Builds "Lefty" Moves to San Diego

[perrobravo]

Been perusing the 60 forums for a while and finally pulled out my wallet and bought one, a 1982 FJ60 in pretty much original condition. Bought the truck from a Land Cruiser addict/collector a couple hours north, stuck the key in, and drove home to San Diego with a smile on my face.

The truck has an interesting history. It belonged to the Los Angeles County Parks department and was recently sold to the guy I bought it from. So I'm officially the 2nd registered owner. The truck has only 41,000 miles, but is definitely showing signs of age and government use. The interior is as close to perfect as I'd imagine an unrestored 30+ year old truck could be. The exterior is a bit rough...some surface rust along the roof rails, small dents and dings here and there, even holes drilled for antennas and light wiring. The suspension seems to be shot, hoses and soft lines need to be replaced, the battery looks more well-suited for a Yugo, and a surely there are a hundred other things I haven't discovered. Lots of work to be done!

Day 1

Low miles as observed on my way home

2F, crying for some TLC and a few OEM parts

Interior

Likely first steps:

1. Appropriate battery tray and battery
2. Baseline fluids, filters, etc.
3. Removing the strange red "accents" which will drive me crazy
4. Suspension (likely a mild lift...don't want to venture too far afield of stock)
5. Figure out what to do with the body work


What's with "Lefty" you ask? My kids proposed this name, the opposite of Righty, the name given to my RHD BJ74...details here.

 

[joebattle1]

I could have sworn I just saw this on CL. Good buy. 41k on the ticker. This thing is brand new. good luck and may you get many many more miles out of that 2f.

 

[perrobravo]

Not only was the battery that came in the truck tiny, but it wasn't strapped down at all. A few minutes on Stainless Steel Battery Trays for TOYOTA LANDCRUISER and within a couple days, their complete tray assembly arrived. Very nice kit!

The OEM tray was rusted away, nearly non-existent. At least the black plastic coating was still there!

Shiny and new

Group 27 all strapped in and ready for action!

If anyone needs a used OEM battery tray support, that was the only piece of the original tray assembly that was worth saving. PM me and it is all yours!

 

[Haggis]

Score! That baby needs an OME 2" lift and 33's and she is perfect. Welcome to the madness.

 

[87CRUSR]

Unbelievably low mileage. Nice score. Do we have a purchase price?

 

[tgadd]

The red trim is silly. But nice find!

 

[rrv333]

You need to go and buy a lotto ticket before your good luck wears off. Great score!

 

[perrobravo]

I could have sworn I just saw this on CL. Good buy. 41k on the ticker. This thing is brand new. good luck and may you get many many more miles out of that 2f.

Thanks @joebattle1 ! You probably did see this one on CL. I did too, a few months back, but didn't move fast enough and missed out. The guy who beat me to it paid the overdue registration costs, added new tires and a few small things, and posted it again. That's where I came in.

Score! That baby needs an OME 2" lift and 33's and she is perfect. Welcome to the madness.

Thanks @Haggis ! Lift is in the works. I'm thinking of running the current 31s since they're new (in fact, I just ordered a 5th for the spare...which is currently the original tire from 1982), but we'll see how long that lasts.

Unbelievably low mileage. Nice score. Do we have a purchase price?

PM sent

The red trim is silly. But nice find!

I couldn't agree more @tgadd . An hour with a razor blade and some plastidip and we're one step closer to how Mr. T intended the truck to look.

You need to go and buy a lotto ticket before your good luck wears off. Great score!

Ha! Thanks @rrv333 ! Winning the lottery would help offset costs for sure.

 

[perrobravo]

The red trim is silly. But nice find!

Making progress! Scraped the red paint from the Toyota badge on the tailgate as well as the 4wd plate. Not perfect, but also not red!

 

[perrobravo]

Suspension and a few other bits installed!

Started with this pile of goodies, the bulk of which came from @cruiseroutfit . Thanks, Kurt!

Mounted the correct front side marker lights which some previous owner oddly changed to rear, red lights. Had to fix the wiring in the process. All good now.

Truck-Lite lights installed.

OME light/medium lift installed after a marathon solo effort yesterday. Man, am I sore!

The truck rides SOOOOO much better and gained a bit of height.

