My Hawaiian HJ60 Refresh, Maintenance and Good Times

[NLScooby]

Wow- @pescado and @Aloha Jen - this 60 has turned out amazing! I had an HDJ80 series diesel that I just let go recently to build my 200 series....and I'm missing the diesel!

One last note: you do realize you can no longer refer to yourselves as "newbies" or "inexperienced", right? You guys have done some excellent quality work and tackled some major systems! Beautiful rigs in a beautiful part of the country! Congrats

 

[pescado]

Wow, just catching up on this thread I started! Im happy it was all documented as I was already forgetting how much work we put into it. Huge thanks to @Aloha Jen for keeping on top of all the posts for this thread. If it wasn't already apparent from her postings here, she is pretty awesome! Big thanks also needs to go out to the collective brain trust that is Mud, the advice and guidance has been unbelievably helpful. But I think the work has just started on our 60, as we are planning to go through every system in it. And hopefully document a lot of fun with it along the way!

 

[montypr]

For new tires, we opted to go with the BFG AT 33x10.5x15. We special ordered them through Costco tire center on the msinland. I bring this up because Costco tire center here in Hawaii said they cannot put on those tires because they exceed the factory recommended size. To get around this, some small white lies were utilized for the good of our 60's exterior beauty!
We brought the OEM chrome wheels we recently acquired down to Costco in my lifted 80 series with existing 33" tires. Told them they were going on the 80, but just needed them on the rims. They agreed to do it because the 80 already had 33's. We went back to pick them up in the 60, secretly hoping they knew exactly where they were going to be installed.
View attachment 1464830
We installed all 4 and the spare at home. Also cleaned up and greased the spare tire chain and gear while we had it down.
They look great! Such an improvement over the old aftermarket wheels.
View attachment 1464831
A before and some afters:
View attachment 1464832
View attachment 1464834
View attachment 1464833

Amazing thread and amazing attention to detail. I really appreciate the post, lots of cool stuff. Thanks for sharing!

 

[chichiflys]

The 60 looking very handsome making a few cameos at a photo shoot. A few samples from the day.

View attachment 1414196

View attachment 1414197

View attachment 1414193
View attachment 1414195

View attachment 1414194

Wait, what? There's a Land Cruiser in those pictures?

 

[Nostradamus]

Just came across this thread today. Not sure where to start, so I'll just go in order of how the thoughts came to me
- First of all, Oahu is one of my all-time fav places. I grew up in FL, but my folks got divorced when I was 10 and my dad moved to Honolulu. Spent 6 weeks there ever summer w my younger bro. Surfed every day at Ala Moana (back in the early 80's to 1990) - best memories ever.
- Second, I have a white 1985 FJ60 that looks exactly like your HJ did before you painted it, altho I have an H55 5spd in it (awesome updgrade if highway travel is a thing for you - prolly not given the island size
- I have a 1HZ sitting on a pallet in my garage + a 1HDT turbo/manifold for a diesel swap on my rig. Came very close to going w a 2H + turbo, but after I spent 2 weeks on safari in Tanzania in a 1HZ powered LC, my mind was made up
- As for AC, I'm a mechanical engineer with a specialty in HVAC design by trade. I have an old BMW cabrio wR12 and my FJ60 w R134A. I get low 30 degree vent temps on those by doing what earlier posters suggested. All new condenser/evap/expansion valve/receiver-drier/and the correct orings and oil for R134A. Once you get it to hold a steady vacuum, you're on your way. Props to you guys for doing that. AC work on vehicles will test your patience. I recommend scoring a manifold gauge on eBay or craigslist. Mine cost less than $50 used and allow you to maintenance your system whenever you want - no renting required.
- I have black powder coated OEM steel wheels w the same tires you do - the chrome loooks great on your rig, black on my white truck looks good.
- my oem bumpers are powder coated black as well
- If you really, really, REALLY want to earn your land cruiser man/woman card, you need to tackle a knuckle rebuild yourself when the time comes. Go slow, take pics, do one side at a time and watch a bunch of youtube first. Sense of accomplishment from doing that is immense. It's messy, but if you go slow it's a 3 bannana job from a technical difficulty perspective
- I am supremely impressed with the headliner work you guys did. THat is a notoriously difficult project and it looks fantastic
- As for your "liquid sunshine/rainbows", I recommend using AquaPel as a glass treatment - you'll never need to use wipers after that - the stuff is spectacular. I'll trade that reco in exchange for your rust removal/treatment product suggestions
- your approach of cleaning and painting everythign along the way for the long-term will serve you really well. That rig landed in the right hands. Great to see.

