Build 1987 FJ60 Revival

[amjadi123]

Hey all, not much of an update for this week. I was in NY for a work trip last week and its been a little cold here in Chicago so its been harder to convince myself to go work on the truck in the yard.

Before I left on my trip, I made sure to put some seafoam on and near the stuck valve on cylinder 6 so hopefully it'll work its way free with a few taps of a rubber mallet.

I purchased the Hygrade carb rebuild kit and am rebuilding the carb now. Its extremely dirty and it looks like someone has messed with it before because one of the rivets over a jet was ground to get to a screw. I have it all apart now and am planning on thoroughly cleaning everything before reassembly.

This is my "workbench" situation. Currently tearing into it during breaks from work.

Fingers crossed I get the carb rebuilt in the next few days so that I can throw it back on the truck. I'm only hoping to get it running enough to drive it into the garage so I can work out of the cold because its pretty unbearable.

Also, it looks like the more I dig the more issues I find... I found my issue of the tail gate and hatch not sitting flush. Its dented outward from having too much weight on it. I saw a few folks on this forum have tried putting a football in the cavity to bend it back out but I'm struggling to get the football in there, lol. Does anyone have any recs on how to unbend it? I wish I would have seen this before paint so I could have fixed it without worrying about messing up the paint.

Lastly, I decided on getting a new carpet kit vs. reusing the old carpet so if anyone has any recs on good brands to go with let me know. I saw there were some options on RockAuto but unsure of the quality with those.

 

[Lucky1386]

Hey all, not much of an update for this week. I was in NY for a work trip last week and its been a little cold here in Chicago so its been harder to convince myself to go work on the truck in the yard.

Before I left on my trip, I made sure to put some seafoam on and near the stuck valve on cylinder 6 so hopefully it'll work its way free with a few taps of a rubber mallet.

View attachment 4033674

I purchased the Hygrade carb rebuild kit and am rebuilding the carb now. Its extremely dirty and it looks like someone has messed with it before because one of the rivets over a jet was ground to get to a screw. I have it all apart now and am planning on thoroughly cleaning everything before reassembly.

View attachment 4033673

This is my "workbench" situation. Currently tearing into it during breaks from work.

View attachment 4033676

Fingers crossed I get the carb rebuilt in the next few days so that I can throw it back on the truck. I'm only hoping to get it running enough to drive it into the garage so I can work out of the cold because its pretty unbearable.

Also, it looks like the more I dig the more issues I find... I found my issue of the tail gate and hatch not sitting flush. Its dented outward from having too much weight on it. I saw a few folks on this forum have tried putting a football in the cavity to bend it back out but I'm struggling to get the football in there, lol. Does anyone have any recs on how to unbend it? I wish I would have seen this before paint so I could have fixed it without worrying about messing up the paint.

View attachment 4033684

Lastly, I decided on getting a new carpet kit vs. reusing the old carpet so if anyone has any recs on good brands to go with let me know. I saw there were some options on RockAuto but unsure of the quality with those.

There is someone on here that sells really great carpet kits. Can't remember name but if you use search function you can find it. Great work on the rig.

 

[RevISK]

@dnp is the carpet dude.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@RDub is the expert philosopher on bent tailgates

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Put a straight piece of thick metal on top of the open tailgate then use a bunch of c-clamps to pull it straight.

It's an old trick I learned from the 80 series forums. I did it on my 80 series, years ago.

After straightening the tailgate, don't sit in the middle anymore unless you stiffen it up with a tailgate storage frame.

Hey all, not much of an update for this week. I was in NY for a work trip last week and its been a little cold here in Chicago so its been harder to convince myself to go work on the truck in the yard.

Before I left on my trip, I made sure to put some seafoam on and near the stuck valve on cylinder 6 so hopefully it'll work its way free with a few taps of a rubber mallet.

View attachment 4033674

I purchased the Hygrade carb rebuild kit and am rebuilding the carb now. Its extremely dirty and it looks like someone has messed with it before because one of the rivets over a jet was ground to get to a screw. I have it all apart now and am planning on thoroughly cleaning everything before reassembly.

