My Slow Build of The Blue Beast! (1 Viewer)

[Mildot]

First of all I want to day thanks to everyone for the wealth of information on this forums without it I would be lost.

Around 10 months ago I purchased my first fj60 a few months after seeing one for sell and falling in love with them. I purchased an 84 FJ60 with around 288k miles.

The PO had inherited this from his uncle and had let his teenagers drive it and most of the maintenance had slipped. I looked it over and decided it was something work taking on. I haggled and picked it up for $800. The fuel gauge was not working but the PO said he always reset the tip counter and that he usually got around 200 miles on a tank it was sitting around 120 miles. I made it 4 blocks and ran out of gas. Called the PO and he ran we some gas. I drove the rest of the way home with no problems.



Got to work reading the forums to find out what to do first I purchased a used drivers door handle. I also purchased a set of Nexan Rodian II 31” tires to pass inspection. Being middle of summer I was really wanting some AC . All the original equipment was there minus the AC belt. I hoped the PO’s kids had just been too lazy to replace it and I was right. AC working but not blowing cold I found some r12 on local classifieds site and recharged and it is still blowing cold today with no leaks.

I started by replacing plug, wires and distributor cap and rotor. This improved my mileage by around double! My pocket book was happy. Also fixed the fuel sending unit so I knew how much was in the tank.

The main reason I purchased the FJ60 was I have two kids and a dog and needed something to go camping in. After driving the truck to work and back for a few weeks working out the kinks I took the family on a trip. We went to the mountains around 40 miles on way on hwy and the rest on mountain roads. Now I had been driving this for a while and come to terms with the lack of power. Well what I experienced was a clutch going out just so happens that kills your power...

Over the next couple of weeks I babied it and researched clutch replacement. We took one more trip up the mountain against my better judgement as my then 3 year old son begged me to take the truck. We made it around 8 miles up the mountain before the clutch totally burned up. I spend a good portion of that evening getting the truck home.

Let me say I am not a mechanic never have been but love working with my hands and I feel I am mechanically inclined. I started taking bolts out with the help of post on the forums here. It took me (yes I did this all by my self) around 1.5 weeks of after work work. I got everything replaced and experienced new found power! I also desmoged around the same time that helped as well. I also replaced the intake manifold gasket. Enjoyed driving the FJ60 for hunting season and spent my night browsing the forums and see what I wanted to do next.

I installed a new Battery and I also installed a set of PT cruiser seats.



This took me to last winter and I have a very small one car garage and did not work on anything but small parts upgrades. Installed a new set of hood bumpers. I also cleaned up the rust on the hood a painted over it to protect it.

 

[Mildot]

No mentioned this so far but this is an budget build and I am always on the look out for a good deal on something I need. Well again on the local classifieds site I found a set of rear hatches as mine are rusted mainly the bottom one.



The tailgate and hatch that I found had a good sized dent and sadly I forgot to take a picture before I started to work on it. Here is a pick of the hatch with similar depth dent and style. The old owner of these backed into a tree. I paid 40 dollars for the set!



First thing I did was cut the back of the tailgate out to get at the back of the dent to push it out. This is my first time doing body work but I researched some online. I hammered and work the metal slowly out. Perfection is not my goal but here is what I got to with one Saturday working on this.



Bondo is only 1/8 ish inch thick.

 

[Mildot]

Lots of sanding and some glazing putty here is what I have.



Got my now 4 year old in on the action of cleaning everything up before paint.



I plan in the future to have the whole truck painted but I wanted to protect the work I did so I had a can of paint mixed to match the truck and sprayed away. Here is work after primer.

 

[Mildot]

Here is what it looks like tonight after color.



Like I said before not looking for perfection just decent.

Also recently I put new Home Depot carpet in the back of the truck. Here is the progress. I will get a completion shot tomorrow in the light.




Short term plan are to install some fj62 rear springs that I purchased for cheap with some KYB shocks I just need to get some new ubolts for cheap and some bushings but I should get those in the near future.

Also need to rebuild the carb and have the fuel tank replaced under recall.

Sorry for the wall of text I am trying to be better about taking pictures.

 

[dozerking]

nice rig!!

 

[dozerking]

84 fj60 you said the tank is under recall how does that work and why is it under recall??

 

[Mildot]

It is under recall. You can call toyota and they can check with your VIN if your has been done. I also think there is a seat belt recall for the rear seats.

 

[Mildot]

Here it is out in the sun.

 

[rrv333]

Good job and welcome to the insanity. I'm like you in the sense of I enjoy working with my hands and this forum has been an incredible help! Keep slugging away, you'll get there.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Yes, welcome to the madness and the ADDICTION.. Keep up the good work.

 

[Mildot]

I could have swore I posted this yesterday but I can not see it. Here is a pick before I swapped the tailgate.



And after


Also here is a picture of the carpet install that I did.

 

[Mildot]

Well I got started on repairing the dent in the rear hatch. Here is the progress before any bondo or glazing putty.



primed up

 

[Mildot]

Been on the road for work most of the week but I managed to get the rear leafs and shocks replaced. This is a poor mans build so I installed some used fj62 leafs. Also installed some kyb shocks. I measured from the ground to the top of the bumper before 22" and after install and a break in ride I am now at 23.5". 1.5 inch lift and much needed repair.

Needed a little help from the hot wrench to get the old ones off but all in all it was an easy job only took around 4 hours.

 

[Big Cruiser Guy]

Looking good so far. What else do you have planned?

 

[Mildot]

I have not planned out much but my short term list is.

Carb rebuild
Front knuckle rebuild
Fix rust on rear wheel wells
Other misc body work


That's all I really have planned at the moment.

 

[Mildot]

Well I am in the process of moving into a new house so I have made no progress. I decided not to rebuild and just ordered a Trollhole carb. I will soon have two carbs for sell. Anyone know a ball park price to sell one on Mud that is in need of a rebuild?

Also my new to me rear springs did not get me as much lift as I expected so my wife is ordering me some long add a leafs from Man a fre.

 

[Mildot]

Moving today to the new house but got a present in the mail! Troll hole!!!!!!

 

[Mildot]

Well been very busy so no work on the cruiser rear springs seem to be better I think I had over tightened them so they could not spring back.

Saving money for a front knuckle rebuild if anyone has some pointers I am all ears.

 

[gregnash]

If you are still looking for the front knuckle rebuild look at CruiserOutfitters (kurt from cruiseroutfit on here) as they have the fronts for $92 a side. They are located in So Utah so you could take a little trip and pick them up yourself to save some money!

 

[Mildot]

Been a while since I updated. I did say slow build right!!?? Not much new I will be having a new thrush muffler and getting new tail pipe tomorrow.

Re lubed both diffs and going to get two new rust/dent free front fenders and a rear door. (massive dent in mine. PO)

Planning for some major face lift work once the weather warms up here in utah. including a custom aluminum front bumper.

And I have started practicing my painting skills. Will be posting pictures I might even give a sneak peak of the bumper before its done.

Can't say enough about the knowledge on these forums and the help that's here!