Builds Finally got my own...Meet BeBe (1 Viewer)

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gregnash

Anal Retentive Analyst
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Threads
176
Messages
12,368
Location
Carson City, NV
So after close to two years of looking for the "right" cruiser, test driving multiple ones, a couple deals falling through it seems that all was as it was meant to be.

At the beginning of the week I randomly saw that Cruiser Outfitters posted about a 1985 Land Cruiser on their Facebook page that was located in Utah. A quick look at the ad and I contacted the owner regarding his rig. He was very honest and responsive to my questions, normally getting back to me within and hour or two with pictures of the things I asked him for. Being that I am in Carson City, NV the 10hr trip to "see" the truck was a bit out of the question so I relied on pictures and info from others about the truck.

Well I got the go ahead from the wife and am now the New owner of a 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60!!! Not necessarily the 464 Beige that I have been lusting after but for the price and the amount of miles on the truck it was a deal to good to pass up. :bounce::bounce2::bounce::bounce2::steer:

Now here is the new truck, I take ownership next month but for the time being here are the pictures from the owner.

1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
146000 miles on the odometer, he estimates at a high 175000 miles as the speedo cable broke a few years back and since it was his dd and he had only a short commute he figured that 10k a year would be a pretty accurate, albeit high, estimate.


HPIM1263 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1269 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1268 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1340 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1339 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1338 by renofizz, on Flickr

Things that will need to be fixed:
- [strike]Brake booster is showing signs of going (says sometimes brakes take more pressure to get full engagement but nothing dangerous. He has bleed the lines multiple times thinking it may be air in the lines but to no avail.)[/strike] Brake booster is replaced! Here's link!
- [STRIKE]Small vacuum leak causing the engine to idle about 300rpm to high[/STRIKE]Finally got this bad girl desmogged and replaced all vacuum lines. She purrs like a kitten now.
- [strike]Speedo cable broken[/strike] Replaced this weekend and what a PITA. This is the best thread I could find on how to replace. Definitely use the Sil Glyde, take your time and before you replace everything use a drill to check and make sure that speedometer actually works.
- Front knuckles are leaking (common on every truck I have looked at)
- [STRIKE]Windows are hard to roll up/down in colder weather[/STRIKE] Finally got this replaced this past weekend (used this thread), was a bit of a PITA but start to finish took me less than an hour.
- Antenna broken off (currently replaced by hanger - no bigs to me as I usually listen to my iphone)
- [STRIKE]Smog pump done (died on him a couple years ago but he lives in an emissions free county, so do I. Pump was bypassed with a shorter belt to take it out of the group. I will check the pump to see if it just died after old age or not and determine desmog or no from there.)[/STRIKE] Been replaced with JimC pulley and full desmog kit!
- One very small section of rust near drivers side rear fender well (will evaluate and move on quickly before winter comes here) Wish this would have been true now. Much more rust than expected, have replacement wheel wells and replaced entire rear lower tailgate.

Other than those things she is in real good shape. I will do my due-diligence when I get it home, change all fluids, run seafoam through the system, check carb and intake manifold gaskets.

Now people always ask about the name of the rig. Well here is the story now. Like I said, I have been searching for a long time, life/illness/work have gotten in the way prior to this really not allowing me to get a good rig without the compromise of either A LOT of miles or some serious work/damage. About a month ago my last grandparent (Grampa Fizzy) finally joined his wife after 4yrs on his own. Now my grandpa was an ex-marine fighting in WWII with a short stint of combat seen. A good man he was very reliable and believed in accountability for everything you do. He was never much for having a lot of "things" but he loved his Bourbon Manhattans (with an olive not a cherry), Baseball, Golf, and his family. So when everyone was gone the family really didn't expect there to be anything other than enough to cover the cost of the funeral. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when we all received letters with a small amount from inheritance as the last "thank you" from grandma and grandpa.

