One owner HJ45 12HT conversion / power steering and factory ac. (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Apr 29, 2020
Threads
1
Messages
37
Location
Central NSW
Hello from Central NSW Australia.
Our trusty old 45 series was purchased new back in 1979 and has remained in working on our family farm to this day. Still registered and has original number plates so the old girl has never had a year off during its life but has been reasonably well maintained.
I have tried to keep the body and general appearance original for authentic reasons however the old H motor was getting bad blow-by with over 800,000ks under its belt.
The 45 joined our fleet of three petrol series Land Rovers. I remember back in the day it seemed a very modern leap in refined Japanese engineering with its seemingly smooth and powerful diesel six. (haven't things changed over the years) In 1982 we purchased a very nice HJ47 with 2H and factory ac but sadly was lost about ten years ago due to hand brake failure. (that's another story!)
So this brings us to the ongoing resurrection of our 45 series to this day.

Back to the old H motor getting tired,we did drop one set of liners in and sent head away due to dreaded cracked pre-chambers.
For some reason the H didn't last long till broke piston rings on no5 so I decided to heave the old lump out for rebuild.
it was on this sad day the low k 47 series got away and ended up looking like a VW bug. I have to say, they are almost unbreakable but things did bend. A lot!
This was the start of making the 45 more road friendly. In those days, we found everything out the hard way we went along!
while the H motor came out, I was always planing on fitting power steering but had difficulty finding the factory 40 or 55 set up so ended up obtaining a complete 60 series which was a slight head cluster to make work but we got there. Chassis crush tubes, shock mount, battery tray, steering column, drag links, radiator bottom outlet etc all had to be modified. I've got another nice 45 here to do but not sure I'd go this way again!
As the 47 came to a sudden halt, we confirmed the much more refined 2H motor was unharmed but everything around it was trashed. Ever seen a prop shaft punched trough a transmission? you get the idea..

I thought the 2H would drop straight in then suddenly realized to H bell housing had starter motor in different position and the back mounts where attached to the said bell housing. OK, no problem, we swap bell housings... This ended up a 47 series cross member, rear mounts and had to obtain a second had 47 transmission as from what I could see the 60 series had slight different offset and propshafts etc.
The 47 radiator was trashed to we had to swap the top and bottom outlets on old 45 radiator which is still going but must be upgraded for next summer.
The 2H served us well for many years, saw out other farmers buying and trading other utes until just recently blew the bottom hose and lost the coolant. This proper cooked the 2H to point of locking up. Once cooled down, the thing started again and seemed OK. New hose, coolant in and away we went! Would have pulled out of the Simpson and got home no worries.
Over time, cooling issues developed we we pulled the head to find she was a mess. All chambers cracked and broken rings on every piston. Now good 2H engines are getting hard to find (I do have a spare but in another future project 47)
and rebuild cost was prohibitive for a engine which is hopelessly under powered and have an incredible desire to cook them selves with the stupid pre-chamber design when pushed hard or turboed.
I've always liked the mighty 12HT when the HJ61 series came out so this is where we are at.
Given most of the hard work was done during 60 series power steering and 2H conversion I confident to purchase the low k 12HT and drop it in. Almost dropped in anyway!
Just lot of fiddly things such as alternator and ac brackets when using 40 series mounts, throttle cable, power steering reservoir, keeping all vacuum idle up and engine stop with 12HT, custom 3", making 61 series tacho with boost lights fit 47 cowl and 45 dash etc.
All done and runs beautifully. Still need to sort out a proper air filter as only has a bug catcher fitted for test run.

I come from a diesel background (with remote tuning experience) so have air fuel analysis, acceleration measurement, phyrometer and knock box but wont be pushing the 12HT to hard until rebuilt as I believe big ends and pistons are a weakness on the older ones.

I'll put some photos up over time if anyone is interested.

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Nice one! How far "central" NSW are you?
Thanks, somewhere in the middle of Mudgee, Dubbo, Upper Hunter and Namoi area.
not far from great dividing range.
Somebody here will eventually recognize this vehicle as many are trying to buy it from me and she is not for sale as very sentimental to me.
Will go in the grave with me.
 
Thanks, somewhere in the middle of Mudgee, Dubbo, Upper Hunter and Namoi area.
not far from great dividing range.
Somebody here will eventually recognize this vehicle as many are trying to buy it from me and she is not for sale as very sentimental to me.
Will go in the grave with me.
Pretty much on the coast compared to me then:)
 
Love what you did with the tacho. Does the little green light come on?!
 
Welcomr !, thank you for sharing that great story


:cheers:
 
Love what you did with the tacho. Does the little green light come on?!

Yes! everything works inc overboost.
It was very marginal making it fit as had to cut all tabs away, remove some housing then reattach tabs in correct position although is slightly offset. Stuff called Q bond is awesome for custom work such as this.
I took the extra time and undone the 61 series wiring loom then made a new sub loom suit the conversion. This way all reasonably well made as Toyota loom was and no poor quality plugs used.

