87 FJ60 - "Willie" "The Beast" Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[Rusto]

Wrench week was a success! I was able to get through almost all of my to do's with the Cruiers.

1. Power Steering upgrade came off without a hitch. Before and after is noticeably better. Feels stronger and smoother at the same time. Plus, no leaks! Looks great too.
2. Next up was the carb and vacuum lines. I cannot thank Mud enough on this one. Through MUD, I found the secret to making this an easy swap - the stubby 12mm wrench! I took my 12/14 open end wrench to ACE and had them cut it the 14mm end off, giving me a shorter wrench. This make getting the 12mm carb nuts off very easy. Labeling all of the vacuum lines is a must as well. I had 21 different vacuum lines labeled by the time I was ready to remove the carb.
3. Also, the extendable magnet is a nice to have, as those little carb bolts have a tendency to drop into the nether regions of my engine compartment. The magnet found them.
4. Overall, it was a pretty easy swap.

with the newly rebuilt carb from Trail Tailor was ready to bolt on. I'm sure it's a combination of the new vacuum lines, fixed EGR leak and new carb, but my 60 is running spectacularly! Easier to start, smooth and quiet acceleration through the power band, not popping backfires while idling downhill or shifting. Dare i say, the Land Cruiser is driving as if it were new. Best it's ran in my three years of ownership that's for sure. SOO very nice.


- one thing that is not 100% dialed in is the carb linkage. Is there a trick to getting the cotter pins to hold the rod going back to the bell crank? My initial test drive was going great, then that came lose and my gas pedal no worky. I was able to get it fixed, but that cotter pin that holds it all together looks to be a weak link in the throttle linage.

 

[Rusto]

Next up was the interior. Great kit from @dnp. The process took longer than expected, as it was a lot of "fit, measure, pull, trim, refit, measure, pull, trim, etc.. but before laying the carpet, I layed down some sound deadener, and then a bunch of new jute.

I wanted my interior to be quiet, clean and easy to maintain. pics to come...

 

[Rusto]

Sound deadener, then jute, the carpet. Plus the front seats. I'm still waiting on the head rests and rear seat from the upholsterer, but it's looking great! The carpet kit is very nice. It did require some trimming.

My local upholstery shop let me borrow some real scissors, which were great for cutting the jute and carpet. That would have sucked with regular scissors. And using a soldering gun for burning holes in the carpet for bolt holes was another great idea from MUD. Worked great!

Couple of tips - be VERY careful when cutting holes for the shifter boots. I almost messed up really good by cutting too much. one more MM and my metal would have been exposed. GET or borrow big scissors and use the soldering gun for small holes for the bolts.

I didn't have to use much adhesive. just some to tack it down. I put all the carpet in place, after having trimmed it and it be ready for the final fit, then I let it sit overnight before I put it in permanently. That seemed to help it lie flat.

I put in some deadener in the door panels as well. Overall, it's much quieter and looks so damn good! Can't wait to get the headrests and rear seat in.

 

[Rusto]

And the money shot of the front seats vs. what they looked like

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Well I was trying to quote you but the system seems bogged down.
“Had them cut it,” your funny. I simply stuck mine in a vice and bent until it snapped. Added large port cap and bam done.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

I’ll take a photo of that linkage w/ the cotter pin attached later when I get home unless someone else beats me to it. I’ve never had it jump off so maybe it’s how you pushed it into the seat initially.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Those seats real real nice!

Sorry I didn't stop in but honestly, looks like I just would have been in the way

You got a ton done

 

[Rusto]

No worries, @Trapper50cal I had a buddy come up from Farmington to help / screw around, so i was covered. I do feel like I was able to get a ton of stuff done, but it consumed me. Felt like i was on a Discovery network car show, with artificial deadlines and "we have to get the build done before the car show" crap. Except my deadline was real, as I have no time with the family back in town.

by the way, Nip n Tuck in Bayfield did my seats. Very nice to work with, competitively priced and gave me some good pointers on installing the carpet, including loaning me the giant scissors.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Were you able to save that OEM passenger seat cover? If so, I'll buy it off yah...

 

[Rusto]

I don't think they saved the seat cover. I asked about it. What happens during the process is that they rip the seams on every panel within the seat. They use the pieces as a pattern to make the new pieces, then build the seat.

I thought of collecting all the pieces - then I'll have a bunch of stock material (both pre 87 from my back seat and 87 60s and 62 materials from my front seats) in pieces that I can send out to Mudders that need patches.

Tell you what, if I can piece together all the materials, I'll give 'em to you. You'd have to sew 'em all up, but between the two seat material, you could probably get one excellent seat cover.

 

[Trapper50cal]

I appreciate it, but I didn't realize that they made the seat covers, I thought they were purchased
then installed....don't sweat it Your other idea to have patches is a better idea

 

[Willard]

Ya the cotter pin is a little cheesy but it works.
Mine is there you should feel
Some resistance (not a hell of a lot)if you try to pull it out.

I did the same to a wrench before I bought a set of stubbies.
Used a hacksaw the first time and a grinder with a cut off wheel the second time.

 

[Rusto]

okay. final update for this thread for a little while.

I have to edit my "power steering came off without a hitch" A few hitches were discovered which can be read about here - Power Steering Conversion - Real Time Help However, all's well that ends weill. I have no leaks, the steering is much improved and I'm happy with the results. Can't emphasize enough that the power steering threads for the high pressure fitting need to be metric, or you need to change the original fitting to a standard one to make the install straightforward.

