Build Cara the white '84 FJ60!

[77CruiserDog]

I have been on this forum for years and didn't realize MUD automatically censors curse words. I'll watch my potty mouth more from now on.

Hey Colin, come by and pick up this smog pump I have, it's pretty much new and we can bull**** about Land Cruisers.

I'm here today and tomorrow, I'll pm you my address.

Cheers,
Adam

 

[kenavt]

Hey Colin, come by and pick up this smog pump I have, it's pretty much new and we can bulls*** about Land Cruisers.

I'm here today and tomorrow, I'll pm you my address.

Cheers,
Adam

Sorry I didn't end up coming over since another local Cruiserhead had offered me a devaned smog pump and I threw it in my truck. Still not sure if I'm going to revenue it long-term, but I'm happy running around like that for now! It was great meeting you Tuesday too

Also need to thank you @77CruiserDog for what I did on my truck this week... got the fuel tank recall done! I had checked on Toyota Corporate's website, and the truck never had it done, and so I figured it would be worth a shot trying to get it done. Did some reading on MUD, and this is the process I followed, which probably isn't follow-able for everyone. If you want to try and get this done for yourself, I recommend reading @77CruiserDog's account because it intersects with mine in interesting ways. No specific post but if you search his build thread you'll see a lot of items about it.

• On March 10, call Toyota Corporate, they bounce you to the local dealership (I picked Toyota of Kirkland, although I use Lake City Toyota for sourcing parts).
  • The service department there has no idea what they're talking about, assumes it's an easy job, sets it up for a week and a half from then.
• On March 14, call the dealership, had a couple back and forth calls, the parts department is annoyed the service department set up that appointment, confirmed that appointment isn't happening, turns out they had me confused with @77CruiserDog also.
• Get distracted for a month with other life items
• On April 20, call the dealership, they say they won't be able to get the parts (even though they have them for @77CruiserDog), reach out to Toyota Corporate...
  • Call Toyota Corporate... they say there's now a note on the recall notice saying to reach out to quality_compliance@toyota.com. I email that address.
  • Rob Lacy (who I think pops up in @77CruiserDog's account) says there are parts available, reach back out to the dealership.
• On April 21, call Toyota of Kirkland again, they repeat they can't get the parts. Pass along Rob Lacy's contact info (quality_compliance@toyota.com), they said they'd reach out.
• On April 22, get a call from Toyota Corporate Customer Dispute Resolution who seems very concerned about the whole situation. Takes a couple days of phone tag until April 26 but...
  • they confirm they have parts for the fuel tank recall (not the seatbelt recall, which I have not been thinking about since I got new Seatbelt Planet belts back when I first got the truck).
  • otherwise if I don't want the recall and don't want to pass it, they would offer to repurchase the truck at NADA classic low retail value (which would be $9,250 when I checked)... hard pass.
  • they said they'd reach out to the service manager, who then should communicate directly with me to set everything up.
  • they generally seemed rather nervous... I think as the Customer Dispute Resolution team they're used to angry and mad customers, not vaguely amused people trying to game the system to get a new free fuel tank.
• On April 27, the next day, get a call the next day from the dealership telling me they have the parts (for @77CruiserDog it turns out). Read a disclaimer that if anything breaks on an old vehicle like this while they're taking it apart/back together, I'll get charged normal parts rates (maybe labor too? I don't remember) to fix it. Set up the appointment to get it done.
• On May 8, dropped it off at the dealership for it to be done over the next few days (my choice, could have been sooner but had other life items in the way).
• On May 10, got a confused call from the service advisor saying that some sort of shackles were rusted out and needed to be replaced at the cost of $416... this was confusing to me as I'm not sure what this would refer to. I assume the leaf shackles are NLA (and also wouldn't need to be replaced for a fuel tank recall, AND I want to overhaul suspension soon anyway), and maybe it was referring to my fuel tank straps, but they looked fine to me and are also NLA. After a couple of phone calls the issue went away and I never got an explanation of it. But it was ready the next day for pickup!

I expect this will be the one and only time the truck is in the service lane at a dealership, and one of the very, very rare times a FJ60 would be in general, so enjoy

 

[CruiserTrash]

@kenavt It was pretty surreal when I went to the dealership and pulled into the service lane for my fuel tank recall too. There wasn't another vehicle there more than 4-5 years old.

I also got the run around and experienced lots of waiting. I didn't have to involve corporate, but it did take contacting 5 dealerships to find a willing partner. It took a month for the tank to come in and when I called after 5 weeks the service manager said "oh yeah, we've had the tank here for two weeks ... did you want to schedule?" They also said they'd replace the NLA hoses with bulk hose off a real ... but didn't.

