Thanks to a heads up from Scot (CA-CO-VA), I got a line on a non-running 87 FJ60 in pretty good shape that was local to me. (See https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=145635&highlight=falls+church ). The story on it was that the smog pump froze and the guy brought it to his regular mechanic who quoted him $1000 for a new pump. It apparently stayed at the mechanics for awhile and when he got it back it was missing numerous parts. (As you can see in the first pic below)
I thought for $1200 it was worth a flyer. After speaking with the seller and his wife it seemed like a legit story. Scot seemed to feel similarly about them. It was a bit of a leap of faith since I could not hear the engine run or drive it.
I knew the smog pump wasn't cheap, but the big PITA was finding all of the missing parts (fan, fan clutch, pulleys, coolant reservoir, shroud, brackets, countless nuts, bolts, and washers, even the shaft key for the P/S pump pulley). I got a decent front bumper from a friend for $50. Through the help of several members, cruiserparts, and CDan, as well as several trips to Home Depot I have pretty much got it all together (See pic 2).
Since it was all apart, it was also a good time to replace hoses, the water pump, thermostat, vacuum lines, blah, blah, blah. So $800 later for OEM parts I had it all together. I got it started Saturday and drove it about two blocks. To my relief, the tranny seemed fine and the engine sounded good (I haven't even changed the oil or given it a tune up yet). Of course, the fuel gauge is broken, but hopefully that is just the contacts at the sender. Sunday I drove it about 5 miles and all was well. No leaks from any of the 50 bazillion radiator hoses I replaced (except of course that driver's side hose by the fire wall
)
Heck I even gave it a 1-2" lift (Okay, I just aired up the tires but it still looks better!)
Lastly, I seem to be missing one last hose (Last pic) I assume it goes from the valve cover to the air cleaner and is just a vent, but the hose diagrams were not clear.
Anyway, thanks for letting me share my joy and to several of you who provided great info to get me through this. I probably have about $2200-$2500 into it and I don't think I could have bought as nice a cruiser for even close to $2500.
Next step: Emmissions testing . . . .
I thought for $1200 it was worth a flyer. After speaking with the seller and his wife it seemed like a legit story. Scot seemed to feel similarly about them. It was a bit of a leap of faith since I could not hear the engine run or drive it.
I knew the smog pump wasn't cheap, but the big PITA was finding all of the missing parts (fan, fan clutch, pulleys, coolant reservoir, shroud, brackets, countless nuts, bolts, and washers, even the shaft key for the P/S pump pulley). I got a decent front bumper from a friend for $50. Through the help of several members, cruiserparts, and CDan, as well as several trips to Home Depot I have pretty much got it all together (See pic 2).
Since it was all apart, it was also a good time to replace hoses, the water pump, thermostat, vacuum lines, blah, blah, blah. So $800 later for OEM parts I had it all together. I got it started Saturday and drove it about two blocks. To my relief, the tranny seemed fine and the engine sounded good (I haven't even changed the oil or given it a tune up yet). Of course, the fuel gauge is broken, but hopefully that is just the contacts at the sender. Sunday I drove it about 5 miles and all was well. No leaks from any of the 50 bazillion radiator hoses I replaced (except of course that driver's side hose by the fire wall
) Heck I even gave it a 1-2" lift (Okay, I just aired up the tires but it still looks better!)
Lastly, I seem to be missing one last hose (Last pic) I assume it goes from the valve cover to the air cleaner and is just a vent, but the hose diagrams were not clear.
Anyway, thanks for letting me share my joy and to several of you who provided great info to get me through this. I probably have about $2200-$2500 into it and I don't think I could have bought as nice a cruiser for even close to $2500.
Next step: Emmissions testing . . . .
), and taking care of the family - I would have not been able to do this truck up right. 
