Hijet Renovation & Upgrade Project

Consider getting a japanese crimper tool from Eastern. I do more crimping than soldering now.

I have never used these guys but other cruiser owners say good things.https://connectorexperts.com/

 

I don't solder anything in a vehicle, or any other high vibration environment. Solder wicking into stranded wire creates a point for fatigue failure. Lots of heat shrink tubing and securing the wire on both sides of the connection helps but I've become a big fan of gas tight crimp connectors. I just wish there weren't 11,438 different proprietary crimpers, some of which cost hundreds of dollars (looking at you, AMP).

 

Yep, I did t he digital flasher too. I just made 3 jumper wires and then mounted it to the side of the existing socket with square velcro patches. Been working for almost a year now.

 

I thought about three .25" QD terminated male-female jumpers and cable tying the flasher nearby, but decided that it'd be easier if I had short extension legs on the electronic flasher. I'm kinda old, and I've never been very good at working upside down under a dash. The fuse block with the flasher is surprisingly difficult to access. I hope I don't need to diagnose blown fuses. Fortunately, Daihatsu was very good at labeling the fuses on the fuse block cover (although I don't know what PMNT or E/G are) and they even include a little fuse puller. I need to add three accessory LED lighting circuits (front, rear and bed) and a 100W stereo which will pull more current than the original and will probably require its own fused circuit.

 

I used the same flasher on mine. I made long extender cables, drilled a small hole in the dash panel to the left of the steering column, and mounted it with double stick tape with the knob sticking through. That lets me adjust it from the drivers seat if the need should arise.

 

I set the flash rate at one flash per second and din't feel any need to readjust it after that, at least while driving. I intended to put marine grade heat shrink over the extension legs on the flasher. It's a thick walled heavy duty shrink tubing with heat activated adhesive inside to seal the connection and make it more secure. I wanted to test the electronic flasher before doing that. Now that it's working, I'll pull it out and add the shrink tubing.

One cell was shorted on the Hijet's battery so I bought a larger replacement battery a few days ago. I got a late start on the battery and battery post clamp replacement today but mostly figured out how I want to do the job. I was going to install the battery tomorrow but family obligations suddenly have me busy, probably for the next three days, and then it'll probably be cold or raining again. That's the sad tale of my winter Hijet project. On the plus side, I ordered a sheet of aluminum this evening to use as a battery cover so I should be able to completely finish the job as soon as I get a round tuit.

Over a month later, Impex Japan is still jerking me around on the clutch parts. They apparently don't stock anything. They allowed me to order the parts I need and pay for them, but then canceled a few items they couldn't get. They advised me to order aftermarket replacement parts, which I did. They keep telling me the clutch disk will arrive soon but it doesn't. Now, they're going to start charging me storage fees because I've been waiting a month for them to ship the parts I need. The Hijet is easy to work on from a mechanical perspective but a real pain in the rear from a logistical perspective.

Hopefully I'll have a battery installation post in this thread soon, and the clutch parts will ship soon from Japan.

 

Hey Liberty! I absolutely love this thread. You have clearly spent hours upon hours doing research. I'm finally getting back into the Minitruck/Kei world after nearly a decade.
I have a lot of questions but I'm going to hold off on most of them for now. I would like to ask what forms did you have to fill out when you first received your B/L form from BeForward? I think I just completed my ISF though eezyimport but I'm not 100% certain that I did it right.

 

I'm planning on making YouTube videos for my Hijet project, including a video for online purchasing and another for the import process, and a third for picking up the mini truck at the port, even though purchasing will be different depending on where and how you purchase the truck, importing will be different depending on which broker you use, and the port pickup will be different depending on which port you use and which TWIC escort service you use. I've read that recently, the Tacoma port is no longer allowing informal entries for vehicles, which would greatly complicate the process. After watching YouTube videos showing how to pick up a mini truck at a port, I was surprised at how easy it was. I had a very helpful TWIC escort (Kurt at Crown TWIC Escort Services) and I think the process is friendlier and less bureaucratic at a small port like Newport News. I saw some ugly videos from Long Beach and other large ports. I only saw one easy port pickup video, and I think that was at Freeport Texas.

