Good evening!
I’d really appreciate your opinion, thanks in advance…
I’ve got an ‘86 FJ60 we named Buttercup, always wanted a cruiser, we love this thing…
It’s got 310k miles, couldn’t resist buying the truck about two years ago with the intention to take on a project and do everything within my ability to revive the truck, it’s actually been going really well so far.
I’m an amateur mechanic, relying on manuals and this forum, enjoying the process but unsure how to proceed at the moment, please let me know what you would do in my situation.
I’ve had my neighbors complain and working at home hasn’t been an option, been fortunate to have a friend who lets me use their garage, been trying to avoid occupying their space for more than a week, out of respect, although they haven’t placed any limits it can seem obtrusive sometimes.
I’ll have my own place to work someday, hopefully buy a house and have my own garage in the next few years, the only thing preventing me from making more progress is limited access to an adequate workspace.
I’d like to keep the truck on the road for as long as possible.
I’ve planned on making the most of the current situation, tinkering at my own pace and ultimately swap the motor for a v8 or rebuild the entire thing myself, ideally, in my own hypothetical garage.
(My girlfriends parents have a lake house in Texas with a workshop that has everything necessary, including a hoist, and her father has experience swapping motors and doing machine work, shipping the truck there to restore and going for an extended trip in the future would be an option.)
My concern.
The truck has always made a ticking/clacking sound, most notable at operating temperature while idling, it’s louder in comparison to another FJ60 we drive on occasion but not alarming…
I’ll use professional audio equipment and post a recording if there’s any interest…
I’ve essentially done all the tasks listed under ‘minor tune up procedures’ in the fsm, replaced the suspension, steering and cooling system, desmogged, installed a gm power steering pump, adjusted the valves/timing, checked compression, tried heavier oil, etc.
I’m an amateur mechanic, my effort has definitely made a difference because the truck feels stronger and more reliable than ever, there have been some dramatic improvements since the day we brought it home, it’s much quieter in comparison to then but my attempts to diagnose and fix the noise thus far haven’t been successful…
*Adjusted the valves, rocker arms #5 & #8 seemed to move laterally along the shaft, somewhat, regardless what position the crankshaft was in…
I’ve got the impression it’s coming from the valve train and a mechanic seemed to agree, most likely lifters, could be related to damaged cam lobe or a bent pushrod.
It’s definitely got an exhaust leak, the muffler is practically separated from the pipe…
I’d like to take the motor apart, remove the cylinder head and intake/exhaust manifold, have the parts resurfaced, rebuild the top end using new parts, replace the exhaust system (possibly run headers) among a few other things…
It’s logical to do this all at once but seems excessive in someone else’s garage, is there anything you can think of that might streamline or compartmentalize the process for me?
I’ll probably just chip away at problems and fix the exhaust next, don’t think it’s related but perhaps that would help?
I’d love to keep the land cruiser on the road, it’s an amazing vehicle, would be great to have a reliable 4wd vehicle this winter, its been so much fun to own, would like to wait until next year to take on a major project, would you recommend taking care of anything specific before winter?
I’m curious as to whether you would be hesitant to drive the truck around while it’s ticking, some people seem to believe that the truck simply would benefit from being driven and maintained?
We typically drive it around town and go for relatively short off road excursions, went on a pretty steep trail yesterday and when we got home the truck sounded better than ever, remarkably quiet, however today the ticking was more notable again, it’s been driving me crazy.
We’ve driven about 150miles to Moab and put around 3000 miles on the truck in the past two years.
I’d prefer to do the work on my own terms and would ideally want to avoid a situation in which it becomes a necessary, starting to think the best option could be disregarding the noise and simply continue to drive the truck, work at my own pace, not sure what risks that would pose?
I’m trying to prolong Buttercups life until the day comes when my budget and schedule allows for me to really do my best to overhaul everything but that will likely be a few years from now.
How would you go about doing this?
Thank you so much for your time, appreciate the correspondence.
