Builds Red Dawn (60 converted 62 Build Thread w/ R2.8)

[TheNeek]

We bought an FJ62/60 from a forum member in June of 2016. Didn't feel it was appropriate to start a build thread until now because we haven't really done much until the last few weeks. Really happy with the chassis on the truck and with the beginnings of the front end swap. Truck was mostly un-touched and very rust-free. It's a roll-up window, early year, FJ62 in "Red" with about 200k on the 3FE and stock drivetrain. Somewhere along the way the truck hit a chain link fence and the previous owner bought it all banged up in the front. The sheetmetal was replace with 60 parts and this is how we bought it (sadly the truck hasn't changed much in the last 8 months)

Sadly, the water pump seized on our way home and an amazing friend came and rescued us. I tried to do the pump in a hotel parking lot, but I think we all know how that turned out.

Once home though, it was a one day job. Did all the hoses and what not at the same time, factory coolant, distilled water.

So we drove the truck around for a while this way, doing odds and ends and trying to make sure it was reliable.

At this point we discovered a few things. The radiator leaked quite a bit, which was probably due to the coolant overhaul I did during the water pump replacement. All the flushing probably nocked out some corrosion or stop leak that was in there. We also had a p/s line fail and the oilpan was pretty drippy as well. So we got started on doing some maintenance things.

My partner in crime.

Then we drove it around some more venturing further and further just to get confident in the mechanics of the truck. We really enjoyed the way it drove and how it ran.

Started installing some creature comforts, like a Jensen 2din stereo with nav and a back-up camera.

The plan was always to get the truck painted so I knew this work on the back camera would be undone to some extent.

Then the fun started. Wheels! SSR Auswuch in 16x8 ET-1

Still looking for a loose fifth if any finds one lurking in a corner somewhere.

Did some LED headlights which are fairly nice. Wiring wasn't fun since the 62 harness was there and wasn't really all that easy to decipher. I got it all figured out after some wiring diagram work.

So this brings us to yesterday. We really started disassembling the truck for paint. I'm still going to fill the lower rocker trim holes and some other things, but we started stripping her down to get some fresh freeborn red done.

Always need to stay organized.

I'll try to keep this as updated as I can in the next few days as we get all done to go to paint. Then it will go dark for a bit as the truck will be with the painter for about a month. Then we get to start hanging all the fun stuff.

 

[TheNeek]

One thing that's troubling me currently is the driver's side fender. The bracket for the headlight surround isn't attached to the fender (I knew this when I bought the truck). I don't think this is the correct bracket for an FJ60 though. The trim sticks way out and doesn't look anything like the bracket on the other side which is a factory fender that is un-modified. I really want to get this fixed before it goes into paint, but I can't bring myself to weld on this bracket when it doesn't seem to be the right one. I posted a wanted ad on here but wanted to see if anyone in here could help me decipher what this is and if anyone has a fender with the correct bracket they could drill the spot welds for and ship to me? Or if there is even a whole fender somewhere that is for sale. Here is what I'm working with.

 

[Meatdawg]

Nice truck and pictures. Looks like you are on the right track to having a reliable, fun FJ62. My favorite color also. I like your guard dog hanging out in the back.

 

[TheNeek]

Nice truck and pictures. Looks like you are on the right track to having a reliable, fun FJ62. My favorite color also. I like your guard dog hanging out in the back.

Thanks! I love seeing clean red 60s. Really gives us motivation to get ours all finished up.

 

[red66toy]

Great work so far! Good to see another Washington 60 owner on here!

 

[mongoose2231]

One thing that's troubling me currently is the driver's side fender. The bracket for the headlight surround isn't attached to the fender (I knew this when I bought the truck). I don't think this is the correct bracket for an FJ60 though. The trim sticks way out and doesn't look anything like the bracket on the other side which is a factory fender that is un-modified. I really want to get this fixed before it goes into paint, but I can't bring myself to weld on this bracket when it doesn't seem to be the right one. I posted a wanted ad on here but wanted to see if anyone in here could help me decipher what this is and if anyone has a fender with the correct bracket they could drill the spot welds for and ship to me? Or if there is even a whole fender somewhere that is for sale. Here is what I'm working with.

That is because the front clip of a 60 is different than that of a 62. That there may be your problem. I'd try to modify it as best it can anf leave it at that.

 

[TheNeek]

That is because the front clip of a 60 is different than that of a 62. That there may be your problem. I'd try to modify it as best it can anf leave it at that.

The core support has been replaced and everything works great on the passenger side, it's this fender that doesn't work properly. This bracket is wrong I think. The headlight trim will stick out almost an inch.

 

[red66toy]

The core support has been replaced and everything works great on the passenger side, it's this fender that doesn't work properly. This bracket is wrong I think. The headlight trim will stick out almost an inch.

I think its your 62's cry for help to change it back to the square eyes! The 60 owners like to talk about how the round eyes are SO much better but they are so wrong..

 

[TheNeek]

I think its your 62's cry for help to change it back to the square eyes! The 60 owners like to talk about how the round eyes are SO much better but they are so wrong..

Ha Ha. Oddly enough it would actually cost me more at this point to go back to the square setup.

 

[bottombracket]

Love what you've gotten done already. I have a red 62 and I too am mulling over double DIN stereo choices. Can you post the exact model of stereo you used and details of its backup camera install?

 

[NookShneer]

@red66toy 62's are so extravagant with their 4 headlights.

 

[CaptClose]

New FJ60 in Big Bend

• CaptClose
• Feb 9, 2016

My favorite color too! Keep up the great work. I'm looking forward to following this thread.

