Ok, I guess I'm in for a good ride for the foreseeable future! I've been kicking around the idea of a Land Cruiser for a few years now. I've been looking at the 60/62 and 80 series, primarily, and ultimately decided on the 60. I wanted something simple and with minimal electronics and complexity so I think I chose wisely. I had an '87 4WD pickup in college and learned a lot about Toyota's back then. I also spent my summer internship at Rod Millen Motorsports back in 2000 and got to work on a few relevant projects (His Land Cruiser and the Pikes Peak Tacoma).
So, moving forward, I have quite a project! The plan is to keep the stock height, refurbish all of the bushings throughout, clean up the interior, fix any mechanical gremlins as soon as possible, add bumpers and a roof rack, build storage cabinets in the back for camping and paint, somewhere down the road.
As it sits now, it's got 177k on the clock, a webber carb, 33-9.5's, no radio, A/C needs to be hooked up, and is in need of a tune-up. On the drive home, it sounded like the engine didn't like to go over 3k rpm, may have been a little lean, and got a little warm going uphill on the highway (not yet sure what the temperature range is on these yet and it didn't go to red). It cooled back down after I crested the hill and everything seemed back to normal. I pulled in to fill up the tank and went to start it back up and I heard 1 click and nothing after that..damn! Tried jumping it, tried pushing it, tried jiggling wires...nothing worked. I called the PO and he said he had blown a fuse before and just replaced the blown fuse to fire it back up. So, I started pulling a couple fuses (Engine, Dash, etc.) and nothing was blown. I put the fuses back in and tried to start it again...fired right up!
So, here I sit today, with a list to get to where I want to be. My hope is to eventually have a daily driver for me or my wife. My commute is 12 miles and hers will be about 5 miles, so either one of us will be fine with the Land Cruiser. I do need a recommendation on the best service manual for the '87 FJ60, and any other good advice is appreciated. Also, if your in Ashland/Medford, I would be happy to help with your project as well, after all, it's the best way to learn!
So, moving forward, I have quite a project! The plan is to keep the stock height, refurbish all of the bushings throughout, clean up the interior, fix any mechanical gremlins as soon as possible, add bumpers and a roof rack, build storage cabinets in the back for camping and paint, somewhere down the road.
As it sits now, it's got 177k on the clock, a webber carb, 33-9.5's, no radio, A/C needs to be hooked up, and is in need of a tune-up. On the drive home, it sounded like the engine didn't like to go over 3k rpm, may have been a little lean, and got a little warm going uphill on the highway (not yet sure what the temperature range is on these yet and it didn't go to red). It cooled back down after I crested the hill and everything seemed back to normal. I pulled in to fill up the tank and went to start it back up and I heard 1 click and nothing after that..damn! Tried jumping it, tried pushing it, tried jiggling wires...nothing worked. I called the PO and he said he had blown a fuse before and just replaced the blown fuse to fire it back up. So, I started pulling a couple fuses (Engine, Dash, etc.) and nothing was blown. I put the fuses back in and tried to start it again...fired right up!
So, here I sit today, with a list to get to where I want to be. My hope is to eventually have a daily driver for me or my wife. My commute is 12 miles and hers will be about 5 miles, so either one of us will be fine with the Land Cruiser. I do need a recommendation on the best service manual for the '87 FJ60, and any other good advice is appreciated. Also, if your in Ashland/Medford, I would be happy to help with your project as well, after all, it's the best way to learn!
