Refurb of the ol' FJ62 GXL 3F H55F

[AussieCruiser62]

Hi everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. I'm Tim, from Oz. Thought I'd better pull my finger out and introduce myself!
I live in beautiful Fremantle, the shipping port town at the mouth of the Swan river in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia.
I've had my '89 FJ62 for a few years now, but I've only recently got it back up to where I'm currently living. (She's been in the shed at my old man's place for the last couple of years due to personal circumstances). I had started working on it when I first got it from my little brother, got a few things done, like all new drivetrain fluids, some rust repair, tune up (mainly carby adjustment), suspension bushes etc.
But now I'm super happy to have the ol' girl back in my hot little hands and crack on with swinging the spanners

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Nice rig!!!

I like that bumper. Wahts the dealio with that??

 

[AussieCruiser62]

I guess, I should make this my "build thread", as I'll keep posting my progress, although it's gonna be comparatively mild to a lot of your guys trucks!
I'm basically planning on doing a 3" spring lift, larger tyres (she currently has 31 10.5 R15's). I'm tossing up between 32 11.5 R15 or 33 10.5. R15. I had 32 11.5 R15 BFG AT's on my old '86 Nissan MQ SWB Patrol about 20 years ago when I lived up north in Broome, they were great tyres and suited the SWB well. They took me through plenty of slippery, slimy, tacky mud during the wet seasons (monsoons), as well as gravel (Gibb River road) and of course tons of beach driving - for those that don't know, you can just drive down on to the main beaches in Broome - it's one of the tourists attractions, and we'd be down there almost every day after work with the dogs etc. Because of the huge 10 metre tides up there, the sand conditions can be very deceiving, and every year a handful of wood ducks (people with no friggin' idea) get bogged at low tide and their vehicle gets swamped by the incoming tide.
Here's a few pics of the interior, this Cruiser is in pretty good nick, it's mainly a bit of rust around the roof gutters, and running gear mechanical maintenance that is required. She's got 323000 km on the clock and the engine purrs like a kitten ...an angry kitten..lol..

 

[AussieCruiser62]

Nice rig!!!

I like that bumper. Wahts the dealio with that??

Thanks mate.
She's the GXL model that we got here in Oz. 3F carby motor, A/C, power windows, power steering, power door mirrors, H55f, (optional auto), rear LSD, factory ally side steps, factory chrome 15x7 rims, and the optional polished ally bull bar. I believe the bars were locally produced and dealer fitted.
Cheers.

 

[AussieCruiser62]

WSOP, I see you have a super fast red beast also, is it a HJ60? Hard to see under all that snow!

 

[AussieCruiser62]

The drain plug pictured is front diff. The hhmmm "oil" that came out was the colour and consistency of molasses, and only about 1 litre (a quart) was in there....less than half correct capacity

The rear diff and the H55F were not too bad, and the transfer was only about 3/4 full!

I've put a few thousand on her since then, and all seems well, apart from the push button H4 activation, that's never worked. I've had to push the button, stop the vehicle, manually put her in L4, then then back to high range, and she stays in H4...crikey, what a performance!
So yesterday I decided to suss out the fault. I tested the VSV's as per the FSM, and they had correct coil resistance and also switched correctly when hooked up to 12v, so I'm thinking oh bugger, the actuator diaphragm is split. So I removed the actuator from the transfer to have a squizz.

Nasty! A bit funky in there, the diaphragm rod and actuator mech were gummed up with sludge and crap and I figure there was just too much resistance for the vacuum mech to move the rod. The diaphragm is fine, thankfully.

 

[Seth S]

Nice rig!!!

I like that bumper. Wahts the dealio with that??

Looks like standard issue roo deflector to me.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Looks like standard issue roo deflector to me.

I want a Roo deflector....

 

[AussieCruiser62]

I gave it all a nice clean up, and everything moves smoothly now.

I made a new paper gasket from some thin cardboard; a little trick I've used many times on motorcycle casings etc. You just lay the card over the housing and with a ball pein hammer, GENTLY tap directly over the holes, and the sharp edge will cut the hole. Then simply press and rub over the rest of the housing to get an imprint, which you then cut out with scissors. Not as flash as an OEM one, but hey, it's rough enough for the bush!

