jesus888
SILVER Star
In my 44 years (mainly since 2012), I have had under my care 8 x Land Cruisers under my care... of which I still have 4 of them (an FJ80, FJ62, and 2 x FJ40s)... and after playing around with, fixing up, and most importantly DRIVING all of them, I knew I had to get back to where it all began.
My dad, who passed a little more than a year ago, started all of this... all of this time investment in tinkering, searching, reading, learning... back in 1989, when he ordered his first Toyota Land Cruiser. She was gray, had power windows and locks (which he wasn't a fan of - more to break - he's laughing at me now), and took 6 months to come in after ordering. That rig was with us from 1989 until 1999, and she was great. She was our family trip rig, had 101K mostly highway miles on her (NEVER offroad), took me to prom, and anywhere he'd let me take her, and was a fixture in our house. That is, until 1999, when he wanted the "upgrade" and purchased a 1999 Lexus LX470 and asked me to put the FJ62 up for sale. I listed it on Ebay for him and within 2 days, someone from Atlanta drove over to our small town in Alabama and snatched her up in record time. They paid $17,000 for her and we were both amazed at how happy they were about it. Little did we (and now I) know what we were letting go of............................
Fast forward to 23 years later, while I was selling my second LX470 and searching for an FJ62 of my own, I was messaged by someone on Facebook looking to sell his rig and the first pictures he sent me are the ones attached...
The story behind this vehicle was that he bought it from a small auto auction in Knoxville, TN and that it was a one-owner rig before that, always in the South, so there was NO rust... he drove up to Knoxville 8 years prior and brought her back on a trailer to Mobile, AL and while he loved the FJ62, he knew that he didn't prioritize the vehicle the way that he thought someone else may... so he reluctantly let her go, and didn't want her to be in his hometown.
Known issues...
The truck overheated as he was pulling into his driveway... he had suspected the head gasket was going, already... he called his now-former mechanic to take a look, and the mechanic drove it 15-20 miles to his shop, and not only did it overheat, the head cracked. That was the last time he worked with that mechanic, by the way. He ended up getting a used head, and then getting the parts together to get a known-local-engine builder do a full rebuild on the motor, including the machine work... so that's great @ 280K miles... no more overheating issue
Since the rebuild, he's had an issue with the truck "stalling" at different times... whether he was driving 35 mph down the street or 60 mph down the highway... and 9/10 times, he pull to the shoulder, put the car in neutral or park, and it'd start right back up. I don't like this issue because it's intermittent and that type of trouble-shooting isn't my expertise...
He said the AC doesn't work... he knew there was a leak and he'd fill it with 134 every other year, but the last time he did it, it didn't blow cold...
The wipers didn't work correctly... he took the wiper motor apart and lubed everything up after cleaning but they just didn't work correctly...
The windows... ugh... they are sporadic to say the least...
FJ62 s***-to-do:
My dad, who passed a little more than a year ago, started all of this... all of this time investment in tinkering, searching, reading, learning... back in 1989, when he ordered his first Toyota Land Cruiser. She was gray, had power windows and locks (which he wasn't a fan of - more to break - he's laughing at me now), and took 6 months to come in after ordering. That rig was with us from 1989 until 1999, and she was great. She was our family trip rig, had 101K mostly highway miles on her (NEVER offroad), took me to prom, and anywhere he'd let me take her, and was a fixture in our house. That is, until 1999, when he wanted the "upgrade" and purchased a 1999 Lexus LX470 and asked me to put the FJ62 up for sale. I listed it on Ebay for him and within 2 days, someone from Atlanta drove over to our small town in Alabama and snatched her up in record time. They paid $17,000 for her and we were both amazed at how happy they were about it. Little did we (and now I) know what we were letting go of............................
Fast forward to 23 years later, while I was selling my second LX470 and searching for an FJ62 of my own, I was messaged by someone on Facebook looking to sell his rig and the first pictures he sent me are the ones attached...
The story behind this vehicle was that he bought it from a small auto auction in Knoxville, TN and that it was a one-owner rig before that, always in the South, so there was NO rust... he drove up to Knoxville 8 years prior and brought her back on a trailer to Mobile, AL and while he loved the FJ62, he knew that he didn't prioritize the vehicle the way that he thought someone else may... so he reluctantly let her go, and didn't want her to be in his hometown.
Known issues...
The truck overheated as he was pulling into his driveway... he had suspected the head gasket was going, already... he called his now-former mechanic to take a look, and the mechanic drove it 15-20 miles to his shop, and not only did it overheat, the head cracked. That was the last time he worked with that mechanic, by the way. He ended up getting a used head, and then getting the parts together to get a known-local-engine builder do a full rebuild on the motor, including the machine work... so that's great @ 280K miles... no more overheating issue
Since the rebuild, he's had an issue with the truck "stalling" at different times... whether he was driving 35 mph down the street or 60 mph down the highway... and 9/10 times, he pull to the shoulder, put the car in neutral or park, and it'd start right back up. I don't like this issue because it's intermittent and that type of trouble-shooting isn't my expertise...
He said the AC doesn't work... he knew there was a leak and he'd fill it with 134 every other year, but the last time he did it, it didn't blow cold...
The wipers didn't work correctly... he took the wiper motor apart and lubed everything up after cleaning but they just didn't work correctly...
The windows... ugh... they are sporadic to say the least...
FJ62 s***-to-do:
Remove/Replace Window tint(Completed 7/16/22)- Dash cap
- Grill Refurbish or Replace
- Headlights (Re-aim and look into upgraded harness options)
- Window felts (Ordered)
- Replace side markers (Ordered and Delivered)
- Stereo Replace
- Speakers (Front and Rear - Maybe include a 5-channel amp and small sub)
- Carpet (ordered from @dnp)
- BMW seats (check Bimmerworld in NW GA for some manual 3-series seats - already have Torfab brackets)
- Backup camera (maybe front-facing camera if supported by Head Unit)
- Full Detail / Possible CLR and boiled linseed oil approach
- Rear vent refurbish (remove, repaint, put back)
- Wheels/tires mount (Get Geolanders mounted and balanced and installed)
- Mudflap refurbish (Remove, refurbish, repaint)
- Clean underbody (Use Pressure washing attachment to remove red clay)
- Chrome Gutter trim above rear hatch missing
- Wiper upgrade (2 x left hand wipers mod and need to get motor working smoothly)
- Bleed brakes (and possibly upgrade to Tundra brakes up front at a later date)
- Interior lights (replace with LED and get new interior light covers)
- Seat belt plastic - Female side of front seatbelt plastic trim is baaaaaaad
- Weather stripping - as needed
- Scanguage - maybe? Since gauges aren’t the most reliable
Rear hatch struts - so I don’t hit my head constantly(Completed 7/18/22)Full Tune-up (Spark Plugs, Spark Plug Wires, Cap and Rotor)(Completed 7/18/22)
Last edited: