New member with HJ61 in Belgium (1 Viewer)

[FRQ]

No steamcleaning today, finished claying the roof and did some under hood archeology.

Before:

After:

That's just clayed. Will be hitting it with my polishing machine and a few different compounds, should come out nice.

Then some under hood stuff, trying to figure out if the engine has had a rebuild at some point, it's running smoothly, zero smoke from the dipstick hole, exhaust smoke looks normal as well. Is the blue color on the head OEM Toyota?

Also wondering if this is original, wiring routing says no, the neatly stamped bracket that fits perfectly on the back of the air filter housing says yes:

 

[HoJo 61]

12H-T is blue from factory, yes.
Power outlet is factory installed too.

 

[FRQ]

12H-T is blue from factory, yes.
Power outlet is factory installed too.

Good enough excuse for me not to go digging around in a nightmare of under dash wiring.

 

[603]

hele nette cruiser! proficiat!!

 

[FRQ]

Spent some more time tinkering today whilst waiting for my registration and license plates. Figured out the real hidden cost of ownership of a 60 today, oil changes!

Decided to steamclean the interior, removed seats, cleaned all nooks & crannies, carpet turned out to be in nice shape, I might steamclean it anyway tomorrow, just because.

Did the seats today, hard to capture, but there were quite a bit of water stains and a yellowish dust film, left before, right after:

When I was done with all that, I had a first look under the dash. Examined it close enough to find out the previous owner was firing blanks.





... no, not like that, you bunch of perverts:

 

[HoJo 61]

What viscosity engine oil you ended up with?

 

[Strick]

On a side note, what are all those fuses and wires for out of the power outlet in the engine bay?

 

[FRQ]

What viscosity engine oil you ended up with?

I ended up with Shell Rimula 15W40 R4 L, the European equivalent of Rotella, which seems to come highly recommended. Front diff Mobilube 1 SHC 75W90, gearbox/transfer Redline MT90, rear diff Kendall 80W90 LSD oil (I'm being optimistic and assuming the axle still has some LSD function left )

Is it just me btw, or is a simple GL-4, non GL-5 75W90 really hard to come by these days? No affordable name brands like Castrol, Shell, etc. It was either really cheap Eurol stuff (which for some reason I don't trust) or overpriced Redline.

On a side note, what are all those fuses and wires for out of the power outlet in the engine bay?

No idea, I have only found a few extra wires (2 speaker wires under the seats and one permanently lit green LED in the dash) as well as 1 relay that was disconnected. There's also a trailer socket mounted in the rear bumper. Don't want to ruin the new car honeymoon phase by delving into all that just yet.

 

[FRQ]

Just made a backup of my phone, so I might as well do a sort of "non-update" here. Didn't do too much to the 61 lately, mostly put some miles on it. Replaced TRE's, belts, hood adjustment stops, sandblasted and thermal sprayed a few chassis protection plates, got some floormats and a set of 5 16" split rims (too good to pass up for 50€).

I also have a set of KC Daylighters awaiting installation and got a great J40 style aluminium shiftknob from Jefferson State Machining (Diesel42 here on the forums) to replace the really mismatched looking OEM knob: REPLICA GEAR SHIFT KNOBS

Some pics:

I'm also considering replacing my batteries since I currently have a mismatched set. Due to the advances in battery tech, the OEM size replacements are really high capacity (110Ah give or take 10Ah), does it make sense to get a set of those (something like Bosch Silver)?

I have my eye on a set of 50Ah Optima Red Tops, but they're a lot smaller so might be a bit trickier to bolt down securely.

Any other 24v 60 owners here that faced this issue?

 

[hj 60]

I got my battery 90amp from norauto because they have 2 year warranty and I replaced one after 22 months.
They tested it a night but I was in Metz so came back following day.

But if the mismatched set is working just leave it in there,50 amp is to low I think.
I drove home with one 60 amp and no problem for a few weeks until I got the new replacement.

I like the splits and thought about mounting insane tractor tires for fun:

Extreme Terrain

If the previous owner pulled a glock and fired a blank I think people would scheiße their pants

Rear axle LSD? I dont get it, you might want a lokka?

 

[FRQ]

I got my battery 90amp from norauto because they have 2 year warranty and I replaced one after 22 months.
They tested it a night but I was in Metz so came back following day.

But if the mismatched set is working just leave it in there,50 amp is to low I think.
I drove home with one 60 amp and no problem for a few weeks until I got the new replacement.

I like the splits and thought about mounting insane tractor tires for fun:

Extreme Terrain

If the previous owner pulled a glock and fired a blank I think people would scheiße their pants

Rear axle LSD? I dont get it, you might want a lokka?

Any idea what the original recommended Ah rating is? It's probably in the owner's manual, which I don't have. If it's not too high, I've been thinking of moving 2 smaller batteries to one side on a custom battery tray, which would give lots of space for future install of a compressor or webasto heater in the future (or an aux battery).

I'll be mounting hubcap clips and hubcaps on the splits with a set of AT's, RAL 7031, like the look. I'm still debating a 2" lift though, so I'm not ordering a set of tyres before I'm sure what I want to do. Don't want a lift, but a refresh of the springs would be nice and I can't find any that retain OEM height. Add-a-Leafs might be a solution, but I have my doubts given my HJ has 400k on the clock.

ARB 4x4 Accessories Coil Spring, Set of 2 D1XL

I don't need a lokka, the rear axle LSD is OEM on full floater HJ61's. Won't work as well as a locker of course and the plates are probably worn out by now, but you never know, so I'm sticking with the correct oil.

