My Hawaiian HJ60 Refresh, Maintenance and Good Times

[Aloha Jen]

Got some goodies in the mail! Huge thanks goes out to @4Cruisers for the AC dash switch!!

With the down time waiting on parts to come in, thought it would be good to see if we could get the AC dash switch installed and crossed fingers to see if the switch plug was in the dash!

Before installing, took out the 12v light bulb inside the switch because of my 24v setup. Would be nice to have an AC indicator light, but will have to try and track down a 24v bulb someday.

Got the plastic trim off around the AC controls. Plugs were back in there behind it. Plugged right in, one step closer to having AC!

With the dash trim and accessories out, they will be cleaned up, take care of any rust, and repair the cracked trim.

 

[franklin40]

if you want to try to fix your trim you could try what i did. i used jb weld and fibreglass cloth on the back side. i even filled a few screw holes that were cracked. i then used my dremel with a sanding wheel and sanded it down smooth once dry. i then drilled the holes where they were supposed to be. mine has no rattles any more and the jb weld is super strong and the fiberglas cloth helps too. maybe over kill but it's easy. messy but easy. way cheaper than finding a bezel in good shape

 

[Aloha Jen]

if you want to try to fix your trim you could try what i did. i used jb weld and fibreglass cloth on the back side. i even filled a few screw holes that were cracked. i then used my dremel with a sanding wheel and sanded it down smooth once dry. i then drilled the holes where they were supposed to be. mine has no rattles any more and the jb weld is super strong and the fiberglas cloth helps too. maybe over kill but it's easy. messy but easy. way cheaper than finding a bezel in good shape

Well, great minds must think alike, since we just did the same fix minus the fiberglass.
Ours wasn't too bad, one screw hole was split and another cracked.

We JB welded for the fix, and used a pull strap to keep it nice and tight.

Other then that, it was in pretty good shape. No painting was necessary as the JB welded part is a pretty close color to the original paint and kinda tucks up under the dash cap anyways, so the repaired part isn't really visible.

 

[mwebfj60]

That ashtray and its contents looks like a rattle box! Hehe, nice work, I just did the same exact thing on my bezel...except mine ended up cracking again.

 

[Landshark]

Wow, great restore of a HJ60. I live in BC Canada and have a 1987 HJ60 as well. Since you have your dash apart, can you see if you have the original stock car AM/FM stereo connector? I am restoring my HJ60 as well for Collector Plates and need to reinstall the stock radio to apply. Looking for what the connector and 24 volt to 12 volt converter look like and where they are mounted. Thanks.

Bob

 

[Aloha Jen]

Wow, great restore of a HJ60. I live in BC Canada and have a 1987 HJ60 as well. Since you have your dash apart, can you see if you have the original stock car AM/FM stereo connector? I am restoring my HJ60 as well for Collector Plates and need to reinstall the stock radio to apply. Looking for what the connector and 24 volt to 12 volt converter look like and where they are mounted. Thanks.

Bob

Aloha Bob,
I don't have the whole dash apart, just the heater/AC control panel off. I can't really see up behind the radio, and to be perfectly honest with you, I really wouldn't know what to look for. I can see if I can get a photo of that area by sticking my phone camera back there, but there is a bunch of wires and vent tubes crowding that area.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Wow, great restore of a HJ60. I live in BC Canada and have a 1987 HJ60 as well. Since you have your dash apart, can you see if you have the original stock car AM/FM stereo connector? I am restoring my HJ60 as well for Collector Plates and need to reinstall the stock radio to apply. Looking for what the connector and 24 volt to 12 volt converter look like and where they are mounted. Thanks.

Bob

Don't know if this is helpful or what you wanted, but here are the wires coming off the back of the radio, and where they come through the firewall to what I think is the 12v converter in the engine bay.

 

[Aloha Jen]

With the engine bay still in this condition waiting on parts to trickle in:

We decided to finally put in the rubber window welting that has been sitting around for a while. Rubber welting was purchased from @reevesci if you needed a source for it. We needed to fill the channels that the chrome strips came out of.

Watched Kevin's old video on the installation, he made it look way easier and faster then it was in reality!

