Hokierig's 1988 FJ62 (1 Viewer)

[Hokierig]

This thread is for me to share my rig and keep track of my first Land Cruiser journey. They story began in high school when I first discovered classic 4x4s through Defender 110s, RRCs, and FJ60/62s. I have been searching on and off since 2011 but I finally took the leap and bought a really nice example of a 1988 FJ62. I wanted to find a truck with some of the creature comforts of a more modern truck while retaining the classic look I desired. I am going to be moving into an apartment soon and won't have access to a garage or tools so I opted for a more sorted truck with meticulous records, all stock parts included, and most of the large items I was looking for already installed. As they say in the BMW community I previously was apart of, Bought Not Built. This truck is going to be my new daily driver and I wanted to get one that would be reliable, capable, and ready to cruise (pun intended). I also needed an automatic and I preferred the fuel injection for my daily driver. I also have a 1969 Datsun 2000 fairlady to fulfill my manual, carbureted hooning. Although that may see an SR20 swap sooner rather than later due to the Land Cruiser being so darn slow. Anyway, I bought the truck in Austin, Texas and drove it home over the course of 2 days back to North Carolina. The truck performed exceptionally the entire way and I averaged 12 MPG. Luckily, or unluckily, it decided to wait until my second day home to blow a fan belt and reaffirm my decision to buy AAA. I have been slowly baselining the truck to make sure it is ready for daily duty and I have a front knuckle rebuild kit on the way.

The modifications are as follows;

-2in OME lift (Australian version)
-OME shocks and steering stabilizer
-Custom Warren Auto/Manual locking hubs
-Centerline 9.5" x 15" wheels
-Falken 33x12.5x15 Rocky Mountain ATS Tires
-Disc brakes from Spectre Off Road
-Mean Green high torque starter
-Mean Green high output alternator
-Marlin Crawler transmission upgrade
-Auxiliary transmission cooler
-Custom catback exhaust
-R134a conversion
-Man-a-Fre running boards

Time for some pictures!

The fan belt incident

Meeting some new friends in NC

The FJ62 and my first car, a Subaru Legacy GT wagon

And this is the datsun for anyone who cares

 

[cruisermatt]

Welcome to Mud

Can you go into more detail about this "Marlin transmission upgrade"?

Also, ditch the Warn hubs for stock Aisin units. Far better design and strength.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Why go to the R-134 AC conversion?

R-12 is still available and a far better system if you can keep it original.

J

 

[Hokierig]

Welcome to Mud

Can you go into more detail about this "Marlin transmission upgrade"?

Also, ditch the Warn hubs for stock Aisin units. Far better design and strength.

I assume the Marlin transmission upgrade was a rebuild of the original unit. I bought the truck completely as is so these upgrades were with the truck from the last owner who had the truck for the 16 years. When I rebuild my front knuckles I am going to swap the hubs to the original Aisin units which were included with my purchase.

Why go to the R-134 AC conversion?

R-12 is still available and a far better system if you can keep it original.

J

This was another upgrade which came with the truck. I didn't mind the change for the sake of convenience.

 

[Hokierig]

It's been awhile since an update about the rig. I have moved to Texas and I'm taking advantage of my short commute and free weekends to complete some small projects on the unnamed truck. My projects (in no particular order) are as follows

-Intermittent starting issue - plunger seems to be active but no start. Thinking a starter rebuild may be in order due to bad brushes
-Infamous power lock issue - only affecting passenger door so I may try the reset behind the fusebox door
-Losing small amount of brake fluid after wheel cylinders replaced on both rear sides
-Birf rebuild - waiting for a garage with tools for this one otherwise it will wait until the holidays. No leaking yet but I want to be proactive
-Find a swingout rear bumper to run a full size spare

I've also been debating an LS swap for drivability, fuel economy, and so on but that will probably wait until 2017 or later. I'd just like to get the truck sorted for daily duty.

 

[SteveH]

-Intermittent starting issue - plunger seems to be active but no start.

That's a classic starter contact issue. Get some new contacts (not sure who sells them here, but my dealer keeps a bucketful behind the counter). The best reason to rebuild your own starter is that YOU get to inspect the internals and learn what's ticking inside, rather than to hope that some schlocky rebuilder cared enough to do it right. Rarely do the bearings and other internals wear out, unless the starter simply has a ton of miles or has been abused/submerged, etc.

 

[onemanarmy]

the mean green starter crapped out? How old is it?

 

[Hokierig]

the mean green starter crapped out? How old is it?

I sifted through the PO's stack of receipts and it looks to have been installed in 2006. I'm not sure what the life expectancy is for those units but I've not read too many positive reviews on them. We changed that unit out for a old remanned unit I got for free from a friend. I'm hoping the issue is just bad connectors like @SteveH suggested.


I'm also hoping my door lock issue can be solved by the solution posted in this thread FJ62 Door Lock circuit breaker fuse location . It seems to have been successful for some others.

