ROTW- philos1 "Tootsie Roll" (1 Viewer)

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philos1

philos1

Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Threads
68
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1,588
Location
the valley, yeah that one
So I bought my 1987 FJ60 in 2003 with 190,000 miles from the second owners. It had already been around the counrty as the family had sent their daughter to school in NY with it. She then gave it to her brother to take to OR while he was in dental school. AFAIK, they bought it here in SoCal from the original owner. The best thing about it (to me) was that it was bone-stock. The bumpers had rust from the OR roads, but everything was there, and everything worked.

Within weeks of owning it, I had already planned several trips including deep Baja and our annual Christmas tree run to Lida Summit just into NV and off the Ancient Bristlecone Forest Highway.

Baja was where I discovered the sagging stock suspension really didn't like the terrain I was really into. At the time I was at a private art school, so money was VERY tight. I decided to go with a replacement set of stock springs with long add-a-leafs all around. It was the first major upgrade since purchase, and since then I just keep (happily) sinking money into her.

here's a before shot that is as close as I have to stock- you can see my first light bar and the powdercoated bumper with the smaller 31" tires.
frontbefore.jpg



next is the add-a-leaf lift installed later the same day...
frontafter.jpg




this one is a poser shot on a local fire-road/trail. this is with the OME suspension and the H-55 tranny. I also had the stock wheels powdercoated and I think this is also with 33" tires now.

Also, there is my old rear homemade bumper without the tire carrier :)
stealth60c.jpg
 
continuing....

right about this time, I was making more runs to Baja as well as some local trails. I also drove the Tootsie Roll to OK and back, several trips to AZ, and many states in between. I put nearly 100,000 miles on her in about three years and some change and she did very well considering her age and the way I drive :D

I got a lot of trips to ventura county during my last semester at college hauling driftwood on my homemade roof rack for my thesis project (a 40' wide wave made from a modular steel armature and found driftwood). I made about 12-15 trips with the rack on full of wood, so I ended up with a lot of salty crap on the roof leading to the present condition (rusty at the gutters) I also started getting the itch for more power at this time.

heres a couple of the project
wavec27.jpg

wave19.jpg

wavec23.jpg




these are form the last trip to Baja and are the most recent before I started the Vortec swap this past February.
DSCN2076.jpg

DSCN2088.jpg

DSCN2069.jpg

DSCN2061.jpg
 
and more...

All of these pics are from the Vortec swap I did during the early spring of this year.

before :)
newtires.jpg




during
motorout.jpg

Damplifierfront.jpg

wiringbegins.jpg

bothmountsdone.jpg



some more :) second is the instrument cluster with the 8K tach :D
doneninstalled.jpg

gaugeclusterinst.jpg
 
I believe I speak for everyone when I say . . .Thanks God you had biker shorts on underneath your bathingsuit in that one picture!

Seriously - nice looking rig. That front bumper is sweet! Does the light bar just bolt on or did you fab it yourself?
 
last for now?

here's a shot of how she sits right now
newbumperPC4.jpg



I guess a list of mods would be good now, so...

Vortec from 1999 Tahoe w/32K miles (CA smog legal to boot) :D
Optima
Kaymar rear bumper w/o carrier (soon to be remedied)
Custom front bumper (by me)
OME med/med
33" BFG A/Ts on stock coated wheels
Pioneer stereo w/ deck-controlled IPOD interface
Tuffy Console
Damplifier on all doors, floor, and rear quarters
H-55 five speed
tint all around
Hella lights and horns (lights to be changed soon too)
IPF 630 foglights
Hood shock conversion
Yakima surf racks
De-blinged emblems etc.
Britax Marathon seat for the newcomer :)
lots of other stuff too


Future mods:
Lockers. really need these now that I have time to wheel more.
rust repair on the gutters
Knuckle job (already have kit + bearings)
Possibly an olive green paint job (a la the new pathfinder olive green)
anything that makes the surf trips to Baja more fun :)


a last shot of me and my ride, I LOVE being out on the road in my tootsie roll :)
selfportdriving.jpg
 
nothin' better than a sweet 60 and a good dog. looks like you got both. nice rig.
 
Marc311 said:
I believe I speak for everyone when I say . . .Thanks God you had biker shorts on underneath your bathingsuit in that one picture!

Seriously - nice looking rig. That front bumper is sweet! Does the light bar just bolt on or did you fab it yourself?
Click to expand...



Light bar was a homemade bolt-on, sold off here on mud recently...:)

you trying to check my junk? haha. the shorts are a necessity when you're in the dirt/ocean for weeks at a time surfers know the rash I'm talking about :D


thanks for the kind words guys!
 
Nosuke62 said:
In one of those pictures it looks like he has a lady-friend too. Does life get better than that trio?

Nice truck. Cool art project as well.
Click to expand...

That's my wife- we've been together for nearly 15 years. We just had our first baby on June 8.

truly does not get much better.
 
Hey Philos,
Awesome write up. The Baja pics make me want to go on a road trip. If you want help with the knuckle job let me know. As soon as you get a sleep schedule.

C YA

Dynosoar
 
Nice rig, I like that wave you built too, pretty sweet.

Where did you score that 8k tach from?! Freakin sweet.
 
Truely awesome rig.

But just one thing. . .

Your doorhandles need to be black too :D

edit: How wide are those tires?
 
Beautiful rig... nice write-up!

One question... you said you bought the rig w/ 190K then put another 100K on her... if so, that's pretty F'in amazing!

:cheers:
 
She looks good man and you did a sweet job on the install!! Congrats on the new addition...I bet your one happy daddy...Glad to see you get to enjoy your hard work:beer:
 
Last edited:
Vortec from 1999 Tahoe w/32K miles (CA smog legal to boot)
Click to expand...

Can you describe the process to pass smog for those of us in CA that are thinking of going to the Vortec? Thanks

Nice rig!
 
Sweet rig! Your wheels look awesome. I want to do the same thing. Did you have to get the chrome stripped off before the powder coat application? What kind of finish is that? Thanks!
 
Dude, your baby's got my b-day. Keep up the work, I was changing my oil the other day, my 7 year old is crawled up underneath the truck with me and says "Do I get the landcruiser when I'm old enough to drive?" That is what it is all about. (Now I have to find another one)
 
I really want to know about that 8K tach...

Another thing.. what liner did you use on the floorboards and how well is it holding up/working??
 
Great job!
Great write up!
Great rig!

Its SOOOO nice to be able to see and hear about the rigs and their owners in one location!

BTW!
Im frightened by your tattoos!:D:flipoff2:

Chicago
 
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