But used a plastic pry tool and some silicone lube and went for it.

It went in, but was some work to get it done! Pro tip, if you have longish lady finger nails the job is considerably harder. Mike did the rear hatch window and said it was considerably harder the the side window. The whole process took an hour and a half, but more mechanically inclined peeps could probley do it in 20 mins! But mission accomplished, looking forward to to nice tight sealed windows.

 

[Willard]

Good tip on the welt, i am doing my sides and back i hope in the next month. The welts have been sitting on my self for months. Still working on the rust.

 

[Major Nelson]

Good tip on the welt, i am doing my sides and back i hope in the next month. The welts have been sitting on my self for months. Still working on the rust.

Willard, I'd recommend doing the sides first then the back...the sides are easier so it's good practice for the back. The windshield is really the only one that's a huge PITA....drove me crazy...sides and back go pretty fast.

I'd recommend getting the install tool as well. Kevin makes the screw driver look easy...it isn't.

Amazon.com: Lisle 47000 Windshield Locking Strip Tool: Automotive

 

[Willard]

Willard, I'd recommend doing the sides first then the back...the sides are easier so it's good practice for the back. The windshield is really the only one that's a huge PITA....drove me crazy...sides and back go pretty fast.

I'd recommend getting the install tool as well. Kevin makes the screw driver look easy...it isn't.

Amazon.com: Lisle 47000 Windshield Locking Strip Tool: Automotive

Thanks for the Tip and I have the exact tool. I bought it for this.

 

[Aloha Jen]

The rest of the parts we were waiting on arrived earlier this week, and were finally able to start getting it back together. A lot of shiney stuff going in!

Found this a little odd. The thermostat that came out was different in size and shape then the new one going in. I guess considering the PO had the wrong radiator in there, it's not suprizing the thermostat was possibly incorrect.

 

[Aloha Jen]

First to go back in was the water pump assembly.

Then the water bypass hose and lower thermostat housing and be thermostat.

Followed by fitting the two temperature sensors. We have not had a working temperature gauge since we got it, so hoping this fixes that issue.

With the upper thermostat housing and gasket on, it was ready for new hoses and belts.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Mounted up the new to me 24v AC compressor, pump pully, fan clutch, and got all new OEM belts put on. Also took the opportunity to wrap, tape and clean up wiring in the area.

Also cleaned up the old radiator brackets (treated the rust and painted), bolted up the fan, and dropped in the new OEM radiator.....so shiney!

 

[Tapage]

can't recall .. but you had your rad shroud right ? its always good to keep it much more with a 2H engine ..

 

[Aloha Jen]

can't recall .. but you had your rad shroud right ? its always good to keep it much more with a 2H engine ..

Yes, you beat me to my post about the fan shroud, so here it is.

The fan shroud was cleaned up, treated the rust, split, then painted. It was split along the middle bolt hole, and will be held in place by large washer where it bolts down. Where it was cut, rubber door trim was applied to make a tight seal when pressed together. And the ends were cut into with a dremel to apply 2 zip ties on each side to hold the ends together. This way, it's an easy snip of the zip ties and removing top shroud bolts to remove the top part.

Installed the fan shroud parts and hooked up all radiator hoses.

Also put back in the freshly cleaned up air box (cleaned, treated rust, primed and painted) and hooked up hoses.

 

[Aloha Jen]

This is all going in next.....getting closer!

And break time......

 

[cruiserfj45]

I use JB kwik on all plastic parts. Not as strong as the original weld but still way stronger than the base plastic, and it sets up in 5 min. My wife and I cant wait to get back to Kauai, her aunt lives there and we had our honeymoon out there.

 

[Willard]

This is all going in next.....getting closer!
View attachment 1447889

Are you converting to R134a?

 

[Aloha Jen]

Are you converting to R134a?

Yes, going to r134a. Already got the compatible O-rings, compressor attachments and proper PAG oil. It made more sense to do it here in Hawaii, as r12 is hard to come by and cant be ordered by mail like on the mainland. R134a is readily available at Home Depot and any auto store, so it was an easy decision for us.