I didn't fill out any forms with Be Forward. I paid, and nearly two months later, they had me confirm my mailing address and they sent a packet of documents via DHL. The packet contained the commercial invoice, bill of lading, and a Japanese and English translation of the export certificate. I used some of the info from those forms to complete the ISF application, DOT form HS-7 and EPA form 3520-1. The folks behind Eezyimport were a big help, but they mostly answer messages during working hours in India. I uploaded the documents and they were able to use them to complete and submit the forms on my behalf but I had to grant them power of attorney.

The entire importing process is far more bureaucratic and complicated than it should be, and it's almost guaranteed that someone who is doing this for the first time will be very uncertain what information goes in what box on each form. It would be great if there was a site that showed the export documents with the information transferred to the government forms, but I suspect that changes every month or so to ensure that only the pros (government bureaucrats and import brokers) can keep up with it. The various government forms request some of the same information but each form has a different name for the information, depending on which government agency is asking. I copied the item description verbatim from the commercial invoice onto the ISF application for Customs and Border Patrol and the Eezyimport staff had me change it to some cryptic description with abbreviations, "not exceeding xxxx kilograms", the harmonized HS tariff code, etc.

I'm a Do It Myself kinda guy, but that's hopeless in this case. The process went much better after I gave up and paid the online broker to navigate the murky shark infested waters for me. Just be sure to file the ISF application with customs as soon as you get the document packet from the exporter, and no later than a day before your mini truck is loaded onto the cargo ship in Japan.

 

Thanks for your response, I wish BeForward would provide additional steps for the import process in the US. They seem to have strong relations with African and Caribbean countries. I have purchased three vehicles from BeForward, the first one was in October and it is still awaiting shipment. The second one I purchased in November and will be arriving at the Los Angeles (San Pedro) port in less than 2 weeks.
So far, I have confirmed my address, and I am waiting for the DHL package. Other than that, I just submitted the ISF form through Eezyimport. I hope I don't get fined for submitting it late! At what point did the shipping agency contact you? I can't complete the remaining forms because I don't know where the car will be stored, where it is located on the ship (stuffing info), or who the consolidator is. This whole process is frustrating because I am constantly in the dark. Who did you use to complete the DOT form HS-7 and EPA form 3520-1 ? And at what point did you fill them out?
Thanks again for your help, I will send you all my info for the three vehicles so you can have extra talking points in your YouTube videos.

 

I engaged a customs broker to guide me through the import process.
I did have to fill out the DOT and the EPA forms but she submitted them.

 

Hijet Key Copy

My 1996 Hijet only had one key. No bueno. I'd seen Hijet key blanks for sale online for $15 plus $5 shipping, plus whatever a locksmith would charge to copy the key, so I assumed this was one of the many high hassle experiences that offsets the enjoyment of owning a mini truck. Nope! I just paid $6 for a key, copied at Home Depot. The correct blank is the 31R.

I didn't think the digital key copying machine would know Daihatsu so I told the guy it was an old Toyota truck. The machine had "Toyota - Small Truck" in its menu but the dates were 1989 to 1995. The blank looked right so I agreed to buy the key whether it worked or not. As he was navigating the menu, I was surprised to see Daihatsu in the choices, so I had him check and it also specified the 31R blank. The key fits and functions perfectly.

Home Depot uses a Hillman digital key copying machine that is capable of producing a digital key code that allows the key to be cut later, even if the key is lost. It's a bit weaselly as they use that feature to get an email address and sign me up with an account, but I have my own domain with infinite throw away email addresses so I told them my email is hd@<mydomain>.com. They didn't email me a key code. They emailed me a link to sign up for an account, so I played along. I checked the map to see where else the Hillman key copying machines are and Lowe's has them too, so you can presumably copy a Hijet key at Lowe's or Home Depot. That's convenient.

https://www.mykeyhero.com/locations



In other Hijet news, the clutch parts that I ordered from Japan arrived today and I'll hopefully be getting the clutch replaced soon so I can finally start driving the mini truck that I bought almost five months ago. Warm spring weather is just around the corner and my Hijet project will be kicking into the old man equivalent of high gear.

