Builds Mark_BC's Apocalypse BJ60 Build

[MarkBC]

After a few years of pondering buying a cruiser I’m the proud new owner of a brand spanking 38 year old 1981 BJ60 with diesel 3B. I was hoping to get a HZJ (pronounced “H ZED JAY”) 75 or 78 Troopy with a 1HZ but that seems to be a bit too hard to come by and expensive for me right now. So this one came along and it pretty much fits the bill, exactly what I’m looking for. Well, other than not being a Troopy.

The more I dig into it the more I like it, this thing is hilarious. It’s had a few “aftermarket” paint jobs and the clearcoat is peeling. Therefore, I hereby Christen her “Flaky”. That name will only last until I fix the paint, after which she will be known as “Stinky”.

I already have 3 other pseudo-landcruisers. I have a ‘98 4runner called Sandy (beige, manual transmission I take to Mexico), a 2000 4runner called Snowy (an automatic white one I fixed up last year after I got it cheap off Craigslist with a bashed front end – limited version with multi-mode Xfer case), and a ‘97 4runner called Sea (it lives at my mom’s house near the sea; we’ve had it since ‘98). I also have a 2012 Nissan Leaf DD electric car called Sparky that hits me with 10,000 volts every time I step out and put my foot on the ground. I may have a car problem. But I don’t just go randomly buying 4runners. Each one has a story behind it and I get attached and can’t let them go.

Flaky will be my apocalypse bug-out build whose purpose will be to survive a dollar collapse, EMP or solar flare (there was a big one a hundred years ago and the magnetic poles are now shifting, leaving us vulnerable to the solar winds…), which would fry the electronics in every other piece of technology causing everyone to freak out and go Mad Max. Flaky will be one of the few surviving running vehicles and will allow me to drive through the mobs of zombies escaping the city.




My goal is to convert her to be able to be a totally mechanical beast with no electrONics, if need be. There will be not even a diode in this thing, at least in the main workings. OK OK, I’ll have a stereo but you don’t need a stereo to drive. Even the wipers, gauges and lights work off the alternator with no battery (does the alternator have a diode?)

I wanted to make a hand crank for it. It has the cut-out for it in the front valence but the bottom of the radiator is in the way.

But someone pointed out that there is no way I'm going to be hand cranking a diesel with its high compression. And others have suggested things that might be viable alternative options. One is a pneumatic starter so the battery / alternator isn't required. One challenge would be getting 100 psi in a tank. I guess a bicycle pump could do it but that would be a bit dangerous. This could be coupled with an ether mechanical injector kit that allows the engine to start quickly while cold or without the use of glow plugs.


It came complete with a wasp nest. Fixed with a long pair of tongs.

Before

During

After. Good ‘enuff

When I saw this sticker I was like, maaaaan….. it had previous body work done? Then I googled it and discovered that this was the factory in Japan where they built them. Cool. Not shown in this photo is the bottom door rust further along the sill.

 

[MarkBC]

Mechanical / maintenance / refresh work to be done

The above are all fun projects to work on but first I need to make it roadworthy before it can become a true apocalypse-mo-beeel, being a 38 year old veehickle and all… Things needing attention, in general order of decreasing priority:

• Temp gauge doesn’t work (I read that this may just be a bad corroded ground).
• There is a major short somewhere, it eats batteries up in seconds, and the battery leads get hot. FIXED (I think) due to a short in a wire for the aftermarket stereo. I have disconnected the glow system and when starting I manually connect the battery to the glow bus via a 14/2 household Loomex cable... it works for now but the wiring will need to be overhauled.
• Complete fluid change.
• I'd like to have a manual override for the EDIC system since I don't trust the electric motor for it. And I also want to understand how the engine kill system works with the ignition off so I can put in a double-safe manual override. The last thing I want is to not be able to shut off the engine.
• Fix windshield wipers. I pulled the system out to overhaul it and it needs new bushings so I'm working on that. I have 3rd gen 4runner wipers to replace. I also got an 80 series rear wiper but the motor doesn't work so I'll need to sort that out.
• It has a death wobble above 50 km/h. I will be putting on 80 series axles with Trail Tailor's kits, once i can get them across the border due to Covid restrictions. I have the axles, each with factory lockers. The rear is in great shape and I won't be overhauling it, although it needs brakes. The front is in worse shape and needs overhauling, plus new brake calipers. Along with the new axles I'll need an 80 series brake booster and new flexible lines. Plus a new parking brake cable and assembly.
• Major exhaust leak at the manifold. The exhaust pipe was totally sheared off at the flange to the manifold. I cut this pipe off and discovered that the manifold is loose. After a lot of frustrating work cutting off a stuck bolt, I got the manifold off to reveal a large crack in it. So it will need to be replaced.
• Already replaced the clutch slave cylinder since it blew out on the test drive. Now I’ll do the master cylinder.
• Fix the rust spots on body. It’s actually in pretty good shape, no major rot. I just need to protect it from further rusting out in the elements so I’ll do another rattle can paint job on those areas. I don’t wanna attract attention with a super awesome cruiser build. I like stealth builds. I did notice that there’s some rust around the rear panel windows so I guess they’ll have to come out. Thankfully there is no rust around the windshield.
• The mold everywhere came courtesy of half the roof rack mounts not having screws in them, and half of those missing the rivnuts themselves. They need to be filled in, not sure if I'll weld them up or use bondo. Only the driver side gutter has rust, the passenger side is totally clean.
• Fix rust underneath. Again, not too bad except the rear C channels. They are swelling. I received a new set from @TRAIL TAILOR.

