Builds Bean! The Adventure Continues (1987 FJ60)

[Bullzi]

Quick made some flaps for the front wheel wells today. Took about 10 minutes per side and I really think they are going to help keep the undercarriage clean! I'll be sure to update with my experience.

Driver Side:

Passenger Side:

I also took some time today to spray the rear wheel wells with some 3M undercoating that I had laying around from a different project. I went back and forth on this because my end goal had been to sand-blast and Raptor coat the rear wheel wells this summer when I had some warmer weather and more time...but I really wanted to just be done with this. The undercoating takes much less prep and since it was already clean and dry under there I figured I should just do it now. So I prepped it and sprayed the undercoating. It looks really nice, I hope it lasts. I guess if it doesn't I can always blast it off and do the Raptor!

Driver Side:

Passenger Side:

We are now dangerously close to being able to drive this thing! In fact, I might take it for a spin tomorrow - I actually really need to give it it's first bath!

 

[NookShneer]

Supposed to be nice tomorrow. Going to need to see some “in the wild” pics!

 

[Bullzi]

@NookShneer - Here are a few glamour shots just for you!

 

[Bullzi]

Well as it usually goes, you never get the good without the bad...As the truck was idling, the check engine light came on for a lean condition (both banks). I checked the fuel trims and both the ST & LT were pinned (both banks). This usually happens because my cobbled together air intake isn't adjusted just right and is leaking at one of the seams. BUT, my fuel pump has been super loud when the truck has been idling, so I decided to check the fuel pressure and it was super low - around 25psi. I found when the truck is first started the fuel pressure will sit around 60psi, but it will slowly drop for a little over a minute until it gets to around 25psi.

Just after startup:

About 1 minute & 15 seconds later:

I figure this either has to be the fuel pump or the filter/regulator unit.
The filter/regulator is new and the Walbro pump has about 12k miles on it. I am feeling really happy that I decided to install that pump access hatch right now!!
I think I will pull the pump tomorrow and make sure that everything looks good with the strainer sock. Per @cruisermatt 's suggestion, I am also going to ditch the Walbro and put in a Denso pump from a 4th Gen 4Runner. I just need to figure out the details on the strainer...it looks a lot different with a tube coming out of it.

I also need to install a new fuel gauge sender unit. I think mine quit after not being in fuel for a while. Everything is corroded and I cant get the resistance to change. I took it apart and was not able to give it a reliable fix. I found a relatively cheap OEM one off Ebay and it came this afternoon. I just need to extend the float-arm and pop it in. Will it be that easy? With the way things are fighting me right now, I doubt it!

 

[TheNeek]

I've had my sender in and out 3 times. Still reads low. Do you have one of those "hit it with a hammer, screw removers"? If you don't, I can loan you mine. I had to use it to get the old phillips screws out.

It looks amazing by the way. It will be fun to get our land cruisers together.

 

[Bullzi]

I've had my sender in and out 3 times. Still reads low. Do you have one of those "hit it with a hammer, screw removers"? If you don't, I can loan you mine. I had to use it to get the old phillips screws out.

I need to get one of those impact screw drivers! All my screw heads stripped but I was able to get them out with a pair of needle nose vice grips. It was a bit of a chore since the access wasn’t great, but I got them out!
New sender came with new screws but I may replace with Allen-head screws. I think this wouldn’t be a problem if I would just break down and buy a JIS screwdriver set already!

Power to the freeborn red 60s! We need to get together!

 

[BMThiker]

Make sure you are using JIS tipped crosspoint screwdriver and NOT Phillips. I suggest the tools that Joey @NLXTACY sells, made by Vessel.

Some background info.

Don't Strip Screws: JIS vs Phillips Screwdrivers

Visually, there isn't a big difference between JIS vs Phillips screwdrivers. Unfortunately, Phillips screwdrivers are great at stripping JIS screws.

www.outsidetheshot.com

 

[Bullzi]

Make sure you are using JIS tipped crosspoint screwdriver and NOT Phillips. I suggest the tools that Joey @NLXTACY sells, made by Vessel.

Some background info.

Don't Strip Screws: JIS vs Phillips Screwdrivers

Visually, there isn't a big difference between JIS vs Phillips screwdrivers. Unfortunately, Phillips screwdrivers are great at stripping JIS screws.

www.outsidetheshot.com

View attachment 2945669

Those are the ones I want! I’ll have to wait until my birthday comes along

 

[ObservrActual]

I was looking through the thread, but I didnt see where you got those front seats from?

 

[Bullzi]

I was looking through the thread, but I didnt see where you got those front seats from?

Those are BMW seats. The previous owner had them installed by @torfab.

