My Hawaiian HJ60 Refresh, Maintenance and Good Times (1 Viewer)

[Aloha Jen]

All windows (except windshield), interior panels and door cards were removed and inspected for rust. Most had none, but one of the bottoms door seams was rusted a bit. Old seam sealer was removed, seam was treated, painted with por15, then seam was resealed with auto seam sealer. Rear panel emissions was also relocated for future rear cargo panels and new fuel lines put in place to move it over.

 

[Aloha Jen]

The headliner was next to come out. We were very careful to take it out in the hopes of reusing it. However, after getting out, we opted for a new SOR replacement that was a darker shade of grey.
All roof insulation was removed and any rust found up there was sanded, treated, primed and painted.

Looks like something was living up here at one point, plenty of dropping and nest building material came down with the headliner!! So gross!!

Any rust in the rain gutter and roof cavity was cut out with a grinder and dremel in preparation for new metal to be welded in.
All work and no play is not how we do it here in Hawaii, so plenty of beach breaks between work!

 

[Aloha Jen]

After all cleaning and prep work was done, it was off to the paint and body shop. A little nerve racking dropping it off and putting such an important possession in someone else hands, but since we can't do paint and body work ourselves, it had to be done.
One of the last drives before heading off for a whole new color!

Dropped it off with just a drivers seat and a steering wheel. Didn't see it for a few months, as our agreement with the shop was that in exchange for what we felt was a very fair price, they could work on it in between insurance jobs. Since it wasn't a daily driver, we told them to take all the time they needed to do it right.....which ended up being about 3 months! It was gone for so long, I kept thinking I was seeing it all over the island! Luckily they weren't, just other 60's that I usually never see.

We got a few grainy update pictures from the shop of the metal work done and the primer going on.

Then the day came when we got a picture texted to us from the shop saying it was ready to be picked up!!!

It was exciting to see the new color and turned out better then I had hoped! We went with a Toyota factory color 6V7. Wasn't ever a 60 series color, but we wanted something different and really like how it turned out.

 

[aaron9252]

Just a quick question, various times you mention "sanding, treating, priming, etc" rust spots. What do you mean by treating? What product are you using? By the way, great job with everything and I love that color!

 

[Aloha Jen]

Now comes the fun part of putting everything back together. After a thorough deep cleaning of all the interior parts (seats, carpets, all trim pieces, everything) was ready to go back in.
But before the interior went back in, some insulation was put in the roof and floor. On the roof, lightweight double foil backed bubble insulation was 3m glued to the roof and placed under the roof supports to hold it in place long term. It runs the whole length of the truck in one piece, and is further supported by the metal headliner rods. Should be pretty stable up there.

Also installed a front passenger seat grab handle made for non US 60 series. Fits and looks great.

Working hard or hardly working....either way, things are starting to come together.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Then came the final cleaning and scrub down with simple green of the interior floors before reassembly.

Hosed it down in the driveway, dried it out, and ready for the interior to go in.

Also put on some very important reminders, just so no one forgets!

Some needed beach time to break up the work. Hard to work on the land cruiser when the day is so beautiful out!!

 

[Aloha Jen]

Putting in the headliner was one of the more challenging things so far. It was very time consuming, requiring much more patience then I had, but luckily my man is a perfectionist and was determined to get it factory looking. We went with SOR grey felt headliner, and glued it in place with contact cement.

Lined up the pilars and centered it, then worked to the back stretching one metal rod at a time getting all the wrinkles and creases out.

These Home Depot clips/clamps proved to be very helpful holding in place before and after it was glued.

The rear corners Ended up being the most difficult to get all the wrinkles out.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Pull, stretch, repeat....times a thousand! It needs to be worked and worked until all the wrinkles are out.

Success, once the glue sets, it's solid.

Tight like a drum.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Showing some support for team Toyota Hawaii at an event in town.

After the headliner was in, needed to poke some holes in a perfectly good headliner to get the grab handles in place.

I wanted to use 62/80 pilar grad handles all around because I liked the square shape of them that complimented the square lines of the 60's body.

Even added one to the rear lift hatch to be consistent. Also put in all the rubber door trim around the openings.

 

[brooksfj60]

Looks awesome! Great job.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Yeah, wow! Great job on the paint and that headliner turned out AWESOME! You guys did good work on that.


Rig is going to be amazing, keep us posted.


Cheers!

-Ed

 

[doug720]

Great work, and I really like the color!

 

[SteveH]

You mentioned the paint color and cleaning the interior with Simple Green - so there's your truck's nickname 'Simple Green'. That's a very sharp non-factory color on a '60.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Just a quick question, various times you mention "sanding, treating, priming, etc" rust spots. What do you mean by treating? What product are you using? By the way, great job with everything and I love that color!

The product used to treat rust spots was dependent upon its location and access to it. Most the rust was minor, so it was wire brushed, cleaned with brake cleaner then treated. If access was easy in open area (scratches on the floor under the carpet that had minor rust starting) a paint brush was used to apply rust neutralizer, then primed and painted with Rustoleum professional. If it was in hard to reach body cavities or seams, then the spray rust neutralizer was used, primed then painted. In the rare cases por15 was used, the por15 self etching primer was used then top coated with Rustoleum professional. Hope that helps!

 

[Aloha Jen]

With the headliner in, we put the windows back in. Used a method found on YouTube that uses a rope in the gasket that is pulled out as the window is pushed in. Was super easy, so if a couple of amatures could do it, anyone can!

