ROTW: Dirtgypsy silver 60

Dirtgypsy · 09-08-07, 10:41 PM

So I asked Mace to add this a day early. I hope you all understand but I am tied up with a fundraiser in the morning and I didn't wan't this hanging out there till Sunday.

I first became interested in Landcruisers about 16 years ago when I was in high school. A friend of mine was a mechaninc and had this old rusty FJ55 sitting in his yard. The paint was completely oxididized, faded, the floor boards were all rusted out, the brakes were shot and the interior was completely gutted. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I did everything in my power to get the rig from him and finally did after about 2 yrs of pleading. I then proceeded to work on it trying to get all the mechanical bits up and safely working but unfortunately I gave the rig back to him unfinished when I moved from California to Oregon. Fast forward to fathers day last year and my 87 60 series. My wife and I had our first baby and medical bills were mounitng due to the fact we had no medical insurance for about 6 months of the pregnancy. Needless to say we were very much in debt. So I sold my truck paid off the bills and with what I had left over I took my family out to dinner. After a bit of commuting by bike and sharing 1 car my wife had enough and told me to go buy a car. Enter the 87 FJ60.

It is a 3 owner rig and bought completly stock with 146K on the clock. So far I absolutley love it. I have rebuilt the front axle, rebuilt the transfer case, new clutch, rear main, front and rear brakes, plus misc other bits. I had a good friend rebuild the carb and the intake and exhaust gaskets and am now getting a respectable 14 mpg.

Here she is bone stock on the day I bought her:

We'll call her Margaret: more on this later

I have since added a MAF 4" Safari lift with shackle reversal. I found some sweet old scool Western Mags 15X8 with 3.5 backspace. The tires are 33 12.50 BFG muds.

I have a full 5x7 rack that I use for camping (sorry not pictured). I have built my own front and rear bumpers. The front bumper is based off of 2mbb design with a few tweaks. I have an 8k Warn bolted to the inside frame rails.

I plan on adding a pre-runner style hoop to the front and reworking the rear bumper to get the tire closer to the body. I am also in the planning stages of rock sliders and should have a locker by the end of the month.

Some other mods I would love to do one day are the 4.11 diff swap and a 5 speed. I figure I will run this 2f untill it dies then consider a diesel swap for a veggie burner.

I am at work right now and will add some more pics in the next few days. Please feel free to ask any questions or if you want specific pics!

I do want to say thanks to you Cruiser heads around here. I could not ask for a better group of people. The wealth of info, and the inspiration to tackle some of the more intimidating repairs I have faced during the last year (or so) has been fantastic. My garage is always open and I always have a

cold one for you. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and talk some Cruiser.

Oh yeah: say hi to Margaret!

PortFJ62 · 09-08-07, 11:10 PM

Margaret is sexy.

Interesting to read the different ways we end up gettting these trucks. Look foward to doing some more wheeling with you. Nice work so far

brokenparts · 09-09-07, 02:07 AM

I got to wheel with the gypsy just about a week ago and... the guy is not afraid of his skinny pedal. The the saying " when in doubt... throttle out" applies here. Add a locker or two to clint and who know's what'll happen. Great guy with a great famly ready wheel with... Love the rig Clint.

Oh, yeah... scratch the 5speed for a 700r4 and a crawl box..

Man, I wish I had more video of you on the big turn on FB5 over the rock... THE GUY IS INSANE!!!

brokenparts · 09-09-07, 02:14 AM

almost forgot to add the vid for proof... you can hear me laughing because the gypsy literally attacks this hill and nearly flops (which is hard to see form the video) but does the right thing and sticks to the throttle and not the brake and moves past the hill with no problem. The hill is very steep which does not seem apparent in the video.

mtb_rider · 09-09-07, 03:33 AM

Nice build up Clint. The stance of her looks perfect. And I dig the old school mags!

Look forward to wheeling with ya soon, and to our group slider build!

kling-on · 09-09-07, 07:44 AM

LOVE THE MAGS ... cool truck

justin85-60 · 09-09-07, 10:18 AM

Great looking rig. I love those bumpers, and I've loved them since you built them. Your rig looks exactly like mine, (Like it will someday

). Even the silver. I also look forward to wheeling with you sometime, and hopefully I can take part in the slider build. God knows I need them.

esh · 09-09-07, 10:33 AM

Hey Clint-

Sorry I didn't get a chance to shoot the breeze at MT with you the other day. Love the mags. I've been occasionally looking for a set for ages! See you at the next meeting or CTW.

redcorn · 09-09-07, 02:07 PM

Rock and Roll that is a nice 60!!!!!
Damn good color too.

