[philos1]

So I bought my 1987 FJ60 in 2003 with 190,000 miles from the second owners. It had already been around the counrty as the family had sent their daughter to school in NY with it. She then gave it to her brother to take to OR while he was in dental school. AFAIK, they bought it here in SoCal from the original owner. The best thing about it (to me) was that it was bone-stock. The bumpers had rust from the OR roads, but everything was there, and everything worked.

Within weeks of owning it, I had already planned several trips including deep Baja and our annual Christmas tree run to Lida Summit just into NV and off the Ancient Bristlecone Forest Highway.

Baja was where I discovered the sagging stock suspension really didn't like the terrain I was really into. At the time I was at a private art school, so money was VERY tight. I decided to go with a replacement set of stock springs with long add-a-leafs all around. It was the first major upgrade since purchase, and since then I just keep (happily) sinking money into her.

here's a before shot that is as close as I have to stock- you can see my first light bar and the powdercoated bumper with the smaller 31" tires.



next is the add-a-leaf lift installed later the same day...




this one is a poser shot on a local fire-road/trail. this is with the OME suspension and the H-55 tranny. I also had the stock wheels powdercoated and I think this is also with 33" tires now.

Also, there is my old rear homemade bumper without the tire carrier

[philos1]

right about this time, I was making more runs to Baja as well as some local trails. I also drove the Tootsie Roll to OK and back, several trips to AZ, and many states in between. I put nearly 100,000 miles on her in about three years and some change and she did very well considering her age and the way I drive

I got a lot of trips to ventura county during my last semester at college hauling driftwood on my homemade roof rack for my thesis project (a 40' wide wave made from a modular steel armature and found driftwood). I made about 12-15 trips with the rack on full of wood, so I ended up with a lot of salty crap on the roof leading to the present condition (rusty at the gutters) I also started getting the itch for more power at this time.

heres a couple of the project






these are form the last trip to Baja and are the most recent before I started the Vortec swap this past February.

[philos1]

All of these pics are from the Vortec swap I did during the early spring of this year.

before




during






some more second is the instrument cluster with the 8K tach

[Marc311]

I believe I speak for everyone when I say . . .Thanks God you had biker shorts on underneath your bathingsuit in that one picture!

Seriously - nice looking rig. That front bumper is sweet! Does the light bar just bolt on or did you fab it yourself?

[philos1]

here's a shot of how she sits right now



I guess a list of mods would be good now, so...

Vortec from 1999 Tahoe w/32K miles (CA smog legal to boot)
Optima
Kaymar rear bumper w/o carrier (soon to be remedied)
Custom front bumper (by me)
OME med/med
33" BFG A/Ts on stock coated wheels
Pioneer stereo w/ deck-controlled IPOD interface
Tuffy Console
Damplifier on all doors, floor, and rear quarters
H-55 five speed
tint all around
Hella lights and horns (lights to be changed soon too)
IPF 630 foglights
Hood shock conversion
Yakima surf racks
De-blinged emblems etc.
Britax Marathon seat for the newcomer
lots of other stuff too


Future mods:
Lockers. really need these now that I have time to wheel more.
rust repair on the gutters
Knuckle job (already have kit + bearings)
Possibly an olive green paint job (a la the new pathfinder olive green)
anything that makes the surf trips to Baja more fun


a last shot of me and my ride, I LOVE being out on the road in my tootsie roll

[samba]

nothin' better than a sweet 60 and a good dog. looks like you got both. nice rig.

[philos1]

Originally Posted by Marc311

I believe I speak for everyone when I say . . .Thanks God you had biker shorts on underneath your bathingsuit in that one picture!

Seriously - nice looking rig. That front bumper is sweet! Does the light bar just bolt on or did you fab it yourself?

Light bar was a homemade bolt-on, sold off here on mud recently...

you trying to check my junk? haha. the shorts are a necessity when you're in the dirt/ocean for weeks at a time surfers know the rash I'm talking about


thanks for the kind words guys!

[Nosuke62]

Originally Posted by samba

nothin' better than a sweet 60 and a good dog. looks like you got both. nice rig.

In one of those pictures it looks like he has a lady-friend too. Does life get better than that trio?

Nice truck. Cool art project as well.

[philos1]

Originally Posted by Nosuke62

In one of those pictures it looks like he has a lady-friend too. Does life get better than that trio?

Nice truck. Cool art project as well.

That's my wife- we've been together for nearly 15 years. We just had our first baby on June 8.

truly does not get much better.

[Dynosoar]

Hey Philos,
Awesome write up. The Baja pics make me want to go on a road trip. If you want help with the knuckle job let me know. As soon as you get a sleep schedule.

C YA

Dynosoar

[84yota4x4]

Nice rig, I like that wave you built too, pretty sweet.

Where did you score that 8k tach from?! Freakin sweet.

[klinetime574]

Truely awesome rig.

But just one thing. . .

Your doorhandles need to be black too

edit: How wide are those tires?

[PAFJ]

Beautiful rig... nice write-up!

One question... you said you bought the rig w/ 190K then put another 100K on her... if so, that's pretty F'in amazing!

