fahr_side Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 Greetings all. I'm Les, an aging gearhead from London, now based in the Philippines after a lifetime working in different parts of Asia. I care for and operate a 1988 Mitsubishi J23GN, which is descended from the Willys CJ3B that went into production in Japan in 1953 and continued in various forms until 1998. As a nipper I did a lot of work on and mucking about in a Series 2A Land Rover and decided to play with something similarly primitive before I get too tired and sore to row my own gears. Question: Why is that only the Germans, among the Axis powers, get their own sub-section on the forum? Perhaps amend that to 'Axis Power vehicles', or add the Japanese motors with their own sub-forum? No, that's not me in the photo, and no, you can't have her phone number! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Hi Les, coincidentally there is one from the Colt Car Company Heritage fleet in an auction this month, £12.8k atm. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielblack Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 On 4/20/2021 at 6:49 PM, fahr_side said: Greetings all. I'm Les, an aging gearhead from London, now based in the Philippines after a lifetime working in different parts of Asia. I care for and operate a 1988 Mitsubishi J23GN, which is descended from the Willys CJ3B that went into production in Japan in 1953 and continued in various forms until 1998. As a nipper I did a lot of work on and mucking about in a Series 2A Land Rover and decided to play with something similarly primitive before I get too tired and sore to row my own gears. Question: Why is that only the Germans, among the Axis powers, get their own sub-section on the forum? Perhaps amend that to 'Axis Power vehicles', or add the Japanese motors with their own sub-forum? No, that's not me in the photo, and no, you can't have her phone vulkan vegas online casino https://bfdchallengertrophy.com/ number! Welcome to the forum, mate! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 21 hours ago, radiomike7 said: Hi Les, coincidentally there is one from the Colt Car Company Heritage fleet in an auction this month, £12.8k atm. That looks like a J10. Quite a bit older than mine, and quite rare as they appear to have only made that from '59 to '61. Really spiffy-looking too, hence the price tag. I paid about half that much for mine. In case anyone is interested and has a half hour to waste, here's a video I made laying out what I know about the history of these Jeeps, military and civvie. It's very hard pulling together much info on these, even if you do read Japanese, but the old Mitsubishi catalogs are very well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 2 hours ago, fahr_side said: That looks like a J10. Quite a bit older than mine, and quite rare as they appear to have only made that from '59 to '61. Really spiffy-looking too, hence the price tag. I paid about half that much for mine. In case anyone is interested and has a half hour to waste, here's a video I made laying out what I know about the history of these Jeeps, military and civvie. It's very hard pulling together much info on these, even if you do read Japanese, but the old Mitsubishi catalogs are very well done. No, 1979 J27. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin33ba07 Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 hello there I have a J54 Mitsubishi/Jeep 4DR5 engine a gray import into Ireland years ago a great little vehicle ,my only gripe is the price of parts charged by Yokohama Motors in Japan ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted April 23, 2021 Author Share Posted April 23, 2021 10 hours ago, robin33ba07 said: hello there I have a J54 Mitsubishi/Jeep 4DR5 engine a gray import into Ireland years ago a great little vehicle ,my only gripe is the price of parts charged by Yokohama Motors in Japan ? Hi. Yes, it's a terrific little machine. Aside from Yokohama there is Megazip and Amayama. These three bought up the stock of parts from (I believe) both the JSDF and Mitsubishi when they stopped production and again when the JSDF starting auctioning the vehicles off. Megazip I know is run by Russians. The other two I'm not sure but I suspect the same. THey have a monopoly on this stuff and they know it. Amayama is a bit cheaper. Please note it's always worth checking the Mitsubishi part number you're looking at for availability. Quite a few parts are common with other models and can be had from regular channels. I have some manuals and parts lists if you need them, though they are in Japanese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin33ba07 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 I needed a replacement primary lift pump earlier this year Yokohama quoted $178 plus courier shipping (I dont need the part in 3 days) who then declare the package to Customs ,so duty and VAT have to be paid , the best part is the courier company then put in a further charge for organising Customs clearance . End of rant anyway after a bit of running around I found a motor factors who know what they are selling ? result new primary pump for €12.50 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Drake Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 I have a S-J53, Mitsubishi, version of the 1953 Willys. I have found Amayama to be very reliable. Also as in previous post it is worth searching internet for alternative parts. I found a 45 amp alternator in the UK. Saved a fortune on getting one from Japan. Also my stop lights and starter solenoid are 24v Land Rover ones. If it works :). Not so good if you want to keep it absolutely original. