I’m pretty sure this obsession grabbed me when I was a boy of about 14 or so. Growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, I had a newspaper route. Each morning, packing copies of the Washington Post around, I’d see this shiny FJ40 in the driveway of one of my customer’s homes over on Piney Branch Road. It was sharp-looking; an early 70’s model in that beautiful hunter green. I coveted that thing every morning!
Twenty years passed by, during which I completed high school & college, got married and started raising kids. Of course, I saw Land Cruisers numerous times here and there. As the models changed, I’d occasionally look at prices. I remember thinking that an 80-series would be nice, but they were always more than I could afford. I had a few Toyota pickup trucks, too. In about 1995, one of my wife’s friends came by the house in her mint-condition brown FJ60. Not sure what year it was. I once asked her about it. She apparently was not all that fond of it, but she said her husband called it “the ideal car”. Imagine that!
Ten more years passed and I began to think that I’d like to have a ’60-series of my own. I thought it’d be a great first car for my oldest daughter, who was approaching driving age. My daughter, of course, wanted something snazzier than a stodgy-looking 4x4 wagon!
I started looking for a ‘60 on ebay. I bid on a few, and got outbid. I looked pretty hard at one in particular, but in the end I backed out. Finally, I put in a bid on one and my bid turned out to be the high bid. I owned it – a 1984 FJ60, with plenty of miles, some lower body rust, faded out paint, and years of neglect showing through all around! (See Post #11) A deferred maintenance special that needed serious work! A friend of mine trailered it to Laramie, where I paid a mechanic to do some work on it. (This was where I learned that if you own a Cruiser, it is best to try and do your own wrenching – it’s less costly and more satisfying.) My nephew, who was going to school at UW, drove my purchase up to Sheridan, where I picked it up and drove it home.
The ’60 was pretty danged homely-looking. My wife described it as “underwhelming”. I spent some time tinkering with it, but this was before I knew about MUD, so I was really flying blind. I became discouraged with how much work it needed, and as a mechanic, I was a rookie. In the end, I had to admit that I was in over my head. I put it on ebay and sold it to a man that I later learned was a Mudder!
I kept thinking that maybe I’d get another wagon someday, but I was prepared to put the whole thing off for a while. I clearly needed to get some education. I learned about Mud, and I finally started to get some Cruiser smarts.
One day, my wife called me from the parking lot of the grocery store. There’s an FJ62 for sale, sitting right here, she said. I went over to see it. I looked it over for a few minutes, talked to the seller, drove it around a bit, and bought it. I really was happy to have such a nice, clean, rust-free Cruiser. This truck was originally sold by the local Toyota dealership right here in Billings. I even have the original window sticker! I believe I am the third owner.
With advice from Mudders, and help from my family, I rebuilt the front axle, changed the leaky tranny pan gasket, and installed a set of OME springs. I also changed the radiator, belts, hoses, plugs, and plug wires. A local shop converted the A/C to R134. A Mudder sold me a Rhino front brush guard which, to my eye, looks almost as nice as an ARB. Overall, the truck is still pretty stock-looking, but I recently added 15x8 aluminum rims and a set of 33’s. Then, Toyrod here on MUD built me a rear bumper with a swing-out tire carrier. I recently had the exhaust system replaced, too. Next up is to fix the wandering front end and maybe change the oil pan gasket. Mostly, it is a daily driver, but I’ve been doing some light ‘wheeling with it, too. My kids have helped me a lot with my projects. Thanks to all of them for their help, and to my wife, Rhonda, who always manages to bring me a cup of coffee or a sandwich or a cold Pepsi when I’m wrenching. My son Parker also deserves special mention, as he is always willing to help.
For now, I’ll keep on daily driving it, but maybe it’ll get a Vortec V8 someday!
A while after getting the ’62, I found an old 1970 model FJ40 and bought it, too. But that’s another story! And around the corner from where I live, there is a nice 80-series that I keep hoping will come up for sale someday. That is also another story!
I’ll post up some pics. Thanks, all, for your help and advice on my many projects.
Twenty years passed by, during which I completed high school & college, got married and started raising kids. Of course, I saw Land Cruisers numerous times here and there. As the models changed, I’d occasionally look at prices. I remember thinking that an 80-series would be nice, but they were always more than I could afford. I had a few Toyota pickup trucks, too. In about 1995, one of my wife’s friends came by the house in her mint-condition brown FJ60. Not sure what year it was. I once asked her about it. She apparently was not all that fond of it, but she said her husband called it “the ideal car”. Imagine that!
Ten more years passed and I began to think that I’d like to have a ’60-series of my own. I thought it’d be a great first car for my oldest daughter, who was approaching driving age. My daughter, of course, wanted something snazzier than a stodgy-looking 4x4 wagon!
I started looking for a ‘60 on ebay. I bid on a few, and got outbid. I looked pretty hard at one in particular, but in the end I backed out. Finally, I put in a bid on one and my bid turned out to be the high bid. I owned it – a 1984 FJ60, with plenty of miles, some lower body rust, faded out paint, and years of neglect showing through all around! (See Post #11) A deferred maintenance special that needed serious work! A friend of mine trailered it to Laramie, where I paid a mechanic to do some work on it. (This was where I learned that if you own a Cruiser, it is best to try and do your own wrenching – it’s less costly and more satisfying.) My nephew, who was going to school at UW, drove my purchase up to Sheridan, where I picked it up and drove it home.
The ’60 was pretty danged homely-looking. My wife described it as “underwhelming”. I spent some time tinkering with it, but this was before I knew about MUD, so I was really flying blind. I became discouraged with how much work it needed, and as a mechanic, I was a rookie. In the end, I had to admit that I was in over my head. I put it on ebay and sold it to a man that I later learned was a Mudder!
I kept thinking that maybe I’d get another wagon someday, but I was prepared to put the whole thing off for a while. I clearly needed to get some education. I learned about Mud, and I finally started to get some Cruiser smarts.
One day, my wife called me from the parking lot of the grocery store. There’s an FJ62 for sale, sitting right here, she said. I went over to see it. I looked it over for a few minutes, talked to the seller, drove it around a bit, and bought it. I really was happy to have such a nice, clean, rust-free Cruiser. This truck was originally sold by the local Toyota dealership right here in Billings. I even have the original window sticker! I believe I am the third owner.
With advice from Mudders, and help from my family, I rebuilt the front axle, changed the leaky tranny pan gasket, and installed a set of OME springs. I also changed the radiator, belts, hoses, plugs, and plug wires. A local shop converted the A/C to R134. A Mudder sold me a Rhino front brush guard which, to my eye, looks almost as nice as an ARB. Overall, the truck is still pretty stock-looking, but I recently added 15x8 aluminum rims and a set of 33’s. Then, Toyrod here on MUD built me a rear bumper with a swing-out tire carrier. I recently had the exhaust system replaced, too. Next up is to fix the wandering front end and maybe change the oil pan gasket. Mostly, it is a daily driver, but I’ve been doing some light ‘wheeling with it, too. My kids have helped me a lot with my projects. Thanks to all of them for their help, and to my wife, Rhonda, who always manages to bring me a cup of coffee or a sandwich or a cold Pepsi when I’m wrenching. My son Parker also deserves special mention, as he is always willing to help.
For now, I’ll keep on daily driving it, but maybe it’ll get a Vortec V8 someday!
A while after getting the ’62, I found an old 1970 model FJ40 and bought it, too. But that’s another story! And around the corner from where I live, there is a nice 80-series that I keep hoping will come up for sale someday. That is also another story!
I’ll post up some pics. Thanks, all, for your help and advice on my many projects.
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nice rig 
