Starting this thread to document the work I’ve done on my 1988 FJ62, but mostly to call out the people and vendors on the forum that have been a huge help throughout the process!
My wife and I had been looking for a 60 Series for years and we were finally in a position to pull the trigger in February 2020. Living on Long Island (and the Northeast in general) – you don’t see many 60 Series around, so I figured we’d need to look out of town and have one shipped in.
I’m definitely not a mechanic and did not have much (…any) experience working on cars, but our budget ($15K and under) dictated that I’d have to get comfortable under the hood – fast! We found a really clean 240K mile 1988 FJ62 in North Carolina for $9K and had it shipped up to Long Island the second week of March…just in time for COVID lockdown! Exterior and frame were free of any rust and interior was dirty but in great shape. The paint job was SUPER faded and was really the only cosmetic issue. The truck had spent most of its life in Texas, then a few years in Georgia before heading to NC.
COVID lockdowns and “working from home” were really the perfect time to get introduced to and learn a new skill. I love working with my hands and my day job is definitely NOT that – so this was actually an incredible opportunity to spend some time doing so. None of the following would have been possible without my father-in-law, who has been working on cars forever and just finished restoring his ’79 FJ40.
Let’s just say we are at the opposite ends of the mechanical skill spectrum – working with me was probably like working with a 5 year old! I am really good at holding things and taking selfies, though.
My wife and I had been looking for a 60 Series for years and we were finally in a position to pull the trigger in February 2020. Living on Long Island (and the Northeast in general) – you don’t see many 60 Series around, so I figured we’d need to look out of town and have one shipped in.
I’m definitely not a mechanic and did not have much (…any) experience working on cars, but our budget ($15K and under) dictated that I’d have to get comfortable under the hood – fast! We found a really clean 240K mile 1988 FJ62 in North Carolina for $9K and had it shipped up to Long Island the second week of March…just in time for COVID lockdown! Exterior and frame were free of any rust and interior was dirty but in great shape. The paint job was SUPER faded and was really the only cosmetic issue. The truck had spent most of its life in Texas, then a few years in Georgia before heading to NC.
COVID lockdowns and “working from home” were really the perfect time to get introduced to and learn a new skill. I love working with my hands and my day job is definitely NOT that – so this was actually an incredible opportunity to spend some time doing so. None of the following would have been possible without my father-in-law, who has been working on cars forever and just finished restoring his ’79 FJ40.
Let’s just say we are at the opposite ends of the mechanical skill spectrum – working with me was probably like working with a 5 year old! I am really good at holding things and taking selfies, though.
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