My new 60, phase 1 begins. And some questions...

[jaxonm]

Thanks for all the kind words!

You know, I've seen it posted dozens of times, it just seemed like hyperbole, but all these positive comments really do help keep things moving.

Nice start... Funny I have rootbeer and want white

Kling-On, wanna trade?

Jax, Mark's carbs are great, aren't they ? Whatever voodoo he does really gives it more top end...

Amen Brother. And just as important, he's a super solid dude (I hate giving hard earned money to douchebags). I am now firmly a member of the Church of Mark's Off Road. Thanks again for the recommendation!

Nice rig! For what it's worth on your seats you may want to talk with some local apholstery places. You have a ton of them in Socal. Most of those places will also get you new foam and the material installed for about what you pay for the covers. Just a thought. Also I'm glad you got your misses figured out I was going to suggest your sparks. Simple as it is, mine was doing the same thing and I had one spark starting to go bad that would act that way. Can't wait to see the rest of your progress.

Thanks KCFF60! I have been considering doing just that. However, Im just not sure even about keeping the stock seats. I may want to upgrade for long distance comfort. I've been looking at the Toyota Hilander seats, as well as the Sienna captains chairs. Oddly the mounts are not too far off on either of them, but the sienna seats may just be too tall. Either way, Ill probably end up doing that for the door panels.

I love how you say "I headed down to SOR." Sooooooo jealous

I have placed a lot of orders from there. $13 dollar shipping over time adds up a lot. But they have the most stuff hands down.

Nice work so far. Keep up the progress!

Believe me, I know that we in the local area are extremely lucky. I even went back and almost removed that line, for fear of displaying some amount of douchebaggery. But Spike Strip is right. It's actually no easy feat to get there. They close right at 6 and the place is empty on the weekends. I only live a few miles from them, but I work clear on the other side of town. So, most of my orders will be delivered as well.

The best part of going there tho is the mini-museum they have as you walk in the building. An amazing display of LC's from all over the world. I snapped a few pics when I was there last.

 

[jaxonm]

Dash work

JaxonM--great job on the dash cover and instrument cover paint: appreciate the tips as I'm about a month or so away from some of the same work!
LCDiesel60
Oregon

LCDiesel60, definitely check those paints out. The colors (at least for me) are really close. They make the dash look like neeeeeewwwwww!

As far as the dash cover goes, I'll give you a couple pieces of advice;
•*One of the guys at SOR mentioned that the supplied glue is pretty lame, and recommended the adhesive that they use for installing plastic shower stalls. Just make sure to get "low out gas" adhesive. And test it first.
•*I wanted to make sure that I got a very solid bond between the crash pad and the cover. I racked my brain on a way to tape it, or clamp it together. What I came up with was to use cling wrap like they sell for packing your house up to move (check U-Haul). Once the glue was applied I did a light wrap around the assembly, and then layered small chunks of 2x4 along the top length of the dash, and continued wrapping. The 2x4 blocks provided extra leverage and clamping force. Seems to have worked like a charm.
•*The final warning I can give is, make sure you are aware of the placement of the speaker grill on the dash. The one on my dash, and the one on the new cover do not line up, which is fine since I wont have an in dash speaker. But since I applied the glue to the dash, when I put the cover on, some of the glue came up through the speaker grill. It cleaned up ok, just a PITA.

 

[vipergrhd]

welcome to the addiction

Jax, nice rig you got there and keep us posted on all of your work,i salute you for getting things done when a lot of us just barely even come close to what you have accomplished ina short time. There is a lot of talent in this forum and the best in what they do,don't be shy to ask for help and search is your friend more power to you and maybe when my rig hits the road on the way to L.A i'll get to see your work. Ilived in Covina for 7 years and my kids were born in West Covina i don't miss the congestion and chaos but a lot of good folks in that area.

John

 

[jaxonm]

Jax, nice rig you got there and keep us posted on all of your work,i salute you for getting things done when a lot of us just barely even come close to what you have accomplished ina short time. There is a lot of talent in this forum and the best in what they do,don't be shy to ask for help and search is your friend more power to you and maybe when my rig hits the road on the way to L.A i'll get to see your work. Ilived in Covina for 7 years and my kids were born in West Covina i don't miss the congestion and chaos but a lot of good folks in that area.

John

Thanks John!
Feels like there is soooo much to do, and I want to get to the fun stuff... Phase 2 of this build, where the fun really begins!

Definitely let me know when you come through town, Id love to check out the rig. Although, Im not all that close to covina, Im sure we can work something out.

