project stablemate - fj25 australia

[west aussie]

g'day punters.
while i am spending a rare couple months at home and trying hard to upgrade my poor computer skills i thought i may start a little thread dedicated to my aussie fj25 trayback. i blame mud 100 percent for this project; up till a few years ago i was happily tinkering alone in the desert on assorted old 45 projects. i had the bones of my families original fj25 (in the count somewhere) but it was pretty far gone and i had never seen another or even heard of aussie fj25 traybacks. i discovered mud just after a great old 25 tray sold on ebay for i think 1500. its about number 63? in the count. (where did it go?) in any case i was in love

 

[west aussie]

skip a couple of years and fwed gave me the heads up on another for sale in western victoria. i contacted the seller and we settled on 3800 sight unseen which was more than my budget allowed and perhaps more than it was worth (who knows?) but when was another unmolested 25 tray gonna turn up? and my slow moving 64 fj45 project was lonely and could do with a stablemate. i posted some details of the sale already in my old thread "technology reaches westralia" but the short story is i finalised the deal while on holiday and relocated project stablemate to a safe house (shed) in port augusta where she sat for the next 18 months. i try a pic

 

[west aussie]

christmas a year ago my mate headed home to south australia with my dodgy car trailer in tow and somewhere in jan 2013 rolled into my camp with the 25 on board and the standard set of wheelbearing failure stories. for the uninitiated this is a continent crossing journey. so another flying start haha. this old girl had been sitting a long long time and was rustier than i would have liked but as you all already know they always look so much better once you get them home! i tinkered for the odd hour here and there during 2013 pulling the cooling system and all the hydraulics; was all a shambles. discovered a leaky thermostat and a suspect radiator....

 

[west aussie]

also a locked solid waterpump, a fan with a welded crack and a fantastic uncracked and undamaged fan shroud

 

[west aussie]

i had never seen such a pretty fan shroud in all my days. the hydraulics were as you imagine but i got them all apart. must of felt rich at some point during the winter so fronted the brake shop with my box of crap. arranged a stainless sleeve for the clutch master and all the required buckets and boots for everything else. got the original brake shoes relined and an absolute minimum skim out of the drums. the brake shop was only so happy with this but after we pleaded farm use only; paid cash with no reciept (read comeback) they let us have our way. no point explaining the rarity of these original parts or they would only see fit to charge us more! i think all this was somewhere in the 300 region. i normally like to keep track of expenditure but this deal was a little complicated where i gave my good mate a battered but desirable 8 track player and steering column i had found (read xy-xa aussies) and he picked up the brake shop bill. the parts made it home and there they sat. until lunchtime today.

 

[west aussie]

26 january is australia day which typically involves beer, meat and swimming. this year i resolved to take the time to turn a spanner on the old 25. so at lunchtime on the 25th i moved some junk and got old stablemete out into the light of day

 

[west aussie]

there followed a solid half day of cleaning; this thing was filthy. with assorted scrapers and compressed air i tackled the chassis rails which were full to capacity as usual. then got as muck accumulated crud of the mechanicals as i could. fulled the seats, fuel tank and trans hump so i could gain a bit of access with the degreaser and pressure washer. was a day of getting to know the old girl! and i discovered a few 'blemishes'. the stage was set.

 

[ozcrusier]

Wow thats nice barn find west aussie did it come with tools, jack etc.

 

[west aussie]

came with original jack and all the handle pieces and a nice old battered tool roll with not too much in it. i am amazed that border quarantine let this thing into the state in the condition it was in; they can be very strict as regards importing unwanted weeds and seeds into the west but i very careful with all the crud i cleaned out of it.

the chassis is rotten across the front crossmember and this damage extends a couple of inches back into the main rails. i scraped a lot of flaking rust out of the remainder of the chassis and it is a bit thin in places; also cracked along a weld where it was extended. the original front diff has been swapped out for a later unit. anyways i can live with all this for now; my priority is just to get this old girl driveable and put her to light use around the station.

work caught up with me yesterday so i only got a few hours in in the afternoon. got the front brakes built. today is looking good though; see what i can get done. probably try post some pics tonight

 

[west aussie]