 

Great thread man! I havea 97 with the twin cam as well and has been great o follow your saga. I just got mine "fully" sorted 2 weeks ago after a 4 month long quest and am in the process now of getting it titled so I can drive it on the main roads. Keep it up!

 

I'm still waiting for the mechanic to install the new clutch in my Hijet. We're getting the first hint of spring. It's almost warm enough now that I'll install the clutch myself. :-/

Then I can finally register it and start driving it. I've been paying insurance for the past 2.5 months and not driving it. I'd have liked to suspend the insurance but the insurance companies apparently don't do that any more. Our state has a rule that the license plates must be surrendered if a vehicle isn't insured for 30 days. Besides, I had some trouble getting insurance for the Hijet and even if I could suspend the insurance, I'd be worried that the insurance company might change their mind again and cancel my insurance altogether.

I look forward to consistently warm weather so I can do the bigger projects on my Hijet, such as painting it inside and out with Monstaliner bed liner. A tiny bit of body work, sanding out some light rust spots, priming it and putting a uniform durable medium gray polyurethane finish on it will do wonders for the appearance.

Please post some progress reports on your 1997 Hijet. I'd love to see them.

 

Sorry for my late reply, Socal Sonny. I somehow missed notifications on this thread for a while.

Did your second vehicle arrive? Was it as expected? Any issues?

I didn't exactly have a shipping agent. I used Eezyimport as my online import broker but even if you max out on the ala carte services they provide, it's still a minimal service. Mostly, they file forms. They don't pick up the vehicle at the port, store it, etc.

I used Eezyimport.com for all three forms - ISF form for Customs, HS-7 for DOT and 3520-1 for EPA. I was a couple of weeks late on the ISF because I didn't know better but that still gave Customs three weeks notice before my Hijet was offloaded in the US. I wasn't fined but I threw myself on the mercy of the court. Maybe Customs isn't as concerned about the informal entries? I had Eezyimport file the HS-7 and 3520-1 forms immediately after the ISF. I knew about the DOT and EPA forms and wanted to ensure they were filed long before the Hijet arrived at the port, and that's when I learned that I was late filing the ISF.

 

Haggarty quoted me $450 full coverage and $356 liability. I use Westfield for all my insurance and added my '96 HiJet for $424/year full coverage. They did quote $200/year for liability, and I may still switch to liability.

 

Snapchat-1557003763 by Tripthyme posted Feb 22, 2023 at 12:11 PM

Now you need this!

 

I thought Westfield would be one of the regional or state insurance companies that isn't available where I live. Some of the people most happy with their insurance companies are the ones who buy insurance from one of the smaller insurance providers that aren't spending billions of dollars on nationwide advertising. I checked and there are insurance agents near me who represent Westfield, so I'll get a quote this summer when my insurance needs to be renewed.

 

I have the cad file for the face plate if you decide to make a cluster like mine and I have a second oem cluster if you would like me to make it for you.

 

That's a very generous offer! Your new dash looks great! I probably have more Hijet projects on my To Do list than I'll have time to do them this summer. I have some G310GS motorcycle projects too, and I'm going to do some motorcycle camping this summer... not like last summer.

The mechanic just finished installing the clutch in my Hijet. I bought it 8SEP22 and I can finally drive it almost seven months later. Hopefully, I'll pay the state and county taxes tomorrow and get the license plate to be street legal. Then... a summer full of Hijet projects. It's 77F today and I'm itching to get on it.

 

Yes my Daihatsu Midget arrived at the Port of Los Angeles; I picked it up on the 16th. I was able to complete all of the required docs through Eezyimport. Everything went smooth through thier broker but I question whether the EPA and DOT forms were actually sent to the CBP. I never received a signed form or confirmation of either of those two forms. I submitted my ISF a week and a half late and wasn't charged a late fine either. The only thing I received was the clearance forms from the ISF and the Informal Entry. Thank you for recommending that website. I will be using them for my next two vehicles if they ever leave japan (waiting since October).

