Build Abandoned 84 FJ60 gets some love, and a 4bt!

Thechief86 · May 30, 2024

After a few days of my backroads commute through rural TN and KY with my lunchbox locker, as well as a couple of trips to our secluded swimming hole, I'm still happy with my barter-acquired traction aid of unknown origins. There is some weirdness when it unloads in the middle of a curve, but it's all familiar from way back in the day before I was willing to daily drive with welded spider gears. I honestly don't mind it, Knowing exactly what to expect and when to expect it, lol.
Now I've switched my attention to wheels and tires, and have decided which wheels to buy, and which tires I want, just not what size I want.
Now to find the money, lol...

Thechief86 · Jun 9, 2024

Last week I ordered some new tires, and decided I'd like to get the spare off the roof.. only one tire has come so far, but I decided to scrounge up some scrap metal this weekend and build myself a simple tire carrier. It's not perfect, and maybe not entirely finished, and the welds aren't beautiful, but it functions as intended, and doesn't look too bad as long as you stand far enough away.

Thechief86 · Jun 12, 2024

Yesterday I got my new 35x10.5x15 Kanati Mud Hogs mounted, and they look and ride great! Even priced $100 cheaper than the Grabbers I took off, they ride much nicer, and even without being balanced ride smoother than the old tires ever did. I'm very happy with this purchase so far, let's see how they last, and how they perform once I get a chance to get off the pavement with them!

Thechief86 · Jun 12, 2024

This is somewhat irrelevant to my land cruiser, but I bet some other vintage Toyota nerds here will appreciate my next project that kinda fell in my lap.
A few days ago, a friend texted me and asked if I'd be interested in a cheap Toyota that needed some work. For some of us, the answer to that question is always yes, even if it's a bad idea. So I showed up and found a halfway decent 1985 2wd Xtra Cab pickup with 151k miles and dry rotten tires.
Apparently, the owner has had to abandon his run down house and go into an assisted living facility, and his lawyer had been tasked with liquidating what assets he could to get the city off this man's back. He needed the truck gone, and wasn't worried about getting much for it, because the fines for the non-op vehicles were beginning to outweigh any potential value of the vehicles.
So I told him I'd haul it off and give him $200, and he accepted. Awesome. So now I have another project, and my wife is pissed, lol.
Here are some photos. I won't be starting on this one for a few weeks, but at least it has been rescued from the crusher.

Thechief86 · Jun 12, 2024

More photos of the pickup:

My boy wanted to wash it on the way home. Great idea!

Thechief86 · Jul 2, 2024

Been a busy couple of weeks! I got that little pickup home and immediately filled the cylinder with the broken spark plug with AeroKroil, and didn't touch it for nearly 3 weeks. After getting the broken plug out, I filled the cylinder with ATF, and tried spinning the engine. No dice. So I gently rocked the crank back and forth every day for a few days, and it freed up! After spinning it a few more times, I spun it with the starter, then poured gas down the carb and it started right up!
It's got a long way to go, but it will run....

Anyway, this thread is about my 60, lol...
I've been driving it quite a bit, and have taken it camping several times, and wheeled a bit, feeling out the new locker and taller tires. It has been great!
I had been nursing a weak and rusty battery tray for the last couple of months, and finally noticed today it was too far gone to keep using it. After peeping around the back of the shop and measuring a few things, I scrounged up some more scrap metal and made a new tray. It's a little overkill and heavy, but it was free and very sturdy, lol

Messenger_creation_246ae0cb-a78f-4ab8-9592-6b449accef51.webp

Thechief86 · Jul 2, 2024

Pics of my homebrew battery tray. Will make a tie down tomorrow.

Thechief86 · Jul 14, 2024

This has been a good weekend. Yesterday me and the kiddo went to Mammoth Cave for a day underground, and then today I started prepping the 60 for a trip to Colorado and Utah. I changed the oil and topped off all the fluids, greased everything that has a zerk fitting, changed the fuel filter, rewired my vacuum pump, beefed up my tire carrier some more, and welded up my broken exhaust hanger. Now I'm getting all my junk out of the truck to set it up for sleeping in the back so we don't have to mess with a tent. I think I'll eventually build a platform I can store stuff under and sleep on top of, but for now I've got a decent system that just involves moving my cooler and tool bag to the front if me and junior are both sleeping back there.
Anyway, we hit the road headed west on Friday morning! Woo! I can't wait to get back to the Rockies and visit the places I can't get to in the winter!

120mm · Jul 14, 2024

Thechief86 said:
This has been a good weekend. Yesterday me and the kiddo went to Mammoth Cave for a day underground, and then today I started prepping the 60 for a trip to Colorado and Utah. I changed the oil and topped off all the fluids, greased everything that has a zerk fitting, changed the fuel filter, rewired my vacuum pump, beefed up my tire carrier some more, and welded up my broken exhaust hanger. Now I'm getting all my junk out of the truck to set it up for sleeping in the back so we don't have to mess with a tent. I think I'll eventually build a platform I can store stuff under and sleep on top of, but for now I've got a decent system that just involves moving my cooler and tool bag to the front if me and junior are both sleeping back there.
Anyway, we hit the road headed west on Friday morning! Woo! I can't wait to get back to the Rockies and visit the places I can't get to in the winter!
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You look way different without glasses

Thechief86 · Jul 14, 2024

Few poser pics after a wash...

Thechief86 · Jul 19, 2024

Yesterday I got off work and went home to get my kid and my 60, and we headed west. Less than 24 hours later we were at the top of pikes peak, lol.
Truck did awesome coming out here, but is way too over fueled for high altitude. It will run fine under load, but runs like crap at low rpm before the boost kicks in. I adjusted the screw in the pump out a bit, and it got much better, though...
Now me and Wesley are snug in the back of the cruiser to get some much needed rest.
It's just under 1300 miles from my house to Pike's Peak. I'm proud of my cruiser.

Thechief86 · Jul 31, 2024

We spent a little more than a week cruising around the Rockies in my old 60, met up with some good friends here and there, as well as my sister, and saw some cool scenery as well as some historically significant places and things around the state of Colorado.
We visited the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, as well as camping in Tincup Pass and having an excellent breakfast at Frenchie's Cafe in Tincup, and fed the trout in their little pond.
We spent a couple of days enjoying the hot springs in Ouray, got real sunburnt, and still came back after dark.
On Wednesday, Wesley and I did a tour of the Bachelor-Syracuse mine, where we learned a lot, and were quite entertained by the staff and the gold panning area. It was very cool.
On Thursday, we met up with my buddy @MoaByte and his kid and dog, and we camped and wheeled a bit around the San Juans mining district, making it over Imogene Pass, as well as Last Dollar Road, and back to a great campsite at the summit of Owl Creek Pass. We had some good Mexican food as well as some good campfire food, and I genuinely enjoyed spending time with another cruiser guy who has a similar world view and similar tastes, and is just a good guy to hang out with. I'm grateful he was able to make time for us.
Will upload some photos when I get a chance...