Hi everyone, I’ve been snooping around for a few weeks and decided I’d better start contributing. I’ve been a Toyota guy for years but I always owned Tacoma’s. My two best friends always had 60 series Landcruisers and I’ve been impressed with them for a long time. Finally it was time to get my own. 
I picked up my BJ61 about six months ago when I decided to settledown for a few years in Cochabamba, Bolivia. (We’ve been travelling the world for the last 2 years and staying in one place for a while is going to be nice)
It has a 3b, h55f, 4:11’s, PTO winch and 31” All Terrains.
It's in amazing shape - absolutely no rust at all! It's a long way from any beach here and the high altitude climate is very dry. This is Landcruiser heaven. You wouldn’t believe the amount of them there are here. And just down the road from me they sell the 70 series brand new.
2 weeks after I bought it the engine seized on me.
The combustion chamber cap cracked and fell into the cylinder and did this to the head and piston…
So… 2 1/2 months later with lots of frustration from Bolivian mechanics (finally found a good one) it’s back running way better than before. I can’t believe how cheap OEM parts are here. I picked up a brand new head for $300.00! All up for brand new Japanese parts and labor for the total rebuild it cost just under $1,600.00. Not bad hey. Good thing taxis are cheap here as well since it took so long.
The next thing that badly needs doing is the suspension, tie rods and the knuckles. The knuckles are leaking badly and the suspension is shot. The last owner re-arched the original leafs and installed some crappy shocks. I’m going to import some 2 – 3” Old Man Emu suspension from the States. What I’d like to know is how much higher will it sit from what I have now in the pictures above?
Since parts are so cheap down here… what do you suggest I change next? I can get almost any parts down here for it. My supplier can get me a factory 3b turbo and manifold for about $1000. As I’m smack bang in the middle of the Andes I think that would be a great upgrade. I climb up to 14,000 feet when we head to La Paz and the 3b doesn’t like climbing all that much.
Maybe brakes would be good as well with all the mountain terrain...
Most of southern Bolivia is unexplored. There are huge national parks here – apart from the Amazon – that hardly anyone has visited. Only problem is water and diesel. I’ll need to import a long range tank as well as an auxilary one. I’ll need a range of about 1200 – 1500kms. Thankfully I’ve made a friend here with a guy that welds stainless steel so down the road I’m going to get him to make me 2 custom water tanks that will sit over the wheel wells in the rear. I’ll build a sleeping/drawer platform around it.
My point in explaining all of that was… Do you think I should go with the heavy duty OME setup or just the medium duty ones? There’s going to be a lot of weight back there.
Sorry for the long post, I got a bit carried away. Love this place and thanks for all the help I’ve received so far from all of your older posts.
Cheers - BJay
I picked up my BJ61 about six months ago when I decided to settledown for a few years in Cochabamba, Bolivia. (We’ve been travelling the world for the last 2 years and staying in one place for a while is going to be nice)
It has a 3b, h55f, 4:11’s, PTO winch and 31” All Terrains.
It's in amazing shape - absolutely no rust at all! It's a long way from any beach here and the high altitude climate is very dry. This is Landcruiser heaven. You wouldn’t believe the amount of them there are here. And just down the road from me they sell the 70 series brand new.
2 weeks after I bought it the engine seized on me.
The combustion chamber cap cracked and fell into the cylinder and did this to the head and piston…
So… 2 1/2 months later with lots of frustration from Bolivian mechanics (finally found a good one) it’s back running way better than before. I can’t believe how cheap OEM parts are here. I picked up a brand new head for $300.00! All up for brand new Japanese parts and labor for the total rebuild it cost just under $1,600.00. Not bad hey. Good thing taxis are cheap here as well since it took so long.
The next thing that badly needs doing is the suspension, tie rods and the knuckles. The knuckles are leaking badly and the suspension is shot. The last owner re-arched the original leafs and installed some crappy shocks. I’m going to import some 2 – 3” Old Man Emu suspension from the States. What I’d like to know is how much higher will it sit from what I have now in the pictures above?
Since parts are so cheap down here… what do you suggest I change next? I can get almost any parts down here for it. My supplier can get me a factory 3b turbo and manifold for about $1000. As I’m smack bang in the middle of the Andes I think that would be a great upgrade. I climb up to 14,000 feet when we head to La Paz and the 3b doesn’t like climbing all that much.
Maybe brakes would be good as well with all the mountain terrain...
Most of southern Bolivia is unexplored. There are huge national parks here – apart from the Amazon – that hardly anyone has visited. Only problem is water and diesel. I’ll need to import a long range tank as well as an auxilary one. I’ll need a range of about 1200 – 1500kms. Thankfully I’ve made a friend here with a guy that welds stainless steel so down the road I’m going to get him to make me 2 custom water tanks that will sit over the wheel wells in the rear. I’ll build a sleeping/drawer platform around it.
My point in explaining all of that was… Do you think I should go with the heavy duty OME setup or just the medium duty ones? There’s going to be a lot of weight back there.
Sorry for the long post, I got a bit carried away. Love this place and thanks for all the help I’ve received so far from all of your older posts.
Cheers - BJay
Plus it had a leak in the radiator which made it worse. By the time I got it it was on it's way out. I wanted to get it fully rebuilt anyways, just not this soon. At least I know it's strong for when we head into the jungle. I got the radiator rebuilt as well. Are you back in Vancouver? I lived there for 15 years. Nice city, my second home. 