• The main box frame is in great shape because a PO put oil and grease in there. The grease has collected at the bottom of the rear arch and mixed with dirt so there is a couple inches in there. It’s hard to get out. On my 4runner I drilled a hole in the bottom of the frame to allow drainage there. But I don’t know if I want to do that to this classic and the frame seems narrower than the 4runner. Maybe I’ll put in degreaser until it dissolves then put a hose in and suck out the slurry with a shop vac. So overall, I’d give the frame an 8/10 once I address those issues. I got lucky with this thing. I know you southern Americans would scoff at this amount of rust but for a 40 year old Canadian veehickle that hasn’t had much work done to it, this is surprisingly little rust.
• I already pulled the carpet which was moldy and disgusting. I’ll order some new stuff, once the border opens up again. There’s some floor pan rust but it hasn’t gone through. I’ll clean that up and rust proof.

• Put a dash cap on to cover the cracks (low priority right now)

• I pulled out the headliner due to the mold. It was in decent shape other than a 3" tear and a couple other minor ones. But it had to come out.
• The OEM seats and upholstery are actually in decent shape. The only problem with the seat fabric is three paint marks. Too bad. I’ll clean them up and put a seat cover on them. A few tears in the door vinyl to fix. Maybe at some point I'll put in aftermarket seats but right now it's not a priority.

• Lift gate lock doesn’t work. It sticks. FIXED with the new set of keys.
• Spare tire retractor is (was) seized. I’ll had to cut off the bracket holding the wheel up to get access to it. Then welded the bracket back together. DONE. Removed cross member and soaked mechanism in rust remover. Now it works.

Bath time. However, I'll need to take it apart to fully clean it and grease the moving parts. But if I get a rear tire carrier bumper I can do away with the spare underneath and put a second fuel tank in that space. Not right now though.

Refresh any other tired parts.

So here is the budget I'm expecting (in Can $). It will be a continuous build, with the most critical things being done first to make it roadworthy. First priority is rust-proofing the exterior before autumn so it can park outside in winter if needed..

$4500 Purchase price
$300 Fix rust on body. Not a lot of expense but a lot of time and work.
$300 Replace frame C channels from Trail Tailor
$1000 Fix dying locks all around
$5000 80 series axles with rebuild, new brakes, and manual hubs + e-locker wiring and switches
$4000 Trail Tailor 80 axle swap kit
$400 New carpet
$200 New starter
$1000 New brake master cylinder and new brakes including lines
$1500 New tires
$500 New headliner
$300 Refresh dashboard
$200 New muffler
$2000 Rattle can paint
$100 New door handles -- not a priority
$1500 Nice roof rack -- I can probably find something cheaper than that.
$500 Turbo. The guy I bought it from included a Volvo turbo that he says fits. I’ll have to do more research on that -- not a priority now.
$??? Pneumatic starter
$??? Ether injection system
$??? Aftermarket front bumper with winch. Not even thinking about this yet...
$1500 Other miscllaneous things

Total: $?????++ It adds up fast.

 

[MarkBC]

The overlanding / camping setup I'd like to have:

Due to the bugs and weather in Canada which can be pretty bad, I want to be able to stay inside the car and do most things, rather than Aussie style where you spend your time outside the car and access things that way. I'd still spend my time outside if the weather / bugs permit but I don't want to rely on that since swarms of biting insects can be pretty miserable.