As per the FSM, I greased up the mechanism shoes and pivot rod with GP lithium grease, and I also like to smear a thin coating of grease on both sides of the gasket (obviously I don't do this on head or exhaust or sump gaskets etc) it's tacky, so helps the gasket stay in place when you reassemble and also helps with disassembly the next time....

 

[AussieCruiser62]

Looks like standard issue roo deflector to me.

Hehe, yep. That's about all they're good for...and only a small roo at that. Everyone likes to call em bull bars, but I'm telling ya, if you hit a bull, one of those ally bars will fold up like foil! No where near as strong as a good steel bar like ARB.

 

[Seth S]

When I visited WA back in 2011 everything had a front end like that. From a Suzuki swift up to a road train.

 

[AussieCruiser62]

After reassembling the actuator and incrementally tightening the bolts to 13ft/lbs as per FSM, the push button H4 system now operates as smooth as silk, you little bloody beauty!

Here's some Ducati porn for the Mudders out there who are also of the 2 wheel persuasion.

Man I miss that bike! (2003 Monster 1000s IE-injectione electronica) With the open cover on the dry clutch, idling at the lights, the sound would make small children cry for their mummy, and dogs run for the hills

 

[AussieCruiser62]

When I visited WA back in 2011 everything had a front end like that. From a Suzuki swift up to a road train.

Haha, yep...at least the road train ones are made tough and solid..
A while ago I clipped a tree whilst off roading, only doing like 20kmph, and bent the bar back so it just touched the front of the bonnet! So then I wrapped a sausage sling around it, attached that to a tree, and snatched it back out straight again in reverse....you'd almost never know....apart from a small dent in the leading edge of the bonnet.

 

[AussieCruiser62]

Seth, what were you doing in WA mate? Holidaying?

 

[Seth S]

Seth, what were you doing in WA mate? Holidaying?

Came down to race in the Australasian Safari rally. Made a mistake on day 4 and hit a fence at 90 km/h. Ended my event. But I still had fun.

 

[AussieCruiser62]

Came down to race in the Australasian Safari rally. Made a mistake on day 4 and hit a fence at 90 km/h. Ended my event. But I still had fun.

Oh bugger! That's a bummer....glad you still enjoyed your time here mate.

 

[AussieCruiser62]

I want a Roo deflector....

I'll sell you mine if you want....or swap ya for a standard factory chrome bumper...shipping might be a tad expensive though!
I actually love the front of the 62 with twin rectangular headlamps....though from what I've read, most of you folks over there like the 60/61 singular round style....each to their own, hey

Looks much better without the roo bar blocking her gorgeous face
I've been looking for ages for a stock standard front bumper, but they're as rare as rocking horse poop!
Like Seth said, everyone puts roo bars on their fourbies over here, and ya do need em when travelling on country roads...bloody Roos love jumping in front of cars....plus up north ya get cattle, sheep and goats, wild horses etc on the road coz the huge farming stations are mainly not fenced along the road and the stock roam free and wander across the road. I've had a few near misses...coming around a sweeping bend at 120kmph and all of a sudden there's a group of cattle standing in the middle of the road...sure makes the adrenalin pump! I guess it's like you guys with moose up north...and deer etc.
Anyway...I'm dribbling sh#t now....I love how the 60's look with a standard bumper, so I'll more than likely fab up a sweet custom steel bumper (I'm a boilermaker/welder).

Cheers

 

[Seth S]

Roo are like dear in the USA. Moose are more like camels. Don’t see them so often but hitting one is bad news.

 

[NookShneer]

Truck’s in fantastic shape for the adventures I’d imagine you could have in that area of the world. 62 dash, choke cable, h55, LSD...

It’s a sweet ride. You don’t have cable lockers do you?
- From the other WA.

 

[AussieCruiser62]

Roo are like dear in the USA. Moose are more like camels. Don’t see them so often but hitting one is bad news.

Oh, definitely mate...I've seen pics of the carnage caused by hitting a moose, damn things have such long legs, they come through a standard car at head height, taking the upper half of the occupants with them and peeling the bloody roof off the car...very nasty!