Finding a Forever Truck - a 1990 FJ62 Tale (1 Viewer)

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So here's a story a few years in the making.

Three years ago I bought my first Land Cruiser, a brown 1986 FJ60. My kids loved it and we drove it happily for a while. I thought it was the perfect truck for our family.

Then, I stumbled onto @Sea Knight 's Rustbucket thread....and I was hooked. I needed a 40, and to fund that purchase I had to sell the 60. My kids, especially my middle son, were crushed. I found a purple (seriously) 1977 FJ40 in Rapid City, SD, bought it sight unseen and dove headfirst into the 40 world.

My current daily driver is a 2014 VW TDI wagon, included in the scandal and buyback. I plan selling it back as soon as possible. I started thinking about replacement vehicles, and the obvious choice was to go all in Land Cruiser style, find another 60 series and get ready for a long relationship.

Through a friend of a friend I heard of a truck in North Texas that might be for sale. I made contact with the owner and indeed he had a Freeborn Red 1900 FJ62. He bought it 3 years ago from a 'little old lady' who had blown the engine by never changing the oil but had the motor replaced by a Toyota mechanic with a 53,000mi 3FE. The gentleman is a car collector who has restored 3 other cruisers, and had his paint and body guy respray the truck. Other than extended shackles, the truck was completely unmolested and original.

I spoke to him several times, got a ton of pics, and decided to take the plunge.

Now I just had to go get it.

 

[HemiAlex]

Stop typing and make it happen.

A freeborn red 62 was my first childhood memory of this truck when I was about 7. I remember rolling around in the back of one on my uncles ranch in Brenham. I bought my 60 as a tribute to that.

 

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It's in the driveway. Gotta tell this story in parts, I'm at work and can't do it all at once.

 

[vipergrhd]

We want pics!!

 

[rrv333]

Pics, or it didn't happen just kidding. Congratulations! now pics!

 

[bottombracket]

This is all you get for now. If @Sea Knight's involved, I have to try to tell a good story.

 

[aging fleet]

In for the story, just be sure to write the final chapter.

 

[vipergrhd]

What no frontal shot?! what a tease, nice behind shot though.

 

[Major Nelson]

a FJ40 and FJ60 in the garage...I approve of this.

 

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Road Trippin' to Hico

I had to find a day to drive up to Wichita Falls (250miles), inspect and buy the truck, and get it home to Austin. I asked @Sea Knight if he had any interest in coming along for a road trip. Happily, he climbed aboard on short notice and we planned to make the drive up and back in one long day.

To my surprise the owner of the red 62 had a car hauler and volunteered to drive all the way down to Hico, TX, only 120 miles from Austin. Sweet. Now I just had to decide what to drive.

I was driving across Texas to buy a Land Cruiser with a guy I became friends with from an Internet website about Land Crusiers where he had written an epic forum thread about driving a Land Crusier across these very roads, where said forum thread had inspired me to buy my own FJ40...clearly, the only suitable vehicle was my own purple '77.

Problem was, I had never driven my 40 for more than about 30 miles at a time and never in more than about a 10 mile radius from Austin. I had reservations but Lee was adamant that everything would be ok. Plus, he had 200mile towing from AAA.

I stayed up late the night before going over my truck, checking all necessary systems, and packing tools, parts, and spare clothes. I woke up at 6:00 and I was like a kid on Christmas Day.

I headed to Lee's house and we rambled north out of Austin.

Barney, preparing to launch.

 

[rrv333]

Nice!

 

[bottombracket]

Here's a teaser. I will tell the rest of the origin story soon.

I better get on with it because I already have tech problems that I need the collective MUD hive mind to help me solve.

 

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So I was gonna write the rest the next day. It's now four months later...

So Lee and I rolled out thought Austin and headed northwest. My vision kept nervously darting from speedometer, to gauges, to the road, to others as I got up to speed (remember, I haven't driven this truck more than 10 miles from home) and I kept waiting for horrible noises from the drivetrain, smoke, flames, etc. I tried to play it cool and not alert @Sea Knight to my internal state of alarm.

We kept going and stopped for fuel. We headed north on 183 (not the toll road, hell no) at a leisurely 55mph, through Leander, and across rolling hills to Lampasas. My sphincter tone started to diminish and I started to enjoy the ride. After all, I had 3 hours to talk with @Sea Knight, and there were a lot of stories to tell and hear.

