Man, that is coming together....
BJ60 to HJ61 Body swap...the five year plan turned right now plan!
- Thread starter PeeZed
- Start date
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- bj60 restore
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- Thread starter
- #162
Had a decent night...and weekend for that matter...
- Did NOT braze the windshield connection, but rather just welded it up, grinded it up nice, seam sealed, painted, we'll see how that lasts
- Bled brake system
- Bled clutch system
- Bled fuel system
- started identifying a few mystery wires the PO had run...nice to have some spare wires in the cab for devices though!
- Fitted all the closing/locking hardware on rear upper/lower hatch/tailgate
- Fitted the front inner and outer fenders
- Fitted the hood
- Tidied up a few wires under the hood and mounted the things that I knew went where.
QUESTIONS:
- Need to know which brackets go where on the battery trays. I know the coolant bottle goes on one side but I have two brackets (one with a large clip to hold a hose by the looks of it) and I don't know where or which side to mount them! If anyone either wants to take a good picture of your 3B engine bay (or a few) or even just bring yours over that would be swell!
Anyways, here's some more pics...
- Did NOT braze the windshield connection, but rather just welded it up, grinded it up nice, seam sealed, painted, we'll see how that lasts
- Bled brake system
- Bled clutch system
- Bled fuel system
- started identifying a few mystery wires the PO had run...nice to have some spare wires in the cab for devices though!
- Fitted all the closing/locking hardware on rear upper/lower hatch/tailgate
- Fitted the front inner and outer fenders
- Fitted the hood
- Tidied up a few wires under the hood and mounted the things that I knew went where.
QUESTIONS:
- Need to know which brackets go where on the battery trays. I know the coolant bottle goes on one side but I have two brackets (one with a large clip to hold a hose by the looks of it) and I don't know where or which side to mount them! If anyone either wants to take a good picture of your 3B engine bay (or a few) or even just bring yours over that would be swell!
Anyways, here's some more pics...
I've not checked in for a while... It's looking Awesome. You should be proud of how it's turning out.
I've been struggling to find time and energy to finish some routine maintenance, and you've rebuilt a truck, you're putting the rest of us to shame.
I've been struggling to find time and energy to finish some routine maintenance, and you've rebuilt a truck, you're putting the rest of us to shame.
- Thread starter
- #164
Tonight...
- Installed battery trays and batteries.
- Installed air filter box and connected hoses.
- Installed basic wiring for engine/dash lights, glow plugs and starter.
- Tightened all body mount bolts. I will say that using new bolts was the way to go...super easy and smooth.
Then, my friends, I pushed it outside of the shop, pushed the glow plug button for about 8 seconds and turned the key.
BAM...it lit up perfectly and was super quiet! Glad I did that IP diaphragm as the idle was really nice and low, and even without any windows in the engine and truck as a whole seemed really quiet. I didn't realize just how much of a rattlebox that old Camo Rig actually was!
Once it was started (confirming that we bled the fuel lines correctly), I checked the clutch and then the brakes (which were soft for a couple pumps but then the calipers found their happy place and stiffened up enough to feel right) and all was as it should be.
I literally let out a "Yeehaw" of elated joy.
I stopped in at Dobson's glass today as I think I will have them come out to install all the windows, and I'm sending my OEM seal and new welting (from Wagongear) for him to check out. He's done a number of these and says there are two window companies that make the same piece of glass so he's going to order both in and bring them out to site so if one doesn't fit then the other hopefully will. Super nice guy (Ralph) and very accommodating.
So yeah, calling it an early night tonight (10:30pm) because everything worked as it should and I wanted to end on a high note tonight!
No pics...sorry.
- Installed battery trays and batteries.
- Installed air filter box and connected hoses.
- Installed basic wiring for engine/dash lights, glow plugs and starter.
- Tightened all body mount bolts. I will say that using new bolts was the way to go...super easy and smooth.
Then, my friends, I pushed it outside of the shop, pushed the glow plug button for about 8 seconds and turned the key.