On a side note, my clutch is heavily slipping also. Did you by chance, take a look at your clutch before or after the mechanic swapped it out for you? I'm thinking that It could potentially be a rust layer on the pressure plate that is causing it to slip. My midget only has 25k; I couldn't imagine the clutch going out that soon.

 

Very cool! I look forward to seeing a picture. Got a link to an auction page that's still functioning?

I never considered that Eezyimport might not have submitted the EPA and DOT forms. I guess I figured that I did my part and I'm trusting that they did their part. I was mostly concerned with Customs releasing my little truck. I'm glad you weren't fined for being a bit late on the ISF. We'll know better next time.

If I ever import another vehicle, I'll probably use Eezyimport again. They were responsive to my messages. It helps that I keep odd hours and was messaging them during business hours in India. Mostly, I'd stick with Eezyimport as a known quantity. The entire importing process is a big mess of random uncertainty. Eliminating some of the variables is a good thing.

I didn't see the clutch disk that was removed but I pulled the inspection plate and looked at the side of the clutch disk and the flywheel teeth, which looked good. There was almost no friction material left on the clutch disk. I tried adjusting the clutch and it was adjusted for maximum engagement and the clutch was still slipping. My Hijet only had 71,000 km, but it was 26 years old. I assume that was the original clutch.

I slipped the clutch a couple of times at the port trying to get it on the trailer before giving up and winching it, and the guys at the port drove it to unload it as a RORO (roll on, roll off). I'm fairly sure that would have scuffed any surface rust off the flywheel and self-cleaned the rust from the clutch disk. The mechanic said the flywheel looked rough but he cleaned it up as well as he could. The clutch feels fine now. It was sticky when new but is worn in a bit after a few days of driving. The gears are very short. Second gear is done before I've cleared an intersection. The gears are easy to shift and the throw is short. The clutch pedal is very light.

The Hijet is a ton of fun to drive and I do get a lot of smiles, a few comments/questions, and I got a dumb "what's that?" look this evening.

I have a lot of Hijet projects that should be popping up on this thread soon enough, now that spring is here and I can work on it outside. I drew a custom Hijet phone holder in FreeCAD today and the prototype is on the 3D printer now.

 

Hijet Door Lock Knobs - 3D Printed

I previously mentioned making some replacement 3D printed door lock pull knobs for my Hijet. I used the resin printer to print high resolution parts that looked as if they were injection molded. The first batch printed well but the hole was too small to fully thread onto the threaded rod of the locking mechanism. Unfortunately, after I revised the CAD model and printed the second set of prototype parts, the resin goo wouldn't drain from the blind hole so the knobs were solid with no hole to thread onto the threaded rod. I tried a couple of more times and gave up.

I redesigned the parts to print on the older style FDM 3D printer (a filament machine, like a computer controlled hot glue gun). I printed the new design door lock knobs with black TPU, a high durometer rubbery plastic. I omitted the knurling from the original design because the FDM printer produces parts with a fine knurling. The new much simpler door lock knobs worked great... after six quick prototype iterations to fine tune the diameter of the hole that screws onto the threaded shaft.

Here's a thumbnail image (click for full size) of the old Hijet door lock knob that I printed on the resin printer (translucent light blue gray), and the newer opaque black version from the FDM filament printer. The newer design is much simpler but works much better.



Here's an image of the new door lock knob installed, in the unlocked (up) position.



It's obvious from the above image that I haven't done the detailing of the interior of my Hijet yet. The vinyl door card has the fine yellow Japanese farm dirt embedded in the texture, and the glass under the rubber window seal has dried algae.

If anyone would like a set of door lock knobs for their mini truck, send me a private message containing your shipping address and I'll mail a couple to you. They may work on other mini trucks. The outer diameter is 8 mm and the inner diameter is 4.4 mm. They're 35 mm long and the blind hole is 20 mm deep.

