down the path you are but the option is there for you.

 

[bottombracket]

Jimmy thank you, but I’m going to try to get things cool tonight at my barn…the a/c shop finished the condenser. Total cost: $38!!!!

It’s business time.

 

[bottombracket]

Fits like a glove.

Then I got called back to work for an emergency. More to follow.

 

[orangefj45]

Shop is looking great @bottombracket

 

[bottombracket]

Georg, it only looks good because the ranch is on the market (found another one just 3 miles up the road with a bigger shop!) so I took 50% of the junk out of this one and put it in a POD and shipped it away temporarily.

It is amazingly fun to wrench in a clean shop.

 

[orangefj45]

I can’t keep u

Georg, it only looks good because the ranch is on the market (found another one just 3 miles up the road with a bigger shop!) so I took 50% of the junk out of this one and put it in a POD and shipped it away temporarily.

It is amazingly fun to wrench in a clean shop.

it is impossible for me to keep up with you and your plans.

 

[bottombracket]

Dude, I just live here and hold on for dear life. Chris runs the show and she doesn’t ever sit still.

 

[bottombracket]

OK. Here's what I have learned about HJ61 air conditioning, and its care and feeding in North America.

The HJ61 condenser is NLA: 88460-90A15 and supersedes to 88460-90A16. I had no luck digging up replacements.

I used an early FJ60 (1980-4/85) condenser: 88460-90A00 which is Denso 477-0155, commonly available.
The FJ62 condenser is: 88460-90A14 and Denso 477-0146, also commonly available.

Looking at the inlet and outlet fixtures, there are two differences between early FJ60 and HJ61. The inlet and outlet are on opposite sides of the condenser but the outlet fittings are identiacal. The outlet adapter for the 61 will bolt straight up to the 60 condenser. The input elbow needs to be cut off and brazed to a near-vertical angle. My A/C shop (Austin Rebuilders) did it for $38. A freaking steal in my opinion.

As I posted up a couple of posts, the 60 mouting tabs need a different isolator. I chose to grind the round tabs down to slots to use the HJ61 isolators just because 1) I had them in hand and didn't have 60 isolators and 2) wanted to ensure they mounted the condenser in the correct spot.

Turns out there is another difference: the mounting tabs on the 60 condenser are SLIGHTLY different, possibly because it gets flipped upside down to mount. This puts the top row of fins into interference with the upper radiator tie bar/support and the plastic hood strut catch. I modified the fins (gently mushed them with a flat bladed screwdriver until they cleared. I swapped out the inner bolts for shorter ones. Other than that, it fit nicely.


It look like (but I cannot verify) that a 62 condenser would work as well, assuming that the inlet and outlet thread fittings are the same. You'd just have to modify the inlet flange and use the output adapter/have a shop make one. Austin Rebuilders assured me that If my adapter crapped out they could build a new one with any fitting necessary.

 

[bottombracket]

Pics for posterity:

88460-90A00/Denso 477-0155 condenser

Modified input, also showing the modified mounting ears.

Successful condensing.

 

[bottombracket]

I didn’t notice this when I was posting from my phone, but looking at it on my laptop, you can see that on the 61 condenser, the mounting tabs lineup at the fourth row of fins from the bottom. On the 60 condenser they lineup at the third. It’s only about a 1 cm difference.

 

[bottombracket]

The middle pair of bolts on the radiator support and the shorter ones I replaced them with.

 

[bottombracket]

The drier is readily available:

88470-14010/Denso 478-0101

Pics included for posterity just in case I ever forget which way is in and out. Pretty sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.

 

[bottombracket]

The compressor is identical to the FJ62, except that my truck has a 24 V fan clutch. I swapped fan clutches which is ridiculously easy to do. I bought a universal AC clutch tool set from my local Advance auto parts.
I swapped over the service caps from the old compressor.

 

[bottombracket]

Last problem: the high side fitting is ridiculously close to the AC mounting bracket, which is also the front engine hook. I pinged @roma042987 and @CenTXFJ60 who both told me to man up and grind the bracket to clearance.

I didn’t have the guts to get out the grinder but luckily I didn’t need to - Austin Rebuilders came to the rescue again. $7 later and a 90 degree fitting, and we were in business.

I bought a set of manifold gauges and hoses and I feel like the gauge is making fun of me and using hurtful language.

 

[bottombracket]

Look at that compressor spin! I was pretty relieved when it cycled on for the first time after getting the first can of refrigerant in.

Can you feel the ice cubes here? My handheld thermometer is MIA but it was pretty damn cold.

 

[bottombracket]

I tested the A/C with a 300 mile Texas hill country road trip. Truck pulled like a tank from 65-75mph- I passed a guy downhill going 90!!!

After that, I settled down because she did get a little squirrley above 85. Still, not bad for a 32 year old brick.

The entrance to the camp where our family stayed requires you to drive about a mile through the East Frio River. It’s only about 6 inches deep, but it’s pretty darn cool.

 

[mongoose2231]

this is a great thread!!

 

[bottombracket]

Well kids, I’ve learned a lesson and I’m eating humble pie. Don’t brag to your friends on the Internet about how fast you can drive a 33 year old truck.

On the last half of my trip home, I noticed a high pitched whine around 2000-2500 RPMs. No smoke, no horrible explosions, nothing…

I pulled over and checked to make sure it wasn’t a boost leak. The EGT probe was nice and tight. I drove home gingerly and looked the truck over. When I shut it down, there was a horrible noise coming from the turbo. It sounded like a dump truck had just dumped a ton of gravel in there as it spun down.

Today I pulled the intake off and there is about 1/8” of play in the turbine wheel. Eeeek.
Pulling the turbo now. We will see if it just puked a bearing and if it is salvageable.

Anyone have a CT26 they wanna sell me?

Nate still enjoys the Large Fan.