Bean! My FJ60 build and adventure

Hey Theron, Thanks for all the work on documenting this! It looks like you ditched the BFG KO2's. What are you running now and what do you think of both sets of tires? Firestone hit me up to shoot some images of their Destination M/T tires and I figured I'd just leave them on my truck and...

forum.ih8mud.com

He calls them X series seats, but I am told they are actually e90 seats. They use the @torfab BMW seat brackets.

 

[Bullzi]

Got around to installing the new fuel gauge sender unit this week - This project was actually very easy, unlike some other things *cough* fuel pump *cough*...

Basically, I had to extend the float rod to make it fit with the long range fuel tank. Luckily I had the old one and just chopped the old rod and welded it to the new one to make it the same length - this isn't even worth posting, but I'll do it anyways.

New on the left, old on the right

Back in the truck!

The cool part was that I figured out how to calibrate the Speedhut fuel gauge. For some reason the resistance of the new sender was different enough that the full position was only reading 3/4 of a tank on the gauge. A quick calibration and full is now full - You can set the fuel gauge for any sender with any range of resistances. Very neat feature!

 

[Bullzi]

So after some valuable input from @cruisermatt, I realized that the pump I was looking at (a few posts up) would not work for my application for a variety of reasons. He gave me a few pumps to look at and I settled on a 100 series Denso pump from the 1998 - 2005 year range. I believe this was before the engines got VVT - The VVT engines have a different pump. This pump was also used in the Tundra from 2000-2002 and the FZJ80. The base pump is the same for these applications, but the strainers are different, so the the pump/strainer part number is different between these vehicles.

I put together the table below to help with any confusion (or to create more...

):

The other pump I was seriously looking at was the Supra TT pump. Apparently, this pump is pretty common for LS swaps and has a high flow rate. I think it is likely overkill for my application (stock GM LC9) and it is $70 more.
It was a toss up between the FZJ80 and 100 series pump because they are the same base pump and only have different strainers...so I went with the one I could get the quickest - the 100 series pump!

Here is the 100 series pump next to the Walbro GCA758-2 (255lph) pump - they have an almost identical form factor. The Denso pump is ever so slightly shorter and the strainer has a slight downward angle:

The issue was when I realized the terminals in the Denso pump were much skinnier than the ones in the Walbro pump. The Walbro pump is a standard .250 pin, while the Denso is closer to a 090II pin. Its a bummer because if you look at the picture it looks like they shaved down the pin from the .250 size!

The interesting thing is that the connector for the Walbro pump actually snaps into the Denso pump perfectly, it just has the wrong female terminals inside.
Here is a picture of the connector:

You can see in the picture below that the .250 female terminal is just too large to get good purchase on the small male terminal in the Denso pump:

I looked forever last night for the Toyota part number for this connector and couldn't find anything. I got some help from @red66toy, but even with his wizardry, we were having a hard time pinning down the correct part. Chase found one connector, but we weren't confident enough that it was actually the correct part.

I was just about to throw in the towel and either get the Supra TT pump or try a different Denso pump when I had an idea.

I was able to find an old female terminal lying around that fit the Denso pump nicely:

I took a fresh .250 female terminal and spread the tangs apart so the smaller terminal could fit inside:

I put my wire in and crimped it all together! I finished it off with a dab of solder on the crimp and a small bead of solder on each side where the terminals come together:

I haven't tested it yet, but I think this will allow the .250 terminal to snap into the connector and the smaller terminal to connect to the pin in the pump! It should all line up (I hope!)
Initially, I was worried this could be a bit janky for my taste, but it actually came out really nice. The connection is solid and will be reliable as long as it all lines up correctly.

 

[Bullzi]

And we have lift off!
There was drama...but things are mostly sorted now.
The connections to the fuel pump actually worked out really well. The only slight hiccup was that the terminals had to go into the connector flipped around for the pins to line up properly.

Here is the connector I am using - it was a generic connector that I bought for the Walbro pump, but it fits the Denso pump.

The first slight issue was that there were little "bumps" inside the connector that I had to shave off. These "bumps" work with the .250 terminals to reduce movement...but they were hitting the spot where I placed the smaller terminal. I sharpened a small screwdriver and shaved them off.

The other issue was the pins didn't line up unless the terminals were flipped around in the connector, but then there was nothing for the connector's tang to latch onto. I drilled a small hole on the back side of the connector to create a new spot for the tang to latch onto.

Everything secured really nicely and clicked right into place on the Denso pump!

This Denso pump is super quiet compared to the Walbro! I can't even hear it when the truck is on and that's without carpet in the rear of the vehicle. Now I can hear all the other noises !

So the drama came with the regulator/filter unit. This past summer, I had bought a new one (ACDelco Gold GF822 Fuel Filter) and installed it. Well with all the fuel pump trouble I have been having the last few weeks, I bought a second new one in case this was the issue and not the fuel pump. So I started the truck and the gauge at my fuel rail was reading 68psi - This was with the ACDelco unit that I bought this past summer. It should be 58psi...so I checked my gauge against another gauge and got the same result. I got back under the truck and installed the ACDelco unit that I bought last week and started the truck...same exact result!

