FJ62 Advice (h55f? v. Custom Turbo Charger? v. Other Ideas?) (1 Viewer)

[White Stripe]

Sounds like this isnt the vehicle for you. Driving a fj62 into the mountains often will destroy it quickly. Colorado is putting a pretty harsh combination of ice melt on the mountain roads these days and the fj62 sheet metal will rust badly in short order. The mechanicals will hold up but the body will disintegrate. A rav4 or highlander with snow tires, abs, and awd would be a better choice. The sheet metal on newer cars is prepared more to handle the ice melt, get better mileage, faster, and would be safer and more sensible overall.

 

[MoaByte]

Back in 89, I was driving a Beetle on I-70. Pink Floyd The Wall was stuck in the cassette player so it was either the Wall or just listen to the engine. The broken cassette case worked as a windshield scraper because VW's defrosters sucked. Those rich guys in their new 62's would blow past me on the way to Copper Mountain, them to ski, and I to work. Twenty years later, I bought an 87 Land Cruiser and it had a Lyle Lovette cassette permanently wedged in the cassette deck.. Hell, I didn't know I liked Lyle until then. I'd much rather drive those passes in my 60, than my dad's 87 S-10.

 

[WWT]

Gonna be honest, I am new to this forum and I am very new when it comes to cars (and in this case FJ62s).

I have a 1989 FJ62 in near original condition. My mom has owned it since 1989 and is now selling it to me. I have held off so long in purchasing it because I live in Colorado and I have been terrified of driving it in its original stat anywhere in the mountains. When I say original state, I mean it. Has 168K miles and all original parts.

I have started researching ways to make this cruiser and every day cruiser. I went down the path of a potential engine swap (GM 5.7L Vortec) but have since re-thought this decision. I am now trying to figure out how to keep this car in as close to original form as possible while still making it fun/easy to drive on I-70.

My current thought process is one of the following 2 ideas:
- Purchase a h55f transmission and transform into a 5 speed manual. No extra HP here, but I have read it would make a significant difference (on top of this get some enhancement work done on the engine)
- (Have yet to find someone who can do this) Have a custom turbo charge built and installed

On top of this I am also planning on putting a 2-3 inch lift, updating the suspension and getting larger tires.

This is really all the truck needs at this point.

I am looking to keep the total cost (excluding the purchase of the vehicle) under $10k.

I was hoping some of y'all might have some advice/opinions on what you think the best approach here would be and if you might be able to point me in the direction of someone who could build a custom turbo charger?

Also, I am really curious as to if y'all think the h55f would make this truck driver friendly in Colorado?

Thanks for the help in advance! Really appreciate it and I am really looking forward to getting more involved with this community and learning as much as I can.

Any pics of it??

 

[MKFreedom88]

I did the H55 swap a couple years ago. It completely changed the personality of my FJ62. I did a 2" lift, but have left all other mechanicals pretty much stock (I'm at about 197k miles).

As people here have said, it still won't be fast and will not rocket up hills. That said, it's much more fun to drive in my opinion, and can pull pretty well up to about 60MPH. Well worth the swap if you can afford it.

Good luck!