kenavt
SILVER Star
Hey folks, welcome to the tales of Cara the Cruiser. I bought Cara off an old widow in October 2019 at 172,000 miles and have had all sorts of adventures and struggles. I had very little experience wrenching before but a lot of appetite and desire to learn. It's been a grand time learning how to wrench, going on great adventures, and even moving from SF to Seattle.
Build work in phases
[initial work]
New 70-series door mirrors from CityRacer (10/19)
Failed seat cleaning (11/19)
New driver's window regulator, rearview mirror, liftgate shocks (12/19)
New valve cover gasket, coolant bypass hose, fluid topup by Toy Shop in San Francisco (12/19)
New spark plugs (01/20)
New front seatbelts from Seatbelt Planet (02/20)
Coolant flush and reservoir (03/20)
Interior tear apart, new DNP carpet (03/20)
Coolant flush, new thermostat, partial 4Runner wiper upgrade (03/20)
New air filter and hood insulator (05/20)
New-to-me front and rear seats and door cards from Classic Cruisers (05/20)
New rear seatbelts from Seatbelt Planet (06/20)
Rebuilt steering knuckles, front brakes, new tie rod ends from Mudrak Custom Cruisers in Sonoma, CA (06/20)
Big breakdown on a camping trip from Mendocino NF - blown head gasket, piston seals. Put out to pasture for a couple months (08/20)
[engine swap]
Retrieved truck (11/20)
Disassembly for engine swap (1/21)
Engine out, dash pull-apart, new (used) engine purchase (2/21)
Cleaning parts, stripping down new (used) engine, building up new (used) engine (03/21)
New pilot bearing, build up new clutch (04/21)
Engine install! (04/21)
Replaced clutch secondary cylinder (04/2021)
Replaced clutch primary cylinder (05/21)
Added oil, ran compression tests, leak down tests, puzzlement (05/21)
Won't start up (06/21)
Continued building up engine (07/21)
Cleaning out dashboard parts (07/21)
All new coolant hoses (07/21)
New battery, new Champion radiator, new OEM dipstick (07/21)
Successful startup (07/21)
Drove around the block!! (07/21)
Re-assembled dashboard after cleaning (08/21)
Re-mounted hood (08/2021)
Smog escapades with eventual pass (08/21)
Transmission/transfer case equalizing hose install (09/21)
Exhaust leak from downpipe separating from manifold (09/21)
Drove old block to Valley Hybrids for re-use (09/21)
BFG 31x10.5r15 tires (09/21)
Installed hand throttle (10/21)
Bought and installed old-school Con-ferr roof rack (10/21)
Fixed clutch pressure plate screws (10/21)
New wiper linkage (12/21)
New brake master cylinder (12/21)
Cleaned up spare tire holder (12/21)
[moved to Seattle]
Finished cabin heater re-install (2/22)
Oil change requiring nylon crush washer and RTV (2/22)
SuperBrightLEDs install for all interior lights (3/22)
Kinda-sorta-ish fixed oil pressure gauge (3/22)
Fixed horn (3/22)
New antenna (3/22)
BFG 33x10.5r15 tires install (4/22)
New rheostat circuit board out of a '89 Camry (4/22)
Rebuilt rear drums (4/22)
Valve adjustment (4/22)
Replaced smog pump with devaned unit (5/22)
Fuel tank recall done at the dealership (5/22)
Had alternator rebuilt (5/22)
Installed Smittybilt center console (5/22)
Installed new coolant temp gauge and manifold vacuum gauge with custom-printed mount (5/22)
Installed new radio and front and cargo area speakers; noise insulation and vapor barriers in front doors (6/22)
New fuel filter, oil filter, oil change (9/22)
New thermostat and gaskets to fix overcooling issue (9/22)
Original post to kick off this thread below:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've never owned a big truck before, but something about the wonderfully square and '80s wagon look, Instagram, and overlanding just kept FJ60s in my mind. Due to how expensive they've gotten in the last few years plus living in dense San Francisco, I thought I wouldn't own one for a long time. But that didn't stop me from aggressively looking at Craigslist all year (when work wasn't keeping me extremely busy). To my surprise in mid-October, an old white '84 was listed about a mile from me in San Francisco. Within three hours, I had reached out to the owner's friend who had listed it... while tracking down the car's location and biking up to take a look at it, street-parked, myself. The next morning I took a look at it for a few hours with the owner/old lady's old lady friend, and she told me a sad story of how it was the owner's husband, who had died a few months previously of a six-month terminal illness.