• On the driver side I'll have a little sink in the back corner which swings out over the tailgate when you are outside, or is accessed from inside when you are stuck inside.
• Storage compartments further forward of the sink.
• Fridge in the driver side rear seat area (seat removed), accessible from the outside by the rear side door or from inside the car.
• Smaller freezer somewhere similar.
• Down the centre of the rear of the vehicle, I will keep a clear corridor for moving around. On the passenger side will be a full length bench for sitting, or as a platform for sleeping. It will expand out over the central corridor as a bed.
• Storage under the passenger side bench. I'd like to avoid the weight of a big drawer system and instead use well-secured bins.
• An external shower (Quickpitch type) would be nice.
• Fold-out counters on the tailgate since it's hard to prepare food on the tailgate since everything is in the way of accessing inside the vehicle.
• Cut out access panels in the tailgate for additional storage space.
• Fully utilise the storage space available in the rear side compartments.
• Rooftop tent, eventually, when I can afford it.
• Bug mesh over the rear side door windows when camping, plus rain guards above to stay dry inside.
• New aftermarket centre console.
• It would be interesting to use the volume in the lower rocker panels to store water. They are in the perfect location -- low and central -- for that weight. Just a thought I had. But my rockers are in such good shape I wouldn't want to cut into them.
• Roof rack for the rooftop tent or for carrying large but light items like bicycles and Maxtrax.
• Better lighting system. No need to get into that now since I don't know what I want yet.
• Front bumper with winch. The need for a winch is less with the front and rear diff lockers.
• Basic dual battery system.

 

[MarkBC]

So I think I got lucky with this truck. It has rust but nowhere near what some others on this forum have dealt with. I have to respect the incredible amount of work they put into restoring their rust piles back into works of art.

My first rust repair on this truck was the trouble area behind the rear door. Both sides have rot but I jumped into the driver's side first as it was worse.

Something's going on there...

I found some bondo magic happening. And more rotted metal than I expected.

I ended up cutting away quite a bit of rot but overall, nothing too frightening.

There was a previous repair done that probably did more harm than good. They put black tar into the pinch weld from both the inside in the side panel access to the wheel arches, and also in the whole length of the outer pinch weld in the exposed edge of the wheel well. Not only does the tar do basically nothing to stop the rust, but it makes it almost impossible to remove afterwards to treat properly. Not only that, but they smothered the inside in that same grease they put in the frame. I did my best to scrape all loose rust and tar away, then vigorously brushed everywhere with POR degreaser, then flushed out with plenty of water, then sprayed methanol everywhere to get the remaining residue out and speed up drying.

I cut out a new piece from the remains of the old hood from Snowy, the 3rd gen 4runner I rebuilt from a front end crash. This metal seems to be the same gauge and cuts with tin snips. Score!

New piece held in with magnets

Tacked up

Welded up. The welds are a bit big so maybe I'll reduce the wire speed next time.

But good penetration

Now to grind flush, fill, spray Corro-seal rust converter up there, then top coat with some other paint. Then put the outer layer of metal on, which will be more complicated... it's a lot of work but satisfying to cut out the old rot and replace with nice new metal. I wouldn't want to do any more rust repair than what I have on this truck.

The wheel well has some rust but nothing too crazy. There are these blisters that I was curious about. I ripped open the one on the left and it is from swelling as the outer layer of metal rusted through. So hopefully they should be straightforward to repair as the base layer of metal seems intact.

 

[MarkBC]

I'm making slow but steady progress due to lack of time. I was a bit worried that the rust I saw was the tip of the iceberg and there would be much more as I dug in but largely it has been the opposite. This truck is actually in half decent shape. There is some rot but I already knew about it.

I coated that triangle piece in the last post with some Corro-seal rust converter primer which seems to work well.

I'll now have to grind off the paint around the weld area which will be a bit of a challenge but I wanted to spray it in there before the outer metal goes on and I lose access.

I started digging into the rust blisters in the rear wheel well which is all connected to the inside rust on those brackets. Everyone who gets rust gets rust here. The numerous spot welds need to be drilled out and metal peeled back. I will cut out that metal and re-weld it in.

There are also some rust patches on the driver's front fender edge. Not sure why there is so much more rust on the diver's side. Since this isn't going to be a total restore project, I'm not taking the fender and liner off so that rust will just get cleaned up and treated with Corroseal and spray paint. That should halt the rust which is good enough for now.

