Builds HJ60 Snow white (2 Viewers)

[Samppahj]

And then some stickers.

There was a bit show with this dealer sticker. The dealer closed in the beginning of the 90's. He remembered that the sticker was black with gold letters. Son of a salesman of that dealer remembered size and font. One guy at a swap meet got one original sticker for his station wagon Toyota Crown. But he had sold the car. I asked for the current owner to send me a picture of the sticker but it was removed. Previous owner found a video he took when the car left his yard and there I got a look how the sticker was. With all this info I made that one and the dealer confirmed that this one looks right. So that is good.

I have done some other things also but more on those later.

 

[mongoose2231]

****en a man!! Truck looks great!

 

[Samppahj]

Let´s go through some stuff I have worked with earlier.

About couple years ago when writing about tires I mentioned that spare wheel need to be washed.

And as things seems to be with me it escalated a bit. When rolling the tire from the garage my eyes focused on stones in threads. They had to be removed.

I went over it couple laps. When one round was finished I saw some bits here and there until it seemed to be clean from stones. When I painted the brake lines I felt a bit stupid. When I pulled out dents from the exhaust pipe I felt a bit more stupid. Now when I cleaned the tire with a toothbrush, well you can imagine how I felt.

I used a bigger brush on sidewalls though. Quite a bit dirt came off.

After the wash it did not look so good.

But after some Ultima tire & trim gel it looked good.

And finished.

Then I sanded the awful looking painted spare wheel carrier and painted it again to smooth out the rust pits. It still looks bad. I mounted a new winch thingy on it.

Then the first job for refurbished crank.

There it is.

 

[Samppahj]

Then hooks. I have mentioned these before when I painted them. I lost the front one and bought a replacement for it. It looked different than I remembered. I tried to find the other one with no luck. After a while I found it when looking for something else. And I was right, it looked different.

Searching on some part pictures I found out that for the winch setup the hook is different than for w/o winch. The condition of that rusty hook was so bad so I decided to buy a new one.

Luckily I lost that hook because otherwise the hook would not be right. But now it is.

Rear one also mounted.

Some years ago when I was hunting for some other parts I noticed that one dismantled square headlight HJ60 had a decent looking hood insulator. I had to come back later to get it. I have noticed that HJ60 and HJ61 has different looking insulator so to find a good right one was some kind of jackpot. I screwed it in the ceiling of my garage so I would not break it before it gets put on the hood. And it worked.

It was a bit hard to clean it. I used compressed air to blow out the loose dirt. Then brushed it with a soft brush and blew some air at the same time. Then textile cleaner, brush, microfiber towels and water. Then on the hood to dry. It came out nice. After it dried it became a bit lighter than in the picture but looks clean. Fastening clips are used but washed.

 

[Samppahj]

Then to the rear. Some follower on a other forum noticed from pictures that my cables were bad. I noticed the same thing when washing them but forgot it and put them on the car. And sure they were bad.

Did some storage digging and found couple spare ones. One is the original for he truck and I used it because it was in a better shape. It has also some damage on wires. I took longer replacements from the motor end to get the joint not in the hinge section.

Corroded pin had to be changed right after connector.

Then taped it together again.

And mounted.

One spare body had decent looking shocks. I dismantled the fasteners from them and washed. Some rust and scrathes was found. I had the fasteners zincked earlier.

Used some semi gloss rattle can for make up. Painted also the fasteners partly black. And then swapped the temporary ones to these refurbished.

In some Facebook group I found a used rear wiper motor along with new arm and blade. I got exited about the arm and bought it. When I got it I noticed that one fastener was broken on the motor.

But the wiper end was in such good condition so I was happy.

Luckily I had one motor without a broken tab. When washing all the text went away and that is a bit sad.

And mounted.

Washer nozzle was a bit pain also. Only decent looking was the cars original one.

But it had one broken tab.

I have a new nozzle for the model with round headlights. It was way too different looking.

I tried to fix the broken tab with glue but it broke of when mounting. I bought one with ok tabs but it was in so bad shape otherwise I could not use it. Only option was to take the metal tabs from the older model and glue them in the right nozzle. I used 2k epoksy and it worked well.

Finaly nozzle, new arm, new arm cover, new lock cylinder and new rubber thingy mounted.

 

[Samppahj]

Some time ago I bought a used rear lock. I found it here on mud. It was in such a good shape that it needed nothing. But the cover plate for it was a bit harder. In Finland they all are a big block of rust along with the lock. Luckily i got a NOS plate with some other parts that I bought.

