Cheap Winter Resto (1 Viewer)

[BG85FJ60]

Follow if you will cruiserheads... I will be doing a cheap but thurough resto on my 85 FJ60 throughout this winter so I figured I would start a thread (with lots of pics) for any questions, suggestions, recommendations, or general chat, etc. I will be posting pics daily/weekly as I go along. So here we go...


Purchased this beaut a couple of months ago, site unseen, from a fella in Florida for $9500. Seems to be in fairly good shape with only 160,000 original miles, although this is my first cruiser. Had a couple mishaps as expected from any 30 year old truck. Clearcoat peeling, little rust here & there, rough idle, ect. but exactly what I was looking for. Rebuilt the carb (thanks Pin_head!), plugs, filters, and few other odds & ins and she runs good but still not perfect. Around $200 invested so far.

I have a monthly budget of about $400 give or take. $200 going directly into the project and the other into savings for the big items.

So here's my LONG term plan fro the rig:
1st is preservation (which I plan to complete this winter)
- POR-15 entire underside one piece at a time
- Fix rust & repaint body with Alexseal (more on Alexseal later)
- Check & Replace all seals, bearing, lines & hoses as needed
- Would like to replace all nuts & bolts with stainless eventually
- Rebuild front knuckles
- New clutch
- and what ever else I run into

Now for the big items on my wish list: (over time)
- Purchase & Install manual 5 speed (H55f)
- Purchase & Install Diesel (12HT or 1HD-T) hopefully (recommendations are welcome)
- New interior (although currently in good shape)

Week 1 coming up...

 

[BG85FJ60]

Week 1

Go my small garage all clean & ready for her winter home.

As you can see I'm very limited on space but it'll have to do!

Pulled rear bumper, spare tire, rear cross member, rear axle & leaf springs, rear driveshaft, brake & fuel lines that run down passenger side of frame.

Scraped, wire brushed/wheeled and cleaned all items mentioned above. 2 coats of POR-15 on frame from rear leafspring mount back and on the axle.

Rear Axle after cleaned and etched

I love this stuff!!

More cleaning & scraping & wire wheeling to come

 

[WHG423]

That's a nice looking 60!
Proceed with caution! The words cheap & Landcruiser do not play well together. I did a semi-resto over last winter and was looking at upwards of $4Gs just on small things. It adds up fast.
That being said, looks like you have good goals. Excited to see the progress!

 

[BG85FJ60]

It's a dirty job but someone has to do it! 30 years of crap...

Here's an intertesting way to plug a fuel line. Work with what ya got..

That's all for now folks! Hopefully I'll have the tank out and everything mostly cleaned and ready for more POR-15 by weekend.

 

[gregnash]

Yeah forceps or vise grips work great for blocking off fuel and brake lines (rubber ones that is).
Truck is definitely nice, what all did you get for the $9500? I picked mine up for a steal at $1500 and have invested maybe another $2k into it with parts and what not, that doesn't count the $850 I just spent on new tires though.

 

[BG85FJ60]

Well, end of week 2. Seem to have made pretty good progress. Finished the back half of under carriage. Started on stripping the paint. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 

[BG85FJ60]

Pretty happy with how the underneath came out.

 

[BG85FJ60]

Hopefully I wont be running into too much cancer! Looks better than some of the others that I've seen. Wish me luck...

 

[BG85FJ60]

If anyone has any pointers on how to remove the cargo glass & windsheild, please tell. Thanks gentlemen!

 

[Output Shaft]

Looks like you are on your way to great things.

A note of caution:
Be extremely careful using any isocyanate solvent based coating such as Por-15 (link to MSDS pdf). Half-mask respirators do not provide adequate protection. The only safe way to use an iso based coating is to not use it at all.

Looking forward to seeing all the nice fixer-ups you're planning on doing.

 

[drillduty]

Build looks great! Keep up the great work!

 

[BG85FJ60]

Thanks for the info output! Trust me, I'm taking all the precautions I can with plenty of ventilation.

Is there anyone out there that has experience in removing the cargo glass without F-ing up the chrome trim? Or is it even possible?

Stopped by the local auto glass shop today and they quoted $150 just to remove the glass (including the windshield) and another $150 for re installation. Also said that the trim would definitely have to be replaced because they would most likely not be able to remove the glass without destroying the chrome trim. If I were to go this rout, I would be looking at around $460 total for glass work plus replacing the trim. There's got to be a better way.?.?.? If not, guess I'll just have to work around it. Suggestions?

 

[SteveH]

Search tool - as always - tons of threads on this. I removed the glass and seal together, my myself, using plastic bicycle tire levers and screwdrivers. Open the hatch, pry the seal up on the inside (carefully) and jam small blocks of wood (or whatever) under the seal until you get the seal pried out enough to stay out. Reinstall with soap and a piece of rope. Total cost $0.00 and no destruction of the stainless trim.

 

[BG85FJ60]

Thanks SteveH for the tips and reminding me of the search tool.... . Just watched wagongears video. I'll give it try.

 

[WHG423]

Looking great so far. Nice progress!

 

[norsk]

nice.