The truck itself was in a bit of rough shape. Mechanically it seemed okay (4-wheel-drive high and low worked, would do 65mph on 280), but there are so many other issues - the clearcoat is gone, rust around the windshield, interior was surprisingly filthy, tailgate didn't open, driver's seat belt didn't work, some window cranks didn't work, steering had a lot of play in it (~4 inches), and a lot more. So I told the owner's friend (and the owner who had joined us at this point) that I would sleep on it. I couldn't get it out of my mind - the truck is all I thought about for the next few days. The owner reached out a few days later to say someone else was interested so I needed to jump on it ASAP if I wanted it... and so I did.
Like I said, it mechanically seems somewhat okay. It's a 1984, ~172k miles, no big mods other then a NMO mount, a mysterious red LED on the dash, foglight that don't work, and possibly aftermarket shocks (no lift). The short-term goal is to feel comfortable driving it ~50 miles each way to a safer parking area for storage during weeks that I don't have time to work on it (that's not street-parking in San Francisco). After that, clean up the interior (the seats are absolutely gross, I don't know if they're salvageable) and do enough maintenance to feel comfortable going camping with the girlfriend in Big Sur or Mendocino. By next winter, I want to do the weekend ski run to Tahoe in the cold and wet, sort out the rust, and do a re-paint.
I've done a few odds and ends around the truck in the two months I've owned it, those'll be follow-up when I get around to them this week.
The name Cara doesn't particularly come from anywhere - just a good solid name for a fun truck
Build work in phases
[initial work]
New 70-series door mirrors from CityRacer (10/19)
Failed seat cleaning (11/19)
New driver's window regulator, rearview mirror, liftgate shocks (12/19)
New valve cover gasket, coolant bypass hose, fluid topup by Toy Shop in San Francisco (12/19)
New spark plugs (01/20)
New front seatbelts from Seatbelt Planet (02/20)
Coolant flush and reservoir (03/20)
Interior tear apart, new DNP carpet (03/20)
Coolant flush, new thermostat, partial 4Runner wiper upgrade (03/20)
New air filter and hood insulator (05/20)
New-to-me front and rear seats and door cards from Classic Cruisers (05/20)
New rear seatbelts from Seatbelt Planet (06/20)
Rebuilt steering knuckles, front brakes, new tie rod ends from Mudrak Custom Cruisers in Sonoma, CA (06/20)
Big breakdown on a camping trip from Mendocino NF - blown head gasket, piston seals. Put out to pasture for a couple months (08/20)
[engine swap]
Retrieved truck (11/20)
Disassembly for engine swap (1/21)
Engine out, dash pull-apart, new (used) engine purchase (2/21)
Cleaning parts, stripping down new (used) engine, building up new (used) engine (03/21)
New pilot bearing, build up new clutch (04/21)
Engine install! (04/21)
Replaced clutch secondary cylinder (04/2021)
Replaced clutch primary cylinder (05/21)
Added oil, ran compression tests, leak down tests, puzzlement (05/21)
Won't start up (06/21)
Continued building up engine (07/21)
Cleaning out dashboard parts (07/21)
All new coolant hoses (07/21)
New battery, new Champion radiator, new OEM dipstick (07/21)
Successful startup (07/21)
Drove around the block!! (07/21)
Re-assembled dashboard after cleaning (08/21)
Re-mounted hood (08/2021)
Smog escapades with eventual pass (08/21)
Transmission/transfer case equalizing hose install (09/21)
Exhaust leak from downpipe separating from manifold (09/21)
Drove old block to Valley Hybrids for re-use (09/21)
BFG 31x10.5r15 tires (09/21)
Installed hand throttle (10/21)
Bought and installed old-school Con-ferr roof rack (10/21)
Fixed clutch pressure plate screws (10/21)
