Builds Dale's Hj47 Ute

[Dale]

I bought an '84 HJ47 Ute a month ago. I'm a FIFO worker on a 28/7 roster so right now I don't have the time for a full on restoration. I paid a bit extra and bought a ute that was supposed to have a lot of work already done. The previous owner said he had new brakes fitted including new callipers. He advertised new tyres which could be seen in the photos. The only thing he believed needed to be replaced for roadworthy was the shockies. The plan was to drive it for awhile and when I get more time strip it down and do a full restoration. When the car was delivered I found the previous owner had swapped the tyres and rims for some rusty old rims with bald tyres. He kept the spare. The only new part of the brake system were the pads. You could stand on the brake peddle with two feet and you were lucky to make it stop. The electrical system was a mess and nothing worked. Not one light on the whole vehicle worked. No charge from the alternator. The new battery was gone too. I've been battling sorting out the electrical problems. So far I have fixed the alternator and some of the lights but still have a long way to go. There are still what I believe to be grounding problems that I can't find. The ute is really hard to start cold and the super glow system is doing my head in. I can't find new glow plug relays and I am thinking about converting it to a manual glow system.
Another problem I found was the radiator had too much movement and when I looked closer the front chassis cross member was completely rusted out. I was told the chassis was perfect with no rust. Anyway here are some pics of the cross member replacement.

The old cross member removed

The old cross member

 

[Dale]

The donor chassis

The new cross member fitted

I know I should have painted it but I was short on time and the plan is to strip the car in the future and gal dip the whole chassis.

 

[winnie]

really nice looking truck ... they're pretty rare here ... sorry you didn't get what you thought you were getting ... do you have any recourse against the seller given he misrepresented what he was selling based on the pictures he provided ...

 

[Dale]

Thanks Winnie. The seller thinks because he lives such a long way away that he will get away with it but that is not the case.

 

[west aussie]

gday dale, bummer that, dishonest people usually get their comeupance eventually. interested in your crossmember swap; i have to tackle the same issue someday. how did you spread the rails to fit the replacement? i have always imagined the front springs, engine mounts and cab mounts would need to be disconnected along one side to facilitate spreading the rails? did you find this?

 

[chappohj47]

Great looking ute to bad for the pos previous owner.

Only a little bit of frame rot

 

[Dale]

how did you spread the rails to fit the replacement? i have always imagined the front springs, engine mounts and cab mounts would need to be disconnected along one side to facilitate spreading the rails? did you find this?

I used a block of wood and the jack to spread the chassis rails. The guy I got the donor crossmember off suggested using a high lift jack which would be a lot safer but unfortunately I don't have one yet. I thought that I would have to loosen the mounts & springs too but the rails spread enough without having to do that. I should have taken more photos of each step.

 

[lostmarbles]

Nice job on the front crossmember there Dale.

28610-54080 - RELAY ASSY, GLOW PLUG (12V ARL main)
28610-54090 - same as above but SUB instead of MAIN

54080 can be found on a 2L LN56 HILUX (Aug 83 to Aug 86) and BJ42 and HJ47 from Oct 82 onwards
54090 " " " " L LN3# LN4# HILUX (Aug 81 to Mar84), HJ60 Land Cruiser (Oct 82 to Jan 90), BJ42 and HJ47 (Oct 82 onwards)

And there are probably more choices of vehicles to look for in wreckers too (but I've just restricted this to "known Aussi market vehicles").

all problems are surmountable

Cheers

 

[ozcrusier]

Dale
If thats the only rust it looks like a very clean truck you brought. Sorry to hear the seller ripped you on the deal.

