Builds Keeping another on the road- My Blue 1986 FJ60 Build (1 Viewer)

[drbeemer73]

Hi Willard, THANKS for posting your BLUE FJ60 story! I have an '86 FJ60 in blue as well, have owned it for almost 30 years and LOVE it. I've done or had done all the same work you have. I have the 5 speed, 33 inch tires and 4.56 gears and find it very effective. Added a fridge and a dual battery system with a group 31 battery, which required cutting out/sectioning the driver side inner fender so the BIG battery could drop down, but it fits! (I am trying to avoid a solar panel, but in the future as lithium ion batteries come down in price, I will get one as the advantages are SO great.) I have stock bumpers except the front one is extended out so the winch fits between the bumper and the body. I don't want the swing out in the rear as it is heavy and requires too many steps to access the rear area, and I find the stock tank to have enough range for us. The next step (in process) is to install Holley Sniper fuel injection. OEM engine (rebuilt) with shaved head & headers for more oomph. Thanks again, please keep on sending in progress reports! I'm in eastern PA and get down your way once in a while.

 

[Willard]

If I ever pull the engine out of this thing, I will be cleaning up the surface rust in the engine bay. The pictures make it look worse than it is. But then again it was a IL/RI vehicle.

It was a busy weekend and I dropped most of the pics in the What did you do with your 60 this weekend? post.

Tonight I am going to try to start it. As I changed so many things, I decided to keep a close eye on many of them. Namely the carb, water pump, PS pump, thermostat, hoses, fuel pump etc etc etc.

Really the big thing will be to make sure the cooling system it burped and filled.

While I have a dizzy that was recurved by JimC that I got from another member (out of an '86/87 as well), I did not install it yet. Mine worked fine and the 60 ran when parked. I will change it later when I have a chance and I know the 60 is running fine with everything else that was done. We will see what happens.

 

[Willard]

So I just started my 60 after 1.5 years of sitting.

Took a few moments then roared to life. Lots of smoke (burnt brake fluid, PS oil) then it all settled down.
Took the rad cap off and watched it for about an hour. In about 20 minutes the overflow tank filled to almost over flowing. I drained it and added coolant as needed. Lot and lots of air bubbles and I still think there is more. Had the heaters on full for about 1 hour , now it is 100* in the garage right now, with a FJ60 running at 1000 RPM, heat on full blast and a 18" fan trying to cool me down. I swear I hit 110* degrees. Damn it was cooler outside.

Ran it for 1.5 hours, hit about 185* on the engine (mechanical gauge) then finished charging the AC. after blowing the AC/Heat breaker (I figure it just overheated with the heat, well I am hoping) I shut everything down, reset the breaker, made sure the rear heater was off and restarted the truck. Got it recharged checked the temp at the vents (40*) and it was NICE and cold.
Success!!!

Lots of crazy smells from all the paint, oil, brake fluid, new pipes, etc everything just settling down. No leaks that I can see yet, heat soaked it hit about 197* (after I turned off the truck) Right now has gone back to 180.

The brakes will need another bleeding which I will to tomorrow night with my wife (old school) and the rears may need a couple more clicks on the adjuster.

Tomorrow or Wednesday I will paint the hood and pull it out of the Garage and wash it, and then take it for a test drive to get gas. (fire extinguisher is coming with me).
So far so good.

 

[Willard]

Ok while I only put in 5 gallons of gas, the fuel gauge did not even read.
Now I know why, the contacts are corroded on the plug and obviously not making contact.
The beauty of the LRA tank is this is 100% accessible from the stock access panel. So as it is still 100* in the garage i will hold off till tomorrow to fix this.

 

[Willard]

So put 30 gallons of gas in and with the 5 gallons already in there, well the gauge reads just fine.
Took the 60 out for a test drive. A real test drive (60 miles) found out a few things.
1. the steering needs to be adjusted (bit to loose)
2. the gear box in 4th is LOUD, but it will have to live and it may be replaced at some point.
3. seems I have a small leak in the transfer-case or transmission. Guess I did not get it the last time so when it cools off I will pull the skid plate and find it once and for all.
4. IT is cooling just fine. AC for 60 miles (some stop and go traffic and it never got warm enough to be concerned.
5. need to add some more refrigerant to the AC, it is a little low.

This will I will be buttoning up any loose or parts that need adjusting. But for the most part it is running very well and drive just fine.

Gauges are mechanical, and yes that shows 50 MPH, but with 32" tires. Also I managed to hit 65 on the Interstate for the 1.5 miles I drove it.

 

[Willard]

OH and I have to give a HUGE call out to @FJ40Jim. I sent my carb off to him last year for a rebuild, got it a few weeks later. My build took a turn for the worse at the time and I never installed the carb at the time as the rig was not going to move for months.

It was installed recently and started for the first time the other day, then driven with this carb for the first time today.

No adjustments nothing, worked out of the box and the AC idler worked perfectly. No loss in power and just works.
So all of you who are thinking about rebuilding your own carb to save $ and then have nothing but trouble with them, just do the right thing and send it to Jim. You will be glad you did. I sure as hell am.

 

[Willard]

Not much new.

