Welcome to Oman - the beginning of a legend...

[DanS HJ-45]

That's coming together nicely! Are you painting the roof white on top of the red, or doing the whole thing red?

Love it! Looks great.

Dan

 

[ianfotheringham]

hey dan...

i was thinking about it - just to keep it in line with its sisters...also it might keep it a bit cooler...but then decided against it as im going to be going with a red and black kind of theme - ill be fabbing an external roll cage and roof rack, brush guard and sliders all in black, and together with the 8 black spot lights, tinted windows, black floor and whatnot...it should look sexy....mmmmmm...here's one of my new wheels...

 

[merbesfield]

Nice looking wheels. What is the brand name?

 

[merbesfield]

Did Toyota put the factory PS pumps on both sides of the motor? I see this one is on the passenger side, but mine from my 79 was on the drivers side. If you are going to add AC you may have to move it to the drivers side?

 

[ianfotheringham]

dunno about the ps pump - but apparently it had a/c before and the compressor was somewhere under the ps pump....but there isn't a free pulley for it...so its a bit of a mystery - will keep you posted when i get to it tho....the wheels are Rays Engineering Volk Racing T37x's...forged...out of japan - supposed to be quite nice - but as it worked out - they were the only wheels in the arabian gulf that i could find that would fit - cheap too - 100$ each - but looked on the internet in the states and they were more like 400 each...mmmm

 

[patches84]

G'day Ian,

AFAIK, the LHD had them on the left side of the motor, and the RHD on the right. My 83 FJ40 US-spec was on the left, and my 84 FJ40 LX Aussie spec is on the right. I wonder if you have an Aussie/Japan motor in her. Is the engine number the original? This may explain the lack of pully grooves for the air con: I believe factory air con and power steer (at least in the US and Australia) came with 3 grooves, where the power steer-only rigs had only 2 grooves. I wonder if yours came with either one or the other from stock, and has had the other added. You can get the 3 groove pully pretty easily, as most FJ60s came with them. Specter has them, or I'm certain that a wrecker there in Oman would have them.

On both of my 40 series, though, the air con unit has been on the lower right hand side of the engine (where yours seems to be). On the LHD, my alternator was above the air con on the right, and on my RHD it is on the left side, below the air cleaner, where my smog pump was in my US-Spec 40 (my Aussie-spec 40 is an external regulator alternator as well, where my US-Spec 40 was internal regulator). My Aussie-Spec 40 is from South Australia, though, where we do not have smog laws. The NSW and Vic ones came with similar smog pumps, etc to the US-Spec 40s, and I don't know where the power steering pump is on those. It may be that the locations of items under the bonnet has more to do with the smog equipment than which side of the car the steering is on- in which case, that would explain why yours is on the right side.

As far as the roof- only concern I would have in that climate (which is a problem here as well) with a dark colour on the fibreglass is that the heat and sun may break down the roof more quickly. I met a bloke here with a black roof, and he said that his is now so brittle that it cracks whenever he pushes against it with his hand- just a thought. Of course, if you are covering it with a roof rack, then it will not matter.

The whole thing looks really good! I bet you can't wait to get her out on the road! Keep the photos coming.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[ianfotheringham]

Woop Woop

well, it is now clear that the wheels of motion in the arab world have become gummed up and thus work exceedingly slowly, however, it is now time to rejoice! five short [read: long] months at the body shop and i have been reunited with the mighty chariot! heres a little teaser pic before i get a chance to take some more appropriate ones...

 

[Bear]

Ian,

Looking good !
After viewing your photo, I must ask: how often, if ever, do you guys need to use windshield wipers in your environment? Similarly how often a heater; and how does one avoid using an airconditioner, or does the desert heat simply become an accepted way-of-life?

 

[ianfotheringham]

Ian,

Looking good !
After viewing your photo, I must ask: how often, if ever, do you guys need to use windshield wipers in your environment? Similarly how often a heater; and how does one avoid using an airconditioner, or does the desert heat simply become an accepted way-of-life?

well bear, i think in the two years i have been here i accidently turned my wipers on once, if that answers your question...i suppose if you happened to drive through a rare pool of water at some speed you might want to speed the clearing of the windscreen with the help of the wipers...but you will also notice that in the picture that the wipers are strategically missing, as the workshop deemed them unecessary to put back on, so i had to slap them and re-educate them that as i will be diving to Canada [new plan] the chances of me encountering precipitation in other countries is fair, i opened the wiper motor cover, and by the looks of it, it is possible it has never been activated...thus, of course, it does not work at present...

heater? just no.

air con important? a 'yes' would simply just not do justice...i have only fond memories of temeratures lower than 40 celcius...its really quite ridiculous. i have yet to aclimatize. again, its ridiculous.

this brings with it a significant problem: the 45 has no air con...only a two belt main pulley, no abvious space for a three belt main pulley, no mount for a compressor, not really any obvious room for a mount location, etc etc etc....

but im on it.

bit of a high priority....

i'll post a pic of the potential spots, and you guys can hopefully think something up...

 

[Bear]

Ian,

The 1979 and up 40s had optional factory airconditioning.
As well as optional power steering and front disc brakes.
World market trucks from October 1982 up had optional H55F five-speeds available: for diesels or gassers.
The parts should be available on used Middle Eastern vehicles, to look at the layout, and to pull.
I thought I saw a factory airconditioning evaporator unit slung under your dash in one of your prior photos.

While standard airconditioning can be fitted to a Troopy, the huge expansiveness of the vehicle makes cooling only the front seating area viable. Here in the US, the biggest vehicle manufacturers install a second evaporator unit in the back area to keep those folks cooler.