 

[Dale]

I've been home a few days and made some good progress. I fitted new Toyota glow plug relays, glow plug sensor strap & bridge plate. Toyota only have one of the two relays required in stock so I had to buy a very similar relay made for Hilux. The ute started within a couple of seconds the first day these were installed. After that it has become a little hard to start cold. Far better than before not right yet. It starts instantly with a spray of "Start Ya Bastard" when cold so I presume there might be a fuel problem. The only electrical parts not replaced are the two resistor at the sensor strap. I have sorted all my lighting problems. I now have all lights, indicators front & rear, head lights, including high beam and reverse lights. I fitted LED bulbs to all my instruments in the cab. Today I fitted new slotted brake rotors to the front and some Bendix pads. The old rotors were totally stuffed but my new set up made no difference at first. Two feet pressing hard on the brake peddle, sweat beading on my forehead, butt cheeks clenched and we're not stopping. Turned out there was no vacuum from the alternator. I made a new pump with some parts from another alternator I had now I have brakes which allowed me to take it for it's first proper drive. I fixed a few other little problems, fitted a steel bull bar I picked up. Tomorrow I'm fitting a new radiator, hoses & thermostat.
I'm not good with the pics. I'm always in a hurry & forget. Here are a couple of the rotors

 

[herbs]

You're doing well mate, keep it up.

 

[roma042987]

good job! we need more pictures!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Spray the previous owner with some 'stop ya bastard'!

Great looking Ute nonetheless!

May I ask... What's a FIFO worker?

Keep smilin' Dale!

 

[Dale]

Thanks guys
FIFO stands for Fly In Fly Out. I work away for four weeks then fly home for one week

 

[Dale]

This morning I flushed the engine, installed the new radiator, hoses, thermostat, temperature sensor & filled it with new coolant. When I run the engine it got quite hot. It used to sit at about quarter on the temp gauge but now it sits over half. It doesn't get any worse on the gauge but you can really feel & smell the extra heat. What would cause the increase in temp? Has anyone got any suggestions on what I should look at?

 

[ozcrusier]

I would pull the thermostat and check if it opens in hot to boiling water if not take it back for a refunded and engine rebuild. Hope you didn't do too many K's and cook the top end off your engine. It pays to double check these days before fitting. I've heard of a few cooked engines of late from cheap aftermarket crap import thermostats.

 

[Dale]

I checked the new thermostat and it was ok (genuine Toyota). Put the old aftermarket one back in and it ran hot with that one too.

 

[lostmarbles]

This morning I flushed the engine, installed the new radiator, hoses, thermostat, temperature sensor & filled it with new coolant. When I run the engine it got quite hot. It used to sit at about quarter on the temp gauge but now it sits over half. It doesn't get any worse on the gauge but you can really feel & smell the extra heat. What would cause the increase in temp? Has anyone got any suggestions on what I should look at?

Hi there Dale..

You haven't owned this HJ47 for long so are you sure you can say with certainty: "used to sit at about 1/4"?

Does your fan sit properly at the exit to the fan shroud?

And when you flushed the radiator, did you back-flush it with it hanging upside-down to get any scale/rust-lumps out that may have been sitting on top of the tubes? And however you flushed things, did you see much sign of corrosion and debris inside? (I'm thinking maybe you've dislodged a lot of scale that's now blocking the tubes.)

Any maybe the viscous hub on the fan needs fresh silicone..

And how are the fins on the radiator? (Corroded away/blocked with solidified mud etc?)

 

[Dale]

Hi there Dale..

You haven't owned this HJ47 for long so are you sure you can say with certainty: "used to sit at about 1/4"?

Does your fan sit properly at the exit to the fan shroud?

And when you flushed the radiator, did you back-flush it with it hanging upside-down to get any scale/rust-lumps out that may have been sitting on top of the tubes? And however you flushed things, did you see much sign of corrosion and debris inside? (I'm thinking maybe you've dislodged a lot of scale that's now blocking the tubes.)

Any maybe the viscous hub on the fan needs fresh silicone..

And how are the fins on the radiator? (Corroded away/blocked with solidified mud etc?)

Hi Tom
The fan sits correctly but the viscous hub is a little sloppy. The radiator is brand new so I didn't flush it I just flushed the engine. There didn't appear to be any debris but I'm thinking maybe all I did was flush it into the water pump? I'll pull it off tomorrow & check it out. I think I will replace the viscous hub and maybe the water pump anyway.

Tom I remember coming across a pic you posted of your view of the harbour. From memory it looked like you live very close to my uncle but I can't find your pic again to check. Do you have the link?

 

[herbs]

Go to a Toyota dealer and get a couple of tubes of silicone oil for the viscous fan hub, cheaper than buying a whole new hub.