Here's the link to the parts that I uploaded to Thingiverse.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5889083

 

Hijet Dome Light Repair

I removed the rear view mirror to diagnose the nonoperational dome light.

WHT/BLK wire is GND
RED/ORG wire is GND when driver door is open
RED wire is +12V.



The right bulb contact in the rear view mirror mounting base is +12V for all three switch positions (switched ground system). The center switch position is OFF, with no connection to the left bulb contact. The left switch position connects GND to left bulb contact (light is ON). The right switch position connects the door switched GND to left bulb contact so the light is on when the driver’s door is open. The bulb contacts are shown near the top of the image, with the bulb removed.



The bulb contacts are connected to the switch contact plates with small plastic rivets and these two contacts were very loose and not making contact. I used some Kester #951 no-clean liquid flux for electronic components to solder these two sets of connections. I used the liquid flux because I couldn't get to the thin brass and nickel plated contacts to clean the oxide from between the sheet metal tabs. The blobs of solder are a bit ugly because the contacts are touching the plastic mirror base housing and I didn't want to spend too much time heating the metal to prevent the metal parts from pulling out of the melted plastic. I cranked the soldering iron temperature to maximum to heat the contacts as quickly as possible, blobbed on the solder until it just started to flow and got out as soon as possible to avoid melting the plastic.



I reconnected the wiring at the back of the mirror and reinstalled the rear view mirror to finish the dome light repair. The new LED bulb I used needed to be flipped for the correct polarity.



The repair included a new plastic dome light lens that I bought from Japan. The plastic lens was missing when my Hijet arrived from Japan.



It’s good to have a dome light. It's a hassle to drive at night with no light in the cab. I take little things like that for granted.


Hijet Fuel Economy

Today was also my second Hijet fill up. I filled it up after the clutch was repaired and the Hijet has been my daily driver for the last 12 days. My 4Runner is getting jealous. The fuel gauge showed just under a quarter tank but only took 6.0 gallons to completely fill the tank, so there is probably a three gallon reserve when the gauge reads empty.

73317-73023 = 294 km
294 X .62 = 182.68 miles
182.68/6.0 = 30.45 MPG

Woot! That was city driving but included a lot of 50-60 MPH belt line driving where the fuel economy wouldn’t be that great, as well as a lot of stop-and-go driving where fuel economy wouldn’t be that great. It may get 35+ MPG on back roads driven steadily at 40-45 MPH. I'm happy with 30 MPG for the type of driving I do in town. It's twice as good as the 15 MPG that I get in my 4Runner, and the Hijet gets a LOT more smiles per mile. There are no mini trucks in my town of 350,000 people, and I get a lot of smiles, waves, thumbs up, and the occasional crazy person pulling up beside me as I'm driving, hanging his upper body out the driver's window of his car at 45 MPH and screaming, "I LOVE YOUR TRUCK!"


Hijet AM Radio Digital Clock

I finally set the clock on the old Daihatsu AM radio that doesn’t work, but at least I now have a digital clock in my mini truck and it's no longer flashing 1:00. Little details like a digital clock or a working dome light go a long way to improving the experience. I bought some universal remote power door locks. I'll install those soon as another modern convenience feature. I have a very long Hijet punch list that will probably take me all spring and summer, but the sweat equity will be worth it. It's gonna be so sweet.

 

Hijet Ham Radio

I don't play radio enough that I wanted a full sized permanent mobile radio installation in the mini truck, but I wanted something. I bought a couple of inexpensive magnetic mounts with SMA female connectors. I unscrewed the rubber duck antenna from my small Yaesu FT-70D handy talkie and screwed it into the mag mount base. I screwed the tiny coax into the FT-70D. I bought a Signal Stuff antenna for 2m and 70cm with the male SMA connector because they're very lightweight, have very little wind loading, and they're much better radiators than any stubby rubber duck antenna. The Signal Stuff antenna was due today but USPS was slacking off. Probably tomorrow. However, with the rubber duck antenna on the roof of the Hijet, I was able to work a local repeater with a good signal report. It'll only be better with the larger Signal Stuff antenna. I was able to clip the FT-70D handy talkie to the right of the rear view mirror, in the channel that's used to retain the headliner which is removed in my Hijet. The HT is angled so it's easy to see while driving, and it's fairly easy to operate the controls, even though Yaesu did their best to mess up the user interface. Example: The audio volume is adjusted by holding a button on the left side while turning the frequency tuning knob on the top right. Don't try that while driving in traffic!

