Surprise BJ42 strip down and rebuild! (1 Viewer)

[Pommy]

Hi guys,

So several months ago I bought an unregistered BJ42 (3B Diesel) with the intention of getting a few minor issues fixed up and get it out on the road as my new daily driver... Turns out that I wasn't as thorough as I had originally intended when I looked over the vehicle before buying. Partly due to having wanted a 40 series landcruiser for a long time but also due to a lot of dodgy cover ups by the previous owner that I did not pick up on until closer inspection at a later date. Very frustrating and lots of corners cut that were highly dangerous and just plain lazy maintenance.
I could go on but you get the point, it is what it is and I am determined to bring this old truck back to life and safely on the road for many years to come.

This thread will be a document of my journey with my truck with as many pictures as possible. As I never intended to do a full body strip down, repaint etc I will be doing this on a strict budget and doing as much work as possible myself including paint etc. It won't be a showroom spec finish but I will be going as hard out as I possibly can for my budget.

Enjoy

 

[Pommy]

Here is a few starting pics before it all went pear shaped, drove pretty well a fair amount of rattling due to loose door hinges and locks etc. Didn't appear to be dripping any fluid etc, steering was pretty true and engine was running quite smooth.

 

[Pommy]

started looking into why the lights were playing up, and brake lights etc...

Found this masterpiece underneath a lot of old tape! It was the same on both sides and also not connected further up towards the cabin, I guess it was cut out of another vehicle and never addressed properly...

Afterwards, not a perfect finish but crimped up properly and tied up around the engine bay not just loosely rattling and rubbing against other parts

Also went and put new lenses and bulbs all round just for a fresher look. These lenses can easily be picked up new on eBay for like $20 and it makes a huge difference.

From this picture you can also see how S#%* the paint looks up close, I think its fence paint and a roller job as you will see later by how its just painted solid over everything.

 

[Pommy]

Whilst I am on the electrics, have a look at the quality rear cab battery install by PO

At least he bolted it in... What a waste of perfectly good screws...

 

[Yakking]

Hi mate,
Great thread. I look forward to watching it all pan out.

I'm in a similar boat (I bought a 84 BJ42LX in October, sight unseen from QLD and freighted it down to VIC), although the car I bought seems to be a fairly honest car (although the wiring is terrible). Just starting to go through the restoration process now.

Keep up the posts.

 

[Pommy]

Anyways, after doing a more thorough check of the mechanicals I found a few more issues not to mention the cable tied exhaust mounts (Once the other stuff is done I intend to get a nice custom set up at an exhaust shop).


Very warped rear driveshaft flange, replaced both flanges and pinion seal... oh and these nicely rusted old uni's

I also replaced the speedo cable and oil change etc whilst doing this just to keep the ball rolling.

Then I found out the wipers weren't working anymore, so had to do a bit of digging around and following the wiring and testing each terminal at the motor, everything seemed ok so assumed it was a stuffed motor. I spent a short while searching around for a replacement motor thinking that would not be a drama but couldn't find anything anywhere around Oz at the time. Saw one on eBay from the US for over $400 and decided I would be better off ripping the old one apart and have a play with it (Im on a budget after all!)

I only have one picture of the motor apart because I wasn't planning on documenting it, but I would seriously suggest having a go if you're in the same boat, just take it all apart, clean everything, regrease the gears and use contact cleaner and a light sandpaper of electrical parts. Then I took the coil and contacts section apart and once again cleaned it and lightly sandpapered the carbon bushes and put it all back together. Works like new, and didn't cost me a cent. Alternatively I had planned to use a more generic wiper motor and work out a way to mount it to the FJ40 mounting plate, I have found out early into this project that despite the 40 series legendary status and cult following parts are not cheap and certainly not as easily available as I had imagined they would be.

 

[roscoFJ73]

I cant work out what makes people do wiring like that. And that battery box ,what did he think would happen in a serious road accident? I hope you get it sorted.

 

[73fj40lc]

So many of us have spent so much time fixing and replacing the stupid things that PO have done to our cruisers. Luckily for me the PO of my 40 tried to do things the right way. It looks like you weren't that lucky. Good luck and keep the pics coming.

 

[78fj40mg]

Here is a few starting pics before it all went pear shaped, drove pretty well a fair amount of rattling due to loose door hinges and locks etc. Didn't appear to be dripping any fluid etc, steering was pretty true and engine was running quite smooth.


View attachment 1362791
View attachment 1362792

Nice rig!

 

[Disasterman]

Nice story on the wiper motor, you deserve some good luck. The repairs and maintenance on that vehicle are "interesting". Looking forward to more photos of past failure and future success.

