Hey Guys.
Some of you may remember or be familiar with my FJ62 that I picked up just over two years ago.
I picked it up as a stock truck, and really enjoyed turning it into something of my own. We had some ups and downs, with it getting stolen last spring... It was recovered, but missing a lot of the goodies. Luckily, I got most of the stuff back another 4-5 months later. But then, as my bad luck truck would have it, it was hit by a hotrodding 17 year old kid in his Honda.
The damage is honestly pretty minimal. I've bought a new fender, core support, valence, and inner fender, as well as the steering parts to fix it, once insurance gives me the go-ahead. The wreck happened on Jan 28th, and I'm still getting strung along...
Overall, the truck has just been bad luck, although it has also been monumentally capable and reliable. It's solely responsible for what I would now call an undying love for the 60-series Land Cruiser, and following the accident, I knew I had to get another. The FJ62, while completely fixable, will still suffer from rust in places, and while I loved the truck, in the end, I knew I'd want to make a change. So, with the FJ62 crunched and waiting on insurance to do its thing, I set out to find a replacement.
My list of requirements was relatively short, although a tall order when it comes to classic 60-series trucks. I wanted a tan one - my favorite color of the body style, and classically Toyota. That part was somewhat easy... while FJ62s were never sold in tan, the FJ60. The only other requirement was no rust. Absolutely no rust. I wanted a truck that was completely clean, and while that shouldn't be too hard for a mid '80s vehicle in CA, 60-series Land Cruisers are renowned for two things: their off road prowess, and their ability to rust in any climate. I got lucky - I found an '85 FJ60 being sold by a lifelong Land Cruiser lover. He was the second owner, having bought it 26 years ago. He didn't baby it - it was driven to and from his ranch for two decades, but luckily for me, the truck was garage kept, and lived in the high desert, meaning moisture never reached the nooks and crannies of the truck. This one was absolutely rust free: easily the most rust free example I've come across, and perhaps one of the most rust-free trucks out there, aside from the few "bubble cars." The roof rails are spotless, as are the arches, the pans, the frame, everything. I really lucked out.
With affinity for these trucks at an all time high, their prices are through the roof. For me, luck came in the form of a dead engine. While the truck's bones were solid, the cylinder head had cracked three years ago, and it had sat motionless ever since. I bought the truck not running at a price that was more than agreeable, dead set on transforming it into something daily-driver friendly, powerful, economic, and badass, to be frank. I wanted a truck that could tow my cars to the track, get itself out of its own way on the freeway, and that could manage more than 12MPG downhill. The 2F and 3FE engines of the 60 series here in America are phenomenal motors - some of the most reliable, indestructible motors ever built - but they produce about 140 horsepower, and can struggle to make it up the slightest of hills when not in 4-Low.
My solution is with the tried and true: I'm partway through swapping in a 6-liter Chevy LS. The motor is an LQ4, pulled from a Chevy 2500 Express van with just 70,000 miles. She'll make more than enough to tow the BMW to the track, or to make for a comfortable cross-country drive.
Making the engine work in the chassis isn't all too difficult on paper, with a few important components needed to mate things together. The biggest on the list is a transmission-to-transfer case adapter, which will mate my brand new built-up 4L65E automatic up to the FJ60's stock transfer case. Although the FJ60 was originally a manual, I opted to swap to automatic, as when finished, this truck will be a daily driver, and an off road rig.
I've gone through and have been replacing and rebuilding all of the components as the swap has progressed. A complete transfer case tear down and rebuild was first on the list, followed by assembling the adapter housing, mating it to the new transmission, and then to the 6-liter itself. A good bit of fabrication has been needed to actually mount the engine into the truck, but thankfully, I've knocked that out already. To be completely honest, it's more work than I anticipated. I've done plenty of swaps before, but no one seems to really talk about clearance for the front driveshaft to the transmission, exhaust, and to the oil pan itself. It's taken a lot of work to get everything to fit - I know I've got my engine sitting a bit further forward than is traditional, but it still seems surprising what it has taken to make sure everything will work correctly, as if it were factory.
Things like mating the FJ60 fuel system to the V8, or hooking up the power steering, are most of what remains. A small bit of wiring lies ahead of me, but all in all, the swap is nearing completion, and once finished, I excitedly get to move on to fitting the truck with new forged and 34" Nitto tires.
Once I finish the swap up, I'll move some of the goodies, like the rear bumper, lights, winch, etc, over from the FJ62 before I post it for sale.
Since this is a build thread and aesthetics aren't the most important thing in the world, I'll post some cell phone pics as I finish up the swap. I'm hoping to fire it up and test drive it this weekend.