It's kind of funny when you are talking with someone with whom I had read FAR more of what they had written than actual human conversation, up to that point. Lee would start a story, and I'd be like "oh, yeah, the Zinger girls, I read it on the Rustbucket thread". It's weird how much you can glean about a person, their lives, and their mannerisms over words on the typed Internet page. But I'll tell you, the stories are better in person, half shouted over the wind and the 2F spinning at 3000 rpm (probably, 'cause there's no tachometer), and the Texas hills rolling by in front of a high blue sky.

We moseyed along, because that's what you do in a 40, and rolled north on 281 until we came to Hico. We had covered 130 miles in Barney, and it was easy. The day was perfect - 80 degrees and sunny, a great Texas late summer day. We were even 10 minutes early.

The seller had volunteered to meet us about halfway between Wichita Falls and Austin. Oh wait, it's like 1/3 of the way; I'm not sure we could have covered the distance to Wichita Falls and back in one day with one of us in a 40. Luckily, the seller had a ranch just outside of Hico and kindly offered to bring the red 62 on one of his trailers.

The Commander and I parked in the Koffee Kup side lot and a few minutes later the seller arrived.

 

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Koffee, Cruisers, and Cash Money

We were meeting the seller of the red 62 at the Koffee Kup, right where 281 doglegs to the left. There was a big dirt lot behind the Kup and the seller rolled up with the red truck on the back of a car hauler. Right away I was taken - it was shiny and pretty and oh-so-Freeborn Red. But paint can hide a lot of fun and @Sea Knight and I started looking over the truck.

As I had mentioned above, the truck had lived all of its life in Wichita Falls, TX. No salt. Always garaged and only driven by 'a little old lady'; the seller had known this truck and the original owner since she had purchased it in 1990. Despite keeping it in near-immaculate condition, the little old lady didn't seem to believe in checking or changing the oil, and had blown out the 3FE in 2004-5 at 142,000 miles. The seller had bought it from her, and sourced a low-mileage replacement 3FE, by report having only 50,000mi on it. I had no paperwork to verify it, but the engine compartment hadn't been detailed or steam cleaned but all of the plastic, VSVs, and small parts were in nearly immaculate condition. The frame still had the factory undercoating. The interior was as clean. It had had a decent quality repaint and there was some clear coat bubbling on the hood and a spiderweb crack in the paint on the rear hatch, but was otherwise pretty darn clean. @Sea Knight gave his approval, I drove it around the neighborhood and parked it next to the seller's rig.

Grinning, I rolled down the driver's window to give an emphatic thumbs up to the seller....and then the window stuck 3/4 down.

This embarrassed the seller to no end, but it wasn't a deal breaker to me. We exchanged cash and documents, and as he bid us farewell, he said simply: "I've turned down a lot more money for this truck. Take good care of her." He tipped his hat and rolled away to his ranch.

 

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The Koffee Kup and Homeward Bound

So what do you do when you buy a Cruiser? You go eat lunch, that's what you do. We parked Barney and the new red 62 next to each other and hit the Kup for lunch.

Inside there were low ceilings and huge hamburgers. Lee and I each had a massive burger with fresh-cut fries and iced tea in caloric preparation for the ride back to Austin. Appetites sated, we headed for the cruisers. @Sea Knight took the first drive in the 62 and I drove Barney. After topping up on fuel and fluids, we hit the road back. The sun was high and as we headed south, the fun of long road trips in the mobile pizza oven that a 40 can be became apparent. The sun started to take its toll on me and my mouth dried out. Funny thing, though, was that Barney was humming right along and seemed to accelerate and idle much more easily. I guess it took a road trip to blow out all the carbon out of the valves - or maybe it just took the right Cruiser adventure. We retraced our steps home and as the afternoon sun grew lower, worked our way back through northwest Austin. I thanked @Sea Knight for his invaluable assistance and deposited him at his home. I parked Barney outside his house and took the 62 home, behind the wheel for the first time. My home was just a few minutes away and my kids came boiling out the front door as I pulled up, and all three clambered into the truck, checking it over and giving it the official seal of approval.

It was a great day.

(I don't live in a parking lot next to a highway but I thought this was a fitting image)

 

[SonnyAK]

Awesome story! Road trips are great! Have fun with the pair for sure!!

 

[SteveH]

Great reading! You should write an article for Toyota Trails along these lines.

 

[westy]

Great story!

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Road trips with friends are great , good story. Mike

 

[mongoose2231]

Excellent story, now let's see more of the 62