So I dug out the old Wix 33737 unit, popped back under the truck, got gas all over me and installed the old Wix unit (has 12K miles on it). It held rock solid at 58psi...where it should be!
Not sure whats going on with the ACDelco units, but 2 units read the exact same high pressure and were bought months apart...very odd.
I guess I'll buy a new Wix to switch in there. I'm sure the filter is good enough on the old one to last me a while, but I still want to get a fresh one in there.

At least now I can finally put the carpet back into the rear of the truck! I shouldn't have to pull the fuel pump anymore

 

[Bullzi]

Took the Bean out for an hour long drive this afternoon and things seem to be running well. I need to pin down a few squeaks here and there. The truck is pretty quiet now which is a blessing and a curse!

It's actually the Bean's 3yr birthday with us today! So we went to the beach to take a few pics to commemorate the first time we brought it out the the peninsula in 2019.

Bean just after we bought it in 2019:

Bean's 3 year birthday with us - a little less rust and a bit more shiny:

Did a few small things today. Started off by modifying my driver's side visor. With the AutoVox mirror and HAM radio setup, I couldn't pull the visor down.
I ended up chopping the end off of it. It came out good, not really noticeable unless you look close.

I had no idea there were so many layers packed into the visor.

This is silly, but I also made a small foam pad for my keys so they don't jingle when they are in the ignition...with how quiet the truck is, I am really noticing things like this!

I also put the carpet back in the rear of the truck:

I left the passenger side interior card off because there was a bunch of water in the quarter panel after the quick wash we gave it. I found where it is coming from...its dripping in from the seam where the fuel cubby meets the body. I will need to seal this with some urethane seam sealer and give it some paint

I was surprised how fast it flowed in!

 

[Bullzi]

Its been a few weeks since my last post, so its time for an update...or a few!

The truck has been running well and the new fuel pump is still super quiet! I ended up getting a new filter/regulator from Napa (part number FIL-3737). According to the parts guy it's made by Wix for Napa. The pressure with this filter/regulator is 62psi...which is much better than the 68psi I was getting from the AC Delco unit. The only problem with the Napa unit was the price! 102 dollars!!! I used my brother's account and it was discounted to $90 out the door, but that is insane. That is $20 more than the OEM AC Delco unit and $35 more than the standard Wix. The issue was that the standard Wix is out of stock everywhere. The only saving grace is that I can take it back to my local Napa if it starts acting up.

Last week I fixed the passenger side rear quarter leak that was coming from the interface between my fuel cubby (for lack of a better term) and the body.
First I removed the old seam sealer and scuffed it up a bit:

Next I added some 3M urethane seam sealer:

Last, I primed and painted the seam sealer with a kit that I got from AutomotiveTouchup.com.
Primed:

Painted with clear-coat addd:

In person it isn't noticeable (and is behind the fuel door). The important thing is that it passed the hose test and is no longer allowing water into the rear quarter!

Here are the products I used:

I really like the idea of the paint pens, but I found that the primer pen was the only useful one. It seemed like the tips on the paint and clear pens were too hard and they would rub off the previous coating. I ended up using the small jars and a paint touch-up Q-Tip (from Amazon) to apply the color and clear. Also, if I'm being honest, the color didn't match all that well. It was more orange...maybe my repaint color is off or maybe the automotivetouchup.com color is off. Luckily, I had some paint from my paint job left over so I could match it properly.


I also finally got my windshield sealed up! This is a big step, because now I can drive in the rain! The windshield had been installed without any sealant and my first wash of the vehicle revealed that it was leaking. I took the bean to get a new windshield at a place called Cartech in the Seattle area a few years back and they did an amazing job with the replacement. I have since moved about 2hrs away and I didn't want to drive all that way to have them seal the windshield, so I called and asked them what product they would recommend. For my particular scenario (not wanting to pull the windshield) they recommended using a product called Dekaseal. This is a permanently sticky sealant that is similar to a gooey butyl. The nice thing is that it cleans up really well without any chemicals. You can dab it away with itself...see the pictures.

My process was to take the nozzle and apply it under the seal on the metal to rubber interface and the glass to rubber interface. I allowed it to ooze out so I would have plenty of product under the gasket.

Next, I started dabbing it away using itself. If you press it to itself and then lift away quickly, it comes right off!

Below is the clean line left after dabbing it away:

I found this product on Ebay for around $25 shipped. I think I used about 3/4 of the tube to do the entire windshield. It did not flow easily, so doing this on a warmer day might be advantageous.



After sealing the windshield, I put the chrome lock-strip in. I was able to find this new from my local dealer.

