BJ60 Restoration/Rejuvenation (1 Viewer)

[GarrettS]

Hi y’all,

I bought a BJ60 in August of 2017 and drove it all the way from Calgary, AB to Reno, NV.

It was one of the dumber purchases I made, but my 21 year-old self just “had” to have it.

I should have started this thread 5 years ago, but here goes…

Truck as purchased: sitting outside of a registration office in Calgary:

Did you know the DMV in Alberta is privatized? Each location is a private contractor authorized by the province. Service is great and wait times are non-existent.

First diesel fill-up:

And the long drive home:

Made it home, threw on the mudders, cut the janky bull bar:

 

[GarrettS]

Fast forward a bit.
I put a mattress platform in the back, met my life partner, had amazing road trips and lots of fun. Grew up a bit. Learned a lot. Said farewell to that sweet little cocker spaniel mix at over 14 years old.

Busted a coolant line on one of my trips and torched the cylinder head. The truck started blowing coolant smoke out of the exhaust any time I was idling.

Replaced the cracked 3B head with a 1B head. It has been working great for thousands of miles though I don’t know if it’s a perfect match up or not. Perhaps time will tell

Fast forward even more and I’m a dog dad once again:

I have done a little bit of work on the truck over the years:
-Replaced cylinder head with 1B head
-knuckle seals
-4.10 diffs from FJ62
-Stainless brake lines
-remanned calipers
-Replaced front leaf spring bushings. Still need to do rear
-engine and transmission mounts

…Probably missing something…

 

[GarrettS]

As of this last week (June, 2022), I am finally getting around to completing my dream of painting this truck in the original, freeborn red, color.

Here is all the glass, fenders, and doors removed:

Pile of car parts:

Uh oh! Did I mention my truck is from Canada?
Rust on the inside rear wheel wells/door sills.

Trying to teach myself how to weld, I did alright but a pro would’ve done a way better job:

 

[GarrettS]

The other side took me a 10 hour day to shape and weld/grind:

Now I am finally on to the paint stripping.
Kleanstrip removes the spray on rocker guard but not the layers of barn paint and primer underneath.

1 round of paint stripper w/ scraping:

After 2 rounds of stripper/scraping/ a little wire-wheeling:

And that’s where I’m at for now!
I’m going to head out in the garage today and try to get the rocker guard off of the entire car so I can start using abrasive pads and wheels to get the car down to bare metal.

Wish me luck and stay tuned!

 

[GarrettS]

Stopped using the paint stripper and am now just using scotch brite abrasive discs on an angle grinder. It works WAY faster but the wheels get worn down fairly quickly.

After several hours and $80 worth of abrasive wheels, the roof is finally (mostly) stripped to bare metal. Just need to get the sides above the gutters and very front above the windshield.

I have more holes to patch, though. One of the previous owners installed some kind of roof rack directly to the roof by drilling holes—3 holes in each corner and 2 holes on either side (16 holes to fix!)
They were filled with Bondo at some point and painted over.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Remove your headliner before you weld the roof. If not it will catch on fire.

 

[GarrettS]

Remove your headliner before you weld the roof. If not it will catch on fire.

Thanks for the heads up!
I have a replacement headliner, too, so I might as well pull out the old one before I light my truck on fire

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

Great (and inspiring) job so far, congrats GarrettS !

I see that you swapped the original 3.70 for the lower 4.10 diffs from FJ62. Can you tell how it drives now with the 3B?
I have both diffs and do not know which one to choose for my BJ45 pickup resto (BJ60 and BJ45 have aprox. the same curb weight).

PS. Wheels and tyres will be bone stock: 16 split rims steelies and 7.50R16 (32'') skinnies...

 

[GarrettS]

Great (and inspiring) job so far, congrats GarrettS !

“I see that you swapped the original 3.70 for the lower 4.10 diffs from FJ62. Can you tell how it drives now with the 3B?
I have both diffs and do not know which one to choose…”

Thank you for the kind words!

In response to your question about the differentials, I highly recommend that you opt for the 4.10 gearing.

I can’t give you a scientific answer with final drive ratio’s, etc., but anecdotally, the gearing just seems like a better fit for the vehicle.
It seems like it has slightly more grunt than the higher gearing which I think I notice the most when on an incline or starting from a stop.
It is by no means too low, and doesn’t negatively impact driving at higher speeds.

3.7 to 4.10 isn’t a huge leap, but I think it’s worth doing if you have the means to.

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

I have forgotten to say that I will keep the stock 4spd gearbox (H41), but I think it is self understood: with a 5 spd (H55F) there is no need for the taller 3.70 gearing.
Your experience is really valuable, thank you mate for your answer!

PS. Good news: the stock 4.10 diffs are from the european 40-Series market, so Full Floating axle.

 

[SteveH]

Great work. The person who painted it black should be strung up. Your rust repair is impressive. I can see why it took 10 hours on that one area.

