that escalated quickly haha, seriously though great thread and updates!
Builds Just bought my first 60 Series...my 1986 FJ60 Build
- Thread starter yotadude520
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #43
Already started my guy!
- Thread starter
- #44
Got the LS & H55F installed and driving and man has it been a great upgrade - I find myself speeding everywhere now which was unfathomable with the slow, but bulletproof 2F.
Here's the sparknotes version of the thread above:
Ripped this out
Put this in
And ended up with this!
With the entire powertrain replaced I can now focus on little things - I absolutely hated the stock mirrors and could hardly see out of them. Ultimate goal is to get OEM Euro Specs, but am not in a position to spend $300+ on mirrors when there are other things I need to address. These are pretty damn good for the $100 price tag.
My original power steering system has been a leaky mess since I got this thing back on the road. I replaced the PS pump by virtue of the LS swap, but my steering box had to go too so I tracked down a box out of an 80 series and sent it off to Red Head Steering Gears to get rebuilt. It was a direct bolt on and this thing tracks down the road better than my little Subaru did.
Old vs new:
During the LS swap I installed a 38 gallon tank so I could run an in-tank pump which is a nice improvement, but it came at the expense of my stock spare tire carrier. I was able to snag this Kaymar from @mongoose2231 and remedied that issue.
I've still got some more work to do before this thing is done, but man has it come a long ways in the last 11 months. Pretty ****ing proud of it's transformation and how far it's come.
As of last weekend:
The day I bought it:
Here's the sparknotes version of the thread above:
Ripped this out
Put this in
And ended up with this!
With the entire powertrain replaced I can now focus on little things - I absolutely hated the stock mirrors and could hardly see out of them. Ultimate goal is to get OEM Euro Specs, but am not in a position to spend $300+ on mirrors when there are other things I need to address. These are pretty damn good for the $100 price tag.
My original power steering system has been a leaky mess since I got this thing back on the road. I replaced the PS pump by virtue of the LS swap, but my steering box had to go too so I tracked down a box out of an 80 series and sent it off to Red Head Steering Gears to get rebuilt. It was a direct bolt on and this thing tracks down the road better than my little Subaru did.
Old vs new:
During the LS swap I installed a 38 gallon tank so I could run an in-tank pump which is a nice improvement, but it came at the expense of my stock spare tire carrier. I was able to snag this Kaymar from @mongoose2231 and remedied that issue.
I've still got some more work to do before this thing is done, but man has it come a long ways in the last 11 months. Pretty ****ing proud of it's transformation and how far it's come.
As of last weekend:
The day I bought it:
Got the LS & H55F installed and driving and man has it been a great upgrade - I find myself speeding everywhere now which was unfathomable with the slow, but bulletproof 2F.
Here's the sparknotes version of the thread above:
Ripped this out
Put this in
And ended up with this!
With the entire powertrain replaced I can now focus on little things - I absolutely hated the stock mirrors and could hardly see out of them. Ultimate goal is to get OEM Euro Specs, but am not in a position to spend $300+ on mirrors when there are other things I need to address. These are pretty damn good for the $100 price tag.
My original power steering system has been a leaky mess since I got this thing back on the road. I replaced the PS pump by virtue of the LS swap, but my steering box had to go too so I tracked down a box out of an 80 series and sent it off to Red Head Steering Gears to get rebuilt. It was a direct bolt on and this thing tracks down the road better than my little Subaru did.
Old vs new:
During the LS swap I installed a 38 gallon tank so I could run an in-tank pump which is a nice improvement, but it came at the expense of my stock spare tire carrier. I was able to snag this Kaymar from @mongoose2231 and remedied that issue.
I've still got some more work to do before this thing is done, but man has it come a long ways in the last 11 months. Pretty ****ing proud of it's transformation and how far it's come.
View attachment 3837162
Great progress! - is the 80 steering box an upgrade over the 60 box if both were rebuilt by Red Head?
- Thread starter
- #49
The benefits of the 80 series box is that it has a larger power piston and is a bit larger in diameter. You can also beef it up significantly by swapping in the 105 series sector shaft, but Red Head just installed a refurbished one in mine as the original was twisted.
