So I asked Mace to add this a day early. I hope you all understand but I am tied up with a fundraiser in the morning and I didn't wan't this hanging out there till Sunday.
I first became interested in Landcruisers about 16 years ago when I was in high school. A friend of mine was a mechaninc and had this old rusty FJ55 sitting in his yard. The paint was completely oxididized, faded, the floor boards were all rusted out, the brakes were shot and the interior was completely gutted. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I did everything in my power to get the rig from him and finally did after about 2 yrs of pleading. I then proceeded to work on it trying to get all the mechanical bits up and safely working but unfortunately I gave the rig back to him unfinished when I moved from California to Oregon. Fast forward to fathers day last year and my 87 60 series. My wife and I had our first baby and medical bills were mounitng due to the fact we had no medical insurance for about 6 months of the pregnancy. Needless to say we were very much in debt. So I sold my truck paid off the bills and with what I had left over I took my family out to dinner. After a bit of commuting by bike and sharing 1 car my wife had enough and told me to go buy a car. Enter the 87 FJ60.
It is a 3 owner rig and bought completly stock with 146K on the clock. So far I absolutley love it. I have rebuilt the front axle, rebuilt the transfer case, new clutch, rear main, front and rear brakes, plus misc other bits. I had a good friend rebuild the carb and the intake and exhaust gaskets and am now getting a respectable 14 mpg.
Here she is bone stock on the day I bought her:
We'll call her Margaret: more on this later
I have since added a MAF 4" Safari lift with shackle reversal. I found some sweet old scool Western Mags 15X8 with 3.5 backspace. The tires are 33 12.50 BFG muds.
I have a full 5x7 rack that I use for camping (sorry not pictured). I have built my own front and rear bumpers. The front bumper is based off of 2mbb design with a few tweaks. I have an 8k Warn bolted to the inside frame rails.
I plan on adding a pre-runner style hoop to the front and reworking the rear bumper to get the tire closer to the body. I am also in the planning stages of rock sliders and should have a locker by the end of the month.
Some other mods I would love to do one day are the 4.11 diff swap and a 5 speed. I figure I will run this 2f untill it dies then consider a diesel swap for a veggie burner.
I am at work right now and will add some more pics in the next few days. Please feel free to ask any questions or if you want specific pics!
I do want to say thanks to you Cruiser heads around here. I could not ask for a better group of people. The wealth of info, and the inspiration to tackle some of the more intimidating repairs I have faced during the last year (or so) has been fantastic. My garage is always open and I always have a cold one for you. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and talk some Cruiser.
Oh yeah: say hi to Margaret!
I first became interested in Landcruisers about 16 years ago when I was in high school. A friend of mine was a mechaninc and had this old rusty FJ55 sitting in his yard. The paint was completely oxididized, faded, the floor boards were all rusted out, the brakes were shot and the interior was completely gutted. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I did everything in my power to get the rig from him and finally did after about 2 yrs of pleading. I then proceeded to work on it trying to get all the mechanical bits up and safely working but unfortunately I gave the rig back to him unfinished when I moved from California to Oregon. Fast forward to fathers day last year and my 87 60 series. My wife and I had our first baby and medical bills were mounitng due to the fact we had no medical insurance for about 6 months of the pregnancy. Needless to say we were very much in debt. So I sold my truck paid off the bills and with what I had left over I took my family out to dinner. After a bit of commuting by bike and sharing 1 car my wife had enough and told me to go buy a car. Enter the 87 FJ60.
It is a 3 owner rig and bought completly stock with 146K on the clock. So far I absolutley love it. I have rebuilt the front axle, rebuilt the transfer case, new clutch, rear main, front and rear brakes, plus misc other bits. I had a good friend rebuild the carb and the intake and exhaust gaskets and am now getting a respectable 14 mpg.
Here she is bone stock on the day I bought her:
We'll call her Margaret: more on this later
I have since added a MAF 4" Safari lift with shackle reversal. I found some sweet old scool Western Mags 15X8 with 3.5 backspace. The tires are 33 12.50 BFG muds.
I have a full 5x7 rack that I use for camping (sorry not pictured). I have built my own front and rear bumpers. The front bumper is based off of 2mbb design with a few tweaks. I have an 8k Warn bolted to the inside frame rails.
I plan on adding a pre-runner style hoop to the front and reworking the rear bumper to get the tire closer to the body. I am also in the planning stages of rock sliders and should have a locker by the end of the month.
Some other mods I would love to do one day are the 4.11 diff swap and a 5 speed. I figure I will run this 2f untill it dies then consider a diesel swap for a veggie burner.
I am at work right now and will add some more pics in the next few days. Please feel free to ask any questions or if you want specific pics!
I do want to say thanks to you Cruiser heads around here. I could not ask for a better group of people. The wealth of info, and the inspiration to tackle some of the more intimidating repairs I have faced during the last year (or so) has been fantastic. My garage is always open and I always have a cold one for you. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and talk some Cruiser.
Oh yeah: say hi to Margaret!