I got my my 76 HJ-45lwb pickup from Erin Heard who had purchased it in the Northern Territories while on a multi-month "walkabout". He drove it, slept in it, and saw it loaded on a ship in Sydney at journey's end. From what he told me, it shipped into the Port of Houston, from which he trailered it up to Little Rock. (If I had known sooner, I could have spared him the trouble and taken it off his hands right then and there, LOL!)
Anyway, Erin put it up on eBay and, although I was the high bidder, it did not reach the reserve he'd set. We subsequently came to terms privately and the deal was done. The truck was a little rough; however, it was all there and I drove it back down to Houston.
Some things needed to be attended to immediately such as a new water pump and a complete overhaul of the cooling system. I installed a 4 row radiator from CCOT and had the heater put back into service. The box and core were there, but the heater valve was gone and there was no heater hoses running from the radiator pipe or elbow fitting. I scored all the necessary parts from SOR and had a lower radiator pipe custom made by a friend in an muffler shop.
The truck got a basic paint job (Dune Beige) and the bed was lined with a color-matched material and it turned out great. The seats were pulled, the frames cleaned up and painted, and the seats then were redone in black leather. While the seats were out, the truck was in the shop having the H41 and transfer pulled and my buddy Javier installed an H55F and split case combo--including the SOR emergency brake kit. Rear seal and clutch, button up and everthing fit together great. I took the front drive shaft (with little wear) and had it lengthened and installed as the rear shaft. The rear shaft was shortened, got new u-joints and was then installed in the front.
A buddy up in Garland built a custom bracket for an AC compressor. The alternator was swung down lower to make room and the new bracket hooks on to that swivel bolt, and also bolts onto the engine. It's a really sweet piece of work and places the AC components in great position for service, etc. The in-dash portion had the housing custom-made because the unit was being installed in a RHD cruiser. The results were great and, because of the small cab, it's really very efficient at cooling things off.
I pulled off the front drums and installed the jtoutfitters disk brake conversion and, with some slight modifications, it fit and works great--even with a stock master cylinder.
On thing I have never liked about the truck was the cradle setup that carried the spare tire underneath the bed. I like the location; however, the cradle seemed kinda rinky dink. I had a spare crossmemeber and winch from an old FJ-60. With some cutting to narrow the piece, and then some welding, I now had a much more acceptable spare carrier.
I love this truck and the long wheelbase irons out a LOT of the famous harsh, choppy ride that we know so well about the 40 series. The thing that I have noticed is that with an unknown number of kilometers on the truck (most likely 310,000k or 410,000k), I am thinking about a repower or rebuild. I have my eye on one of three engines: 1KZ-T, 1PZ, or 1HZ. I find that the KZ in my 70 is simply a marvelous performer. It's got plenty of power and torque and has the same SOHC setup of the other two engines and is already turbocharged. The PZ and HZ seem a good fit in the spacious engine bay of the 45; however, they can be somewhat pricey--especially the HZ. If I go that route, then I'll still end up with the cost of turbocharging, but with GREAT results. All I need is the engine and flywheel, as I've already got the proper bellhousing/tranny/transfer combo from a KZT-powered LandCruiser II from the UK.
Anyway, that's my 45... and some rambling thoughts on a truck that I have grown to love.