Builds 1989 GCC Spec FJ62 G Trim

[boozewz]

Well, a chance came up on a '89 FJ62 in gray, which is one of my favorite LC colours, and so I pulled the trigger. The wagon came from the southern mountainous region of Asir, and had 678,414Km on her. A guy I know went and checked her out, drove it, and said the drivetrain is all good, the motor pulls very well, shifts are smooth, and brakes are fully operational. The body, not so much, with a few dings and scratches, the roof dented in a few places, some chipped body filler, and a sun beaten hood. No matter I thought, good enough for me, considering I have plans for her down the road.

Specs are 3F, H55 trans, split case, full floater rear, factory AC, front passenger bench seat, 3rd row jump seats, manual windows, no console, and no tach.

In the meantime, here she is.



Roof grab handles are key!



GCC trucks came with both tail gate and barn doors. I think the 60's came with both, but 62's only came with the barn doors. At least I have not seen any tail gated 62's around here.









Chipped hood



Lower rear rocker is filled with body filler







Dent on the roof from overloading cheap locally made roof racks that are not clamped to the rain gutter.

 

[boozewz]

Interior shots

 

[boozewz]

Some mechanical randomness.















G trim 62's came with split steelies, and not these 70 series steelies that the PO had on. I like these.





Ignition key still works, after nearly 3 decades and no teeth!



And the plans are:

 

[4Cruisers]

I like those 70-Series wheels also. I bought a new set for my '86 FJ60 project. What size tires? I went with 235/85R16s for that tall skinny look.

It looks like your FJ62 has a lot of features never offered here in the US, like the 3F, barn doors, and rear jump seats.

 

[SteveH]

It cracks me up that you have blanking plate where the tach should be. That's the sort of thing they usually do for US customers! I do like the emission-free carb on the 3F - you can see the sight glass without an hour's disassembly of junk on top of the engine. Nice truck.

 

[klinetime574]

That's a unique ride. As soon as you said "no tach" I was wondering what it would look like in my head. Literally a blank plate filling the hole. Classic!

Conversion to miles from kilometers is 421 thousand miles!!! How is the engine/interior/undercarriage that clean?!

Thanks for sharing all those photos. Good to see what LC's look like in other parts of the world!

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Yeah, that's a cool truck. Congrats!



-Ed

 

[boozewz]

Back tracking to Dec 2014, way before I bought the 62, I had my eye out on getting a FJ43, and was planning to drop a 1HZ into it. So while I was waiting for the deal to go through, I picked up a used 1HZ from the junkyard out of a 1997 HZJ80. The FJ43 never materialized, and so the block sat in my garage for nearly a year. Now that I had the 62, I thought great, why not drop the 1HZ in her.

Only it was not so great when we got to opening up the 1HZ.



















Cylinder head was cracked in two places



One of the cracks











Took the block to the machine shop and the results came back negative. Block has been machined twice already and is toast.



I should have known, picking up an engine from a junkyard that did not come out of a rollover. Chances are its there because the motor is done.

Oh well....The dealer had a 1HZ short block in stock.

I pulled the trigger on that

 

[boozewz]

New short block unwrapped







And with a short turnaround time, the motor was put together.



I'm pumped! I've worked with Ahmed a local engine builder/hot rodder that has done plenty of engine swaps in American muscle cars, as well as a LS conversion for my cousins FJ45 pickup. He does super clean work. He even helped install the turbo on my HZJ80. But as far as diesel swaps are concerned, he's never done one before. Mind you, apart from the turbo he installed, he's never worked on a diesel before. He was well up for the challenge.

Meanwhile, I started ordering the parts needed for slotting this into the 62.

The H55 mated to a 3F comes with a different input shaft than for the 1HZ. Also got a HZJ75 bellhousing to match













And we also ordered the FJ60/62 1HZ engine mounts from Valley Hybrids.

 

[boozewz]

Next up, Ahmed begins pulling out the 3F, which will go to a good home.