 

[Pommy]

Hi mate,
Great thread. I look forward to watching it all pan out.

I'm in a similar boat (I bought a 84 BJ42LX in October, sight unseen from QLD and freighted it down to VIC), although the car I bought seems to be a fairly honest car (although the wiring is terrible). Just starting to go through the restoration process now.

Keep up the posts.

Awesome mate! I must admit the idea of sight unseen is always a gamble, but hopefully it's as honest as you were led to believe. I think I was just unlucky, do you have a build thread too? Are you going for a full resto?

 

[Pommy]

I cant work out what makes people do wiring like that. And that battery box ,what did he think would happen in a serious road accident? I hope you get it sorted.

I'm not sure what was going through his head and why he wasted time screwing down the straps... All sorted now with high tensile bolts through the floor and a battery tray with a proper clamp. Just need to get a box and ventilation as per road rules here in QLD.

 

[Pommy]

Ch

So many of us have spent so much time fixing and replacing the stupid things that PO have done to our cruisers. Luckily for me the PO of my 40 tried to do things the right way. It looks like you weren't that lucky. Good luck and keep the pics coming.

Cheers mate! I must admit it's frustrating having to pick up someone else's slack but I will get through it and the car will be safer for myself and others on the road! Have heaps more pics and stories on the way just need a spare moment to load them all up

 

[Pommy]

Nice story on the wiper motor, you deserve some good luck. The repairs and maintenance on that vehicle are "interesting". Looking forward to more photos of past failure and future success.

thanks mate. Lots more pics to come when I have the time to update my computer etc.

 

[grishnakh]

Scary battery box! Sometimes the relative ease of wiring on BJ42s lead to amateur electrical jobs, something similar but less dodgy happened to me. Luckily I'm pretty handy on the electrical front, and I know a good auto elec who works for kava. Good luck with things!

 

[Yakking]

Awesome mate! I must admit the idea of sight unseen is always a gamble, but hopefully it's as honest as you were led to believe. I think I was just unlucky, do you have a build thread too? Are you going for a full resto?

It was a massive gamble! But I was at the point where I'd been looking for so long and was getting desperate. The price was reasonable, so I just accepted that I would probably end up having to do some work to it when i got it. Turns out it's pretty minimal

Although in saying that, it looks like it'll come off the road after summer for 6months and get all the rust cut out, panels knocked out/ straightened and a full respray (going to cost about the same as the purchase price!!!!).

I tried to upload photos earlier, but can't seem to do it straight from my computer. It looks like i need to 'sync' them form somewhere else on the net. It went into the "too hard" basket.

 

[Strategic1]

Good to see more Aussies & even better Bj series. I'm still in the process of sorting issues out with my BJ43 LX. think we will all be sorting out PO issues but comes with the territory. Have the workshop manual in electronic form if you need it. PM me & can post out if it helps. Full elec specs.
Cheers guys hope you don't have too many frustration

 

[Pommy]

Scary battery box! Sometimes the relative ease of wiring on BJ42s lead to amateur electrical jobs, something similar but less dodgy happened to me. Luckily I'm pretty handy on the electrical front, and I know a good auto elec who works for kava. Good luck with things!

I had to pull out the dash cluster and the wiring behind that is abysmal, but for now I have to focus on other stuff. Im sure this will haunt me at some pint down the line! Handy having advice of an auto sparky!!

 

[roscoFJ73]

I'm still in the process of sorting issues out with my BJ43 LX.

Is that typo ,or do you actually have a 43 series?

 

[Pommy]

So with a few successful jobs under my belt I thought I was getting close to finishing the majors and approaching roadworthy condition. Decided to see why the handbrake wasn't holding, it went up a fair amount of clicks and would stop the car on flat ground but any sort of incline it was useless!
Had a look at the rear brakes and the levers were almost fully out when the handbrake was off and when the handbrake was moved up and down they barely budged. So brake drums had to come off for a better look at what was going on... Another can of worms here, rusted and seized. Wheel cylinders were moving the brakes but the whole thing looked so bad I decided to overhaul the lot. New brake pads, springs, handbrake cable, machined and cleaned up drums, full fluid flush and needed a new line because the PO had rounded the nut going into the wheel cylinder.
Here are a few pics of the brake cleanup, I only wish I had a picture of the fluid that came out when bleeding the system I don't think the fluid had been flushed this millennium!!

Before

This was fully seized and required a lot of penetrating oil/hammering to release it! Got there in the end though

I have a bead blaster at work so made good use of it for breathing a little life back into these old brake parts

Drums after I blasted, painted then had them machined. They came up great!!