BALOO - 1987 HJ61 restomod-ish build—Golden, CO (1 Viewer)

[Br3ntfire]

I've been lurking here on MUD for months researching...and researching...and researching...before finally pulling the trigger on this beauty!

I flew out to Chicago to pick her up and took her immediately on a 16-hour marathon solo road trip back to Golden, CO. (a proper name is still forthcoming...these things have to come organically). Only a few things happened on the trip home - the snorkel flew off at some point, I lost a windshield wiper, and the front piece of chrome molding fell off right as I was about to pull over to reattach it.

Some quick facts:

• 24V 12H-T w/ only 111k mi (180k km)on the odometer.
• h55f transmission
• Brown, High roof w/ original decals (4E8)
• Trim: FM42
• Body code P-HJ61V-MMZX
  
• 2" lift running on brand new 33" Firestone Destination A/T tires
• 2 brand new batteries

Known Issues on purchase:

• Drivers side window not working. FIXED - just a loose connection.
• Sunroof not working - sounds like its getting power, but won't move.
• Dashboard cracks (who cares - for now)
• Radio not working, Antenna broken.
• Front engine exhaust pipe rusty w/ small hole

Things I've found out since purchase

• Driving on the right side of the car is weird. Mainly lane position, and accidentally switching on wipers when I wanted turn signals and vice versa.
• Tachometer not working - turbo lights work, appears to have continuity from sensor in h55f bellhousing. Blown gauge? doing more diagnosis soon.
• When driving for a long period of time (2+hrs), power will slowly decrease. Separate post forthcoming on how to diagnose this issue.
• Tailgate lock stuck in unlocked position. Will not turn. Blasted w/ WD-40 & brakleen, no difference. Plan to take to a locksmith unless anyone has any other suggestions? Mechanism appears to be intact from inside the hatch panel.
• Can be a little sluggish to start on cold mornings without a little bit of encouragement from the gas pedal. It has been ~30F outside on several occasions, and I haven't seen the glowscreen light come on. Need to look into this - not sure if light is burnt out, relay is blown, or if it's just not cold enough out to warrant the glows coming on. It blows a little bit of white smoke right from startup to ~15-20 seconds afterwards, then goes back to normal

Things I plan to do short term:

• Fix the damn tach - In progress.
• Install new radio & step-down converter for the cig lighter plug & tow harness.
• Print a new face for the speedo so I actually know how fast I'm going without having to do math.
• Investigate/fix sunroof malfunction.
• Get the rear hatch fixed.
• Do a full fluid change/flush where applicable.
• Weld on a new exhaust flex pipe and pass emissions

Things I plan to do long term:

• New front seats - would love heated seats again. Only thing I miss from my old WRX. In addition, fabric is juuuust about to tear in the same spot that everyone's seats tear.
• Install full sound-deadening & insulation
• custom-make new carpeting. SOR's is waaay overpriced for something I can do myself with a little bit of time, cardboard, and a friend's industrial tack sewing machine
• considering a smooth bedliner for the cargo area.
• custom build some sexy drawers and a sleeping platform
• weld up some sliders (after learning how to properly weld)

OK, time for some more pics!

 

[HoJo 61]

I'm in love!!

By the way, the mighty 12H-T should not be sluggish to start at all, even if it was a bit cold.
There must be something wrong with something else than glow screen. Bad batteries, worn out injectors or such...
Glow comes on if it's colder than -5C IIRC-

 

[Vossie]

oh boy... another 60 that makes me drool. right, thats it, im telling the wife shes getting a 60 instead of a 40

2nd that on the 12HT starting. its a direct injection. unless its seriously cold, it shouldnt give more than 2 cranks before firing. check your earths maybe?

 

[mattressking]

I love it! I need to look into California laws for importing/smogging a car that is 'similar' to a USDM cruiser.

Looks to be in really good shape, aside from the little quirks.

Definitely watching as you dive into it!

Edit: what floor mats???

 

[gilamonster]

great looking truck!

 

[ff347]

A thing of beauty! Wow. How about a little video of the engine, just love the sound.

 

[Br3ntfire]

I'm in love!!

By the way, the mighty 12H-T should not be sluggish to start at all, even if it was a bit cold.
There must be something wrong with something else than glow screen. Bad batteries, worn out injectors or such...
Glow comes on if it's colder than -5C IIRC-

I think I mis-represented the problem. It cranks immediately, but then coughs and dies without a little throttle. I'll post a little video when I have a chance. In addition, if only does it after sitting for 12+ hours. After 8 hours (how long it sits at work), it still fires up immediately and with no smoke. It would be surprising for it to be worn injectors after only 111k miles, wouldn't it? Regardless, I have plans to go through and do the full tune-up as prescribed in the FSM.

