Opinions on rusty BJ60. Worth it? (2 Viewers)

[Benjitis1]

Hopefully going to take a look at a 1985 BJ60, 5spd, 3B Diesel, with 3" lift next week. Has a rusted out rocker panel, some frame rust that has been repaired and more frame repair needed. Some sheetmetal rust was cut out and replaced with riveted sheet metal patches. Price is $2000. Im gettin more pics from owner before i go up to BC to look. Mechanically, the rig sounds solid. Rust is my concern. How much is too much before its not worth the trouble?? Thought about just driving it and replacing rust with good material little by little, and if it gets that bad, swap powertrain over to an FJ60, funds and time permiitting. Anyone care to enlighten me that has been in this situation?? Also thought of buying an FJ60, drive it until funds are back up, then swap a 3B w/5spd in. Not sure which route would be better. Theres a million ways to do 1 thing.

 

[Big Cruiser Guy]

Pics?

 

[Michael Hanson]

Too limited info. to make a call. MIke

 

[Kynot62]

For $2k what you are getting is a drivetrain with a lot of miles. Not to say it is not worth it because this is what I did. Been worth every penny to me but it has been a ton of work. From experience the pics you may have seen more than likely don't show half of it.

Look through this The Wagon Way It may help you decide if it's right for you If it was me I would buy it but plan on a swap of the drivetrain to a non rusty FJ body and frame.

To get a mostly none rusty BJ you are probably looking at closer to 5 or 6K if you can find it.

Tony

 

[Benjitis1]

Should be getting more pics today. 453,000Km on the odometer. Heres an email from him;

"The engine work has all been done by pros. Glow plugs are perhaps 2 years old and the injector tips about 4 years. New water pump, two batteries and starter rebuild last year. New fuel tank and exhaust this year.
The body is not bad, there's one bit under the doors on one side that should be done, I did the other side last year with sheet metal painted both sides, I bent it myself over the old rusty bit and pop-rivetted it through, still looks good. Other repairs to the body are similar metal replacement with rivets, some could use a bit of touch up.
The frame repairs made in the past are pro jobs. There are some bits that could use some similar "fish plating" (that's where you cut patches with a torch and arc weld them solid over the weak area) and this is best done by someone proficient with these tools and method.
As stated in the ad, the main issue is the brakes, the failure and loss of fluid in the right front wheel that makes the vehicle undriveable right now."


I'll post some pics when i get them.

 

[Benjitis1]

As for looking for a clean BJ60 around $6000, i dont have the funds. Kinda why i figured buying a "fixer-upper" for aroun $2k, then nickel and dime it, slowly building up to the $6000 mark, kinda like making payments, instead of all at once

 

[tmonty]

The problem with that is, you won't be done at $6000!! Maybe around $12000!!! Either way!!!

 

[kling-on]

Sounds like alot of miles but I doing a s*** load of rework on my "low miles" 225k Km 3B none of it was I expecting and I tell you what you though 2F part were hard to find cheap... Wait
Till you start looking for 3B parts it's eating my lunch for sure

 

[Kynot62]

These things also rust in less visible places under the carpet, alot of the undercoat hides corrosion, sounds like a drivetrain.

The frame will rust from the inside out, no patch for that.

Compression? Cam bearings more than likely are shot, a leaky front end that won't even let you drive it home... Like I said it is probably a drivetrain that needs work.

Is it worth a look? Sure, you could be surprised but don't sell yourself before you look, you might want to look at a good one just to compare.

Tony

 

[Michael Hanson]

If your doing it for fun just do it. However you can put ALOT of fuel in a 2f or 3fe for what your going to spend on the diesel, its fuel and parts . Business wise its a losing deal. 2 cents MIke

 

[jzilla]

Where in BC is it? might be near me.
For what it is worth I picked up an 84 BJ60 for $1500, just a rust heap! Had 315,000kms on it, I only bought it to have a spare engine and 5 speed, since I already have another 3B with 510,000kms on it. See the link below to my swap.
$2000 is not bad but the kms are pretty high...bottom end could be ok, but you may need to do cam bearings, head gasket (head could be cracked) etc. etc. If you are able to buy it for a swap down the road into an FJ60 it could be worth it if you are doing the work yourself...it is really hard to say!
I agree with Tony, look at a few if you can. For 5000-6000 you will not find a diesel with no rust, they all have some...

