new brown 60 - the Cwooser

[RodrigzCrzr]

Wow amazing looking truck!
The root beer brown is so nice when it is shiny as yours.
I have one the same color and brought out the shine in the paint and love it.
Your is immaculate!

 

[sd60]

Headed up to Mount Laguna (East San Diego County) for some camping and mountain biking. Hit Thing Valley Road for a fun detour. The Cwooser was a champ. Surprisingly pretty up there if you ever get a chance to check it out.

 

[sd60]

Did a little refresh to the air cleaner assembly: carb stud (90116-06018), gasket (17848-61020), and wing nuts (90175-06003).

Old carb stud looked a little rough. I thought this part was NLA a while back, but was happy to see it was available this time.

I also learned somewhere in the bowels of Mud that the gasket actually attaches to the cleaner housing as shown below. I thought it was seated poorly when I changed it out last time by just resting it on the carb - that's why...

 

[sd60]

I found a decent crack in the valve cover breather hose (90910-06036). That part is NLA, but I found an old thread where the venerable @beno pointed out that you can use 90910-05101 from the earlier 2F, which is still available, if you are also too lazy/stubborn to cut your own. It's a little longer and the bend is a little different - shown in pic below (old on top, new on bottom) - but it fits fine. The OEM clamps (90467-24038) aren't very tight though even on the original hose, so I'll likely replace those with something else.

 

[sd60]

Washer fluid reservoir looked like someone took a hammer to it at some point. I couldn't bring myself to pay the going rate for another one, so I did some surgery with epoxy. The good news is it now holds washer fluid. The bad news is I used way too much epoxy and will need to clean up the leftover glob(s). Let this be a lesson to you.

 

[srogers]

Nice work!

 

[sd60]

@beno assembled a 4runner/80series wiper refresh package with all the trimmings for me. They look a lot better - my old wiper arms were in rough shape. Haven't had a chance to test them out yet (it never rains in San Diego).

 

[sd60]

@Javelin had an extra set of @dnp rear carpet so I bought it off him and replaced mine. Was nice to meet @Javelin. Our little boys played with their trucks, while we talked shop and I drooled over his '84.

The kit comes with carpet wheel well covers, but my vinyl is in pretty good shape other than a small tear, so I might just repair the tear and keep those for the OEM look. He also had some extra fabric for the cargo area side panels. Mine are fine, but you can see they are a little lighter color with 35 years of sun fading them. It's not as bad as it looks in the picture, but if it bothers me enough I'll change them out. Having the rear done also makes me want to do the front, even though my front carpet is fine - the new stuff is so nice. Included a pic with the Cruiser Corps cargo mat.

 

[OGBeno]

Beautiful truck. That color is really growing on me.

 

[gregnash]

Looking good with the new parts!! I really need to get my hands on a new carb stud as well as the 80 series rear wiper arm. My stock one is done (for both) and need replacement badly. Then I got to add the windshield washer bottle to the list seeing as mine has a crack somewhere that slowly leaks all the fluid out, never been able to find the leak though..

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Looking good!
Man big improvement with that carpet.
Love the color of that truck it’s just like mine....lol

 

[sd60]

then this happened:

tech related:

1) That's 67mph on the speedo (little faster in reality) at 3k rpm w/stock gearing and 31" tires
2) Check that sick steering wheel wrap. It's been on there 35 years, and is basically fused into the wheel. It is my favorite accessory.

 

[brownbear]

my cruiser started out that colour from the factory. But it had some rust and I did a colour change.

So when I see new vehicles or ones so clean like yours I want to suggest doing some corrosion proofing. You can open the rear cargo side covers and look at the wheel wells from the top side. There is a seam, many, that are bare metal. Even cruisers like yours can have some minor rust in the seams from humidity (your location has kept this looking so pristine!). SO I suggest opening this area up and spraying in some good corrosion proofing oil. Like rust check or Krown. It cannot hurt and might stop rust and keep the cruiser looking great for ever..

I also suggest spraying into the rockers and around the rear frame section called the C channels. Get between the layers. Inside the frame too. Inside the rear tail gate..

Another good spray is LPS 3. or fluid film.

I got a perfect rust free JDM tail gate for my cruiser a few years ago and decided to open the seam on the bottom and found rust on the bare metal. It would have eventually showed itself when the problem got bigger. That's why I like to oil cruisers like yours as it slows it down and may prevent spreading.

 

[sd60]

my cruiser started out that colour from the factory. But it had some rust and I did a colour change.