 

[jaxonm]

Questions...

OK guys, I've got a question...

I am prepping for the beginning of my first big project on this rig; suspension. I'll post up my exact plans for what suspension system Im going to use when I get closer to actually doing it, but for now I'm still collecting parts for this project.

When I get in to do the suspension, I also plan to completely rebuild the steering, both axels hub to hub, replace all the u-joints and clean the living s*** out of all of it. Here is the question;
Does anyone make a complete kit for these axels? What about the steering?

I would love to find axel kits that include all the bearings, gaskets, seals, wipers, etc to go hub to hub. Does anyone sell kits like this, or are we forced to piecemeal it out with individual parts or sub-kits? The problem here of course is the danger of missing a couple parts and not realizing until you are knee deep in axel grease on a Sunday at 5:59pm. Sucks! Or worse, paying for and ending up with extra parts you wont need.

Anyway, let me know what you all think. And, thanks for the input!!

 

[slcfj62]

Have you checked out Cruiser Outfitters

Lot's of axle parts on that page.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Full kits can be bought from SOR or Cruiser Outfitters, including wheel bearings, trunion bearings, wipers and all the gaskets you'll need. Make sure you buy Marlin Crawler's inner axle seals though. They blow the stockers away.

 

[Kosmo]

I'm cornfused as to how you got carpets. Thought they were NLA.

 

[Dynosoar]

What dash cap did you use? or did you get a good used pad?

Dynosoar

 

[jaxonm]

Full kits can be bought from SOR or Cruiser Outfitters, including wheel bearings, trunion bearings, wipers and all the gaskets you'll need. Make sure you buy Marlin Crawler's inner axle seals though. They blow the stockers away.

Thanks GLTHFJ60. Good info

I'm cornfused as to how you got carpets. Thought they were NLA.

The carpets I got are not OEM, I got them from JTO, not the greatest fit and delivery takes about a month.But the price aint bad;
FJ60/62 Carpet Kit - JTOutfitters

What dash cap did you use? or did you get a good used pad?

Dynosoar

I used the SOR dash cap.
Specter Off-Road Land Cruiser Parts - 177-62-B 60 Series Dash Cover

 

[jaxonm]

OK, carpet went in today.

Let me tell you, if you have the original carpet in your cruiser, replace it. Like, ASAP. 28 year old automotive carpet can hide a lot of crap. A couple of pounds of spare change, a bag or 2 of spilled sunflower seeds, lots of spilled soda/coffee (something sticky), popcorn, pet hair, pine needles... you get the picture.

Anyway, I pulled the old carpet, did a thorough rust inspection and cleaned the hell out of the floor (removing said crap, as well as the old wool insulator). I did not do a secondary insulation at this time, as I plan on pulling this out once more when it goes for paint.

Ill let the pics do the talking for the rest.

Old rear carpet

Old center carpet

Seats out

Amazing the things you find

Every wonder who may have owned your cruiser in the past?

Carpet out

Front and center (post cleaning)

 

[jaxonm]

Parts...

I gots parts!!!

July will be the month of the lift kit (after I get back from vacation on the 11th).

I have the lift kit (OME MAF 3" with shackle reversal), complete axel rebuild kits (front and rear from SOR), all new tie rod ends and relay rod kit, and finally all new u joints. So, once I get working on the lift, Ill go through both axels, steering and u joints. And clean the hell out of everything.

I also got another load of stuff from SOR; Headliner, SOR rear sliding cargo windows, windshield gasket and Hella H4 headlights!

This mess should get me through the next month or so in parts. More to come soon!!

Springs, bushings, shackles, etc

Front axel rebuild kit & U-Joints

Rear axel kit and TRE kit

 

[jaxonm]

Seats...

Finally made a decision on seats;

I went to the junkyards yesterday with my dad and my nephew, looking for parts for their projects ('65 Caddy Eldo convertible and a '53 F-100).

While at the Pick THE Part in Santa Paula I stumbled across a pretty decent white FJ60. Mostly there and very little rust. If anyone local needs some 60 parts, head on out. Its in the last row on the right hand side. Right about... HERE

We also headed to Pick A Part and U-Pick-Parts out in San Fernando. My dad was looking for a tan center console lid for his '95 4Runner and we found one a great donor vehicle. The interior was the tan leather, was in great shape and 95% complete. So, we gutted it! I'll be running 4Runner seats soon! Once we got them home, I did some measuring, and its remarkable how close the mounts are. Front to back is identical, and the width only needs to be narrowed by a small amount. Cant wait to get them installed! Unfortunately, thats going to have to wait for a couple weeks since I am going on an extended July 4th camping trip. Leave this Friday and get back on the 11th. So, no work on the 60 until the 17th! But, thats when Im going to start pulling the suspension apart too! Can't wait!

