Landcruiserjunky's Blue Pony Build

[landcruiserjunky]

The Beginning


It all started when my dad was a senior in high school and one of his buddies drove their dad's brand new fj40 to school: it was love at first sight. Fast forward a few years, my dad was searching for a car and came across a landcruiser add in the paper. He went to look at it but much to his surprise it wasn't a "jeep" style but a wagon. Realizing his wife would approve a 4 door wagon over a toy, he drove it home that day. That was 1985.



One of my uncles had (and still has) an old popup we constantly borrowed. It was the perfect combination with the 60.
Yellowstone in June



Right after this trip, my father pulled into Alcan Springs in Grand Junction and had custom springs made.

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Any Colorado outdoor activity involved the 60.



(my little sister back in the day)








The Resto
beginning 06/2006

While towing a Uhaul, the trailer jackknifed and dented the driver's side quarter panel revealing a ton of rust . It was then that my dad realized it would be a perfect project for me.

 

[landcruiserjunky]

My goal was to remove EVERY hint of rust. The first thing I did was track down a pair of brand new OEM quarter panels and a new tailgate. Then came the repaint and frame off restoration. I cannot remember for the life of me what blue I used but it looks identical to the factory color and turned out amazing

 

[landcruiserjunky]

20 years had taken a toll on the interior of the 60. It didn't look like Katrina, but evidence of a family of 5 was present. I couldn't find any OEM Toyota carpets and I was considering one of Sor's kits ( I know I know, I was naive...) until a buddy referred me to a local guy who did a great job for really cheap. It matched my door panels perfectly.




Also I completely de-smogged the engine. I don't want to talk about it.





The Build

It was only logical to do a lift before the bumpers. EVERYONE was going OME but I noticed that within a few years, they'd go SOA afterwards. Since I had Alcan springs and my shocks were fine, I just skipped the OME and went SOA.

 

[landcruiserjunky]

I picked up a set of 35x12.5 yokohoma MTs from a mudder in North Carolina. It was an interesting 18 hour road trip with 5 tires crammed in the back.


I even got Andy Samberg to take a pic with my new meats.



I added 1" backspacing to the front.





SOA (with custom alcans) + 35" yokohomas + 1" backspacing

 

[landcruiserjunky]

After going SOA, I found a great deal on a safari snorkel from rocky-road and I had to have the Toyota non-usa airfilter top... As I was finishing the installation, I realized what everyone was talking about in regards to the air assembly/smog components. I went poser for a month while I waited for my non-usa setup to arrive from Australia.


At this point my camera took a dump so pictures are minimal.

At the same time Expedition One posted in the 60 section that they had 3 trial run bumpers for sale. I managed to steal the only one that had a single hoop and was already powdercoated.




Three days later I found Trail-Gears 67"sliders...



April 2008 was a very busy month for me...

 

[landcruiserjunky]

This is how it sat with the front Expedition One bumper with a 8k winch + trail gear 67" sliders + safari snorkel with toyota prefilter





I found a SROR rear bumper from Crazy88. Ideally I wanted dual spin outs with a tire carrier and a ladder on the other side. BUT the price was right and after another 14 hour road trip I had a rear bumper.

SROR rear swingout bumper + 69" hilift + spare 35" + 2 nato gas cans
Also note the large non-usa mirrors...



Interior Mods:

Installed a Sony cd/radio/aux input with new front/rear speakers and of course a non-usa grab bar

 

[landcruiserjunky]

I absolutely hated the short console the 60 series have. I didn't want to dish out for a tuffy and I had been eying a smittybilt...


The writeup.... Here It holds ALL my recovery gear, my first aid kit and it still has tons of space.



Fire Extinguisher under the passenger seat




The carpet that was installed was disgusting: stained, smelled like mold, and was shedding. SO I ripped it out and rhino lined the entire inside floor. I did it at the same I did the console.

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Conclusion

The 60 is exactly where I want it to be: rust free and super reliable. Other then oil changes and de-smogging it I've done no repairs. The only thing I plan on doing is 4.88 for my gears. I was planning on doing a cummins 4bt conversion but I couldn't justify tearing out a perfectly running 2F. So all my diesel $$$ went to......







About two years ago I started getting the 40 itch for a hunting/skiing/vacation rig for whenever I'm in Colorado. Unfortunately I never found anything reasonable that wasn't half eaten by rust or owned by Bubba. I was definitely not looking forward to the 13 mpg and rust so I started looking into Suzuki Samurais.....



I bought it off a Mudder for cheap in Colorado and I have my cousin storing it at his house until I can get around to building it.
Plans Include:
SOA + 3 inch springs
Front Calmini winch bumper
Rear Tire swingout + winch
33x9.5s
burnt orange paint
Roll Cage

 

[sk8salomon]

nice old pics jonathan! really cool to have such a cruiser history with your family. guess I need to join a station wagon club with woody trim to tell my family vehicle history, lol.

 

[DBrown2]

No wonder I couldnt talk you into selling the Cruiser to me a year ago... Thanks for the history...

 

[jeepgod]

nice 60 love the blue

 

[LDowney]

Very nice write up on your truck's history and your work. Would split rear seating be a good upgrade for the Blue Pony? The thought came to mind when I saw a post trying to put together a group buy. Here is the post
https://forum.ih8mud.com/ny-gotham-city-land-cruisers/352779-group-buy-fj60-2nd-row-split-seats.html
Thanks for posting about you and your 60.

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Very nice write up on your truck's history and your work. Would split rear seating be a good upgrade for the Blue Pony? The thought came to mind when I saw a post trying to put together a group buy. Here is the post
https://forum.ih8mud.com/ny-gotham-city-land-cruisers/352779-group-buy-fj60-2nd-row-split-seats.html
Thanks for posting about you and your 60.

Tempting, but I think I'm going to end up with no backseat at all as I don't plan on having more then 2 people on expeditions/travels.

 

[bosljeff]

Bad ass cruiser! Are you a drug dealer? I swear, I felt MY wallet got thinner just looking at all you bought in such a short amount of time. Really, I'm just jealous.

Keep it up. I like the look of yours...I may copy it someday (when I sell a kidney).

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Nice write up (and fuel cans)!

60 looks great.

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Bad ass cruiser! Are you a drug dealer? I swear, I felt MY wallet got thinner just looking at all you bought in such a short amount of time. Really, I'm just jealous.

Keep it up. I like the look of yours...I may copy it someday (when I sell a kidney).

thanks

half doors soon to come

Nice write up (and fuel cans)!

60 looks great.

they're one of my favorite accessories

 

[ukaviator]

Hey Man,

That big ugly rear bumper is going to distract attention from your half doors so you should probably sell it to me

After all we wouldnt want all your hard work to go unnoticed!!

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Damn, I wish you would have said something sooner I just dropped it off at the scrap yard Friday























If I ever part it out, I plan on putting it STLCA before mud. I will start my half door thread soon.