ih8mud inspired build (1 Viewer)

[Dagha Boy]

Back home after 3 weeks plus in the Baviaanskloof.

My planned barn diving for Cruiser bits did not go as planned. Mainly because the roads are in such poor condition that the Jeep was getting damaged just driving on them, so I had to confine myself to just a few farms in the immediate vicinity. The farms are big and therefore the sheds few and far between. Some spectacular scenery and roads to make up though.

THERE'S A SHED OVER THE MOUNTAIN AT THE END OF THAT ROAD

TOLD YOU SO

A-HA! LOOKS PROMISING

AND WHAT HAVE WE HERE? LOOKING GOOOOD.

AND AROUND THE BACK...

DR LAND CRUISER I PRESUME

 

[Dagha Boy]

This one was unfortunately badly rusted as it had spent most of its life on the coast. My mission is to find good body parts for the next build. The windscreen frame on this one has zero rust.
The hood is also rust free but somebody cut a random slice into it with an angle grinder or some such. Easy fix.
The hood skirts are in great condition.
Transmission cover is good.
Bib is good - disassembled but all parts except screen are there.
Running boards are rusted but salvageable.
Doors could be salvaged with a lot of work.
The engine is shot - a 2.8 Nissan Diesel. Drive line is all there but no telling what condition. I'm guessing pretty beat up.
Lots of nice bits and pieces though including a really nice radiator frame and 2 radiators. Well worth recovering.
Everything that's needed for the dashboard bar the instrument cluster.

It belongs to 2 brothers and one was away on holiday. The other didn't want to take a decision - says his brother may have given it to somebody else. Will know next week.

A BIT WRINKLED AND RUSTY BUT STILL GETS THE HEART GOING (HJ45)

NOTE THE GASH IN THE HOOD... WHY??? RR SPRING GONE.

LOTSA USEABLE STUFF INCLUDING GLO PLUG CONTROLLER

RADIATOR FRAME AND RADIATORS

HOPEFULLY THESE SWALLOWS WILL SOON BE HOMELESS.

 

[Dagha Boy]

And then I went further...

FOUND THIS LADY

FJ75. 3F MOTOR AND 5 SPD GEARBOX.

GENUINE MILEAGE 99.99% DONE OFF ROAD

MINOR DINGS AND SCRATCHES

INTERIOR A BIT BATTERED.

 

[Dagha Boy]

BROKEN WINDSCREEN AND SHOT TYRES

Turns out this vehicle was used for hunting jackals (coyotes) hence the matt grey paint all over everything.

It just so happens that I need a beater to use as daily driver since I sold the Green Jeep. I got a hold of the owner and he was willing to sell. We put a battery in, pulled the choke out and she fired right up. I then took it into the mountains for a whole morning thrashing the hell out of it. I managed to scare myself a couple of times. It performed flawlessly. Ran straight on the badly corrugated gravel at up too 100kmh, absolute dream off road in the worst possible terrain and clocked 120kmh on the farm runway.

I found a little rust on the tub floor on both sides. Easy to fix. Bit of rust in the load bed and the one headlight doesn't work same for right rear indicator.

Not a single oil leak and quite clearly has been well maintained mechanically. Clean oils. Freshly greased shackles, tie rods etc. It had been standing for more than a year and there was no sign of oil underneath.

A bit of negotiating and more than a bit of whiskey and we did the deal for R30 000. (+/ $2 150).

I will now take the wheels off the Dagha Boy and fetch it next week sometime.

I'm a happy boy!!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Very cool! I have some friends headed your way with their Jeep..... I wouldn't, actually, be surprised at all if you don't already know them. http://www.thepioneeringspirit.com/

 

[Vossie]

lekker dagha! i grew up on the back of a HZJ75, my pa's one. still makes me feel like a kid again whenever i see an old dog like that

 

[DSB345]

Great work!

 

[Dagha Boy]

Very cool! I have some friends headed your way with their Jeep..... I wouldn't, actually, be surprised at all if you don't already know them. http://www.thepioneeringspirit.com/

I hadn't heard of them yet, but will contact them and give them some contact numbers for Jeep independents around the country as the dealerships are awful. will also make contact so if they come by Plett I can meet up with them and arrange some comps for them for activities etc they can do here.

Thanks Vossie and DSB345. I can't wait to get driving her. The workers at the panel shop where I've got Dagha Boy have said that they will fix all the dents and rust and respray it for me over two weekends. I buy material, beer and meat... Good deal I think.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I took a bunch of people out wheeling, they were with us


these guys are cable-channel-famous (Alaska OffRoad Warriors)


and came too.... much fun, neat people

 

[Vossie]

Thanks Vossie and DSB345. I can't wait to get driving her. The workers at the panel shop where I've got Dagha Boy have said that they will fix all the dents and rust and respray it for me over two weekends. I buy material, beer and meat... Good deal I think.

sounds great. i see lots of wors and biltong in your near future

 

[DSB345]

That's a great deal!
You have alot to be proud of.

