1987 FJ60 Build (Dolores)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Yesterday I ordered new hardware for the grill from toyotapartsdeal.com

That's where I usually order my stuff from, fair prices and they don't gouge on shipping.

A while back I bought a whole new front grilled from Cruiser Corps, that I'm just now getting to installing.

On a side note, why does Cruiser Corps use their stickers to tape things up, but don't throw a couple in there for us to tag up the ride\cooler\tool box? Thought it would be free advertising for them, guess I'm just spoiled from other companies always throwing some sticker swag in the orders.

So I took the old grill off, prob the first time since it was built and some of the plastic parts broke or got lost, and after some procrastination I ordered some more.

Here's the part list:

Grill
Screw 90167-40010 (1)
Grommet 90189-04014 (1)
Clip thingy 90467-12008 (5)

Headlight\Corner
Screw 90160-40002 (8)
Grommet 90189-04069 (8)

I usually like to buy parts from my local dealer but :censor: that! Apparently ZT motors are out of their minds.

I called up and asked for prices and they wanted 2-3 dollars for every item, items that are in the in the .25 to $1 range.

With cost and shipping I was out the door for less than $25 from toyotapartsdeal.com

If you guys have a good site for items like this, let me know!

The irony to all this, is that I finally unpacked the new full grill and BOOM...hardware included. lol

I prefer the plastic grommets over the metal clips provided, so I'll stick to those.

Hopefully I'll have the fuel pump install video up this weekend.
 
If it's not one thing it's another...

So I changed out the coolant hoses due to leaking, then the fuel pump started leaking and I swapped that out.

I finished buttoning up the front end so I could drive Dolores around town and guess what? Brake master cylinder leak.

It's leaking right where the reservoir is.

I did noticed after driving her around the block the fender and hood where hot as hell, like cook eggs on it hot, but the temp gauge looked normal.

As I sat there thinking about WTF the deal is now, could it be possible the motor got hot as s*** and melted the reservoir a bit to cause it to leak?

I did drain out all the fluid when I did that job and read on here that when you do that, you have to "burp" the system in order to get it to cool properly.

Anyways, I went to O'Reillys and order a new master cylinder. Hopefully I can get to that this weekend.

The saga continues...
 
Found the causation of the brake master cylinder leak...a fricking O ring. Replaced that and no leaky.

Now it time to figure out why she seems to be running hot.

The temp gauge doesn't seem to be displaying proper temp, so I bought a Bosch temp gauge kit (less than $20 at your local parts store), temp sensor, and new thermostat.

My guess is that the old thermostat is stuck not allowing proper coolant flow when the motor heats up. But that's my guess.

Hopefully I can get to installing all that this week and actually get to drive her around without fear of blowing the motor.
 
Willard said:
Do not forget the rubber o-ring in the thermostat housing.

Also make sure that gauge is mechanical, that way the reading is true. I bet as you did so many hoses it still has air trapped. Mine did, and then i drained it and replaced more hoses.
Click to expand...

I was actually going through a post and saw that. Just ordered a gasket today. Guess I'll have to order an O ring also.

I also figured I had some air trapped even though I raised the front end, started it, squeezed hoses and all that.

The gauge is mechanical. I want to say the old one read fine until I did all these hose swaps. Better safe than sorry.
 
What a PITA trying to find that damn O ring.

Autozone and Orielly's didn't have them or able the get a hold of one.

Advanced Auto could get me the part, for $2, but it cost me $6 in shipping.

In hind site I should have left the thing alone. :banghead:

Anyways. Today I'll work on getting the mechanical temp censor on there so I can be ready for the thermostat install.
 
Today I took Dolores out for a little spin.

Got her up to temp, turned on the heaters, front and back and...there was no hot air.

I decided to drive her around the block a couple times and or stop on some inclines. I live in a flat part of Florida, so there's not many of those.

At one point hot hair started coming out of the front and back and her temp sat around 180-190. Win.

At this point I loaded up the electric skateboard just in case I got left stranded and decided to venture out some more and press my luck.

Drove around my little downtown, took some pics, then I decided to hit some store and shut her off.

It took a little persuasion, but she started every time.

At one point my temp gauge creeped past 200 and I just kept going.

What is a safe operating temp?

Fast forward an hour or two with some successful pit stops and restarts she dies on me at a stop sign.

Her crank was weak and then no cranky...I'm going to point fingers at a suspect alternator.

At this point I was able to push her to a close friends house, hoped on the skateboard and went home to get the other ride.

Right now the battery is on a trickle charger and we have a big storm hitting us, so Dolores will have to wait.

I forgot to mention I had to pull the reservoir off the master cylinder earlier in the week to replace a leaking O ring and at one of my stops I took her to get the lines bled ( I was feeling lazy). She def brakes better now, I just have to adjust the rear drum for better feels on the pedal.
 
ras0ne said:
Yesterday I ordered new hardware for the grill from toyotapartsdeal.com

That's where I usually order my stuff from, fair prices and they don't gouge on shipping.

A while back I bought a whole new front grilled from Cruiser Corps, that I'm just now getting to installing.

On a side note, why does Cruiser Corps use their stickers to tape things up, but don't throw a couple in there for us to tag up the ride\cooler\tool box? Thought it would be free advertising for them, guess I'm just spoiled from other companies always throwing some sticker swag in the orders.

So I took the old grill off, prob the first time since it was built and some of the plastic parts broke or got lost, and after some procrastination I ordered some more.

Here's the part list:

Grill
Screw 90167-40010 (1)
Grommet 90189-04014 (1)
Clip thingy 90467-12008 (5)

Headlight\Corner
Screw 90160-40002 (8)
Grommet 90189-04069 (8)

I usually like to buy parts from my local dealer but :censor: that! Apparently ZT motors are out of their minds.

