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Restoring to her former glory - BJ74 FRP

Phoenix_cruiser

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Feb 1, 2021
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new_zealand
Hello all! Fresh poster here.
I've acquired this old girl from my late father. It's been parked up in the farm shed, growing an assortment of rust and organic matter and I'm going to strip her back and get her up and running and looking like new again.
I don't know a h*ll of a lot about cruisers tbh (I'm more of a Hilux girl), but I know that it's a 1987 70 series FRP at least - can anyone tell me the difference between the FJ70 and BJ70 and how I am likely to distinguish this from my truck?
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I'm still in the process of attempting to drag her back to my garage so I can strip her down - had a few complications this weekend when trying to tow her back so that's been delayed :-(
Will post progress pics as the project progresses.

Stand by for more questions ;-)
 
Sorry you Dad isn't there to enjoy the project with you. There is a large amount of data available about the Toyota 70 series on WikipediaToyota Land Cruiser (J70) - Wikipedia - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club] as well as many other internet sites. Basically your B is a diesel the F's were gasoline.
They varied year to year along with the accessories but all shared the very robust chassis inherited from the FJ 40 series that preceeded it. My wife affectionately refers to it as the "Buckboard" although where mine came from in Venezuela it's commonly known as "Machito". I suspect you'll find assistance down under from a stalwart crew owners. Good luck with the project.
 
Thanks for your reply and the info. Helps a lot

Yes, it's a huge shame that we can't be working on it together. He'll be working on it with me in spirit
 
hi, looks same as mine, I believe you have a BJ74, 13bt engine, medium wheel base, have fun with it, great truck
 
btw the way,
FJ70 is petrol, F series engine usually 6 cylinder, J is for Jeep, 70 series, short wheel base,
BJ70, B series 4 cylinder Diesel engine, again J for Jeep and 70 for series and wheelbase,
but yours is a BJ74, medium wheel base, cheers Jon
 
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Hi @Phoenix_cruiser, welcome to the club. That's a nice looking truck you have. There is a band of serious 70 series fans here who will follow your restoration with interest. Do take pics of the truck and your work on it. We all love pics.

If it is a BJ74 it may have more heavy duty transmission than we got on our 70 series here in Europe. It would be interesting to know exactly what model it is, the 70 series is a rather large and diverse family with several branches. If you look under the bonnet at the top of the bulkhead you will find the VIN plate with lots of useful information on it. The long number near the top is the actual VIN, or chassis number, from which you can tell when the truck was built. The last two rows at the bottom would be useful to post here so we can know more about the vehicle. Second from bottom is the model number, that will give the engine type, among other things. The bottom row, a long number, is a series of codes giving details of gearbox, diff type and ratios, even the colour so you can match it with touch-up paint. When you need advice, or parts, all this stuff will be very useful to know.

Hope you don't find anything too serious, especially with rust. I shall be following your project with interest. Keep us posted.
 
Awesome. Thanks!
I'm hoping to have it home this weekend with any luck so will be able to check out the VIN number then.
My dad actually left one of those service and repairs manuals in it, which will be hugely helpful when it comes time to start working on her.
Will definetly keep y'all updated with progress pics. It will be a slow process though as I'm planning to strip it back close to the chassis and build it back up.
 
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this sounds brave Phoenix_cruiser but maybe you have done this before? here is a link to the Landcruiser museum https://landcruiserhm.com/ and maybe you precise one is on this website - maybe post the VIN plate here so we know exactly.
 
Nope. First time doing it. I have tinkered around on cars in the past but nothing to this extreme. So will be a learning experience for sure!
 
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when you said build it back up I'm feeling very inspired - i need to do the same with mine. not sure where to start
 
So after a whole lot of disappointment in the transport of this thing, I finally have it home and in my garage.
Had to rip the roof off and drop the tyre pressure to fit it in. Mission!! But happy to finally have it here....


P. S. Yes... Those are tyres strapped to the front of the hilux. Had to play bumper cars and use it to push it off the road and up the driveway

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At last! It sounds like it has been quite a saga. Now the real work can begin. The base of the windscreen will test your welding skills. Youtube has some good videos of how to repair window surrounds. I hope there's nothing as bad with the rear corners underneath, or the sills. Let us know what you find.

It looks a fun vehicle with the top off, do the rear door tops come off as well?
 
It was a huge mission!

Theres a lot of rust in the windscreen sil and I'm sure there is some in the fire wall as well. Luckily, I have a brother who's an engineer/boiler maker, so he'll hopefully be able to give me a hand there.

The doors are a full size door, which is a shame. It does look fun without the roof.

I've taken the seats and most of the carpet out already and will start to take all the panels off this week and evaluate how much rust there is. Bit nervous about that one.
 
I've stripped a lot of the inside out then realised I should focus on the motor for the moment.
As I recall, it needed a replacement head gasket but God damn I am struggling just to get the damn turbo off!! It seems every bolt is seized!

Has anyone got a walk through on how to disassemble the motor to replace the gasket for one of these?
 
Hey all!! Long time, no post. I've been pulling this old girl apart like it's going out of fashion.
Hadn't formulated a plan on what I wanted to pay attention to first so was a bit all over the show.
Unfortunately, she's riddled with rust, so have had to sit down and figure out how I wanted to attack that.
I haven't quite figured out the winning numbers for the lottery so the ole bank account dictates how much I can spend
I have drawn all my attention to the motor for the time being. It is proving a mission.
Anyone have any idea where I can get the sst I need to remove the injectors? It has the 13B-T engine it.

Anywho. Here's some pics of how terrible of a condition she's in. Poor old girl.
P.s. I thought I had more pics but apparently I've been terrible at taking progress pics. Whoops!
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