looking for 40 series buying advice

[vk2icj]

Gday all

I have a GQ patrol on gas that gets me everywhere. However I've been toying with the idea of a older diesel 40 something series landcruiser for longer purely fun trips without LPG stops every 300k. With the cost of used vehicles falling out the bottom recently I've seen some fairly nice HJ45 HJ47's going for under 3k. I don't want petrol as I already have a gQuzzler. I have some questions though before I go down this path.

1.Most of the LWB 40 series I see have had thier rear seats removed at some time. If the plate allows for 5 or more seating how hard is it to source rear seats for these beasts?

2.What areas should I check for rust?

3.What should I look for in a diesel? The ones I've looked at are all 300K +

4.I'm happy at 80 or 90k top speed. I don't need a highway demon. Is there motors and or gearboxes I should stay clear of . I want tuff reliable and easy to work on. economical????

5. Power Steering on most of these is not an option. How big a deal is this with standard split rim wheels? I have big tyres on the troll don't need em on the cruiser.

I'm looking for a rig that is tuff, reliable, slow, and easy to work on. Any thoughts will be appreciated


Cheers

Chris

[joel HJ60]

Gday all

I have a GQ patrol on gas that gets me everywhere. However I've been toying with the idea of a older diesel 40 something series landcruiser for longer purely fun trips without LPG stops every 300k. With the cost of used vehicles falling out the bottom recently I've seen some fairly nice HJ45 HJ47's going for under 3k. I don't want petrol as I already have a gQuzzler. I have some questions though before I go down this path.

1.Most of the LWB 40 series I see have had thier rear seats removed at some time. If the plate allows for 5 or more seating how hard is it to source rear seats for these beasts?

Troopy's shouldn't be that hard

2.What areas should I check for rust?

EVERYWHERE especially the roof

3.What should I look for in a diesel? The ones I've looked at are all 300K +

300's fine. Look for everything. Leaks, service records. Signs of maintenance.

4.I'm happy at 80 or 90k top speed. I don't need a highway demon. Is there motors and or gearboxes I should stay clear of . I want tuff reliable and easy to work on. economical????

The diesel will be the 2H. Prob mated with a 4 speed. If you can get one with a 5 speed your better off, but the 4's ok for 80 - 90 top speed.

5. Power Steering on most of these is not an option. How big a deal is this with standard split rim wheels? I have big tyres on the troll don't need em on the cruiser.

You'll miss it, but it's not a necessity.

I'm looking for a rig that is tuff, reliable, slow, and easy to work on. Any thoughts will be appreciated


Cheers

Chris

Tuff, reliable and easy to work on = a LandCruiser of that era.

[bad_religion_au]

Gday all

I have a GQ patrol on gas that gets me everywhere. However I've been toying with the idea of a older diesel 40 something series landcruiser for longer purely fun trips without LPG stops every 300k. With the cost of used vehicles falling out the bottom recently I've seen some fairly nice HJ45 HJ47's going for under 3k. I don't want petrol as I already have a gQuzzler. I have some questions though before I go down this path.

1.Most of the LWB 40 series I see have had thier rear seats removed at some time. If the plate allows for 5 or more seating how hard is it to source rear seats for these beasts?

Troopy's shouldn't be that hard

2.What areas should I check for rust?

EVERYWHERE especially the roof

3.What should I look for in a diesel? The ones I've looked at are all 300K +

300's fine. Look for everything. Leaks, service records. Signs of maintenance.

4.I'm happy at 80 or 90k top speed. I don't need a highway demon. Is there motors and or gearboxes I should stay clear of . I want tuff reliable and easy to work on. economical????

The diesel will be the 2H. Prob mated with a 4 speed. If you can get one with a 5 speed your better off, but the 4's ok for 80 - 90 top speed.

5. Power Steering on most of these is not an option. How big a deal is this with standard split rim wheels? I have big tyres on the troll don't need em on the cruiser.

You'll miss it, but it's not a necessity.

