Heya.
This is my introduction to Mud, and to landcruisers in general. I started looking for a Fj40 about a year back as a good snow and weekender car after getting my lil Mazda 3 stuck in the Colorado snow a few too many times, I only ever found one in my price range and it ended up being more rust than car- I found 4 spots I could fit my hand through the frame in. A few weeks after that I saw a post for two Fj60's along with a bunch of spare parts, including a mostly complete 2f engine on a stand, and a trailer to take one home on.
Tan is a 1984 60 with 120k on the odo and actually runs decently, as long as its warm out (s***ty desmog by po, theres a vacumn leak from hell, but It can be coaxed to do colder weather) Blue is an 85 with 255k and a blown headgasket, who also got hit on the left front side while being towed after that head gasket blew. overall they're both rusted in all the normal places, tan a bit moreso than blue actually. The ad was originally 8k for just tan and offers on blue and the other stuff, I managed to talk him down to 6k for everything (still way out of my original fj40 budget, but I figured between an extra cruiser and extra engine, I'd have a really good cruiser in the end with much less money spent on parts)
So far I've done a decent amount of work on Tan- when I got it it leaked at least a quart of oil everytime it was driven(!!!!), hot starts are rough and, worst of all, it smelled like complete ass. So far I've fixed the big leak and some of the small ones(check the O-rings on the inside of your oil cooler, they shrink and crack.) and now it only drips less than a tea spoon a month from the main seal, I havent had to put in oil at all recently. I've mostly figured out that the carb doesn't get gas when its starting so a little pumping of the pedal can help, its my first carburetor-ed car ever, still learning how those work. I'm also almost done with my first steering knuckle rebuild, just have the right side to do now. I also took out the entire interior and shampoed, scrubbed and cleaned every single thing, figured out that the dash is a mess of wiring from the PO which was why the cigarette lighter and radio didnt work. my next big project for it is likely going to be fixing the power steering (oh yeah, it doesnt have powersteering, the pump is chooched super bad.) then a small lift, some body work to address the back seat supports and rear fender wells, and then for the holy grail-an engine swap to a Small block 350. Tans not gonna be my daily, but it'll be a great weekend overlander, and it can get me to work and back when it snows.
I actually ended working on Blue all day today- My best friend asked me to sell it to her after driving tan for a bit and I told her if we could get it running then it'd be hers for nothing other than beer. after some messing around in the engine bay (put my spare belts on and replaced its oil cooler, and got some water in it for coolant and a bit of oldish oil just to see if it'd start at all) It actually started- Its got a blown headgasket for sure, and the fuel system leaks in three differant spots, but it started and ran for a bit too. it came with an unopened Fel-pro gasket set for that spare engine, so it looks like Ill be getting it off the trailer and into the garage once Im done with tan!
I'm pretty happy I got 60's over a 40, more space for camping, dogs or friends, and once I move I can tow the trailer and likely all of my stuff with just this.
This is my first big project- the most mechanically inclined stuff I did before this was change oil, So I'm learning a ton as I go as fast as I can, I picked up a haynes repair manual but its split between the 60's and the 80 series and hard to understand at times dude to that, so the FSM's I've been finding on here have been life saving. Im hoping I can start giving the same advice on here, and once the virus is over go hit a cruiser meetup in Colorado springs, Im already super happy with all the other people in landcruisers here waving, or just older Toyotas, even people just admiring it.
Thanks for reading this wall of text,
Cheers
Cal
This is my introduction to Mud, and to landcruisers in general. I started looking for a Fj40 about a year back as a good snow and weekender car after getting my lil Mazda 3 stuck in the Colorado snow a few too many times, I only ever found one in my price range and it ended up being more rust than car- I found 4 spots I could fit my hand through the frame in. A few weeks after that I saw a post for two Fj60's along with a bunch of spare parts, including a mostly complete 2f engine on a stand, and a trailer to take one home on.
Tan is a 1984 60 with 120k on the odo and actually runs decently, as long as its warm out (s***ty desmog by po, theres a vacumn leak from hell, but It can be coaxed to do colder weather) Blue is an 85 with 255k and a blown headgasket, who also got hit on the left front side while being towed after that head gasket blew. overall they're both rusted in all the normal places, tan a bit moreso than blue actually. The ad was originally 8k for just tan and offers on blue and the other stuff, I managed to talk him down to 6k for everything (still way out of my original fj40 budget, but I figured between an extra cruiser and extra engine, I'd have a really good cruiser in the end with much less money spent on parts)
So far I've done a decent amount of work on Tan- when I got it it leaked at least a quart of oil everytime it was driven(!!!!), hot starts are rough and, worst of all, it smelled like complete ass. So far I've fixed the big leak and some of the small ones(check the O-rings on the inside of your oil cooler, they shrink and crack.) and now it only drips less than a tea spoon a month from the main seal, I havent had to put in oil at all recently. I've mostly figured out that the carb doesn't get gas when its starting so a little pumping of the pedal can help, its my first carburetor-ed car ever, still learning how those work. I'm also almost done with my first steering knuckle rebuild, just have the right side to do now. I also took out the entire interior and shampoed, scrubbed and cleaned every single thing, figured out that the dash is a mess of wiring from the PO which was why the cigarette lighter and radio didnt work. my next big project for it is likely going to be fixing the power steering (oh yeah, it doesnt have powersteering, the pump is chooched super bad.) then a small lift, some body work to address the back seat supports and rear fender wells, and then for the holy grail-an engine swap to a Small block 350. Tans not gonna be my daily, but it'll be a great weekend overlander, and it can get me to work and back when it snows.
I actually ended working on Blue all day today- My best friend asked me to sell it to her after driving tan for a bit and I told her if we could get it running then it'd be hers for nothing other than beer. after some messing around in the engine bay (put my spare belts on and replaced its oil cooler, and got some water in it for coolant and a bit of oldish oil just to see if it'd start at all) It actually started- Its got a blown headgasket for sure, and the fuel system leaks in three differant spots, but it started and ran for a bit too. it came with an unopened Fel-pro gasket set for that spare engine, so it looks like Ill be getting it off the trailer and into the garage once Im done with tan!
I'm pretty happy I got 60's over a 40, more space for camping, dogs or friends, and once I move I can tow the trailer and likely all of my stuff with just this.
This is my first big project- the most mechanically inclined stuff I did before this was change oil, So I'm learning a ton as I go as fast as I can, I picked up a haynes repair manual but its split between the 60's and the 80 series and hard to understand at times dude to that, so the FSM's I've been finding on here have been life saving. Im hoping I can start giving the same advice on here, and once the virus is over go hit a cruiser meetup in Colorado springs, Im already super happy with all the other people in landcruisers here waving, or just older Toyotas, even people just admiring it.
Thanks for reading this wall of text,
Cheers
Cal