 

[hj 60]

I don't see any battery type (only specific gravity for 24Volt is 1.27 - 1.29) but the charging is about 40 Amp, the starter is about 90 Amp and glowing is about 15 seconds 60 Amp or more.

Two on one side might work but glowing and starting is a attack on the battery so with two small ones in winter might become a problem.
One 90 and one 60 Amp did not have the slightest bad effect, I was afraid it would and 2x60=120A so might be fine.


I have the 60 amp battery on the roof with solar panel but might remove it because just to much stuff to carry, I do use it on holiday to inflate stuff and charge phones.
For the spring I think I have a 2 inch lift which I think is very nice for cruisers, I don't know if old with new is a good mix: a friend had one HJ rear spring snap and then you have a small lean, big job to get it repaired.

 

[FRQ]

40 Amp charging, that's quite a bit less than I would have guessed. The Optima Red Tops are probably OK then, they're supposedly very good for applications that require quite a bit of starting power. I'm in no hurry though, perhaps something else will pop up.

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to go for a 2" lift and a set of 33" tires, I'll decide after driving it stock for a few 1000km, same thing for the batteries, see how the current ones hold up.

EDIT: I just noticed my idle on cold startup (warm day, 30C or so) sits around 1000rpm, only took a few km for it to drop down to the correct 650-700rpm. Is this normal?

 

[Jentuh]

Yep that's normal. It's the idle-up during prestart heating. when the engine is warm it'll start at the normal rpm.

I'd go for a 1"lift, and longer shackles on the springs. Worked for me (allthough I still have to buy new tires) and I can fit 33"easily.
If you ever need parts for the 60, check out cruiserworld.eu. They are, relatively, close to Belgium.

 

[FRQ]

Yep that's normal. It's the idle-up during prestart heating. when the engine is warm it'll start at the normal rpm.

I'd go for a 1"lift, and longer shackles on the springs. Worked for me (allthough I still have to buy new tires) and I can fit 33"easily.
If you ever need parts for the 60, check out cruiserworld.eu. They are, relatively, close to Belgium.

Good to hear, thanks, just going by sound, 1000rpm sounded a bit too high and rough, but it settles down quickly.

Where did you get the 1" lift? Minimum lift kit I've found is 2", the next step up being 5".

 

[Jentuh]

Made it myself out of solid round bar, I believe 60mm diameter, and then drilled a hole in it...

 

[FRQ]

Another phone backup, so status update of sorts. The HJ has been running just fine. Installed some COB panel LED dome lights and declared war on the marten that made off with part of my under hood insulation and wire harness, thankfully nothing a quick bit of soldering couldn't fix.

Other than that, my front left caliper decided it wanted freedom and made a break for it, managed to damage the mounting hole threads in the process.

Which of course led to project creep. As is tradition.

I started by disassembling so I could "just" drill out the holes in the drill press, rethread and get a couple of helicoils in there, but somehow I ended up rebuilding the knuckles, locking hubs, brake calipers and changing all bearings, seals, brake discs, brake lines and wheel studs. Also gave everything a good clean and painted a few bits and bobs. Brake pistons were in amazingly good shape for the mileage, dust boots were shot though. The knuckle rebuild really wasn't needed, but being able to inspect all replaced parts and seeing the previous owner obviously took care of things gives me some peace of mind.

Some pics, starting with the "as seen on TV" before/after thanks to the magic of photography of course:

Bonus pic in case anyone's interested in a comparison pic between the regular inner axle seals and the heavy duty Marlin Crawler items:

Quite pleased with the outcome. In retrospect, I should've ordered a fresh set of knuckle studs as well. Mine were fine, but "just in case". Cleaned the old ones, reinstalled with some blue Loctite and torqued to spec, good enough I suppose.

Lessons learned: knuckle rebuild in a couple of hours per side? Sure. But if you intend to really clean everything along the way and replace/paint a few more things, better clear your weekend schedule.

 

[mongoose2231]

this is some great work, your thread is awesome, keep it up. I am dreading getting into my front axle, although I have done it on my previous cruiser so not scared at all.

 

[David*BJ70]

Also wondering if this is original, wiring routing says no, the neatly stamped bracket that fits perfectly on the back of the air filter housing says yes:

Though I have this in my engine bay, I have to admit that I have no idea what is the utility of this ''power outlet''. Who knows ?

 

[FRQ]

this is some great work, your thread is awesome, keep it up. I am dreading getting into my front axle, although I have done it on my previous cruiser so not scared at all.

Thanks. It really is a job anyone with a modicum of technical insight can tackle. I have access to a fully equipped shop but just did it in my parents' driveway since that's where the brake failure happened and I didn't want the hassle of towing. The only potentially tricky part is seating the bearing races, but if you stick the new ones in the freezer for a night and use an old race with a slit cut into it as a punch, even that becomes dead easy.

Though I have this in my engine bay, I have to admit that I have no idea what is the utility of this ''power outlet''. Who knows ?

It's just an additional fusebox to wire accessories to. I haven't poked around in there yet with a multimeter, but it's probably just a switched 24V line with three fuse holders coming off of it. Quite common in older vehicles, but usually there will just be a couple of empty fuse slots in the main fusebox.

Mystery picture of the day:

Anyone care to speculate as to what caused the two dents on the outside bearing housing? The bearing itself is in great shape, as was the race. The only thing I can think of is someone went full gorilla when torquing the preload nut.