My First Post in the "60" Section - '84 FJ60 Daily Driver (2 Viewers)

[Land Cruiser Junky]

Hey guys,

I've been off the Boards for years now due to a lot of life changes, and I figured it's time to get back on.

This 60 has been my daily driver for almost 5 years. It had about 230,000 on it when I got it (now 313,000+) and was well used by the previous owner. The 2F was tired, the suspension shot, the glass was scratched, water stained, and broken, and the interior was pretty worn out. It also had dozens of small things that were either missing or needed to be fixed like electrical shorts, stripped wiper arms that wouldn't move, and a heater and air that didn't work. All in all it was still a real solid Cruiser though, and I have had a blast restoring it as I drive it.

The previous owner was a really nice guy named Steve who really loved it, but just wasn't real mechanical so when things broke they didn't get fixed unless he took it in. Finally it cooked the intake manifold gasket and would no longer run, so Steve bought a newer 60 with a lot of nice upgrades and gave his old 60 to Mark Algazy of "Mark's Off Road" to dismantle. Mark didn't have the time or room for it and thought it was still in too good of shape to tear apart so he gave me a call. He knew I'd appreciate it and would probably be up for the task of restoring it. And the coolest thing? These guys didn't sell it to me... they gave it to me. Honestly, as I've worked on it over the years I've wanted them to be glad they did.

Some of the work I've done:

Fresh 2F, rear diff, Ironman suspension, FJ40 wheels, all new glass and tint, fixed everything that didn't work except the A/C (I have the parts), new grill, running lights, mirrors, upholstery and foam, carpet padding, neoprene diamond plate on front and back seat floors, cargo padding and carpet, Wagon Gear cargo panels and tail gate panel, stereo and speakers, kick panels and console. I'm sure there's more, but here's some pics.

Original:

 

[GLTHFJ60]

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

After:

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

More:

 

[tag3]

Very purdy.

 

[SteveH]

Nice rehab!

 

[klinetime574]

Whoa. Can you make my interior look like that please?

I have cargo space envy.

 

[MACFJ60]

Absolutely gorgeous! Very nice restoration. Enjoy in good health.


...via IH8MUD app

 

[WHG423]

Looks beautiful! Nice work!

 

[Landpimp]

glad to see you back!

that 60 looks great, cool story

still have your 45?

 

[Spudman]

Real nice mate, that rubber flooring looks good

 

[PatrickM]

Very nice job. Are those Pro Car Elite seats?

EDIT: Never mind, should have Google image searched that first. Nice looking seats though!

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

Very nice job. Are those Pro Car Elite seats?

EDIT: Never mind, should have Google image searched that first. Nice looking seats though!

Specter Off Road upholstery and foam on original seats.

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

Hey Pimp, thanks. Yeah I've stil got it and will never let it go. I've been working on the 40 a lot lately and gonna sell it to finish the 45LV. I've been working on all 3 Cruisers a lot over the last 4 months. Good times again.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Hey I saw your rig at the Marv Spector memorial.
Truck was pretty nice. Good work on it.

 

[dbleon]

Nice! ooh ooh how you like the ironnman suspension?

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

I like the ride of the Ironman both on and off road, but it stinkbugs since the day I put it on. I even took one leaf off the back springs to try and level it even though down was not the direction I wanted to go, but the back end still sits higher. I was eating at Chronic Tacos and a guy pulled up right next to mine in a red '85 60. His lift was slightly higher and sat dead level and he liked the ride as well. He had the SOR heavy duty 3" lift. To be honest I wish I had gone that route.

 

[ander42b]

Land cruiser junky,

I like what you did on your front interior. Tell us the story of the front interior. Did you cut and fit the front carpet pad or was it bought. On the rubber diamond mat .....it looks like 8 mm think floor mat material. Did you cut and fit it to the front seat area or have some one else do it?????? Was it easy to do????? Any tricks to DIY (do it yourselfer) I think the rubber mat in the front is a great idea because weather tech floor mats company does not make any thing for the FJ60. Mine original carpet is showing it age. I love to replace the whole carpet for my FJ60 but the v8 conversion has gone over budget. Below is a picture of cruiser before the V8 sex change. Thanks jason

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

Hey Jason,

I bought and cut the carpet pad for all 3 sections myself. It's not foam padding, it's the high quality cloth padding. A piece from the firewall to the tailgate cost me about $25. I wasn't concerned about anything water resistant because I wheel in the dry California desert where there's no water to be found. In the cargo area I also cut a piece of high density 1/4" rubber mat that you'll find in any gym in the free weight area. I laid it under the padding and now you can't feel any of the corrugated ribs in the floor.

The neoprene diamond plate mat material I cut and installed myself. I simply removed my original molded carpet, drew straight lines at the curves, and cut it until it laid flat. Then I added extra material on the pattern at the overlaps so no padding would be seen underneath. The front section goes from the front of the front seat up the firewall, and the back section goes from the back of the front seat to where the rear seat belts are mounted to the floor. It comes in a 4' wide roll from a local metal supply company here in L.A. and they sell it by the foot. I believe I measured from the driver side to the passenger side and added 2' extra for the curve in the tranny hump and a little to trim off at the door jambs. The mat is cut into 4 sections: Door to door in the front, the same in the back, and a smaller piece under each front seat. The pieces interlock together and fit real nice with zero movement. The next time I pull the seats I'll pull the mats as well and make a paper pattern for anyone who wants one and start a thread on it with detailed pics of how to install it. The neoprene diamond plate cost me about $200.

When it came to the back carpet in the cargo area, even fragments at the local carpet store were gonna cost me around $200. That was way more than I wanted to spend. One carpet guy suggested that I look at Home Depot and it worked. I used the outdoor patio carpet that comes in a 12' wide roll and bought enough to get 2 sets (one packed away in the garage) for just $38. The other cool thing is that they also have a roll of the same stuff in brown for those with the brown interior. It's not the highest quality stuff but it's holding up really well. Five days a week the back of my 60 is packed with tools and you can hardly see any wear on the carpet after almost a year.

The SOR upholstery I installed myself. I had never done upholstery before and it was a real learning experience. To tell you the truth it was a real bitch. It took me an entire Saturday to do but I'm glad I did it. Now I know how to do it and I could control the quality of the fit as I installed it. I got a price to install it at a local upholstery shop for $600 (he looked at the upholstery and said it was top notch), and I think it was a fair price now that I know how much work it takes. Still, I only bought a cheap pair of hog ring pliers at Home Depot for $15 (you'll find them in the chain link fence section), got a free education, drank good beer, and saved myself $585. Not to mention my wife hung out with me half the time and kept the killer food coming.

Last, if you want to give new life to the look of any plastic parts (console, kick panels, etc), buy the KRYLON FUSION paint. It bonds to plastic like you can't believe. No primer needed and no chipping or fading. I painted my kick panels and console black to match the mat almost 2 years ago and they still look great.

 

[Haggis]

Fantastic job and write up! Hope to do the SOR vinyl seat covers/Wagon Gear panels in the future.