Newbie Intro & some questions on HJ47 & FJ45's

[MikTylor]

Hi all

I've joined here to pick the brains of folk for the purpose of being as prepared as possible for a planned resto / build project for myself & my two sons to sink our teeth into.

I'm currently living in Orange NSW but will soon be relocating to somewhere on the mid / north coast of NSW. I have travelled extensivly around Australia & my background is a fitter machinist by trade. I have a pretty good selection of tools & equipment for the task at hand although mostly general hand tools, nothing really specific to car restoration.

I have done some painting & very light / rough & ready panel repair work before & know the basics but for a great finish to that side of things I will be asking questions wherever I can when I get to those stages.

Being in my mid 40's I have seen alot, done alot & know nothing! :)

I've chosen the FJ45 or HJ47 as the vehicle for our resto for several reasons, firstly at the tender age of 12 I learnt to drive in outback NSW in a near new FJ45 that belonged to my father. Over the years I loved that ute to death, literaly & a few years ago I was crushed to learn that the same identical vehicle had come up for auction & of course I was flat broke, it went for $500 & I still lament about it today.

I have an idea in my head of bringing one up to a nice tidy ute with some mod cons. I don't want to do a full & faithful resto but I do want the look & memories from yesteryear to pass onto my boys.

What I'd like to find out from experienced people here is what I should be looking for BEFORE I purchase. I figure if I outline what I'm hoping to acheive then hopefully someone here will take pity on my sentimental heart & throw me a few ideas.

So, not really knowing which of the two models are best suited to the task the first thing is which one?

I want to end up with something that I can put a more modern diesel engine into, I don't want to break any records here, I just want reasonable speed, good torque & great reliability with a lean toward basic engines that can be re-built in a backyard workshop without too much outside help.

I am also not sure which of the two models have the better drive train? I think I heard that the HJ's are better ratios for highway travel but not sure. Towing a boat is a must for the eventual finished product so grunt is reasonably important.

Can anyone here possibly lend me their ideas on what a good solid (reasonably priced) engine would be best here (I dunno, maybe the original diesels are the best choice?)

I also want to add 4x4 disc brakes to her.

At this stage my idea is to lay out a plan & then source a suitable retired old girl from somewhere & rip it to bits & slowly teach my boys about workshop etiquet! From the chassis up is what I want to do & a bit a cutting & shutting here & there doesn't phase me. I'm reasonably handy with a welder & oxy.

There ya go, no plan & no clues, hope you folks can offer me some starting points.

Cheers

Mik

Edited September 6, 2012 by MikTylor

[CROCO]

Hi mik , I love those old trucks, I use to own 1983 HJ47,the first toyota I ever owned, she powered by the mighty 2H diesel, she wasnt fast but she was strong and reliable and I could go just about any where, I sold mine about 12 years ago, I needed a family car, so the cruiser had to go , my old girl was starting to leak fuel into the oil, but she had nearly 450000kms on the clock and apart from the fuel leaking into the oil, she ran great, I also learnt to drive in one of these old cruisers too, 1972 model and got my licience in my old mans 75 series ute, so I had long love affair with landcruisers and especialy toyotas, I also from the central west in dubbo, if I was picking out a landcruiser in the 40 series range , I would pick either a hj47 or fj 47, they were the last of the 40 series and my old hj47 had power steering and front disk brakes, I cant quiet remember if the hj 47 came with a 5 speed manuel or not, mine was 5 speed, so I dont know if the previous owner swapped the over the transmission or not.

I also thought about buying another old cruiser to restore, but my missus would shove it up my a$$, a good web site to find out information about the 40 series is on the 4wd action web site, theres a fair few owners on there with a great knowledge.

Sorry i couldnt be more help, reading your post bought back some memorys.

[MikTylor]

Cheers Croco

Yeah the memories are very sweet. Thanks for the info I didn't know the late 40's had discs! I'll check out 4wd action too, sounds good.

PS - I did my trade tech at Dubbo TAFE :)

[HD9284]

Really you can't beat the good old 2 h but in saying that if you can find a late 60 series with a 12ht engine you are gonna end up with great turbo'd option also if you need disc front you can roll the diffs under also giving you ample after market ratios and also possibly utilize some of the air con parts aswell

[batedbreath]

Hi Mik,

Had a few 45s and a 40, with my 40 i could watch the needle go down on the petrol guage heaps of power but the fuel useage was just too much, i have to say that i now own a 80 series Landcruiser diesel and its the best rig i have ever had and would not part with it.

If you are looking at all them modifications you will be spending a lot of time and money with an Engineer getting Mod certificates, if you get something like the Toyota 80 series 1hdt turbo you will have a rig that will do everything you have mentioned and more without going near an engineer errrrr maybe for aftermarket front seats but thats all, or like some get a trimmer to alter the standard ones that come with the truck.

Any way mate good luck in what ever you do i am sure you will have fun doing it and i am also sure you will spend lots of money.

Cheers

Derek

[Bill W]

Mik,

How did you go with your project? I am currently fitting a recon engine to a 1982 HJ47 farm ute so came across your post whilst posting some queries of my own.

I also am a Fitter & Machinist and did my trade course at Sydney Tech in the 1960's. So that makes me an "old codger" now but still enjoy making/doing things with my hands.

Did you move to the Mid/North Coast??? I am in the Northern Rivers area and have been here for 35 yrs now. almost a local!

Regarding your questions.... I also have a 1978 FJ45 with std 2F engine. Great engine but heavy on fuel. The HJ47 (2H engine) is also a great unit and does not use as much fuel. Both are unregistered farm trucks.

Rgds.

Bill.

[Da Man]

fully sick

[nolsy]

Hi Folks

Trying to help out a rural fire brigade convert an FJ45 unit to power steer. The have some keen members of the fair sex who can't manage the manual steering on our truck. We can't afford a replacement truck  but have keen mechanical types to do the work. Ive heard that a Hilux box will do the job. Any advice would be appreciated! Cheers

Noel