Builds Build - 1981 FJ60 (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Threads
5
Messages
65
Location
Maryland
Website
www.hallout.com
I bought my second Land Cruiser, and this time I did it right: I got a 60 series. The last one I had was a 1991 FJ80, which was fun, but needed a lot more work than an FJ80 was worth in my book, especially when what I really wanted was a 60 any way, so I sold it, and waited for the right rig to appear. And appear it did, and for $1800 to boot. I've named it the Rolling Turd, but that's somewhat of a working name. If you guys have any good suggestions for it, I'm definitely open to them.

The immediate goal is to get it into daily drive-able condition. Surprisingly there were not many obstacles to that. The tires need replaced, as well as the suspension, and the carburetor needs a tune badly, as the engine runs like Scrooge McDuck; super rich. The carb tune and tires are happening this weekend, which will allow me to start driving it, if not super comfortably yet. Thankfully my commute is less than 15 minutes, so it's not super worrying for me. The suspension replacement will be arriving next week, so it should be completely ready to go in a few weeks.

A bit longer term goal for it is to build it up as a family expedition/overlanding rig. To that end, the suspension I got for it is an Old Man Emu lift kit. Because I had the money set aside to be able to buy the mod parts I wanted for it, it'll be getting pretty loaded down over the next few months, so I opted for the Heavy lift. To go with the lift, the tires it's getting are a set of 33x10.5r15 BFG KM3s. The BFGs are a little spendy, but I intend to wheel them often enough to warrant mud terrains, and they were the quickest option in my area. Seeing as how the 60 is sitting in my driveway with a flat tire at the moment, it seemed prudent to get this done ASAP. From there, I'm going to put an ARB style bumper on the front with a winch, which combination I'm not super set on at the moment. I definitely don't want to spend Warn money on the winch, though, so I've been leaning towards a Smittybilt for now, with the potential for upgrading later. A rear tire carrier bumper is also in the forecast, as well as a safari style roof rack.

Further out, I want to do ARB air lockers front and rear, but for the moment I don't do trails that are hard core enough to require them. I'm also considering putting fuel injection on it at some point, as I want the added reliability and efficiency that it brings. I've also considered doing a rear axle upgrade/swap to get a full floater, but that is a long ways off as any option for it is spendy and takes a lot of fabrication. Eventually I'd like to set it up to be able to run 35s, but I don't know when that will happen, if ever.

Once I've set it up as a good trail rig, at some unknown point I'd like to be able to do a complete restoration of it. The body has some decent rust holes, but thankfully the frame is solid, but I'd like to eventually fix all of those. It should be noted that I bought this rig as a project, but not one that I intend to flip/sell at all. As a sort of "labor of love", I'm not really concerned if I never get my money out of it. My investment is going to be in the memories my family and I make both fixing and using it. Also, the outline I've given is a fairly rough outline, and very subject to change. If anyone here has suggestions for things that I should do with/to it, let me know, and I'll update the thread as I make progress on it.

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hey hallout, it's big, it's brown with good form n texture.... yup, rolling turd fits, run it. :flipoff2:
welcome aboard this ship of fools by the way
 
What's the black tubular thing attached to the tailgate? Is that the rare accessory thing that we had a thread on awhile back or am I completely wacked out?
 
Can post some pics? Maybe I'm dreaming but I thought there was a thread about some oddball Toyota accessory that was really rare. Seems to me it was something that went in the cargo area of a 60. Or maybe not.
 
What's the black tubular thing attached to the tailgate? Is that the rare accessory thing that we had a thread on awhile back or am I completely wacked out?

It is a factory bar. Specific to the 1981 models (and maybe some early '82's as well?). I'm not sure exactly what it's for, but I had one on my old '81 BJ60 and kinda liked it. I bought one for my 87 HJ that I have yet to install.

They are somewhat rare, I've only seen one or two others here on MUD. If you take it off, save it. Or sell it, but don't throw it away!

Here's that old thread

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Got the new tires on it. 33x10.5 r15 BFG KM3s. Really changed the look, I'd say. They ride a lot better, and don't rub at all, even at full lock. I suspect if I were to get it offroad and flex it hard enough that there would be a different result, though. All of that will be moot come next weekend, because my OME lift gets here on Monday.

