My FJ60/62 Project: The Land Crusher

[DatMantaMan]

Hello all! Ive been a member of this forum for a while but haven't really posted before until now. This thread will follow my progress on my 60 series project!

Ive owned my 1987 FJ60 since my junior year of HS. Mechanically its been reliable, however the Midwestern winters, and salt have taken its toll on the body and frame over its lifetime. I had hoped to patch up the bad areas but after looking into it more I decided to go a different route. This is where my 1988 FJ62 comes in! I recently bought it and had it shipped to me in Minnesota. It arrived from California this past weekend!

My plan is to transplant all the good mechanical/interior 60 parts onto the 62 body/chassis. I plan rebuilding/upgrading things while they are out before putting it back in. I look forward to sharing my progress and posting lots of pictures!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Looks like a lot of work but very doable. Be careful as you remove the FJ60 wiring harness as you will need it. Or else, get yourself a 3FE to swap into the 62.

Why was that FJ62 so thoroughly picked apart?

 

[DatMantaMan]

Looks like a lot of work but very doable. Be careful as you remove the FJ60 wiring harness as you will need it. Or else, get yourself a 3FE to swap into the 62.

Why was that FJ62 so thoroughly picked apart?

The PO bought it for the axles. He was going to use them in an FJ40 project. It appeared like the front end, engine, transmission, transfer, and interior were already gone by the time he bought it. That is what I know

 

[4Cruisers]

Your project is almost exactly opposite to mine, I transplanted almost everything over from a running '89 FJ62 into a rust-free '86 FJ60. 3FE (after re-build), transfer case, axles, fuel system, brake system, A/C, dash, all wiring (except the small harness sections to the dome light and rear cargo lamp), seat belts, etc. Added a new H55f 5-speed while I was at it. You'll have more to do than I did because I had two complete vehicles to work with, and my rear transmission crossmember was already in place for the 5-speed. Other than the crossmember there are other minor frame differences, primarily in the holes for a few of the exhaust hangers. The floor is different in several ways, in the transmission hump, the holes and mounting for the rear heater, the rear seat belt attachment points, etc. but nothing too difficult to work around.

Take a lot of photos, and then some more. Bag and tag everything. I bought a box of 1,000 wire tags and labeled both sides of every wiring connection, piping connection, mounting brackets/bolts, etc. And don't be surprised how much space and volume all of the parts take up when everything's removed.

My project took more than 2-1/2 years, and I'm not quite done. I'm retired so I could afford to put in literally thousands of hours. It's doable, but time consuming and sometimes frustrating. When you're done you'll pretty much know where every wire, pipe, nut, and bolt goes in these vehicles, which is good to know for long-term maintenance and repairs.

Take your time and have fun, it's a very rewarding experience IMO.

 

[DatMantaMan]

Take your time and have fun, it's a very rewarding experience IMO.

Thanks for the advice! I plan on taking my time and going through everything. I want to do it right the first time even if it takes time to get to the end! I'm sure that it will be an awesome experience!

 

[SteveH]

Crane delivery gets points for style! Good luck with the project.

 

[Garrissey]

This is very cool.

 

[DatMantaMan]

So I figured I'd post some more info and pictures as to why I'm doing this. My 60 is a relatively stock cruiser with a couple upgrades. Desmogged 2F, marlin crawler chromoly birfields, 17X8 wheels wrapped in BFG TKO All-Terrains and a few other small things. I used to drive it everyday until recenty. I originally wanted to fix all the rust. This Cruiser has alot of sentimental value to me. Unfrotunately the rust is so bad that the only part not touched by it is the hood! The worst of it though is in the floor pan and the frame. The driver's seat belt anchor points are toast, and the drivers floor pan is pretty far gone. Underneath doesn't look much better either. There are multiple soft spots and it gets pretty bad behind the rear axle. With all the other areas of rust added to that, I decided it would be a better option to take everything good off the body, and put into something without those rust issues. Now I have a clean base to work with in my 62. Even though it is clean I still plan on lifting the body off the frame and cleaning them up and repainting both for good measure.

 

[gregnash]

HOLY FLINTSTONE BRAKES BATMAN!!!! Yeah that body is TOAST, can't say I have seen worse on here.

 

[DatMantaMan]

HOLY FLINTSTONE BRAKES BATMAN!!!! Yeah that body is TOAST, can't say I have seen worse on here.

It is pretty bad

 

[DatMantaMan]

Worked on the cruiser today. I've been focusing on stripping what's left of the interior. It was already partially stripped when I bought it.