I'm looking for a rig that is tuff, reliable, slow, and easy to work on. Any thoughts will be appreciated


Cheers

Chris

Tuff, reliable and easy to work on = a LandCruiser of that era.

Don't agree with all of what joel said...

1. pretty easy, most people who have removed them kept them in the shed. the 3 seater ones (forward facing) are a little harder to find than the troopcarrier side seats.

2 The roof? they're fibreglass... around the channels can rust though. Rust is common in the rear corners of the body, under the windscreen surround, the drivers and passenger footwell, the bottom of the doors (especially the rear doors), the rear floor, especially in the corners, and where the hardtop meets the tub near the front doors. oh, and the bottom of the bib under the headlights. the rest is usually surface rust

3 Compression test, and pressure test on the cooling system. they crack heads and chew out rings if neglected. leaks aren't fatal. rebuilds are easy enough to find.

4. The Hj45's came with the H motor (not so easy to find parts for). the Hj47's had the 2H. 4 speeds will cruise on 110 no drama's with a healthy H or 2H. i used to drive melbourne to warnambool every weekend (300k's each way), and maintaining speed limits was no drama. i had my H powered 4 speed troopy up to 160. not that much experience with 2h's, but have had a 2h powered 60 series up to 120 without drama.

5. i lived without it for 6 years, only ever wished for it on really tight tough tracks on 33 x 12.5 rubber. if you want it further down the track, 60 series power steering is a proven swap, should only take a weekend, and about 400 worth of parts.

They're easy to work on, reasonably reliable, and have plenty of character.

but they have the "cool" tax applied to them. due to popularity they hold their value better than say a 75 series, or a diesel 60 series. if you want a 40, you won't regret it, but if your looking for bang for your buck, a 60 or 75 will win out slightly (and they are just as easy to work on).

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

yeah what he said.

id choose carefully and try to get a later model one.
a 5speed and power steer would make it alot nicer. and 2H is a proven motor as 60s run them and everyones happy enough.

yeah they look pretty cool, and any vehicle that was "warm pull" and "fresh pull" knobs on the dash cant be all bad!

[cruiser60series]

disagree with those top speeds bad religon.

My 4 speed with a 2H definately does not like 110km/h. They rev at over 3000rpm you just can't hear over all the road noise. Rev a H/2H at 3000rpm in the garage and you can hear that they don't like it. Bear in mind the tacho on this engine only goes up to 4500rpm on the scale.

Agree with everything else.

My troopy had a compliance plate for 6 seater, and an engineers certificate for front facing seats. I found the original side facing seats and seat belts and vicroads didn't notice the change in registration from 6 to 11 seater.

i think there is a big difference in steering between split rims and wider 12.5s or whatever. I've got split rims and the my friend whos about 5ft tall and must weigh bout 45kg says she thinks it's fine to drive. Where as another mate of mine had wider 31s and I struggle to drive his troopy (I'm 6ft and about 90kg)

Funnest car to go on a mission with mates in. Be going on a surfari this weekend with about 9 down the coast can't wait.

[toms47]

Mate grab as late a model as you can find the 2H is a reliable motor and with plenty made parts are quite cheap. watch for oil around the rear bell housing as they have a habit of chewing rear main oil seals not to hard to fix just dont push them back in as far. 4spd is fine for the speeds you mentioned and are a tough unit. Also check the chassis out well as the LWB models especialy utes have a tendacy to crack around the middle on the inside. Also check the oil as they have a tendancy to clog up with carbon if the 5k service intervals arnt met. Stuff like pwr steer and disc brakes are readaly adabtable from other series cruisers,

[bad_religion_au]

disagree with those top speeds bad religon.

