Tearing down my HJ47 troopy

[gswest]

Rust issues galore

Among the many areas of concern are the metal flange areas of the fiberglass top. how to weld these parts without melting the fiberglass? I won't be doing it but someone will.

 

[gswest]

Door disassembly

Turns out there's a lot of parts involved in a 40 series door. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon taking the drivers door apart. I'm not sure how I'm going to get the top door hinge off. It's bolted in a spot that a contortionist couldn't get a wrench on.

 

[Chamba]

Turns out there's a lot of parts involved in a 40 series door. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon taking the drivers door apart. I'm not sure how I'm going to get the top door hinge off. It's bolted in a spot that a contortionist couldn't get a wrench on.

I used a box end wrench to get mine off on my HJ47. I turned it about 1/2" each time and then when it was loose enough, I used the open end side. Be prepared to bleed a bit. Having said that, when I restored my FJ40, I left them on because I could not be bothered taking them off.

When I drove my troopy topless, I put a 40 series roll bar in it so I would have full seat belts. Nothing better than a topless Cruiser without the doors... I miss that living in Australia. Big Brother does not allow such nonesense.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[gswest]

Yeah, I'm already bleeding after taking off the botom hinge. When I looked up at the top one, I wanted to get a blow torch. I'm taking the speedometer out anyway, and hoping that gives me a way in. As it is, I couldn't even fit my hand in to touch the bolts.

 

[gswest]

Sandblasted body panels

They look so lonely sitting at my local body shop waiting for protective primer.

 

[gswest]

Now the engine removal begins

This will be fun, but as I've never done a engine removal, I'll be expecting issues. I have the shop manual, I'll probably rent a hoist. Me and my brother (who's never even removed a wiper blade) will get it done,,,,eventually.
Beer don't fail me now!

 

[gswest]

Engine, remove yourself!

I thought a wish and a prayer was worth a shot.
Crap!

 

[Chamba]

You can often buy a hoist at Pep Boys for what you can hire one from an equipment shop.

If you take the radiator and ox bow out first, you will have a lot more room to play with. Tripple check that you have all the bolts out, and remove the transmission cradle as it will give you more wiggle room.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Josh

 

[gswest]

Thanks, I'll check pep boys.

 

[69LC]

Turns out there's a lot of parts involved in a 40 series door. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon taking the drivers door apart. I'm not sure how I'm going to get the top door hinge off. It's bolted in a spot that a contortionist couldn't get a wrench on.

I had this too when building my hinges. I'll probably have to have my kids help me get the bolts back in. Disconnect the battery too if you haven't. Metal wrenches near the fuse block is innerving when they touch.

 

[69LC]

Yeah, I'm already bleeding after taking off the botom hinge. When I looked up at the top one, I wanted to get a blow torch. I'm taking the speedometer out anyway, and hoping that gives me a way in. As it is, I couldn't even fit my hand in to touch the bolts.

If you haven't gotten the top hinges off yet, try removing headlight and ignition switched from the dash face. That's allowed me room to access the top hinge, not with a ton of room, but access.

 

[Ambrew]

Keep up the good work!

 

[gswest]

I found a loaner engine hoist

One of my friends at work has a hoist I can use, so that saves me some $$. Also, I'm going to take all the gauges out of the dash so it can be painted, so thats when I'll tackle the upper door hinges.

 

[gswest]

Cobra torch

I'm taking Mike's advise (MJKfabrication) about trying the Cobra Torch for my rust repairs. There's so many areas that need new metal, I'm going to gamble that buying this welding torch and the related accessories will save me some serious cash in the long run. Mike even offered to loan me his, which was awfully generous considering we've never met. He's down the road about 25 miles, so I may have to go see him for lessons on using the cobra torch. You can check out his 40 build up and conversion to 4.3 vortec/4L60E. The members here never cease to amaze me.

 

[Chamba]

One of my friends at work has a hoist I can use, so that saves me some $$. Also, I'm going to take all the gauges out of the dash so it can be painted, so thats when I'll tackle the upper door hinges.

Good call on both fronts. For your first time pulling an engine, you really don't want to be in a hurry. If you hire a hoist, then you will be in a rush to get it done, and you will not enjoy it.

I'm not sure if you said before, but what color will you paint the rig when done? I'm a firm believer that changing color from white to any other color pleases the Cruiser gods.

I've now changed two rigs from white to another colour and can feel the good ju ju every time I drive one of them.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[gswest]

Color change

Originally, I thought about dune beige, but after seeing Mike's (MJKfabrications) green rig, I'm leaning that way. Check out his and let me know what you think It's here in one of his posts. I put a pic of the engine after the radiator and some a/c stuff was removed. Also the freshly primered body panels in their temporary home at the storage place.

 

[Living in the Past]

Turns out there's a lot of parts involved in a 40 series door. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon taking the drivers door apart. I'm not sure how I'm going to get the top door hinge off. It's bolted in a spot that a contortionist couldn't get a wrench on.

Funny I used this as a example to people complaining about how hard it is to remove hard top bolts. Once you mastered the removal and install of the upper door hinges you can tackle any bolt on a cruiser. Believe it or not it gets easier the more times you do it.

Does you HJ47 have the H41 with the hand brake on back of the split transfer case? Those are rare to find in the US.

 

[gswest]

Yes, it has the e-brake on the back of the transfer. I want to upgrade to a five speed at some point and the hand brake would probably have be modified at that point.

 

[Chamba]

Yes, it has the e-brake on the back of the transfer. I want to upgrade to a five speed at some point and the hand brake would probably have be modified at that point.

You can either put your handbrake assembly into the transfer case which comes with your 5 speed (if you buy it used) or build your existing transfer case on to the back of your new 5 speed; you just have to make sure that the back of your existing transfer case has the notches in it to hold the little plastic oiler for the 5th gear. You can use all the transfer case bolts from an 86ish FJ60 with the 4 speed and the faux spacer between the gear box and the transfer case in oder to get the correct length bolts.

Your other option is to get the hand brake backing plates from a 60 series rear axle (or an 81-84 40/42 series) and bolt those on to your axle to have the hand brake on the rear axle. You will need to cut off the two tabs which hold the hand brake cable to the 60 series' axle and weld them to your axle to hold the brake cable, but that is very easily done. You likely already have the female bolt mount on your diff cover to hold the middle of your brake cable. You can then get the hand brake cable from an HJ79 pickup and it should reach just fine. 2manycruisers just did this exact application for his HJ45 with an LX axle.

I like all of Toyota's Cruiser green colours. I will look to see if I can find MJK's rig. My FJ40 LX is the newer light olive green (code 6L4) which I LOVE. If I repaint my HJ47 (not the HJ47 in this photo - that belongs to buckroseau in Mn.), I will paint it 6L4 as well.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[Living in the Past]

Your other option is to get the hand brake backing plates from a 60 series rear axle (or an 81-84 40/42 series) and bolt those on to your axle to have the hand brake on the rear axle. You will need to cut off the two tabs which hold the hand brake cable to the 60 series' axle and weld them to your axle to hold the brake cable, but that is very easily done. You likely already have the female bolt mount on your diff cover to hold the middle of your brake cable. You can then get the hand brake cable from an HJ79 pickup and it should reach just fine. 2manycruisers just did this exact application for his HJ45 with an LX axle.

Have a link to a thread with the part number for the brake cable? Plan on using a split case and post 8/80 40 series axle in my FJ45LP-B