 

[HoJo 61]

I think I mis-represented the problem. It cranks immediately, but then coughs and dies without a little throttle. I'll post a little video when I have a chance. In addition, if only does it after sitting for 12+ hours. After 8 hours (how long it sits at work), it still fires up immediately and with no smoke. It would be surprising for it to be worn injectors after only 111k miles, wouldn't it? Regardless, I have plans to go through and do the full tune-up as prescribed in the FSM.

Oh, right. Makes more sense now.
Sounds like it starts just like my 12H-T does, if outside temp is below zero i have to give it a little throttle to keep the engine running at startup, otherwise it will most likely die. I thought that is normal to these engines, i don't know, i'm on my first HJ61.

I have one crappy vid to show how mine cold starts.


EDIT: I found another video. -3c IIRC, no glow.

 

[Br3ntfire]

Hojo,

Thanks for sharing those vids! wasn't cold enough this morning to have any issues starting, tomorrow morning should be cold enough though! I'll try and take a vid for comparison's sake if it's cold enough.

 

[Br3ntfire]

Spent some more time trying to figure out my tach problem today. We tried to trace the tach wiring back to the sender on the bellhousing to check for continuity - no luck at this poitn. Why does the sender have to be on the side of the housing with almost zero room to work?!? no real progress made, and we were cold as it was down to 34F and my house is very sadly garage-less. Anyone have any suggestions to help make this simpler? I had a friend who is quite adept at electronic s--t check out the tach unit itself, and he couldn't find anything (obviously) wrong with it. I'm wondering more and more whether it's the sender? either way, it's an expensive problem to have. I wish it was something simple and dumb. someone please enlighten me! Anyone local have a spare I could borrow before I blow $150 bones on a new unit that may or may not be the problem?

In other news, getting stuff in later this week to do fluid changes & replace some nearly-rounded bolts on the tranny & transfer case. Still on the to-do very soon list is welding a new flex section to my exhaust - it's rusting away on either end and there are clear holes through it. Not gonna pass the draconian CO emissions with that! I'm also running a diesel injector cleaner through with my next tank o' diesel - maybe that will help clear the cold-start issue.

 

[give2live]

My HJ61 smokes when cold - to me, it smells like diesel, and is white as noted earlier. It is my first as well and I have yet to see another 12HT in person. After getting myself wigged out that something dire was going on, I came across a posting on an Aussie 4x4 forum that put me at ease. "That's the 12HT for ya"... along those lines. "Just start driving it and it'll clear up."

And indeed it does. I'm coming up to two years. Great set-up - very easy to live with and I stopped worrying.

If you try to warm it up in your driveway, it takes forever and you get dirty looks from the neighbors (maybe it is a California thing?) as a cloud of white smoke envelopes the cruiser. It just hangs there. Driving it, it warms up faster and there is a lot less white smoke being generated while it warms up.

When it is really cold, I get the stumble as well - I just pull the hand throttle to keep the revs up (either before or after starting - it doesn't seem to care). And go on my merry way and push the hand throttle back in after a couple of minutes.

Your cruiser looks fantastic by the way!

 

[roma042987]

looks amazing! im shocked it doesn't have a full float rear end? The tach should be very easy its a really a one wire deal. one of the wires from the sender is ground and the other goes to the tach so should be easy to diagnose

 

[Br3ntfire]

My HJ61 smokes when cold - to me, it smells like diesel, and is white as noted earlier. It is my first as well and I have yet to see another 12HT in person. After getting myself wigged out that something dire was going on, I came across a posting on an Aussie 4x4 forum that put me at ease. "That's the 12HT for ya"... along those lines. "Just start driving it and it'll clear up."

And indeed it does. I'm coming up to two years. Great set-up - very easy to live with and I stopped worrying.

If you try to warm it up in your driveway, it takes forever and you get dirty looks from the neighbors (maybe it is a California thing?) as a cloud of white smoke envelopes the cruiser. It just hangs there. Driving it, it warms up faster and there is a lot less white smoke being generated while it warms up.

When it is really cold, I get the stumble as well - I just pull the hand throttle to keep the revs up (either before or after starting - it doesn't seem to care). And go on my merry way and push the hand throttle back in after a couple of minutes.

