New to me fj62

[michaelscrf]

I recently bought the greatest fj62. To tell the story I have to back up to 2010 when I built an fj60 that my wife and I drove all over the west coast. Let me be the first to say that my wife is not a car person. If you asked her what type of car her mom drives she wouldn’t know. Of course she will tell you that she liked my Landcruiser but everyone loves a nice Landcruiser. I tell you all of this because ever since I sold that fj60 she talks about how much she loved it, pointing out every classic Toyota she sees. So although she may not be a car person, it only took a couple of years for her to fall in love with vintage Toyotas. Fast forward to 2024 and an fj62 that we’ve spotted in our town for years gets listed for sale for a very fair price, because it needs engine work. I couldn’t pass it up! Although I must admit I had every intention of fixing it and selling for a profit. Fortunately, the second I got it home my wife said “I want it!” ….So I introduce you to Bandit!

 

[michaelscrf]

Here is my progress so far….

 

[Aloha Jen]

Great find! And welcome back to the 60 series fun. Post up some more photos of the interior.

 

[Mhks68]

....I have the exact same dent in my front bumper. Not my doing. Previous owner, parking lot-drive instead of reverse-getcha every time! Save another blue 62.
Good luck on the build!!
Mike

 

[kevin in okinawa]

that head gasket was kaput! I hope you have many successful days of wrenching on your new LC.

 

[MWM1]

Looking at their right side of the head gasket, was one of the water jackets covered over? Where the gray splatter marks are located?

 

[Gimme a 60]

Awesome!

 

[michaelscrf]

Yeah the previous owner admitted that he overheated the engine so I had a pretty good idea it was going to need a head gasket. Fortunately I think I can get away with just rebuilding the head and putting it back together with some new gaskets. I’ll get some update photos up soon. It’s been so cold and Im not very motivated to work on it in the driveway.

 

[michaelscrf]

Made some more progress. Picked up a Toyota gasket kit from Cruiserteq which included everything I needed to remove and rebuild the head. Also put in all new hoses, most of which came from Toyota, and had the injectors rebuilt by Marren Fuel Injection. Cleaned, scrubbed, sanded and painted a number of parts and I should be ready to start soon.

 

[MWM1]

Great job, looks great! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the valve cover have a blue tint? What paint did you use?
Ty!

 

[michaelscrf]

Great job, looks great! Do my eyes deceive me, or does the valve cover have a blue tint? What paint did you use?
Ty!

According to the can it’s light grey but it does seem to have a blue tint when in the car. Must just be reflecting the firewall.

 

[michaelscrf]

Got it running today! Happy to announce it fired right up and runs beautifully.

 

[michaelscrf]

I put some new tires and brakes and fixed a pretty large exhaust leak and have enjoyed driving it around. Although it runs good I seem to have a slight knock when slightly loaded at low rpm. I can hear it as soon as i put it into drive and continues until the rpm gets above 1500. I’ve read so many things on here about what it could be and have adjusted the valves twice with no change. Doesn’t appear to be a rod knock because I can pull each plug wire while it’s knocking and it never goes away. I can make the knock worse by adjusting the timing in either direction. I have since set the timing using the method described in the FSM and when doing so discovered that i have code 31 and 24 flashing at me. (Faulty AFM) I believe i found the solution to that which I’ll share in a minute. But the knocking is still there. Also I currently have NGK iridium plugs in it but just ordered the Toyota plugs to see if that makes any difference? I also installed a Toyota oil filter and did notice an increase in oil pressure over the WIX filter but still have a slight knock. My next attempt is 93 octane but it seems odd that a 3FE would require high octane. I have learned so much about the 3FE from this forum but I’m left stumped on this one. I will post if i find a solution.

 

[michaelscrf]

I removed the cover on my AFM since it was testing out of spec and discovered that the tiny brushes on the arm are supposed to touch the contact when fully closed which gives you 200-600 ohms when measuring E2-VS. Mine was not touching so I just bent the contact ever so slightly to touch and now all my measurements are within spec and the code has not come back.

 

[michaelscrf]

I filled up my tank with 93 and that seems to have gotten rid of my knock. Which seems odd to me because i know these engines to run on anything that’s flammable. But for now i will just keep premium fuel in it and see if i can track down the actual problem later.

 

[RevISK]

Maybe she just needs a good douche?

I try to put top tier in whenever possible. On long road trips I’ll throw some fuel injector cleaner in every so often to combat questionable gas out in the yonder.