Build 1987 FJ60 Revival

[CruiserTrash]

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!

There are no uncracked HVAC bezels out there unfortunately, but CruiserHead, Rust Farmers, and trail Tailor all make replacements. B pillar interior trim is almost impossible to find uncracked too. You could try Classic Cruisers in Colorado for a used one but make clear if you want a perfect one. Otherwise Rust Farmers is repopping those too.

 

[amjadi123]

There are no uncracked HVAC bezels out there unfortunately, but CruiserHead, Rust Farmers, and trail Tailor all make replacements. B pillar interior trim is almost impossible to find uncracked too. You could try Classic Cruisers in Colorado for a used one but make clear if you want a perfect one. Otherwise Rust Farmers is repopping those too.

It was a shot in the dark. Appreciate it though. I've been eyeing the repros from Rust Farmers and will just bite the bullet and buy them. They're actually decently priced for what they are and the R&D that went into them. This truck sure hasn't been cheap, lol.

 

[Godwin]

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.

That is a really sketchy reply from the seller. If you can spend 30 minutes, do a compression test and sell for more, why not do it.

 

[amjadi123]

Alright, time for a quick update over the past two months.

The guys at the shop did an okay job putting the engine into the truck. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to my cars so of course I had to go through everything and discovered a few main things I wasn't okay with:

1. The engine mounts were installed upside down, lol
2. They used blue gasket maker around the water pump and thermostat housing
3. They used gasket maker on the new intake/exhaust manifold gasket

I went in and corrected the engine mount orientation but left the water pump, thermostat and manifold alone. If they become an issue down the road I'll address them, but for now I just want to get this thing back on the road as quickly as possible.

Dealing with old parts comes with its issues, one being the VSV on the thermostat had two broken nipples. I 'fixed' it by drilling slightly larger diameter holes and adding two replacement plastic nipples and a small amount of sealer. Kind of a hillbilly fix so we'll see if it lasts.

The original air rail on the truck ended up cracking when the guys at the shop removed it. This is my fault as I should have removed it myself beforehand but I didn't have the time. Thankfully I had a good replacement on hand so I removed the rust using an acid solution and sprayed it with multiple coats of high-temp VHT black paint. Fingers crossed it lasts the life of the truck now. I don't have a pic of it painted but will add one in this thread eventually.

I cleaned the valve cover prior to install. Here it is next to the old one. Think it cleaned up pretty well!

With the valve cover off the replacement engine I noticed the top of the head has been painted orange. I haven't seen this done before, but it makes sense since this head was rebuilt recently. Anyone know what kind of coating this could be and if its normal practice?

I also did a few other things not pictured like replace the battery tray with a SS replacement, replaced the clutch master and slave cylinder, and fixed some of the wiring in the engine bay.

To prep for the first start, I installed the carb, throttle linkage and vacuum lines. I also filled it with coolant and 15w40 diesel oil. I quickly threw on the air cleaner to see if I could get this thing going...

Then I moved to fuel so I pulled the fuel sender and sure enough it was crusty. What surprised me is that the fuel tank is FULL of old gas so now I have to figure out a way to get ~16 or so gallons of varnished fuel out of the tank and disposed of. I'm hoping the fuel somewhat protected the inside of the tank from rusting but I won't know until I drain it. I have a good spare tank incase its too far gone.

Since I wasn't able to use the crusty fuel tank I did what any sane person would do and I grabbed a clean jar, filled it with new gas, added a new fuel line and connected it to the fuel pump. With a fire extinguisher handy I grabbed the key and went for it.

I'm happy to report that the engine runs! The carb definitely needs to be fine tuned, especially since the engine and carb were de-smogged but hearing it run for the time was such a good feeling after all the issues it had. I still have a long way ahead with getting it on the road but the largest milestone is behind me now.

Now that its running I'm moving on to the fuel tank and brakes. Then once those are addressed I'll move onto assembling the interior and exterior.

'till the next update!

 

[CruiserTrash]

Alright, time for a quick update over the past two months.

The guys at the shop did an okay job putting the engine into the truck. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to my cars so of course I had to go through everything and discovered a few main things I wasn't okay with:

1. The engine mounts were installed upside down, lol
2. They used blue gasket maker around the water pump and thermostat housing
3. They used gasket maker on the new intake/exhaust manifold gasket

I went in and corrected the engine mount orientation but left the water pump, thermostat and manifold alone. If they become an issue down the road I'll address them, but for now I just want to get this thing back on the road as quickly as possible.