A thought: I know the Brits have heater problems in the Wolf Defenders in Arctic areas, and fit a drop down flap behind the front seats to confine the heat to that area only. Maybe in your case, a sheet of heavy clear plastic might be worth a try for an inexpensive solution to the cooling confinement.

I thought you were going to travel in the Middle East and Africa. Are you now adding Canada to the list, or are you referring to difficulties in crossing borders on your original itinerary?

Cheers.

 

[ianfotheringham]

Ian,

The 1979 and up 40s had optional factory airconditioning.
As well as optional power steering and front disc brakes.
World market trucks from October 1982 up had optional H55F five-speeds available: for diesels or gassers.
The parts should be available on used Middle Eastern vehicles, to look at the layout, and to pull.
I thought I saw a factory airconditioning evaporator unit slung under your dash in one of your prior photos.

While standard airconditioning can be fitted to a Troopy, the huge expansiveness of the vehicle makes cooling only the front seating area viable. Here in the US, the biggest vehicle manufacturers install a second evaporator unit in the back area to keep those folks cooler.

A thought: I know the Brits have heater problems in the Wolf Defenders in Arctic areas, and fit a drop down flap behind the front seats to confine the heat to that area only. Maybe in your case, a sheet of heavy clear plastic might be worth a try for an inexpensive solution to the cooling confinement.

I thought you were going to travel in the Middle East and Africa. Are you now adding Canada to the list, or are you referring to difficulties in crossing borders on your original itinerary?

Cheers.

thanks for the tips bear - and ya, i was planning on making a divider to keep just the two front seats in the cool...and since we are only using the space in the back for storage, theres no need to air con it...will be just the two of us...i'll be keeping a look out for other working set ups here...

as for the trip - it hasnt been altered, but extended - we will drive down to south africa, ship to buenos aires, then cruiser up to canada from there...thats the plan de jour at least...

by the way, since we're in Oman, without any real excuse for an off-roading shop - and because im cheap - everything that ill be putting in will be fabbed here by the local indian manual labour contingent - this will be including an INTI rip off roof rack, extra fuel tank [above drive shaft between frame], water tank [spare tire location], full cabinets/drawers, hannibal rip off awning, bull bar, sliders maybe, snorkel, etc etc etc...this means i have to somehow convince some guy with no formal fabrication training, minimal english, and not much of a clue as far as the distance i need to have everything survive...how to put things together...fingers crossed...

 

[redsands]

nice find.

regarding your ac all m.e. 40 series 2F's ive seen with ac have it on the passenger side under the p.s. pump. AFAIK 60 series 2f's were set up the same, check out the local boneyard- youll probably have more luck finding a 60 with ac. hopefully your evaporator will still work- if not theres a good aftermarket one available here with an excellent fan- better than stock, and fits like a glove. cost about 350 riyals. works great for me on my 84. id include a pic but shes in the shop at the moment. i can post up when i get her back if you like.

good luck

 

[ianfotheringham]

nice find.

regarding your ac all m.e. 40 series 2F's ive seen with ac have it on the passenger side under the p.s. pump. AFAIK 60 series 2f's were set up the same, check out the local boneyard- youll probably have more luck finding a 60 with ac. hopefully your evaporator will still work- if not theres a good aftermarket one available here with an excellent fan- better than stock, and fits like a glove. cost about 350 riyals. works great for me on my 84. id include a pic but shes in the shop at the moment. i can post up when i get her back if you like.

good luck

hey there - a pic of the mounting assembly would be super helpful - i've been told many times that that is the best location - as it is the only spot where there is enough space...but the problem is, is that mine is devoid of anything that even resembles a mount...also, my main pulley is of the two-groove type - and i imagine if i swapped in a three groove pulley, that it would hit the fan...does yours run off the same belt as the power steering?

pix!!!

thanks tho

 

[redsands]

heres the compressor bracket without the p.s. pump in the way. find one of those (or make one) and your off to the races. the p.s. uses the same bolt holes.



hope that helps

 

[ianfotheringham]

thanks very much - at least i now know what to look for...

so it would seem you are also rocking the two belt main pulley - so how is your ps pump powered?

 

[redsands]

you will need the 3 belt crank pulley. IIRC they all (ac, ps, alt) all run on their own belt. still dont have mine back yet to say for sure. soon in sh'allah...

 

[ianfotheringham]

and here are a few updated pics...

things are very slowly moving in the right direction - with a new ARB 'inspired' bumper, brush guard, INTI 'inspired rack', and rear light cages, its starting to take the form of an African adventuring machine...

currently i'm working on heat/sound proofing, fabbing a hannibal 'inspired' awning, and rear storage/sleeping platform...stay tuned...

 

[73fj]

If your coming to Canada, please drive through Alberta so that I can put my hands on that truck!

 

[Chamba]

patches84 now HJ47

G'day Ian,

This is Patches84. I just wanted to let you know that I checked HJ47 on a whim, and no-one had it, so it is mine!! I will be changing over my old stuff to here, and then closing Patches84 in favour of his address.

I hope you had a good time back hom in Canada. Talk to you soon.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[Radd Cruisers]

and here are a few updated pics...

things are very slowly moving in the right direction - with a new ARB 'inspired' bumper, brush guard, INTI 'inspired rack', and rear light cages, its starting to take the form of an African adventuring machine...

currently i'm working on heat/sound proofing, fabbing a hannibal 'inspired' awning, and rear storage/sleeping platform...stay tuned...

Your rig looks amazing.