 

[SteveH]

I don't know what's inside a Mean Green starter - I was referring to the internal contacts in an OEM starter, which eventually become an intermittent start issue, given enough time. Plenty of threads on this.

 

[Hokierig]

Spent the entire day yesterday doing my first birfield rebuild. I also swapped the Warn Automatic hubs for the stock Aisin units with the help of some of the ONSC members in Raleigh, NC. I snapped some pictures and did a quick time lapse of the disassembly on the passenger side.

 

[rrv333]

Good looking 62. I've rebuilt the OEM Starter and a Mean Green Starter that I bought when the OEM went south. I swap and rebuild as needed.

 

[Hokierig]

This week was a big time for the 62. I replaced a started on the side of the road in downtown DC in the rain (with an unhappy girlfriend in the front seat), removed the horrible 'period correct' Ungo alarm, and fussed with some grounding issues. I am hoping that the removal of that darn alarm will alleviate some of the electrical gremlins I've been chasing. I also took some new pictures and videos of my truck on some old cobblestone roads in Alexandria, VA.

 

[mattressking]

Truck looks great!

And a side note, Centerline is now bankrupt, their facility is now bank owned and up for sale. Pretty sad since it has been around for over 40 years.

 

[Hokierig]

It's been a while since an update so here goes. I've recently been living in DC and the truck doesn't see any miles during the week. I've spent a fair amount of time with dad (and his garage + tools) in North Carolina going through the truck to replace parts as necessary. This past weekend we replaced the water pump, belts, fan clutch, and headlights (thanks to my not so sealed low beams). In past weekends we have also replaced the power steering pump and alternator and swapped in a rebuilt Toyota starter with OEM parts and rebuilt fusible links. She also got new plugs, wires, oil and a valve job recently. The new PS pump and Water Pump should stop the dirty leaks and natural restproofing under the truck.

The latest adventure happened while picking the girlfriend up at the airport at midnight in DC. I was having intermittent battery/alternator charging issues but decided to make the short drive to the airport. While sitting in the cell lot, my headlights started to dim and I made the fatal mistake of turning the truck off to preserve battery. When I got the call from the girlfriend, the truck wouldn't start and I booked her a uber home. I proceeded to knock on door after door to find jumper cables (I should order some of those) and a young army officer came to my rescue after about 15 minutes. I had to limp the truck home at midnight with no headlights to make it back home. I later discovered the broken battery terminal was the problem and it was not completing the circuit to the Alternator.


All is well with the truck mechanically and I was able to pick up my new commuter this weekend without a hitch (no pun intended). It is a Genuine Stella Scooter (copy of a 70's P Series Vespa) and will get considerably better mileage than the truck.

Whole Crew

• Hokierig
• Sep 20, 2017

Whole Crew

• Hokierig
• Sep 20, 2017

Bikes

• Hokierig
• Sep 20, 2017

Genuine Stella and Honda CB350

• Hokierig
• Sep 20, 2017

Towing Home

• Hokierig
• Sep 20, 2017

 

[srogers]

Great looking 62, and I love vintage Datsun's (my dad had a 72 240Z, 76 260Z, 80 280Z, and an 84 300ZX)

 

[Hokierig]

Again, it’s been a long while since an update. I’ve signed up for SAS #5, a trip I’ve wanted to do for years, and it’s great inspiration to keep documenting the truck ownership.

The truck sat in storage for a year and a half between 2017-2019 while I lived in DC. I didn’t need it and I wanted to keep it out of the weather while I lived in town. I’ve since relocated to the west coast and the truck is back to daily duty as intended.

To prepare for the cross country journey, I took the old falken tires off and swapped in some narrower KO2s on the stock wheels. I also did a full systems flush (oil, rear differential, transmission and brake fluid). I also recharged the R134a system.

The trip went off without a hitch. I started in Wilmington, NC at the start of I-40 and hit the road fully packed with my scooter on the back. The truck was HEAVY and felt like it on every grade. Stops were in Nashville, Oklahoma City, Four Corners, St. George Utah and eventually Los Angeles.

 

[onemanarmy]

Great update!
Truck looks so much better on the stock wheels.

 

[Hokierig]

Great update!
Truck looks so much better on the stock wheels.

Agreed. I felt good removing the old centerline wheels until I felt how light they were

 

[Hokierig]

The next update after being out in CA for a bit was to source a roof rack to support my new Roof Top Tent. My wife surprised me with a RTT for our anniversary and I was able to find a front runner rack with the quick release mounts. I like the front runner system quite a bit. The modularity allows for quite a few uses and the quick release tent mounts make swapping the tent a breeze. The tent is a CVT Mt. Saint Helens and fits the two of us and a small dog comfortably.

We broke in the tent up in Big Sur and it was great. The size, weight and aerodynamics are fine and we made the 700 mile round trip without any issues. The truck is ready for some new oil after the cross country journey and some weekend trips.

 

[Hokierig]

Also - if anyone has a recommendation about securing the rear quarter land cruiser badges, I'm all ears. I've got two extra sets, but the right one keeps falling out as you can see in the photos above.