I opened up the cowl and discovered virtually no rust. The bushing on the windshield wiper link is on its way out so I'll need to replace that. I found this link which suggests I get a part from NAPA.

Also I'm missing one of the rubber bushings on the splined stub that the wipers bolt onto.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Man I wish there was a warning listed... I saw all those numbers and tried to stroll thru fast but I saw the total. FAWK. I purchase and stuff my receipts in a folder w/o ever adding them up. No sense.

In all honesty it looks good. You definitely got lucky up there in Canada. My truck was just a bit more than yours in NH but it began its life in TX. I have rust, you know, you’ve seen it and commented. It’s what it is. I do what I can and that’s it. I hope for the best. Life is too short to not take chances and enjoy the ride.
I admire your story telling and the background on each truck.

Love the Mad Max appeal. My kid is 6, he might be still a tad young for the movie but it won’t be long before he’s exposed seeing as it’s in my library of dvds.
GL, I’ll keep checking back.
Felicity

 

[cruiserpilot]

Brake Clean - Kill hornets dead fast! Not a poison so your dogs are safe.

Nice rust repair. I found low heat, high wire speed gives best sheet metal spot welds. Get close.
Shorter bursts on the trigger.
Nice to see realistic numbers. It’s crazy what we spend. Nice work, can’t wait to see how it goes

 

[MarkBC]

Yeah one of the big items in the list is the paint job so I think i can strike that off if I use rattle cans. They are pretty good quality these days. There's no way I'm going to put a nice paint job on it if the rust isn't 100% dealt with, which won't happen in this refresh. I'd have to pull way more off to get it to that stage. But add to the list an 80 series rear axle swap...

 

[MarkBC]

Updating my build thread as I previously posted to What Did You Do With Your 60 This Weekend thread.

I got my 80 axle last weekend (Sept 19)

It's not actually as pretty as it looks, they sprayed it with paint before I arrived which now makes rust treatment a bit more difficult. Needs brakes. I'm thinking I will go with the Cruiseroutfitters leaf refresh for the rear and an 80 series coil kit for the front from Torfab.

 

[MarkBC]

I put in a solid effort to remove the C channels. Didn't get a single rivet out. Gawd that's an awful job but I guess it's a right of passage to 60 ownership. I'm following this thread and I got an air chisel which helped. It was pretty funny to see the pile of rust that rained down everywhere and on me when the vibrations started from that thing. I drilled holes through a couple on the body mount and ground flush. Ungkay... now what? A hole through a bigger circle but it's still stuck on there.

View attachment 2095015

View attachment 2095016

I broke the exhaust hanger bolts so I threw that into electrolysis to clean it up and maybe loosen the bolts. I got one out with channel locks. Which reminds me, it's still going so I'll now have to get out of bed.

View attachment 2095017

Completed scraping out the roof gutters. They were starting to fall apart with some rust coming through. Luckily no rot.

View attachment 2095019

Some cracking:
View attachment 2095020

To be continued...

 

[MarkBC]

Continued...

Nice and clean:

I then washed with methanol and dried out then painted with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator which I really like. I globbed it in thick so it seeped into the pinch weld. It seems to get the best results in tests. POR15 seems to be the worst. It is mechanical adhesion whereas Rust Encapsulator is a a rust converter. I recently sold my unused can of POR15 for $50 and then bought a battery charger for $50 to run the electrolysis bath. A pretty good swap I think.

The other day I tried polishing the taillights with Turtle Wax polish which works well. The light is right at the edge of the area I polished, to the lower right is polished and to the upper left is original. This was after a couple minutes of rubbing with a microfiber towel.

Today I unloaded the 80 axle from the 4runner. Only 339 lb. Actually I removed the suspension arms first so only 300 lb. Then drained the oil out which was in good shape with minor metal dust stuck to the plug.

 

[MarkBC]

Picked up my "new" 80 front axle. This one was a tad heavier than the rear, they said 528 lb including the pallet! That was fun in the rain by myself. Actually, it kind of was. I'm not old yet.

 

[MarkBC]

Took advantage of a 2 hour break in the rain to get started on the new 1992 80 series front axle assembly. I pulled the drain plug and found only a small amount of metal stuck to it.

That's because IT WAS TOTALLY DRY!!!!! not a drop of oil came out. So I filled it up with the old oil from the rear axle I got which was in great shape. I turned the drive flange a bunch of times to mix things up and drained again. Only minimal metal stuck to it and the oil definitely came out darker.