My 4 speed with a 2H definately does not like 110km/h. They rev at over 3000rpm you just can't hear over all the road noise. Rev a H/2H at 3000rpm in the garage and you can hear that they don't like it. Bear in mind the tacho on this engine only goes up to 4500rpm on the scale.

i think there is a big difference in steering between split rims and wider 12.5s or whatever. I've got split rims and the my friend whos about 5ft tall and must weigh bout 45kg says she thinks it's fine to drive. Where as another mate of mine had wider 31s and I struggle to drive his troopy (I'm 6ft and about 90kg)

Funnest car to go on a mission with mates in. Be going on a surfari this weekend with about 9 down the coast can't wait.

disagree all you like... maybe your 2H is fawked... those speeds i have ATTAINED, 1980 HJ45, H diesel, H41 - 4 speed, 4.11:1 diffs, 31 inch Kuhmo tires. it's not a "theoretical" limit, it's not a calculation... it is what i have had it to. mine revved fine to 3000rpm too.

If your castor is shot, steering can be a bit heavy, but with the right steering geometry (toe and castor), 33 x 12.5's were very manageable onroad without power steering.

[joel HJ60]

disagree with those top speeds bad religion.

My 4 speed with a 2H definitely does not like 110km/h. They rev at over 3000rpm you just can't hear over all the road noise. Rev a H/2H at 3000rpm in the garage and you can hear that they don't like it. Bear in mind the tacho on this engine only goes up to 4500rpm on the scale.

i think there is a big difference in steering between split rims and wider 12.5s or whatever. I've got split rims and the my friend whose about 5ft tall and must weigh bout 45kg says she thinks it's fine to drive. Where as another mate of mine had wider 31s and I struggle to drive his troopy (I'm 6ft and about 90kg)

Funnest car to go on a mission with mates in. Be going on a surfari this weekend with about 9 down the coast can't wait.

disagree all you like... maybe your 2H is fawked... those speeds i have ATTAINED, 1980 HJ45, H diesel, H41 - 4 speed, 4.11:1 diffs, 31 inch Kuhmo tires. it's not a "theoretical" limit, it's not a calculation... it is what i have had it to. mine revved fine to 3000rpm too.

If your castor is shot, steering can be a bit heavy, but with the right steering geometry (toe and castor), 33 x 12.5's were very manageable onroad without power steering.

Those speeds are attainable, but not beneficial. I'd rather mine putting along at 2200rpm, then screaming at 3000rpm.

My 2H dosn't like going near 3000rpm.

My mates 2H, with a 4 speed will sit on 100 ok, 90 comfortably.

Maybe you have a super H!!

[bad_religion_au]

disagree with those top speeds bad religion.

My 4 speed with a 2H definitely does not like 110km/h. They rev at over 3000rpm you just can't hear over all the road noise. Rev a H/2H at 3000rpm in the garage and you can hear that they don't like it. Bear in mind the tacho on this engine only goes up to 4500rpm on the scale.

i think there is a big difference in steering between split rims and wider 12.5s or whatever. I've got split rims and the my friend whose about 5ft tall and must weigh bout 45kg says she thinks it's fine to drive. Where as another mate of mine had wider 31s and I struggle to drive his troopy (I'm 6ft and about 90kg)

Funnest car to go on a mission with mates in. Be going on a surfari this weekend with about 9 down the coast can't wait.

disagree all you like... maybe your 2H is fawked... those speeds i have ATTAINED, 1980 HJ45, H diesel, H41 - 4 speed, 4.11:1 diffs, 31 inch Kuhmo tires. it's not a "theoretical" limit, it's not a calculation... it is what i have had it to. mine revved fine to 3000rpm too.

If your castor is shot, steering can be a bit heavy, but with the right steering geometry (toe and castor), 33 x 12.5's were very manageable onroad without power steering.

Those speeds are attainable, but not beneficial. I'd rather mine putting along at 2200rpm, then screaming at 3000rpm.

My 2H dosn't like going near 3000rpm.

My mates 2H, with a 4 speed will sit on 100 ok, 90 comfortably.

Maybe you have a super H!!

hehe it'd be "HAD". cracked the head after the fan went through the radiator, so i switched to 2f

In my experiences tho, most healthy 2h's cruise nicely one 110.