After a ton of contemplation I decided to slowly add my rebuild to hopefully help others as down the road. Full disclosure I am not a mechanic. I’m a Financial Analyst by trade. I did not complete this rebuild entirely on my own and it was only possible with help from many friends.
A little back story.
My HJ61 was purchased 5 years ago. Prior to that it was imported from Japan to Canada by an importer who turned around and sold it to a gentleman in Park City Utah around 2007(I’ll let you do the math there). After a few years living in the states it was sold back to the importer and shortly after sold to the Land Cruiser Heritage Musuem where it sat for a few years. The Museum acquired a cleaner example and sold to their director who is a good friend of mine. Around 2019 I was kicking around the idea of importing an hzj77 and was close to pulling the trigger when this friend offered to sell it to me. It was clean and low miles 105k on the clock when I bought it.
I’ve done a ton of maintenance but never imagined what it would put me through over the past year and a half. It’s not my daily driver and I would say. I would drive it once or twice a week max. Well on my way to work the engine developed a knock. I was stuck on a busy highway so I had to limp it off an exit into a neighborhood. Unaware of the journey I had in store.
A little back story.
My HJ61 was purchased 5 years ago. Prior to that it was imported from Japan to Canada by an importer who turned around and sold it to a gentleman in Park City Utah around 2007(I’ll let you do the math there). After a few years living in the states it was sold back to the importer and shortly after sold to the Land Cruiser Heritage Musuem where it sat for a few years. The Museum acquired a cleaner example and sold to their director who is a good friend of mine. Around 2019 I was kicking around the idea of importing an hzj77 and was close to pulling the trigger when this friend offered to sell it to me. It was clean and low miles 105k on the clock when I bought it.
I’ve done a ton of maintenance but never imagined what it would put me through over the past year and a half. It’s not my daily driver and I would say. I would drive it once or twice a week max. Well on my way to work the engine developed a knock. I was stuck on a busy highway so I had to limp it off an exit into a neighborhood. Unaware of the journey I had in store.