Grandpa's nickname throughout his entire life (his best friend attended the funeral, they had met when they were 3yrs old and gramps was 90 when he passed) was BB, as he was a short-stop through grade school and high school and played some military ball and was notorious for his BB gun throwing arm and accuracy.

So in honor of gramps, this truck will now be named BeBe.

EDIT: Just wanted to add the "long list" of stuff that will eventually be done to BeBe

(Long List)
- clean interior
- remove interior and put down sound deadener (FATMAT in my Amazon wishlist)
- replace all stereo equipment (RF Prime speakers [STRIKE]and amp in the Amazon wishlist with an Alpine CDE-133BT head-unit that came highly recommended from techs at Crutchfield)[/STRIKE] Put in RF Prime 6.5s in the doors and 6x9s in the rear panels and went with a JVC KDX-50BT deck!
- [STRIKE]add WagonGear headlight upgrade and auxilary box[/STRIKE] Built my own panels! And got the Ultimate Harness from SLC! (still yet to install) (Just found out that SLCfj62 is no longer making them, looks like IPF is the only alternative at the moment) :crybaby:
- wire dash with vacuum gauge
- put "dash pad" from Cruiser Corp on to cover cracked dash
- OME L/M 2.5" lift (already talking to Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters)
- 33" tires on stock 15s (or if I can find them for cheap a pair of FJ or Seqouia 16" steelies)(may talk to Stockton Wheel about widening the stock chromes)
- black out of all chrome items ([STRIKE]debating on this now as the silver/chrome is starting to grow on me[/STRIKE]Ended up blacking everything out.)
- Superflow air pump install in engine bay
- Auxiliary battery (second)
- Smittybuilt console Done and done, barely worth the $90 shipped but much better than the stock console. Cup holders on this thing SUCK!
- replace/refurbish front seats
- replace rear panels with WagonGear panels Built my own panels out of mdf and marine vinyl and put RF Prime 3way 6x9s in them!
- install WagonGear tailgate lid
- [STRIKE]upgrade headlamps with RoundEyes or Rampage lights and new lenses[/STRIKE] Thanks to my brother he got me the Rampage kit and some PIAA bulbs for my b-day!!
- possible WKOR sliders or something similar
- possible Man-A-Fre 4+ Plus front bumper
- install 4x4labs/2mbb/etc rear bumper with ability to add tire carrier later on (really just need it for the hitch for the bike rack)
- roof rack (like the looks of the low profile DiamondRax)
 
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So after close to two years of looking for the "right" cruiser, test driving multiple ones, a couple deals falling through it seems that all was as it was meant to be.

At the beginning of the week I randomly saw that Cruiser Outfitters posted about a 1985 Land Cruiser on their Facebook page that was located in Utah. A quick look at the ad and I contacted the owner regarding his rig. He was very honest and responsive to my questions, normally getting back to me within and hour or two with pictures of the things I asked him for. Being that I am in Carson City, NV the 10hr trip to "see" the truck was a bit out of the question so I relied on pictures and info from others about the truck.

Well I got the go ahead from the wife and am now the New owner of a 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60!!! Not necessarily the 464 Beige that I have been lusting after but for the price and the amount of miles on the truck it was a deal to good to pass up. :bounce::bounce2::bounce::bounce2::steer:

Now here is the new truck, I take ownership next month but for the time being here are the pictures from the owner.

1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
146000 miles on the odometer, he estimates at a high 175000 miles as the speedo cable broke a few years back and since it was his dd and he had only a short commute he figured that 10k a year would be a pretty accurate, albeit high, estimate.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/7851195454/
HPIM1263 by renofizz, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/7851195006/
HPIM1269 by renofizz, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/7851195240/
HPIM1268 by renofizz, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/7851195622/
HPIM1340 by renofizz, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/7851194598/
HPIM1339 by renofizz, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/7851194846/
HPIM1338 by renofizz, on Flickr