Old mounts cut off



The guys at Ahmed's shop swapped out the input shaft



Then we proceeded to drop the motor in







Thats when we hit a bit of a snag



The motor was not mounting onto the engine frame mounts. This is the PS side. The DS side was sitting snug. Also, the engine was sitting way too low, with about only 3" of clearance between the sump and the diff housing



After a quick chat with @orangefj45 at Valley Hybrids, we came to realize that engine mounts for the HZJ80 are different than the HZJ7*. So back to the dealer to order the correct mounts.

Below pic illustrates the difference. Left is the HZJ80 mount, and the right is a HZJ79 (2015 model) mount



Mounted, and bolted right up.





Motor sitting in place







Its almost like this was desgined to fit the 60/62. Everything just fits like a glove. We did not even have to touch the transmission cross member.

 

[boozewz]

We also noted that the clutch cylinder from the FJ62 does not mount with the new HZJ75 bellhousing. The space between the bolts dont line up.



The correct part number.



Bolt holes are closer together than pic above.

 

[boozewz]

Firing up the motor for the first time. (edited video now)

This is without the muffler. Surprisingly quiet for diesel! And a very crude vibration test

 

[boozewz]

Next up was installing the OME lift and tires











Next to my '82 Troopy



With the swap done, she's now home.

 

[cruisermatt]

So you like 1HZ's huh?

Seriously, that 62 is super sweet.

Can you provide more details on the swap, air filter, cooling, tach, throttle linkage, fan, etc.? Performance compared to 3F? Turbo plans?

 

[klinetime574]

Those wheels and tires look fantastic on the truck. What tire pressure are you running and how is the ride? I worry about Load Range E tires on a 60-Series being too stiff.

 

[mongoose2231]

Ok ok, no one said it so I will. If you ever want to sell your jump seats please, I called it first. Great truck by the way, very unique. Love it!! Good luck with it but seriously, the seats... I want them

 

[boozewz]

So you like 1HZ's huh?

Seriously, that 62 is super sweet.

Can you provide more details on the swap, air filter, cooling, tach, throttle linkage, fan, etc.? Performance compared to 3F? Turbo plans?

What's not to like about the 1HZ

We used the stock 62 air box with a custom made rubber elbow to connect it to the intake. We tried to use the HZJ80 air box that came with the motor but it sat too high in the bay and the hood wouldn't close. 62 air box works well.

For cooling we used the stock 62 radiator, and flipped the shroud upside down and it fit like a glove. Aligns dead on with the fan too. That was a nice, and much needed surprise as opposed to fabbing up a shroud.

Throttle linkage was super easy with the stock 3F/62 throttle cable directly connected to the FIP.

Performance wise, grunt low end is much, much better on the 1HZ. The 3F pulled very nicely and kept pulling when going 90-120km/h, but down low, at lower speed and rpm was almost a little gutless compared to the 1HZ. And of course, the mileage is at least double over the 3F.

Turbo is in the plans, but much later down the road. I have one on my HZJ80 DD, and love it!

 

[boozewz]

Those wheels and tires look fantastic on the truck. What tire pressure are you running and how is the ride? I worry about Load Range E tires on a 60-Series being too stiff.

Thank you sir! Currently running 35psi. Have not driven her much yet to give good feedback. These are my first set of non BFG KM2 tires I run for years, so will have to get used to them. But first impressions are they're super quiet and smooth compared to the KM2s. Naturally. Which is very nice. No off road trips done yet on the Coopers, so that's where the real test will be.

Ok ok, no one said it so I will. If you ever want to sell your jump seats please, I called it first. Great truck by the way, very unique. Love it!! Good luck with it but seriously, the seats... I want them

Haven't really thought about what to do with the jump seats other than they're not going back in the truck. Seriously though, the shipping will be the deal breaker for you. They don't weigh much, but the volume alone will co$t a pretty penny. PM if you are still interested.

Cheers

 

[boozewz]

Next up I replaced the mirrors with a set of 70 series mirrors.

 

[boozewz]

The interior tear down commenced



Carpet is in decent nick





Drivers seat was the only one that had a tear in it








So far things are looking good







Barn doors are good