View attachment 4033673

This is my "workbench" situation. Currently tearing into it during breaks from work.

View attachment 4033676

Fingers crossed I get the carb rebuilt in the next few days so that I can throw it back on the truck. I'm only hoping to get it running enough to drive it into the garage so I can work out of the cold because its pretty unbearable.

Also, it looks like the more I dig the more issues I find... I found my issue of the tail gate and hatch not sitting flush. Its dented outward from having too much weight on it. I saw a few folks on this forum have tried putting a football in the cavity to bend it back out but I'm struggling to get the football in there, lol. Does anyone have any recs on how to unbend it? I wish I would have seen this before paint so I could have fixed it without worrying about messing up the paint.

View attachment 4033684

Lastly, I decided on getting a new carpet kit vs. reusing the old carpet so if anyone has any recs on good brands to go with let me know. I saw there were some options on RockAuto but unsure of the quality with those.

 

[amjadi123]

There is someone on here that sells really great carpet kits. Can't remember name but if you use search function you can find it. Great work on the rig.

Thanks, think I found them! I did some more research and purchased the ACC kit in dark brown #629 off RockAuto.

@dnp is the carpet dude.

Thank you!

@RDub is the expert philosopher on bent tailgates

Thank you, I tried finding a post by them on the tail gate but wasn't able to. Do you happen to remember which one it was or have a link?

Put a straight piece of thick metal on top of the open tailgate then use a bunch of c-clamps to pull it straight.

It's an old trick I learned from the 80 series forums. I did it on my 80 years ago.

After straightening the tailgate, don't sit in the middle anymore unless you stiffen it up with a tailgate storage frame.

Thanks, not a bad idea. I'll give that a shot. I was thinking of grabbing a a storage kit from Orikawa but not sure I want to swing it yet with all the other stuff I have to fix first. I may try fabbng something myself but we'll see.

 

[amjadi123]

Quick update for today. Since its been a little cold out, I've been working on stuff that I can do from inside the house.

For today's project I wanted to fix my cracked choke knob. While trying to start the truck a few weeks back I pulled on the knob and sure enough it cracked into pieces. I started to look around for replacement knobs but was quoted ridiculous prices from folks that part these trucks out, ~$100 for just the knob itself. I'm honestly surprised that 1. Toyota still offers the choke cable but not the knob, and 2. No one has recreated a plastic knob yet (I've seen the anodized aluminum one and don't feel like spending that kind of change on it).

That got me to start tinkering with designing a simple file that I can 3d print as the knob itself is fine and only the center portion that reads choke is broken.

Here is the how the broken knob looked before. The plastic was so brittle it cracked into pieces.

I cleaned out the broken plastic disk in the center and took some measurements with a digital caliper. Check out the gnarly spider sac.

Heres where I'm at so far with the design. I tried to get it as close as possible to the font that Toyota used but its still a work in progress. I'm also going to extend the plastic center portion so it sticks out more on the knob and then also taper the edges it so it sits flush. Not bad for 30 mins of work though!

 

[amjadi123]

Alright, I spent a few more hours on the design and iterations and think I have the replacement knob cap in a state I'm happy with. I'm by no means a pro at designing in CAD but I think I held my own here. I adjusted the sizing of the design to have a stepped edge so that it'll not only snap into the knob housing but also protrude around 1mm out. I also played around with ironing the top surface and adjusted the font size which I think helped a lot.

I'm really, really happy with how it turned out. I used PETG so it'll be resistant to heat but can play around with other materials in the future. Check it out!

V1, V2, and V3 iterations...

Check out the differences between the 3 versions and improvement in quality in greater detail here...

This is the edge of the inside of knob where the cap will 'snap' into...

V3 installed!

I'd say this is a bit better than paying ~$100 for a used knob . It also feels pretty cool to have designed something that I'll use on the truck. Happy Saturday!

