1960 Alaska to Chile FJ28VA (1 Viewer)

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JohnnyC

Long ago TLCA# 2231
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Threads
294
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17,653
Location
UpState Ny, Wells Me
I know i posted this someplace as well... but... did not think i dedicated a thread to it... found a video now as well

these pics should help Nathan out on his fj28l .... didnt realize that they had a good pic of the rear





ALL information from JNC website:
On March 29, 1960 a Toyota Land Cruiser embarked on a record-breaking north-to-south journey from Fairbanks, Alaska to Puerto Montt, Chile. The Land Cruiser covered 20,015 miles, took 117 days, and recorded the first time the trip had been completed without accidents. Also, it was bright pink.

The rig was an early FJ28VA nicknamed Sakura, Japanese for “cherry blossom.” The goal of the journey was to prove the durability of Toyota vehicles, which it most certainly did, as it traversed the bitter cold of Alaska, the high-speed expressways of the lower 48 states, across the rivers of the Darien Gap in Central America, and through sky-high elevations of the Andes Mountains. It passed through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Peru as well.

When the journey ended, the Land Cruiser was shipped back to Japan, where it sat in the warehouse of the Kohoku Shimpo newspaper in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture for 57 years. The paper chronicled the trip back in 1960 and celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. In 2017, the Land Cruise was pulled out of hibernation and underwent an exhaustive restoration with the help of Miyagi Toyota dealers.

Photos in the window showed Tatsuya Chida, who was in charge of paint and body, and Kenji Obata, who oversaw the mechanical aspects of the restoration. Both had worked on several other project for the regional Toyota offices, including the restoration of a Crown and a Sports 800.

Rust was found throughout the body, all rubber components had rotted, and the engine was seized. However, because no head gasket was available, Obata kept the engine assembled, lubricating the cylinders through the spark plug holes and loosening the valve stems with a mix of lubrication and hammer taps. The crankshaft was only freed after two days of sitting, soaking and tapping. Amazingly, the team was able to get the engine running again.

Countless other repairs had to be made. The brakes were corroded and no replacements could be found, so Obata cleared the brake lines by digging out the rot bit by bit with a wire. Lenses that were out of production needed to be recast. The interior, however, was kept in its original condition, with only some work to temper the spread of rust.
In some ways, we would have preferred that the entire rig be kept in its battle-scarred condition, with only a mechanical restoration underneath. Alas, that is not the preferred way of doing things in Japan. Still, any early van version of the 20-series is already exceedingly rare. To find and revive one of historic significance is truly an accomplishment.
To be continued…
For past Tokyo Auto Salon coverage, see 2017 Part 01 — Legends of Rally, Part 02 — Restomods, and Part 03 — The Classics as well as coverage from the 2016, 2012, 2011, 2010 Tokyo Auto Salons.
Shota Mori is a photographer whose work can be found at @pgm_works and @pgmworks_official.
PERMALINK.
THIS POST IS FILED UNDER: TOKYO AUTO SALON AND
TAGGED: J20, LAND CRUISER, TOYOTA.



MORE here:

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Reading thru this it said went they pulled it out of storage they didn't rebuild the engine because no head gasket was available for the engine. Checked SOR and they show no head gasket available for the F until 1968 F145. Is that true? If so what are people doing for a head gaskets?
 
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those last group found on gazoo

 
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That head gasket comment scared me for a sec too, but does look like you can get it as part of the kit


awesome photos, wish there were some more of the interior!! But that’s by far the best image I have of the rear. Semaphore too cool...

x2 @JohnnyC you’re amazing at digging this stuff up!!!

EDIT: some of the posts hadn’t loaded yet. Interior photos!!! This is gold!
 
I spy a clamshell heater in this one... I hope I don’t convince myself I need one of those :(

man there’s so much to take in here. I guess it’s likely this one was modified for this very specific purpose so the seat configuration maybe I can’t take too much from as far as relating to how mine was from the factory. Certainly mine never had dual gas tanks. But it’s interesting to see the tank fill on that rear one.

im viewing this on my phone I gotta get to a computer tonight and pour through these. So much info...
 
Credit on photos goes to fellow cruiser head nut jobs like us who originally took these pics !!! :)

Alil annoyed I had not thought of this truck earlier ... I have several pics... but when I went to find them on my flash drives they were not in the 28 folder ... but... the 45 folder and had not looked there once so ever for some time

Then looked and found some more

Yes great information on these pics !
 
So...........I'm thinkin' your resto/rebuild will be going with the hot pink exterior with a weathered green interior....for full authenticity, right ?!
 

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