New wiper linkage (12/21)
New brake master cylinder (12/21)
Cleaned up spare tire holder (12/21)
[moved to Seattle]
Finished cabin heater re-install (2/22)
Oil change requiring nylon crush washer and RTV (2/22)
SuperBrightLEDs install for all interior lights (3/22)
Kinda-sorta-ish fixed oil pressure gauge (3/22)
Fixed horn (3/22)
New antenna (3/22)
BFG 33x10.5r15 tires install (4/22)
New rheostat circuit board out of a '89 Camry (4/22)
Rebuilt rear drums (4/22)
Valve adjustment (4/22)
Replaced smog pump with devaned unit (5/22)
Fuel tank recall done at the dealership (5/22)
Had alternator rebuilt (5/22)
Installed Smittybilt center console (5/22)
Installed new coolant temp gauge and manifold vacuum gauge with custom-printed mount (5/22)
Installed new radio and front and cargo area speakers; noise insulation and vapor barriers in front doors (6/22)
New fuel filter, oil filter, oil change (9/22)
New thermostat and gaskets to fix overcooling issue (9/22)
Original post to kick off this thread below:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've never owned a big truck before, but something about the wonderfully square and '80s wagon look, Instagram, and overlanding just kept FJ60s in my mind. Due to how expensive they've gotten in the last few years plus living in dense San Francisco, I thought I wouldn't own one for a long time. But that didn't stop me from aggressively looking at Craigslist all year (when work wasn't keeping me extremely busy). To my surprise in mid-October, an old white '84 was listed about a mile from me in San Francisco. Within three hours, I had reached out to the owner's friend who had listed it... while tracking down the car's location and biking up to take a look at it, street-parked, myself. The next morning I took a look at it for a few hours with the owner/old lady's old lady friend, and she told me a sad story of how it was the owner's husband, who had died a few months previously of a six-month terminal illness.
The truck itself was in a bit of rough shape. Mechanically it seemed okay (4-wheel-drive high and low worked, would do 65mph on 280), but there are so many other issues - the clearcoat is gone, rust around the windshield, interior was surprisingly filthy, tailgate didn't open, driver's seat belt didn't work, some window cranks didn't work, steering had a lot of play in it (~4 inches), and a lot more. So I told the owner's friend (and the owner who had joined us at this point) that I would sleep on it. I couldn't get it out of my mind - the truck is all I thought about for the next few days. The owner reached out a few days later to say someone else was interested so I needed to jump on it ASAP if I wanted it... and so I did.
Like I said, it mechanically seems somewhat okay. It's a 1984, ~172k miles, no big mods other then a NMO mount, a mysterious red LED on the dash, foglight that don't work, and possibly aftermarket shocks (no lift). The short-term goal is to feel comfortable driving it ~50 miles each way to a safer parking area for storage during weeks that I don't have time to work on it (that's not street-parking in San Francisco). After that, clean up the interior (the seats are absolutely gross, I don't know if they're salvageable) and do enough maintenance to feel comfortable going camping with the girlfriend in Big Sur or Mendocino. By next winter, I want to do the weekend ski run to Tahoe in the cold and wet, sort out the rust, and do a re-paint.
I've done a few odds and ends around the truck in the two months I've owned it, those'll be follow-up when I get around to them this week.
The name Cara doesn't particularly come from anywhere - just a good solid name for a fun truck
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