 

[RevISK]

Alright, I spent a few more hours on the design and iterations and think I have the replacement knob cap in a state I'm happy with. I'm by no means a pro at designing in CAD but I think I held my own here. I adjusted the sizing of the design to have a stepped edge so that it'll not only snap into the knob housing but also protrude around 1mm out. I also played around with ironing the top surface and adjusted the font size which I think helped a lot.

I'm really, really happy with how it turned out. I used PETG so it'll be resistant to heat but can play around with other materials in the future. Check it out!

V1, V2, and V3 iterations...
View attachment 4035386

Check out the differences between the 3 versions and improvement in quality in greater detail here...
View attachment 4035387

This is the edge of the inside of knob where the cap will 'snap' into...
View attachment 4035388

V3 installed!
View attachment 4035389View attachment 4035390

I'd say this is a bit better than paying ~$100 for a used knob . It also feels pretty cool to have designed something that I'll use on the truck. Happy Saturday!

Awesome

 

[Skniper]

Put a straight piece of thick metal on top of the open tailgate then use a bunch of c-clamps to pull it straight.

It's an old trick I learned from the 80 series forums. I did it on my 80 years ago.

After straightening the tailgate, don't sit in the middle anymore unless you stiffen it up with a tailgate storage frame.

I bent the hell out of my tailgate years ago carrying a big load of treated 2x6, I can see daylight through the bottom seal. How do you get the clamps inside the tailgate cavity to pull up the bend? The only way I can see it is if you cut out the whole center piece as if installing a tailgate storage unit. I've hesitated to do a tailgate storage because of the bend...maybe it's the way fix and hide the bend.

I had a body guy look at it, he said it's a pretty hard bend to fix because the weight also bowed the whole lower edge of the tailgate down/out. That's some pretty stiff metal down there with little access.
(sorry for the hijack )

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

I bent the hell out of my tailgate years ago carrying a big load of treated 2x6, I can see daylight through the bottom seal. How do you get the clamps inside the tailgate cavity to pull up the bend? The only way I can see it is if you cut out the whole center piece as if installing a tailgate storage unit. I've hesitated to do a tailgate storage because of the bend...maybe it's the way fix and hide the bend.

I had a body guy look at it, he said it's a pretty hard bend to fix because the weight also bowed the whole lower edge of the tailgate down/out. That's some pretty stiff metal down there with little access.
(sorry for the hijack )

If it's that bent then I guess you need a replacement tailgate. The technique I suggested was for straightening the upper lip if it was bent due to a heavy weight on the center.
Larger bends would require more in depth repairs.

 

[amjadi123]

Hey all, slowly getting some things done here and there the past few weeks. I've been trying to focus on getting the white FJ60 ready to list for sale soon as I could use the space and am in over my head with projects. I'm going to list it here first in the classified section and potentially FB marketplace. The only items left that I've debated fixing is the torn seat and then repairing a small section of rust on the right section of the frame near where leaf spring is held. But its been a month and I don't think I'll have the time to repair either. Its a great, clean truck with a lot of the difficult/expensive items taken care of already. Heres a quick run down before I list it:

The good:
- Runs and drives great, 4WD works
- Professional full windows out repaint using PPG/high-end materials
- Extremely clean interior with perfect original dash and carpet
- All door panels/cargo panels are present and in great condition
- Original toolkit and jack are present
- Original manual
- Working original radio
- New pioneer speakers
- 31x10.5x15 BFG KO2s
- New door vapor barriers
- 3M cavity wax has been applied in every crevice of the interior body panels (inside doors, door jambs, quarter panels, under rocker moldings, etc.)
- TrailTailor Rear C-channels
- TrailTailor Rear Crossmember
- Upgraded locking center console, perfect condition original console is included
- OEM mud flaps included, not installed
- OEM inclinometer included, not installed
- Desmogged
- New OEM antenna
- Saginaw power steering pump upgrade
- New drive belts
- New exhaust
- New oil pan
- New oil pump
- New exhaust manifold gasket
- New valve cover gasket

Needs attention:
- Torn drivers seat bottom
- Cracked headlight washer housing

300k miles, good compression. Its a good truck with a lot of life left in it. I'll take updated pictures when the snow melts and rain has washed away salt on the roads. I know the market has softened a bit but I haven't been able to find anything as nice under $20k recently.

