Builds FitzJ60 1983 FJ60 Build

[NookShneer]

Deep ditch crossing had to work from one side to the other to prevent the back end from digging in.

Double log crossing, looks super tame in the photos behind the wheel it was a lot more exciting.

Top speed in the upper left. Excited to see the #2Fpowwah is still going strong

 

[NookShneer]

Came back from a fun trip stoked on the rig and had parts waiting for me.

Courtesy of Jason at Trail Tailor @reevesci

Who has been awesome to order from and parts never disappoint, closest thing to Amazon Prime for 60 Series owners.

New U-Joints, extended front sway bar links, and antenna mount.

Vinyl kit arrived! It looks awesome, heavy as hell. Who knew the 60 had this much floor space?

Need to finish up the interior sound deadening now because this looks so good. Last photo has some detail to it with the quarter for scale and the thickness is equivelent to a nickel.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Came back from a fun trip stoked on the rig and had parts waiting for me.

Courtesy of Jason at Trail Tailor @reevesci

Who has been awesome to order from and parts never disappoint, closest thing to Amazon Prime for 60 Series owners.

New U-Joints, extended front sway bar links, and antenna mount.

View attachment 1481319

Vinyl kit arrived! It looks awesome, heavy as hell. Who knew the 60 had this much floor space?

Need to finish up the interior sound deadening now because this looks so good. Last photo has some detail to it with the quarter for scale and the thickness is equivelent to a nickel.

View attachment 1481320 View attachment 1481321 View attachment 1481325

D, Glad everything arrived. You'll trim a little on the middle section and the sides of the front and middle. Take your time and keep the vinyl "easy" I've had the best results, pulling it in and out a few times during the install. You can compare the material to Chase's. His was the old thicker material that was discontinued. It's not much thinner, but they say it is and the grain is slightly different as well.

Thanks for the kind words. Andrea stays on top of all the small orders and she goes to the post office once or twice a day (only a few blocks away) But the postal service here is SUPER FAST, they run twice a day to Salt Lake from our area. So, if she gets there before noon it is usually close to you the next morning in WA.

J

 

[fjdemon]

Came back from a fun trip stoked on the rig and had parts waiting for me.

Courtesy of Jason at Trail Tailor @reevesci

Who has been awesome to order from and parts never disappoint, closest thing to Amazon Prime for 60 Series owners.

New U-Joints, extended front sway bar links, and antenna mount.

View attachment 1481319

Vinyl kit arrived! It looks awesome, heavy as hell. Who knew the 60 had this much floor space?

Need to finish up the interior sound deadening now because this looks so good. Last photo has some detail to it with the quarter for scale and the thickness is equivelent to a nickel.

View attachment 1481320 View attachment 1481321 View attachment 1481325

Looking forward to seeing the vinyl kit installed. I may have to go that route soon depending on availability.

 

[NookShneer]

@fjdemon I'm a little ways off from the install, but will try to document it well. Pretty nervous about making the first cut.

DS Front link is in! Was able to get the top bolt off the OEM but the bottom was stubborn so I ended up cutting the bottom bolt head off with a cut off wheel.

Pulling the sway bar down was easier with the strap and board. Used my foot to pull the bar down to get everything bolted in.



Looks as if my rear main seal is giving up the ghost and baking oil on my exhaust.

I have a h55 and 38mm split case (still need to rebuild with 4:1 gears). I plan to do it all at once. Rear main, oil pan, clutch and everything when I pull the 4 speed.

Is there any reason to worry and push that time table up? Or just let it leak and get to it when I do the whole 5sd swap?

 

[fjdemon]

I hear you on that, just remember measure twice, cut once! That vinyl looks like some tough stuff.

 

[NookShneer]

Was able to get the front drive shaft free from the front axle. Ran out of time for the transfer case side.

 

[NookShneer]

Time for a few updates.

Sound deadening project under way.

Here is the plan from interior to metal

TrailTailor vinyl carpet
Carpet padding (to replace the jute)
MVL (Mass Loaded Vinyl)
Decoupling foam (1/8" closed cell foam)
Crusier Crap 80mil

Hope to future proof this for an eventual motor swap.

Excited to see the difference in driving later this week.

 

[NookShneer]

Used dry ice and mallet to loosen up the OEM sound deadener.

Found the roller provided for the crusier crap to be mostly worthless (not knocking the product I'm sure all rollers provided suck). I ended up using a water bottle to rub the crusier crap down (nalgene was the best shape between the floor ribs)

Ran out of MLV (Thanks @red66toy). Managed to get the front floor boards/trans hump. One wheel well and the rear cargo complete. Need to find some to split the 25 ft roll with as I only really need 4 x 7ft to finish.

If doing this project plan on folding with overlaps to glue down, cutting out pieces and trying to glue end to end doesn't really work. I used HH-66 glue which had a pretty quick set time. Some duct tape was used to hold pieces together or held in place with my hands when drying.

Sailrite - Fabric, Canvas, and Sewing Machines Since 1969

Off to get carpet padding. Hope to get the vinyl kit in on Wednesday. I'm going to cook it for a couple hours in the AM in the rig with the vinyl laid out and run 2 space heaters, hope that makes it easier to work with.

 

[erse]

Used dry ice and mallet to loosen up the OEM sound deadener.

