Builds complete BJ45 rebuild start next week in Bolivia

[mailking]

complete BJ45 rebuild in Bolivia - now live -

Like the title says, we're in Bolivia right now and are starting a complete break down and build up of our BJ45. We rented a house so we can sleep somewhere else then in our cruiser.

Any ideas or pitfalls which I should avoid while breaking it apart or building it up?

Adventurous greetings,
Coen

 

[lostmarbles]

....Any ideas or pitfalls which I should avoid while breaking it apart or building it up? ....Coen

No pitfalls spring to mind Coen! You should be just as safe ripping into things there in Bolivia as you would be if you were a multi-millionaire in Japan with open-access to "The Toyota Factory Parts Warehouse" back in the early 80s..............LOL

Will be watching with interest.

 

[MuskieFJ]

Pictures!!!

Take a lot of pictures from many angles! Especially in the engine bay and of the dash for knob locations. Then post them here!!!

 

[mailking]

maybe I should buy a small pocket camera then, no use in handeling the big lens with greasy hands.... donations welcome...

 

[Roberto]

yes, lots of pics, baggies marked with parts, save all your pics to a coupkle diff places, like external hardrive and on computer. My computer crashed and I lost all my pics from the teardown.

R

 

[M5driver]

Any ideas or pitfalls which I should avoid while breaking it apart or building it up?

Welcome to the madness Should not be any more hazards than doing this in, oh, say Malawi as I did. Just take lots and lots of pics, bag and tag everything, and have fun.

 

[henderson14]

+1 take many pictures.. i'll watch this too..

 

[mailking]

So it started with this:

Completely revising the front axle. It's not my daily job, but luckily all the necessary tools and expertise are just a shout away. All parts for this job are available in the surrounding shops. Some parts are must be made from scratch on the lathe like the brass innerrings of the spindles. The operator also makes the bearings fitting again which had some play. Working at Ernesto Hug's place is a real treat. We have the key and we can sleep in the car. The guys working there are thoroughly brainwashed in the Swiss orderly way. The place is tidy you wouldn't believe. Not a drop is spilled and you could eat from the floor. A nice contrast with the neighboring workplaces which makes me remind India or Pakistan.

The front axle job almost completed. My Belgium friend Ben comes to have a look.

When the front axle is done, we decide to do something that we should have done from the start, seven years ago; a complete build up of the car. We find a good place to live, the body shop has a roof and seems to deliver good work, the price is right and more over parts are available in Bolivia. The decision is the easy part. Let the hard work begin. In one day we clean out our belongings and store them in our appartement. Now its time to disassemble the woodwork.

The benches and the ceiling are easy, I constructed them with Marc's father seven years ago, so I still remember how it is all fitted together. A piece of cake.

The biggest challenge now are the side walls. They were there when we bought the car, and I have no idea how they are fitted, or let alone know how to take them out. Screws are hidden under several layers of paint and we first have to find them. Sikaflex has been my good friend these last seven years, but now I curse the damn stuff.

Then these nice little camping windows. How do they come off? The whole is stuffed with Sikaflex and nothing budges. We decide to force the parts that would be easiest to replace, no other choice. I hope we can find the parts somewhere.

The side walls have gone now only the upper cabinet and we are ready to move to the 'Chaperio' [body shop] for the more bigger parts. On this image you can clearly see what damage the water has done over the years. Look on the lef side, the woodwork has completely decomposed. This must clear up some rattles in the back I hope.

My worst enemy! Electricity. Now I have the opportunity to study once and for all where all those wires are going and to draw up a scheme. Maybe replace some wires in bad shape and lead them all through a thick pipe to the front.

I'm telling the guys about Sikaflex that has been used between the roof rack and the roof, and between the roof and the extension and between the extension and the side walls. We discuss the best way to take apart the top section without damaging the original rubber seals between the parts.

Very carefully and with a lot of patience a thin screwdriver and a plasters knife we cut the roof rack away from the roof.

