Australian RJ70 resurrection

[Paddler Ed]

OK... so the short story is I've been looking for a car for a friend's son who is getting his L's in April '14, and he originally wanted a 40 series, but they were stupid money and old, so I talked him into a 70 series as they are much cheaper to buy at the moment.

Driving around today I spotted a tired and cob-webby RJ70 sitting forlornly at the side of the road. Rang the number and asked the price... $1k... well that's in the $3k budget that there is for a 'Cruiser, even if it needs a bit of work it's still not a million miles out.

It will need a new exhaust (it's got more holes than a colander in it, and makes more noise than a fart cannon on a ricer car) and has the seeping seal on the back of the front swivel hubs that I think Ben was suffering from.

Does anyone know anything else to look at? It's got good roof gutters, and no noticeable holes in the floor, other than ones that are supposed to be there, as there is no carpet in it, I think it's an inland car so no beach work and underneath looks pretty good.

Now an RJ70 is not going to be a great ball of fire, as it has a 2.4 litre carb'ied petrol engine in it (22R)

Anyone from older Hi Luxes know anything about the 22R, as it was also used in those.

Thanks in advance, and in time I'll get the lad on here!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Spent nearly 2hrs going over it with a fine tooth comb last night and took it for a good run last night (well several laps of the paddock!) and there is a bit of a noise. Diagnostics via mates on a Volvo forum (yep a Volvo forum... on which there are 4 of us based in Aus with Toyota's of various flavours, and various degrees of technical knowledge - 2 are licensed mechanics, another is a decent yard mechanic and the 4th is me...) could be the noise is clutch or input shaft related.

Still, for $1k it's worth it... so we've put a deposit down on it and it's going to get picked up or transported in January to go off to it's new home. Am still trying to get my mate into here, and that will happen in due course as I'm sure he's going to have some questions on it as he goes along.

BUT it's going to be a great first car project, and should be an awesome little truck when he finishes with it! He'll have a lot to learn mechanically with it, and is going to be doing a fair bit of electrical work on it because there's all sorts of switches that we can't work out what they're for!

Structurally it's sound; there's a bit of rust at the bottom of the windscreen, but that's about the worst we've found. It's going to need to have some flares fitted as these ones are rooted, so will have to look at options for those other than the fibreglass ones that are fitted at the moment.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

I bet structurally its better than nearly all the UK based 70's, so its a great base to start from.
Good luck with it

Andy

 

[Paddler Ed]

I bet structurally its better than nearly all the UK based 70's, so its a great base to start from.
Good luck with it

Andy

Luckily it looks like it's lived it's life so far as an inland car; where we are we has an annual rainfall of about 700mm, compared to the Central Coast area (where it's going to) where there is an annual fall of nearly 1500mm (which isn't that bad for Aus overall; friends in Coffs get near that in the first 6 months of the year... just totted up 2013 rainfall and it was 1549mm for Jan - June... and 2100mm total for the year... and Ben wants to move there?!) BOM have great records for weather monitoring!

 

[yogi]

If it starts, stops and starts and stops from hot too and it runs a fairly even temp there isn't an awful lot to go wrong with those old type petrol engines.
Worst case you might have to rebuild the carb if its been lying up, but that's not too major.

Doesn't look like a shed in the pics, which is a good thing too!!

Whats the coolant like that's in it? And whats the oil like?

 

[Ben]

Looks good Ed.

Definitely worth a grand, nice find.

Makes me think I might be better buying one to re-shell mine rather than patching up the bodywork and re-spraying.

 

[TarbonGas]

Just bought new RJ70, what do i need to do post purchase?

Hey guys, ive just bought my first 4WD and its arriving in a couple of weeks time !! I believe its been out of use for a while but started and ran fine when i drove it, so im just wondering when it rolls off the truck and i get it into the shed what are some things i should be doing to tune it up? I was thinking i would change the fluids in it but would appreciate a lsit of the fluids ill need to change, id rather be preemptive and change filters on it but once again im unsure of which i should replace, anything else i need to do would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers
Tarbon

 

[Paddler Ed]

So Tarbon's RJ70 is on the transport truck down to him tonight... it's the one I was asking about in another thread (clicky here) which I spotted for sale at the side of the road.

I've given Tarbon a whole load of links to useful sites for it, such as here, ToyoDIY and some info from the way back when machine that has FSM's on it... so hopefully this thread will turn into another build thread for a nice little 70; it won't be as tough as Ben's but should still be a good fun truck to head bush with.

 

[Paddler Ed]

It's on the truck tonight down to the Central Coast. The recovery companies aren't too bad up here; $330 for a 500km journey, so much cheaper than DIY with a trailer.

 

[Ben]

Welcome to the club Tarbon.

Looking at the pics on the other thread it looks like a nice straight 70.

I would say you should change the oil in both diffs, gearbox, transfercase and engine + oil filter, fuel filter and air filter. Check the power steering fluid and brake fluid and top up if necessary. Check all the electrics are working, all lights, gauges etc, check all the tyre pressures and adjust as necessary.

Then get out and have some fun in it!