Who says you can't work on Land Cruisers with a manicure!

Rear windows are in. Pretty proud of my handy work!

Also cleaned and painted the plastic trim pieces around the rear windows. Found a color that was very close match to the grey SOR headliner, so makes a nice seamless look. I used Rustoleum Satin Granite.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Looks awesome! Great job.

Yeah, wow! Great job on the paint and that headliner turned out AWESOME! You guys did good work on that.


Rig is going to be amazing, keep us posted.


Cheers!

-Ed

Great work, and I really like the color!

Thanks for the compliments! It's been a huge job, but very fulfilling work.

 

[Aloha Jen]

With the headliner and windows in, we could move on to the floor. With it scrubbed and cleaned as good as possible, and any and all rust areas addressed, the floor insulation was ready to go in.
Mike had two requirements for the floor insulation. He didn't want anything permenantly or semi-permenantly stuck to the floor, so any sticky butyl backed stuff was out. Second was he didn't want anything that would absorb water directly on the floor.
So we went with the same double foil backed bubble insulation that we stuck to the roof. But for the floor, it would be fully floating for easy accessibility to the floorboards if needed. It was cut out in small sections then duct tape together for a tight fit, but can be easily removed if needed.

I should also mention that the factory sound deadener was left in place because it was in good shape and didn't appear to have any rust issues around or under it. So the entire floor from front to back was covered with the foil insulation and all seat bolt holes, drain holes, fuel tank hatch and tie down latches were cut out.

Now it was ready for some additional insulation/padding before the carpet is laid down.

But who can work when the weather is perfect and sunny with the beach calling your name! Since the 60 is out of commission, my 80 series has had all of the beach cruising and exploring responsibilities...

Looking forward to the 60 being finished to share in some of those responsibilities!!!

 

[Aloha Jen]

With the first layer of heat reflective material down, the carpet padding/ insulation and wheel well covers were ready to go in.
We went with some after market vynel wheel well covers because our OEM ones were all tore up. This was by far the most challenging and frustrating part of the project, mostly for my husband because he was determined to get them perfect. Part of the problem was that they were mis marked right and left on the backside, which resulted in hours of trying to make the wrong side fit. But even when switched, they never seemed to fit just right. And this was with leaving them out in the 88 degree Hawaiian sun and using a heat gun on them to try and soften them up to form to the wheel well. After several hours of working them over a two day period, the decision was made to just deal with the lumps and ripples. I'm ok with it, but my husband was pretty disappointed with the fit.

Sandwiched between the first heat barrier and the carpet was a 3/4 inch carpet pad. The same installation process for the reflective heat barrier was used on the carpet padding. Sections were cutout, then duct taped together to form a tight fit.....especially up over the transmission hump. It was laid down on the entire floor front to back.

The installation of the carpet followed. This was washed thoroughly with a high traffic area carpet cleaner and the a carpet deodorizer. The carpet is in great shape, and I think to nice to be the original. It has a waxy/plastic backing and extra jute insulation on the first two front sections. It went in a little tight over the reflective and padded insulation, but fit fine with all the trim parts back on. There is a very noticeable difference in the amount of heat and sound from the loud Diesel engine! Very happy with it.

Also put on the freshly painted rear plastic trim pieces, which were already in great condition with no cracks or major blemishes.

 

[Aloha Jen]

With the carpet in, the seats and interior pieces could start go back in. Rear seat belts went in first. I was able to find some really good condition grey front and rear seatbelts at a junkyard from a wrecked '92 fj80 (all for $20!!). My husband had to do some minor modifications to the seatbelts to make them work, but they all fit and was able to get newish rear shoulder seat belts in my 60! With rear seatbelts installed, the rear bench seats were put in.

Sometimes I turn a wrench....even if it is just to get the seats and seatbelts installed!

Also got some of the accessories screwed up into the headliner. So easy to screw this up if you cut the wrong place, but you just need to feel for the screw holes under the headliner and go for it. Before going on, the center dome light was cleaned and given a fresh coat of paint with the same color as the other trim pieces that matched the grey SOR headliner (Rustoleum 2X Satin Granite). Also cleaned and polished the lens cover with some headlight polish. Turned out great, almost looks brand new!

The rear view mirror was also swapped out from an 80 series. Mine was all beat up and crumbling from sun damage on the back of it. The 80 series one was super clean and bolts right up. Also gave the base of the mirror bolt cover a quick clean and spray to be consistent. Very happy with the way it turned out.

Really need to find a solution for the sun visors. They are old and dingy and don't really go with the rest of the super clean interior. They work, but will replace if I can.

 

[Aloha Jen]

When the windshield was out, we took the opportunity to paint the area between the dash pad and windshield glass. I don't know it's official name, but it was scraped up and in need of fresh coat of paint.

So it was cleaned and painted. The VIN plate was taped off and painted a flat black. Turned out great, one of those things you can't get to unless the windshield is out and one of the little things that gives it a real finished look.

The windshield install was put off for a while because of the fear of screwing it up. We bought a new windshield and non lockstrip gasket to replace the old beat up and chipped one to have some brand new glass up front!
The install was pretty tough, especially for a couple of amatures who never installed one before. But just used the same concepts and method as the other glass we installed. Used the string in the gasket method.

It took four attempts, and didn't seem like we were going to be able to do it, but finally got it in!! Very fulfilling accomplishment, but would have been easier with a third set of hands!!