BAM...it lit up perfectly and was super quiet! Glad I did that IP diaphragm as the idle was really nice and low, and even without any windows in the engine and truck as a whole seemed really quiet. I didn't realize just how much of a rattlebox that old Camo Rig actually was!
Once it was started (confirming that we bled the fuel lines correctly), I checked the clutch and then the brakes (which were soft for a couple pumps but then the calipers found their happy place and stiffened up enough to feel right) and all was as it should be.
I literally let out a "Yeehaw" of elated joy.
I stopped in at Dobson's glass today as I think I will have them come out to install all the windows, and I'm sending my OEM seal and new welting (from Wagongear) for him to check out. He's done a number of these and says there are two window companies that make the same piece of glass so he's going to order both in and bring them out to site so if one doesn't fit then the other hopefully will. Super nice guy (Ralph) and very accommodating.
So yeah, calling it an early night tonight (10:30pm) because everything worked as it should and I wanted to end on a high note tonight!
No pics...sorry.
Last edited:
YEEEHAAA
Congrats PeeZed!! That's really great news!
Hey Paulo sorry we missed out on seeing the truck Sunday, how did the painting go?
- Thread starter
- #168
Cruiserman, the painting will commence this coming weekend 
Last weekend was fitting all the pieces and then seeing if it would start...which, thankfully, went according to plan.
Last weekend was fitting all the pieces and then seeing if it would start...which, thankfully, went according to plan.
- Thread starter
- #169
Tonight...
- Sanded the entire truck with orbital and then by hand.
- Commercial degreaser over entire truck as preliminary for paint.
- Taped the few pieces I don't want to become grey.
- Welded the Fuel Pedal Stop into place because of the RHD/LHD swap.
- Installed the rest of the GT Mat in the front section now that the firewall is in place.
No pics again...really nothing to see anyways.
- Sanded the entire truck with orbital and then by hand.
- Commercial degreaser over entire truck as preliminary for paint.
- Taped the few pieces I don't want to become grey.
- Welded the Fuel Pedal Stop into place because of the RHD/LHD swap.
- Installed the rest of the GT Mat in the front section now that the firewall is in place.
No pics again...really nothing to see anyways.
- Thread starter
- #170
Roof Painted with two coats tonight. We'll see what it looks like in the morning and after it dries up. If it looks half decent then I'll throw on another couple coats. My wife, who wasn't a huge fan of the Camo look, said that that is what she's comparing it to, so I think it will be pretty difficult for it to not look good in her eyes 
As you can see in the pictures, my shop is not a dust free atmosphere so I'm really rolling the dice with this.
For the record, I crunched some numbers and since October till now I've put in around 1000hrs on this project. That's a lot of evenings and weekends people! Actually, that's half a year of full time work, and since it's only 5-6 months that means it was essentially a 2nd full time job. So for those of you with lingering projects, I completely understand that it does not make good sense for one to invest every hour of "free time" towards a project. But about those hours, even if I was worth $20/hr, that would be $20,000 worth of "shop hours" on this project. Pretty easy to see why complete restorations cost tens of thousands of dollars to have done at a professional shop!
Anyways, some pics from tonight.
As you can see in the pictures, my shop is not a dust free atmosphere so I'm really rolling the dice with this.
For the record, I crunched some numbers and since October till now I've put in around 1000hrs on this project. That's a lot of evenings and weekends people! Actually, that's half a year of full time work, and since it's only 5-6 months that means it was essentially a 2nd full time job. So for those of you with lingering projects, I completely understand that it does not make good sense for one to invest every hour of "free time" towards a project. But about those hours, even if I was worth $20/hr, that would be $20,000 worth of "shop hours" on this project. Pretty easy to see why complete restorations cost tens of thousands of dollars to have done at a professional shop!
Anyways, some pics from tonight.
- Thread starter
- #171
Got around to painting the entire body today.
Cons:
- Windstorm opened main shop doors and blew in dust while I was 2/3 through 2nd coat.
- My inexperience with a spray gun is obvious.