I called up and asked for prices and they wanted 2-3 dollars for every item, items that are in the in the .25 to $1 range.

With cost and shipping I was out the door for less than $25 from toyotapartsdeal.com

If you guys have a good site for items like this, let me know!

The irony to all this, is that I finally unpacked the new full grill and BOOM...hardware included. lol

I prefer the plastic grommets over the metal clips provided, so I'll stick to those.

Hopefully I'll have the fuel pump install video up this weekend.
Click to expand...
I literally was planning on putting an order in for all new grill hardware for my 60. Wanna sell me the excess you have?
 
Here's a current pic of Dolores as she sits.

IMG_6C609E445803-1.webp


Took her around the block and for a couple of stops.
 
NeverGiveUpYota said:
I literally was planning on putting an order in for all new grill hardware for my 60. Wanna sell me the excess you have?
Click to expand...

The parts I'm taking off aren't in that good condition (cracked, peeling, etc)

The hardware that came with the Cruiser Corps grill isn't like the Toyota plastic, it's these metal clips you can easily find cheap at a hardware store. I'll see if I can upload a pic.
 
Thanks, that would be awesome. My stuff is a wreck. I’ve left my grill off since I had the front end open because of that and I hated the ugly smittybilt tube bumper. The other day I chopped off the top arch which prior blocked the Toyota emblem.
 
NeverGiveUpYota said:
Thanks, that would be awesome. My stuff is a wreck. I’ve left my grill off since I had the front end open because of that and I hated the ugly smittybilt tube bumper. The other day I chopped off the top arch which prior blocked the Toyota emblem.
Click to expand...

Honestly, since I was putting the old grill back on I used zip ties, and it's on there pretty secure.

Some of the mounting holes on the plastics were broke or cracked, so I drilled small holes in the grill and light bezels and zipped tied them through the same mounting spots.

Barely noticeable.

I'll post a little video, once I get her back to the house.
 
Last edited:
Today I did a couple of things.

To address the non starting issue after the motor got hot I reinstalled the carburetor fan.

I had started another thread addressing this issue along with some over heating concerns and the awesome members of this forum had shined a light on my carburetor component ignorance.

Thanks guys.

I didn't get time to test the carburetor fan as I jumped into addressing another issue, but I did connect it to the battery and verified that it worked.

Now another issue. Why does it seem as if my alternator is bad?

With the Dolores running I took a multimeter to the pos and neg cables and got a reading of 12.2, which seems odd considering that it needs about 13+ volts to keep the battery topped up.

I believe the culprit is the fusible link. I tested the connection for continuity and 2 out of the 3 wires failed.

After doing some searching on IH8MUD, I think my best bet will be to rebuild the fusible link with some new wire.

stay tuned!

Oh yeah...

After rummaging around the engine bay looking for ground straps and what not I found this guy.

IMG_7171.webp

As you can see there's already ground connected to the battery so...where does this guy go?

I'll have to see where it terminates some other time as it got dark and the dinner bell was ringing.
 
My personal choice for replacing and upgrading the high current cables in a vehicle:

4 gage
Airgas - RAD64003501 - Radnor® #4 Flexible Welding Cable 25' HD Shrink Pack
2 gage
Airgas - RAD64003503 - Radnor® #2 Flexible Welding Cable 25' HD Shrink Pack

I've used marine style battery terminals in the past with eyelet style crimp connectors on the ends of the heavier cables. Makes it easier to take the cables off the battery when parking for a long time or for work needs. I usually wrap some red electrical tape around the positive cable or use some strips of red heat shrink to help keep things organized. 4 or 2 gage cables make a noticeable difference in starter speed, all light outputs, fan speeds etc.
 
ras0ne said:
Today I did a couple of things.

To address the non starting issue after the motor got hot I reinstalled the carburetor fan.

I had started another thread addressing this issue along with some over heating concerns and the awesome members of this forum had shined a light on my carburetor component ignorance.

Thanks guys.

I didn't get time to test the carburetor fan as I jumped into addressing another issue, but I did connect it to the battery and verified that it worked.

Now another issue. Why does it seem as if my alternator is bad?

With the Dolores running I took a multimeter to the pos and neg cables and got a reading of 12.2, which seems odd considering that it needs about 13+ volts to keep the battery topped up.

I believe the culprit is the fusible link. I tested the connection for continuity and 2 out of the 3 wires failed.

After doing some searching on IH8MUD, I think my best bet will be to rebuild the fusible link with some new wire.

stay tuned!

Oh yeah...

After rummaging around the engine bay looking for ground straps and what not I found this guy.

View attachment 1712948
As you can see there's already ground connected to the battery so...where does this guy go?

I'll have to see where it terminates some other time as it got dark and the dinner bell was ringing.
Click to expand...
Holy ugly! Fix that crap ASAP. I rebuilt mine from most of the existing pieces. I did buy the middle section new from the dealer a few years ago for I think less than $30. It’s in my thread near the beginning.
 
Did a little more trouble shooting today with the multimeter and I believe the alternator is bad.

Completely pulled the fusible link and test it. All was good.

Re-tested the alternator with some additional wire clips and what not and it's not producing power beyond the 12 something volts the battery is putting out.

I don't think the carburetor fan is coming on, so I'm also going to have to troubleshoot that. More than likely it's a censor or wiring issue I'll have to chase down.

I tell you what....by the time it's said and done, Dolores is hindering what my original plan was.

"Do nothing to the motor, because LS swap"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom