Builds 100 Guy Builds a 60 Series (1 Viewer)

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Looks good Drew, good start for a project. If you need anything suspension or axle wise give me a chime i might have and extra laying around.
 
Looks good Drew, good start for a project. If you need anything suspension or axle wise give me a chime i might have and extra laying around.

Thanks man! Is this John?
 
Had a great time with some friends at our monthly 406 Cruisers Meeting today, then had a little time to kill in the shop before family shows up this weekend for the week.

I decided I would try to pop the LED headlights so I can get them up and running... I will eliminate the inline fuses when I get my electrical mojo on... parts are on order and coming in sometime soon.

Here are the old sealed halogens on the 60... these were actually a good set I had laying around from my 40 conversion when I went to Round Eyes. These are decent sealed beams, nothing crazy and nothing bottom shelf.

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I needed to fit the lights to the headlight buckets before I could move forward.

Here is the back of the headlight bucket and where I needed to trim. The cooling fins were just a hair too big to drop straight in and flush.
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Sorry for the blurry shop but this is how proud the lights stood off the buckets before trimming the backside. If you notice that big knob in front of my thumb hasn't recessed into the notch in the headlight bucket yet.
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I then notched the headlamp bucket and the lamps sit flush.
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And here you can see how the knob sets down into the notch of the headlight bucket after the slight trimming. Nice flush fit.
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Next up was fitting the harness...
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Keep you safe on the road. (awesome)
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Thanks so much China... I feel better now, could you please reassure me a little more though?...
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...Ahhhh, now I am reassured.
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All in all, the harness worked as described and was painless to install. I will reroute a few things when I redo the auxiliary wiring on the rig. TOYOTA switches power through alternating the grounds to the high/low beams vs. two separate 12v+ circuits and a common ground. They strayed from the industry standard on this one creating a need for an alternative solution.

Once the harness was run, and the loom zipped tied into place, all was needed was some longer headlamp ring mounting screws. I needed about 1/4" more length than the factory screws.
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They fit just about as good as the factory fit. I'll likely paint the trim rings black when I redo the cosmetics on the exterior.
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I still need to wire up the RED lead for the Halo ring. I will have them come on 100% of the time when the car is running. Just gotta' figure out what wire I want to tap for the power.
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All wired up, it's nice to see everything fire up on the first try! (I guess this is technically the second try).
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Here they are all buttoned up. I like that they are not overly LED looking. Some of the modern ones look too funky for me. These "blend" enough that they don't look too out of place IMHO.

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Then it was time to aim them up. I used a super reliable method for isolating the headlights so I could aim one at a time... it is an Amazon special...
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Here are some before and after shots...

Before Low beam...
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After Low beam LED... much smoother and broader amount of light.
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High Beam Before...
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High Beam LED After... the color temperature is very different and I prefer a little warmer color but for the $120 or so with the harness, the increased amount of light on the road is amazing. The beam shots don't do it justice.
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Quick mod... thanks so much @dnp aka David for the front grill emblem!

Something satisfying about getting this one done. The front end desperately needed that TOYOTA emblem to show that it is no longer a neglected import in a sea of domestic trucks! :D

Before...
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After...
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Keep running in to you... 40... then 100, then 60 series. Only I'm cheap and my 'builds' are paltry by comparison.

My wife loves our new 60 (62) as well even though she hasn't driven nor ridden in it.. the 100 is great, but I think the 62 reminds her of one of her favorite vehicles we've had... an obscure 1988 Toyota Corolla Alltrac wagon 5sp manual... oddly rare, stupid slow, "fishbowl" driving feel, and she loved it.

As far as white cruisers go, a white pearl 100 series is quite a good look. We really want/love a gray 60 series.

Our 62 is doing the same... some rust above rear windows, even some in the upper A pillar door jamb, but solid rockers and frame. Definitely different than a 40....
 
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Man, it has been fun to rip around in the 60. It's got some items to address but seems to have been maintained and has a good foundation. Mrs. REZARF really LOVES it. I'm gonna baseline this one, fix it up, add a few mods, do the body work/paint, then sell it and hunt down a CLEAN sliver one. Then drop in a LQ9 or bigger LS and a 5 speed. Then the 100 might be on the chopping block to make that happen :redface:


Which 5 speed do you plan to add? A common configuration I'm seeing is a 5.3 with an NV4500. What T case would you go with?
 