- Cleaning out gun with paint thinner, caught an edge, made paint thinner fly into my face...glad I had an eye wash station close by!
- My attempt at doing the roof first and waiting to do the rest of the truck didn't work as overspray landed on the roof and gave it a dull finish. Apparently everything needs to be "wet" so it can absorb the overspray. In the end, the roof got another fresh coat today.
- Definitely a "good from far, but far from good" finish.
Pros:
- Looks WAY better than it did six months ago!
- Everything is sealed now and should keep major rust issues away for at least six months
- It's almost done!
Here's a few pics to show how different lighting impacts the color. Wasn't able to take it outside as the weather was all over the map today and didn't want to risk it. I have some heat and a big fan on it now with the hopes that it will expedite the curing somewhat.
Cons:
- Windstorm opened main shop doors and blew in dust while I was 2/3 through 2nd coat.
- My inexperience with a spray gun is obvious.
- Cleaning out gun with paint thinner, caught an edge, made paint thinner fly into my face...glad I had an eye wash station close by!
- My attempt at doing the roof first and waiting to do the rest of the truck didn't work as overspray landed on the roof and gave it a dull finish. Apparently everything needs to be "wet" so it can absorb the overspray. In the end, the roof got another fresh coat today.
- Definitely a "good from far, but far from good" finish.
Pros:
- Looks WAY better than it did six months ago!
- Everything is sealed now and should keep major rust issues away for at least six months
- It's almost done!
Here's a few pics to show how different lighting impacts the color. Wasn't able to take it outside as the weather was all over the map today and didn't want to risk it. I have some heat and a big fan on it now with the hopes that it will expedite the curing somewhat.
Sunroof motor, are you changing it out to 12 volt?
- Thread starter
- #173
Cruiserman, I've heard that it is not a simple switch over and have honestly not looked into it so I guess I'll have to think about that at some point
Looks great to me PeeZeed. Like you say, a huge improvement from the camo rig! Looks better than most of our trucks anyhow. 
awesome!
Holy crap! 
PeeZed this is amazing! Im absolutley floored by your dedication to this project, I can only hope to have the same drive as you when I take on my 60
PeeZed this is amazing! Im absolutley floored by your dedication to this project, I can only hope to have the same drive as you when I take on my 60
- Thread starter
- #177
Thanks Sweaty...it's been a grind for sure, and to see it finally coming together is a bit surreal, I'll admit that!
- Thread starter
- #178
I was able to sneak in a couple outside shots today. The blacked out chrome is growing on me...at least it's not peeling!
Also:
- Tested headlights, taillights, brake lights, signals, and horn...all worky.
- Installed lower bezel (totally forgot to paint it on the truck!
- Installed front grill and headlight bezels
Pics...apparently my 11yr old son thinks he's pretty gangster sitting in a truck with no seats.
Also:
- Tested headlights, taillights, brake lights, signals, and horn...all worky.
- Installed lower bezel (totally forgot to paint it on the truck!
- Installed front grill and headlight bezels
Pics...apparently my 11yr old son thinks he's pretty gangster sitting in a truck with no seats.
That paint looks awesome outside! Gnarly rig!
- Thread starter
- #180
Just been putting lots of little pieces together the past couple nights...
- Rear wiring harness, lights, washer motor, grommets, etc...
- Door handles
- Door window felts
- Putting the dash back together
- Each of my doors activates the interior light now! Only one and sometimes two did before.
- Painted my jack-all to match the truck (cheesy!).
This week to come...
- Dobson's is coming to install front windshield, sides and rear windows.
- Door skins re-installed
- Rear cargo side skins built
- Underlay installed
- Rear wiring harness, lights, washer motor, grommets, etc...
- Door handles
- Door window felts
- Putting the dash back together
- Each of my doors activates the interior light now! Only one and sometimes two did before.
- Painted my jack-all to match the truck (cheesy!).
This week to come...
- Dobson's is coming to install front windshield, sides and rear windows.
- Door skins re-installed
- Rear cargo side skins built
- Underlay installed