My HJ61 Rejuvenation

[Fifty Hertz]

Next day I didn't have a lot of project time... domestics call. I finished off the battery trays though. These had a few pinholes where the rust had penetrated right through and I thought they needed a layer of protection, since I'd stripped off the factory dip-coating. So I laid a couple of layers of fibreglass cloth down, loaded with partly cured KBS Rust Seal. It works quite well as a fibreglass loading compound if you decant some into a can and leave it open for a few hours to partly cure and thicken up.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

Well next up was another one of those little jobs that I really had to do with the excellent access: a thorough engine clean. This was made a little difficult due to the fact that the rig is now immobile in my workshop, and I can't go spraying around vast amounts of water. So I made a containment bund under the front with a sheet of plastic and some scraps of timber to form the edges. Then sprayed the really dirty bits with a solvent degreaser and let to penetrate for half an hour to soften the grease. Then I loaded up a garden sprayer with caustic degreaser and scrubbed with a brush, followed by a rinse down with fresh water, also from the weed sprayer. Managed to get everything pretty clean and only used about 40 litres of water, so I was able to just gather up the plastic sheet by the corners and lift it outside. No mess

 

[Fifty Hertz]

I'm really at that stage now where I can start reassembling the front end . But I'm holding off with charging into that so that I can do all the little jobs that are so much easier with things apart. The next task: hose replacement.

I'm not one to just throw parts and money at a car for the sake of it. So I'm just targeting the things that look bad and critical items that can cripple the vehicle. So I'm replacing all the cooling system hoses, all diesel hoses and any other hoses that look marginal. I ended up basically spending a whole day removing hoses, cleaning, inspecting and cataloguing the items for replacement.

First I got all the hoses off, cleaned and laid out on the floor:

Then tagged each one with the part number and a description of where it goes:

While I was at it, I got together a sample of each fastener for the front end body work so that I can take them to a local fastener supplier and buy new ones:

 

[Fifty Hertz]

Next day I was able to replace basically all the required hoses except the cooling system. For the diesel hoses and vacuum pump, I got new ones made at local hydraulics supplier in Perth. They did a good job and were cheaper than OEM prices. I would have preferred plain old black rather than blue... but at least they're obviously new.

Vacuum pump done:

Fuel supply hoses:

Other fuel hoses:

After cleaning, I found the power steering hoses to be in excellent condition. No swelling, cracks or other signs of degradation. So I just refitted them with new sealing washer where required. Even the 29 yo hose clamps were excellent and got reused. No point in replacing just for the sake of it, right?

All the coolant hoses are listed out and sent to my local parts supplier for quoting.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

With all the non-coolant hoses now refitted, I figured it was time to do a decent cooling system flush . It's best to do this while the internals are still wet, as this avoids having the gunk solidify in situ.

I blocked up all the open points with rubber bungs:

And fitted a hose tail into the drain hole on the block, making it easier to collect the discharge:

Then connected up a piece of 3/4" radiator hose to each point in turn and flushed it through with the garden hose. I flushed through about 300 litres and at the end the water was coming out clear. The only really filthy stuff came form the rear heater core - probably because it never gets used and just sits there stagnant.

Inside the head at least looks pretty clean and free of serious corrosion.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

Well with only a couple of days left of my R&R, I really needed to kick a goal and get a major piece of installation done. There was no reason not to go ahead with installing the new turbo - so that's what I did.

The G-Turbo unit is supposed to be a direct bolt-in fit so I didn't experience any serious problems.

Before fitting, I drilled and tapped a 1/4"NPT hole in the casing for the EGT probe. This will be setup so that the tip just penetrates inside, for minimal disruption of the gas flow.

Going in ok so far:

All fitted!

The only minor issue that I found is that lower support bracket doesn't pick up the threaded hole in the exhaust casing. It's in a different location to stock. It's no big deal though. I'll just bend up a piece of steel plate with a couple of holes to link the bracket back up to the casing. I think it should definitely have this lower support, otherwise all the weight of the turbo and dump pipe is being taken by the manifold.

 

[Silveredition]

Geez! Certainly not mucking around with making sure it is sorted!!
What is the reasoning behind using the solvent degreaser, and then the caustic one? I used the caustic one once on my Dads bobcat, but the amount of surface rust that appeared once it was dry scared me off ever using it on my car....
Also, what is the procedure for the 2 pack paint over bare steel? Do you need an etch primer still??

 

[Fifty Hertz]

Geez! Certainly not mucking around with making sure it is sorted!!
What is the reasoning behind using the solvent degreaser, and then the caustic one? I used the caustic one once on my Dads bobcat, but the amount of surface rust that appeared once it was dry scared me off ever using it on my car....
Also, what is the procedure for the 2 pack paint over bare steel? Do you need an etch primer still??

Nope. I wanna get this project done - properly - and get back on the road!

For most things straight to caustic is fine. I even use it on aluminium, just watch it and don't leave it on longer than necessary. If anything is super greasy or has grease/oil that's been baked on (like an engine), a hydrocarbon will help loosen it up and return the contaminants to a liquid state in which it will bind more readily with caustic and come off quicker with less scrubing.

Regarding bare steel, there are many views on this. Fundamentally I don't believe there is any place for single component etch primer these days. Google it. You can't go wrong with 2-pack epoxy primer. Adheres excellently to almost any substrate, cheap and easy to apply and you can put most things over it. By default I go that route when intending to paint a finish colour on top.

