HJ47 (1 Viewer)

[frankenyota]

My brother has been out west on border patrol during the COVID pandemic, so I told him I would love to have a landcruiser ute to go with my SWB FJ40, so have a look around.
After a few months of looking he came across a property with 4 utes and a troopy.
3 utes are HJ47’s, HJ47 troopy and an Fj45 1977 all in very good condition.
Here’s a picture of the utes once home, the troopy and my new ute at the property.

 

[frankenyota]

It took a month to move all the landcruisers due to time and location but they finally all made it to there new home.
My brother asked me which ones I was interested in?
How can a man choose from all these beauties
I said the troopy and a ute.
He sent me these pics of one ute

 

[frankenyota]

 

[frankenyota]

So after a quick inspection of the utes and troopy I decided on the Ute in the pictures above as I already have the shorty in a rebuild process. My brother was keen to keep the troopy as everyone kept telling him how good it was and rare.
slowly turning him into a cruiser head

 

[frankenyota]

Got the Ute home and put a battery in it to see it would start. Bought it only after a quick look over and didn’t know what the condition of the engine and running gear was like. It fired up pretty much straight away, winning. Started the clean up with a wash and blasting all the years of dirt from the chassis rails, which were half full of crud. Here it is home and washed.
Also got a late model cab in great condition that I can use all my LX parts on

 

[frankenyota]

Next I moved onto the interior and stripped out the seats, belts and flooring. Rats had moved in and eaten a section of vinyl but still useable. Scrubbed the vinyl and seats and belts which came up good. Then hit the inside of the cab with the pressure washer.

 

[frankenyota]

The fuel gauge didn’t work so I pulled the sender out and found the fuel tank was full. The fuel had gone bad but still ran smooth with no smoke. Drained all 60 litres of fuel and found the tank had sludge still in it. Removed the tank for a proper clean at a mates radiator shop and reinstalled. Removed the sediment filter and found it full of sludge cleaned it out and fixed up the wiring for the switch. Also changed the filters in the dual filter set up.
Some pictures of the process

Here’s the make shift fuel tank while the paint dries on the now clean tank

 

[frankenyota]

The fuel pick up had some stainless mesh wired on the end that was worn, so I removed it. Not sure if it has a filter screen fitted from factory?

picture of the tank cleaning using a high pressure hot water gun and a cocktail of cleaning chemicals. Tank came out looking brand new.

 

[cruiserpilot]

So there IS gold in the hills of Queensland!! Wow, what an epic find and recovery.

 

[FJBen]

Awesome! I love finds like these!

 

[TRAILTOYZ]

score! Going to be some cool builds

 

[frankenyota]

Box of parts arrived. With the fuel system sorted I made a start on the brakes. Rear shoes and wheel cylinders, front brake caliber over hauls and new flex brake hoses. New clutch slave and master cylinders. Needed a new clutch flex hose but couldn’t find one the correct length so using two joined together until i find one.
Used a old brake master I had from another ute but it has started to weep.
Can’t seem to find a Japanese made master cylinder here in Australia but can get a BGF Taiwanese one? Lost marbles had a review on BGF clutch master and slave that seems like a quality unit so might give the brake master a go.
Brake caliper overhaul

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Why can't I find trucks like this?

 

[sggoat]

anyone know a link/contact for bgf?

 

[frankenyota]

The BGF brake master cylinder i have been looking at getting is from 4x4 world on eBay.
They messaged me saying the bore size is 7/8 and not 15/16 like my original so will keep looking for the correct size or see about getting the original overhauled?
Seems that the 7/8 bore master is more common down under.
Link to the BGF clutch master review

Goodbye Aisin/Asco. Hello B.G.F./BIGGS

Saw this thread and was hoping he was back.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[frankenyota]

Ute didn’t want to start as well as it has been so decided to replace the dodgy fuse box with a new Narva 12 way prewired one.

After finding out the Narva was a bolt in blade fuse box I thought I would give it a go. Only issue was the fuse box only has 2 inputs so after some phones calls to Narva tech line I managed to remove the bus bar and turn the fuse box into a 3 input one.
Installed Narva fuse box

Cutting and wiring the bus bar for a third input, you can see the locking tabs on the end of the terminals. I should have made it a 3 and 3 input. Fuse box needs Battery, accessories and ON feeds.
Feels solid reinstalled and heaps better than the old one.

 

[frankenyota]

Started to do a tidy up on the battery wiring. It seems I’m missing the fuseable links and have a lot of connectors that just pulled apart. Soldered in some new wire but will need to work out what amperage fuseable links I need and buy some to add in. Think my brother has a spare harness so will see if there’s anything on that. Also made a new positive battery cable and fixed the earth strap from the starter motor. Went and cleaned all the glow plug connectors aswell.

 

[frankenyota]

Straightened out some on the dents in the front panels and got my oldest son to pull the radiator out for a clean and flush. I did flush the engine and heater core first. Removed the thermostat and housing to find this

Here’s the radiator before paint after the core was cleaned and fins straightened. Still in good condition, has a few repairs but will come up nice after a dulux rebuild.

 

[frankenyota]

While the radiator was out I checked the movement of the fan and water pump. The fan was cracked at the mounts.

pulled the viscous hub and split it so I could change the oil. Drained the old oil and filled the half upto the holes with new viscous oil, then reassembled.

The water pump had some movement in the shaft. Bearings were shot Bloody surprised it wasn’t leaking, didn’t sound that bad running. The old 2H must have been louder than the worn bearings.

 

[frankenyota]

Stripped the water pump and thermostat housings. Sandblasted the housing and filled in any defects or pitting and painted them. Cleaned up the housing that the water pump fits to and painted it then Installed the new GMB waterpump. New gaskets, thermostat and hose fitted.