My New Land Cruiser! (1 Viewer)

[Spinney]

Hey everyone! I'm pretty new to the community here, so I figured I had better start getting acquainted with you all before I start posting all of my random cruiser-related questions. I've been lurking for quite a while now but I've only recently become the proud owner of an FJ60!

I've been actively looking for one for a few months but only ever ended up going and looking at one. I liked it and thought his asking price of $5k was probably within the realm of reason, but I ended up needing to dip in to my fund for something else. Four weeks ago I received a text out of the blue from the owner saying he would take $2,500 for it. Three weeks ago I made the 6 hour round-trip drive (again) and picked it up! Unfortunately the next day I went on a little fishing trip and ended up aggravating an old back injury that left me hardly able to walk. I spent a week flat on my back unable to move, just dreaming about getting started on my new project. Talk about torture! I'm just now starting to feel pretty well recovered, and I happened to ingest a bit too much caffeine last night so I decided it was finally time to start getting something done! I forgot to take "before" pictures but I did happen to find a few that I had sent to my wife. Find them below, along with the progress I made tearing into the cruiser last night!

"Before" pics:

Driver's Seat

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Driver's seat - before pic.

Under Driver's Seat

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Close up of the gear included under the driver's side seat - before pic.

Rear Seats

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Rear seats - before pic.

Bonus Goodies

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Goodies included by the P/O - before pic.

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And all in a hard night's work:

Interior

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Interior - in progress.

Body Shot

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Body - in progress.

Front End

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Front End - in progress.

Panels Removed

• Spinney
• Oct 10, 2018

Panels removed - in progress.

I think I'll give my back a few days to rest and hopefully I'll be back at it again by the end of the weekend!

 

[OSS]

Wow looks like you have a project ahead of you. Unfortunately, what lies ahead of you is extremely hard on the back. Don't be dumb and ignore the warning signals your back is giving you. If you do - you may never be able to drive again.
Speaking from someone who's been there.

If I were to give you any advice, it wouldn't be what you wanted to hear. But the advice is sound: Get rid of that cruiser before it's too late. Restoring it will very likely ruin your back.

Sorry.

 

[Spinney]

Wow looks like you have a project ahead of you. Unfortunately, what lies ahead of you is extremely hard on the back. Don't be dumb and ignore the warning signals your back is giving you. If you do - you may never be able to drive again.
Speaking from someone who's been there.

If I were to give you any advice, it wouldn't be what you wanted to hear. But the advice is sound: Get rid of that cruiser before it's too late. Restoring it will very likely ruin your back.

Sorry.

You are correct, that's definitely not the kind of advice I was looking for. That said, I still appreciate your concern! I don't think this project will be too overextending for me though. I was in a car accident a few years ago and have a specific back condition because of it. It's usually pretty manageable. This last fishing trip incident was by far worse than it's ever been in the past, but the nurses said that they see a surprising number of back injuries caused by the bouncing motion of a boat skimming over the water. Besides, this wouldn't be my first rodeo since my car accident. I've had quite a few automotive projects since then and none of them have given me any back trouble. Thank you again for your concern, I will definitely listen to my body and make sure to let my back get back to "normal" before I get too much further.

 

[SteveH]

The positive mental therapy of FJ60 restoration may make up for the physical toll. Nice truck and the right price. Pace yourself and enjoy the resto.

 

[CuCruiser]

Are you sure it was just caffiene?
Congrats on the 60 and looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[Hojack]

Nice to see you excited about the work ahead and hopefully it’s one you’ll enjoy. Be careful turning wrenches. I was shocked when I started reading your intro and saw the pictures. Seems to me you got a handful there and with the back pain it could be more than you bargained for. Do you have help???
I was hoping I see a nice restored 60 with comfy seats you could go cruising in to take away your back sorrows. Perhaps you’ll do this when your all done...

 

[Hojack]

Just checked your profile. Where are you located in Oregon?

 

[Spinney]

The positive mental therapy of FJ60 restoration may make up for the physical toll. Nice truck and the right price. Pace yourself and enjoy the resto.

I think you're right. Most of the people I hang out with think I'm crazy but I definitely enjoy the work! It certainly can be therapeutic Thanks, will do!

