My HJ61 Rejuvenation

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Fifty Hertz

Fifty Hertz

Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
260
Location
Perth, Australia
Hi guys,

I've been visiting this place for a few years now, chasing tips and useful info for my Cruiser. Some of the projects on here are truly impressive and I've been following a few from a distance with much admiration. Well something must have inspired me and I've now embarked on a project of my own, so I figured it's time to share my humble build and spread the 60-series love.

My rig as been a bit of a running project since I bought it 8 years ago, although it's been constantly in use since then. The current refresh started seriously back in July 2016. So the first few posts are going to be a bit of a wrap-up of where I've got to so far.

Specs:

1988 Japanese market VX
12H-T
H55F
OME +2" springs
Firestone airbags in the rear
2" body lift (just done - not fitted in these pics)
33" Mickey Thompson AT's on 16" steels
ARB Air Lockers at both ends
Safari snorkel

First a few pics of the "before", because that saves a few words. More to come soon :)

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Nice rig. Thanks for posting. It's always fun to see the cool trucks the Rest Of World were able to purchase. EDIT - I see it's an import into OZ. In any event the steering wheel is still on the correct side.

Eric
 
T
Prairie Swamp said:
Nice rig. Thanks for posting. It's always fun to see the cool trucks the Rest Of World were able to purchase. EDIT - I see it's an import into OZ. In any event the steering wheel is still on the correct side.

Eric
Click to expand...
Thanks. It's rough around the edges but relatively low mileage and in great mechanical condition. It just clicked over 250,000 km before I took it off the road. The 12H-T pulls strong and uses no fluids.

There seems to be a stigma in some circles about JDM vehicles but I like this one. The JDM VX is a nice spec and I see the 24V thing as an advantage. Less voltage drop, 2 batteries as standard and so far I've had no issues with anything failing that's been hard to find. The alternator died but that's routine for an older vehicle and it was a simple diode and regulator replacement to fix.
 
Gday mate! It's great to see another West Aus hj61 on here! In what I think is the best colour of any car too!!
Im down near Bunbury, but have 531000kms on mine - used as a daily driver...
Looking forward to the updates!
 
Welcome! Go the JDM HJ61...(I'm possibly biased)
 
Silveredition said:
Gday mate! It's great to see another West Aus hj61 on here! In what I think is the best colour of any car too!!
I'm down near Bunbury, but have 531000kms on mine - used as a daily driver...
Looking forward to the updates!
Click to expand...
Yep I agree with you on the colour, it looks very nice when in good condition. Mine is pretty rough though - it hardly passes the 10-metre inspection at the moment! As part of the refresh it's getting a fresh coat of paint all over and for a tourer/bush-basher I really can't justify the work and expense of a dark metallic colour with clear coat. So it's going to be a light or mid solid colour.

It's the one part of the project that I'm having the greatest difficulty in deciding. It's going to be largely or completely de-chromed and the grill, headlight surrounds, mirrors and wheel arch extensions are going to be flat black. Any suggestions for the body colour?
 
U have the best vehicle combination ever! Two of my all time faves are the e30 3 series and the e28 5 series. Good luck with your project, I'll be watching.
 
So let's backtrack to July, when I finally got the Cruiser moved into the workshop. Normally my BMW E28 sits in there (the white one on the trailer above) but I've relocated that to a mate's aircraft hanger to liberate the space for project uses. It's not especially generous for size (6x6 m) but I am fortunate enough to also have a decent 2.5 bay garage attached to the house, half of which is also now part of the project zone. More on that later.

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mongoose2231 said:
U have the best vehicle combination ever! Two of my all time faves are the e30 3 series and the e28 5 series. Good luck with your project, I'll be watching.
Click to expand...
Haha I hadn't thought I'd come across another BMW fan here. That is my second E28. I also had an E30 years ago and my first ever car was a (very rusty) 2002. I just sold my second 2002 to reduce the car count a bit :cry:
 
Fifty Hertz said:
Haha I hadn't thought I'd come across another BMW fan here. That is my second E28. I also had an E30 years ago and my first ever car was a (very rusty) 2002. I just sold my second 2002 to reduce the car count a bit :cry:
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I owned 5 e30's, two of which were bought by a friend who lives nearby, so I see them often. The e28 is something I always wanted. There is a doctor in our neighborhood who owns a mint one and every time I meet him, I press him to sell. We shall see...
 
mongoose2231 said:
I owned 5 e30's, two of which were bought by a friend who lives nearby, so I see them often. The e28 is something I always wanted. There is a doctor in our neighborhood who owns a mint one and every time I meet him, I press him to sell. We shall see...
Click to expand...
Once you have a good E28 you'll never part with it. Here's mine a few years ago when I lived on the east coast of Australia.

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awww man, that's the sexiest thing I've seen in a while!!
Those late 5 series wheels work well too!
 
mongoose2231 said:
awww man, that's the sexiest thing I've seen in a while!!
Those late 5 series wheels work well too!
Click to expand...
Cheers. Actually seeing those pics have reminded me of the first idea that I had for the Cruiser's new colour: BMW Alpine white. I think I'd take it a bit darker though - more of a "dirty grey" shade. Hmmm... definitely still an option and much easier to paint acceptably than a dark colour.
 
Go for it bud
 
OK so I finally got stuck into doing some work in August, even if only the dismantling.
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One side off...
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And the other
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Such good access to everything:
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And THAT is what got me thinking it's time to upgrade this:
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Now that's where the dismantling stopped for a while. The main reason for removing the front bodywork was this:

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Blisters were starting to come through on the tops of the fenders on each side:

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When it looks like this on the outside, you just know there is nastiness brewing where the sun don't shine:

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I was fully expecting the fenders to have some serious tinworm - but fortunately that was really the worst of it. Nowhere was realy bad enough to warrant any cutting and welding so I cleaned them up...

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...and treated the cancerous spots with fibreglass and POR15:

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I also treated around the wheel arch extension mounts with the same. I'm a fan of keeping moisture away from dissimilar metals!
 
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