Interior came out nice. Although I don't like the headrests 100%. The existing headrests have the vinyl molded right to the foam, so the upholsterer had to wrap them with the new material and used velcro to secure them. It looks a little bulky, so I think I'm going to remove the velcro and glue them somehow. But the material is great.

Also, and this could be bonus to a MUDer, but I have enough of the vinyl leftover to do the seats all over again. I'll be posting the vinyl for sale in the classifieds soon. Plus, I was able to save a bunch of the pre-86 material from the back seat which would make great patches or repair cloth for those with pre-86 seats. Be posting that up, too.

Regarding the rebuilt carb, I think i need to adjust the idle screw up just a smidge, but it runs so much better and smoother. I can feel myself getting better gas mileage! (I'll post my mileage when I get through the first tank) @reevesci delivered on the nice rebuilt carb and turned around my refund on the core via paypal in a time manner too. Money well spent as not only do I think I'll get better mileage (can someone say 14 MPGS?) but it's very smooth and responsive all the way through the "power"band.

Here's a final picture of the seats with new carpet and such. Really happy with the way everything turned out.
The pictures don't show how well the seats match the door panels, dash and the rest of the grey interior.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Those seats look real nice now, they also look REAL durable.

 

[KG Cruiser]

Rusto - those seats look really nice.
I am contemplating doing something with both front seats.

My driver's seat has the typical small tear in the vinyl and the seat bottom and back is really UNCOMFORTABLE, even for short drives.

I'd love to fix this.

So the choices are replace the cushions (seat and back) OR buy new more comfortable seats.

It looks like you only replaced the bottom seat cushion and not the back.

Can you tell me, did that make a significant difference as to the comfort level?

 

[Rusto]

Hey @KG Cruiser. Thanks for the props on the seats. I really like how they turned out. You are correct, I didn't do the back. I had the seat bottoms rebuilt at the upholstery shop. There has been some improvement on the comfort, but I wouldn't call it significant. I've heard the $OR seat cushions are excpetional and worth the money, but I was able to get mine rebuilt for $125 for both, which was quite a bit cheaper than the $OR cushions.

For me the back was okay, but the bottoms were all blown out. I'm satisfied with the update. They only feel like 10 year old seats now instead of 30.

 

[Rusto]

Hey @KG Cruiser. Thanks for the props on the seats. I really like how they turned out. You are correct, I didn't do the back. I had the seat bottoms rebuilt at the upholstery shop. There has been some improvement on the comfort, but I wouldn't call it significant. I've heard the $OR seat cushions are excpetional and worth the money, but I was able to get mine rebuilt for $125 for both, which was quite a bit cheaper than the $OR cushions.

For me the back was okay, but the bottoms were all blown out. I'm satisfied with the update. They only feel like 10 year old seats now instead of 30.

 

[Rusto]

and now.... I'm baaaackkk...... thanks to what I think is subpar work by mechanic, I'm tracking down an exhaust leak, which I think is the EGR downpipe gasket (again), but I need to listen to it more carefully with a hose around the manifold to confirm.

 

[Rusto]

As it looks currently -

 

[Rusto]

It is not the EGR downpipe, most likely warped exhaust manifolds. Working in taking all of that apart soon and getting resurfaced, new gaskets, etc.
In the meantime, with being on lockdown (my family and I just got back from the UK the day the UK travel ban went into effect) so we are in self-quarantine. Only 7 more days to go until we can do the exact same thing but call it "shelter in place" in Durango. Whatevs. Our freezer is stocked with venison, our cupboards are full and we have plenty of TP. I'm luck enough to be able to work well from home as is my wife, so we have it better than many. Anyway..

With the time to kill, I'm going through all the parts I've accumulated and started putting them on.

One I should have done a long time ago is adding the shoulder harness to the rear seats. Since my 60 is an 87, it doesn't have the backing nut in the C-pillar hole, so...

I followed this thread Rear Belts Installed even down to using a guitar string to pull the new backing nut into place.
Great detail and was straightforward.

1. Materials - zink 1.5 inch bolt and matching nut, plus a couple of washers.
2. D string from my old Gibson acoustic (will be ordering new strings soon, I guess)
3. Some JB weld
4. Nut and thick fender washer that will be the backing nut for the seatbelt bolt.

Tips -
1. make sure that the little channel you grind into the nut for your guitar string (read the linked thread above if you don't know what' I'm talking about) is deep enough to allow the nut you use to snug up the bolt coming through your backing nut to turn easily. Mine was tight, but I was able to snug it up so that the backing nut and washer (which I JB welded together last night) is stuck good to the C-pillar while that JB weld cures over 24 hours.
2. I found it easier to snake the string and backing nut and bolt through the first opening from the rear panel, and not through the opening in the pillar. The C

-pillar has some support metal behind it which made it difficult if not impossible to pull nut back up through to the hole.
3. Make sure you cut out enough material to see the hole in the B-pillar well. If not, it would be easy to not line up the backing nut correctly, which could make it difficult to bolt up the harness.

Here are some pics of where I'm at, at the moment. I'll be bolting up the rear shoulder belt tomorrow night, after the JB weld has set in. Hopefully there was enough and it'll cure and stick well enough to be able to torque the bolt to spec. I'll let you know that tomorrow.