Part Numbers - These are from a few pages back in my thread, but I figured I would add them here as well:

Moulding, Windshield, Outer Upper	75531-90A00	QTY 1	Toyota Parts Deal	$17.91
Moulding, Windshield, Lower	75535-90A00	QTY 1	Toyota Parts Deal	$21.67
Moulding, Windshield, Outside RH	75533-90A00	QTY 2 (RH & LH same part)	Toyota Parts Deal	$11.79
Moulding, Windshield Corner, Upper LH	75541-90A00	QTY 2 (RH & LH same part)	Toyota Parts Deal	$4.77
Moulding, Windshield Corner, Lower LH	75543-90A00	QTY 2 (RH & LH same part)	Toyota Parts Deal	$4.29

Side Note - I used to buy parts from ToyotaPartsDeal...but they have been really bad lately. They say that parts are in stock, let you order, then notify you a week later that the parts are either NLA or back-ordered and then cancel your entire order. I will not be buying from them anymore.


The chrome installation was an uneventful process with soapy water until I got to the two lower corner pieces. All of the other chrome had fit perfectly, but the two lower corners were both very hard to put in. I spent about an hour on each one. I couldn't get the angle to line up properly, so I resorted to bending them with pliers and bashing them with a hammer. They look okay, but if you look close you can tell that they still don't fit quite right. I'm not sure why this is - I verified that they are the proper part number.

 

[Bullzi]

Paint Touch-up is something I have been dreading...
So when I got the Bean back, I noticed there were a fair amount of chips in the paint. Some of these were remedied by Kelly, but there were a few that we missed and a few that I had created while working on the truck. I'm not going to sugar-coat things here...this paint is chipping very easily. Here are just a few of the spots that needed attention.

Many of these chips just appeared - as in I don't know how they happened. It's not like I dropped a wrench on them or anything. In some cases they are chipping to bare metal and in other cases they are chipping down to primer.

I used the automotive touch-up primer / clear and some paint that Kelly had left with the truck to address the chips.

Its not perfect, but here are a few shots of the chips filled in:

The chips are now much much less noticeable. They are actually more noticeable in the pictures than in person.


I don't have any pictures, but I ended up adding some 3M paint protection film (PPF) to some of the high wear areas.
These include:
- Rear tailgate lip
- All four lower door sills
- Rear door interior dog-leg areas

I'm no pro at installing PPF, but it came out nicely. You can only notice its even there if you look close. For $40 on Amazon, I think it will help prevent chipping in these high-wear areas.
If anyone wants pictures, let me know and I can snag some.

 

[Bullzi]

I installed the rear drawers this week and my wife and I made some DIY dividers for them.

So nice being able to bolt these in without two people and having to get under the tuck!

Anderson Plug for the refrigerator:

(The bungee cord in the picture above holds our stove in place).

Fridge-slide and fridge installed:

As I mentioned, my wife and I made some DIY dividers for the drawers. They were so easy to make and work really well. We had some corrugated plastic lying around and cut it to fit the perimeter of the drawers. The plastic is called Plasti Shield Pro and is used for covering floors, walls, etc. during construction.

After making a perimeter around the drawer, we cut dividers and used bobby-pins to keep them in place.

They are super lightweight and stable.

We dimensioned the lower left corner of the drawer below so the trays would nest in perfectly and be held in place.

There is a company online that makes these for Pellican cases (that is where I got the idea) but theirs have foam glued to them. This could be a good option if you had more delicate things to store in your drawers.


And with that, the Bean is pretty much back together and ready for adventures!
The only things left on the list are to install the roof top tent and charge the AC system. The RTT will go on soon and I plan on doing the AC in the next month or two.
I also have some routine maintenance items to attend to (flush brakes, adjust tie rods, maybe knuckle job....the usual maintenance), but as it sits, this truck is now ready to be used!!

 

[staggrlee]

...So when I got the Bean back, I noticed there were a fair amount of chips in the paint.

Wow! Those aren't chips, those are chunks.

Interesting that the windshield chrome is still available but not the gasket to accept it? Or at least that was my impression. I'd like to get my windshield chrome back but thought I'd convinced myself that neither OE or aftermarket were available.

 

[Bullzi]

Wow! Those aren't chips, those are chunks.

Interesting that the windshield chrome is still available but not the gasket to accept it? Or at least that was my impression. I'd like to get my windshield chrome back but thought I'd convinced myself that neither OE or aftermarket were available.

The OEM gasket is still available.

Part Number: 56121-90A05

All hail the power of 1980’s chrome!!

 

[Major Nelson]

that's surprising on the paint. Did Kelly have any thoughts on what's causing this? If you need a good place that's more local to you check out Cook's auto rebuild in Seattle. They did my paint over 7yrs ago...still looks incredible.