Building the Princess - HJ60 build blog.

[sodafeld1]

I am beginning to conclude that SA ends up getting a few cars from NSW and Vic. It becomes too expensive and difficult to re-register them.
The VASS certificate here in vic. is my sort of nightmare. Lots of paperwork, receipts, meetings, tests and money..in vic. your build to register would be considered a frakenstein rebirth, very expensive. (no offence, little jealous!)

Ohh and really don't mean any offence Duncan, I am loving your build.

Just here in Vic. I spoke to vass engineer about different chassis, to body to motor vins and straight away he said rebirth! Never heard of it before , naive sucker I am. Need every receipt for every purchase, need only ome parts..just to start.

 

[duncanrm]

I am beginning to conclude that SA ends up getting a few cars from NSW and Vic. It becomes too expensive and difficult to re-register them.
The VASS certificate here in vic. is my sort of nightmare. Lots of paperwork, receipts, meetings, tests and money..in vic. your build to register would be considered a frakenstein rebirth, very expensive. (no offence, little jealous!)

Yes, there's definitely a flow of older vehicles into SA from those states I think. I dont like the sound of "VASS" at all!

 

[duncanrm]

Well that was a busy few evenings, getting the front right hand side guard on was a complicated nightmare. I think I had the wrong hinges on the front door, it was sitting way too far forward and was fouling on the guard. I did note when I fitted the drivers door that the gap between it and the rear door seemed large, I wish I had taken MORE note of it at the time.

Two evenings of dicking about trying to pad out the hinges to bring the door back only to find the door was sitting out too far as well. A good dig through the shed turned up another pair of hinges that have gone on and appear to be working much better. I suspect I had rear door hinges fitted as I had a bit of collection and no labelling.

Before

After

 

[duncanrm]

With the guards and radiator support on, I can test fit the bonnet and start to finesse the panel beating on the damage to the left hand side guard..

 

[duncanrm]

This sounds odd I know.. but I stumbled over a mint guard in my very back shed today, I had forgotten it was there, I almost never open that shed. I think its been in there 3-4 years.. Absolutely zero issues with it, given the whole vehicle is being sprayed it was pointless not swapping it on to replace the damaged one.

Its caused me to contemplate a possible two tone paint job..

 

[AussieHJCruza]

This sounds odd I know.. but I stumbled over a mint guard

Can totally relate to this

 

[sodafeld1]

maybe more stumbling is required. I need another shed, to forget things I have. Wonderful, doesn't go off like chocolate.
I recall having a whole heap of 40 stuff somewhere, if I get my bj40 back one day.

 

[duncanrm]

I fabricated a new Battery Tray today. The factory ones are kinda rubbish.

I am hopeful that the N70ZZ will clear the bonnet. I think it will.

 

[duncanrm]

New brass/copper radiator ready to go in.. holy crap the price of these has skyrocketed in the past few years.. $AUD900.


And a trip to the local wrecker to pick up some missing bits included two bonnet hinges, some radiator brackets and a power steering reservoir. I also picked up a replacement fuel tank as the one I have appears to have a hole in it. Not a bad price for the lot of $AUD300

 

[duncanrm]

And its cranking.. when I've replacement fuel tank and bled through the lines I'll plumb in the fuel to it! Took a bit of effort, I was getting a click-no-crank fault and assumed it was the starter relay but that wasn't even firing. Turned out to be an open circuit in the plug to the relay - I've reterminated it with an SAE connector and its cranking every time now.

I've also noted that one of the previous owners has done the Fusible Link delete .. so there's another task added to the list.

 

[duncanrm]

My goto tool for about 90% of electrical fault diagnosis on old cruisers.. my home built test lamp.

Positive and negative battery clips and a probe wire long enough to go around the entire vehicle, a very loud buzzer, a lamp, and a switch to choose between "looking for an earth" and "looking for Batt+". Magnets on the back to secure it to something.

No end of commercial versions of this I guess.

 

[sodafeld1]

New brass/copper radiator ready to go in.. holy crap the price of these has skyrocketed in the past few years.. $AUD900.


And a trip to the local wrecker to pick up some missing bits included two bonnet hinges, some radiator brackets and a power steering reservoir. I also picked up a replacement fuel tank as the one I have appears to have a hole in it. Not a bad price for the lot of $AUD300


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should have sent the link on the adrad on ebay, was cheaper...but you won at the wreckers, evens out

 

[duncanrm]

should have sent the link on the adrad on ebay, was cheaper...but you won at the wreckers, evens out

I should have done a more aggressive price comparison.. this shop is usually on the money

 

[duncanrm]

What a couple of days..