The only downside is that if you have a 85 or under truck the steering box mounts are different and you can't use the 80 series box without some extra work.
Don't worry - there's time to convert you yet!!
I think the only original piece of the drivetrain is the transfer case and rear driveshaft at this point lol
Seriously doubt it.
Last edited:
@yotadude520 Totally missed this thread! What a nice 60 man…you continue to reset the bar on your builds!
- Thread starter
- #53
Thanks Brett - it's not as cool as that 80 series build you've got going right now though, that thing is gonna be saweet. Next time I'm up in Denver we should link up though and grab a brew!
- Thread starter
- #54
Got a few things done on the 60 last week - I've been looking for some IPF 900 lights for the front and unfortunately they've all been discontinued as they're moving to LEDs now. Luckily @cruiseroutfit had one last pair of 900s, and they just so happened to be the dual beam version.
I absolutely love the look of big halogen lights on these front ends. They fit the ARB bumper perfectly and the dual beam feature is awesome. Super stoked they had these in stock!
Last April I bought a 4Plus u-bolt flip kit for the front axle and figured they'd be better served on the truck than on a shelf in the garage. Pretty simple to install once you remove the entire axle.
Let me back up a quick second - for the mudders who've read this entire thread (thank you for putting up with my rambling) you might remember that I already swapped in the axles out of an FJ62 to replace the SOA axles that were under the truck when I bought it.
Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that the front axle housing was damaged until it was too late. The PO of the donor 62 had cranked the u-bolts to kingdom come and bent the hell out of the housing.
I planned on using the u-bolt flip kit to increase contact on the housing, but ultimately decided the only way to do it right was to buy a new housing. I was lucky enough to find one a few months ago that was in really good shape.
So for the second time in less than a year, I found myself rebuilding the knuckles & installing a new axle into my 60. I'll be honest though, this time went so much smoother than the first time. We were able to get everything installed onto the bare housing and into the truck in about 11 hours. It's amazing what's possible with a couple buddies and lots of beer.
The housing swap was totally worth it for the piece of mind, and gave me a chance to remedy some of the mistakes I made the first time I rebuilt my knuckles - like using the Yukon rebuild kit and not using the Marlin Crawler inner axle seals. Hopefully I don't have to touch the axles or knuckles for a long time!
I absolutely love the look of big halogen lights on these front ends. They fit the ARB bumper perfectly and the dual beam feature is awesome. Super stoked they had these in stock!
Last April I bought a 4Plus u-bolt flip kit for the front axle and figured they'd be better served on the truck than on a shelf in the garage. Pretty simple to install once you remove the entire axle.
Let me back up a quick second - for the mudders who've read this entire thread (thank you for putting up with my rambling) you might remember that I already swapped in the axles out of an FJ62 to replace the SOA axles that were under the truck when I bought it.
Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that the front axle housing was damaged until it was too late. The PO of the donor 62 had cranked the u-bolts to kingdom come and bent the hell out of the housing.
I planned on using the u-bolt flip kit to increase contact on the housing, but ultimately decided the only way to do it right was to buy a new housing. I was lucky enough to find one a few months ago that was in really good shape.
So for the second time in less than a year, I found myself rebuilding the knuckles & installing a new axle into my 60. I'll be honest though, this time went so much smoother than the first time. We were able to get everything installed onto the bare housing and into the truck in about 11 hours. It's amazing what's possible with a couple buddies and lots of beer.
The housing swap was totally worth it for the piece of mind, and gave me a chance to remedy some of the mistakes I made the first time I rebuilt my knuckles - like using the Yukon rebuild kit and not using the Marlin Crawler inner axle seals. Hopefully I don't have to touch the axles or knuckles for a long time!
sterling
SILVER Star
What a great read!
Have you gone by the previous owners place to show him the new truck?
If you're into naming trucks I vote "Moon Rock"
Have you gone by the previous owners place to show him the new truck?
If you're into naming trucks I vote "Moon Rock"
- Thread starter
- #56
Glad you enjoyed it, being a 60 owner has really been a roller coaster. I actually met up with the original owner on Sunday to have him take a look. He's not the biggest fan of LS swaps, and really wanted to see the 2H diesel I got with it get installed but acknowledged how practical they are so he accepts it. His other criticism was that it was too low now since I reversed the SOA lol.
