My First Landcruiser Project Journal

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More updates. I knew that the PO wasn't driving the truck much, and I assumed that once I started driving it every day that stuff would start blowing up. Doesn't that always seem to be what happens?

So on the way to work the upper radiator hose blew. No biggie. Turned around and parked it at the house. Luckily I still have my little Honda as a backup. Bought a hose, coolant and new clamps at Autozone and it's all good.

Got me thinking - when I was inspecting the engine the hose that blew looked go from the top, but the bottom was practically melted etc - I bet all hoses and belts should get replaced. Kinda scared to do this!

I also took a 2nd stab at the driver's seatbelt to get that thing tightened. Removed more gunk from the upper part of the shoulder harness. Pulled out the retractor again and realized if I just undid the screws and spun it around a few times I'd essentially be tightening the spring!

This worked a charm - it's almost like a real seatbelt now!

The wife has been badgering me to get shoulder belts installed on the rear bench for the kids.... anyone know if an 84 has the threaded holes up top for the shoulder harness??? I've seen that the 85 does...
 
PO was telling me that at some point the door locks were changed. The FJ uses 3 keys: one for ignition, one for front doors (which is larger) and one for the tailgate. Always thought that was weird. So this weekend I was digging through the junk in the trunk on the FJ and found a sandwich bag with 2 new locks! And they fit the ignition key!

Looks like I'll be swapping out the locks this week.

In fact, I ended up clearing out half the garage so I can park the truck and dig in on some projects that might require having to leave it unfinished overnight etc.

  • Remove seats and get all the carpets and everything really cleaned up
  • Change the locks out for the new ones and get extra copies of the keys
  • Get the amp/rear speakers installed and working (optional)
If I get that stuff taken care of, I'll start on the engine stuff:
  • Replace remaining hoses
  • Replace all belts
  • Vacuum lines
I'll either take a stab at these items or take it to the local mechanic (who's been recommended on here by Mace) and have them do it. I guess I'll see what it'll cost and decide from there. Hoses and belts I may be able to do (though I'm scared) but vacuum lines seems out of my league!
 
Power steering pump. Occasionally, when trying to make a sharp turn into a parking spot or something the power steering gives out! Always at those crucial moments!

It does look like it has a leak - a slow one at least. I refilled it and it happens less frequently, but still happens...
 
Careful of the PS Pump if it is leaking as that stuff will eat lots of things, including your smog pump. Get that looked at and/or taken care of quickly so you do not lose your smog pump (referred to as the vane pump in the manual). Neither are available new, or if they are they are SUPER expensive. May be time to look at the local salvage yards for a spare PS pump just in case. Oh and they don't come off easily, either remove the pulley first (If you can) or you have to remove the entire bracket.

As for the keys, if you check the doorskin on the passanger door near where the handle/lock are ON THE INSIDE you will see the key code that is for your truck. This also controls that rear glass lock so you may need to keep the original that fits that around as well.

One piece of advice, when you do the belts do the Fan Shroud split mod. Makes working on the front of the engine/belts a hell of a lot easier.
 
If the pump truly is leaking then you have two options really; get a new one or do the mod to switch to a Saginaw pump (use search).

Fan shroud mod is simply... It is a bit of a bear to get out but take off all the belts you can then remove.. YOu will need to COMPLETELY remove from the truck then cut LATERALLY (so you have a top half and bottom half). Either get some JB weld or have a friend with a welder help but you basically make a small bracket to attach the two pieces together. Then if you ever need to get at the belts, water pump, etc. in front of the engine you remove the top half and you have easy access instead of trying to wedge your arm between the belts, shroud and what not. Again search is your friend on the forums here and that is a must do if you are already planning on doing the belts.
 
gregnash said:
YOu will need to COMPLETELY remove from the truck then cut LATERALLY (so you have a top half and bottom half). Either get some JB weld or have a friend with a welder help but you basically make a small bracket to attach the two pieces together.
Click to expand...

I saw how you did this on your thread today! (reading through it) That is brilliant!
 
I'd been meaning to give a little love to the interior, clean carpets, get all the PO gunk off of everything etc so today I started to pull apart the interior to get that phase done since it all seems pretty simple to do.

Pulled the driver's seat out to take a look at this amp.
driver's seat out

driver's seat out


Looks like the cushion was disintegrating onto the amp.
ampilifier - working?

ampilifier - working?


The e-brake cover is all ripped so I'll try to see if I can get that stitched up.
emergency brake cover

emergency brake cover


And I have a pretty sweet collection of manuals etc at this point - with a little bravery and the right tools I SHOULD be able to do nearly anything, right?
fj60 book collection

fj60 book collection

 
sitesbyjoe said:
Anyone know what the two big bars are under the seat??? (one has a hook on the end and they're clamped in)
Click to expand...

