My passion for cruisers started when my Dad handed me the keys to a 1989 FJ62 a few months before my 16th birthday. It was bone stock and definitely had seen better days, but it was mine and I was hooked. I spent the next 4 years building my FJ62 into a trail rig/ daily driver. When I moved to Austin in 2011, I left the cruiser parked in my parents barn while I drove a more fuel efficient daily driver. I had plans to tow it out to Austin and slowly keep the build going, but with my younger brother's 16th birthday coming up I sadly sold the cruiser to help my parents buy him a newer car that was a bit more reliable and head ache free. I had a big dream to eventually swap a diesel (most likely a 4BT) into the FJ62 but those dreams were cut short when I sold it. I promised myself to get another cruiser eventually or even buy back my first cruiser from the guy I had sold it to. Either way, I was determined to have a diesel Landcruiser at some point.
My old 1989 FJ62 before I sold it
The custom set of Alcans made this thing amazing on the trail
Fast forward about 3 more years and I am driving a 2010 4x4 tacoma that I am slowly building into an overland/ daily driver rig. Then one night after a long conversation with a close friend about pushing each other to accomplish some of our bigger goals in life now rather than later, I found myself determined to seek out my dream diesel Landcruiser. I spent months researching and making many, many phone calls to learn everything I could about importing a vehicle. I figured the best way, and most likely the only way I would be able to afford my dream diesel Landcruiser would be to import one myself. I found a few here and there on different classifieds around different countries, but none of them felt like the right one. Then one day while searching through Kijiji, I found the Cruiser that would eventually be mine. The cruiser was originally from Japan and had been imported to Calgary in 2013. I purchased the cruiser in November of 2014, and had officially finished the import process by January of 2015. I now owned my dream diesel landcruiser, Chewie - a 1988 HJ61 VX.
My 2010 4x4 Tacoma before I sold it to buy Chewie
Chewie shortly after I got him
Beautiful view of Austin from inside Chewie
I had the biggest smile on my face the first time I fired up the 12ht. I couldn't wait to get to work on building it out. I felt the name Chewie was a good fit for my new cruiser. Mainly because he was big and strong just like Chewbacca (also, the purr of the diesel reminded me of some of the sounds Chewbacca would make haha). I have slowly been building out Chewie to be overland ready. I wanted to have rig that could be daily driven comfortably, while still being geared up and prepared to go on an adventure at a moment's notice.
So far I have built out a rear drawer system that doubles as a sleeping platform when the back seats are folded forward. I also wired in a 24v to 12v converter that runs to a blue sea fuse block to run my 12v accessories. I am slowly building the list of mods I plan to do to make Chewie ready for long primitive trips. I am happy to have finally made this thread so I can document my build and the journey of Chewie.
The back before building out the drawers/ sleeping platform
All built before carpeting
Carpet glued and stapled down
The 4" Queen size memory foam mattress. It folds up nicely when not in use.
Cooking dinner one of the nights we were in Big Bend Ranch State Park
All set up
The stars were absolutely breath taking out in Big Bend
Crossing a dry river bed
leaving Big Bend
My old 1989 FJ62 before I sold it
The custom set of Alcans made this thing amazing on the trail
Fast forward about 3 more years and I am driving a 2010 4x4 tacoma that I am slowly building into an overland/ daily driver rig. Then one night after a long conversation with a close friend about pushing each other to accomplish some of our bigger goals in life now rather than later, I found myself determined to seek out my dream diesel Landcruiser. I spent months researching and making many, many phone calls to learn everything I could about importing a vehicle. I figured the best way, and most likely the only way I would be able to afford my dream diesel Landcruiser would be to import one myself. I found a few here and there on different classifieds around different countries, but none of them felt like the right one. Then one day while searching through Kijiji, I found the Cruiser that would eventually be mine. The cruiser was originally from Japan and had been imported to Calgary in 2013. I purchased the cruiser in November of 2014, and had officially finished the import process by January of 2015. I now owned my dream diesel landcruiser, Chewie - a 1988 HJ61 VX.
My 2010 4x4 Tacoma before I sold it to buy Chewie
Chewie shortly after I got him
Beautiful view of Austin from inside Chewie
I had the biggest smile on my face the first time I fired up the 12ht. I couldn't wait to get to work on building it out. I felt the name Chewie was a good fit for my new cruiser. Mainly because he was big and strong just like Chewbacca (also, the purr of the diesel reminded me of some of the sounds Chewbacca would make haha). I have slowly been building out Chewie to be overland ready. I wanted to have rig that could be daily driven comfortably, while still being geared up and prepared to go on an adventure at a moment's notice.
So far I have built out a rear drawer system that doubles as a sleeping platform when the back seats are folded forward. I also wired in a 24v to 12v converter that runs to a blue sea fuse block to run my 12v accessories. I am slowly building the list of mods I plan to do to make Chewie ready for long primitive trips. I am happy to have finally made this thread so I can document my build and the journey of Chewie.
The back before building out the drawers/ sleeping platform
All built before carpeting
Carpet glued and stapled down
The 4" Queen size memory foam mattress. It folds up nicely when not in use.
Cooking dinner one of the nights we were in Big Bend Ranch State Park
All set up
The stars were absolutely breath taking out in Big Bend
Crossing a dry river bed
leaving Big Bend