Introduction
A little over two years ago I moved to Brunei Darussalam and set about looking for a vehicle. It had to be Japanese (preferably Toyota), rear- or four-wheel drive and have a manual transmission. I went to a nearby town with a friend and looked at an LN167 Hilux which I was frankly only half-interested in. I already own a restored LN105 Hilux in the UK and was not really looking for another. But parked across the owner's yard was a twin-square headlight 60 Series Landcruiser which caught my eye. I've always had a soft spot for the face-lifted 60s; in my opinion they are the best looking Landcruisers, closely followed by the heavy-duty 73/74 (though the mid wheel base size is rather less useful than a long wheel base station wagon).
July 1989 built, General Market BJ60RG-KRC. Right-hand drive, delivered new to the owner in January 1990. The body was absolutely straight, no visible signs of structural rust, original bumpers. Lifted with oversized wheels, extended shackles, aftermarket wheel arch extensions and home-made side steps (all to be removed) but no signs of having been taken off-road (unlike 90% of Landcruisers here). Paint good from afar but far from good and showing a few rust bubbles - one scab on the left hand side of the roof, one on the front LH door, plus those graphics which need to be removed.
Swing-out rear doors (I'm not sure if I prefer these to a tailgate, both have pros and cons in my opinion), worn interior (not surprising given it had clocked up 567,000 kilometres as a family car). A very low-spec vehicle, though the previous owner had made a few upgrades. Front drum brakes had been changed for factory vented discs, and the H41 had been upgraded to an H55F for highway driving. No tacho, no heater, no rear seatbelts. I took it for a drive. It drove nicely aside from having brakes which were bad even for an old Toyota. The A/C did not work, which hardly surprised me given its jury-rigged appearance.
The engine. I was only vaguely familiar with the 3B engine from 40 Series 'Jeeps' in Pakistan - it seemed to be an ancient 4 cylinder tractor engine recognisable by its rounded valve cover. This sports a '3Bii', which was updated in 1988 when Toyota/Hino updated the design of the B series diesel. I've read a couple of accounts of people who have driven both and they remark that this 3Bii feels a good bit torquier, but it's still a 4 cylinder, 8 valve, indirect injection, naturally aspirated diesel. But, a 14B would be a straight swap; a 14B-T, 15B-F or 15B-FT would be a very easy swap. More on that later. Pretty much every point of the engine or transmission that could leak appeared to be slowly letting fluids past. A shoddily installed sound deadening sheet was peeling off the bonnet and the poorly painted engine bay showed at least two non-original paint jobs, with overspray. The A/C hoses, of questionable manufacture, were stuck through the bulkhead with a sheet of bitumen and ample silicone.
I waited a few days, then bought it. The owner gave me the original front bench seats (it had 70 Series 'Turbo' seats installed) and the original fold-down third-row jump seats.
I drove it a few kilometres to work and to pick up some large household items, then parked it up in my open garage.
The rebuild begins.
EO
A little over two years ago I moved to Brunei Darussalam and set about looking for a vehicle. It had to be Japanese (preferably Toyota), rear- or four-wheel drive and have a manual transmission. I went to a nearby town with a friend and looked at an LN167 Hilux which I was frankly only half-interested in. I already own a restored LN105 Hilux in the UK and was not really looking for another. But parked across the owner's yard was a twin-square headlight 60 Series Landcruiser which caught my eye. I've always had a soft spot for the face-lifted 60s; in my opinion they are the best looking Landcruisers, closely followed by the heavy-duty 73/74 (though the mid wheel base size is rather less useful than a long wheel base station wagon).
July 1989 built, General Market BJ60RG-KRC. Right-hand drive, delivered new to the owner in January 1990. The body was absolutely straight, no visible signs of structural rust, original bumpers. Lifted with oversized wheels, extended shackles, aftermarket wheel arch extensions and home-made side steps (all to be removed) but no signs of having been taken off-road (unlike 90% of Landcruisers here). Paint good from afar but far from good and showing a few rust bubbles - one scab on the left hand side of the roof, one on the front LH door, plus those graphics which need to be removed.
Swing-out rear doors (I'm not sure if I prefer these to a tailgate, both have pros and cons in my opinion), worn interior (not surprising given it had clocked up 567,000 kilometres as a family car). A very low-spec vehicle, though the previous owner had made a few upgrades. Front drum brakes had been changed for factory vented discs, and the H41 had been upgraded to an H55F for highway driving. No tacho, no heater, no rear seatbelts. I took it for a drive. It drove nicely aside from having brakes which were bad even for an old Toyota. The A/C did not work, which hardly surprised me given its jury-rigged appearance.
The engine. I was only vaguely familiar with the 3B engine from 40 Series 'Jeeps' in Pakistan - it seemed to be an ancient 4 cylinder tractor engine recognisable by its rounded valve cover. This sports a '3Bii', which was updated in 1988 when Toyota/Hino updated the design of the B series diesel. I've read a couple of accounts of people who have driven both and they remark that this 3Bii feels a good bit torquier, but it's still a 4 cylinder, 8 valve, indirect injection, naturally aspirated diesel. But, a 14B would be a straight swap; a 14B-T, 15B-F or 15B-FT would be a very easy swap. More on that later. Pretty much every point of the engine or transmission that could leak appeared to be slowly letting fluids past. A shoddily installed sound deadening sheet was peeling off the bonnet and the poorly painted engine bay showed at least two non-original paint jobs, with overspray. The A/C hoses, of questionable manufacture, were stuck through the bulkhead with a sheet of bitumen and ample silicone.
I waited a few days, then bought it. The owner gave me the original front bench seats (it had 70 Series 'Turbo' seats installed) and the original fold-down third-row jump seats.
I drove it a few kilometres to work and to pick up some large household items, then parked it up in my open garage.
The rebuild begins.
EO
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