Introducing: "The Winchester" (Chester for short)

[MiketheGuide]

Introducing: "The Winchester" (HJ60 5spd 2H)

I can't believe it's been 4 years since we sold Big Red. I sold my old truck in July 2008.

After a move to the city (Wellington, New Zealand), we haven't really needed our own car. I guide local city tours and get to bring a work vehicle home. My wife Nicole and I have slowly had the growing desire to own another Land Cruiser, one we can eventually fit out for camping and road trips, possibly even taking to other countries and... well, one thing at a time!

Anyway, we found this truck online and although we weren't planning to buy for another 6 months or so, I went and took a look at this truck and for better or worse (hopefully better), I brought it home!

So, here are the details on our "new" 1985 HJ60 Land Cruiser - "The Winchester"!

1985 Toyota Land Cruiser- Imported to NZ from Japan in 1996.

- 2H Diesel (3980cc)
- 5 Speed Manual (H55F)
- PTO Winch
- Electric Sunroof
- 'Picnic Table' front winch bar
- Factory A/C

- 178450km

The truck is in standard, unmodified condition. So far I have pulled the carpets and cleaned the interior with a rug doctor. The difference in smell is incredible! Sadly, with the carpet gone I have found some spots of rust in the floor. Some of it is where a 3rd row seat used to mount to the floor, and some of it is close to the A pillar. Once the weather improves, I will at least have to pull the carpets again and apply some rust killer.

I am no mechanic, and don't have a garage (or any but the most basic tools) so I have had to farm out the work done so far which is:

- new front brake discs and pads
- new sway bar and spring link bushes

I hope to do more work myself as I get confident, but I also know my limitations and don't want to get myself into trouble. Anyway, here are some pics!

Hopefully over time this thread will show our progress as we tidy up and eventually customise our truck. The first thing is to make sure we have a solid reliable wagon, then we can start looking at some fun mods.

As for the name: The Winchester is the safest place to be when the Zombies attack - as in Shaun of the Dead.

 

[gregnash]

LOL.. love that line.. think you are the second to now name their truck the Winchester!!!
And is that a freakin tape deck WITH AUX port!?

 

[MiketheGuide]

I posted this truck in the registry 2 or 3 weeks ago, it could have been me. Yep, the aux jack in the tape deck is my best friend! Of course, I think it's a 12v head unit wired to 1 of the batteries so this is not a good setup on a 24V machine. I have to add it to the to do list!

 

[hiluxsurf]

Nice truck mate. Unusual colour scheme. Good to see another person from NZ here.

I saw your old red. That was a nice truck also. I actually am not a fan of my highroof but i think thats because she is sitting on 31's so it looks 'unbalanced'. Yours looked sweet. Gonna get 33's and hopefully then the highroof will grow on me.

 

[MiketheGuide]

The Rust - How bad is it?

Here is some of the rust I found while I was cleaning the interior. Sadly I had to put everything back together over top of the rust as I need to use the truck (and it lives outside - I don't have anywhere to store parts).

Driver's floor:

Right rear door:

Right rear (3rd row seat mount point?):

Under tailgate rubbers:

Rear Seatback (this was a surprise):

The chassis only seems to have surface rust (but lots of it). There are so many fun things I'd like to do to this truck, but I feel like we need to take care of the boring stuff first.

 

[MiketheGuide]

Found some fun stuff too:

Here is the cool stuff I found when I pulled the seats/carpets out, plus a couple more shots of the exposed body.

This wallet was under the carpets, it contained some yen (not enough), and some old phone cards. The pliers were buried in there too:

All the wheel tools were still under the passenger seat, as well as a Toyota canvas tool bag (I'll post a picture of this later) :

Future site of wagongear door?

There are enough tidy spots to make me think that the body is generally ok: