Africa: HJ61 and HZJ77V spare parts
 

Hi, after reading Chris's book I'm seriously considering going the Japanese auction route for the landcruiser that we are looking to buy for our overland trip, Cairo -> Cape. HJ61 or HZJ77 are my preferable choices.

My one reservation is regarding parts for these vehicles, now I know that parts for landcruisers are supposed to be easy to find but does that stand for the Japanese ones as well?? Are they just different branded vehicles of african vehicles?

I know that this is no doubt a rooky question but I've been looking around on the web for info, buying books ecetera..... I thought I would just ask you folks about it.

Cheers
Simon

Hi Simon, you cant get more Japanese than a Land Cruiser ;-) and there are plenty of 60s all over Af.
77s are more rare or unknown out there but have 75 innards anyway (v.common). Good luck with Jap auction. If there are any left, a decent 61 should come in at around 3000£+ we worked out once. (I'd go for an 80 for not much more amd enjoy the ride

CS

Thanks Chris for the info.

Unfortunatley our budget doesn't quite extend far enough for the 80's, so it's still either the 61 or the 77. I do find the names and number quite confusing, need a family tree for cruisers. I suppose it's the same for most cars.

My wonder spreadsheet I've knocked together is starting to convince me against buying a Japanese import. All the costs along the way start to add up and i've seen a 1990 diesel manual models (guy hasn't got back to me about the exact model) floating around the market for less then the import cost of a car.

Anyway thanks for your opinion at least its good to know the parts are around.

Cheers
Simon

Simon,

A useful toyota timeline is available here:

http://tlc.toyota-europe.com/main_frame.html



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Roman (UK)
www.overlandcruiser.info

Thanks Roman, had just found it made and it made lot of sense. I've actually gone and bought an HJ60 with 65K miles on the clock. Lets hope I haven't just bought a lemon. 24 volt problems here we come :-)

thanks again

How much was it? (email me offline if you prefer)

Hi Simon, I've gone my self to a HJ60 not long ago, so far never had a problem with the 24V system, nothing to fear.
I actually have an extra alternator to charge the extra battery and run two separate systems, 24 for the car, 12 for all other.., it works fine.

hi simon
i got a land cruiser (fj45) the best 4x4 for africa i believe is toyota
i know alot of places for spare parts and mechanics too, soif you will come to egypt contact me if you need any help
good luck

dj@roamingyak,

Cost was £2300 with 68K on the clock, body in amazing condition. Please resist telling me I could have got it cheaper as I'm quite happy with it :-) Checked for the rust signs that Chris mentioned in his book and there is none of that. There are 3 spots but they are all small and are going to be removed soon. You can check her out here:

http://www.comley.org/mambo/gallery/...s.php?album=15

(warning: she ain't pretty....but she's mine!)

mario travaini,

Thanks for the reasurance, don't suppose you would send me a pic of your setup with the 12V as it sounds like a clever idea. Always helpful to see what other people have done.

omar mansour,

Thanks for the offer, will definitley be holding on to your contact details.

Cheers
SimonC

ps. Anybody know a reliable/affordable place to get old man emu's put on a landcruiser???

simon you are welcome any time ,
i checkd your new habibi (habibi= babe in arabic)
she is pretty, and she will take you where ever you want ,just treat her good ,in egypt ,i believe you can find all spare parts you want,
enjoy your habibi ;-D
P.S SORRY WHAT IS YOUR ROUTE??

pictures here:
www.southing.com/hj60/

the alternator on the top is a 12V and the one under (difficult to see in the pic) is the original 24v toyota. The 12V goes direct to the third battery mounted behind the passenger seat and from where there's a supply for lights/cigarette plug/etc...

Omar,

Route is not finalised yet as it's still a while off.

Mario,

Thanks for the pics, your spray job is SO much nicer then grey monster I have. Wish I had money to burn to get her resprayed but it just isn't going to happen. Oh well, good to see how you mounted that 12v alternator, will look into doing something similar. Great site by the way!

Cheers
Simon

Aaaarrrgh,

You must be joking, it looks fabulous in grey with the "Flash Gordon" paint job ;-). Anyway, IMO a very good deal: For a HJ61 with lots of rusty spots and 300k on the counter you could easily pay more than 7000 euro here in The Netherlands.

Flash Gordon, i like that..... might even have to change her name!

Simon,

Did you find a lot of HJ61 offers in that price range? Any particular websites you have been checking? I might be interested in importing one.

Cheers,
Michiel.

Hi Michiel,

To be honest with you I think I got quite lucky, it was an old couple who didn't want the hassle of a 4x4 in their garage. I bought it on ebay which was quite scary as I hadn't actually seen it before I had bought it but I had spoken to the chap. Still I can hear all you hardened vehicle purchasers shaking your head at the fact that I bought an unseen vehicle.

I'm the first one to admit I was taking a risk but I knew somebody else would take it if I didn't (it has a buy-it-now option so I didn't have to wait for the auction to end). I figured I could always sell it again if I didn't want it and the worst off I would learn a £2300 lesson.

Luckily this wasn't the case and it was a geniune good deal and I'm quite happy but I woudln't recommend doing the same unless you are prepared to accept the worst. Ebay is full of rip offs and idiots but there are the good deals amoungst the rubbish. This one came on ebay at 23:30 on sunday and I bought it monday afternoon after speaking to the owner.

If you are not based in the UK I doubt if this is a viable option as I'm not sure how easy it would be to arrange exporting the car after an ebay sale. Good luck though.

I did see some quite good deals on http://www.autoadvan.co.uk/sl/ although make sure you do all the maths right regarding the importing costs as it builds up pretty quickly.