Pretty heavy with all those thick aluminium sheets on top.

Next up, the roof. Again very carefully with the right tools trying to cut trough the Sikaflex. Jeeesss, what is that stuff the guys keep asking me. So strong, not like normal silicone. Later they will get more of this stuff to work on when they set on the wooden beams in the side walls.

After an hour the roof comes off and we can cruise bikini style at last!

The guys are happy, the roof is gone and the heavy work can begin.

The original windows have been replaced by aluminium sheets and camping windows. All put in with a lot of Sikaflex. You can imagine the work.

This is how the body shop looks like with a nice view over La Paz, Bolivia. Working at 4.000 meters!

till later
Adventurous greetings,
Coen

 

[destin]

wow great photos man!



Looking forward to more posts

 

[lostmarbles]

wow great photos man!



Looking forward to more posts

x 2

You are true adventurers!

 

[3_puppies]

That is very nice. Good luck with the process.

I forsee lots of articles coming up in trails.

 

[JohnnyC]

you are rebuilding back to the way it was correct?

That rig is great...

 

[ehsankiani]

Nice pictures. Best of luck. Will follow this thread. Would have loved to meet up while you were crossing Pakistan.
Ehsan

 

[krzyabncanuck]

This will be a good thread to follow.

 

[Michael Hanson]

What are the labor rates like? MIke

 

[Falco80]

Wow, awesome location! It's good to see your giving your cruiser some love. She looks like she's served you well!

 

[mailking]

That is very nice. Good luck with the process.

I forsee lots of articles coming up in trails.

Funny you should say that... There are a bunch of articles lying on the Trails desk waiting to get printed...

 

[mailking]

I'm loosing count on the days here, but after five days of carnaval, we are at it again. You can see we have developed some small holes in the left rear.

The other side isn't looking any better. Although the cooked oilseed from Fred my brother-in-law has worked as you can see in the upper right hand side.

Other places I could not reach, so here you can see the famous Land Cruiser wheel wells. Always a problem. Luckily we had some waterproofing made in Buenos Aires and we did not get any wetter inside. So these protectors will be replaced when the wheel wells get fixed.

A broken support beam made the decision for the restauration final. There is a whole part missing and there suposed to be two rubbers there which has also been gone for some time.

This is how the other side looks like. You can see the upper rubber in bad condition and the lower rubber which I fabricated of some rubber hammer. The support itself isn't looking that good either.

While cleaning the underside I came across this! A fractured chassis. And the frame is full of caked mud. I don't even know if this is how the origina frame looks like. I always thought it should be an open U beam? These are two U beams riveted together and the mud, water can't go anywhere. Maybe I should drill some holes into it?

All electrics has to go. So all cables, connectors and links have to be labeled in order to get it back the way it was or better.

Simon is busy getting the aluminium board undone from its nasty Sikaflex. A good thing is that I have visited Sika Bolivia headquarters today and they have promised me to get my my fix; although not the Marine version that I wanted, but a multipurpose number 211 in grey, black or white.

Centimeter for centimeter Simon gets the sidewall separated from the aluminium board as to not damage the original seal. To get an original back door seal it would have to be flown in from Japan for around 120 USD, I would not begin thinking what a roof seal would cost!

All cockpit cables have to go as well and all have to go trough these little holes in the firewall. Very annoying is that the Webasto heater control unit has these big connectors that won't fit trough there at all. So either label and unclip every one plug or cut it and reclip every cable later?

Progressing slowly. It looks like plenty of room, but still many cables are just long enough and connectors are stiff and difficult to get to [not heaving small Japanese hands]. But I will get there.

Later
Coen

 

[mailking]

guy's what do you think, that chassis frame... Is that suppose to be like that a double U [one U inside the other]? I mean, mud, water ed have no where to go....

 

[antFJ]

its a stock frame! and strong at that. I would not drill holes esp with the cracking you already have going on... it comes down to maintenance - you go mudding.. you gotta clean out the rails.