Couple of quick questions.

[Bhorton91]

I've been digging into my new to me FJ60. The girl hasn't been driven much in six years so I'm working to get the neglect out of her.

First, are there any kind of strikers for the rear tailgate on the catches? When it's closed the tailgate has about 3/4 of inch of play. Don't know if this is normal for them or not.

Second, it has a small lift on it and 33's will clear easily, is it wise to go that big with stock gears and the four speed or stick to 31's.


Third, what is valve lash supposed to be set at, and I was looking in the Haynes manual that came with it and it was saying to set lash with the engine warm. What have you guys done in the past.

Fourth, I'm fixing to change the carb when I get the old fuel out of it. Is there any other air cleaner/ intake for stock style carbs. The stock one is just so massive and seems more like a heat sink more than anything. Just wanted to try something to help clean the engine bay up.

Fifth, the ole girl has intermittent power steering issues which I've seen on other Toyotas. I think I've seen other systems you can run on these. Anyone point me to which is better on the aftermarket wise.

Lastly, was changing the oil pan gasket and found this mystery piece in the pan, anyone have any ideas? The thing runs fine so one of those, Im not gonna worry to much but just curious. Thanks!

 

[cliffrdavis]

Welcome to 60 land!

I would suggest you search each one of these topics on the forum. The forum has answers for 20 years of questions - almost every problem I’ve had and needed to answer - someone else has answered multiple times. You will also get opinions and solutions from various users by searching. I would recommend a factory service manual - if you plan to do serious engine repair and steering mods.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Welcome to the madness! Nice looking rig that seems close to sorted. I’ll answer what I can below. All this info was given to me when I first got started, gotta give it back.

First, are there any kind of strikers for the rear tailgate on the catches? When it's closed the tailgate has about 3/4 of inch of play. Don't know if this is normal for them or not.

Yes there are strikers. Post some photos of what you’re working with and the peanut gallery can assess. If you buy one of the memberships you can post lots of photos. It’s cheap.

Second, it has a small lift on it and 33's will clear easily, is it wise to go that big with stock gears and the four speed or stick to 31's.

I rolled 33s with a stock drivetrain and it does fine. You get another 5-10mph on the highway for the same given rpm so that’s nice. It suffers down low though. Taking off from a red light, for example, requires a lot of throttle and clutch. That setup has been done by many, many people. I ended up eventually going to 4.11 gears out of an FJ62 - the entire third member is a straight bolt in, although a lot of work. Lots of other folks get the H55 5-spd transmission that came stock in these trucks elsewhere in the world. Drop-in for 84-90 trucks, doable on 81-84 trucks with some more futzing. Those are still available brand new believe it or not.

Third, what is valve lash supposed to be set at, and I was looking in the Haynes manual that came with it and it was saying to set lash with the engine warm. What have you guys done in the past.

Search the forum, there’s a nice color coded spreadsheet somewhere. 008 and 014 I believe are the correct clearances but don’t quote me on that. I now have a fancy cam in my 2F that requires different lash.

Also, go to the resources tab in the menu her on Mud and find the factory service manual (FSM). Everything is in there - everything. Use the Haynes to start fires or wipe your butt while camping.

Fourth, I'm fixing to change the carb when I get the old fuel out of it. Is there any other air cleaner/ intake for stock style carbs. The stock one is just so massive and seems more like a heat sink more than anything. Just wanted to try something to help clean the engine bay up.

Best bet is a used non-US air cleaner for the 2F motor. The air filter housing can be had fairly easily, but there’s a hose from there over to the carb that’s harder to find. @FJ40GURU can probably help, or search the classifieds. If you switch, mind the vacuum hoses that go to the existing air cleaner and make a plan for what you’re going to do with those.

Fifth, the ole girl has intermittent power steering issues which I've seen on other Toyotas. I think I've seen other systems you can run on these. Anyone point me to which is better on the aftermarket wise.

