1981 BJ60 Project

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Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Threads
7
Messages
63
Location
Battle Ground, WA
My husband and I just bought this cruiser off a guy in Portland, so we're going to be needing some supplies to fix it up a bit!

We're still working on the list of parts needed, but the biggest problem is that the body is rusted through in quite a few places, so we're thinking about buying just the body off an FJ60 and replacing it. If anyone has ever done this kind of conversion we would of course appreciate advise on fitting/problems to watch out for. We would prefer to buy an FJ60 that's already gutted since the engine is good in ours and we don't need a whole extra one. He's already got one and half FJ40s sitting around, so we're running out of room!

The other thing we're on the lookout for is a 5 speed transmission, this one is 4 speed and we're hoping to make it our daily driver so we could use a little more speed. We're considering adding the turbo too, so if you've got the parts we're in the market!

The other thing I've requested and my kind husband is willing to work on is to add power steering and air conditioning. We've seen some threads on this, but it looks like the parts are a little hard to find all together. So, once again, if you've got them we're looking to buy.

Here's what we know about it so far, it's got the original diesel motor and spent most of it's life in Canada, probably the cause of all the rust, then was brought to Oregon about 3 years ago. The previous owner was sad to see it go and wished us well, so we want to fit it up right!

We'll keep adding photos as we go, and more parts needed I'm sure!

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My husband and I just bought this cruiser off a guy in Portland, so we're going to be needing some supplies to fix it up a bit!

We're still working on the list of parts needed, but the biggest problem is that the body is rusted through in quite a few places, so we're thinking about buying just the body off an FJ60 and replacing it. If anyone has ever done this kind of conversion we would of course appreciate advise on fitting/problems to watch out for. We would prefer to buy an FJ60 that's already gutted since the engine is good in ours and we don't need a whole extra one. He's already got one and half FJ40s sitting around, so we're running out of room!

The other thing we're on the lookout for is a 5 speed transmission, this one is 4 speed and we're hoping to make it our daily driver so we could use a little more speed. We're considering adding the turbo too, so if you've got the parts we're in the market!

The other thing I've requested and my kind husband is willing to work on is to add power steering and air conditioning. We've seen some threads on this, but it looks like the parts are a little hard to find all together. So, once again, if you've got them we're looking to buy.

Here's what we know about it so far, it's got the original diesel motor and spent most of it's life in Canada, probably the cause of all the rust, then was brought to Oregon about 3 years ago. The previous owner was sad to see it go and wished us well, so we want to fit it up right!

We'll keep adding photos as we go, and more parts needed I'm sure!

There are a bunch of those type of conversions if you do a search in here. Great looking cruiser and dog!

Welcome.
 
Lots of great questions and I'm interested to see how your build progresses as we are about to be on the same adventure as you. ;)

-Daniel Kent
 
She is missing her G badges kind of make me suspicious for a Canadian original.
Is there badge holes on the fender were the horizontal crease and the wheel well crease meet at the back end of fender kind of in line with the marker light.
All Cdn BJ60s sport these badges not taking away from your purchase any diesel is better than a gasser in my books whether original or swapped in.:cheers:
 
Nice truck!

There's a diesel section...you should check it out.
 
FJ60 Body Panels So the wife and I started digging into the bj60 we just bought, the body is pretty bad and we're looking for the following out of a donor 60 body:

Rear fenders DS
Rear Bed Panels DS & PS 10 x 30 directly behind wheel, between well and tailgate
DS Floorboard just inside of passenger and driver doors 7in tall x full length
DS & PS Lower Rocker panels (below doors)
PS & DS inside Quarter Panel (behind rear tires)
PS & DS Lower outside Quarter Panel (behind rear Tires under car)
rear part of bed where tail gate bolts to.
rear bed supports where support bolts to body mounts

I'll upload pictures tomorrow, let me know what you got and what you want for it.

Thanks
 
We're not really sure what they did with this thing, the body work was some of the worst I've ever seen! They pop riveted ducting on there and filled it with bondo, so the body wasn't well cared for. Engine looks good so far, nothing out of place, so they could have changed out panels. What do the badges look like?
 
Adam from Torfab was selling an complete, rust free FJ60 body recently in the classifieds. You might see if he still has it. Swapping bodies would be a heck of a lot less work that cutting out and rewelding all those pieces.
 
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G badge sported on all BJ60s thats how we tell the difference between gassers and diesels in passing down the road.
This one is old and the black background has worn off
FJ 60 body will swap over with some minor tweeks basically the identical parts and pieces, the frame is a little different cross member mounts depending on what transmission IIR , engine mounts and some of the wiring , use the fuel tank from the diesel the returns and filler are different ,oh and the rad inlets are opposite, but this all can be over come with minor fab work and measuring easily doable we do it alot up here in Canada.

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Dieseler what does the G on the BJ's stand for? Im interested and I thought the OP might not know either. Thx!

-Daniel Kent
 
It is just a model classification just like GX , LX , VX and some others that skip my mind but the G is a diesel designation for the 3B model 60 series its a basic package no options I cant remember if the HJ60 has a G but I am thinking not since it had some of the bells and whistles options .
 
^ Right on, thanks!

-Daniel Kent
 
That looks like my rusty old 1981 BJ60 I have sitting in my driveway except mine is brown....time for a body swap or better yet a drivetrain swap into a clean 60 body and frame, chances are the frame is just as bad as the body on that one. I know mine is swiss chees and if I hit her with BFH it would drop 50 lbs onto the ground..
 
Yep we're picking up a better body from Adam at Torfab Friday, so the project continues! We also ordered a new set of poly body mount bushings from 4crawl.com. Cool guy called and talked with the wife about our order just to make sure we got the best product for our project.

Didn't know the 60 series had such a mixed bag of body mount sizes seems like they changed it each rig!

Once we get the new body we'll be posting the extra body panels, parts, etc in the for sale section.
 
Rusty 60

Looks like a good project. Wish mine was in such good shape. You still have door bottoms and some kinda rockers. Keep posting the progress!
 
60 Donor Body in the shop

The wife and Made the trip up to Torfab and got the body and meet up with Adam really awesome guy. Traffic was the worst Ive Ive ever ran into but the excitement keep us going. The new body's got cool sliding windows and it has factory A/c plumbing which was another great welcomed surprise that will help later when add ac to the 3b.

The body mounts also arrive from 4crawl which surprised me for sure we just order them Wednesday. Crazy Fast!

We'll post up some pic as we progress with the body swap

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