Cheers
Simon

Thanks!

Hi Simon, looks like a great price for a 61.

OMEs are overpriced in this country but if not Holland (or even Au) try this guy:
Gwyn Lewis
Firbanks Garage
Welshpool
(sorry, thats all I got - it was years ago)

Fyi, Maroc or Tuni are good places to get a pro respray on the cheap.

Chris S

Forgot to add: 24v problems are very rare. 24v conponents last a lot longer than 12v, that's partly the point (along with better starting)

[This message has been edited by Chris Scott (edited 08 April 2005).]

Thanks Chris,

My downstairs neighbour is morrocan so after you mentioned the good prices on spray jobs there I asked him, his father (living in france) gets french panel van done every time he goes back to visit home, for £300! Man that is pretty tempting. Think it might be a local price though, i.e. add 100% tourist tax. Would be keen to get rid of the colour which I found out was officially called worm-grey.

24 volt certainly seems fine although split charge for it is proving a problem and while I know you suggest solar power it all starts to get a bit pricey. I like Mario's idea with a completely seperate 12V alternator although I've still got to look into exactly where he got the seperate bits from, especially the bracket?

I've already paid the overpriced price for OME's, a mate of mine was comming from Australia at the end of the month but for some reason he wasn't keen to drag 4 leaf springs with him..........

go figure.

Cheers
Simon

sick to my bones, thats a nice truck! on that mileage thats not even run in!! I got a 140000 miler on ebay of the same vintage and colour for 2050 and I'm delighted. Have a look and see what kind of landrover you would get for that kind of money and you'll see what a bargain you got. If your stuck for 24v bits try a truck stop by the way, you can get kettles, lamps, bulbs etc. I just got a 24v inverter for mine on ebay as well. I also got the garage to fit me a 12v socket to run my GPS, this is just a direct feed off one battery with an inline fuse.top tip is to remove the trim panel on the lower tailgate and give it a serious dose of waxoyl or similar on the inside as they rust from the inside out.

Andy
1990 landcruiser
landrover 101 ambie
ford escort, morris minor traveller!!

[This message has been edited by moggy 1968 (edited 05 June 2005).]

Thanks moggy, I'm pretty happy about it but I really did get lucky. Thanks for the tip as well, I'll certainly waxoil the back tailgate. I've been having a bit of fun getting rid of the (small) bits of surface rust and apart from a final coat that's almost done.

Are you thinking about putting in a split charge system as that's my biggest problem at the moment? Mario has a clever solution (above thread) but I'm not entirely sure how to do that as my electrical skills a better then my mechanical and adding an extra alternator where there wasn't one before isn't something I'm that comfortable with.

I'm just wondering if there is truck style split charge out there. I've found a few places that offer it but it's generally for emergency services and they cost the earth.

Anyway I think I saw your baby on ebay, was it fairly recently? She looked in good nick.

Cheers
Simon

Hi Simon, to put an extra alternator it's easier than you think (mine HJ60 is a LHD and there's plenty of space upon the 24V alternator).
You just need to build(weld) the bracket where to mount it (if you want i can take the exactly size of mine) then connect a belt into it and then a wire to your battery...

Hey Mario,

yeah it's the welding that what I'm not so hot on. I've checked out your website and the things you do to 4x4's (really impressive) make me a little dubious that I'll be able to do the same, but I'm not shy for a challenge so if you have the size that would be great.

Also:
- Did you buy a particular type of alternator?
- There seems to be an additional/spare pulley for a v-belt, did you use that or did you add an extension on?

Sorry lots of questions. I'm not sure if I'm abusing this thread but I'm sure it's useful to others.

Oh, Moggy, I forgot to mention that I took the red stripes off Habibi (the HJ60) and she looks a lot better now, took a long time and alot of elbow grease but it was worth it. My wifes hairdryer will never be the same!

Later
Simon

hi simon, details here: http://www.southing.com/alternatorHJ60/
things I do to 4x4..? i am not a mechanich, i'm a photographer... (I didn't do the bracket and welding, there're people that do that much better than us..! any garage would do it)

Thanks mario, the closer shot shows a much better view of the bracket. you are right I'm sure I can find somebody to do it?

Thanks for all the help

Cheers
Simon

Hello Mario,

How do you tension the drive belt? In the picture I can't see any controls for that.

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Roman (UK)
www.overlandcruiser.info

hi roman, you can see it better in picture number two (bottom left)

Hi, yes I bought it around the same time as yours from a guy in cambridge. I have just done a 6000 mile round trip to russia with no problems other than the back wheel coming off on the autobahn at 70mph, which was interesting! check your nuts!! especially the left side as the rotation of the wheel means thay can unwind (a common enough problem on lorries that they sometimes reverse thread them) Afetr this I checked them every 1000 miles or so with a torque wrench and every time the left hand ones could be tightened. Don't over tighten though as when the wheel heats up it can crack. Mods I have made included getting a cheap inverter (24v) off ebay and getting the garage to put in a 12v plug for my GPS. This was off a direct feed to the battery (with fuse) so stays on even with the ignition off, which is handy. If you want a split charge system because you are worried about flatening your batteries how about getting a cheap (ish) flexible solar panel as a back up (available from boat chandlers). You would obviously lose half a day recharging but it would get you out of a fix. It's unlikely to be necessary though, especially if you invest your money instead into a serious pair of batteries (optimas for example) All the split charge system I have seen are very expensive and unless you are really running a lot of load with the engine off for long periods would seem rather unnecesasry.

Andy
1990 Toyota Landcruiser
Landrover 101 ambie
ford escort and morris minor traveller!

[This message has been edited by moggy 1968 (edited 09 June 2005).]