Are you sure it was just caffiene?
Congrats on the 60 and looking forward to seeing the progress.

Haha who knows, maybe someone spiked the water cooler at work Thank you!

Nice to see you excited about the work ahead and hopefully it’s one you’ll enjoy. Be careful turning wrenches. I was shocked when I started reading your intro and saw the pictures. Seems to me you got a handful there and with the back pain it could be more than you bargained for. Do you have help???
I was hoping I see a nice restored 60 with comfy seats you could go cruising in to take away your back sorrows. Perhaps you’ll do this when your all done...

I'm definitely enjoying it so far! Maybe less so when I have to start spending money though ;P unfortunately I don't have any help but I can't really foresee anything being too strenuous. If I really need it, I might be able to enlist a friend or two if I can get them to put down their xbox controllers. We'll see though. For now it's just me and my project One day it will be finished and there will be nothing left to do for it.. that will probably be around the same time that I move on to the next land cruiser project though I live in Albany by the way!

I spent the last few days sandblasting the fenders and tailgate. No pictures yet, but I ran out of media before I was done. I'm having a difficult time finding someone who sells abrasive media besides harbor freight. $44 for a 50lb bag is about $34 too much. I'd prefer not to use any more sand because I enjoy being able to breath, but if I can't track down some cheap media I just might have to get a better respirator and hope it's enough. If anyone has any suggestions on where to buy abrasive media then I'm all ears!

Josh

 

[Gretsch]

Congrats on the project. Looking forward to seeing the progress. Lots of work ahead but whats a little work for what you get in the end. Just makes it all the more rewarding once its done. Great to see another one of these beauties being saved.

 

[Prairie Swamp]

but if I can't track down some cheap media I just might have to get a better respirator and hope it's enough. If anyone has any suggestions on where to buy abrasive media then I'm all ears!

Do you have farm stores like TSC, Rural King, or the like? Around me they stock an abrasive media known as "Black Beauty". It's my understanding that it's slag from the copper smelting industry. Very aggressive and dirt cheap. Also it has no relation to sand so zero risk of silica injury to your lungs.

Buy the "fine" type and sift it first to keep big pieces from plugging your gun. Don't you scoop up, filter and re-use your media?

Black Diamond 20-40 Fine Coal Slag Blasting Abrasives, 50 lb. Bag - 2040

Correction it's coal slag. $7 per 50 lb.

 

[umpqua]

May god bless you......

 

[Beams37]

Welp. Plenty of projects to do !!

 

[FJACS]

I get that the interior was totalled...but why did you blow the truck apart - doors off and everything?

 

[Spinney]

Congrats on the project. Looking forward to seeing the progress. Lots of work ahead but whats a little work for what you get in the end. Just makes it all the more rewarding once its done. Great to see another one of these beauties being saved.

Thanks! My thoughts exactly

Do you have farm stores like TSC, Rural King, or the like? Around me they stock an abrasive media known as "Black Beauty". It's my understanding that it's slag from the copper smelting industry. Very aggressive and dirt cheap. Also it has no relation to sand so zero risk of silica injury to your lungs.


Buy the "fine" type and sift it first to keep big pieces from plugging your gun. Don't you scoop up, filter and re-use your media?

Black Diamond 20-40 Fine Coal Slag Blasting Abrasives, 50 lb. Bag - 2040

Correction it's coal slag. $7 per 50 lb.

Unfortunately I don't, not within an hour or so of here. I did manage to find a 100lb bag of "Green Diamond" for $14 from a local stone yard though. It's working great so far! I do usually reuse my media but I decided I had probably better stop shooting sand and switch to something that won't give me silicosis

May god bless you......

I get that the interior was totalled...but why did you blow the truck apart - doors off and everything?

I intend on doing a complete restoration including deadening and sound proofing the doors, cleaning the dirt from every crack and crevice, and removing every spot of rust I can find. I figured that would be easiest to do with the doors off. Besides, it gives me a bit more room to navigate around and inside the truck. I did find some surface rust under the door hinges so they had to come off at some point anyways.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Looks like a fun project! Will be exciting to see it’s transformation.