Australian Pig?

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GREAZERSOCKS

GREAZERSOCKS

10 Year
Joined
Jul 27, 2014
Threads
3
Messages
17
Location
Tasmania, Australia
G'day guys, new to the forum and to oldschool Cruisers. Hopefully posting in the right place haha

I picked this up the other day for $1,000 as a cheap wood bus, rego and everything. And i honestly dont know the first thing about it. Ive never actually seen another one on the road where i live haha

As far as i can tell it has 2" Extended Shackles, which is ridiculous for 4x4ing, and extractors, thats about it. Its a very tired old girl, basically nothing works, has hardly any brakes, steering is rooted, and LITERALLY in the interior the only things that work are the window wipers, and volts gauge. Motors worn, it uses oil, transfer case leaks. It tops out at about 80km/h on the highway, if your game enough to drive it that fast.

Anyway, im hoping to get some good advice so i can actually fix it up, as ive grown kind of fond of it.

Soo, my main priority atm is to fix the steering/vibration/wobble. Ive been looking on the net alot but most of the stuff ive found is in the US, as in how to fix things, which doesnt help me being in Australia as ours are RHD.

Soo if anyone can please help me out? Please and thank you.

Pics are from its first outing today in the bush since ive owned it, surprised me how capable it was. Cheers :)


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Welcome aboard! You're a lot better off than most here. The body looks to be in great shape. Does it have power steering? Maybe upgrade to FJ60 steering.
 
yep fj60-62 or even 80 series box bolted to a reinforced frame(sleeved bolt holes are the standard procedure) a minitruck steering shaft and a saginaw pump, you'll also want an fj60-62 set of steering links/rods. in fact, you should find a wrecked 60 series and swap everything over to the pig(as we call our rigs here) axles too. I have an 86 motor with an 84 4 speed and split transfercase/ bolts right in for the most part. haven't done the PS yet, but it will happen soon. We have a guy here named Bobm who is custom rolling replacement body panels- floorpans, patch panels and even full quarters. he's on the wrong coast but just so you know- we have the technology. you aussies get all the aftermarket support and easier to find NOS oem parts, but we make up for what us yanks lack in those regards with our sheer injinooity and determination...the pig is by far the most charismatic of all the cruisers IMO, and will take the most effort as well, but worth every calorie spent. Welcome to this wing of the funny farm!

ps; any thread about steering for a US truck applies to yours- you just have to look at the pics in a mirror
 
what year does it claim to be? those tail lights say 78-79...did you guys get them into the first half of 80 as well?
 
Alright cool, looks like il start doing a bit more reading up on here. From what i was reading earlier they were mentioning F100/150 parts, i assumed they meant Ford's, and theyre not very common down where i live either. (i dont live on mainland Australia, i live in Tasmania, the Island state at the bottom, in a very small town). Im really looking forward to fixing the old girl up abit, and from what ive seen so far i think im in the right place now :)

I think the body is a bit deceiving, the chassis and floor is good, the roof gutters are stuffed and all around the front screen/door frames/windscreen/windows/bonnet and a bit in the wheel quarters. And its been semi rebuilt before so i bet its half full of bog. I think its had the seats and stuff recovered to. Il upload more pics when the weather settles down.

When i search the rego it comes up as a 78, i cant find a compliance plate on it anywhere so i can only go off that. I assumed this must be an Australian only model? As i havent been able to find another with the drop down tailgate and these tail lights? Most ive seen with this Tailgate have the old school lights, and then the 'Ambulance door' models have these lights.

And im only 23 and grew up around Kingswoods and Valiants so i have no idea when they were sold in Australia sorry
 
tailgate was an upgrade from the factory in oz, your 78 would be in line with those lights and gate and would be the backwards driven cousin of its American counterpart. in the us, the gate was it and there weren't any amby door rigs. the lights were the old style lights till 78, then they did as your rig is for 78 and the few 79s sold here...there was a good write up a while back about fj60 steering into an fj55. I'll see if I can find it...
 
real quick...the 2F can be a monster if built right. the stock carbs are the best unless you go to a 3FE and inject it, or go LP and turbo. cam and headers go along way(extractors) but keep an eye that the manifolds don't leak. the 4 speed from an fj60 with split case is a great gearbox upgrade IMO, unless you can find an HJ with the 5er- all of which are bolt right up stuff. you already have a full floating rear, so get your leaks fixed, figure out which way you want to go with the drivetrain and enjoy it! check into the 40 series and 60 series forums as there is a vault of priceless drivetrain/mechanical info and support there. and look for matt mcinnes thread about a 2FETI-and andrew farmer/ couple of geezers from your neck of the world who really blew up their big block 6s
 
It actually has a Holley, which im assuming isn't stock and already has Extractors, though they're leaking badly at the rear 3 to 1. Another thing that needs fixing. I dont think il be going too crazy with the build (hopefully), not yet anyway. It has ridiculous torque as it is, will pull anything and climb, as long as it can grip. Cheers for all the info. All ive been doing all morning is reading through builds on here haha
 
Apologies if this is too many pics? I love seeing ALOT of pics of other blokes, so thought id share alot of angles. And i will get around to cleaning it, at some point. The interior and engine bay werent this bad when i got it, but we put it through some pretty deep holes yesterday.

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Is this a factory seat colour/pattern/material?

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Greazersocks,

We like pictures! About that little mud hole, surely not stuck. :) You do have rust repair, follow along with Pascal's build. He's taking on the same issues.

All you other guys, notice where the seatbelt bolts to.
 
Haha, its them damn shackles!! They dig into the clay, if you notice in the other pic, a big chuck stuck to them.
I dont know how much this will end up being actually restored like alot of the others ive seen, as i said at the start i brought this for a woodcutting tow vehicle so its going to be more about how it works than how pretty it is.

Whats the thing about the seatbelts?
 
We've been kicking around the seatbelt mount location. Most of ours, in the USA are mounted way behind the front seats. I changed mine and put a mount where yours are. Some say it might not hold you back as good, if needed, because the belt is not behind your body. I plan on not having an accident!
 
Thats where they're mounted in every car/4wd ive ever seen in Australia mate. Always mounted on the B-pillar. Apart for some really early vehicles when they first started implementing them and they were just a over-your-waist belt.
 
GREAZERSOCKS said:
When i search the rego it comes up as a 78, i cant find a compliance plate on it anywhere so i can only go off that. I assumed this must be an Australian only model? As i havent been able to find another with the drop down tailgate and these tail lights? Most ive seen with this Tailgate have the old school lights, and then the 'Ambulance door' models have these lights.
Click to expand...

G'day mate, you'll find it under the battery tray, at least that's where I found mine when I went looking.

Congrats on the Piggy purchase
 
Hi mate been trawling this forum for a while and haven't actually joined until now I also live in tas and recognise your pig I knew the previous owner . A word of warning these things get in your blood I've had three now and am very close to finishing my toorak tractor 76 model I will have to post my build up now I've joined
 
donniefj55 said:
Hi mate been trawling this forum for a while and haven't actually joined until now I also live in tas and recognise your pig I knew the previous owner . A word of warning these things get in your blood I've had three now and am very close to finishing my toorak tractor 76 model I will have to post my build up now I've joined
Click to expand...

Welcome Donnie!
 
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