Never a problem for me. Some people go to the Saginaw power steering pump simply because the original pumps are discontinued (NOS prices are through the roof) and impossible to rebuild to 100%. The steering gear box is beefy and good, if it leaks rebuild it or send it to Red Head and have them do it. Burp the system like crazy, follow the FSM procedure for that. You shouldn’t have trouble afterwards.

Lastly, was changing the oil pan gasket and found this mystery piece in the pan, anyone have any ideas? The thing runs fine so one of those, Im not gonna worry to much but just curious. Thanks! View attachment 4152700View attachment 4152701

That’s the arm from an old dead mechanical fuel pump. It’s on the passenger side of the block, down low, to the right of the oil filter. It requires a spacer between the pump & block. If the spacer isn’t installed and the engine is fired up, the cam destroys that fuel pump arm. When you put the gasket on use the Toyota one piece gasket, and not the aftermarket four piece ones as they tend to leak. At least the Toyota gasket will only leak a drop or two in the rear haha.

Good luck!

 

[CruiserTrash]

Welcome to 60 land!

I would suggest you search each one of these topics on the forum. The forum has answers for 20 years of questions - almost every problem I’ve had and needed to answer - someone else has answered multiple times. You will also get opinions and solutions from various users by searching. I would recommend a factory service manual - if you plan to do serious engine repair and steering mods.

Yep. This place is an encyclopedia and every question from maintenance to mods has been answered!

 

[Bhorton91]

Welcome to the madness! Nice looking rig that seems close to sorted. I’ll answer what I can below. All this info was given to me when I first got started, gotta give it back.

Yes there are strikers. Post some photos of what you’re working with and the peanut gallery can assess. If you buy one of the memberships you can post lots of photos. It’s cheap.


I rolled 33s with a stock drivetrain and it does fine. You get another 5-10mph on the highway for the same given rpm so that’s nice. It suffers down low though. Taking off from a red light, for example, requires a lot of throttle and clutch. That setup has been done by many, many people. I ended up eventually going to 4.11 gears out of an FJ62 - the entire third member is a straight bolt in, although a lot of work. Lots of other folks get the H55 5-spd transmission that came stock in these trucks elsewhere in the world. Drop-in for 84-90 trucks, doable on 81-84 trucks with some more futzing. Those are still available brand new believe it or not.

Search the forum, there’s a nice color coded spreadsheet somewhere. 008 and 014 I believe are the correct clearances but don’t quote me on that. I now have a fancy cam in my 2F that requires different lash.

Also, go to the resources tab in the menu her on Mud and find the factory service manual (FSM). Everything is in there - everything. Use the Haynes to start fires or wipe your butt while camping.


Best bet is a used non-US air cleaner for the 2F motor. The air filter housing can be had fairly easily, but there’s a hose from there over to the carb that’s harder to find. @FJ40GURU can probably help, or search the classifieds. If you switch, mind the vacuum hoses that go to the existing air cleaner and make a plan for what you’re going to do with those.


Never a problem for me. Some people go to the Saginaw power steering pump simply because the original pumps are discontinued (NOS prices are through the roof) and impossible to rebuild to 100%. The steering gear box is beefy and good, if it leaks rebuild it or send it to Red Head and have them do it. Burp the system like crazy, follow the FSM procedure for that. You shouldn’t have trouble afterwards.


That’s the arm from an old dead mechanical fuel pump. It’s on the passenger side of the block, down low, to the right of the oil filter. It requires a spacer between the pump & block. If the spacer isn’t installed and the engine is fired up, the cam destroys that fuel pump arm. When you put the gasket on use the Toyota one piece gasket, and not the aftermarket four piece ones as they tend to leak. At least the Toyota gasket will only leak a drop or two in the rear haha.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the info, I'll check the tech info when I'm home at work right now.
Only one I have of the rear right now, I was working on the trim panels, they were just laying in the back when I got her. I was thinking of doing the old band aid trick of electrical tape the Foxbody mustang world used to do for the mean time.

 

[CruiserTrash]

View attachment 4152722
Thanks for all the info, I'll check the tech info when I'm home at work right now.
Only one I have of the rear right now, I was working on the trim panels, they were just laying in the back when I got her. I was thinking of doing the old band aid trick of electrical tape the Foxbody mustang world used to do for the mean time.