I stuck my scope camera up the drain hole and from the minimal amount I could see the gears seems ok. Maybe because it was just turning without 4wd engaged so no force applied?

There is a lot of backlash so I guess I'll have to pull it and adjust that. The rear axle has hardly any. The two photos below show how much the drive flange turns before a rotor starts moving. Could also be the birfs too I guess.

 

[MarkBC]

Finally made some progress on the rust repair at the corner behind the back left door. I was left with some welds to grind down in a spot I couldn't get the grinder into (last photo). How are you supposed to get rid of them? I'd go through tons of dremel stones to get those flush. I went to the tools store and wasted some money on some rotary files that didn't last. I got some HSS small saw blades to go into the drill and those managed to get it off but wouldn't last much longer than that.

This sure takes a long time.

 

[Hojack]

Before I bought my FJ60 I went up to Bellingham, Washington to look at a BJ60. Got up there late but was able to meet and check out the BJ60. It was riddled with holes like Swiss cheese. Took it for a drive and loved the diesel but it’s condition was terrible. I shined a flashing from inside the rear wheel wells into the cab of the 60. Despite him desperately trying to talk it up and sell it I passed and found my clean FJ60 with NO RUST for the same price. Converted mine to a 4BT Cummins and couldn’t be happier.

Motivation picture...

 

[MarkBC]

After doing rust repair on my 4runner I swore I'd never get another rusty truck but here I am. But this one isn't too bad and I'm better at dealing with rust now. But it still takes a long time. And this thing is a classic so it's worth it. We don't have access to the southern trucks. I guess we could import them but it's a bit of a hassle.

 

[MarkBC]

I finished welding up the triangle repair at the rear left door above the wheel well (waiting to get some rotary burr tools to clean it up) and also did a minor rust repair on the corresponding area on the door. All I had to do was scrape off as much rust as I could with the wire wheel, screw driver and dremel, then clean and paint with Rust Encapsulator. Then painted with Rust-oleum Silver Rim Paint. I forgot to put the caulking on before the silver paint. Oh well, I'll put it on over that and add some more paint later. I really like this paint. When it's set and done I'll blow out the inside of the door with compressed air and then spray in Fluid Film along the bottom so that should prevent the rust from ever coming back.

Look Ma! You can hardly tell!

 

[Hojack]

I finished welding up the triangle repair at the rear left door above the wheel well (waiting to get some rotary burr tools to clean it up) and also did a minor rust repair on the corresponding area on the door. All I had to do was scrape off as much rust as I could with the wire wheel, screw driver and dremel, then clean and paint with Rust Encapsulator. Then painted with Rust-oleum Silver Rim Paint. I forgot to put the caulking on before the silver paint. Oh well, I'll put it on over that and add some more paint later. I really like this paint. When it's set and done I'll blow out the inside of the door with compressed air and then spray in Fluid Film along the bottom so that should prevent the rust from ever coming back.

View attachment 2121564
Look Ma! You can hardly tell!
View attachment 2121565

View attachment 2121566

View attachment 2121567

now we’re talking

 

[MarkBC]

I cleaned off the top of the diff and e-locker for the front axle and played with the wires using a 12V supply and the multimeter. I figured out which wires are for the limit switches and was able to actuate / un-actuate both axles by reversing polarity of the 12V supply. Only the front axle came with a wiring plug / harness and it fits both axles.

Wiring diagram at the end of this video:

 

[MarkBC]

I ended up taking all of the old caulking off around the entire roof gutters and beside the windshield. The passenger side was in better shape but there were a couple areas where it was cracking and starting to rust so better to take it all off. I painted with Rust Encapsulator and masking taped it up for caulking. I used the 3M Fast 'n Firm as recommended. I guess I didn't take notice of the "Fast" part. Holy cow that stuff sets up FAST. Like, it skins over in about a minute. And I had the whole roof gutter to do which took about 15 minutes. The problem is my finger (with glove) got goopy pretty fast so I wasn't able to continue on with a nice smooth-out after a couple minutes. I had to use different fingers and then different gloves. And then when I came around to pull the masking tape off after 15 minutes the skin pulled away with it and then snapped back creating a mess. I'll now have to clean that up with a razor blade and fill in the holes with some other caulking. Then I'll paint over it. This caulking seems like good stuff, you just need to be aware of how fast it sets. I'd recommend breaking the roof up into five sections: each sloped section by the windshield, each side at the top, and the rear. Do one section at a time, and change gloves after each. Pull off the masking tape before moving to the next section.

One tube was just the right amount for the complete gutters.