At the end of the day I got a fuel tank installed for free. No complaints.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Sorry I didn't end up coming over since another local Cruiserhead had offered me a devaned smog pump and I threw it in my truck. Still not sure if I'm going to revenue it long-term, but I'm happy running around like that for now! It was great meeting you Tuesday too

Also need to thank you @77CruiserDog for what I did on my truck this week... got the fuel tank recall done! I had checked on Toyota Corporate's website, and the truck never had it done, and so I figured it would be worth a shot trying to get it done. Did some reading on MUD, and this is the process I followed, which probably isn't follow-able for everyone. If you want to try and get this done for yourself, I recommend reading @77CruiserDog's account because it intersects with mine in interesting ways. No specific post but if you search his build thread you'll see a lot of items about it.

• On March 10, call Toyota Corporate, they bounce you to the local dealership (I picked Toyota of Kirkland, although I use Lake City Toyota for sourcing parts).
  • The service department there has no idea what they're talking about, assumes it's an easy job, sets it up for a week and a half from then.
• On March 14, call the dealership, had a couple back and forth calls, the parts department is annoyed the service department set up that appointment, confirmed that appointment isn't happening, turns out they had me confused with @77CruiserDog also.
• Get distracted for a month with other life items
• On April 20, call the dealership, they say they won't be able to get the parts (even though they have them for @77CruiserDog), reach out to Toyota Corporate...
  • Call Toyota Corporate... they say there's now a note on the recall notice saying to reach out to quality_compliance@toyota.com. I email that address.
  • Rob Lacy (who I think pops up in @77CruiserDog's account) says there are parts available, reach back out to the dealership.
• On April 21, call Toyota of Kirkland again, they repeat they can't get the parts. Pass along Rob Lacy's contact info (quality_compliance@toyota.com), they said they'd reach out.
• On April 22, get a call from Toyota Corporate Customer Dispute Resolution who seems very concerned about the whole situation. Takes a couple days of phone tag until April 26 but...
  • they confirm they have parts for the fuel tank recall (not the seatbelt recall, which I have not been thinking about since I got new Seatbelt Planet belts back when I first got the truck).
  • otherwise if I don't want the recall and don't want to pass it, they would offer to repurchase the truck at NADA classic low retail value (which would be $9,250 when I checked)... hard pass.
  • they said they'd reach out to the service manager, who then should communicate directly with me to set everything up.
  • they generally seemed rather nervous... I think as the Customer Dispute Resolution team they're used to angry and mad customers, not vaguely amused people trying to game the system to get a new free fuel tank.
• On April 27, the next day, get a call the next day from the dealership telling me they have the parts (for @77CruiserDog it turns out). Read a disclaimer that if anything breaks on an old vehicle like this while they're taking it apart/back together, I'll get charged normal parts rates (maybe labor too? I don't remember) to fix it. Set up the appointment to get it done.
• On May 8, dropped it off at the dealership for it to be done over the next few days (my choice, could have been sooner but had other life items in the way).
• On May 10, got a confused call from the service advisor saying that some sort of shackles were rusted out and needed to be replaced at the cost of $416... this was confusing to me as I'm not sure what this would refer to. I assume the leaf shackles are NLA (and also wouldn't need to be replaced for a fuel tank recall, AND I want to overhaul suspension soon anyway), and maybe it was referring to my fuel tank straps, but they looked fine to me and are also NLA. After a couple of phone calls the issue went away and I never got an explanation of it. But it was ready the next day for pickup!

I expect this will be the one and only time the truck is in the service lane at a dealership, and one of the very, very rare times a FJ60 would be in general, so enjoy

View attachment 3009783

Awesome, so glad this worked out!! Mine is going back together and I expect it will be in a similar location in a few weeks.

 

[kenavt]

My alternator was making an odd whirring noise, and my cigarette lighter voltmeter never reports above 13.0V anymore. With headlights on, devices in the lighter charging, and at startup it even reports below 12.0V. I had no idea auto parts stores could test alternators, and figured it was worth a try. Took it down to O'Reilly's, and their tester reported that my voltage regulators were on the fritz. Unsurprising, but wouldn't address the odd whirring noise that was almost as loud as the rest of my engine at idle.