1/12/26 edit: Pending sale and pickup to a fellow FJ60 guy

 

[amjadi123]

Alright, moving on, heres an update on progress on the tan FJ60. Its been cold and snowy here so honestly haven't done much.

First order of business.. take a look at what I'm battling against!

I moved the carb rebuild down to the basement and continued taking everything apart.

Things are definitely looking crusty...

 

[amjadi123]

Aside from the carb rebuild I've started on cleaning and extracting the interior, starting with the two front seats. The front seats are in good condition with no tears, however they are a bit sun faded near the top portion. They were COVERED in dirt and dust from sitting in the shop and there were some really deep stains on one of them. It sort of looked like grease or coffee but to my surprise the extractor was able to get mostly everything out!

Driver seat..

Passenger seat.. take a look at the stains on this one, lol.

I used blue dawn dish soap and hot water in the extractor and to my surprise they came back a fair amount. I probably went over them 3 times with the extractor and then finished off with a rinse cycle with water only. I should have taken a pic of the color of the water that came out of the seats, it was literally black.

Looking good enough for me!

 

[amjadi123]

Things are moving along this week and last. My girlfriend and I drove up to MN to visit family for the holiday last week. Not sure about you guys, but anytime I'm away from home I'm checking FB marketplace for deals and of course there was a guy local to St. Paul that was modding a low mileage, California FJ60 into a dedicated off-road rig with an LS swap. He ended up selling me the engine with all accessories, front and rear bumpers, and CLEAN non-rusty gas tank for a great deal. The engine came with paperwork documenting a full head rebuild with new valves from a dedicated Land Cruiser shop.

I thankfully was able to fit all of these parts in the back of my 4runner for the drive back, including the engine, lol. The 4runner has a TRD supercharger, Bilstein 5100s and OME 906 springs in back and took it like a champ. We were loaded up for the drive back with luggage on the roof and another passenger in back. There was a nasty snow storm and we had to keep a speed of ~30mph for 200 miles which was miserable, but thankfully we made it back safe and sound.

4runner loaded up for the drive!

Theres a 2F back there somewhere, lol.

The highway was brutal and we saw around 5 accidents on the way back...

I dropped off the engine at my families shop and will get to it later. It came with a Saginaw power steering pump kit but I'm likely going to rebuild and stick with the OEM pump so that I can retain the SMOG stuff. All that said now I'm debating swapping out the low compression engine for this new one I bought or continuing the journey of trying to get the engine thats in it running again by freeing the stuck exhaust valve. Decisions, decisions...

If I swap the 2F, I'll have to do it at my house in my garage, which I can do but it would be a bit of work to transport the engine back to my house, borrow a hoist and dedicate a weekend or two, or three, or four... or five, or six.... to swap it.

 

[amjadi123]

Hey all, figured I'd add a quick update to this thread and what I thought was a stuck valve. I removed the rocker from the number 6 exhaust valve and tried everything I could to free it. As a final check, I used a telescoping magnet and slid it in where the push rod goes and confirmed the lifter moves up and down freely, so its not stuck like I thought previously.

After all this, I'm pretty certain the cam is completely wiped on the number 6 exhaust valve. Thankfully I have a rebuilt motor I'm going to swap in so its not the end of the world but really bummed I wasn't able to get this motor going.

Word of advice for anyone buying something that "drove when parked". Whatever you do make sure you compression test it before buying. I should have known better when the seller told me he "didn't have time to compression test and would charge me more if he tested it", lol. Its absolutely my fault though, and part of the risk of buying used and site unseen. I'm going to get the truck towed back to the shop this week to swap in the replacement motor. Once its swapped in, I'm going to tow it back to my place and start putting it back together. I absolutely should have went with replacing the motor months ago.

 

[amjadi123]

Boy do I have an update today, lol.