Your cruiser looks fantastic by the way!

Thanks for a little peace of mind and the compliment! I'm absolutely LOVING the truck so far. Once the tune-up and fluid change is done, I'll feel a lot better knowing everything is in good shape (or at least properly lubricated)

 

[landcruiserjunky]

It's good to see that 60 find a good home! I almost bought it.

 

[61LC]

That's a unique color combination, congrats. Don't think I've seen another color combo like that in the u.s. For some reason the decals always look better than a slick body, I also rock the decals. If you haven't thought about it, look into getting your windows tinted, would really look good imo.

I'll second what @HoJo 61 and @give2live said, that's just a 12ht for ya. Give it a little choke if it's really cold out and it will always turn over. Mine has never failed to turnover, if it did I would be worried.

For an injector cleaner tryout BG244 Diesel Fuel System Cleaner. Comes highly recommended from several diesel forums. Bit pricey but it works.

 

[mongoose2231]

Nice color choice! Ha. Love it, diesel fo life..

 

[Br3ntfire]

Fun and frustrating day today... Got the new snorkel cap on and clamped TIGHT. I'm not blowing another $100 cause it wasn't on there right. At least this time I'll only have myself to blame . New windshield wipers installed, easy enough. I also poured a bottle of injector cleaner into the tank. Haven't seen much of a difference yet, but then again I've only driven about 1.5 miles, so I wasn't expecting much yet anyways

Well, enough of the fun, and onto the frustration... We were in the process of dropping the exhaust to weld up a new flex pipe, cause the other one was rusted at the seams. As we're pulling, the entire flex pipe just shears off in my hands. Long story short, this thing is rusted through in three or four different places, and I'm just basically fabbing a new exhaust at this point lol. Not quite the quick n' easy job I was hoping for. Oh well, that's just the price we pay for a 30yo rusty bucket o' fun

I'll be heading back to my friend Jake's house to finish up the exhaust tomorrow (hopefully). I'm planning on getting a new stereo and 12v stepdown converter installed tomorrow for my cig lighter. Looking forward to diving with real tunes instead of a POS Bluetooth speaker rattling around!

If anyone has advice on how to get the exhaust header off the back of the engine block, I'm all ears. I've got it soaking in pb blaster overnight, but that sucker was on there tight enough to shear a 3/8" socket extension. Impact wrench did diddly/squat. I even hit it with a torch for a couple mins to no avail.

 

[Haggis]

Awesome rig!! Hope to convert mine to diesel someday.

 

[DrivingMissRosey]

That brown paint and decals look like there were put on last month. Incredible.

By the way, what rims are are those? I know I've seen them before and they look pretty right.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

I'll be heading back to my friend Jake's house to finish up the exhaust tomorrow (hopefully). I'm planning on getting a new stereo and 12v stepdown converter installed tomorrow for my cig lighter. Looking forward to diving with real tunes instead of a POS Bluetooth speaker rattling around!

Just a suggestion, but welding a full exhaust up in a driveway or garage sucks if you don't have a bender. I'd suggest you head to AA Performance Muffler on south Broadway. Would take them a few hours to whip up an exhaust, and a full exhaust will probably be under $500. Most of us in the Denver metro use them, because they are awesome.

If anyone has advice on how to get the exhaust header off the back of the engine block, I'm all ears. I've got it soaking in pb blaster overnight, but that sucker was on there tight enough to shear a 3/8" socket extension. Impact wrench did diddly/squat. I even hit it with a torch for a couple mins to no avail.

Is it the nut on the stud that you can't get out? And are you trying to take the entire exhaust manifold off, or just the downpipes off the back of the turbo? If it's the downpipe, I'd simply drive it to AA like that and let them give it a go, bringing a couple new exhaust studs with you to replace those. I'm quite sure that they are used to dealing with stuck hardware.

As to your slowly losing power note--fuel filter. Toyota can get them, @beno probably has some lying around, and NAPA carries a filter that will work. I carry a spare all the time, because if you get bad fuel it's a serious headache, and even worse if you don't have a fresh filter in the truck with you.

That's a great looking 61! That's two that I know of in Golden, another 3 in the Denver Metro, and two up in the mountains (including the one in my driveway). The HJ61 is definitely one of the best cruisers Toyota ever made. The 12HT is just so incredibly well matched to the 60 series it's scary.

Dan