CruisD64's FJ62 Thread (1 Viewer)

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Oct 9, 2015
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Location
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Wassup mudders! First off, Happy Birthday to me :p This will be an ongoing thread...BUT after 2.5 years of looking for the right FJ62, I finally got it. 1989 with 219k miles. What a birthday present. A few weeks ago I was over at Valley Hybrids picking up an H55F/Split Case combo for my FJ40 when I saw this thing. It is the color I want and the interior is in excellent condition. After asking Georg if he knew of any 62's like "this one" for sale he told me that it could be for sale for the right person, meaning someone who would bring it back to life (At least that's how I took it). <thumbs> This guy. The price was just too good to pass up and it has ZERO rust. I mean the gutter is perfect! That being said, it needs some body work including replacing the front fender assembly and some various accessories blah blah blah. Has a blown head gasket and the transmission is questionable, but these are all things that don't scare me. This truck will eventually share daily driver duties with my 03 Tacoma so it will by no means ever be a crazy wheeler or stock show car restoration but rather a really nice DD that I'm not afraid to get dirty. I'm stoked.

Immediate plans are as follows...

1. 3FE/H55F OR GM EROD LS3/H55F. Georg pretty much talked me out of the EROD today due to smog reasons...at least for now. Not a problem though if the 3FE will be brought back to life with a head rebuild. TBD. Exhaust is toast but whatever. Going to keep the original tranny until it dies. So far so good!

2. All body work and repaint. Pricey but will be worth it. To me the gray FJ62's are just the most beautiful. Having grown up with a champagne one, that is a bold statement according to my dad who still has his :p Rear passengers side dent will likely be the only bondo on the entire truck. I'm ok with that.

3. OME Lift with 33x10's. Done

4. Rock sliders Done

5. Gamiviti roof rack with roof top tent (Cross country trip on the map perhaps?) Built my own. Way Cheaper

6. Tinted windows Done

7. Torfab seat brackets with BMW seats (Thanks for the idea Kmonty66 :p) Decided to stick with the stock seats

8. Sony head unit with upgraded speakers. Done. Installed backup camera too

Whadya'll think? :):)

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Wassup mudders! First off, Happy Birthday to me :p This will be an ongoing thread...BUT after 2.5 years of looking for the right FJ62, I finally got it. 1989 with 219k miles. What a birthday present. A few weeks ago I was over at Valley Hybrids picking up an H55F/Split Case combo for my FJ40 when I saw this thing. It is the color I want and the interior is in excellent condition. After asking Georg if he knew of any 62's like "this one" for sale he told me that it could be for sale for the right person, meaning someone who would bring it back to life (At least that's how I took it). <thumbs> This guy. The price was just too good to pass up and it has ZERO rust. I mean the gutter is perfect! That being said, it needs some body work including replacing the front fender assembly and some various accessories blah blah blah. Has a blown head gasket and the transmission is questionable, but these are all things that don't scare me. This truck will eventually share daily driver duties with my 03 Tacoma so it will by no means ever be a crazy wheeler or stock show car restoration but rather a really nice DD that I'm not afraid to get dirty. I'm stoked.

Immediate plans are as follows...

1. 3FE/H55F OR GM EROD LS3/H55F. Georg pretty much talked me out of the EROD today due to smog reasons...at least for now. Not a problem though if the 3FE will be brought back to life with a head rebuild. TBD. Exhaust is toast but whatever.

2. All body work and repaint. Pricey but will be worth it. To me the gray FJ62's are just the most beautiful. Having grown up with a champagne one, that is a bold statement according to my dad who still has his :p Rear passengers side dent will likely be the only bondo on the entire truck. I'm ok with that.

3. OME Lift with 33x10's.

4. Rock sliders

5. Gamiviti roof rack with roof top tent (Cross country trip on the map perhaps?)

6. Tinted windows

7. Torfab seat brackets with BMW seats (Thanks for the idea Kmonty66 :p)

8. Sony head unit with upgraded speakers.

Whadya'll think? :):)

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In terms of the erod if money is readily available isnt the connect and cruise package still available? And California legal? Might be cheaper to move state though
 
In terms of the erod if money is readily available isnt the connect and cruise package still available? And California legal? Might be cheaper to move state though

Apparently it used to be that simple up until just a few months ago. But now CA requires that the body monitor's work on the ECU and that the GM dealer has to sign off on it. Before you could just turn them off but now they have to work or you have to "fake" it which apparently isn't all that simple.
 
I can't attest to an ls but my tbi makes me smile on the freeway. Nice score.

I'll have a TBI in my 40 soon which I'm really excited about but I figured with the 62 I would go all out since it would become a daily driver. I've become very interested in the erod because of it's simplicity and cheap maintenance. Jonathan Ward's videos have definitely influenced that though. There's something very appealing about a brand plug in option however my above post explains why that may not be possible right now. That being said, repairing the 3fe is probably the cheapest and smartest option for me right now. I'm a little strapped for cash so it would delay any body work and paint for a long period of time if I went with the erod. I would like this truck to be straight with a good paint job. Then 4 or 5 years down the line I can swap the motor if I feel like it. :)
 
Nice score. Keep us posted on progress and more pics.
 
Nice rig!

Love having v8 power in my 60. I’ve got a 5.3l LS in mine. Not easy to make it smog legal though. Good luck with your 3f rebuild, They’re cool motors.

BMW 3 series seats here:
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Good seats, definitely an upgrade over stock.

Cheers!
-Ed
 
Well then...definitely wasn't the first thing on the list but found a deal I couldn't pass up. Picked up a set of 2007 3 series seats that are electric, heated and have lumbar adjustments. 200 bucks. Couldn't pass them up :p

 
Nice rig!

Love having v8 power in my 60. I’ve got a 5.3l LS in mine. Not easy to make it smog legal though. Good luck with your 3f rebuild, They’re cool motors.

BMW 3 series seats here:
View attachment 1905032

Good seats, definitely an upgrade over stock.

Cheers!
-Ed

Ahhh. 5.3 is what I would love! 3fe should be good though. There is a certain romantic element of keeping the original motor, but for practically's sake I'd give it up for a nice Chevy swap. Either way, I'm sure I'll be happy for a while to come. :)
 
oh. btw. this is the 62 I grew up with. Purchased in 1991 from my dads boss at the time. This picture was taken last year. We still have it.
 
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Hit the inside of the fender with some single stage color. It's going on the cruiser soon so I wanted to get the inside protected. Body shop will be doing the outside and rear dent repair for the time being. My plan is to repaint the whole thing at some point but I'm going to do it myself. :p



And a little cruiser porn :) The blue one in the background is a 78 FJ40 that I'm working on as well.

 
So it's been a while but I have a big update. Just a few days after my last post I was in the hospital and had emergency surgery for gallbladder removal. I wouldn't ever wish that pain on anyone. Needless to say, my priorities were readjusted and the cruiser temporarily took a back seat. Anyway, today was a big day. Finally got her running. Turns out the transmission is just fine and the motor runs absolutely great now! That initial list of to-do's is getting reworked.

Here are some videos from today. :) I hope you enjoy.




I'll be bringing the car home in a few weeks and will really get to work on it.
 
Last week the Cruiser passed California smog! 1st try! Flying colors, boom!

Brought her home today. Absolutely no issues. Ran perfectly. My Tacoma is upset because it's now being parked outside but she'll get over it... :p

Tomorrow I have an appointment to have the VIN verified and then I can officially register it. Can't wait!

Here's the Cruiser in its new home.

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Here she is sitting in front of her sister. :p

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Let the games begin :)

Already ordered some White Knuckle Sliders.
 

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