I took out all the old carpeting and made progress on the firewall. I removed the lower dash, all of the HVAC components, the steering column and the dash/fender/engine bay wiring harness. That harness has a little more weight than I expected!

Also I found something interesting on the pedal assembly in that it has a 3rd pedal. I thought all FJ62s were automatics so maybe this one was converted to a manual sometime in the past?

Anyways my next step is to remove the rest of the wiring harness along the truck, along with other things still bolted to the floor (rear heater, seatbelts, etc). Then I'll work on removing what's left of the sound deadner and turn my attention to separating the frame from the body.

 

[rrv333]

Agree with Nash...

 

[DatMantaMan]

Its been a little bit since my last update. I currently switch between working on 2-3 cars at the moment. I am restoring a 1964 El Camino, which is a job so that takes a lot of my time. I also have a 1974 Opel Manta as my daily driver so whenever that needs work everything else stops because I need it to get to work and such. Anyways the weather has been beautiful the last few days and I got some work done on the Cruiser!

I pulled the frame off the 62 and I have to say I was surprised by how easy it came out! From what I've researched, the body bolts usually need to be cut off just to make life easier in removing them. That wasn't the case for me. I was actually able to unbolt them with an impact and a wrench! Most of the bolts looked new! Some of the zinc coating hadn't even worn off!

Removing the frame was a heavy job. I had placed the body on cinder blocks and jack stands underneath the frame. Once I unbolted the body from the frame I lowered the frame slowly onto some dollies I had made for moving the whole thing around. It took some effort and a few hours but I was able to pull the frame out from under the truck. If I were to do it again I would have added another level of cinder blocks for more height. The frame looks really clean and is rust free except for the inner c channel at the very back. Looks like someone had already started to shear off the rivets to replace it so I will be continuing that job soon.

I did find one spot of rust on this otherwise rust free body. Its on the back end of the passenger side rear wheel well. Its not a big amount but it is pretty bad in that I can poke a screw driver through it. I'm not to worried. Once I finish stripping down the body I will turn my attention to that and patch it with new metal. Otherwise I continue to be amazed at how clean this truck is! Underneath is clean and I believe it has some sort of undecoating still on it.

I've been taking lots of pictures and saving all the bolts and nuts in marked Ziploc bags. I've continued to strip down the interior and soon will look into removing the tar based sound deadner on the floors. I've read into it and it seems dry ice is a good option. Or maybe I should wait for the cold Minnesota winters and see if that will work just as well

 

[DatMantaMan]

Here are some pictures. That frame is no lightweight! Compared to an El Camino frame it is heavier

 

[g-man]

You could unbolt the rear shocks and cut that cross member out now and drive a steel pipe through the frame to take it's place. They break pretty often.

 

[ro11dice]

I'm retired so I could afford to put in literally thousands of hours. It's doable, but time consuming and sometimes frustrating. When you're done you'll pretty much know where every wire, pipe, nut, and bolt goes in these vehicles, which is good to know for long-term maintenance and repairs.

Hero status. I wanna be like you when I grow up!

Good Luck DatMantaMan. Watching your progress.

 

[DatMantaMan]

You could unbolt the rear shocks and cut that cross member out now and drive a steel pipe through the frame to take it's place. They break pretty often.

I did not know that was an issue with the shock cross members. I will definitely look into that. I'd rather do all the beefing up and replacing now that the frame is out then down the line when its painted and inside the truck!

Hero status. I wanna be like you when I grow up!

Good Luck DatMantaMan. Watching your progress.

Thanks for the support!

 

[fl4031003]

Looks like that 62 body had a clutch master cylinder mounted to it at one time.

 

[DatMantaMan]

Its been a very long time since i posted any progress. A lot of stuff happened the day of my last post. I was involved in a 4 car pileup on my way to work. Thankfully I was able to walk away although I did have to wear a neck brace for about a month. By the time I was able to work on the cruiser again winter was drawing near and I do not have a garage. So no major things were accomplished besides the continued stripping down of the body (whenever it wasn't too cold). Now that it is a lot warmer in Minnesota my full attention will be focused on it!

Today I worked on the frame. I removed any remaining brackets and fuel/brake lines. I plan on making new ones in the future. I also gunked all the heavily greasy/muddy areas. I want this frame to be squeaky clean so I can paint it. After much research and thought I've decided to go with rust bullet. I will be coating the entire frame with it once its prepped and ready!

Progress will continue as funds allow but my goal is to have the frame and drivetrain ready to go under the body by fall. I'm just glad to be able to work on this thing again!

 

[SteveH]

Ouch. Will your Opel live again?