Mahalo

 

[KaiNaia]

Pull, stretch, repeat....times a thousand! It needs to be worked and worked until all the wrinkles are out.
View attachment 1408527 View attachment 1408528

Success, once the glue sets, it's solid.
View attachment 1408529 View attachment 1408530

Tight like a drum.
View attachment 1408531

Hi, I loving this whole thread. I 'm currently trying to put in rear 3 point belts in. Are those cut outs for the ratchets standard? How did you guys mount your belts?
Thanks, Steve

 

[daleyswanson]

Just stumbled across this thread. I almost bought that truck! Good to see it went to a good home. I was leaving the country at the time and it didnt make sense to buy it and leave it in storage

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Wow totally forgot there wa a build thread for this truck!
Nice to read back on it and watch the transformation. Looking really good!
The stock wheels is the icing on the cake!
Good job you two!

 

[Aloha Jen]

Hi, I loving this whole thread. I 'm currently trying to put in rear 3 point belts in. Are those cut outs for the ratchets standard? How did you guys mount your belts?
Thanks, Steve

Sorry Steve, must have not seen your message when you posted it. You may have already completed this, but to answer your question, all of the mounting holes and stuff for the seatbelt hardware was on the truck when we got it. I believe the only modification we made for the 3 point seat belt was notching/grinding the side panel for the seat belt base to fit better. It is certainly a worthwhile upgrade, especially if you have little ones.

Just stumbled across this thread. I almost bought that truck! Good to see it went to a good home. I was leaving the country at the time and it didnt make sense to buy it and leave it in storage

Well, I must tell you I am really glad you didn’t buy it! It’s been a really fun project and even more enjoyable to drive it. The previous owner had it for sale for over a year, and we were one of the first to go take a look at it. We really liked it then, but the guy was just asking way to much for it. A year later, after it had been off the market for a while, we still had the guys number, so we called him up to see if he was interested in selling. His situation had changed and we were able to get it for almost half of his original asking price, which really was more in line with it’s realistic value. Anyways, it’s been a great Land Cruiser and we are hoping it stays in our family for a very long time.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Wow totally forgot there wa a build thread for this truck!
Nice to read back on it and watch the transformation. Looking really good!
The stock wheels is the icing on the cake!
Good job you two!

Thanks, it’s been a really fun process and is nice to relax a little and just enjoy it. And I agree, the stock wheels really make it shine!

 

[Aloha Jen]

It’s been a while since updating. We recently got to rehabbing the old OEM center wheel caps. They were first cleaned and degreased. Then a couple applications of Navy jelly to remove the rust.

Then they were primed and painted a semigloss black. Followed by a somewhat tedious process of multiple coats hand painted with a tiny brush with gold paint. And then top coated with a matte clear to help protect it all.

They turned out pretty good, but they were pretty beat up to begin with and it proved to be pretty hard to keep a steady hand with the tiny gold letters! But pretty happy with the end result.

 

[SteveH]

Looks great! To preserve your sanity, next time, try this (and then clear-coat):

 

[Aloha Jen]

A few more interior cosmetic additions/upgrades that were finished up. The rear cargo light took painfully long to install as it was psychologically difficult to slice into a perfectly stretch headliner. But cuts were made and holes were poked to put in the old rear cargo light that was cleaned and polished with some rubbing compound. Really help to clean it up.

Then got rid of my aftermarket grim reaper shifter handle for some OEM goodness.

Used my old shifter handle that had long ago lost its top cap. Got a fresh new 5 speed top cap and glued it down to the cleaned and polished handle.

Looks pretty good, but more so one step closer to getting back to a more stock/original looking interior.
What better way to test it out then on a cruisy drive down a beautiful stretch of coastal road!