Overall he likes it though, and it was nice to have his blessing. I've definitely sold a few cars and cringed when the new owners showed me what they did proudly, glad I wasn't that guy.
I typically don't name my vehicles, but if I did Moon Rock is by far the perfect name for this rig!
sterling
SILVER Star
That's awesome, a white 60 is what started my cruiser journey 20 plus years and 7 cruisers ago.
Keep up the good work!
I prefer Dirt Star over Moon Rock.
- Thread starter
- #59
It's been a while since I updated this thread so here's a few updates:
I've addressed a lot of the stuff on this thing mechanically but never really did much to the interior besides clean it and swap the door panels. The drivers seat had the classic bolster tear so I had a local upholstery guy re-foam the cushion and repair the bolster. It looks great and is so much more comfortable then before.
My rear carpet looked like a wild animal had been trapped in the back for a long time and I wanted to make it a little more presentable. I plan on buying a carpet kit eventually but got some brown vinyl from a fabric store and put it in. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but it looks a hell of a lot better and only cost $50 so I'm stoked.
I've been going back and forth to Denver to see my girlfriend for the last year now, and now that this was my only reliable vehicle it was time to put it to the test and drive it 1,000 miles up there. Needless to say the truck drove really well, and didn't give me any trouble along the way.
For anyone on the fence of doing an LS swap, I don't think a stock 60 could ever do 95....and average 16 MPG at the same time!
It's been a blast to have it here in Denver this time of year and we broke the ol gal in by checking out a few local spots in the area around Pine.
Right before I left I started dealing with a weird vacuum leak that would cause the truck to idle to 2,000 RPM on startup and then hover around 1,500. I did have the truck re-tuned before hand as the fuel trims had changed some but it turned out I had a bad brake booster which was causing a really bad vacuum leak. I swapped it out last night with a FJ80 booster from City Racer and a 80 series master cylinder which fixed it and is a huge upgrade over the stock setup.
I'm taking off tomorrow morning to head back to Tucson, but I have to say after a year of hard work it's hard to describe how incredible it is to be able to enjoy the 60 the way I have the last month.
It's been a really fun journey and I've also been lucky enough to meet some great 60 owners along the way, @BurntToast in ABQ & @CruiserTrash here in Denver. Looking forward to getting out more and meeting other enthusiasts in our awesome little community.
I've addressed a lot of the stuff on this thing mechanically but never really did much to the interior besides clean it and swap the door panels. The drivers seat had the classic bolster tear so I had a local upholstery guy re-foam the cushion and repair the bolster. It looks great and is so much more comfortable then before.
My rear carpet looked like a wild animal had been trapped in the back for a long time and I wanted to make it a little more presentable. I plan on buying a carpet kit eventually but got some brown vinyl from a fabric store and put it in. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but it looks a hell of a lot better and only cost $50 so I'm stoked.
I've been going back and forth to Denver to see my girlfriend for the last year now, and now that this was my only reliable vehicle it was time to put it to the test and drive it 1,000 miles up there. Needless to say the truck drove really well, and didn't give me any trouble along the way.
For anyone on the fence of doing an LS swap, I don't think a stock 60 could ever do 95....and average 16 MPG at the same time!
It's been a blast to have it here in Denver this time of year and we broke the ol gal in by checking out a few local spots in the area around Pine.
Right before I left I started dealing with a weird vacuum leak that would cause the truck to idle to 2,000 RPM on startup and then hover around 1,500. I did have the truck re-tuned before hand as the fuel trims had changed some but it turned out I had a bad brake booster which was causing a really bad vacuum leak. I swapped it out last night with a FJ80 booster from City Racer and a 80 series master cylinder which fixed it and is a huge upgrade over the stock setup.
I'm taking off tomorrow morning to head back to Tucson, but I have to say after a year of hard work it's hard to describe how incredible it is to be able to enjoy the 60 the way I have the last month.
It's been a really fun journey and I've also been lucky enough to meet some great 60 owners along the way, @BurntToast in ABQ & @CruiserTrash here in Denver. Looking forward to getting out more and meeting other enthusiasts in our awesome little community.
Glad to hear that booster fixed the problem, was great meeting up too!