Dealing with old parts comes with its issues, one being the VSV on the thermostat had two broken nipples. I 'fixed' it by drilling slightly larger diameter holes and adding two replacement plastic nipples and a small amount of sealer. Kind of a hillbilly fix so we'll see if it lasts.

View attachment 4164411

The original air rail on the truck ended up cracking when the guys at the shop removed it. This is my fault as I should have removed it myself beforehand but I didn't have the time. Thankfully I had a good replacement on hand so I removed the rust using an acid solution and sprayed it multiple coats of high-temp VHT black paint. Fingers crossed it lasts the life of the truck now. I don't have a pic of it painted but will take one eventually.

View attachment 4164412

I cleaned the valve cover prior to install. Here it is next to the old one. Think it cleaned up pretty well!

View attachment 4164413

With the valve cover off the replacement engine I noticed the top of the head has been painted orange. I haven't seen this done before, but it makes sense since this head was rebuilt recently. Anyone know what kind of coating this could be and if its normal practice?

View attachment 4164414

I also did a few other things not pictured like replace the battery tray with a SS replacement and replaced the clutch master and slave cylinder.

To prep for the first start, I installed the carb, throttle linkage and vacuum lines. I also filled it with coolant and 15w40 diesel oil. I quickly threw on the air cleaner to see if I could get this thing going...

I pulled the fuel sender and sure enough it was crusty. What surprised me is that the fuel tank is FULL of old gas so now I have to figure out a way to get ~16 or so gallons of varnished fuel out of the tank and disposed of. I'm hoping the fuel somewhat protected the inside of the tank from rusting but I won't know until I drain it. I have a good spare tank incase its too far gone.

I was excited to get it running so I did what any sane person would do and I grabbed a clean jar, filled it with new gas, added a new fuel line and connected it to the fuel pump. With a fire extinguisher handy I grabbed the key and went for it.

View attachment 4164415

I'm happy to report that the engine runs! The carb definitely needs to be fine tuned, especially since the engine and carb were de-smogged but hearing it run for the time was such a good feeling after all the issues it had. I still have a long way ahead with getting it on the road but the largest milestone is behind me now.

Now that its running I'm moving on to the fuel tank and brakes. Then once those are addressed I'll move onto assembling the interior and exterior.

'till the next update!

Nice!

FYI on that paint there’s a brand called Glyptal that’s advertised as being exactly for that purpose - it supposedly speeds up oil return from the top end because it provides a smoother surface than the cast iron. So it could be that. Of course I’m not saying whether or not that paint’s effective, I’m just aware that it exists. People argue in hot rod forums about it if that says anything.

 

[amjadi123]

Nice!

FYI on that paint there’s a brand called Glyptal that’s advertised as being exactly for that purpose - it supposedly speeds up oil return from the top end because it provides a smoother surface than the cast iron. So it could be that. Of course I’m not saying whether or not that paint’s effective, I’m just aware that it exists. People argue in hot rod forums about it if that says anything.

Thank you! I'm glad its running even though it took replacing the engine. Good point on the paint on the head, figured it was something like that.

One other thing I noticed is that the tops of the pistons have the number '10' written on them. I tried to cross check the pic of my piston against pics of stock 2F pistons, but I wasn't able to find any with the number '10' on them. Does anyone know if these look stock or are they overbore?

I also drained most of the gas out of the tank and it looked more brown than a bottle of a jim bean, lol. Also, its hard to tell but I think the baffle might have rusted off.

I don't know if I'll be able to clean it out with it on the truck so I'm most likely just going to pull it. But, if I pull it I might as well just swap on the good used tank I have. Either way just hoping dropping the tank doesn't take me too long.

 

[amjadi123]

I bit the bullet and dropped the fuel tank yesterday in 95 degree heat in a tight garage on the floor, lol. It was probably one of the top ten most miserable things I've had to do to this truck yet, but I'm glad I did. I fought every bolt and the spare tire carrier on its way down. The tank is super jonesed and has a hole near the suction tube inlet so I'm trashing it and installing my good spare tank. Unfortunately, the passenger side strap retaining nut spun on me so I wasn't able to full remove it and will have to deal with it later.

Not what I wanted to do on my week off but I'm sick of seeing this truck sitting!

This hole explains why the tank was so rusty on the inside. I pushed my finger through it and it gave soooo easily.