A little over a year ago I purchased a 1988 FJ62 off of Craigslist for about $1500. It was bone stock, had a huge rust hole in the rear tailgate, rust in both rear 1/4 panels and rust in the bottom of both front fenders. The interior was pretty clean with the exception of some cracks in the dash pad. The rig had 165,000mi on it, was pretty dirty, and was out of inspection. We needed a car for my girlfriend to drive locally up to the train and back everyday, and we wanted an SUV since my other car is a VW GTI and is not the perfect car for driving in the snow. I always loved the look of the 60-Series. My girlfriend came to affectionately name the FJ "Bertha", the GTI is Helga. She names all of our cars.
Needless to say Bertha needed some work. First thing was replacing the oil pan which was leaking and rusted nearly through. Then the air filter and oil. Some light bulbs, rear brake shoes, rear shocks, and 4 new BFG 31"x10.5" ATs. That enabled us to get Bertha to pass inspection.
For Christmas later that year I got an ARB Bumper and Warn Winch, which really gave Bertha an agressive look. It also added enough weight to the front end that I needed to shortly after add an OME heavy/heavy kit from Cruiser Outfitters. That was a bear of a job, but I got it done. Then came the exhaust which had a blown muffler, got that taken care of and some new belts at the same time.
This year I took it in for inspection at another shop and they said I needed all new front brakes and to repair the rust on the rear 1/4 panels. I had already chopped a drive side rear 1/4 off Shmucksters FJ60 so I decided to dive into the job of welding that in and chopping the rear quarts on both sides. It took me about 2 months, since all I had were weekends. I got the panels welding in decently and used a little bondo to make my welding look a little better. Then I Herculined fender line that carries accross the side of Bertha. It turned out great, more pics of that to come. Also I totally rebuilt the front brakes, adding Marlin inner axle seals, Braided stainless lines, and rebuilding the front knuckles, new inner and outter wheel bearings, rotors, and even some 1994 4Runner calipers to finish off the upgrade. It stops great now. To top that off, I got new 15x8 American racing Mojave Teflon wheels, with BFG MTRs 33"x12.5". These wheels make the Bertha look like the meanest rig in town. I will post more pics off the wheels once they are all on.
Future list:
-Converting the front end to round FJ60 lights
-New front fenders
-Adding the Con-Ferr roof rack I picked up used for $50
-Hi-Lift jack
-New Tuff-Duck interior covers
-new Radio
-Sliders
-Rear bumper with tire swing out
-Vortec V8? We will see
-Stopping the rust cancer from killing Bertha
More pics to come!
Needless to say Bertha needed some work. First thing was replacing the oil pan which was leaking and rusted nearly through. Then the air filter and oil. Some light bulbs, rear brake shoes, rear shocks, and 4 new BFG 31"x10.5" ATs. That enabled us to get Bertha to pass inspection.
For Christmas later that year I got an ARB Bumper and Warn Winch, which really gave Bertha an agressive look. It also added enough weight to the front end that I needed to shortly after add an OME heavy/heavy kit from Cruiser Outfitters. That was a bear of a job, but I got it done. Then came the exhaust which had a blown muffler, got that taken care of and some new belts at the same time.
This year I took it in for inspection at another shop and they said I needed all new front brakes and to repair the rust on the rear 1/4 panels. I had already chopped a drive side rear 1/4 off Shmucksters FJ60 so I decided to dive into the job of welding that in and chopping the rear quarts on both sides. It took me about 2 months, since all I had were weekends. I got the panels welding in decently and used a little bondo to make my welding look a little better. Then I Herculined fender line that carries accross the side of Bertha. It turned out great, more pics of that to come. Also I totally rebuilt the front brakes, adding Marlin inner axle seals, Braided stainless lines, and rebuilding the front knuckles, new inner and outter wheel bearings, rotors, and even some 1994 4Runner calipers to finish off the upgrade. It stops great now. To top that off, I got new 15x8 American racing Mojave Teflon wheels, with BFG MTRs 33"x12.5". These wheels make the Bertha look like the meanest rig in town. I will post more pics off the wheels once they are all on.
Future list:
-Converting the front end to round FJ60 lights
-New front fenders
-Adding the Con-Ferr roof rack I picked up used for $50
-Hi-Lift jack
-New Tuff-Duck interior covers
-new Radio
-Sliders
-Rear bumper with tire swing out
-Vortec V8? We will see
-Stopping the rust cancer from killing Bertha
More pics to come!