I had the FJ60 towed to my family's shop on Thursday and a day later my dad gave me a call letting me know that the engine was out. Great, I'm stoked on the one day turn around, but while on the phone with him he also hit me with a "Oh by the way, you never noticed that the block had a hole it?".

He sent me a pic and sure enough theres a gaping hole on cylinder 6.

ROFL connecting rod left the chat

This is what a fresh motor with NO HOLES in the block looks like:

I'm a little upset I didn't notice it until the engine was out but in my defense it was covered by the manifold so it was hard to see.

I also want to give the seller (who is known to the FJ60 community very well and parts these out in TN) the benefit of the doubt, BUT I find it hard to believe they weren't aware of the hole in the block. When I reached out to him about buying this truck I asked if he would compression test it for me and he told me, "No it'll take me time to do that and if the compression test is good then I'll have to sell the truck for more". I guess now I know why he wasn't willing to do that for me, live and learn.

The good news is that I have the spare rebuilt motor (without holes in the block ) that I bought from an honest seller and stand up dude. The motor will be installed on Monday and I'll tow the truck back to my garage to install the engine accessories, smog equipment, carb, manifold, and interior.

Happy Saturday y'all.

 

[amjadi123]

Alright the replacement engine is installed and the truck is back at my house and in the garage! Now the real fun begins. The guys at the shop helped me out and installed a new thermostat, belts, hoses (clamps incoming), and accessories.

Ignore all the dust and dirt, I'll make sure to clean everything up as I reassemble. Because the fuel lines were removed, the smell of varnished gas is overtaking my garage so I'll have to sort that ASAP. I have a clean replacement tank that I'll install soon.

The replacement engine and carb that I bought were de-smogged and one issue I'm facing is the air rail nozzles. I tried removing the old ones from the head of the blown engine and of course broke 4 of them. Fortunately, I bought all of the smog equipment from someone off of a 60k mile FJ60, including a perfect air rail and smog pump, sadly no air tube nozzles though.

I'm going to install all of the lower mileage smog equipment aside from the smog pump. Hoping that the one on the engine works and I'll keep the replacement as a spare.

Does anyone know the NPT sizes of the threads going into the head and then into the air rail? I may try and build my own at the hardware store. If not, does anyone know where I can get replacements?

This has been one hell of a project, nearly 2 years in the making.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Alright the replacement engine is installed and the truck is back at my house and in the garage! Now the real fun begins. The guys at the shop helped me out and installed a new thermostat, belts, hoses (clamps incoming), and accessories.

View attachment 4123132

Ignore all the dust and dirt, I'll make sure to clean everything up as I reassemble. Because the fuel line were removed, the smell of varnished gas is overtaking my garage so I'll have to sort that ASAP. I have a clean replacement tank that I'll install soon.

View attachment 4123133

The replacement engine and carb that I bought were de-smogged and one issue I'm facing is the air rail nozzles. I tried removing the old ones from the head of the blown engine and of course broke 4 of them. Fortunately, I bought all of the smog equipment from someone off of a 60k mile FJ60, including a perfect air rail and smog pump, sadly no air tube nozzles though.

View attachment 4123138

I'm going to install all of the lower mileage smog equipment aside from the smog pump. Hoping that the one on the engine works and I'll keep the replacement as a spare.

View attachment 4123137

View attachment 4123139

Does anyone know the NPT sizes of the threads going into the head and then into the air rail? I may try and build my own at the hardware store. If not, does anyone know where I can get replacements?

This has been one hell of a project, nearly 2 years in the making.

I don’t know the thread pitch & size of the head fittings for the air rail … but I have a couple decent used sets I’d let go of.

 

[amjadi123]

I don’t know the thread pitch & size of the head fittings for the air rail … but I have a couple decent used sets I’d let go of.

Thank you! Appreciate the offer but I was able to source some from someone in VA about 30 mins after this post.

I do need some other odds and ends for the interior in tan. If you have a non cracked climate control trim and right side B pillar, let me know!