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Keep the great work!
 
Which 5 speed do you plan to add? A common configuration I'm seeing is a 5.3 with an NV4500. What T case would you go with?

In a perfect world... I would have an LS powered motor with a H55 behind it with crawler gears in the T-case, locked pumkins and a gear ratio to get me back to stock on 35s. But I don't think I'll sink that much coin into this particular truck. I'd like to start with a rust free silver/red/blue 60 that hasn't been touched other than maintenance.
 
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I had a buddy come over tonight and help me with a few odds and ends that I was itching to get done. The projects parts box was getting fuller than I like, we got a bunch of little things done today. Good friends and good food plus working on a Cruiser... what a way to end the day.

I love that you can still order so many OEM parts straight from Toyota... here are a few that I purchased and finally got around to installing.

Factory fresh goodness... a new shifter and clutch pedal pad...
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How many shift knobs have been dumped only because the shift pattern button is missing? One of our enthusiast driven company owners would have a gold mine product making replacement buttons for the old Cruiser shift knobs. @pfran42 ;) @nakman Out with the old...
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In with the new...
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This one was actually a need, not just a "want" as my foot keeps slipping off when I get in the truck with snowy boots on. The pedal with no pad is slick as glass.
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With a little warm up with the heat gun I popped the new pad on, and I spun the brake pedal pad while I was in there. I am pretty sure this is the orientation they came with. Anyone know for sure?
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The weekend before Thanksgiving I took a trailer and a trip up to Helena, MT to visit Paul aka @3_puppies who parts out 40's, 60's and 100's. Paul is the real deal and I can't recommend highly enough for parts. He was really helpful, had what I needed and gave me a great deal on the parts I bought. His company name is Last Chance Land Cruisers.

After meeting, getting to meet all three puppies, and talking Cruisers, we began grabbing the parts I came for, thanks again Paul!

Paul was able to provide the following:
  • 2 rust free doors for the front of my 60
  • One untorn seat cushion for the factory drivers seat.
  • A 60 series grill with TOYOTA emblem (more for another project)
  • A headlight retaining ring
  • A pair of matching front marker lamps
  • A Rear washer spray nozzle
  • Hood bumpers
  • A set of working dome lights
  • and a rust free ROOF!
He has a lot of nice parts, and if I remember correctly he's willing to ship, but hit him up for details.

Here is a quick pic of my score from Last Chance Land Cruisers.
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A $15 dollar U-Haul Rental never looked so good!
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This roof was such a score for my old tired rusted out drip rail and section. Now I gotta figure out how I want to stick it on there, but that is another days discussion...
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Look at that clean drip rail! :bounce:
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One of the little things to get done was reinstalling some hood bumpers. I picked these up at Paul's place and they were in great shape. I spent just a little time with some Simple Green and a tooth brush and they came right back to life. Easy but satisfying to get installed.

I was missing both on the passenger side and one on the drivers side...
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What was left of the old boogery mount. This stuff crumbled away when I poked at it.
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Pre-scrub rubber parts.
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Ready for another 35 years of service...
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Mounted in their new home... I am not sure I can tell a difference but TOYOTA thought they were a good idea so I am glad to have them back in the truck.
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My 60 came with mismatched front marker lights. One was factory but faded from orange to clear, and the other had a weird spacer on the back that actually fit like a factory unit but I haven't seen another like it. Anybody recognize it?

Passenger side with the odd base.
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Drivers side with the uber faded lens, but what I assume is the OEM mount.
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I picked up a working and matching set from Paul and they only needed a little cleaning up... One had a cracked lens and Paul sent me home with a clean uncracked lens to put in it's place.
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Small crack Paul caught before letting me go home with it, he found me a great lens to replace this one with...
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... the other had a weird spacer on the back that actually fit like a factory unit but I haven't seen another like it. Anybody recognize it?

Passenger side with the odd base.
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Looks a lot like a 40 front marker?
 
Time for a little lens polishing... no sense putting old junk back on the cruiser when it only takes a minute or two to buff them back to original... I used a headlight restore pad and polish from 3M for a quick buff on the marker lenses.

Before...
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After...
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These old TOYTOA parts that are rubber are in remarkable shape for their age. They're just dusty and dirty... with a little wipe down they seem as good as new. Gotta' love that TOYOTA quality.
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Installed, and working. Seeing lights come on after dinking around with them might be one of my favorite things about working on cars.
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