Chilcotin- 1984 FJ60 on the road back to its glory days (1 Viewer)

[mongoose2231]

Alright fellow cruiser owners and enthusiasts. It is now time for me to start a rebuild thread of my beloved cruiser of one and a half years, Chilcotin. I thought I was going to avoid that, and just fix things as they broke but I am running into too major of a problem now a days. I bought here with a bit of rust on the rear quarters and section of rear frame. I knew what I was getting into but didn't expect so many things to go bad. LOL. So after running into major running and idling issues after renewing all the vacuum lines I have decided it was time to rebuild her from scratch. Things I have done so far are:
-clutch kit as soon as I got it
-replaced leaky oil pan gasket
-resurfaced manifolds
-new exhaust gaskets everywhere, including crush rings and all the egr stuff
-new vacuum lines (reverted back to original- thanks to the forum for their help, as the original owner messed with teh vacuum line setup
-new violet vsv valve
-bought a used hood and drivers door as mine are rusty
-valve adjusted
-cleaned and seafoamed carb, runs and starts as new
-new PCV

Things that require immediate attention;
-replace driver's door
-rebuild rear shock support member (sheared in two locations)

Things to do down the road
-replace leaky side engine cover
-tear interior, clean and reinstall
-Install A/C system (bought one from forum member- complete)
-ultimately fix rusty frame in rear and body panels and repaint
-replace radiator
-everything else that may break

this is what I started with, meet Chilcotin

 

[klinetime574]

You've already done a lot of the hard work! Looking good.

Going to do a lift kit in the future? Or just get it running good first?

 

[mongoose2231]

You've already done a lot of the hard work! Looking good.

Going to do a lift kit in the future? Or just get it running good first?

The truck already rides on some sort of OME lift. I spoke to Man-a-Fre and they said to measure the shocks eye to eye, both extended and compressed in order for them to identify the kind of lift I have. It looks to be seating about 3 to 4" higher than stock.

 

[mongoose2231]

As of today, the front passenger side knuckle is leaking badly, so I got a rebuild kit from CCOT. Also, I got an air rail from a forum member as mine was all rotted so I need to install that as well. My truck is stock with all the emissions stuff intact and i'd like to keep it like that for now, since it runs pretty good.
Also, my u cooler pipe from the power steering rotted as well so I have a replacement coming in from SOR. They seem to be the only ones stocking them, albeit used. It looks as though i will be very busy these coming days. The drivers door can be had by anyone interested for free as the skin is rust free. The jamb is whats rusted out.

rear x-member with rear shock attached.

 

[mongoose2231]

So just to make this into a build thread I will post some stuff from the work I have already done.
-engine being worked on

 

[mongoose2231]

-carb repaired
-truck as it sat this winter with replaced hood

 

[mongoose2231]

After a couple months of ignorance I have decided it was time to rebuild knuckles and replace the seals in my front axle. Man, what a messy job. The passenger side was real bad, to the extent that under hard braking the truck would pull left, as the pads on the right were soaked in grease leaking from the hub. I had purchased a repair kit from CCOT a while back, which included the axle and bearing seals, steering koyo bearing and all the gaskets plus the metal retaining rings. The kit is made in Australia and looks to be of really high quality. During dis-assembly last week I noticed that my tie rods were in need of replacement. I also took apart the locking hubs to rebuild and I was in need of a rebuild kit and gaskets for those as well. Specter provided those, while the tie rods were ordered from CCOT. I cannot speak about the quality but they are definitely Chinese made and frankly, I'm a little skeptical. My personal opinion anyway. The rubber boots on these units do not sit well. I will report on their performance when done. Anyway, what a pain to do this job. I am now 2 days into the rebuild and I am only a little more than half ways done with one of them. The cone washers on the steering arm were a pain to remove. At least one of them anyway. Other than that it's pretty straight forward but messy as it can be. See pictures below. I have used gasoline to clean up the parts. So far so good. I will post again when done with the whole refresh.

 

[mongoose2231]

More pics.