I also use KBS Rust Seal products. They're similar to POR-15 but less costly and I personally find they go on better. They can go over bare steel and existing factory paints, with the right prep of course. This can work well in a resto like mine where I don't really need to go bare metal in many places. I expose the rust in the selected areas and treat it (mechanical or acid removal) then paint over everything at once with Rust Seal. For areas that aren't UV exposed, a couple of coats is all that's required - just leave it. That's what I've done with the front panel. If it's UV exposed, you can overcoat it with another KBS product such as Blacktop. Or prime (wet on tacky OR post curing and a light sand) with pretty much ehatever primer is needed for your topcoat system.

Make sense? Bottom line though (and I know some will disagree with this!) don't use 1K etch primer. There are better options now.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

One last thing I did yesterday - measured up for the intercooler. Got a bunch of measurements jotted down so I can draw something up and find a suitable supplier while I'm away. I'm hopeful of finding something off the shelf but I'll go custom made if necessary.

 

[Oldtoy74]

With all the non-coolant hoses now refitted, I figured it was time to do a decent cooling system flush . It's best to do this while the internals are still wet, as this avoids having the gunk solidify in situ.

I blocked up all the open points with rubber bungs:

View attachment 1464428

And fitted a hose tail into the drain hole on the block, making it easier to collect the discharge:

View attachment 1464427

Then connected up a piece of 3/4" radiator hose to each point in turn and flushed it through with the garden hose. I flushed through about 300 litres and at the end the water was coming out clear. The only really filthy stuff came form the rear heater core - probably because it never gets used and just sits there stagnant.

Inside the head at least looks pretty clean and free of serious corrosion.

View attachment 1464431

View attachment 1464432

When I did my flush and topped up I removed the hoses to rear piping completely , no need for them in QLD, Your doing a great job, really impressed with your bunded area ,

 

[Fifty Hertz]

When I did my flush and topped up I removed the hoses to rear piping completely , no need for them in QLD, Your doing a great job, really impressed with your bunded area ,

I must admit the thought has crossed my mind to do away with the rear heater altogether. At this stage I'm not planning to reinstall the rear seats. The second stage of the project is a rear fit out for touring/camping and the area immediately behind the front seats will probably be for batteries and water. Those plans are still evolving. Can't wait to get the body and mechanicals done so I can get onto the REAL fun stuff

 

[Silveredition]

Can't wait to get the body and mechanicals done so I can get onto the REAL fun stuff

I think that GTurbo is where the real fun is / will be! What clutch are you running, or going to be running?

 

[AussieHJCruza]

GTurbo is the go - I had a BadBoy on my HDJ80 with a few other mods and that thing was fantastic! Totally transformed the truck!

 

[roma042987]

great work on your build up. Im a big fan of the 12ht myself just like everyone else that has ever owned one. Im going together with a new 12ht in my 60 and am trying to decide whether to go with the original turbo with unknown miles or spring for a gturbo. Just curious what did yours run you and is it the grunter or extreme? Do you turn your old turbo in for a core or do they actually build yours up and give it back to you?

 

[HoJo 61]

Always happy to see new HJ61 build threads. Welcome, and thanks for sharing your build with us.

Do you have any plans for a dyno run? Curious to see how the GTurbo and 12H-T plays together.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

I think that GTurbo is where the real fun is / will be! What clutch are you running, or going to be running?

Haha true that. Current clutch is a 4Terrain HD (Clutch Industries manufacture). It's got about half its life left so I'll probably just run that til it needs replacing then upgrade.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

GTurbo is the go - I had a BadBoy on my HDJ80 with a few other mods and that thing was fantastic! Totally transformed the truck!

Yep really looking forward to getting it on the dyno for tuning. I'm a way off that though, maybe another 3 months...

 

[Fifty Hertz]

great work on your build up. Im a big fan of the 12ht myself just like everyone else that has ever owned one. Im going together with a new 12ht in my 60 and am trying to decide whether to go with the original turbo with unknown miles or spring for a gturbo. Just curious what did yours run you and is it the grunter or extreme? Do you turn your old turbo in for a core or do they actually build yours up and give it back to you?

Yeah man go the legendary 12H-T! I think whether they rebuild your actual turbo or just take your oldie as a core depends on what they have in stock. I dropped mine off on a Friday afternoon and collected the new one on Monday as they had a unit in stock. It just needed the right actuator fitting and setting up the pipe orietation for the 12H-T.

Mine is the "Grunter Extreme". I was tossing up going the full "Bad Boy" route but I didn't want to lose any low down torque and the rapid spool-up that the G-Turbos are known for.

According to the info I was sent, the "Grunter Extreme" has somewhere between the "Grunter" and "Bad Boy" in terms of absolute power but without any significant compromise to the bottom end gains.

Talk to the guys at G Turbo, especially Graeme. They're very knowledgeable. No affiliation either btw - just impressed by their knowledge and service.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

Always happy to see new HJ61 build threads. Welcome, and thanks for sharing your build with us.

Do you have any plans for a dyno run? Curious to see how the GTurbo and 12H-T plays together.

Hi mate

A dyno tune and pump adjustment is definitely on the cards. It'll be needed to get the fuelling right. I may even need to get the injection pump modified - bearing in mind that it's getting an air-water intercooler and 3" exhaust to really make the most of the new turbo.

 

[Fifty Hertz]

Well I'm back home after another month away at work. That seemed like a really long swing! There isn't a whole lot planned for this break, so I should be able to make some good progress on the project. My goal for this break is to get the front end back together so that the rig can be made mobile. I need to relocate it from my workshop to the garage so that the bodywork and paint can be done.

First job is replacing all the cooling hoses that arrived while I was away. Fortunately Gates has all hoses readily available for the 60 at reasonable prices. They are good quality too. I decided to use double-ear compression clips on the hoses that won't need to be removed for routine servicing. They never leak, provide good even clamping pressure - and are dirt cheap. I've used them on my other cars and have never had any problems with them.