 

[lastresort576]

looking good! love 60's and would have bought one, but I needed an LC a bit more reliable/DD'ish from the get go and went 80.

 

[fl4031003]

That little bracket looks like the 62 bracket. I just converted my fenders to 60, you can modify yours or get a 60 fender or bracket tacked in.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

you're half BLIND!!! if you're gunna paint another color than red, can we swap tailgates and rear hatches?

 

[TheNeek]

UPDATE: THIS JENSEN HEAD UNIT IS JUNK! It stopped working after 16 months and wouldn't even boot up. I found other such experiences on the internet. Do not purchase it for your project. I recently replaced it with a Pioneer unit.

Love what you've gotten done already. I have a red 62 and I too am mulling over double DIN stereo choices. Can you post the exact model of stereo you used and details of its backup camera install?

Sure. So here is the pile of stuff that my wife picked out. She did some serious research, even on this forum, to try and find the head unit that did what we wanted. It's a Jenson VX7022. It has nav, DVD player, XM satelite ready, mp3 stuff, the usual suspects. It's a nice unit. We bought the sirius antenna along with a little device which tricks the stereo into thinking that the DVD can always play (usually it wants the truck in park). This way we can watch a DVD at a camp site, or whatever. We got an Esky back up camera plate surround. It's pretty nice. The IR looks pretty good at night. Esky also sells these UHF transmitters and receivers so you don't have to wire the camera all the way through the truck. They work OK. Sometimes there is interference, like if you have a ton of stuff in the back or just randomly it'll get pissed. The picture gets static, like an over-air TV signal, but its still usable. I don't even notice when it does it anymore because it rarely gives us issue. We did have to tweak the location of the items a bit to try and get as clear a line of sight as possible. Position the transmitter so it's at the middle of the tailgate, and the receiver as close to the center of the dash and high as possible so it doesn't have to get a signal through the front seats and might be able to get over the rear bench. It sounds complicated but it's really not. Since we are painting the truck, I'm going to run the included RCA cable from front to back so that the picture is crystal clear. I'd skip the trasnmitter / receiver setup if you were willing to run the cable.

The toughest part about the back up camera was finding the reverse lights at a nice spot to splice into. The head unit will switch to the camera and duck the volume on the radio when you put the truck in reverse. It does this by feeding it 12v from the reverse lights. I found the lights in a harness near the drivers kick panel here (I'm pointing at it with the mulitmeter):

I pushed out the contact with a jewelers screw driver unclasping the locking mechanism for the contact and the stripped back some of the insulation.

Some shrink sleeving and we're ready to go.

Before:

After:

The thing hanging is the bluetooth mic for the hands free phone. We stuck that to the steering column. It works pretty well. The back up camera itself also needs twelve volts to start working, so did the trasnmitter. I cut into the harness that runs under the truck from the drivers to passenger side. The passenger tail light wiring is in that bundle and I just snagged it from there. No tricky harness things, just good old soldering. I didn't take any pictures of it, but everything is hidden in the tailgate. You can see the plate frame in the last photo of my first post. It's pretty small and you can adjust the angle of the camera dependant upon your lift or preference of view. Hope that helps.

 

[TheNeek]

That little bracket looks like the 62 bracket. I just converted my fenders to 60, you can modify yours or get a 60 fender or bracket tacked in.

Yea, I agree. I spent a bunch of time trying to track down a fender yesterday. I might have found a few that I could snag the bracket from. Sadly, none are as rust free as my current fender so there will be some metal work one way or another.

Here is the passenger side which fits perfectly.

 

[TheNeek]

I got two good days in this weekend. Day one was a little welding and the passenger side doors. First step was to fill all the holes for the rocker trim. The truck didn't come with any installed and I've never really liked the look of it. Not to mention the possibility for rust.

I punched out these little discs at work and drilled the holes a little larger so they were a snug fit.

Just tack away

And sand it flat

rinse and repeat

I think it'll look good with a subtle rock slider on there and the smooth rocker panel.

While I was poking around on the rocker I started looking at how I was going to coat the inside of the rocker panels after all this was done. I found the access holes which will work well. I was taking a break on my back and notice what looked like the serrated edge of a candy wrapping IN the frame. I started tugging at it and had to take a picture. The things you find in a 30 year old truck.

Then I got busy on getting all the glass, trim and door parts out of all the doors. I learned on the passenger side.

It was all pretty straight forward. I took my time since I wasn't sure what could be replaced and what couldn't. The back seat door windows were a bit difficult but I finally got it all figured out. Of course, I bagged and tagged everything and the pile keeps growing.

The next day I did the driver's side.

It went more rapidly and I got to take some other things off that I had skipped on the passenger side. I even drilled the rivets on the VIN plate so the whole jam could be painted.

Body shop wants the door latching stuff still on the door to do adjustments and what have you.

The pile grows still larger.

I'm still searching for the front FJ60 bracket for my fender. I've got a lead on a guy in Canada but he got a ton of snow and it's slowing up the works. I need to get that figured out so I can get the truck to the body show in 2 weeks. Any help you guys could provide would be great.

 

[TheNeek]

Today is a good news / bad news kind of day. Good news is the piece I need for the front fender has been paid for and should find its way across the northern border this week. More, good news is that I got the rest of the disassembly done over the last couple of days.

The pile has reached capacity I think.

The bad news is...

It's not terrible. I'll work on getting it cleaned up over the course of the week and see what I need to patch. The other side has a little, but it doesn't look near as bad. I'll get that cleaned off too and see what we're working with.

Cross your finger for me.

 

[helimech]

this looks like a great project, should be fun watching it transform!