And mounted. This plate is one of the most satisfying parts I have bolted on the car.

I had also lost the ground wire for heater. Had to take it from the original hatch. It was painted.

After couple days of soaking and scrubbing the paint gave up.

And mounted. Fabricated a new grommet for the positive lead. It is nla and the old one broke when removing it. Tried also to clean the oxidation on the tabs. Did not get all.

Opening button is from original hatch also. A bit faded in the sun but otherwise ok.

Refurbished lower hatch locks couple years ago. Someone had painted them.

Paint stripper took away some and the rest was removed with citric acid.

I was a bit afraid how they will manage the zinc process but they came out like new. Even the plastic parts shines like new.

And mounted along with new button and rubber grommet for it.

When I got the rear hatches mounted I went through my storage for the lower tail gate lever. One was painted and couple ones corroded. Started searching for a new one. The part is nla. But with google i found one from ebay. I was a bit suspicious about it because the price was only $20. But after a couple weeks of waiting I got it and it was new like described.

And mounted. Also the license plate light is new.

Did some wrapping of the GX-badge earlier. Tried a couple times more and got it done better. After pictures I did some small trimming and it came out nice.

I tried to ask for measurements for the position of it from some Finnish Facebook groups with no luck. Also google had some different variations on it. But I decided to mount it beside the 4WD badge.

And the whole picture.

 

[Dekeman]

Highest level of cruiser porn right here.

 

[JVangDenmark]

I like the level of details - wow! And I personally just love the white 60 series

 

[mongoose2231]

Them zinc coated parts are freakin' awesome. I am so pissed that I cannot find someone local to get mine done.
Still searching.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Again, truly wonderful work! Can you remind me, are you doing your own zinc plating?

 

[Samppahj]

No I am not. I have a company that I use. I sometimes thought about trying myself. But then I came to a conclusion that I don't have to try do everything myself. The company is about 30km away so it is easy to drop parts for them to do their magic.

 

[77CruiserDog]

No I am not. I have a company that I use. I sometimes thought about trying myself. But then I came to a conclusion that I don't have to try do everything myself. The company is about 30km away so it is easy to drop parts for them to do their magic.

I am in a similar boat.... I would like to do much of the work myself but I don't feel obligated to do everything. The problem I'm running in to is that the nearby plating shop wants 750 to 1100 EUR to plate all of my hardware. I am going to look for other solutions today.

One of the leading solutions so far is Overland Metric's Stainless Steel JIS bolt kit. I used it on my FJ40 when I did a similar project and their hardware is beautiful.

Another is this... Plating Kits - Copy Cad® & Zinc Plating Kits - Caswell Inc - https://caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/zinc-plating-kits.html I might do a mixture of both ideas.

I really appreciate the detail you've put in to your vehicle and your posts. It's so amazing watching you take something seemingly destroyed and make it look like new. I hope to achieve your level of patience and detail.

 

[Samppahj]

I am in a similar boat.... I would like to do much of the work myself but I don't feel obligated to do everything. The problem I'm running in to is that the nearby plating shop wants 750 to 1100 EUR to plate all of my hardware. I am going to look for other solutions today.

One of the leading solutions so far is Overland Metric's Stainless Steel JIS bolt kit. I used it on my FJ40 when I did a similar project and their hardware is beautiful.

Another is this... Plating Kits - Copy Cad® & Zinc Plating Kits - Caswell Inc - https://caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/zinc-plating-kits.html I might do a mixture of both ideas.

I really appreciate the detail you've put in to your vehicle and your posts. It's so amazing watching you take something seemingly destroyed and make it look like new. I hope to achieve your level of patience and detail.

That price seems quite high. My local shop charges 50€ and that is for up to 25kg batch.

For you and others that has commented I thank you for support. It is nice to know that other apreciates my works and effort.

 

[LazarusTaxa]

For you and others that has commented I thank you for support. It is nice to know that other apreciates my works and effort.

Yours has been a HUGE inspiration to my build. I've taken tons of notes and tips from all of your work. Thanks for posting it all.

 

[Samppahj]

Work in the rear continued. I ordered new weatherstrips for the rear. Rubber for the opening was so bad so I decided to go with new. And with the same shipping came others also.

I noticed that my struts were upside down and one was leaking so I replaced them with new and correct way mounted.

Then some small things. Screws for upper hatch service covers should be yellow. I will have them done if I will come up some other things that put in same batch.