Nice story to boot!

Cruise on !

john

PAFJ · 09-09-07, 02:08 PM

Nice ride! The video was awesome!

Dirtgypsy · 09-09-07, 05:20 PM

PAFJ: thanks!

Recorn: looking forward to your next visit to the NW

Esh: I would have liked to stay and visit a bit as well. I will be at CTW for the day.

Justin 85-60: hope you can join us for the build and thank you!

kling-on: really appreciate the comments. thanks!

mtbrider: hope we can get together soon. looking forward to the build day.

brokenparts: you rock! I will see you at CTW!

Portfj62: hey now, margaret is taken. all she asks is for some groovy tunes, some dirt, and she dances all day long! I will most definately be hooking up with you soon.

I found a few more pics. The first is just a side shot and the second is of my #1 man my 2 year old son Christopher.

Clint

90FJ62 · 09-09-07, 07:06 PM

Man thats a good looking rig... Awesome wheeling video... How do you like the lift with the shackle reversal?

Dave

klinetime574 · 09-10-07, 06:17 PM

ahhh i love those wheels *drools*

Nice rig

paulwolf350 · 09-10-07, 06:23 PM

Cool rig mate, love the colour, same as mine.
looks the part, perfect stance, love it.

Dirtgypsy · 09-10-07, 06:32 PM

klinetime574: thanks! I do get a lot of compliments on the wheels and am really happy they worked considering I got them off of ebay!

90fj62: the suspension actually works pretty well. I was surprised at how well it flexes considering how stiff it rides on the street. With that if I had it to do all over again I would not hesitate to go spring over on stock springs with add-a-leafs and take out the shackle reversal.

thanks for checking out my truck and the compliments I really appreciate it.

clint

87CRUSR · 09-10-07, 08:49 PM

Nice rig.... grats on the find of a sweet 3rd owned Fj60 that you could work with. Video says it all!

88chevota · 09-10-07, 09:43 PM

video is awesome! great looking rig!

Mountain Goat · 09-12-07, 12:39 PM

Hey Dirt!

It was a pleasure meeting you and your family. I look forward to some Oregon back-country adventuring and wrenching with you.

Sweet truck, man. I need to get me some tires like yours.

sk8salomon · 09-12-07, 08:26 PM

Love the video. So this is your family grocery getter and your weekend warrier as well? Well done!

Dirtgypsy · 09-12-07, 09:38 PM

sk8soloman: yep this is my family grocery getter and weekend warroir. slowly but surely working towards the weekend only rig.

goat: had a great time meeting you. shoot me some dates sat/ sun that you are free in the next couple of weeks/ months so we can plan ahead for a weekend build. I will shoot you an e-mail shortly.

88chevota: thanks for the compliments. I have been following your build and am really appreciating your creativity!

cliNt

88chevota · 09-13-07, 10:07 PM

Clint,

Thanks. It has been a fun project. Tons of work, but fun. I have learned a lot!

Tony

84yota4x4 · 09-14-07, 06:05 PM

Nice clean rig and I love the hula girl!

Joey62 · 01-04-08, 06:17 PM

Sweet ride what suspension lift did you use keep up the good work

iaintscared1969 · 01-04-08, 08:26 PM

Well built and nice to see you tear it up! And it is even better with a good co pilot. Mine hounds me all the time to go test drive a truck

Dirtgypsy · 01-04-08, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey62

Sweet ride what suspension lift did you use keep up the good work

Man A fre Safari 4" with shackle reversal.

plan on seeing this truck spring over in about 6 months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iaintscared1969

Well built and nice to see you tear it up! And it is even better with a good co pilot. Mine hounds me all the time to go test drive a truck

thanks for the compliment! also thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. co-pilots are the best. #2 will be here on the 25th!

clint

DirtyLittleSecret · 01-04-08, 11:16 PM

Man, I gotta get my rig up and running so I can meet up with some of you around here...I keep feeling like I'm the only FJ6x owner in the Portland area.
BTW: your rig looks almost as nice as mine!

Dirtgypsy · 01-05-08, 12:13 PM

BTW: your rig looks almost as nice as mine!

[/quote]

if you spent as much money getting your rig to run as you do trying to get it to look better than mine we probably would have been out on the trail a long time ago.

jk. I am mad jealous of the LT1 swap right now. looks like mine will be a go around sept!

clint

mel lowe · 01-05-08, 05:27 PM

Great write up!

The silver really shines.

Oh yeah, I really dig the "deep dish hammers".

Those were "the gold nugget" rims when I was in high school.