Maintenance and upgrades on our "new" FJ62...

[orion]

Back to the 62 - Through rigorous testing...we've identified a problem.

OK - Maybe just a 70 mile (round trip) test drive to meet up with family for dinner showed that it overheats when you stay at +55mph for more than 20 minutes.

Seems as if the cooling system has crud in it blocking the flow through the radiator. Or the radiator is just 'bad' after 30 years. It's fine in traffic, and cruising at 40-45mph around town (zero trouble in the last 60 miles since the motor was swapped in).

Friday evening, I made it maybe 25miles (watching the gauge creep up really slowly) before it was a tick below the red. Pulled over and it started venting pressure into the overflow. Let it cool off for 5-10 minutes, and drove the rest of the way at 45mph (windows down, heater on high) without issue.

The nice waitress at Sonny's BBQ gave me a gallon of tap water to top it off and get me home.

Drove it the speed limit (mix of 55-60mph back roads and 30-45mph through town) with the heater on the whole way...and it didn't get past the halfway mark.

Drained the coolant Sat morning, and it looked like rust/mud. I'm sure there was crap in there from the motor sitting for a few years...and the cooling system could have had stuff in it from before (I flushed some brown silt out of the radiator before putting it back in with the "new" motor).

EDIT: Oil looks perfect / like new...not a headgasket issue.

Ran around with it a little Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday I flushed out some brown water this time (not nearly as bad).

It's full of straight water again right now...I'll drain/flush it once more before going back to coolant some time this week.

I'll update with the final result (flush worked, or new radiator).

- Brian

 

[NearJetties]

@orion do you recall which universal mount you used? The ones I’ve come across all go on top or below the frame.

That’s exactly what I’d like to do with my 62 but keep the bumper the stock width.

 

[orion]

@orion do you recall which universal mount you used? The ones I’ve come across all go on top or below the frame.

That’s exactly what I’d like to do with my 62 but keep the bumper the stock width.

I bought it at Harbor Freight, but it's the same "universal winch plate" available pretty much anywhere (Northern Tool, Amazon).

I cut it to fit between the frame rails, like so:

Lots more info in my old FJ60 build thread, starting here:
"Revamp" - My project FJ60 (SBC + Ranger OD / OME / etc...)

EDIT: One thing I don't think is shown there...I used the stock bumper mounting brackets, and drilled 4 new holes for them in the "frame extensions" (1/8" angle iron). Just moved them outward 4 inches.

EDIT #2: One more pic, showing the notch for the winch to fit -->

...

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

Brian I have a perfectly good used OEM 62 radiator (with the trans cooler) for you to try out if you want.
I was going to toss it but I couldn’t bring myself to, I guess for good reason?

 

[orion]

Brian I have a perfectly good used OEM 62 radiator (with the trans cooler) for you to try out if you want.
I was going to toss it but I couldn’t bring myself to, I guess for good reason?

I may take you up on that...I'll text you later. Thanks.

- Brian

 

[orion]

Update on the 62:

Looks like A LOT of flushing has cured the +55mph overheating. Well, I have yet to take it on a long drive, but a few ~5miles jaunts at 55-60mph as indicated (65-70mph actual due to tire size) has shown the gauge to stay at or before the first mark (185F?). Before, it would pass that after a mile or 2...then s-l-o-w-l-y just keep creeping up.

How did we get there?

I pulled the lower radiator hose, and let it drain. Then pulled the heater hose at the firewall / heater valve and flushed out brown stuff with the hose (both directions at that connection, including through the heater core(s)).

Did that every other day (driving it in between) I think 5 times (and once with Prestone Cooling System Flush). Got noticeably better each time (less like can't-see-through-it dark brown, and more like light brown water).

Filled it back up with 50/50 coolant mix earlier this week, and I'm confident we're good to go.

Truck is at the tint shop today getting window tint done - I'll try to post a pic when it's home later.