I took it up to Whatcom Electric in Bellingham to be rebuilt, and they turned it around in under 24 hours. It looks like they did a gorgeous job, it's so much cleaner then the rest of my engine bay With the new VR, I'm seeing 14.0V on my cigarette lighter voltmeter and above. I'm a happy customer here!

 

[kenavt]

But my big project in the last couple of weeks has just been dumping time into installing an old Panasonic CQ-C300U radio I got from a local Cruiserhead (thanks @gt7058a!). The wiring was in a terrible state as the previous radio had really just been soldered/spliced in; so I spent a while chasing the wiring down, spending my first quality time with the wiring diagrams, and putting in new stakeons. I used the FJ60 radio bracket and FJ60 radio plate (normal, not HC) from New FJ60 Owner + Stereo Install - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/new-fj60-owner-stereo-install.1224969/ and they work great! Having a working radio again feels awesome.

I also took apart the front doors to look at installing new speakers (looking forward to getting @TheNeek's adapters! FJ60 & FJ62 Front Speaker Adapters and Spacer - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj60-fj62-front-speaker-adapters-and-spacer.1058828/) and new moisture barriers. I also replaced my passenger door handle with the Cruiser Corps' aftermarket part, and took the opportunity to put in 3 sq. ft. of Noico80 in each door. I notice a difference in the door weight and door closing sound, but not much at speed... there's so many possible NVH issues with this truck I'm not surprised

Other minor stuff... put grease on the horn ring to stop the scratching noise of the pin against the ring when I was turning, and also put aluminum foil around the heater control panel backlight with double-sided Scotch tape to more evenly disperse the light https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbVVyj5pX7t/. I am also plotting to install new gauges as you can see with the blue 3d printed parts up above... not quite ready yet.

Things are coming together, looking forward to running around this summer!

 

[kenavt]

I installed a Smittybilt center console (31815) with Tuffy cupholders and wrote up more about it here. Other minor notes: the tan doesn't color match. My hand does get pinched between the cupholders and the e-brake, have to flip my hand around. But net it's lovely having cupholders and a center armrest, very happy I put something in. Driving around in the gorgeous Seattle spring weather today with two beverages and an armrest felt downright luxourious

 

[kenavt]

Another big project for at least a month now has been adding some gauges. I have known I've wanted a coolant gauge for a long time after my first 2F incident and not trusting the cluster coolant gauge. I spent some time noodling on how to do it and ended up going down this path.

I wanted to mount the gauges in a way that didn't result or require destructively modifying the interior, and I also wanted an excuse to learn mechanical CAD. A couple friends here have 3D printers, and then I realized while playing with the heater control panel bezel that there are holes in the back. Hard to describe and I don't have a photo showing the holes (will have to add one), but if you take off your bezel they're there. All of the parts came together for me to design a month or two ago... some cupholders!

This was not a good idea; these cupholders did not work. The bezel can't support the weight of even a soda can, never mind more substantial liquid. Then the idea of using it for gauges came to mind. I could get my coolant gauge, and have room for a second one. I ended up choosing to go with a manifold vacuum gauge as it seemed like a useful diagnostics tool, and actually sensing it would be straightforward. Something like an AFR or EGT would have been more useful but much more difficult to install in the exhaust for me.

A lot more time in CAD, a couple of revisions, a bunch of install time, and... here is.

The placement works out pretty well, especially with the gauges angled towards the driver's eyes! Third gear is nicely next to the gauges mount, and the transfer case switch slides nicely underneath. A fifth gear would certainly swing into the mount, sounds like a problem to sort out if I ever get around to a H55 swap

 

[kenavt]

Continued on the gauge pod install...

For the vacuum gauge (Autometer 2337) I tee'd off the brake booster line. Not the biggest fan of that, or the nylon hose that came with the vacuum gauge, so I may replace it at some point. I have had a spare-part-and-tool bin in the truck for a couple of months now; adding a spare brake booster hose with me just in case it's ever needed. Its backlight is tied to the high side (red/positive wire) of the glovebox light. I measured the brake booster hose at 5/16", and the vacuum gauge was 3/16".

For the coolant gauge (Autometer 3855) I spliced into the upper radiator hose with a 38mm sensor adapter thing. It's an electric one, which I wanted for accuracy and to get an Autometer gauge that had a large sweep (not just the top). It's backlight is tied to the high side (red/positive wire) of the glovebox light, and main power is off the cigarette lighter. I enjoyed breaking out my soldering iron and hot air gun, skills from my actual profession, to make some pretty splices.

Really happy with these gauges! They look fantastic and great. Really happy to have this extra info at my fingertips on my trips this summer.