Perhaps my favorite part of this minimalist radio installation is that everything is hidden from the outside so crooks aren't tempted to break in and steal electronics. I bought a speaker mic for the FT-70D and the coiled cord rests on top of the visor and the speaker mic clips to the visor.



The small coax runs in the headliner channel in the front and right side of the truck. The mag mount antenna is stored upside down in the rear corner on the cab roof when not in use and is on top of the cab when in use.



The radio actually receives fairly well with the antenna stored inside and I could hit the repeater with the antenna inside as well.

I'm still thinking about drilling a hole in the cab roof and installing an NMO antenna mount for a very high performance antenna that could be easily removed when not in use, and mounting a shallow tray running the width of the front of the cab above the visors. I could mount a real radio in there (80W!) and have room to store lots of other miscellaneous stuff. It's just about the only free space in the Hijet cab that isn't already used.

Equipment List:

Yaesu FT-70D 2m/70cm Handy Talkie
Yaesu SSM-17A Speaker Mic
Yaesu EDC-6 Power Cord (not mentioned, but may be used to power/charge the radio)
Magnetic Mounting Base With SMA Female Connector (Amazon ASIC: B089M9H4BL)
Signal Stuff Unbreakable 2m/70cm Antenna (SignalStuff.com)

The cheap Amazon magnetic antenna base isn't the best quality. It's OK quality. The 10 foot coax is 4 feet longer than optimal for this application and the tiny coax is lossy.

The FT-70D handy talkie only transmits 5W maximum. There are much less expensive Baofeng HTs that transmit 8W (6W to 7W actual) or 10W (8W actual). I went with the Yaesu because it has Yaesu System Fusion, which is the digital radio that some friends and I use. If you get a Baofeng, remember that the SMA connector is the opposite gender so you'll need an SMA female to female adapter. The Baofeng is cheap enough that I wouldn't be too upset if it was stolen, as long as the crook didn't smash a window to get it.

 

Hijet Cup Holder

I designed and 3D printed a simple large cup holder that mounts to a single 6 mm bolt to the left of the gear shift, and is stabilized by wedging against the base of the dash center console at the front. There are no moving parts. There are eight fingers that loosely secure cans and small containers, and the fingers bend outward to engage larger containers such as my 32 ounce HydroFlask knockoff thermos.



Here is the part that I uploaded to Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5925275

 

You can buy frequency converters on eBay and Amazon which will let you convert US/Canada radio stations to the Japanese standards. last I looked they were about $30.

 

I get about 24mpg doing full throttle in 5 gear for several hours. Around town I get about 30 mpg. Your mileage sounds about right.

I put the door locks in my van (all 4 doors). Be prepared to get creative to get them in there and working while clearing the windows. Hint roll the windows all the way down when you start.

 

Thanks! I knew the frequency converters were available but thought they cost as much as a cheap radio. I had mostly been viewing them as a good option for a restorer who wants to keep an antique car stock and retain the original AM radio. That's not me. I'm going for retro truck with modern upgrades.

 

Very nice! I'm thinking I should probably order the power window kit and do the power door locks, power windows, and clean and silicone the window tracks, and clean and lubricate the window actuator mechanism, clean (or make) weep holes to prevent rain from rusting the door bottoms from the inside out, and paint the door painted surfaces all at the same time when I'm painting the truck... not that it's all that difficult to pop off the door cards to get in there whenever I need to do something.

At the very least, I should probably do the power locks and power windows at the same time so I can engineer the added mechanisms so they work together instead of installing the power locks in the only place to mount the power windows.

 

Good luck finding space for a regular power window motor. I got the lock actuators on Amazon cheap but they are standard size but cheap.