Also, here's a few pics from the sound deadening install. My wife gets the credit for this - While I was swapping in the new motor, she pulled the carpet back, cleaned underneath, and put in "KilMat" from front to back (including the trans tunnel). I think it was effective from a road noise standpoint...and hopefully from radiant heat as well:

Even did inside the rear quarters with the leftovers:

...

Up next: Roof rack (have an old ladder rack laying around - Gonna try to make it look a little nicer and fit it to the 62), and LSPV delete (along with new rubber brake lines up front).

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

Up next: Roof rack (have an old ladder rack laying around - Gonna try to make it look a little nicer and fit it to the 62), and LSPV delete (along with new rubber brake lines up front).

- Brian

Glad to hear it’s working well. Tear out that LSPV garbage, they’re horrible. They hold air, leak, rust, etc.
I have a thread that shows how to do it for cheap/easy, I’m sure you know what you’re doing though.

 

[orion]

Update:

Regarding the overheating...I have to tell on myself. I left the 12mm bolt for the distributor loose when I installed the new/used motor, and meant to set the timing properly...but never got to it. Over time, I guess it slipped to "fully advanced". Not an issue on flat ground, and no pinging...until I drove it over one of the big bridges here, A/C on full blast, 4 people in the truck, on a 95F day. And the temperature started creeping right up.

I set the timing that afternoon (it's at probably 12 degrees BTDC now), and zero issues since (including one trip over that same bridge, on another hot afternoon). So while there was crap in the radiator / cooling system, that was only half the problem. Super-advanced timing was the other half.

Hope my oversight helps someone else in the future

OK, on to upgrades:

Cut down the ladder rack to fit the 62 (cut height off the mounts, and 10" off the cross bar width), and painted it. Looks nice, IMO...and now we can throw a kayak up there.

(tinted the windows, too)

...and replaced the tail light lenses.

These are a pair of the $38 ones found all over eBay and Amazon. Shipped direct from Thailand. Took a month to get here.

They appear to be good quality, but time will tell if they fade and crack.

(pics taken an hour apart, as the sun was setting. Crazy how different the paint color looks in different light)

That's that, for now.

- Brian

 

[Godwin]

...and replaced the tail light lenses.

These are a pair of the $38 ones found all over eBay and Amazon. Shipped direct from Thailand. Took a month to get here.


- Brian

OEM is available for only a few $$ more and it won't take a month to get them.

 

[cruisermatt]

It’s cleaning up well!

 

[orion]

OEM is available for only a few $$ more and it won't take a month to get them.

I was under the impression that they were NLA...certainly would have preferred OEM.

- Brian

 

[orion]

Small update on our 62:

We had one more episode last month where the temp crept up to the 3/4 mark (on the highway)...?

After some more reading on here, I was suspecting the fan clutch (although it seemed unlikely, as airflow across the radiator at highway speeds is way more than sufficient, I thought). However, several people reported similar issues, and claimed a fan clutch solved the problem.

Picked up a AISIN 'blue' fan clutch (FJ80 part: FTC-004) and put it on last week:

And yesterday, we took a little (120 miles) road trip with the truck - Doing 65-70mph for probably half of that time - And the temp didn't move past the 1/4 mark!

Think we finally have that fixed, for good.

I've also done a little maintenance - Oil change, drain and refill on the trans pan (just to see the condition of the fluid in there), and new rear hatch struts.

Added a keyless entry too, using the excellent thread by "ad20k", with a nod to "slcfj62" for his lock-relay thread: How To: Keyless entry for a 62

This truck already had the relays added for the power locks, so it was pretty easy to add a DEI (Viper) 211HV keyless entry. It's already proven very useful, with all the rain we've been getting down here!

Anyway, thanks for checking out my thread.

- Brian

 

[Skniper]

Just found this thread...really cool "budget" (LOL) resto on this rig.

Is that original paint and patina...or was that paint redone at some point with a matte finish? Like that low sheen.

I'm guessing the white 60 got gifted the 4+ bumper?

 

[orion]

Just found this thread...really cool "budget" (LOL) resto on this rig.

Is that original paint and patina...or was that paint redone at some point with a matte finish? Like that low sheen.