Big thanks to @CruiserTrash for help and inspiration on the gauges!

 

[kenavt]

As for information gleaned from the gauges from a long test drive today

With the vacuum gauge, I'm reading between 21-22in Hg at warm idle. Excellent. My 2F really sucks! I didn't realize how much the needle would fly around under heavy throttle and engine braking... but it makes sense when you think about what's happening in the manifold. Just hadn't thought it through before.

The temp gauge is more odd. My understanding is that when the truck is warmed up, I should expect to see 180F/190F or whatever the thermostat is designed to, as coolant comes out of the thermostat towards the radiator. However, I was seeing much less. After driving around for an hour (lots of idling, little highway, but on a 70F day), the highest temp I saw on the gauge was 150F after climbing a hill, it mostly sat around 140F at idle. I wonder if my thermostat is stuck open or something similar. I did test it before installing it about a year ago now, but something happened in the meantime. I don't have any desire to tear things apart as they are; this was one of my last projects and I'm eager to do less wrenching and more driving

 

[CruiserTrash]

@kenavt When the engine is warming up you'll see the cluster temp gauge come up slowly since it's in the block, and then BOOM the aftermarket gauge will rise sharply when the thermostat opens. Check for that in the morning when you first fire the truck up. All the work looks great.

what is the connector on the temp sender though? Mine is a simple ring terminal affair that has a nut to tighten the terminal. It's supposed to ground through the threads, but obviously since the adapter has rubber hose on either side that can't happen. I have a ground wire attached with silicone tape to the large wrench flats of the sender, and that's run to one of the bolts holding the smog equipment in place. It's held up for a year, but one day I'll get around to soldering the ground wire to the adapter body ... unless this magical connector you have could do the trick.

 

[reddog90]

I installed a koso digital thermostat using their 38mm adaptor in the same spot. I sat 185-190* during hot highway driving over the weekend.

Vacuum gauge would be nice to have.

 

[kenavt]

@kenavt When the engine is warming up you'll see the cluster temp gauge come up slowly since it's in the block, and then BOOM the aftermarket gauge will rise sharply when the thermostat opens. Check for that in the morning when you first fire the truck up. All the work looks great.

what is the connector on the temp sender though? Mine is a simple ring terminal affair that has a nut to tighten the terminal. It's supposed to ground through the threads, but obviously since the adapter has rubber hose on either side that can't happen. I have a ground wire attached with silicone tape to the large wrench flats of the sender, and that's run to one of the bolts holding the smog equipment in place. It's held up for a year, but one day I'll get around to soldering the ground wire to the adapter body ... unless this magical connector you have could do the trick.

I'll keep an eye out for the thermostat behavior!

Looking at the Autometer 3855 wiring diagram, the purple wire to the sender is 5V power and the gray is a return signal. So I presume this whole circuit is grounded through the gauge ground itself, the black wire. The gauge needs to support this type of circuit.

Vacuum gauge would be nice to have.

Your setup looks nice!

We'll see how nice it is to have. Now that I know I have good intake manifold vacuum... this gauge doesn't seem useful anymore until/if I have a problem. Unlike the coolant temp gauge.

 

[onemanarmy]

Was your old gas tank rusty or giving you problems?

Did you keep the old one? If in OK shape someone would pay big $$.

 

[kenavt]

Was your old gas tank rusty or giving you problems?

Did you keep the old one? If in OK shape someone would pay big $$.

Nah, I think the old gas tank was fine. If anything, since I've gotten the gas tank swapped I've noticed more gas vapors under the hood, wonder if some vapor pressures somewhere are different now.

I wish I could have kept it. I didn't ask but I'm sure Mr. T wouldn't have allowed it under some recall rule.

 

[77CruiserDog]

I’ll ask if I can keep mine, I’m headed in next week to get mine replaced.

 

[reddog90]

I’ll ask if I can keep mine, I’m headed in next week to get mine replaced.

Under the recall?

 

[77CruiserDog]

Under the recall?

Yep! I made the appt today. Going in on the 9th or maybe sooner.

 

[reddog90]

Yep! I made the appt today. Going in on the 9th or maybe sooner.

Good job, took me almost 5 months to find a dealer to do mine. Be sure to replace the pickup tubes and sender gauge as well. I am almost certain they will not let you take the old tank home with you. I think it’s a legal/liability issue.

 

[onemanarmy]

Yea...keep the old parts. I had a 60 once with a severely rusted tank (even after the recall was done many years ago) and was looking for a good used one.