All the rubber bumps are in place from what I can see. Hinges loose? Some of these tailgates need a good slam to close properly fwiw. Also lubricate the catches on the left and right sides to make sure they’re moving freely when they hit the strikers.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Use Google to search Mud. It’s a far better search engine than using the one on Mud

 

[CruiserTrash]

Use Google to search Mud. It’s a far better search engine than using the one on Mud

100%

 

[diesellibrarian]

Also, ditch the Haynes manual in favour of the Toyota Factory Service Manual (FSM). You should be able to find a digital download on this page, thanks to the fine folks at @Cruiser Cult. As you will see in the manual, the engine must be warm when you do your valve adjustment.

This maintenance manual should give you enough info to get you going. Good luck!

 

[Pighead]

Fourth, I'm fixing to change the carb when I get the old fuel out of it. Is there any other air cleaner/ intake for stock style carbs. The stock one is just so massive and seems more like a heat sink more than anything. Just wanted to try something to help clean the engine bay up.

Change the carb? What would you change it to? Do you have to pass smog?

 

[Bhorton91]

All the rubber bumps are in place from what I can see. Hinges loose? Some of these tailgates need a good slam to close properly fwiw. Also lubricate the catches on the left and right sides to make sure they’re moving freely when they hit the strikers.

So you're right, I just had to slam the thing pretty hard and it closed.

Will use the Haynes manual as a fire starter in my Woodstove, lol!

Cleaned the resivord and flushed the power steering system and it's better for sure!

 

[Bhorton91]

Along with the power steering flush, I made a battery hold down strap with some aluminum I have in my shop. Covered it in rubber undercoating. I'll make another to make it prettier and use this a template.

 

[Pighead]

View attachment 4153177

So, it's been de-smogged a bit then. And you want to replace the air cleaner with something less in-the-way?

 

[Bhorton91]

So, it's been de-smogged a bit then. And you want to replace the air cleaner with something less in-the-way?

Yes. It still has the stock carb with all the vacuum ports plugged. Plus, where it's sat so much I'm going to change it out with a stock style that doesn't have all the vacuum ports. But yes, the stock air cleaner is just all over the place.

 

[Pighead]

the stock air cleaner is just all over the place.

I had to lose my stock air cleaner to fit the power steering pump. Got this off the ricer rack at my FLAPS...

 

[Bhorton91]

I had to lose my stock air cleaner to fit the power steering pump. Got this off the ricer rack at my FLAPS...

View attachment 4153205

That would be fine with me, I don't know if I've seen any of those at my local parts houses but I'll have to look. Silly question to ask, there isn't a part number on that thing is there?

 

[Lead Head]

Definitely check your power steering pump belt tension. The PS Pump belt has to be pretttty tight on my 62, otherwise the steering feels weird and lumpy. I'm assuming the pump starts to intermittently slip, causing the lumpy feeling. If the belt is very tight, it feels normal.

 

[Bhorton91]

Definitely check your power steering pump belt tension. The PS Pump belt has to be pretttty tight on my 62, otherwise the steering feels weird and lumpy. I'm assuming the pump starts to intermittently slip, causing the lumpy feeling. If the belt is very tight, it feels normal.

She's pretty good now. I haven't take it to drive since I have to redo a lot on the front end. I used a battery ratchet and flushed two full resivors through the pump and box, lifted the front after and bled it, it's aot more consistent just sitting in the garage and turning lock to lock so I'll call it a win.

 

[3_puppies]

are you using ATF in the PS?

 

[CruiserTrash]

Along with the power steering flush, I made a battery hold down strap with some aluminum I have in my shop. Covered it in rubber undercoating. I'll make another to make it prettier and use this a template.
View attachment 4153177View attachment 4153178View attachment 4153179

All of the battery tray parts are available from Toyota brand new FYI. The only part that’s no longer made is the diagonal support brace.

Also, FWIW, a perfectly working power steering system on these trucks feels pretty underwhelming with larger than stock tires. Nature of the beast.