Hi all, this is my first kick at starting a project like this! So after reading just about all I can from everyone else's experiences, documentation and feedback, I think i have learned just enough to be dangerous! I am very impressed with the level of support, information and trouble that people have gone to to list every step, part and snag along the way during their projects. I hope I can only learn and take your experiences to navigate this minefield I may be creating for myself!
I bought my 1985 FJ60 back about 4 years ago out of The Dalles, OR for not much. It was my 3rd cruiser I had owned. It was in really rough shape mechanically, but the body was in very nice shape with only 2 small spots of rust. I imported it into Canada and began going through it to repair, replace or improve it to get it past the safety. After the safety and I got it registered, I put a 2-1/2 lift on it (I still haven't figured out a name yet!!). The PO had tried to de-smog it and it ran like crap. I tried to fix it up with as much info as i could pull off mud, but it didn't really help. I was able to locate and plug about 5 major vacuum leaks so at least it idles better.
I was in the process of debating whether to rip out the 2F and put a SBC in, or find a diesel and a 5 speed, but didn't really want to take out a second mortgage to do that. When totally out of the blue, a friend of a friend called me and asked me if I wanted his 88 FJ62 for parts. His son had spun a bearing on the highway and the engine was toast, well at least the bottom part! It had good tires that were bigger and better than mine, it had a really nice interior, it had a OME lift and it had a 3FE!
He only wanted $1000 complete and I figured that with what I could pull off of it, to convert mine to a 2FE, plus all the other stuff that was good I could sell or use, I couldn't ask for a better situation.
So here I sit with 2 cruisers, mine running like crap, all the spare parts one could ask for to do this conversion, and not a lot of money into both of them! My wife even told me to go buy it to help me get through my mid-life crisis, because cruisers were cheaper than girls in their mid-20's and I didn't have to go through all the training again!
Here is what they look like:
I'm sure this will take me a bit longer than I want it to because I also run my own company designing, selling and installing automated lubrication systems on large industrial applications. It keeps me out on the road a lot. But I really want this to be completed so I can use it this summer.
I've already started picking the brains of Curtis (RocDoc) and he has been invaluable. I hope there are others that will guide me right! Thanks in advance.
Dean
I bought my 1985 FJ60 back about 4 years ago out of The Dalles, OR for not much. It was my 3rd cruiser I had owned. It was in really rough shape mechanically, but the body was in very nice shape with only 2 small spots of rust. I imported it into Canada and began going through it to repair, replace or improve it to get it past the safety. After the safety and I got it registered, I put a 2-1/2 lift on it (I still haven't figured out a name yet!!). The PO had tried to de-smog it and it ran like crap. I tried to fix it up with as much info as i could pull off mud, but it didn't really help. I was able to locate and plug about 5 major vacuum leaks so at least it idles better.
I was in the process of debating whether to rip out the 2F and put a SBC in, or find a diesel and a 5 speed, but didn't really want to take out a second mortgage to do that. When totally out of the blue, a friend of a friend called me and asked me if I wanted his 88 FJ62 for parts. His son had spun a bearing on the highway and the engine was toast, well at least the bottom part! It had good tires that were bigger and better than mine, it had a really nice interior, it had a OME lift and it had a 3FE!
He only wanted $1000 complete and I figured that with what I could pull off of it, to convert mine to a 2FE, plus all the other stuff that was good I could sell or use, I couldn't ask for a better situation.
So here I sit with 2 cruisers, mine running like crap, all the spare parts one could ask for to do this conversion, and not a lot of money into both of them! My wife even told me to go buy it to help me get through my mid-life crisis, because cruisers were cheaper than girls in their mid-20's and I didn't have to go through all the training again!
Here is what they look like:
I'm sure this will take me a bit longer than I want it to because I also run my own company designing, selling and installing automated lubrication systems on large industrial applications. It keeps me out on the road a lot. But I really want this to be completed so I can use it this summer.
I've already started picking the brains of Curtis (RocDoc) and he has been invaluable. I hope there are others that will guide me right! Thanks in advance.
Dean
Did you get my message about headwork?
It would go much faster than it did for the first kick at the can. But it would only make sense if you want to at least give it a valve job before it goes in, as I can't guaranttee I wouldn't knick a seat.