I hope you can park it indoors in a dry climate when all finished. After paint, be sure to bomb all the backsides of the metal with Fluid Film (sold at Lowes).

 

[GarrettS]

I have forgotten to say that I will keep the stock 4spd gearbox (H41), but I think it is self understood: with a 5 spd (H55F) there is no need for the taller 3.70 gearing.
Your experience is really valuable, thank you mate for your answer!

PS. Good news: the stock 4.10 diffs are from the european 40-Series market, so Full Floating axle.

I can't help you there, but I bet 4.10 will still be great! I rarely spend time in 5th gear, so I still think 4.1 would be good on a 4-speed. Count me jealous on the floated axles. Semi-floated axles are not as cool AND they're harder to work on.

Great work. The person who painted it black should be strung up. Your rust repair is impressive. I can see why it took 10 hours on that one area.

I hope you can park it indoors in a dry climate when all finished. After paint, be sure to bomb all the backsides of the metal with Fluid Film (sold at Lowes).

Thank you!
Sometimes I wholly agree with you about the punishment for whoever did that--I just tell myself that it was their truck and the paint helped them achieve whatever they needed it to achieve. Whoever owned this before definitely used it as a tool and did not care much about preservation.

More power to them, but way more work for me hehe.

Great idea with Fluid Film. I looked it up and it seems like a great product for preserving exposed and high-risk metal.

 

[MarkBC]

Fluid film sprayed on the insside will stink up the cabin when the temperature goes up. I'd use linseed oil instead.

 

[GarrettS]

Fluid film sprayed on the insside will stink up the cabin when the temperature goes up. I'd use linseed oil instead.

interesting! Does it smell a bit like a flock of sheep? I guess it’s made with raw lanolin.

 

[MarkBC]

interesting! Does it smell a bit like a flock of sheep? I guess it’s made with raw lanolin.

Yes. Others have observed that their dogs lick it off everywhere. It is good while it lasts but after a few months out in the weather it disappears. Project Farm tested a bunch of products. It looks like LPS has the best long term adhesion, I'd like to try some.

 

[SteveH]

In a less demanding climate, Fluid Film may be fine. If you're in New England or the salt belt, you need the best, and to reapply it often.

 

[GarrettS]

Slow progress:

Summer and life have been a bit of a hindrance, but after many hours and many abrasive and wire wheels, I’m pleased to report the body of the car is finally paint free other than a few tough-to-reach areas that I need to hit by hand and the windshield frame.

I found out the 16 holes on my roof are actually from a factory, OEM roof rack that appears to be somewhat common on Canadian trucks.

Here’s an example I spotted on @KlickitatPhil ’s beautiful ride:

So now my question is as follows:

Do I weld the holes shut or should I just body fill and paint over the holes as did the previous owner?

I’m currently leaning toward body filler as I think the holes are a good candidate for this kind of repair. I’m not worried about moisture creep since the holes will be quite full of body filler then primered, sealed over, and painted.
It is easier than welding, but If I decide to weld, I will most likely do my best to fill the holes with weld and then Grind flat. I Will still need to use body filler to smooth out the area anyway…

 

[MarkBC]

I had those same holes, plus 16 more, minus the roof rack. Therefore, all the Pacific Northwest rain was getting in and rusting the truck from the inside out. At least it's distilled water. Not sure what the status of your headliner is but mine was gross so it got pulled out. I then asked the same question as you: should I weld, or fill? I decided to weld and once I got the settings correct it actually went well. I have a Lincoln Migpak 140, I used mig wire with shielding gas. I needed to do a bit of grinding after to make it flush but it looks really good. I painted form both sides.

 

[MarkBC]

Addressing the Funk under your headliner... (Glue Removal/Rust Repair)

What's up, 'Mud. Got to work on the '60 since this whole COVID thing is keeping me from going into work... and started tearing out the headliner to get to mounting a C/B radio to the roof and address the x12 holes that some P/O had drilled into my roof for a 'safari' roof rack. Here's what...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[GarrettS]

I had those same holes, plus 16 more, minus the roof rack. Therefore, all the Pacific Northwest rain was getting in and rusting the truck from the inside out. At least it's distilled water. Not sure what the status of your headliner is but mine was gross so it got pulled out. I then asked the same question as you: should I weld, or fill? I decided to weld and once I got the settings correct it actually went well. I have a Lincoln Migpak 140, I used mig wire with shielding gas. I needed to do a bit of grinding after to make it flush but it looks really good. I painted form both sides.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Mark. I think I will just weld them since I’m replacing the headliner anyway.

Lol only took one post to convince me—see how impressionable I can be?

Just to confirm, did you do as I said and just fill the holes/nuts with weld?
Or did you go gangbusters and weld in pieces of sheet metal to cover the holes?

Thinking this should be doable with filler weld/grind…