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Well, the FJ60 is having fuel issues, unfortunately. I got it home from getting tires, and haven't been able to get it to start since then. It'll start and run on starting fluid, but the moment it runs out of that, it dies. That at least narrows the problem down to fuel, which has been a bit of a pain to get figured out. It gets fuel up to the fuel filter and fuel pump, and I've replaced the fuel pump with an OEM replacement, so theoretically it should work. I'm going to replace the rubber fuel lines next, as they are all very old, and hopefully that solves my problems. If that doesn't work, I'm going to buy an electric fuel pump and plumb a new rubber fuel line system from the tank to see if that gets it to run at all. If that works, then I'll take the time to get the metal hard lines replaced, but I can't think of anything beyond that to fix to try and get it going. Any suggestions in that regard would be appreciated.
 
Awesome 81 and great find. A couple thoughts/questions. When you say it gets fuel to the filter does it continue to flow as you crank the motor? Also, metal fuel lines generally don’t go bad. When you change the soft lines you can blow the hard lines out with compressed air. Have you pulled the sending unit to check the inside condition of the tank? Another thought is you can provide your VIN to your local Toyota dealer and see if the tank has ever been replaced. Good luck and look forward to watching your progress. Jimmy.
 
It is a factory bar. Specific to the 1981 models (and maybe some early '82's as well?). I'm not sure exactly what it's for, but I had one on my old '81 BJ60 and kinda liked it. I bought one for my 87 HJ that I have yet to install.

They are somewhat rare, I've only seen one or two others here on MUD. If you take it off, save it. Or sell it, but don't throw it away!

Here's that old thread

View attachment 2224926

I have a gate bar I pulled from a brown '81 FJ60 and have tried to sell it 2-3 times but no one has been interested.
 
It is a factory bar. Specific to the 1981 models (and maybe some early '82's as well?). I'm not sure exactly what it's for, but I had one on my old '81 BJ60 and kinda liked it. I bought one for my 87 HJ that I have yet to install.

They are somewhat rare, I've only seen one or two others here on MUD. If you take it off, save it. Or sell it, but don't throw it away!

Here's that old thread

View attachment 2224926
I have a gate bar I pulled from a brown '81 FJ60 and have tried to sell it 2-3 times but no one has been interested.

Is it supposed to be a step to aid with climbing in the rear?
 
Awesome 81 and great find. A couple thoughts/questions. When you say it gets fuel to the filter does it continue to flow as you crank the motor? Also, metal fuel lines generally don’t go bad. When you change the soft lines you can blow the hard lines out with compressed air. Have you pulled the sending unit to check the inside condition of the tank? Another thought is you can provide your VIN to your local Toyota dealer and see if the tank has ever been replaced. Good luck and look forward to watching your progress. Jimmy.
The fuel does continue to flow as I crank it. I know, because one of the rubber lines leaks from some of its cracks as I do, which is one of the reasons that I need to replace them. The tank was replaced a few months back, on the old recall, actually. I know metal lines usually don't go bad, but I have seen them rust enough on the inside to cause problems. I'm hoping I can just get an air chuck and blow whatever's in them out, though.
 
Is it supposed to be a step to aid with climbing in the rear?

When the tail gate is dropped the bar extends over the edge but I cannot wee how it would be helpful for climbing in the rear. When closed the two upper loops may offer some protection to the glass from cargo in the rear. Whatever the intended purpose Toyota must have decided that eliminating the bar was the best option.

Maybe FJ60 literature from 1981 would shed some light on the purpose of the bar.
 
When the tail gate is dropped the bar extends over the edge but I cannot wee how it would be helpful for climbing in the rear. When closed the two upper loops may offer some protection to the glass from cargo in the rear. Whatever the intended purpose Toyota must have decided that eliminating the bar was the best option.

Maybe FJ60 literature from 1981 would shed some light on the purpose of the bar.
What I've been able to find is that they were designed to protect the glass from cargo sliding back into it. I think it ended up being one of those options that didn't end up being effective/necessary, hence them removing it.
 
I'm guessing you'll be getting into that carb....
 
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