 

[mongoose2231]

Even more pics...
Last photo here shows beginning of reassembly. I had gotten the knuckle back on but that's about it. I forgot to mention that I have a 2 year old that hampers with the time I have allotted to spend on the truck, LOL. Oh, and one thing I would have done differently is I would not have removed the brake caliper and attempted to remove the brake line from the union part on the back of the dust shield. What a pita was to even loosen the nut. I then discovered that there was a clip holding the 6 or so inches of rubber line to the top of the axle, which can be removed. Doh...Now I have to bleed my brakes. I might also need the hard line leading to the caliper from the union, unless I can actually re tighten those rounded off nuts to spec. Too bad the manual never mentioned anything about the removal of the dust shield and I as a dumb ass never thought of the clip. Anyhow, progress is being made.

 

[mongoose2231]

Last of the available photos..

 

[ashack2004]

doing great job, rebuilds on the front are always fun!

 

[Stumpalama]

doing great job, rebuilds on the front are always fun!

...and by far, the messiest job on a Land Cruiser.

 

[mongoose2231]

Yes, the messiest ever. It feels nice to hold non-greasy parts and not need gloves after cleaning them, even if they are rusty. I am however sitting in a pile of oil and grease while doing this. I am not very organized either.

 

[Stumpalama]

It's hard to stay organized with a job like this. The thighs of my pants were soaked with moly grease and 80-90 from resting the axles on them and rubbing my hands to get some of the gunk off.

 

[mongoose2231]

I'm loving it! Besides I have more confidence in my own personal skill set than any mechanic who sports a hammer as the preferred tool. Plus I save a lot of money on labor and get to learn the truck inside out.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I'm loving it! Besides I have more confidence in my own personal skill set than any mechanic who sports a hammer as the preferred tool. Plus I save a lot of money on labor and get to learn the truck inside out.

That's the Land Cruiser mentality right there. Good work

Looking forward to see what else you have in store for Chilcotin

 

[mongoose2231]

That's the Land Cruiser mentality right there. Good work

Looking forward to see what else you have in store for Chilcotin

As seen in some pics above, I'd lost my rear shocks on the GW bridge one day heading from the office to the city to pick up my in laws. I also have a coolant disappearance with no overheating issue. Hard to understand but I will figure it out. Love all the help and resources on here. Thanks for the encouraging words by the way.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

As seen in some pics above, I'd lost my rear shocks on the GW bridge one day heading from the office to the city to pick up my in laws. I also have a coolant disappearance with no overheating issue. Hard to understand but I will figure it out. Love all the help and resources on here. Thanks for the encouraging words by the way.

The help and resources on this board are why I've stuck around for this long, and it's also a big reason why I've been able to do so much on my truck.

Rear shock crossmember is easy. If you can weld, pound a piece of pipe through the holes in the frame (after cleaning it up with a wire wheel) and weld the pipe in place. Weld on 1/2 (IIRC) bolts to the pipe in the right spot and you've got studs to mount your shocks to. Bingo, fixed.

As for the coolant leak, look around the motor for dried coolant. It's likely that you've got a slow leak and it's all evaporating before you get drips on the pavement.

 

[mongoose2231]

The help and resources on this board are why I've stuck around for this long, and it's also a big reason why I've been able to do so much on my truck.

Rear shock crossmember is easy. If you can weld, pound a piece of pipe through the holes in the frame (after cleaning it up with a wire wheel) and weld the pipe in place. Weld on 1/2 (IIRC) bolts to the pipe in the right spot and you've got studs to mount your shocks to. Bingo, fixed.

As for the coolant leak, look around the motor for dried coolant. It's likely that you've got a slow leak and it's all evaporating before you get drips on the pavement.

I've researched the cross member fix already. I can weld, just need a welder. Might get it done at work in our shop. As far as the coolant goes, I really haven't had time to look into it. Wow, more than 11k posts, no wonder u know so much. Thanks again!

 

[mongoose2231]

Ok, so I finished rebuilding one knuckle. It's slow going since I have limited time to put into the truck but it's slowly getting there. I also managed to ruin a bolt from the steering arm so that needs replacing. Other than that I would just have to put on the rotor and hub as a unit and the caliper and then on to the next. The one thing I didn't clean here is the dust shield since it was still attached to the truck via brake line. I will clean it as it sits though.