So I've been lurking for a few weeks, figured I'd share that I'd recently picked up an '87 FJ60.
My wife and I were recently vacationing in Whitefish, MT about halfway through a road trip that started in Seattle, WA. After a little kayaking on the Whitefish river we were sitting and eating lunch, flipping through the paper. I noticed an awfully clean looking (full color ad) of and 87 FJ that was being offered up at a nearby dealer for $3800. We were actually headed in that direction over to ID so we decided to stop and have a look. I should probably be clear at this point that I'm from NC and was driving a rental car throught MT and for some reason thought it sounded like a good idea to go car shopping for a cruiser! So we stop and check it out. 208,000 miles, mostly straight metal, very little rust, isolated to the left front fender. A/C blowing cold, engine not smoking, interior intact (all buttons, knobs, etc). So we taker her for a spin. Next thing you know we're in possesion of an 18 year old Cruiser 2600 miles from home and a rental car that needed to be returned to Seattle (Budget did offer the convenient option of leaving the rental car in Kalispel, MT for a small upcharge of $1000 , but I passed). So we ran the rental back to Seattle, got a one way rental back to Kalispell and set out on a cross country road trip in a truck that we knew almost nothing about, save for the leaky transfercase that noticed while inspecting it on a lift. To tip the odds in our favor we grabbed an assortment of tools at the local Home Depot and a bunch of fluids at the local Napa and set off. The first day was smooth and found us just north of Sheridan, WY. On day two we managed to overheat while headed up hill with the A/C on just outside of Rapid City, SD. Minor problem but after getting back underway and having some strange hesitation we figured out that the A/C compressor was trying to lock up due to low freon and was dragging the engine down, no more A/C The next day we made it all the way to St Louis where we had a false overheat condition that turned out to be that nast electrical gremlin that plagues 60's. Thanks to this site I was able to figure this out, but not until after I'd done a road side thermostat swap (which ofcourse had no affect on the problem) and subsequently given up for the night and got a hotel room. On the 4th day we rolled throught the remainder of Missouri, Illinios, Kentucky, Tennesse, and finally to North Carolina. Amazingly we were never stranded. My wife was a trooper for going along with this crazy plan, never once got angry ( I must be really lucky). So this is the start of my first Cruiser and I can't imagine a better way to have gotten to know it than a cross-country road trip.
Anyway, here's a pic crossing into WY.
My wife and I were recently vacationing in Whitefish, MT about halfway through a road trip that started in Seattle, WA. After a little kayaking on the Whitefish river we were sitting and eating lunch, flipping through the paper. I noticed an awfully clean looking (full color ad) of and 87 FJ that was being offered up at a nearby dealer for $3800. We were actually headed in that direction over to ID so we decided to stop and have a look. I should probably be clear at this point that I'm from NC and was driving a rental car throught MT and for some reason thought it sounded like a good idea to go car shopping for a cruiser! So we stop and check it out. 208,000 miles, mostly straight metal, very little rust, isolated to the left front fender. A/C blowing cold, engine not smoking, interior intact (all buttons, knobs, etc). So we taker her for a spin. Next thing you know we're in possesion of an 18 year old Cruiser 2600 miles from home and a rental car that needed to be returned to Seattle (Budget did offer the convenient option of leaving the rental car in Kalispel, MT for a small upcharge of $1000 , but I passed). So we ran the rental back to Seattle, got a one way rental back to Kalispell and set out on a cross country road trip in a truck that we knew almost nothing about, save for the leaky transfercase that noticed while inspecting it on a lift. To tip the odds in our favor we grabbed an assortment of tools at the local Home Depot and a bunch of fluids at the local Napa and set off. The first day was smooth and found us just north of Sheridan, WY. On day two we managed to overheat while headed up hill with the A/C on just outside of Rapid City, SD. Minor problem but after getting back underway and having some strange hesitation we figured out that the A/C compressor was trying to lock up due to low freon and was dragging the engine down, no more A/C The next day we made it all the way to St Louis where we had a false overheat condition that turned out to be that nast electrical gremlin that plagues 60's. Thanks to this site I was able to figure this out, but not until after I'd done a road side thermostat swap (which ofcourse had no affect on the problem) and subsequently given up for the night and got a hotel room. On the 4th day we rolled throught the remainder of Missouri, Illinios, Kentucky, Tennesse, and finally to North Carolina. Amazingly we were never stranded. My wife was a trooper for going along with this crazy plan, never once got angry ( I must be really lucky). So this is the start of my first Cruiser and I can't imagine a better way to have gotten to know it than a cross-country road trip.
Anyway, here's a pic crossing into WY.