Found the roller provided for the crusier crap to be mostly worthless (not knocking the product I'm sure all rollers provided suck). I ended up using a water bottle to rub the crusier crap down (nalgene was the best shape between the floor ribs)

Ran out of MLV (Thanks @red66toy). Managed to get the front floor boards/trans hump. One wheel well and the rear cargo complete. Need to find some to split the 25 ft roll with as I only really need 4 x 7ft to finish.

If doing this project plan on folding with overlaps to glue down, cutting out pieces and trying to glue end to end doesn't really work. I used HH-66 glue which had a pretty quick set time. Some duct tape was used to hold pieces together or held in place with my hands when drying.

Sailrite - Fabric, Canvas, and Sewing Machines Since 1969

Off to get carpet padding. Hope to get the vinyl kit in on Wednesday. I'm going to cook it for a couple hours in the AM in the rig with the vinyl laid out and run 2 space heaters, hope that makes it easier to work with.

View attachment 1498580 View attachment 1498579 View attachment 1498581

I may need some mlv soon . Not sure how much. I will be starting similar sound proofing project as new carpet is on order

 

[NookShneer]

Solar oven going to work. Material is way more flexible when hot from the sun. Putting it in the rig for a few mins you can feel it become less flexible.

Since I ran short of MLV I moved the MLV layer I had in the Cargo to between the seats. The rear will be easier to finish off with one wheel well if/when I get more MLV. Main concern was getting everything fit and laid out and then get the interior back in for a trip late this week.

The cargo area - missing MLV, but top down:

TrailTailor Vinyl carpet

Carpet padding

1/8 decoupling foam

Crusier crap 80 mil.

Not much left for the 6x8 roll. I started using duct tape to piece together pieces for the front foot wells and trans hump. Purchased the foam from Home Depot was $26 for the roll.

 

[jfnall]

Sub'd!

Can you take some real specific pics of the seatbelt plus install for the rear. Gonna be doing this soon.

Also, not to burst your bubble but it won't be as quiet as you are preparing for. I did all the same stuff except the vinyl over the cruiser crap. It's still fairly loud, except when coasting down a hill. The tranny whine just doesn't go away.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Sub'd!

Can you take some real specific pics of the seatbelt plus install for the rear. Gonna be doing this soon.

Also, not to burst your bubble but it won't be as quiet as you are preparing for. I did all the same stuff except the vinyl over the cruiser crap. It's still fairly loud, except when coasting down a hill. The tranny whine just doesn't go away.

I double layer the trans tunnel with Thermozite and it quiets it down quite a bit.

J

 

[NookShneer]

Sub'd!

Can you take some real specific pics of the seatbelt plus install for the rear. Gonna be doing this soon.

Also, not to burst your bubble but it won't be as quiet as you are preparing for. I did all the same stuff except the vinyl over the cruiser crap. It's still fairly loud, except when coasting down a hill. The tranny whine just doesn't go away.

So these are 62 rear belts that seatbelt planet re-webbed for me. I don't have any experience with the retractor that they have for the 60 rear.

I lucked out on the c pillar being threaded. I traced the outline onto the panel and then used a dremel with a reinforced cutoff wheel to trim to fit.

I ran into an issue with having the top anchors matching from seatbelt planet. Front set to the rear set. I'm pretty sure I made it clear over the phone that that was what I wanted but didn't have it in writing anywhere that that was on the invoice. I ended up up ording a different top loop for the front set and was able to swap the other set out. Just a heads up.

 

[NookShneer]

I double layer the trans tunnel with Thermozite and it quiets it down quite a bit.

J

With everything (all 5 layers) tapping the bottom of the car floorpan sounds way different. I'm going to be suprised if it's not noticeably different. I did also double up the crusier crap on the trans hump.

 

[NookShneer]

Slow fade to black happening.

I'll live with the wrinkles. I feel as if there was more material "forward" of the molded seat brackets. This created a challenge when I used he old carpet as a template over the viynal and cut the shifter hole. Getting the material up behind the HVAC was tough. And there was more due to the extra material forward of the molded seat brackets.

Also, if you go This route and don't have the existing floor pan seat channels (I cut them out for the early 60 BMW seat brackets) don't get them molded into the vinyl. I'm working to "hide" them between the front seat brackets.


Onto the center console...

 

[jfnall]

In the last seat belt pic , is that trim panel that covers the recoil mechanism a standard 62 piece?

 

[NookShneer]

In the last seat belt pic , is that trim panel that covers the recoil mechanism a standard 62 piece?

It is. The retractors, horizontal trim piece and retracting trim were a "set" I purchase from a member who parts vehicles.

 

[jfnall]

Can you explain alittle more on your plan for tundra front brakes. How complicated and in-depth is that mod?

 

[NookShneer]

Can you explain alittle more on your plan for tundra front brakes. How complicated and in-depth is that mod?

Tacoma and 4Runner Brake Mounting Kit


2 things - will widen your front axle by an inch on each side. You will need to have 17" wheels to clear the larger brake calipers.

From what I've read. 86-95 mini truck or 4 runner spindles, front range brackets,03-06 tundra calipers, rotors, pads. This makes future brake changes easier also, no need to pull the hub to replace the rotor