Dr Slug's 1983 BJ42 Build Thread - Yes I need a name for my truck (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Aug 4, 2009
Threads
10
Messages
116
Location
Brisbane QLD, Australia
Well when it was set that I was getting a new 40 series cruiser, I said to myself that I would document it from day one on here. Whilst working on the last BJ40 that I owned I learnt so much from the folk on here, and I thought that if something that I post up here can be of benefit to someone else, then all the better. So here goes-:cheers:


My old man had a 1978 BJ40 when we were growing up. It was the family car and every school holiday's we would take off somewhere in it with trailer behind. That truck never missed a beat, and I remember being annoyed when we got rid of it. Here's a pic of my sister and I being taken up river with our air mattresses to float down the river on a camping trip.

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Well for the past two and a half years I tinkered about with an August built 1979 BJ40. I originally bought it with the intention of doing a swap with the old man, he drives a HJ75 troopy. After having a play around with the 40 for a week or two, I realized that I was going to keep it for myself. It was a great little truck, until I rolled it onto it side trying to avoid a head on with some knob who was texting on his mobile phone.


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Well I was lucky and had it insured very well, so when it was written off by the insurance company, I bought it back and took what I wanted off it for the new project. Here's a shot of what was left after I pulled off what I wanted to keep, and anything else that I could sell off on eBay and to some mates.

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Well it didn't take me long to find this one on eBay - a 1983 BJ42 LX model. I talked to the owner a fair bit and got a heap of photo's sent to me before committing, and after I talked to the :princess: for permission (we live in a townhouse with only a single car garage, her car would have to be outside for a few months while the resto was happening) I got it shipped up from down south.

After a few weeks of anxious waiting for it to arrive, it finally arrived one evening last week. Before touching anything on it I decided to go nuts with the camera. Out of the 600 odd shots I took of it, detailing each little nook and cranny, here are a couple to show what I'll be working with -

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Well the first arvo I got a chance to have a play with it, I spent nearly 3 hours with the degreaser and high pressure cleaner working away at the grime underneath. I was really surprised that there was no rust damage underneath, and the floor pans in the front were spot on perfect.

Next step was to drop all the fluids in it, just to check I wasn't going to waste my time cutting all the rust and repainting before realising something was cactus underneath. All the oils looked fairly clean, but the diesel in the tank was pretty dirty. I emptied the water separator and was surprised at how much crap came out of it -

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I didn't end up dumping the radiator though, as after I cleaned up the engine bay I realised I would need a new one- the core was pretty much rooted in some spots.

So after I got it running I backed it into the garage for Saturday evening's entertainment. Stripped off the roof, and the rear side panels. Then had a few beers looking at it while the :princess: was inside looking at wedding planning.

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With the top off I could see just what I was in store for with the rust removal on the lower panels. The previous owner had this in a panel shop for a year before he sold it, with it basically looking like the rear corner panels the only work left to be done before a respray. A bit of cutting and some new patches welded in and it will be sweet-

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I'll be following this one, Dr Slug! Perhaps we can have a race some day, after both your nameless one and my Dora are back on the road ;)
Best of luck!
 
My rig is called Tora Tora but I should change it too "Rob's Yoytota Meat Wagon" Because I have left enough knuckle. head and shins meat and some blood on it to quailfy lol! Good work going on with your truck. I hope to see it completed.:cheers:
 
Well yesterday I drove it out of the garage and wanted to get the power steering fluid changed. Replaced the hoses with new ones, and filled up with new fluid. Steering is much better now, and not as noisy when I'm trying to move the truck back into the tight spot in the garage.

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The neighbours must be loving me pulling the truck out of the garage and hosing off crap in the driveway. :p

Probably as much as the :princess: is loving the smell of diesel and de-greaser that seems to be wafting into the house.

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Also had a few delivery's this afternoon - a sheet of steel for some areas to cut out and re weld, and my POR-15 painting supplies.

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Found some other parts that are rusted the other night when I folded the windscreen forward, oh well at least there is no where else I can find rust now.

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Nice read and it's great to see another person bringing back a BJ42 to its former glory.

Looks at home there in your driveway to me ... even if your neighbours aren't enthused.

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Best idea is to let the kids name it, and no matter what keep their name for it.

Kids remember stuff like that.

Then get the name cut out with a flowjet or a plasma cutter and mount it on a door or the dash or something.

Best,

T
 
Ooh, there's one place I didn't check for rust. Maybe when I do a full rebuild?
Neighbours? I'm sure mine were pleased when I was putting the front shackles back on with a rattle-gun at 10:30pm last Sunday night ;) Nice work on the deconstruction, Dr.
 
Nice work DrSlug! I remember seeing pics on here of your previous 40 up at Bribie only recently?! Sorry to hear that it ended that way. :frown:
I notice that your new 40, and the one you had beforehand, both have decals down the side. I reckon they look great, and when i eventually refurbish mine i'm going to look at adding some details like that.