Some of you may remember or be familiar with my FJ62 that I picked up just over two years ago.
I picked it up as a stock truck, and really enjoyed turning it into something of my own. We had some ups and downs, with it getting stolen last spring... It was recovered, but missing a lot of the goodies. Luckily, I got most of the stuff back another 4-5 months later. But then, as my bad luck truck would have it, it was hit by a hotrodding 17 year old kid in his Honda.
The damage is honestly pretty minimal. I've bought a new fender, core support, valence, and inner fender, as well as the steering parts to fix it, once insurance gives me the go-ahead. The wreck happened on Jan 28th, and I'm still getting strung along...
Overall, the truck has just been bad luck, although it has also been monumentally capable and reliable. It's solely responsible for what I would now call an undying love for the 60-series Land Cruiser, and following the accident, I knew I had to get another. The FJ62, while completely fixable, will still suffer from rust in places, and while I loved the truck, in the end, I knew I'd want to make a change. So, with the FJ62 crunched and waiting on insurance to do its thing, I set out to find a replacement.
My list of requirements was relatively short, although a tall order when it comes to classic 60-series trucks. I wanted a tan one - my favorite color of the body style, and classically Toyota. That part was somewhat easy... while FJ62s were never sold in tan, the FJ60. The only other requirement was no rust. Absolutely no rust. I wanted a truck that was completely clean, and while that shouldn't be too hard for a mid '80s vehicle in CA, 60-series Land Cruisers are renowned for two things: their off road prowess, and their ability to rust in any climate. I got lucky - I found an '85 FJ60 being sold by a lifelong Land Cruiser lover. He was the second owner, having bought it 26 years ago. He didn't baby it - it was driven to and from his ranch for two decades, but luckily for me, the truck was garage kept, and lived in the high desert, meaning moisture never reached the nooks and crannies of the truck. This one was absolutely rust free: easily the most rust free example I've come across, and perhaps one of the most rust-free trucks out there, aside from the few "bubble cars." The roof rails are spotless, as are the arches, the pans, the frame, everything. I really lucked out.
With affinity for these trucks at an all time high, their prices are through the roof. For me, luck came in the form of a dead engine. While the truck's bones were solid, the cylinder head had cracked three years ago, and it had sat motionless ever since. I bought the truck not running at a price that was more than agreeable, dead set on transforming it into something daily-driver friendly, powerful, economic, and badass, to be frank. I wanted a truck that could tow my cars to the track, get itself out of its own way on the freeway, and that could manage more than 12MPG downhill. The 2F and 3FE engines of the 60 series here in America are phenomenal motors - some of the most reliable, indestructible motors ever built - but they produce about 140 horsepower, and can struggle to make it up the slightest of hills when not in 4-Low.
My solution is with the tried and true: I'm partway through swapping in a 6-liter Chevy LS. The motor is an LQ4, pulled from a Chevy 2500 Express van with just 70,000 miles. She'll make more than enough to tow the BMW to the track, or to make for a comfortable cross-country drive.
Making the engine work in the chassis isn't all too difficult on paper, with a few important components needed to mate things together. The biggest on the list is a transmission-to-transfer case adapter, which will mate my brand new built-up 4L65E automatic up to the FJ60's stock transfer case. Although the FJ60 was originally a manual, I opted to swap to automatic, as when finished, this truck will be a daily driver, and an off road rig.
I've gone through and have been replacing and rebuilding all of the components as the swap has progressed. A complete transfer case tear down and rebuild was first on the list, followed by assembling the adapter housing, mating it to the new transmission, and then to the 6-liter itself. A good bit of fabrication has been needed to actually mount the engine into the truck, but thankfully, I've knocked that out already. To be completely honest, it's more work than I anticipated. I've done plenty of swaps before, but no one seems to really talk about clearance for the front driveshaft to the transmission, exhaust, and to the oil pan itself. It's taken a lot of work to get everything to fit - I know I've got my engine sitting a bit further forward than is traditional, but it still seems surprising what it has taken to make sure everything will work correctly, as if it were factory.
Things like mating the FJ60 fuel system to the V8, or hooking up the power steering, are most of what remains. A small bit of wiring lies ahead of me, but all in all, the swap is nearing completion, and once finished, I excitedly get to move on to fitting the truck with new forged and 34" Nitto tires.
Once I finish the swap up, I'll move some of the goodies, like the rear bumper, lights, winch, etc, over from the FJ62 before I post it for sale.
Since this is a build thread and aesthetics aren't the most important thing in the world, I'll post some cell phone pics as I finish up the swap. I'm hoping to fire it up and test drive it this weekend.