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Welcome to the Mad!
Thanks for the great family story! :cheers:

1984 BJ42, frame-off restored, 4E9 Toyo beige
1983 BJ45, resto-project
 
Welcome mate! I like the back story and the fact that it is a one owner truck. You will love the 12HT in your 45, I love the one in mine! Keep us posted.
 
I'll try group up relative photos and brief explanation of the stages we made little changes to the 45 series from power steering conversion through to 12HT fitted.

About ten years ago.......
I flew into this blind as to say so probably did it the hard way. In those days wrecked 75 series where seldom around here and 80 series where sought after as comp vehicles. Pretty much had to make do with what I could find and make the rest fit.
After a few weeks trying to source a power steering box off a 40 or 55 at reasonable cost and considering the Saginaw set up, I came across an early 60 series with a blown up 2H. The steering set up was complete including pump etc. Looked pretty straight forward to just bolt on aside chassis crush tubes needed.



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45 and 60 series parts getting to know each other.
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Little bit of effort as to keep much of the 45 series steering column as possible.
No doubt there would be an easier and much better way to do this these days!
 
Continued..

Column went back ok.
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Trim of inner guard, shock mount removed, battery tray elevated and small portion of engine mount trimmed as pump clear.
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Mock up of steering box position (See drag link)
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I forwent the shock mount as to get best possible geometry. Shock was moved to lower side as 75 series set up and has worked fine for past ten years.

This vehicle works in very rough country so lot of time went into proper chassis crush tubes made on lathe as precise fit to bolts. We do not want any movement here.
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New lower shock mount bolted to side to top chassis rail.
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Pump tial fit.
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I put the 47 series radiator mount bracket and ac condenser (not shown in pic) but as you can see the 45 radiator is somewhat narrower.
The filler neck and top out let was swapped to suit 2H and I had to relocate the bottom outlet to clear the steering pump as offsetting original was just too tight and possible mode of a failure factoring hard use. A simple bypass pipe was jigged up which uses the original bottom hose.
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The underpass pipe is clamped to a simple bracket not shown here.
 
One of the other (better 45 series) for future restoration.
I"m third owner of this ex RFS 45 series. The body and chassis are very good however the previous owner pushed her a bit to hard with that turbo set up and killed the head plus broke a few piston rings. The steering and swivels are pretty run down so is down right scary if wound up to 100KPH!

I purchased this 45 about eight years ago knowing the engine was suspect. Towed her home and pulled the head to see if any of the engine was salvageable. Long story short, I have put together a running H motor using head ect from the grey 45 series. I almost binned that turbo setup but since rare these days, I have decided to persist with it for a while. see what the future brings for this one as not really sentimental as the old grey girl.
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The interior is very good aside of that funny seat which needs to go.
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The old H motor is a bit rough but would pull a house down.

For the mean time, this one is used as a back up fire tanker and field service truck. I think best kept in use than leaving sitting around.
 
This thread may jump around a bit as for time frame...
I've been towing our plant trailer with this 12HT engine (goes ok except I've noticed oil pressure dropping few psi on long climbs when pushed)

Time for an EGT gauge.
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These manifolds have a divider in effect which must be considered on installation similar to this one.
The thermocouple will only be exposed to front side of manifold but this is no problem with old school diesel engines.
I've seen factory installations done similar way on much larger industrial engines over past 30 years.

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Checking it works ok before full install.
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Now to decide if under dash mount or try integrate into dash. I prefer integrate.
 
The gauge has ended up uderdash for now. Dodgy as but works.
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She does get a bit warm when abusing the engine. WOT long on hill 700c and long gradual incline (gaining speed) nudged 750c.
Bit dangerous for an older engine but can live with it till I get time to reset the boost and pump.
Is fine under normal conditions. Between 200 to 500 at 100KPH towing 2.5 Tonnes.
 
Just found this photo of the terrible day our HJ47 got away from my old man. He was not hurt.

Our property is quite steep in places (Over 3000ft above sea level) so there is always risk of vehicles running away should hand brake fail or jump out of gear.

The 47 shot over the edge of a steep track at a gateway taking everything in its path till hit a massive washout and flying about 100 feet in the air to it's final resting place. Small trees, stumps, rocks... you name it. The vehicle landed so hard it bent all the diff torsion tubes and punched the drive shaft through the transmission.
Not much was salvageable. Some parts have merged into the 45 series over the years.
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More on the 45 series..
Cooked 2H boat anchor extracted and a few parts such as engine mounts, thermostat housing, new water pump and power steering pump swapped onto 12 HT.
A new input spigot bearing was fitted and in hind sight I should have also replaced rear main oil seal as now weeping.
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Few things got in the way from previous power steering conversion and due to battery tray location, secondary fuel filter and also AC drier it was a pain to relocate in best interest of hoses.
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12 HT as it arrived. All that vacuum and boost sensor hose setup was messed up!
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It very quickly was noticed the engine mounts had to be swapped. This did cause some issues with new power steering pump, alternator and ac compressor brackets.
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