Before (center of hub to fender lip):
Front driver: 19.25 inches
Front passenger: 19.70
Rear driver: 18.50
Rear passenger: 19.00

After:
Front driver: 21.75
Front passenger: 21.5
Rear driver: 23.00
Rear passenger: 23.00

As part of a rigorous suspension testing process, I headed to a local suburban construction site and drove to the top of a pile of dirt. Springs flexed as expected!

Also replaced the spare with a matching 31" tire and added an engine air filter (added, as opposed to replaced since there wasn't one installed...weird).

Still have a number of parts to get installed (plugs, wires, etc.) and a several more coming from @beno , so it'll be another week or so before the truck is ready to hit the road.

 

[DFXR]

That is a score. Congrats.

But I think you may have a Toyota problem judging from your driveway. Just don't start browsing the 55 forum or you'll be in it deep.

PS: I'm still running the OME 865's you sold me a while back, thanks again.

 

[perrobravo]

Taking care of some basics and the truck is starting to feel a lot better.

Oil change, spark plugs/wires, diff/transfer case oil change, transmission oil change, bled the brakes and clutch lines. What a difference flushing/bleeding the clutch fluid made. Shifts smoother (or I'm imagining it does) and with the fresh transmission oil, the truck is significantly quieter and smoother. It is always nice when simple things make a big difference!

Also, @beno hooked me up with new FJ62 mirrors so that I can actually see things behind me. Decided to stick with the chrome for now since there's a ton of it on the truck anyway...and I'm too lazy to paint.

Before (low visibility)

After (improved visibility)

 

[perrobravo]

Installed the Three Five (555) tie rod end kit from @cruiseroutfit and got a wheel alignment. Front end feels happier!

Discovered the fuel pump was leaking gas so replaced it. Solved the leak (and the stink) and it seems to run a bit smoother, especially at higher engine speeds...but that could be wishful thinking!

Windshield washer was not spraying so I decided to pull the reservoir and see what I could see. Turns out the motor was unplugged. That was easy!

Since the washer motor "repair" went quickly, I decided to start replacing old radiator hoses. Got through the OEM hoses I had on hand, then replaced the two rear heater hoses, following the advice of @WHG423 to use Napa hoses (as described in this thread). Feels good to be rid of those nasty old hoses. Many more to get to...

To celebrate/test drive, I drove around a dirt lot until a security guard gave me a dirty look

 

[lovetoski]

OME light/medium lift installed after a marathon solo effort yesterday. Man, am I sore!

I have futzed with the suspension on my 60 a number of times. Installing AALs, installing an OME kit, adding a leaf to bring it from a med to a heavy kit, etc. In every case, it's hard physical work and I'm tired and sore afterwords. I do it in my driveway, which is probs harder than on a lift. Totally worth doing, but you feel it for a day or two.

 

[lovetoski]

Nice truck by the way, totally envious of the low miles.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Wow nice truck


Sent from my iPhone

 

[WHG423]

Nice truck and nice upgrades right out the gate. Glad My heater his thread helped out. Excited to see more on this truck.

 

[vipergrhd]

When you are done installing the headlamps could you please post a pic with the lights on up a wall or garage door.

 

[perrobravo]

When you are done installing the headlamps could you please post a pic with the lights on up a wall or garage door.

Sure. Lights are in and done...took all of 15 minutes. I'll take some pics of the light output from the FJ60 when I get back in town. In the mean time, here's a thread where I posted a few shots and video of the same lights in my BJ74.

Overall, I like the Truck-Lites. Visibility is significantly better than stock. Installation is truly plug and play. No ballasts or wiring harness to deal with. There is a weird XX pattern to the low beams that you have to get used to. If you can live with that drawback/feature of the light pattern, you're good.

HTH

 

[perrobravo]

Replaced most of the of 30 year old vacuum hoses (realized I missed a few as I was closing the hood) with new from boostcontroller.com.

Assuming I'm missing a hose (down low in the highlighted/boxed area pictured), but for the life of me, I can't figure it out, even after reading the manual until I couldn't see straight. Anyone know where the hose here should be attached? Truck runs fine...or at least I think it does since there wasn't a hose here when I bought the truck.