Things that will need to be fixed:
- Brake booster is showing signs of going (says sometimes brakes take more pressure to get full engagement but nothing dangerous. He has bleed the lines multiple times thinking it may be air in the lines but to no avail.)
- Small vacuum leak causing the engine to idle about 300rpm to high
- Speedo cable broken
- Front knuckles are leaking (common on every truck I have looked at)
- Windows are hard to roll up/down in colder weather
- Antenna broken off (currently replaced by hanger - no bigs to me as I usually listen to my iphone)
- Smog pump done (died on him a couple years ago but he lives in an emissions free county, so do I. Pump was bypassed with a shorter belt to take it out of the group. I will check the pump to see if it just died after old age or not and determine desmog or no from there.)
- One very small section of rust near drivers side rear fender well (will evaluate and move on quickly before winter comes here)

Other than those things she is in real good shape. I will do my due-diligence when I get it home, change all fluids, run seafoam through the system, check carb and intake manifold gaskets.

Now people always ask about the name of the rig. Well here is the story now. Like I said, I have been searching for a long time, life/illness/work have gotten in the way prior to this really not allowing me to get a good rig without the compromise of either A LOT of miles or some serious work/damage. About a month ago my last grandparent (Grampa Fizzy) finally joined his wife after 4yrs on his own. Now my grandpa was an ex-marine fighting in WWII with a short stint of combat seen. A good man he was very reliable and believed in accountability for everything you do. He was never much for having a lot of "things" but he loved his Bourbon Manhattans (with an olive not a cherry), Baseball, Golf, and his family. So when everyone was gone the family really didn't expect there to be anything other than enough to cover the cost of the funeral. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when we all received letters with a small amount from inheritance as the last "thank you" from grandma and grandpa.

Grandpa's nickname throughout his entire life (his best friend attended the funeral, they had met when they were 3yrs old and gramps was 90 when he passed) was BB, as he was a short-stop through grade school and high school and played some military ball and was notorious for his BB gun throwing arm and accuracy.

So in honor of gramps, this truck will now be named BeBe.

First advice: get a second job and resist the urge to max out all your credit cards on this truck!

Second- your grandpa sounds like a fine man. My drink of choice is a makers Manhattan. I will have to try the olive next time in honor.

Congrats on the truck and the diligence to keep with it till you got what you wanted. Good luck!
 
Thanks Firephil! Yeah the olive just gives it a little different taste.
Oh the cards will be hidden in the backyard somewhere to avoid super spending. Don't worry though, birthday is next month so I am sure I will get some "new toys" for the truck. Amazon cart if full of stuff for it and there is a list on my Evernote account that things get added to weekly if not daily!
 
Nice truck, too bad is not a 464 Beige ;)

Do all the maintenance works and enjoy the ride!!!
 
Nice truck, too bad is not a 464 Beige ;)

Do all the maintenance works and enjoy the ride!!!

I love my charcoal grey cruiser. Not all of us want beige. :D
 
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Nice wagon Greg, good story too!

Danny
 
I love my charcoal grey cruiser. Not all of us want beige. :D
I do love beige, but I prefer my metallic blue ;) It's just that I've seen so much Greg's posts or his old signature wanting a beige cruiser :p
 
LOL.. yeah originally my in-laws had an older neighbor that had an 85 beige that is still completely bone stock with very little mileage on it. That is when I first fell in love with the color. He is the original owner, garage kept its entire life, never seen off-road or had any major salt damage (winters can be spotty here) and the thing, well, was just BEAUTIFUL. Always joked with him that one day I was just going to walk into his house, say "Hi Jack, taking the truck today." and walk out with the keys to never return. Well Jack is 85, still driving, and takes it just about everywhere (which is now pretty much just grocery runs).

I am happy with the cruiser and color is really a subjective thing. What was really more important was that the truck was in good shape, reliable, and not going to be a headache. Trying to figure out what the color would be so I can purchase some touch-up paint down the road (basically to fix the small rust area).... Looks to be Grey/Sliver Metallic (147) or (Dark) Blue Metallic (8B4), I am leaning towards the 147.
 
