Rescuing a blue 60 /build/ chit chat thread (1 Viewer)

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Well, I have been harassing the previous owner of this 60 for YEARS. It was just sitting and sitting by his shop, always in the same spot. The one time I saw it moved, I called the tire shop where it was parked and they actually gave me his #.

Recently, it had moved to in the woods so I did a little recon on it: descent body, shackles on backwards, good color, new BFGs, old OME lift, leaky PS, new exhaust. Almost all wins in my book.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

He paid too much for it and didn't want to come off the price any, but years of pestering finally paid off and I drove her home last Saturday!! AC! Desmogged, new Webber, K&N, header, all new hoses, new radiator maybe? somebody had loved this truck at one time. It wasn't this guy, but someone had.

First stop was ORileys for whining PS pump and some snakeoil aka SeaFoam. Drove pretty well. Slow and smooth. Let some degrease soak and pressure washed the underside to help find leaks and make axle pulling not so nasty. Cleaned up pretty well. The vacuum advance was on the wrong port and I don't think it's working even after swapping the line anyway. Took her on the trails a little and took off brush guard (get it cheap. Pickup only!) Ran out of time on the diagnosis because she quit driving cruising down the road.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

I had literally driven by this perfect trailer for sale 5 min before. Big blue then sputtered and died on the way back home. Would run off of starter fluid, but never crank.
When she died, I called the owner of the trailer, got my kid to pick me up, bought trailer, loaded up the 60 by bumping starter, and towed her home. A full load for his Runner.

Fuel lines prior to filter were full of this.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

So, I drop the tank, it's full of this mess. Could be old fuel or even some old tank coating?? The tag had not been renewed in a few years, so no telling how little times being driven. Dropping the tank wasn't really that hard, just annoying dealing with the 20 gallons of premium I had put in it the day prior. No way to not get some gas on you. Also go to use my new favorite tool: cordless impact. So fun.

I let some purple-power-eat-your-face-super-cleaner-stuff soak for an hour and pressured wash it for 10 min. Lot s and lots of this came out. This one piece is 6" long.

I replaced every fuel line i touched and have the carb soaking in pine sol for a few days. This used to clean up dirt bike carbs pretty well. Don't tell my ole lady that I used the crock pot though!!
Lots of little jet pluggers in the carb filter as well.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Bought these 315s today from a fellow Mudder, along with some lunchbox lockers, x2 4.10 FJ62 diffs, all in the mud classifieds, nice wheel spacers from Poly Performance, and about to pull trigger on some chromoly front shafts and front end rebuild kit too. I have a new 9.5k winch that was on sale during Christmas and plan on fabbing some simple, clean, bumpers and sliders. @mel lowe came through like a pure badass and mailed me lug nuts for the wheels on super short notice! Thanks again! The LX450 wheels are some of my favorite and I hope they will look right on the old body style. They may get a few coats of gunmetal gray paint.

Plan is to have a very capable weekend truck. I commute 400-500 miles a week and have a little fuel efficient DD for that duty. I figure with 35"s, lockers, and a winch, I have the ability to go deeper into the woods than the big boned body of this rig will like.

My sons 4Runner has an ARB, elocker, 4.88s, and 285 KM2s. We can load up the whole fam, some friends, and have some badass "remote camping" trips.

If I come with another $4k, I want to swap in a 3.4l, dual cases, and 37"s, but I'm not holding my breath. A 4:1 case or lower diff gears are a much greater possibility.

I've been out of the trial riding game for a while while the kids were little, but hope this is a good way to jump back in. Don't want a rig that has to be trailered anymore. No need to make it or break it anymore. Just some good ole fashioned exploring/ overlanding/ camping/ trail riding/ whatever you call it. Always been a great group of folks to hang with.

 

[Beams37]

Nice looking ride. Good luck with the build!

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Old rigs for fun!

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

That's it so far.

Out of town for work for a few days and hope to put tank and carb back in next few days and see how "well" it pulls the 35"s! Trying to swap diffs and lockers in two weekends.


Still love it, even missing a few parts! As I backed out of driveway this morning....

 

[Super77]

Bought these 315s today from a fellow Mudder...

Congratulations! But, hate to tell you: don't expect those LX450 wheels to fit. If the 60 is like the 62 (I believe it is) the factory rims are lug-centric, meaning the conical lug nuts force the wheel into center. The LX rims are hub-centric, meaning they use flat nuts and the hub itself centers the wheel. That, and the wheel doesn't clear the tie rod because the LX's offset is deeper. I know this because I tried to install the very same wheels on my rig. You might be able to bubba-rig something with the right spacers (???)

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Nice find!

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

I have quality wheel spacers.

I read this and am going to try it. If not, will have some wheels for sale!

Wheel Spacers - Hubcentric or not

 

[justbecause]

I'm glad someone got this! I saw it at OK getting tires and assumed someone bought it but it went right back into the trees... I talked to that guy years ago and he wanted a fortune for it. Congrats on getting it.

 

[SteveH]

Nice find and story. Good rescue!

Towing a '60 on a car hauler behind a 3rd gen - I hope it was a flat, slow, local tow - what a hoot!

 

[mattressking]

Nice find and look forward to seeing the progress. Curious to see how the new wheels look... I was just day dreaming about the idea of fzj80 wheels on the 60.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

I used the Slee method in the link above: I used three lug center nuts to get wheel centered, then put on three hub centric lug nuts and they went on perfectly. Then replaced the three lug with three more hub.

There is very very little room for it not to fit correctly, espically in the front over the lock out.

If i fly off the road and die, you can all say I told you so, but I really don't think it's going to be an issue.


BIG MEATS ON!!!! Thanks @jdlsantos for a good deal on the tires and making the 60 look right!

 

[justbecause]

It looks really good what's the plan for the bfgs

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

These are the spacers I bought

Synergy Lug Centric Wheel Spacers

They are same billet quality as the $ blues ones and not the cheap cast Chinese aluminum ones on eBay.
John the salesman was very helpful at PP.

Thanks again @mel lowe for shipping lug nuts so quickly!

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Thanks for all the compliments!

Still has this in the tank, so it's soaking and needing a wash again

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Aaandddddd lockers showed up! Woot woot!!

View attachment 1629659

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Nice find and story. Good rescue!

Towing a '60 on a car hauler behind a 3rd gen - I hope it was a flat, slow, local tow - what a hoot!

Luckily it was only about 4 miles! Did down for that, but I wouldn't have taken it down interstate.

It looks really good what's the plan for the bfgs

Going on DD I think. Brand new!