 

[Kynot62]

If your doing it for fun just do it. However you can put ALOT of fuel in a 2f or 3fe for what your going to spend on the diesel, its fuel and parts . Business wise its a losing deal. 2 cents MIke

This one is a common misconception, I drive my BJ 60 daily to and from work and just about all the time after work that I get in a rig and before that I did the same with my FJ 62. My fuel costs were cut almost in half and within the first year I had saved more on fuel expense than I paid for the rig. On the highway trip down and back to Rubicon I saved over $250 in fuel compared to what I would have spent in my FJ62.

Off road my BJ gets more than 10mpg in low range, my 62 got around 3mpg sometimes less

I chose to do a lot more beyond the purchase but I could have driven the rig as is for at least a year after I bought it.

The other side of the coin, if its a rig you hardly drive (or a brand new engine) then the savings isn't going to add up.

But I don't have a Land Cruiser because I want to leave it parked so it was well worth it to me.

Tony

 

[Michael Hanson]

My land cruisers average about 14 mpg with mixed driving. I have never gotten such poor mpg as above, even when towing. If you use the cruiser for daily driving most of the time the numbers would not pay off within several years. The price of gas in our area is less than 3.00 a gallon, diesel is running 3.75 a gallon and up. If you swap out a 2f or 3fe that is running fine and swap in a 6,000-12,000 diesel. You can buy alot of gas for 6-12,000 dollars. MIke

 

[Kynot62]

Mike

I only paid $1600 for my complete running BJ...

That mileage is offroad in low range and all gas wagons do that bad crawling on the rocks,one of the two V8 forties with us used almost 20 gallons of gas while I used less than 2 gallons of diesel to get through the 17 or so miles of Rubicon.

On the highway my BJ can get up to about 23mpg (about 20 pulling a camp trailer) while my 62 got 12-13mpg which is very typical for a 62, I have heard about much worse. I once got less than 9 in my 62 pulling a small trailer in a headwind.

Driving the 50 mile round trip to work each day, it adds up fast

Tony

 

[Benjitis1]

Jzilla-Rig is located in Nanaino. Dont go beating me to it! Haha! Got a few pics from him tonight before it got dark. More pics to come. Ill be able to check it out in person next week when i head up there on a surf trip.

As for doing the frame/body swap, IF it came to that, ill be doing ALL of my own work, its fun, and cheaper that way. My FJ40 started off as a POS and 13 different colors, now its damn near unstoppable and looks pretty too!! Just emailed a few more questions tha nks to your guys' replies. I'll post up when i get a response. Heres a couple pics he sent in the mean time...

 

[Benjitis1]

And another...

 

[Benjitis1]

Few more..

 

[snowboardonsnow]

you will save so much in fuel, you'll be happy cuz your driving a diesel, and you can always throw it in a nice fj down the road.
that said, make sure the engine is in good shape like everyone has said, as well check for frame rust behind the rear springs and elswhere so you'll know if you can drive it around till one day putting her in a fj.

I think its worth it, I bought my bj for 500$ a rust heap worst then you have ever seen. low miles though 160k (miles) so far I have parted out over 500$ worth after just taking the engine for my self. And that didn't have a 5 speed, oh what I would do for a 5 speed.

plus they where designed to run on almost any oil.

if the frame is good and its sound and safe, drive it till you can afford to get a nice one.

Mike who ever pays someone so swap a 3b into a fj for 6,000-12,000$ is getting ripped off! you can do that swap in a couple weekends... while drinking lots of beer. specially when you have the donor truck, very limited cost in parts.

 

[snowboardonsnow]

hey man you are just down the road from me!

 

[lovetoski]

If the motor and tranny are ok, buy it. Everything else is relatively easy to fix. Drive it for awhile, if the rust turns out to be a problem, find a cheap 60 and do a swap. If a swap seems too much, don't buy the BJ (because more than likely you'll need to do one at some point.) Don't buy it as a daily driver for now, maybe later, but you'll need "reliable" transportation while you get this one sorted out (or swapped to a rust-free frame/body).