[PoeDog]

How-do all? After a month or so of soul searching and looking at my wallet, I have decided not to sell my '84 60 and begin bringing it back up to adventure worthiness. My goal is to get her back up to speed and not have to worry about all of the little smells and sounds coming from around her. Living in a relatively remote part of Colorado (Durango) makes me want to get this done even more than ever.

So here is what I've got, and with my relatively simple knowledge of these things, there is probably more. But this is what my eyes, ears and nose tell me. My '84 has 207,000 on the clock. Everything under the hood is pretty much original, and to the best of my knowledge, the carb has never had service. There is a leak somewhere around the manifold, but not sure if it is the J pipe or a cracked mani. When listening up close it sounds like its behind the carb, and I can't see anything. But it has that annoying "chick, chick, chick" tractor sound which goes up with the RPM's. Lite smell of exhaust in cab. More than anything this bugs me and feel makes the truck sound sick (hack). My clutch master cylinder is also leaking into the cab.

There is always oil beading up at the base of my tranny and t case. My synchro went a year ago, and I double clutch into 3rd always. The tranny is a bit whiny and the seal between it and the t case is fucked so t-case fluid get sucked into tranny. I have a overflow tube running back into the t case, but its rigged for sure. Besides these things, everything else seems just fine; power steering pump doesnt leak, my carb fan just quit working recently, brakes, knuckles, front end is all good. Mileage sucks, but thats nothing new.

I don't want to buy another car, and I'm not loaded by any means, but I need a worry free, reliable LandCruiser and nothing else. Its lifted 2" and has Old Man Emu underneath, and I don't want anymore lifts or special mods like that. I am happy with a 4-speed, mainly because there is so much more I could put $2000 into instead of a 5 speed. Want to keep this engine going another 100k miles or more. I want to drive into the desert and mountains without a care in the world, because I drive a LC.

I would love to hear what some of you would do with this, and the order in which you would do it. I would also like to hear some recomendations on finding parts and such. Any info pricing on work like this would be greatly appreciated as well, and btw, I will do as much of this with my two hands a I can. With that said, any knowlegde of reputable mechanics in the Durango area is more than welcome too. I know this is a long thread, but I am serious about bringing this baby up to her prime. After all, for the price of a new truck, you could really do some cool work on a 60. So gentlemen, please impart your wisdom...I am all ears.

Humbly....David

[roscoFJ73]

Make up a list of the work that needs doing and attack the jobs you can do yourself.
Whats left ,pay a mechanic.

With the air leak in the carb/manifold area,try spraying some water around with the engine idling. When you hit the leak it will stumble.

The oil on the trans maybe a rear main oil seal . The trans is on its way out so you may want to tackle the seal and rebuild at the same time

[PoeDog]

I have a basic understanding of a tranny and its components, as well as the t-case. How hard is it to rebuild? I like to think I pick up things like this quickly, but who knows? Any ideas on who/where sells a good rebuild kits? Does the FSM cover rebuilds and such? Good idea with the water on manifold. Thanks

[Heartworm]

With so many people putting in 5-speeds, you may be able to get a good 4-speed. Try an ad on the wanted section.

[D'Animal]

What type of leak around the carb?

Reading your post I assumed it was an exhaust leak.

It is common that the top of the "J" pipe has blown it's little gasket. It connects to the exhaust manifold in back towards the fire wall and can be a bugger to replace. It is also not uncommon for the "J" pipe flange to crack in the area of that little gasket.

You can pick up a 4-speed rather inexpensive compaired to buying an H55F.

[Cruiserdrew]

The tranny needs work, so...rebuild (or replace) the tranny, rebuild the t-case, put in a new clutch with hydraulics (master and slave) and replace the EGR gasket. Good to go.

The things that will hang you up are normal and expected. Your cooling system likely needs an update, your carb should be re built etc.

I would focus on the stuff which is definitely bad (transmission) before I went to the stuff that is probably bad (carb). Do one whole system at a time and within a year or two, it will be great.

[PoeDog]

Thanks all...am now lookin' for a used 4 speed. cheers

[Fantom]

To add to Cruiserdrew's list, how often has the regular maintenance been done ie: valves, timing adjustment, plugs, cap/rotor/wires. once the bigger issues are solved there are several smaller things that will need to be handled and hopefully they will not lead to large issues. As for the t-case rebuild, it is not hard, the main thing is to keep it organized and in order, the way you take it out is how it goes back in, I know that sounds like common sense - but I am noticing that sense is not so common these days (also that's how I forgot a washer). As for who has kits? I know a guy here in Vancouver BC, but I keep hearing that Cruiser Dan is extremely helpful.