Jacking tools. Should be a bottle jack and tool bag under there as well.

Also, the best way to obtain rear shoulder belts is find a donor 62 series. They also have the headrests built into the seat back.
 
sitesbyjoe said:
Got the jack and tools - they were in the trunk. Good thoughts on the FJ62 belts etc. Do you think an 84 FJ60 Bench would accept headrests, or is there nothing inside for them to plug into?
Click to expand...
Need 62 rear bench for headrests
 
Nice truck and if you read some more the maintenance becomes familiar, just look at all the pictures and videos and get some decent tools.
Most stuff is easy like changing all oils, the valves is something to first watch a few times.
(see valve damage thread were someone did not read the F manual (or stopped half way)..., very sad result, nice try but metal damage)

I like this maintenance manual, shows what has to be done to keep it running (besides stuff that explodes like the hose)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6D936BcfemZTGpOcFNSdWxNX1E/view?pli=1
 
Also, look in my signature line for the link to many of the Toyota FSMs. Get those downloaded and familiarize yourself with them.
 
hj 60 said:
Nice truck and if you read some more the maintenance becomes familiar, just look at all the pictures and videos and get some decent tools.
Most stuff is easy like changing all oils, the valves is something to first watch a few times.
(see valve damage thread were someone did not read the F manual (or stopped half way)..., very sad result, nice try but metal damage)

I like this maintenance manual, shows what has to be done to keep it running (besides stuff that explodes like the hose)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6D936BcfemZTGpOcFNSdWxNX1E/view?pli=1
Click to expand...

Oh! I forgot I bought that one on ebay! I have the 1984 edition.
 
Some updates. I removed all the seat and gave the interior a good cleaning. Scrubbed all gunk off and it's looking good inside. I still need to give a stitch job to the emergency brake cover. I also disconnected the stereo amp since it wasn't running to anything but I capped the wires etc in case I decide to get a bass tube one day...

Started going over the engine and deciding what I should start working on first. It runs really well so I made engine work part 2 of my project. Body work will be part 3.

So my engine findings so far (keep in mind that I'm new - I can't even name all the major parts under the hood yet but working on this)

Powersteering pump leak. It seems bad but the fluid level hasn't changed:
power steering leak

power steering leak


Looks like the whole inside the engine area on the same side is covered in dark fluid - could this be from the pump too? Looks like it.
power steering leak 2

power steering leak 2


Repairing/replacing this is out of my league at this point so I'll be taking it to a local guy who's been recommended for working on FJ60s to see what he says.

I see that one of the vacuum lines (the one coming off of the air filter on the passenger side) is split where it attaches to the air cleaner.

I see what I THINK is a lower radiator hose with a major kink in it.

sounds like all hoses should get replaced. Ugh.

I see an A/C leak? Woud you agree that's what this is? I had the A/C refilled and we all agreed it was leaking somewhere.
ac system leak?

ac system leak?


Leaking on the driver's side front wheel. I may try to tackle this one. Power steering etc is first.
another leak

another leak


Rusty bottom of the shock and the bushings on the (steering stabilizer?) are pretty shot.
rusty shock and rotted bushings

rusty shock and rotted bushings


Other typical leaks where you'd expect them to be.
 
Updates - Since I last posted I have:

Gutted the inside and put it back together:

I wanted to learn more about the FJ60 so I ended up removing all the seats and trim pieces along the bottoms of the doors. I cleaned the seats up (had 30+ years of gunk in the crevices etc) and removed the amplifier and put caps on the power wires running to the amp in case I ever decide to re-install it.

I washed all the carpets, pulled the e-brake cover off, sewed up the tears (and vinyl patched) on the e-brake cover and replaced it.

In the trunk, I glued and fixed the tailgate carpet, reset the carpet in the back (and all carpets) and put the carpet trims back on.

The driver's side seatbelt was sticking and not retracting. I read through the forum and followed the advice from others and tried washing the belts real good. I wasn't able to remove them and put them in the washer like some mentioned. The retractor itself would allow the belt off as far as I could tell so I just got a dish of soapy water and washed/scrubbed the whole belt and really scrubbed the the piece up top that the should belt goes through as this seemed to be the big friction point.

When I remove the bottom retractor, I could see that the spring had no way of manually being tightened so I cheated. I just loosened the screw and actually spun the spring cover around which in essense tightened the spring. I did 4-5 full turns and the belt seems to retract much better now. I assume that I'll replace them one day. For now, good enough
 
Does anyone know if the 84 has the threaded hold for shoulder belt harnesses in the back seat? I 've seen them in an 85 but not in anything older and I'd prefer not to remove the interior lining just to see at this point.
 
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