So yesterday I was determined to get the new fuel tank in and after giving the new one a good clean up and a lick of paint I dropped the old one out and managed to get the new one in - no easy task alone! A length of rope between the chassis rails and under the tank and straps did the trick and the new one was in. 20L of diesel was added and it was time to prime the system. Absolute fail - zero fuel coming out of tank.. wtf! It was an FJ60 tank so some minor differences but nothing major, I blocked off the unneeded return line for example. After trying compressed air in both directions I found the pickup was completely blocked! Yes, I was cursing myself not checking it whilst it was out on the bench.
So 20L of diesel had to come back out, the tank had to come back out of the vehicle and indeed the picked up was completely blocked in the fuel pipe - bizarre! a length of stainless steel cable and some compressed air managed to clear it but I have no idea what it was, the filter was spotless!

I reinstalled the tank and confirmed fuel delivery and it was time to fire up the engine, the first attempt was a dismal failure - it would not fire at all. I was assuming it was a glow issue but it turned out I hadn't tightened down the injector lines yet. After snugging all the injector lines down it fired right up - sounds good, idling a little high (I haven't adjusted yet), no ominous noises! I'm amazed how quiet it is with just the headers installed and no exhaust! Prefilled the fuel filter with Liqui Moly Diesel Purge Plus - might be snake oil, but I've been using it on my other 2Hs every time I do a fuel filter change.

Now its time to get the radiator in and seal up the cooling system so I can give the engine an extended run and start having a play with the EDIC system to see if I can make it work.

Photos and video:

 

[duncanrm]

Oh.. and I confirmed the clutch works. That always worries me, even with a new spigot bearing, new thrust bearing, refaced flywheel its always a bit nerve wracking to see if it'll go into gear. No drive shaft installed so its not moving - I need to do a uni joint and change the rear flange to a different bolt pattern.

 

[sodafeld1]

What a couple of days..

So yesterday I was determined to get the new fuel tank in and after giving the new one a good clean up and a lick of paint I dropped the old one out and managed to get the new one in - no easy task alone! A length of rope between the chassis rails and under the tank and straps did the trick and the new one was in. 20L of diesel was added and it was time to prime the system. Absolute fail - zero fuel coming out of tank.. wtf! It was an FJ60 tank so some minor differences but nothing major, I blocked off the unneeded return line for example. After trying compressed air in both directions I found the pickup was completely blocked! Yes, I was cursing myself not checking it whilst it was out on the bench.
So 20L of diesel had to come back out, the tank had to come back out of the vehicle and indeed the picked up was completely blocked in the fuel pipe - bizarre! a length of stainless steel cable and some compressed air managed to clear it but I have no idea what it was, the filter was spotless!

I reinstalled the tank and confirmed fuel delivery and it was time to fire up the engine, the first attempt was a dismal failure - it would not fire at all. I was assuming it was a glow issue but it turned out I hadn't tightened down the injector lines yet. After snugging all the injector lines down it fired right up - sounds good, idling a little high (I haven't adjusted yet), no ominous noises! I'm amazed how quiet it is with just the headers installed and no exhaust! Prefilled the fuel filter with Liqui Moly Diesel Purge Plus - might be snake oil, but I've been using it on my other 2Hs every time I do a fuel filter change.

Now its time to get the radiator in and seal up the cooling system so I can give the engine an extended run and start having a play with the EDIC system to see if I can make it work.

Photos and video:

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loving your adventure! fuel tank in and out what pia, but done now. Sounds excellent. A facebook fella came and got some parts his 2h only had 110k since factory, these engines sound good.

 

[duncanrm]

Right thats done it... the "two part radiator fan shroud mod" is going to be done I think.. 53years of sun damage to my skin and it tears so easily Especially the back of my hands.

The Mod Details..

 

[sodafeld1]

Right thats done it... the "two part radiator fan shroud mod" is going to be done I think.. 53years of sun damage to my skin and it tears so easily Especially the back of my hands.

The Mod Details..

just loving it like a tv show, 'what's Duncan's latest adventure?' I have concluded the plot is that the princess is for your own princess more than likely! Great Dad.

 

[sodafeld1]

Right thats done it... the "two part radiator fan shroud mod" is going to be done I think.. 53years of sun damage to my skin and it tears so easily Especially the back of my hands.

The Mod Details..

View attachment 3232905

Is the fan shroud mod to have easier access to the cooling system and front of engine?

It would also help when changing engine mounts if need be, not that you would be doing that for awhile, everything being so shiny.

I thought the blood was paint, even the blade looks shiny!

 

[duncanrm]

Is the fan shroud mod to have easier access to the cooling system and front of engine?

Yeah essentially.. much easier to get access to fan/belts, its always fiddly getting the fan and shroud in place. I've already bent fins on the new radiator, I'll straighten them up but they'll never look perfect

The fan doesnt look so good now, I had to trim the blades, I'm unconvinced the shroud or the fan I have are both the correct ones, I've taken 10mm off the blades and the clearance is perfect now.