Marceline - My '87 FJ60 Build Thread.

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Alright everyone...

I know it's been damn near a year since I've posted in this thread. Lift comes at you pretty quick. Here's the newest updates...

Took her out to see the Crazy Canuck in Raeford to do a once over on her to make sure I wasn't missing any typical FJ60 maladies. It went overall really well and the truck was in pretty good shape in comparison to some of the rigs he's seen so I left there grinning from ear to ear.

Early in the summer I noticed I started to develop a transfer case leak. I kept my eye on it and watched as it slowly became more a steady drip so I reckoned it was time to rebuild the transfer case. I rummaged through MUD and found quite a few solid articles and how to's so I ordered the terrain tamer kit and got after it. All in all the transfer case rebuild once we got it out of the rig took me about 12 hours to do (with the typical distractions of life with a four year old daughter running around);)

The job itself was pretty straightforward and I was lucky enough to have it at my dad's backyard shop in VB that had all the presses and tools required to do the job. The hardest part was getting the awkward Transfer Case/Transmission combo out of the rig without killing myself and my brother and getting it back in while still avoiding the same hazards. Using the engine hoist and coming through the transmission/shifter bay is definitely the easiest and best way to do it. Everything went together rather easily and everything worked when I cranked her and took her for a spin so I'll count that among my successes. Here's some pics from the job.

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Fast forward a few months, the Jamboree at Uwharrie Training Center and a few trips in and out of the smokies, to Fort Fischer and elsewhere and she started acting a little wonky on me. At this point we had about 238,000 miles on the tired 2F and I figured it was about time to talk about a rebuild.

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At the time I came to this decision she was symptomatically acting like either I had an exhaust leak at the rear of my manifold or the head gasket was slowly going. Also, coincidentally I was informed I was going on a short notice vacation elsewhere. So that put a hold on what I could do with my rig. I packed up the wife, daughter and 2 dogs and shipped them in the rig up to VB while I gallivanted elsewhere.:bang:

To be continued...
 
So picking up where we left off...

The rig was shipped to VB for a top end rebuild assuming I had blown the head gasket. I entrusted my brother, a fellow japanese motor head to do the job as it's typically pretty straight forward. Pull the head, examine the parts, replace and recondition what's needed. A simple $1,000 job and while we were at it we were going to redo the exhaust.
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Well once he pulled it we realized this job was going to get a lot bigger fast...

The #1 and #6 pistons had chipped. Don't ask me how 'cause I don't know. She acted alright on until she started acting like she had a head gasket leak and when that happened we parked her. Luckily it didn't happen on the interstate leaving me stranded somewhere. Realizing we were now into a "REAL" rebuild we started tossing ideas around. Were we going to just rebuild the 2F. If we were how much would it cost for us to do it? How much were the parts? What needed to be reground, re-sleeved and reconditioned? Since we were really getting into it, were we going to replace everything that was old? etc. etc.
 
Ultimately we decided to go down the route that might get me excommunicated from the Toyota purist's club. We decided to pull the engine altogether...

The initial plan was just to rebuild the 2F, remove the old Weber and put a Trollhole carb on it and redo the exhaust. But the $$$ numbers started adding up. $1000 here for machine work. $2000 here on parts (pistons, valves, rods, bolts, gaskets, water pump etc.) Another $1600 for the exhaust. We planned on using as much OEM parts as possible as collectively the opinions I came across from fellow cruiser heads was that the Original OEM parts were the best made for the tractor engine.

Once adding up all the numbers and parts from places all over we realized it might be cheaper to just buy a brand new engine and do a conversion. So we called up advanced adapters and Summit and started putting together our new parts list and that's what we did...

The decision to put a SBC 350 in it was founded in economy and longevity. The 2F had served me well and had we rebuilt the monster I'm sure it would have lasted another 250k miles. But alas my wallet is only so big and 12 mpg eventually erodes the savings and I am just too stubborn to get rid of my 60. Ask my wife...there's a clause in my will that says either rebuild it and give it to my daughter or bury me in it. The SBC we chose to go with was a Gen1 so the abundance of replacement parts is astronomical and we chose an EFI system for it to aid in achieving that gas mileage that every LC owner dreams of.

Every venture I've taken with my rig has been grounded in the idea of renewing it the best I can because not only is it my everyday driver but it's something I've wanted since I was a child. So if we were going to go down this road we were going to do it right. With a brand new engine...So we pulled it...
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Or rather they pulled it while I was 6,000 miles away...