Anyway, here are some pics of the new interior;

My nephew standing next to the donor vehicle and a pile of interior parts

The seats! The center console is for my dad. This model had the rear heater (which he has always wanted) so we pulled that too.

The (near) complete haul! I also pulled the rear seats since the price was so good.

We pretty much gutted that poor 4Runner. Front seats, rear seats, center console (dash to back seat), rear heater, steering wheel, O-s*** handles, plastic molding, etc, etc, etc. The front seats are definitely not 100%, but they will be great until I can get someone to recover them for me. I got the complete haul for $150! Can't beat it!!

 

[woytovich]

Every wonder who may have owned your cruiser in the past?

THIS Michael J Fox?

Michael J. Fox (I)

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

WOW! I just found your thread and it is super inspirational stuff!

I just picked up a white 60 and other than the really obvious mechanical issues I was a bit uncertain what to start improving/upgrading. Your extremely well written thread has shown me the way

You're doing an amazing job on that cruiser - keep it up!. Looking forward to pics of the seats and suspension.



-Ed



P.S. couldn't resist posting a pic of my new white 60 - hope it follows a similiar path as yours soon

 

[Spike Strip]

Who took the igniter off that FJ60 ???

 

[jaxonm]

THIS Michael J Fox?

Michael J. Fox (I)

That's the assumption. But I've not verified it in anyway, I just thought the name tag was an interesting find. At some point I should get a vehicle history report.

 

[jaxonm]

WOW! I just found your thread and it is super inspirational stuff!

I just picked up a white 60 and other than the really obvious mechanical issues I was a bit uncertain what to start improving/upgrading. Your extremely well written thread has shown me the way

You're doing an amazing job on that cruiser - keep it up!. Looking forward to pics of the seats and suspension.

-Ed

Thanks for the compliments Ed. Beautiful rig you've got there!

 

[jaxonm]

More Interior Updates

Its been a few weeks for an update, but that doesnt mean Im not getting anything done. I've been helping out with some of the old guys toys (read; my dad and some of his buddies).

This one just got done, including new interior. This Nova belongs to a friend of my dad.

I've got a video of that Nova running someplace, I just need to find it. It's pretty cool, including electric cut outs. Hit a switch under the dash and a few seconds later this beast is running without mufflers.

At some point Ill find some pics of my old man's 65 Eldo convertible. 500CI caddy motor and airbag suspension.

Anyway, on to my little FJ60.
I got the seats installed, as well as a new 8" Tuffy console and a steering wheel. As I mentioned before, I pulled these seats (and steering wheel) out of a junk yard 95 4Runner, so they are not perfect by any means, but they are light years ahead of my stock 60 seats - and COMFY! . At some point Ill get them recovered, but they will last a while in their current state.

The 4Runner mounts were 1.5" too wide for the LC mounts. But the front to back measurement was exact. For the front mounts, I trimmed the inner mount (to clear the curve of the tranny tunnel), and ran a piece of 1.25" flat stock between the 2. Then drilled new holes the appropriate distance apart.

On the rears, I cut off the tabs, and welded on 3" long pieces of 1.23" angle. Ground them smooth and drilled new holes. Thats it. Worked great. Take a look.

This is the PS seat. Ive already cut and clearanced as mentioned above.

This is the new front cross rail, with mount holes drilled.

These are the first steps complete of the new rear tabs.

Cleaned up a bit. Deburred and sharp corners and points removed so rear seat passengers wont cut their feet.

Font seats in (sorry for the s***ty pics in my work parking lot). You can also see the Tuffy and the new steering wheel (sorta) in these. Ill get some better daylight pics at some point.

 

[jaxonm]

So, with that, the interior is coming along nicely. I have a new headliner all ready to go in (thanks to the SOR 20% off sale) but that is a total timing project. Might as well do it right and pull (and replace) the windshield and rear quarter windows and weather stripping. And if Im going to do that, I may as well paint the bitch. So, I may have to live with the s***ty headliner for a while. I also need to put a stereo in there at some point.

The next step on this rig is to do the suspension and axel rebuilds. I have all the parts, now I just need the time. So the plan, as it stands today, is to begin the suspension project the second weekend of September. That gives me some time to get a couple of other projects (the afore mentioned Caddy) out of the way of welding splatter.

Here is a shot of my rig with my ride on the back bumper!