So when I see new vehicles or ones so clean like yours I want to suggest doing some corrosion proofing. You can open the rear cargo side covers and look at the wheel wells from the top side. There is a seam, many, that are bare metal. Even cruisers like yours can have some minor rust in the seams from humidity (your location has kept this looking so pristine!). SO I suggest opening this area up and spraying in some good corrosion proofing oil. Like rust check or Krown. It cannot hurt and might stop rust and keep the cruiser looking great for ever..

I also suggest spraying into the rockers and around the rear frame section called the C channels. Get between the layers. Inside the frame too. Inside the rear tail gate..

Another good spray is LPS 3. or fluid film.

I got a perfect rust free JDM tail gate for my cruiser a few years ago and decided to open the seam on the bottom and found rust on the bare metal. It would have eventually showed itself when the problem got bigger. That's why I like to oil cruisers like yours as it slows it down and may prevent spreading.

Thanks for the tips man, I appreciate it. So far so good, but I should do more prevention work. I'll get on it.

 

[sd60]

Haven't posted anything in a while, thought I'd give people another option on the rear seat belts. I wanted shoulder belts for the kids quickly (they've been harassing me about a lack of rides in the cwooser) and didn't want to deal with sourcing the trim parts for a clean install for retractable belts, so I bought a non-retractable set from seatbelt planet to match the ones in the front seat. Install is a breeze, just 1) stick in a pin in your b pillar to make sure you have a threaded nut there and cut away the headliner around the nut - if you don't have a threaded nut search for the threads on how to fish one up there; 2) remove the carpet from the back of the back seat to remove the retractors from the old belts; and 3) bolt everything up. here's the order info:

Item: 1981-1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, Rear Driver & Passenger Seat
Belt Kit (50318)
Webbing Color: 35 - Dark Brown (35)

Unit Price: $142.95
Total Price: $142.95
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quantity: 1
Status: NEW
Item: 1981-1990 Toyota Landcruiser FJ60 Rear Plastic Push Button Seat
Belt (50319-V01)
Webbing Color: 35 - Dark Brown (35)

Unit Price: $33.95
Total Price: $33.95

 

[mattressking]

Great looking truck. Whereabouts are you in SD? I'm in Bankers Hill/Little Italy

 

[sd60]

Great looking truck. Whereabouts are you in SD? I'm in Bankers Hill/Little Italy

hey thanks man - I'm little bit north of you. I'll send you a PM - gotta watch out for the internet cruiser stalkers and all...

 

[sd60]

Inpsired by @mattressking, I refreshed some things.

Upgraded headlights with the Toyota Koito kit (81110-60P70). As others have said, this has to be the best Toyota parts bargain going. You get the bulbs, wires, relays, fuses, and a lifetime supply of zip ties for something like $40. When I was doing my research I saw some questions on wiring, so if it helps anyone here's how I routed everything using the existing passenger side female plug to connect to the new kit. It's nice and clean and kept the wires out of the way.

Since I had the grill and headlights surrounds off, I replaced the grill with this aftermarket one (link). For $37 the quality is fine. I had to drill out a hole, and shave a little off the edge of my "TOYOTA" emblem to get it to fit flush, but It looks pretty good. Ideally I'll clean the original up (some chippped/bubbling chrome) and put it back on later.

 

[mattressking]

Inpsired by @mattressking, I refreshed some things.

Upgraded headlights with the Toyota Koito kit (81110-60P70). As others have said, this has to be the best Toyota parts bargain going. You get the bulbs, wires, relays, fuses, and a lifetime supply of zip ties for something like $40. When I was doing my research I saw some questions on wiring, so if it helps anyone here's how I routed everything using the existing passenger side female plug to connect to the new kit. It's nice and clean and kept the wires out of the way.

View attachment 2550331

View attachment 2550335
View attachment 2550336

Since I had the grill and headlights surrounds off, I replaced the grill with this aftermarket one (link). For $37 the quality is fine. I had to drill out a hole, and shave a little off the edge of my "TOYOTA" emblem to get it to fit flush, but It looks pretty good. Ideally I'll clean the original up (some chippped/bubbling chrome) and put it back on later.


View attachment 2550354View attachment 2550355

Fun fact that I noticed no one else has done... If you route the harness above the a/c condenser, it fits perfectly between the condenser and upper core support bar and is hidden from site completely.

 

[sd60]

Fun fact that I noticed no one else has done... If you route the harness above the a/c condenser, it fits perfectly between the condenser and upper core support bar and is hidden from site completely.

Ah I didn't think of that - good idea.