My pursuit for a 60 series has never been easy.
Ever since I was 16 I've wanted a 40 series or a 60 series. What can I say - I'm a sucker for round headlights and slow 6 cylinders. I've tried multiple times to get my hands on one here locally and for some reason or another me owning a 60 series was never in the cards. I've been fortunate enough to own a slew of other vintage Toyotas (as evidenced by all my build threads on here) and can't help but think if I did own a 60 when I was younger I probably would've traded it for something else I thought was cooler. I'm 28 now, and while my mental maturity is a bit questionable at times I think 60's are pretty damn cool.
I actually tried to acquire this exact 60 series about four years ago. I had taken a wrong turn in my neighborhood and lo and behold this 60 was just sitting in the front yard. Lucky for me the owner was out and we got to talking and I offered him my 1990 4Runner in trade for it. He looked at the 4Runner and decided it wasn't for him.
When I got the itch to buy a 60 he was the first person that I was a nuisance to. I knocked on the door and was greeted by his wife who actually remembered me from my first attempt. She told me he'd give me a call and he finally did a week later. He wasn't sure he wanted to sell it but after another week of mulling it over he decided he would let it go.
The original owner was a herpetologist who took it on his adventures and then sold it to the gentleman I purchased it from in 2005. He did a SOA swap with OME lift springs and a high steer kit along with some other mods and wheeled it. It was parked in 2013 when it the suspension overextended and broke the front driveshaft and passenger shock mount. It has sat ever since with the idea of swapping a 2H diesel in place of the 2F. Those dreams never happened and now I am the new custodian of this FJ60.
It's in really good shape, with no real rust issues - there's some signs of surface rust here and there but considering how easily these turn into swiss cheese I'd go as far to say it's mint. She's a bit tall for my liking and it needs to fit in my garage, so the SOA and the roof rack might have to go. My plans are to get this back down to earth on 33's, slap in a H55F and fuel injection. Like I said I'm a sucker for slow 6 cylinders but after rocking my 2007 Subaru Outback for three months I'm now a speed demon. I plan to make this a relatively practical daily driver, and that means being able to keep up with the jabronis on the freeway if I need to.
Enough blabbering, here's some pics I snapped today:
Immediate plans to get it driving:
That's quite a list just to get her roadworthy, but I'm hoping by next weekend I'll at least be able to move it around the neighborhood. It does start and run just fine off of a gas can, so once I can get fuel reliably to the carb I should be in business to get it moving. Hopefully I should be able to get it to stop too..
I officially take possession of it on Saturday once I get some roller tires onto it and will keep ya'll updated.
Happy to finally be a part of the ever exclusive 60 club!
Ever since I was 16 I've wanted a 40 series or a 60 series. What can I say - I'm a sucker for round headlights and slow 6 cylinders. I've tried multiple times to get my hands on one here locally and for some reason or another me owning a 60 series was never in the cards. I've been fortunate enough to own a slew of other vintage Toyotas (as evidenced by all my build threads on here) and can't help but think if I did own a 60 when I was younger I probably would've traded it for something else I thought was cooler. I'm 28 now, and while my mental maturity is a bit questionable at times I think 60's are pretty damn cool.
I actually tried to acquire this exact 60 series about four years ago. I had taken a wrong turn in my neighborhood and lo and behold this 60 was just sitting in the front yard. Lucky for me the owner was out and we got to talking and I offered him my 1990 4Runner in trade for it. He looked at the 4Runner and decided it wasn't for him.
When I got the itch to buy a 60 he was the first person that I was a nuisance to. I knocked on the door and was greeted by his wife who actually remembered me from my first attempt. She told me he'd give me a call and he finally did a week later. He wasn't sure he wanted to sell it but after another week of mulling it over he decided he would let it go.
The original owner was a herpetologist who took it on his adventures and then sold it to the gentleman I purchased it from in 2005. He did a SOA swap with OME lift springs and a high steer kit along with some other mods and wheeled it. It was parked in 2013 when it the suspension overextended and broke the front driveshaft and passenger shock mount. It has sat ever since with the idea of swapping a 2H diesel in place of the 2F. Those dreams never happened and now I am the new custodian of this FJ60.
It's in really good shape, with no real rust issues - there's some signs of surface rust here and there but considering how easily these turn into swiss cheese I'd go as far to say it's mint. She's a bit tall for my liking and it needs to fit in my garage, so the SOA and the roof rack might have to go. My plans are to get this back down to earth on 33's, slap in a H55F and fuel injection. Like I said I'm a sucker for slow 6 cylinders but after rocking my 2007 Subaru Outback for three months I'm now a speed demon. I plan to make this a relatively practical daily driver, and that means being able to keep up with the jabronis on the freeway if I need to.
Enough blabbering, here's some pics I snapped today:
Immediate plans to get it driving:
- Have gas tank cleaned
- Replace fuel lines & fuel pickup
- Replace fuel pump (possibly)
- Replace battery
- Reweld broken shock mount
- Replace front driveshaft
- New tires
- Potential axle swap to get rid of the SOA
That's quite a list just to get her roadworthy, but I'm hoping by next weekend I'll at least be able to move it around the neighborhood. It does start and run just fine off of a gas can, so once I can get fuel reliably to the carb I should be in business to get it moving. Hopefully I should be able to get it to stop too..
I officially take possession of it on Saturday once I get some roller tires onto it and will keep ya'll updated.
Happy to finally be a part of the ever exclusive 60 club!