I’ve greatly enjoyed the threads on here about other members journeys so want to contribute my own.
Having an affinity for Toyotas since getting picked up from school in a hj45. Now driving a 200 series and the wife in a rav4 I thought I’d keep the theme going with a hj47 that I can pickup my son one day in.
I found this one on marketplace in a small town 2 hours out of Brisbane. It had been online a while and I thought I’d find out why after missing out on a couple of my earlier choices. Being sold as registered and roadworthy was also a big plus as I could get in and start driving from day 1.
Well I quickly found out that calling it roadworthy was a stretch but I was immediately taken by this yellow mustard Ute. First inspection identified some obvious issues, cracked windscreen, a variety of oil leaks. Suspension bushes almost non existent. Tie rod ends very possibly original from factory. But none of this mattered, it ticked the main boxes which was basically all original, with a manageable amount of rust. I quickly made a deal, and 5 days later I had it in my shed.
I have had a couple of weeks now to start a few repairs and come up with a plan.
To date I’ve changed the oil, the rocker cover gasket and spent a couple of hours cleaning 40 years of mud out of the chassis rails. It just keeps coming!
Stage 1. Get it drivable.
Clean and paint chassis in situ.
Terrain tamer kit on order and will fit myself. Brake service at a mechanic. Possibly steer it knuckle rebuild.
Tie rod ends and wheel alignment.
New headlights and indicators
Stage 2 Tray. Remove tray, treat or replace timber bed as needed. Panel beat and remove rust and paint. I have discovered a couple of tray mounts have been welded in place. Possibly due to lack of suitable bolt at the time. So some effort to correct this.
Stage 3. Upgrades. Have sourced a 5 speed gearbox and most parts. At this stage will do end bearings and any other mechanical necessary. Power steering, have the steering column on order, factory power steering box currently somewhere in continental USA but it will come my way thanks chamba.
Stage 4. Body. I’m going to try very hard to not start anything on the body until earlier stages are complete. Other than the windscreen it is all serviceable. When I do I’ll probably get the seats out to an upholstery and while not driveable I’ll pop the roof off and try and resolve some rust around back panel mounts and floor pan.
If you made it this far I really appreciate your interest and I’ll try my best to capture the journey.
Having an affinity for Toyotas since getting picked up from school in a hj45. Now driving a 200 series and the wife in a rav4 I thought I’d keep the theme going with a hj47 that I can pickup my son one day in.
I found this one on marketplace in a small town 2 hours out of Brisbane. It had been online a while and I thought I’d find out why after missing out on a couple of my earlier choices. Being sold as registered and roadworthy was also a big plus as I could get in and start driving from day 1.
Well I quickly found out that calling it roadworthy was a stretch but I was immediately taken by this yellow mustard Ute. First inspection identified some obvious issues, cracked windscreen, a variety of oil leaks. Suspension bushes almost non existent. Tie rod ends very possibly original from factory. But none of this mattered, it ticked the main boxes which was basically all original, with a manageable amount of rust. I quickly made a deal, and 5 days later I had it in my shed.
I have had a couple of weeks now to start a few repairs and come up with a plan.
To date I’ve changed the oil, the rocker cover gasket and spent a couple of hours cleaning 40 years of mud out of the chassis rails. It just keeps coming!
Stage 1. Get it drivable.
Clean and paint chassis in situ.
Terrain tamer kit on order and will fit myself. Brake service at a mechanic. Possibly steer it knuckle rebuild.
Tie rod ends and wheel alignment.
New headlights and indicators
Stage 2 Tray. Remove tray, treat or replace timber bed as needed. Panel beat and remove rust and paint. I have discovered a couple of tray mounts have been welded in place. Possibly due to lack of suitable bolt at the time. So some effort to correct this.
Stage 3. Upgrades. Have sourced a 5 speed gearbox and most parts. At this stage will do end bearings and any other mechanical necessary. Power steering, have the steering column on order, factory power steering box currently somewhere in continental USA but it will come my way thanks chamba.
Stage 4. Body. I’m going to try very hard to not start anything on the body until earlier stages are complete. Other than the windscreen it is all serviceable. When I do I’ll probably get the seats out to an upholstery and while not driveable I’ll pop the roof off and try and resolve some rust around back panel mounts and floor pan.
If you made it this far I really appreciate your interest and I’ll try my best to capture the journey.