I'm guessing the white 60 got gifted the 4+ bumper?

Thanks. It was painted at some point in the past - It's not matte, just an old single-stage paint job that has "aged".

Where it's peeling, you can see the OE paint and shiny clear coat - Not really sure what someone was thinking, as it looks to have decent paint underneath (?).

And yes, my FJ60 received the 4-Plus bumper.

- Brian

 

[orion]

So while you and I liked the narrowed OEM bumper / my old 'winch bumper'...my wife was not a fan.

I recently found a used FJ60 bumper for sale in the classifieds here (I had those brackets and no FJ62 brackets...and I prefer the thinner 60 bumper).

...so after a very smooth transaction and fast shipping from @g-man , I installed it last night:

Up next, we'll install these cool "period correct" (haha) fog lights that we found in her grandfather's shed, unopened:

...

Otherwise...we're ticking off the miles, and enjoying the thumbs up we get on the road and "nice truck" comments at gas stations.

I'll be honest, I thought my wife would quickly tire of driving this old, slow thing every day...but she's loving it!

...

EDIT: Got the fog lights mounted. Didn't want to 'bump' the thread just for that, so I'll simply add the pic here:

- Brian

 

[orion]

10 months later, a minor update...

We've just been driving the 62 and enjoying it, nothing else notable to comment on. The drivers rear power window is acting up, so that will be next on the list to address.

For a small update: I didn't know there were rubber bumpers on the door handles, but it should have been obvious every time one of my daughters let go of the handle that something was missing (they made a terrible loud "clank").

I saw in the "Warhorse" thread that @NCFJ mentioned these bumpers (see his post here: Builds - Warhorse-LS3 C&C & more) ...and I had to replace the ones on both our 62 and my 60.

Off to Amazon for (4) packs of Dorman #45393 ($3 each) - I needed enough for 2 trucks.

Here's what you're dealing with:

See how smashed and flat the bumpers are?

I thought the way they came out of the package held the handle out too far, so I trimmed off the pointed end -->

Popped the old ones out with a flat head screwdriver (they were brittle, and just broke off):

Then hit the new ones with a little silicone lube, and worked them into place with a dull screwdriver:

Now it's a nice 'thunk' when you let go of the handle, not that metal-on-metal clank like before.

Anyway, I'm posting this here so that you can go do the same - It's a small thing, but it really makes the truck feel more solid (makes it feel new again). Thanks again @NCFJ for the tip and part number!

- Brian

 

[orion]

Another small update...

I found the coolant overflow was empty when checking it a month ago...looks like we have a couple tiny leaks in the bottom of the radiator:

It's not an OEM radiator, but an older CSF (#2708 ???) radiator. Was leaking / corroding on both sides:

Installed a new Champion aluminum radiator (I run the same one in my 60, has performed well over the last ~4 years):

Coolant was still a little "murky" (I did a flush and refill late last year), so it was probably good to change it all out one more time. I drained the coolant, installed the new radiator, ran it with just water for one day, then drained + refilled with a 50/50 mix (green coolant + distilled water).

Next up: Relays for the window motors!

- Brian

 

[Blackwater]

Sweet write up Brian!! Fun to see.. will stay tuned!

Our family friend has decided to sell his 87 fj60 lately, and I'm thinking hard about it.. super clean, stock, one owner..

 

[orion]

Well, as soon as we replaced the radiator...the fuel gauge quit working.

I figured the sender died (I've read of several occasions of that on here), so I pulled the rear access cover and took a look.

Found that the wire (winding?) had just worn thin from years of the float going up and down, and the wire simply broke:

(the silver thing the arrow is pointing to is the end of the broken wire)

So, broken wire = no continuity = no fuel gauge reading.

Ordered a new one from 'City Racer LLC', should be a quick and easy swap...and then we can stop relying on the trip-meter for when to fuel up!

- Brian

---- EDIT: No reason to bump this, just to post another pic... -----

8/6/2019 - New sending unit came in, took 15min to install, and we're back in business!

- Brian

 

[Mdej3]

Great Thread!