[iaintscared1969]

She looks good man and you did a sweet job on the install!! Congrats on the new addition...I bet your one happy daddy...Glad to see you get to enjoy your hard work

[SLOwag]

Vortec from 1999 Tahoe w/32K miles (CA smog legal to boot)

Can you describe the process to pass smog for those of us in CA that are thinking of going to the Vortec? Thanks

Nice rig!

[e00o]

Sweet rig! Your wheels look awesome. I want to do the same thing. Did you have to get the chrome stripped off before the powder coat application? What kind of finish is that? Thanks!

[fowldarr]

Dude, your baby's got my b-day. Keep up the work, I was changing my oil the other day, my 7 year old is crawled up underneath the truck with me and says "Do I get the landcruiser when I'm old enough to drive?" That is what it is all about. (Now I have to find another one)

[Mace]

I really want to know about that 8K tach...

Another thing.. what liner did you use on the floorboards and how well is it holding up/working??

[mel lowe]

Originally Posted by Mace

I really want to know about that 8K tach...

Another thing.. what liner did you use on the floorboards and how well is it holding up/working??

2x



Nice rig!

[chicago]

Great job!
Great write up!
Great rig!

Its SOOOO nice to be able to see and hear about the rigs and their owners in one location!

BTW!
Im frightened by your tattoos!

Chicago

[Mace]

Originally Posted by chicago

BTW!
Im frightened by your tattoos!

Chicago

Anyone else suprised??



Lotsa lines. Needs more ink

Now Damnit, get back on this thread and start answering questions

[chicago]

Originally Posted by Mace

Anyone else suprised??



Lotsa lines. Needs more ink

Now Damnit, get back on this thread and start answering questions

[Tapage]

Originally Posted by Mace

I really want to know about that 8K tach...

Ditto ..

[Dynosoar]

Philos1 had his tach recalibrated and renumbered at No.Hollywood spedo in No. Hollywood, CA. If you read his build up thread he posted the info there. His rig drives real nice (He let me drive it). I like the 5 speed behind the Vortec.

Dynosoar


P.S. Did you get your A/C hooked up. If you didn't I met a very cool (no pun intended) A/C guy that does high quality work. Let me know if you need his name. He is in Chatswoth.

[philos1]

Sorry about the delays, working hard.

Dyno- I'll call ya when I'm close to ready

as to the tach, I dropped it off with North Hollywood Speedo, it was expensive ($210) but it looks pretty and works great.

Slowag- the process for smog was pretty straightforward, I just kept the emissions equipment that was on the motor when I got it, and kept the exhaust the way CA trucks came... PM me if you need help

Kline- I may do that if/when I get to paint.

e00o-just had em blasted and then coated in semi flat black (or semi gloss if you prefer)

Fowldar- thanks

Mace- floors were done with Damplifier and ensolite, sounds amazing now....


and yes the tattoos are SLOWLY getting filled in, we're about 2/3 done with it so far- but I'm really not that scary in person.

hope I didn't miss anyone, if so we'll get there next post...

and of course, THANK YOU for all the kind words about my tootsie roll, she really has become part of my lifestyle.

back to work for now, I'll check up with you guys soon.

cheers.

[beaufort-fj60]

nice ride. Take a close up pic of the powdercoated rims.. they look good. Did you have to strip off the chrome first?

[philos1]

Beaufort- I'll try and get one soon, we started production on the show I'm on this week, so life is a bit hectic right now.

I left the chrome on as it was rusty in a few spots, but not too terrible. they just blasted them real well first. you could have any flaky spots filled with copper first, then coated. (It's the same process as when they chrome them, just not going the last step for chroming)


Dynosoar- the lines are filled and all hooked up, the harness or ECM isn't sending power to the compressor though. I can run power direct to the compressor and she blows amazing. I just haven't had time to get any work in yet. I also made a nice fan shroud too.


Also in ref to getting a good tach, Redline gauges in Simi Valley? I think? does amazing work. I had a bad experience with NH speedo after years of going there and I won't be back. Redline does all TLCs work now, so they must be good...


cheers

[grime]

philos1 been watching from a far. Always impressed with your rig, and the work you've been putting into it.

and for a east coaster who's been surfing since he was 13, cherish those sessions south of the border. We dream of that.

Someday i'll get my crusier down there....

good times man!
cheers

[Mace]

Did I miss the tranny you are using now? Adapter type? Wiring harness?

Can you give us some more specs on the motor swap please

[philos1]

Sorry.

Tranny is still the H-55 mated with a Mark's adapter. 12" clutch from 1995 chevy P/U. Toyota stock Hydraulics.

I used a harness from Howell Engineering, it was pretty straightforward and only needs a few wires tied into the toyota harness/power. I used a motor from a 99 Tahoe, but an ECM from a 1997 truck (silverado 1500), I sent it out to Ed Wright Automotive in OK and it was there and back in a couple of days. This allowed me to register the swap as a 97 and not have to deal with AIR injection yet still remain 100% Cali legal. It drives very well and has gobs of power to boot.

I did cheap out on my 02 sensors and went with some used originals I had for the two rear-most locations behind the cats, so whenever I get new ones back there, I'm sure she'll be even better


Grime- thanks, but you guys at least get warm water part of the year- it's pretty much always cold in the pacifico... You should def get to Baja, if you do, hit me up and if schedules line up it's on.

Beaufort, I'll get that pic of the wheels soon. I promise.