Good on ya for getting into it like you are with just a single garage. Your :princess: must be a keeper for putting up with it! :p
 
Mate she looks great. A few long nights of work ahead but it'll be worth it in the end. That radiator and exhaust of your old rig is going great. Are you keeping this one a hardtop? If so hows the window sill under the curved glass windows. Started dismantling mine last weekend and found some nice rust under both windows. Any recent updates?

Laurie
 
Best idea is to let the kids name it, and no matter what keep their name for it.
+1, but wait until it's finished so the name sticks.
 
Well I've been flat out with work and then doing other things (wedding plans with the lady) that I haven't had much time to do much this week.

Well during a couple of evenings last week I finished off the metal work at the rear of the truck, then prepped and coated with the POR-15 products.

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Well as you can see my welding leaves a little to be desired (I'm using a gas less MIG) but nothing that an abrasive disc wont clean off.

Gee that Marine Clean and Metal Ready stuff is strong on the nose, I now know to make sure I do it outside of the garage. Definitely works though, the paint is the hardest of anything I've ever seen.

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Removed the window frame as well and coated it with the POR-15, then tackled the rust under the sill. Although it looks like a bit patch, it didn't seem to hard to fix up. Here's a bit of what I was up against, I've only just realised I didn't take any shots after I fixed. :doh:

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This week hope to put the priming coat on and sanded.

Also I pulled off the bar that was on the front of the truck, and am starting to think what bar I would like on the front. I did get this bar below with the truck, which I like cause it sticks out a bit. Thinking about cleaning it up, removing a few of the other tabs and what not, and then welding the barto a solid lower piece and have provision for a winch later on down the track. Obviously getting rid of the ugly mounting points on the bottom of the bar currently. I like the old school ARB bars, but cant seem to find any here in Australia in any yards or on eBay, so figure this is similar enough as it stands out from the bottom bar. But I'll probably change my mind before getting round to doing this :p


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:cheers:
 
Good work mate. I thought my cruiser had bad rust issues when I started pulling it down but I'm constantly amazed at the condition of some of the other trucks getting around and even more impressed the lengths that some people go to to bring them back to life. Keep it up.
 
Well after two weeks of not being able to work on the truck (damn work!), I've managed to actually finish something that I set out at the start of the weekend. I got my new radiator in the mail last week, so decided to whack it in. Check out the old one -

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And then check out this when I dropped the fluids-

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And like always when I replace the radiator, a new thermostat goes in - definately needed a new one by the look of this -

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Well the lower hose connector was screwed, I thought it was weird Toyota used this instead of having the hose go straight to the radiator like the BJ40 I used to have. Well I went out on Sat morning to a mates place, he made this up for me - luckily I resisted getting on the beers with him, I wouldnt of got anything this else done.

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New piece fitted, also the radiator surround and shroud got the POR-15 treatment that I have been going nuts with for the rest of the build.

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And the final look -

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Well when I was scrapping the previous BJ40 for parts, I pulled off the spare wheel carrier. When I saw that my new truck had one attached to it, I sold the previous spare wheel carrier on ebay. One Saturday evening I was sitting in the garage with a mate looking at the truck, and I thought to myself "where the hell is the spare wheel carrier". I talked to the guy who sold it to me, and he assured me it was attached when it was put on the truck up to Brisbane. Turns out some scum bag had taken it off when the truck had stopped somewhere for the night, pricks! So I picked up this one on ebay a few weeks ago, its been sitting in the back of my everyday car since, decided to finally pull it out and have a look at it. Bit rusty, but nothing a grinder and the POR-15 cant handle-

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Geez, Dr., it's mighty rough that people steal tyre carriers in Brissie. Here I am thinking that mine is safe from such heinous offences :( Good luck with the progress - you're doing well, and it's always worth getting rid of the dodgy bits like that radiator!
 
Not something that you'd expect to get flogged. I always have locking nuts on my spare but I never considered that someone might steal the whole carrier! Thats rough.
 
Well it's been a few busy weeks, and haven't been able to get much done on the truck at all. The :princess: and I had our engagement party the other week, so was busy with that.

I did take a week off work to finish up the spray painting, until her Nan that was staying with us started choking on the fumes that were coming into the house. With Nan gone yesterday, I spent all day today getting the final top coat on the car -

Primer -

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Top Coat -

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Was happy with the final coating, although when I went out to the garage just now I have noticed a couple of spots above the firewall that have water patches on them. Must of dripped onto the car when I backed it into the garage after spraying. Will have to touch up next weekend :doh:

Well next Saturday looks like it's going to be a more productive day, and I have a heap more parts on their way in the mail as well.

:cheers:
 

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