HJ47 troopcarrier to ute conversion

[wedgetail]

I'm hoping someone can comment on my plan of cutting my 1981 HJ47 troopy down into a tray back ute. There are various reasons for it but the main one is I can't sell my troopy for as much as buying a ute would cost.

Has anyone heard of or have any experience of this? Looking at mine and another one here on the property it looks like I can cut the spot welds off and separate at the seem just behind the doors and behind the seats, then splice a ute cab back on in its place. Then the cab should just bolt straight on. Can anyone comment?

There is a wreck of an HJ45 here I can have that has a pretty good body, and an HJ47 ute I can look and measure off to get it right. The only complication is the HJ45 has the tank under the seat so I'll have to modify its back panel to fit against my later style floor. And Ill have to do something inventive with the tank filler.

It will be unregistered for a few years but I'll want to get it on the road eventually so I guess I'll have to have an engineer sign off on it one day. But this is less of a consideration right now.

Of course, if someone would like to swap an HJ47 troopy for an HJ47 (or 2H powered 40 series ute) I'd love it!

 

[Zimmi]

I have seen quite a few utes the same price as troopies, lately iv seen a few go for more than utes in good nick though. doing the conversion will more likely end up more expensive then just buying a ute to begin with plus all the time and resources needed what's your time worth etc. if its a project that you really want to do then go for it.
Just my 2c

 

[wedgetail]

I have seen quite a few utes the same price as troopies, lately iv seen a few go for more than utes in good nick though. doing the conversion will more likely end up more expensive then just buying a ute to begin with plus all the time and resources needed what's your time worth etc. if its a project that you really want to do then go for it.
Just my 2c

well even if that is the trend, unfortunately when it came to mine it only went for $2550, which I was a bit gutted about considering it's in good mechanical condition, no rust and 5 months rego. All the rego's HJ47 utes I seen have gone for considerably more than that (although there was one in VIC that didn't sell for $3200 but that was a while ago and still $700 short). I've been watching ebay like a hawk for a couple of months now and the only cheap ones are HJ45s and older rough FJ45s. Are you saying the engineer will charge more to inspect than the cost of a ute? I have everything else on hand here and won't need to be anything at all. But you're right about the time...

To be honest I would rather not do that work, but I want an HJ47 ute enough to do it. It also has a very smooth H55F, a 2H I know is good, good axles and TC, and a rust free straight chassis. I've built up confidence in it over the last 10 years and getting another vehicle of the same age is always a bit of a lottery.

 

[Zimmi]

Just saw a Hj47 ute on gum tree for 3.5k the body looks like it needs a bit of work but you have some good panels from a hj45 right ? So it may end up cheaper to go down that track ie pick up a hj47 that needs a little body work. Again just my 2c

If your interested to sell your troopy, pm me some pics and your asking price I may be looking for one in the near future.

 

[Clint79]

Maybe you could buy a Ute back and roof and remove the troopy roof and sit the Ute roof and back on then a few panel mods ,then it would kind of look like a well body Ute, or do you need the flat tray

 

[crushers]

doing a proper conversion is never cheap ...
but
have you considered just buying a cab, unbolt the troopie body, sell it.
bolt on the cab of pickup
done
weekend job.

no?

 

[harleyyoung]

Im actually wanting to the same with a hzj75 ute to a troopy. Keen on hearing more. Just swapping a troop body onto my ute chasis. Or would a hj47 troop body fit on a hzj chasis

 

[RedTail07]

This looks like an old thread revived, but if anyone ever wants to convert a troopy into a ute, i'll gladly take your troop seats