LOL.. yeah originally my in-laws had an older neighbor that had an 85 beige that is still completely bone stock with very little mileage on it. That is when I first fell in love with the color. He is the original owner, garage kept its entire life, never seen off-road or had any major salt damage (winters can be spotty here) and the thing, well, was just BEAUTIFUL. Always joked with him that one day I was just going to walk into his house, say "Hi Jack, taking the truck today." and walk out with the keys to never return. Well Jack is 85, still driving, and takes it just about everywhere (which is now pretty much just grocery runs).

I am happy with the cruiser and color is really a subjective thing. What was really more important was that the truck was in good shape, reliable, and not going to be a headache. Trying to figure out what the color would be so I can purchase some touch-up paint down the road (basically to fix the small rust area).... Looks to be Grey/Sliver Metallic (147) or (Dark) Blue Metallic (8B4), I am leaning towards the 147.
I do have a 8B4 and can confirm that you do not ;) Check on the firewall, you should see a plate with the color information, but I suspect 147

Here's my 8B4:
PkcEY7
 
I do have a 8B4 and can confirm that you do not ;) Check on the firewall, you should see a plate with the color information, but I suspect 147

Here's my 8B4:
*snip*

Yeah that is what I figured... I have looked at a couple of different 8B4's and thought this one looked quite a bit lighter but was completely sure if it was me or my monitors.
 
Check the http://www.toyotareference.com/landcruiser/1981-1990 and click on the color name to see some pics of each Land Cruiser colors

Yeah definitely the 147 color code! Some of the pictures he took they look like the 8B4, just really faded but looking at the one of the rear you can tell it is definitely "silver" more than "grey metallic".

First mod, out of all, that will be done..... adding an IH8MUD sticker. Easily adds 10-15hp, and will need that for the drive home.. Then from there fix the probs and start working on blacking everything out.

Anyone got picks of their SILVER cruiser blacked out?
 
I love my charcoal grey cruiser. Not all of us want beige. :D

Love the 8B4.. couldn't agree more ^^^^


Yeah definitely the 147 color code! Some of the pictures he took they look like the 8B4, just really faded but looking at the one of the rear you can tell it is definitely "silver" more than "grey metallic".

First mod, out of all, that will be done..... adding an IH8MUD sticker. Easily adds 10-15hp, and will need that for the drive home.. Then from there fix the probs and start working on blacking everything out.

Anyone got picks of their SILVER cruiser blacked out?

Well Greg, you know my story on this exact cruiser... But, for everyone else that doesn't... Greg beat me to it. I actually procrastinated for once in my life... I think it was so Greg could have a good foundation to start with...:rolleyes:..

Anyhow, awesome cruiser and best of luck with it Greg.. Let me know if I can help.

J
 
Well Greg, you know my story on this exact cruiser... But, for everyone else that doesn't... Greg beat me to it. I actually procrastinated for once in my life... I think it was so Greg could have a good foundation to start with...:rolleyes:..

Anyhow, awesome cruiser and best of luck with it Greg.. Let me know if I can help.

J

LOL.. thanks for holding off on it. I was so excited when the guy finally called me yesterday afternoon that I about jumped out of my chair at work and did the happy dance!

And you said you wanted a 62 for your daughter anyways, so what would be the point of getting her a 60?! See I am saving you the hassle!:grinpimp:

wow... just found this on CO site... Hopefully Kurt will have this going on for a while (http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/specials.html) FJ60 series knuckle rebuild kit for $92 on sale!
 
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Great story! This country needs more people like your grandpa. I love the fact that you honered him by naming your truck after him. Good call! Love the color too. Welcome to the sickness.
 
Yup, already starting to plan what I will tackle first. Talked to some guys and looks like I can get the main part (brake booster) for pretty cheap. Was looking at some of the normal sites that stock parts and even rebuilt one's run up to $400 but a working pull-off is much cheaper. Then it will be the speedo cable and smog pulley from JimC. I will wait to put the smog pulley on until I have all new vacuum lines and new belts lined up.
 

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