J
I’d really appreciate your opinion, thanks in advance…
I’ve got an ‘86 FJ60 we named Buttercup, always wanted a cruiser, we love this thing…
It’s got 310k miles, couldn’t resist buying the truck about two years ago with the intention to take on a project and do everything within my ability to revive the truck, it’s actually been going really well so far.
I’m an amateur mechanic, relying on manuals and this forum, enjoying the process but unsure how to proceed at the moment, please let me know what you would do in my situation.
I’ve had my neighbors complain and working at home hasn’t been an option, been fortunate to have a friend who lets me use their garage, been trying to avoid occupying their space for more than a week, out of respect, although they haven’t placed any limits it can seem obtrusive sometimes.
I’ll have my own place to work someday, hopefully buy a house and have my own garage in the next few years, the only thing preventing me from making more progress is limited access to an adequate workspace.
I’d like to keep the truck on the road for as long as possible.
I’ve planned on making the most of the current situation, tinkering at my own pace and ultimately swap the motor for a v8 or rebuild the entire thing myself, ideally, in my own hypothetical garage.
(My girlfriends parents have a lake house in Texas with a workshop that has everything necessary, including a hoist, and her father has experience swapping motors and doing machine work, shipping the truck there to restore and going for an extended trip in the future would be an option.)
My concern.
The truck has always made a ticking/clacking sound, most notable at operating temperature while idling, it’s louder in comparison to another FJ60 we drive on occasion but not alarming…
I’ll use professional audio equipment and post a recording if there’s any interest…
I’ve essentially done all the tasks listed under ‘minor tune up procedures’ in the fsm, replaced the suspension, steering and cooling system, desmogged, installed a gm power steering pump, adjusted the valves/timing, checked compression, tried heavier oil, etc.
I’m an amateur mechanic, my effort has definitely made a difference because the truck feels stronger and more reliable than ever, there have been some dramatic improvements since the day we brought it home, it’s much quieter in comparison to then but my attempts to diagnose and fix the noise thus far haven’t been successful…
*Adjusted the valves, rocker arms #5 & #8 seemed to move laterally along the shaft, somewhat, regardless what position the crankshaft was in…
I’ve got the impression it’s coming from the valve train and a mechanic seemed to agree, most likely lifters, could be related to damaged cam lobe or a bent pushrod.
It’s definitely got an exhaust leak, the muffler is practically separated from the pipe…
I’d like to take the motor apart, remove the cylinder head and intake/exhaust manifold, have the parts resurfaced, rebuild the top end using new parts, replace the exhaust system (possibly run headers) among a few other things…
It’s logical to do this all at once but seems excessive in someone else’s garage, is there anything you can think of that might streamline or compartmentalize the process for me?
I’ll probably just chip away at problems and fix the exhaust next, don’t think it’s related but perhaps that would help?
I’d love to keep the land cruiser on the road, it’s an amazing vehicle, would be great to have a reliable 4wd vehicle this winter, its been so much fun to own, would like to wait until next year to take on a major project, would you recommend taking care of anything specific before winter?
I’m curious as to whether you would be hesitant to drive the truck around while it’s ticking, some people seem to believe that the truck simply would benefit from being driven and maintained?
We typically drive it around town and go for relatively short off road excursions, went on a pretty steep trail yesterday and when we got home the truck sounded better than ever, remarkably quiet, however today the ticking was more notable again, it’s been driving me crazy.
We’ve driven about 150miles to Moab and put around 3000 miles on the truck in the past two years.
I’d prefer to do the work on my own terms and would ideally want to avoid a situation in which it becomes a necessary, starting to think the best option could be disregarding the noise and simply continue to drive the truck, work at my own pace, not sure what risks that would pose?
I’m trying to prolong Buttercups life until the day comes when my budget and schedule allows for me to really do my best to overhaul everything but that will likely be a few years from now.
How would you go about doing this?
Thank you so much for your time, appreciate the correspondence.
J