I thought I'd put up a posting about my project fj60. I just finished her up (for the most part) today. Click this link for other pictures in high res, wallpaper it if you want: http://community.webshots.com/photo/422960660DEXCbz
’86 FJ60 currently at 160k (I used it a LOT during the past 6 months as a DD while restoring her) restored to stock with the exception of higher compression, off-road lights and light guards, brush guard, and safari rack (oh – and a good sound system – my one splurge). It sits on some 31x9.5 tires until I put up the cash for a new set of 33x10.5 BFG’s and new 1" lift shackles – but does get 14.5mpg as is. In the near future I’ll be adding in a matching factory third row seat and headrests on the rear bench seat. Believe it or not that’s the original paint after many car-care products and hand wash/waxes. Up close the finish is even shinier/deeper – but does have those few fine “love” dents and touchups here and there from the years. Inside is just as nice with not a thread out of place. It’s amazing how new/modern this vehicle appears inside and out in a stock early 80’s design. The kicker is that this truck started out as a sub-thousand dollar “parts” truck in the rust belt, I just gave it some tlc.
This was just a rare lucky occurrence that a cheap rust-belt truck turned out so well, but it does give hope to everyone’s rust buckets out there. When I brought it home I had my doubts: it was completely covered with mildew in and out and appeared faded, needed some trim pieces, had electrical issues, had a blown head, needed other engine-bay parts, and required a lot of work in general as it sat for a while. It is my first finished FJ, and it will sit side by side with my Freeborn Red mostly stock ’77 fj40 once I complete it. It’s not as fast as a vintage sports car, but is just as much fun to drive and just as beautiful – almost too pretty to want to take off-road; well maybe light trails
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Feel free to ask any questions! I know that the cruiser experts advise to buy a good condition truck from the get go, however for a young guy just out of school covering student loans, it simply wasn’t an option for me to drop 8-12k on a truck that was half-worn out. I managed to get the same result with a bit of work, aggravation, fun, and about $6-8k less and 100k miles less – and I know that it was built up well. However, my plan doesn’t always work: I did go through several (6 to be exact) previous “parts truck” FJ purchases, a few with the naive intention of keeps (shame on those who peddle junk to young ambitious guys) - but got overwhelmed with the rust and body damage.
If you’ve got the fever to go build up your old truck, I’ve put all the spare restoration/body/trim parts from the previous trucks I had bought up on Ebay. Thanks to all the people here who already got items from me – you’re the only reason I could even afford to spend the time and money building up a cruiser. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank all the cruiser heads out there who made me feel so welcomed into this fine community (I just got into cruisers about a year ago); I look forward to contributing more to the cruiser forums as my life settles down and I finish my fj40. I will always treasure my fj60 and plan to run half a million miles or more with it (perhaps with a second drive-train rebuild). It’s amazing how a piece of “simple” machinery can affect/enhance (hopefully) one’s life. The women in my life are definitely jealous.
Just need to find a good name for her…
’86 FJ60 currently at 160k (I used it a LOT during the past 6 months as a DD while restoring her) restored to stock with the exception of higher compression, off-road lights and light guards, brush guard, and safari rack (oh – and a good sound system – my one splurge). It sits on some 31x9.5 tires until I put up the cash for a new set of 33x10.5 BFG’s and new 1" lift shackles – but does get 14.5mpg as is. In the near future I’ll be adding in a matching factory third row seat and headrests on the rear bench seat. Believe it or not that’s the original paint after many car-care products and hand wash/waxes. Up close the finish is even shinier/deeper – but does have those few fine “love” dents and touchups here and there from the years. Inside is just as nice with not a thread out of place. It’s amazing how new/modern this vehicle appears inside and out in a stock early 80’s design. The kicker is that this truck started out as a sub-thousand dollar “parts” truck in the rust belt, I just gave it some tlc.
This was just a rare lucky occurrence that a cheap rust-belt truck turned out so well, but it does give hope to everyone’s rust buckets out there. When I brought it home I had my doubts: it was completely covered with mildew in and out and appeared faded, needed some trim pieces, had electrical issues, had a blown head, needed other engine-bay parts, and required a lot of work in general as it sat for a while. It is my first finished FJ, and it will sit side by side with my Freeborn Red mostly stock ’77 fj40 once I complete it. It’s not as fast as a vintage sports car, but is just as much fun to drive and just as beautiful – almost too pretty to want to take off-road; well maybe light trails
. Feel free to ask any questions! I know that the cruiser experts advise to buy a good condition truck from the get go, however for a young guy just out of school covering student loans, it simply wasn’t an option for me to drop 8-12k on a truck that was half-worn out. I managed to get the same result with a bit of work, aggravation, fun, and about $6-8k less and 100k miles less – and I know that it was built up well. However, my plan doesn’t always work: I did go through several (6 to be exact) previous “parts truck” FJ purchases, a few with the naive intention of keeps (shame on those who peddle junk to young ambitious guys) - but got overwhelmed with the rust and body damage.
If you’ve got the fever to go build up your old truck, I’ve put all the spare restoration/body/trim parts from the previous trucks I had bought up on Ebay. Thanks to all the people here who already got items from me – you’re the only reason I could even afford to spend the time and money building up a cruiser. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank all the cruiser heads out there who made me feel so welcomed into this fine community (I just got into cruisers about a year ago); I look forward to contributing more to the cruiser forums as my life settles down and I finish my fj40. I will always treasure my fj60 and plan to run half a million miles or more with it (perhaps with a second drive-train rebuild). It’s amazing how a piece of “simple” machinery can affect/enhance (hopefully) one’s life. The women in my life are definitely jealous.
Just need to find a good name for her…
. But I did add the picture that I took right after I brought her home and checked her out: removed the rusty hubcaps, yellowed light covers, some chipmunk/mouse food hordes, and vac'd up a bit of dog hair. I had to make it a little more presentable when I brought it home in March so that my family wouldn't think I went completely nuts thinking that I could rebuild it to like new. Wish I had taken some upholestery/carpet before pictures.
. Luckily the radiator sealed up until I can get a new one here. I also haven't reenameled the engine block yet as I was planning on dropping the main driveline in a year and putting in an h55f and maybe smog headers. Thus the "restored for the most part". For now I just don't have the time to mess with the driveline again (It's my only DD) until my fj40 is done and I have a spare vehicle to drive. I'll reclean the engine and post a picture when I replace the radiator.
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