QUESTION at the bottom of the brake shoe where it pivots there is a cup washer with a leather seal. anybody remember whether that goes behind or in front of the brake shoe? i about to have a wander through some old threads see if i can find this

 

[west aussie]

didn't come across anything too specific but i look more tonight. went with outside makes most sense according to my rough measurements but easily changed; this old girl still sitting on axle stands. one set of the said washers was missing the seal component but i cut these with a wad punch out of an old felt hat. here a few pics; starting with pushing her into the shed all freshly cleaned

 

[west aussie]

i will introduce parts wreck number 3. (parts wrecks 1 and 2 have coped a mention in my project patina 45 thread). this pile of rust came once again from the coast. there was an old crane on site similar to my own that we used to load it and the chassis pretty much broke in half when we picked it up, paid a carton of beer for this one. unfortunately it is missing original carby and master cylinders. does have a f motor of unknown quality and a nice pair of original keys among all the other bits and pieces. i am hoping the radiator will be the donor for project stablemate. it seems sound enough at a cursory inspection once i remove the dead cat or rat nest or whatever stinking lump is in the fan shroud

 

[west aussie]

anyways thats about as far as i got today. all wheel cylinders kitted and relined brake shoes fitted. made a little start on installing master cylinders and cleaning out the old brake lines. next stop cooling system but i away for a number of days first

 

[Aussie 25]

Hi West Aussie,
Loking good. The washer on the brakes, had a look in the parts book and the shoe goes on the pivit pin then the felt then the washer then the C clip. The new shoes look good.
Keep up the good work.
I think this is what a therstat lower housing realy looks like.
[ebay ]

 

[west aussie]

thanks for the info mate i sorta figured as much once i had a close study. brakes courtesy of perth brake parts; i have always been happy with their work. just didn't want them going too hard on the original drums. thermostat, ahem, we get to all that next. pretty much running a budget of $0 as usual but that is part of the fun (for me anyway) i never been into the chequebook restoration scheme. i did run this motor up for 30 secs without water when i first picked it up couple years ago and it sounded ok at first impression.

where did your old 25 come from? a number of years ago i found something on the net about a 25 been living a long time on fraser island. think it was the rubbish truck at a resort or caravan park or somesuch. anyway i have been unable to find the pic or info ever since. the vehicle pictured was a long 25 like yours but the pic was black and white; perhaps even scanned from a newspaper article. you ever heard of this one aussie 25?

 

[ozcrusier]

Not good with the chassis rust but the cab looks very good rust wise. The steel yard in the back ground might get used when you start to repair the crossmember and rails. Keep up the good work WA and keep the photo's coming. Mate both your cruisers have plenty of stablemates by the looks of it.

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

pretty much running a budget of $0 as usual but that is part of the fun (for me anyway)

That goes right along with the the way these were built to begin with, looking good! (and you got the brakes right.)

 

[Aussie 25]

thanks for the info mate i sorta figured as much once i had a close study. brakes courtesy of perth brake parts; i have always been happy with their work. just didn't want them going too hard on the original drums. thermostat, ahem, we get to all that next. pretty much running a budget of $0 as usual but that is part of the fun (for me anyway) i never been into the chequebook restoration scheme. i did run this motor up for 30 secs without water when i first picked it up couple years ago and it sounded ok at first impression.

where did your old 25 come from? a number of years ago i found something on the net about a 25 been living a long time on fraser island. think it was the rubbish truck at a resort or caravan park or somesuch. anyway i have been unable to find the pic or info ever since. the vehicle pictured was a long 25 like yours but the pic was black and white; perhaps even scanned from a newspaper article. you ever heard of this one aussie 25?

My 25 came from Biloela 400 km north from here.
The one you heard about on fraser island is NO 118 on the 25 count. Its in the Baupple museum, and its chassis is very rusty. I drove it a few times on fraser when i was about 15.
That thermostat housing cost $5 on ebay,and i need it for mine.

 

[chappohj47]

I want one good work in it so far
I am really jealous

 

[west aussie]

been away this week and got lots on but hopefully get a bit done over the next few evenings. want to finish the hydraulics and start thinking about a cooling system of sorts. she parked front centre in the shed doorway at the moment so that should keep me tinkering before something more urgent arises and i have to roll (drive?) her out of the way.