Fixed the steering issue after i discovered West Texas Offroad did not tighten the nut on the top of the steering box that adjusts prelash. I had to readjust that. Now it seems to be more correct and less slop in the wheel more into spec now.

Also grounded my carb fan. My sensor is there, but this will be a good test to see if it works as expected.

Other than that I am getting some spare keys cut today as I only have 1 key for my 60.

Looked at the leak I thought I had and it was not what I thought, no leak just a pool of clear water. Still not sure if that was blow back from the AC or something else after i washed the truck, but no oil so all good.

 

[Willard]

Found the trans oil leak.
Turns out it on the front drive fork shaft seal. And that is it!
I will follow this post here and shoot some picks when the part arrive next week.
'87 FJ60 - Transfer case leak

That will solve the last oil leak under my rig (for now). Stoked to get this installed and the last leak gone.
It is a small leak, but still a leak.

 

[Willard]

Not to much to report as I have been driving the 60 for the past few weeks. Aside from 4th gear sounding like it is out of 1950's tractor (if you have never driven one you would never know what I am talking about), it has been running very well.
I have a slight tapping sound when cold, but once warm that is gone. Could be the synthetic oil that the engine is running after the rebuild.
I will try to adjust the lifters to see if i can make it go away.

After posting and the over whelming response I am getting a 5-speed.
I am a cheap bastard....Not really I have just sunk so much into my rig, my wife is about to walk.
I did not buy a new H55f, out of my price range. However I am going to install one I am getting from another member. As well I am rebuilding my transfer case myself. This should be very interesting. Still after looking at everything with the rebuild, used 5-speed (it is in very good condition it seems). I will still be less than a new H55f installed. So I am happy.

Now we will see if this was a mistake or not. Lets hope not. Some items such as trans mount, clutch slave and master are not included in the $$ as I already replaced the clutch slave and master, and I was debating on changing the trans mount as mine looks sketchy. Oil pan is new as is the gasket, rear main is good as i have zero leaks under my rig now. I may replace with a new on anyways since I am there.
All of this starts in the first week of September.

Like others I will keep a parts list and cost list and will post it here so anyone else thinking of doing this will have a rough idea.

 

[Willard]

Guess what is going in soon!

 

[Willard]

Alright so 2018's trip was a complete bust.
I am now trying to figure 2019's trip.
I am deciding between going back to Colorado and Montana, driving the distance to my home province BC or do the trans labrador highway
All 3 will have fishing in them. And due to the distance all 3 will require significant planning.
Any suggestions?

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Guess what is going in soon!

View attachment 1769280

Dave, where did you get that shifter? Very cool.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Guess what is going in soon!

View attachment 1769280

Dave, where did you get that shifter? Very cool.

 

[Willard]

City Racer
5 Speed Shift Knob for Land Cruiser FJ60 or FJ40

 

[roma042987]

Alright so 2018's trip was a complete bust.
I am now trying to figure 2019's trip.
I am deciding between going back to Colorado and Montana, driving the distance to my home province BC or do the trans labrador highway
All 3 will have fishing in them. And due to the distance all 3 will require significant planning.
Any suggestions?

I can’t comment on driving the Labrador or BC but Montana and Colorado is hard to go wrong with. How about driving out to Solid axle summit and starting your trip there?

 

[gt7058a]

The route from Montana to Colorado is beautiful. Lost creek campground in Montana is a great place to stop. It’s a small canyon with a stream going through it.

 

[Willard]

SAS is a thought for 2019, I am taking 3 weeks. For me it is not about the off roading (although I will be doing lots) it is about the adventure.

Why BC, well I know 80% of it like the back of my hand and know tons f great fishing spots where you never see a soul. Although with the fires this year I am not sure about some of the locations I go to.

Colorado, Wyoming and Montana need more research. I have mainly stuck around the Silverton area and San Juan's. Montana, just around the edge of Wyoming.

I have never been to Labrador, but the price of fuel is the only thing I am concerned with in Canada. @ around 6.00 per gallon that 38 gallon tank will be $$$ to fill.

 

[NookShneer]

I would also recomend SAS. But thought that our drive back to Seattle from CO was an equally great drive.

We did Ouray to Jackson in a day, would have been more enjoyable in 2. Between Loma CO and Dinosaur CO there where a crazy amount of petrogliphs that we drove past trying to make the miles for the day.

I really liked flaming gorge and wish we had more than an hour to some our feet and take a quick dip. Hwy 191 into WY was a really cool drive as well.

Just offering some ideas.

 

[Willard]

Thanks!

 

[CenTXFJ60]

View attachment 1773920

I would also recomend SAS. But thought that our drive back to Seattle from CO was an equally great drive.

We did Ouray to Jackson in a day, would have been more enjoyable in 2. Between Loma CO and Dinosaur CO there where a crazy amount of petrogliphs that we drove past trying to make the miles for the day.

I really liked flaming gorge and wish we had more than an hour to some our feet and take a quick dip. Hwy 191 into WY was a really cool drive as well.

Just offering some ideas.

Dave, Hwy 191 is awesome. I’ve been going to Pinedale WY since the mid 90’s. Next time yiu should stop and explore the Winds. Awesome mountain range. This is me and the boys a last year up around Slide Lake in the Winds