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 4/25/2021 at 5:57 AM, Paul Drake said: I have a S-J53, Mitsubishi, version of the 1953 Willys. I have found Amayama to be very reliable. Also as in previous post it is worth searching internet for alternative parts. I found a 45 amp alternator in the UK. Saved a fortune on getting one from Japan. Also my stop lights and starter solenoid are 24v Land Rover ones. If it works :). Not so good if you want to keep it absolutely original. Yeah those are great. Same generation and powertrain as mine, but you have the original CJ3B 80" wheelbase, classic windshield hinges and a few more creature comforts. Let me know if you need a shop manual, although I only have it in original Japanese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Drake Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 The only problem with it is that Mitsubishi put an extra 4 inches in the tub, which I didn't find out until I bought a new ragtop and it didn't fit! Had to have one made custom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Drake Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 4/23/2021 at 1:19 PM, robin33ba07 said: hello there I have a J54 Mitsubishi/Jeep 4DR5 engine a gray import into Ireland years ago a great little vehicle ,my only gripe is the price of parts charged by Yokohama Motors in Japan ? You might try a company called Amayama. I don't know if their spares will be cheaper than Yokohama as I've not used anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 21 hours ago, Paul Drake said: The only problem with it is that Mitsubishi put an extra 4 inches in the tub, which I didn't find out until I bought a new ragtop and it didn't fit! Had to have one made custom. 21 hours ago, Paul Drake said: You might try a company called Amayama. I don't know if their spares will be cheaper than Yokohama as I've not used anyone else. Did you buy a top for a J3 or a CJ3B? Yes, Amayama is usually a bit cheaper than the other two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Drake Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 I bought a Tiger Top for a CJ3B. Fortunately I happened to mention it to a chap at a show in Brean, Somerset who had a Spanish built Jeep, and he put it out on a group he was with and I was able to pass it on to a CJ3 owner and recoup the cost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 10 hours ago, Paul Drake said: I bought a Tiger Top for a CJ3B. Fortunately I happened to mention it to a chap at a show in Brean, Somerset who had a Spanish built Jeep, and he put it out on a group he was with and I was able to pass it on to a CJ3 owner and recoup the cost. Yes, they (Mitsubishi) really tried to expand the utility of the thing and claim it as a 6-seater. I'm pretty sure the J3 had the original dimensions. Then came the J30 and J40 series with a 108" wheelbase, and J20 series with 88" like a Series LR shortie. I'm glad you were able to recover the situation, and probably made someone's day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 (edited) I got most of the rust in the body taken care of by having the rusty bits chopped out and new sheet steel welded in. That left quite a lot of primer patches around, and the whole windshield frame either chopped up or at least the paint ruined by the torch. This work I've covered in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_WpIL4hBYw I decided to try and do a replica / homage to a Type 73 variant named the J23SR, which carried radar equipment, and was painted in a lighter version of the JGSDF two-color camo. Mostly this is to cover all the ugly rough metal and primer patches, while avoiding taking the whole jeep to bits. While I was at it I decided to add some original unit markings to finish the look a bit. You can see how that works out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns5vDZspUVg Edited June 12, 2021 by fahr_side Added photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted June 26, 2021 Author Share Posted June 26, 2021 (edited) We're back in lockdown here, so I had some time to pore over old manuals, catalogs and an old report from 1967 that the US Army commissioned to look at an early Mitsubishi diesel Jeep. With this I made a simple comparison of the CJ3B, my J23 and a period Land Rover. Edited June 26, 2021 by fahr_side 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin33ba07 Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I am looking for a part number for the steering/suspension arm for my J54 Mitsubishi ,I have the Service manual by James Danko but I cant see a part number anywhere ? regards Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 Danko's translation won't have part numbers since the Japanese original does not. MHI has separate parts books. I only have the ones for the much earlier J3. The better news is that the J53 which followed the J54 (as illogical as that sounds) was as far as I know identical in terms of it's steering gear. Therefore you should be able to follow the part numbers in these lists: https://www.megazip.net/zapchasti-dlya-avtomobilej/mitsubishi/jeep-minkan-9378/j53-20350/ft-629222/steering-linkage-7935242https://www.megazip.net/zapchasti-dlya-avtomobilej/mitsubishi/jeep-minkan-9378/j53-20350/ft-629222/steering-linkage-7935243https://www.megazip.net/zapchasti-dlya-avtomobilej/mitsubishi/jeep-minkan-9378/j53-20350/ft-629222/steering-gear-7935241 I'm not sure if you're looking for the Pitman arm, draglink or something, but it should be in those lists. I do believe that at least some of these items were common with the Fuso Canter trucks of the same era. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 It turns out the steering gear on 1960 and up models, everything that came after the J3 is really unlike the CJ3B setup and more like a Series LR. I'm working on a video on that. In the meantime I dig a little deeper into the military variants that Mitsubishi supplied to the JSDF and that info is presented here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fahr_side Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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