 

[Aloha Jen]

In addition to the cosmetic fixes, there has been a few mechanical updates as well. One of them has been finally to fix the crazy fuel/temp gauge spikes that had started happening nearly every time driving the 60.

Research on this forum pointed to the problem being on the dash gauge cluster, primarily the fuel gauge contacts and or the dash fuel gauge itself going bad. But there was some hesitation about taking the main gauge cluster off and apart, as well as disconnecting speedometer cable and all the other electrical dash gauge connections. The dash fuel gauge did some other wonky fluctuating stuff, so the decision was made to start with the easy stuff, and first check the fuel level sender gauge in the rear cargo area. We left a little access cut out in our insulation during our interior refresh in anticipation of this future checkup.

This disgusting mess was pulled out of there!

Even if this wasn’t the problem with the dash gauge spikes, we still knew it needed to be replaced........

 

[Aloha Jen]

......luckily, Toyota still makes this fuel level gauge. Comes in a little kit that contains the gauge, rubber gasket and shiney new screws. Below is the part number for reference.

Got it installed and the connecting wire contact cleaned up and plugged in.

After the first drive with the new gauge installed, the dash gauge did this weird downward spike in the opposite direction to the bottom, then a few seconds later went back to normal gauge readings for the fuel and water temps. It’s been several hundred miles now and fuel and temp gauges read normal on every drive now. We are hoping this is a fix to the gauge spikes, but will report back if this fuel level sensor replacement doesn’t fix the dash gauge spikes and they return.


Along those same lines, but most likely unrelated were some high oil pressure readings on the oil pressure dash gauge.

I believe this may be specific to Toyota Diesel engines, but the suggestion for this fix was the replacement of the oil pressure relief valve. Again, lucky Toyota still makes these obscure little parts, but here are the numbers for reference:

Out with the old...

And in with the new. Now dash oil pressure readings are back down to normal readings.

 

[umpqua]

Good God, I have company in the asylum. I did the "exact" same thing last summer.

It’s been a while since updating. We recently got to rehabbing the old OEM center wheel caps. They were first cleaned and degreased. Then a couple applications of Navy jelly to remove the rust.
View attachment 1639394

Then they were primed and painted a semigloss black. Followed by a somewhat tedious process of multiple coats hand painted with a tiny brush with gold paint. And then top coated with a matte clear to help protect it all.
View attachment 1639393

They turned out pretty good, but they were pretty beat up to begin with and it proved to be pretty hard to keep a steady hand with the tiny gold letters! But pretty happy with the end result.
View attachment 1639395
View attachment 1639397
View attachment 1639396

 

[Freewheel]

Actually the asylum's getting bigger- I painted my axle caps this summer as well.

I like that your nice Canadian HJ gets to have a tropical retirement- Mine's covered in ice, salt and sand and

looking like my avatar picture today...

 

[daleyswanson]

Well, I must tell you I am really glad you didn’t buy it! It’s been a really fun project and even more enjoyable to drive it. The previous owner had it for sale for over a year, and we were one of the first to go take a look at it. We really liked it then, but the guy was just asking way to much for it. A year later, after it had been off the market for a while, we still had the guys number, so we called him up to see if he was interested in selling. His situation had changed and we were able to get it for almost half of his original asking price, which really was more in line with it’s realistic value. Anyways, it’s been a great Land Cruiser and we are hoping it stays in our family for a very long time.

You have done a wonderful job with it. I was off island for 4 months and came home to find the post had disappeared. You were smart to save his number! All the pictures on the East Side make me miss it like crazy.

 

[60Works]

Always nice to see your updates, Jen. The OEM wheels look great with the green. Thanks for posting part numbers for your repairs.

 

[Mistral]

Yes, going to r134a. Already got the compatible O-rings, compressor attachments and proper PAG oil. It made more sense to do it here in Hawaii, as r12 is hard to come by and cant be ordered by mail like on the mainland. R134a is readily available at Home Depot and any auto store, so it was an easy decision for us.

Hi, I have a 12HT in A fj60 And I'm still having prob less with my AC could you tell me to source out the O rings.Thanks