 

[boozewz]

3 mates and I did the Baviaanskloof some years ago on BMW motos. Awesome place.

And great barn find too! Out here in KSA, something like that would go for 3 times the amount. Hard to replace for those farmers!

 

[D21FJ60]

Man, this thread is amazing. Great finds all around. I am living vicariously through you now @Dagha Boy !!

 

[Dagha Boy]

SBG. I can't help it but I love that flat fender...

Vossie. Ja, it's going to be fun. Normally I would want to do it myself and take my time, and do it PROPERLY (PERFECTLY), but we all know what that inevitably leads to... FRAME OFF!! So, I'll buy lots of meat and let them push like hell to get the job done and it takes it out of my hands and I'll have a daily driver by end Feb the latest and can get on with the next 45.

Dave. Thanks. I love your elegant solution to the perpetual Space-for-the-Cruiser problem.

Boozewz. I got very lucky on this one. I also found a nice steel canopy for it in a shed on another farm. The farmer gave it to me. Apparently at the time Toyota threw in a canopy as an incentive but 99.9% of them were never used. I found a second one off an FJ45 on another farm, also brand new, which I bought for R 2000 (+/-$150)

The Baviaanskloof is one of my favourite places. A friend owns 30k ha (about 60k acres) bordering onto the western end of the conservation area. The bikers love it and over the years I have helped recover many BMW's that fell over in the water at Smitskraal. I'm sure you will remember Smitskraal -the long river crossing with the slippery loose round rocks in bottom. So nice that there is somebody out there who would actually know where I was. The new LCs are very expensive and it appears that a lot of the farmers in that area are using Ford Rangers.

THE SHED.

THE CANOPY (MATRASSES AND WHEEL NOT INCLUDED)

An unexpected bonus that comes out of this is that the MWFD has suggested that the FJ76 and canopy combination should be put to use doing a trip up to Kenya and Tanzania via Botswana and Zambia. Sounds good to me.

Billy. Thanks. I keep looking for bits and pieces. It's great fun. The FJ75 will expand my horizons considerably.

 

[Dagha Boy]

I fetched the FJ75 daily driver and got her into the workshop next to Dagha Boy to clean her up and fix a few things for the roadworthy test and to do a bit of painting and rustproofing/prevention. The trip was without incident and she ran like a beauty but for a bit of wander and a bit of a miss every now and again.

The guys at the shop had agreed to do all the body work for me over a couple of weekends. All I had to do was give it a thorough cleaning...
You can see I started off by removing the grille...

And then it happened.

AAaaaaaaaaaargh!!!! Why didn't anybody warn me.

As I cleaned, more and more came off. Just to get to hard-to-get-at-places, you understand. Well, 10 days later it is totally stripped. The body comes off this morning...

And then it escalated. While-it-is-accessible... While-it's-off... May-as-well... Can't-do-this-without-doing that...

I started doing a tune-up... Compression was a bit low on 3, and is that a bit of oil on the plug?

You guessed it - engine rebuild.

And while-it's-out-and-in-pieces...proper clean-up and paint for the engine...

Every bit of the engine has been done and ready for assembly, a heap of new bits and pieces ordered so hopefully if all the parts arrive today as planned it should all be back together by the weekend.

Work on the Dagha Boy is at a standstill. It is NOT clever to have two projects going at once. NOT GOOD AT ALL.

 

[Honger]

Just found this build... lovin' it. Can't wait to see more progress... on either of your fine Cruisers.

Joel

 

[TractorDoc]

I have been slowly (over the past two weeks) reading thru your build and I am very impressed with your ambitions and abilities. Love reading about working in the bush. . . Africa was one of the places I never made it to in my travels but there is always someday. I have your same sickness; I can remove an oil filter and next thing you know the entire vehicle is in pieces to be built back up to my state of satisfaction. Keep up the great work, looking forward to seeing the Dagha Boy completed and reading about your further adventures.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Thanks for the nice work, TractorDoc. My ambitions though seem to always exceed my abilities - but that makes life interesting.

I've been keeping a close eye on your build from this side... Like it.

Ja, the sickness is terrible and came into full bloom when this FJ75 made its appearance.

I ended up tearing it apart completely except for the load bed. Cleaned and repainted everything, new rings and bearings, oil pump etc and should finish assembly by Friday... A month of Dagha Boy time wasted.

Just a general clean up and rust prevention exercise...

 

[JohnnyC]

You should have just drove it lol

Well it's going to look great when done ... how much longer 2-3 months?

 

[Vossie]

its inevitable... "im just going to do this small little ..." and then the cars apart. i think we all know this feeling