I had to make a new wire for licence plate light. I ordered some oem look connectors from Aliexpress.

At the same time I was under the car I mounted the wiring loom, connected fog lights, did the wiring for trailer socket and screwed on the bracket for hand brake cable.

When looking through some old pictures I found a pic of my fathers ex. LJ70. I noticed the TOYOTA cover for tow ball. I remember when it was bought. We were on a vacation trip with trailer and I forgot the old cover on the bumper when attaching the trailer and it fell off.

I had to have one also. That design is not available from Toyota so I had to make it myself. Got a template made as a decal and then painted the text. First version was too large but the second became right. 7 covers went to scrap before I got one successfully made.

Digging through the storage I found theese flaps. Chose two best ones an re freshened them.

Clips for these are NLA but luckily I found right ones from some webstore in Finland.

 

[Samppahj]

Glove box lid gave some real headache. Over 2 years ago I painted it but when removing masking tape from the decals i made a fingerprint in fresh paint. It was so close to the decal so I decided it would be easier to start fresh with another one. I have bought these along the way when some more or less dent free has come up. So I took another lid to do it again. After some bondo and sanding I painted it. Then I noticed that a dusty boiler room is not the best place to paint. I sanded again and sprayed a new layer of paint. The spray can nozzle got stuck and the finish was very orange peel. I sanded it and put a clear coat on. The color lightened too much. Then I got a new paint can and tried again. This time the paint got some wrinkles. So next step was to media blast it clean. After that I sprayed a light coat of black and after sanding found all the dents.

Bondo again.

Then I had to struggle with bondo edges shining through.

At last I got a finish I was happy with. Before adding the decals I noticed that the color was wrong. The new can was too light and blue.

I went to the paint store and asked how it is possible that two cans made with same paint code are so different. Conclusion after testing was that the first can was made wrong but the shade was right. They took a new shade with a camera and I was not happy because I had painted the lower part of dash with the first can and my dash is assembled so the new color has to be right. I painted the lid once again and it looked much better. So I got to put the decals on.

The lid had one more trick in its sleeve. The screw for the stopper was so long that it made a small dent from inside.

Luckily it straightened with a push of a finger and I found a shorter screw from another lid.

And finally on its place. Not a 100% match with the lower part but so close that I don´t need to disassemble the dash and paint it again.

More of those decals. I drew them myself. Not 100% match but very close.

I bought those decals from Cruiserworld some years ago and they are totally useless. Font is wrong, colors are wrong, pictures are wrong and those are gloss and oem are matt. I asked them what to do because I was not happy with them. The answer was that they will make a new batch as matte finish and they seemed to be very happy with their product and told me that it was a big job to have them made. It took me 2-3 evenings to make my own versions. So I don´t know what the big work was on their decals and the result became so bad. And after a year ago I asked them of these and they said that they have not made a new set of the decals. So the result was that I lost my money, have crappy decals and no idea when I could get some better or my money back so I decided to make my own. Here is for comparison Cruiserworld vs. my own.

I also got a picture from a fellow cruiserhead of a importer decal. It is a proof of rust prevent treatment done by the importer. So while I was going with other decals I drew this also. Still has to figure out where to put it.

 

[Samppahj]

Also painted the carpets. I have not found a set new ones that would be either reasonable priced or fit right so had to try to fresh up the old ones. They became ok when faded areas got some color.

Then I had to clean the car so the assembly of interior could start. Also hand brake lever is on its place.

That will be replaced. I ordered a Hsomething75 handle just to see if it fits.

They are almost identical. Handle color and switch differs from 60 series. I was going to modify the handle to work with 60 series switch but it would be easier to make a adapter cable. I did some searching of other Toyota models with the same switch. After that to a local scrap yard and a piece of wire from a Toyota Avensis.

Other connector I took from glove box light. Then some soldering.

To be able to start with the interior the car has to be dust proof. So to the doors. I disassembled few doors to get a one part here and another there. Painted the division bars with the same paint that the front grill.

Toothbrushed the seals, polished shiny bits and assembled.

I was a bit afraid if all the decoration parts from square headlight model will fit to doors from a round headlight model. But they did fit. Parts for the other doors are washed so it will be continued with those.

 

[mongoose2231]

"tooth brushed the seals"!!!
Dedication...

 

[JVangDenmark]

You are the King of details - I really like it! Keep it going

 

[Samppahj]

You are the King of details - I really like it! Keep it going

That could be my Superhero name Thank you!