We took the time to scrub the engine bay, resurface it and repaint it so it reflected the new life Marceline was about to get. I got home shortly after they plucked the old tired 2F from the engine bay...

Just in time to get into resurfacing it...
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Look at how high that front suspension sits with no engine in it. This was the day she go shipped off to the local speed shop to get the new V8 dropped in it. I didn't trust my skills to mount and weld the new motor mounts in it so I left it to the professionals...Word on the street is she should be done and back in my possession today to begin putting in all the new parts.
 
And here is the old beast sitting on the engine hoist. We've decided to part her out. Miraculously when the two pistons cracked they didn't scar up the walls of the cylinder so whomever is local should be getting a pretty solid block to rebuild off of. We decided to pull and replace everything including the radiator, a/c compressor and power steering as well.
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I wouldn't worry about an engine swap. When mine goes I'm going to put in something much more modern.
If you plan on really driving the truck it makes sense to get a small block. If it were a show truck and all original, then matching numbers would matter.
I look forward to the swap
 
I wouldn't worry about an engine swap. When mine goes I'm going to put in something much more modern.
If you plan on really driving the truck it makes sense to get a small block. If it were a show truck and all original, then matching numbers would matter.
I look forward to the swap

I totally agree and that's what really drove my decision to throw a small block in there. The abundance of parts, ease of modification and the gas mileage really made it a hard argument to stay with the original 2F. The new crate engine with 0 miles on it ran $1400 bucks which was still less that what we were looking at to do the rebuild.
 
And here is the old beast sitting on the engine hoist. We've decided to part her out. Miraculously when the two pistons cracked they didn't scar up the walls of the cylinder so whomever is local should be getting a pretty solid block to rebuild off of. We decided to pull and replace everything including the radiator, a/c compressor and power steering as well. View attachment 1412638

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Are you going to be selling off everything that was engine related? I may be on the hunt for a fuel decel switch from the driver's side fender.
 
Following this thread now! I love the friggin green color man, you and Aloha Jen have me dreaming of green. I need that in my life. Don't hate me but how's the paint holding up after the time you've had it? $2500 sounds like a pretty good deal for a paint job that endures. Love your setup cant wait to see the swap after. I have a TBI myself.
 
Are you going to be selling off everything that was engine related? I may be on the hunt for a fuel decel switch from the driver's side fender.

I'll be selling everything we aren't up-cycling.

Send me a photo of what you're looking for and I'll see if I still have it laying around. I did the full de-smog on this thing when I first got it so a lot of that stuff got parted out ages ago. I'll be happy to look for you though.
 
Following this thread now! I love the friggin green color man, you and Aloha Jen have me dreaming of green. I need that in my life. Don't hate me but how's the paint holding up after the time you've had it? $2500 sounds like a pretty good deal for a paint job that endures. Love your setup cant wait to see the swap after. I have a TBI myself.

The green paint job is holding up extremely well. There's some dents and dings she's incurred in the year since I've had it painted but the only noticeable wear is a very small area of wear on the forward bend in the hood. I'm assuming this is where it got a little eroded from wind, rain, sand and mud running up the edges of the hood while in transit.

I didn't want to spend the $6k on a resto paint job just to schwack it on a trail somewhere so the single stage green paint did by the shop fit the bill and is holding up to everything from the trails to it sitting for 5 months.

I actually need to give it a good wash and wax now that we're talking about it. :doh:
 
The green paint job is holding up extremely well. There's some dents and dings she's incurred in the year since I've had it painted but the only noticeable wear is a very small area of wear on the forward bend in the hood. I'm assuming this is where it got a little eroded from wind, rain, sand and mud running up the edges of the hood while in transit.

I didn't want to spend the $6k on a resto paint job just to schwack it on a trail somewhere so the single stage green paint did by the shop fit the bill and is holding up to everything from the trails to it sitting for 5 months.

I actually need to give it a good wash and wax now that we're talking about it. :doh:

Good to know. Paint is far down the road, Following the H55f swap but I want all the info I can get always. My friends keep telling me to leave it white and that the stock white paint I have from 87 is tougher stuff for some unwritten reason? IDK I'm pretty sure when painting time comes I ll need to take a woman's input anyway to make sure she doesn't hate the road trip machine.
 
Your rig is looking great can't wait to see her with the new heart.
 
Getting closer to cleaning the rest of your suspension parts (DIRTY OME DIRTY)....:eek:

:hillbilly: Hopefully here soon I'll be replacing the suspension with the OME heavy springs. The suspension I've had on it now is about 8 years old so it could probably use some refreshing...but alas my wallet is only so deep.
 

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