I’m filling in for Mel Lowe this week and taking his ROTW spot.
I was first introduced to Land Cruisers when I was a teenager and moved to Costa Rica to live with my dad. At that time 80% of the vehicles on the road were Land Cruisers. Dad gave me a beat up and dilapidated HJ45 pickup, a true rattletrap. It was my first attempt at body and paintwork. Every body panel ended up being a different color. If you ever heard the song “Piece of s*** car” by Adam Sandler, it described it too a “T”. I loved that truck. Stayed in Costa a year, moved back to the US. Once back in the US, never really considered owning a Land Cruiser here.
Fast forward the clock 20 some years. I acquired an HJ60 in Costa Rica. It was still drivable, but body was way beyond repair. Early in 2004 started looking for a replacement body or vehicle to export so I could have a decent vehicle down there. Surfing the net, found an FJ60 listed for sale in the Cruizer Classifieds. It was upstate in Gainesville. Went up the next weekend, shelled out $1500 for it and towed it home. It was a one owner family vehicle with a fairly good body and nice interior. It had just sat a year or two in the guys’ back yard without being driven. Gummed up fuel lines and a frozen starter was all that ended up being wrong. It ran fine after a fuel tank and starter cleaning.
A couple of weeks later got a great deal on an 82 GMC utility truck from a junk car pickup call. The 6.2 diesel engine in it was good. I got on the net and started researching Land Cruisers and diesel conversions. Then started reading about people running vehicles on veggie. I discovered a whole new world. Up to this point I never realized IH8MUD, cruiser clubs or cruiser enthusiasts ever existed.
I pulled the diesel out of the GMC, cleaned it, changed all the seals & gaskets, painted it, and attached an NV4500 5speed transmission. Then I fabbed up a cross member and motor mount brackets and installed it into the FJ60. While doing the conversion, plumbing for a second fuel system to run veggie was done.
To save typing, a link to the build up:
LC
I went ahead and put tags on it, so it could be driven and bugs worked out. I started hanging out here on Mud, met some local cruiser heads and got bit by the cruiser bug.
The usual modifications ensued. On went an OME lift, new wheels, 33” X 12.50 Firestone MT’s and an Aussie locker.
The cruiser started to grow on my wife Terri, and she started to like it. She named it “Stinky” and it evolved into our daily driver and weekend off-roader. Needless to say we gave up on our original intentions of exporting it, and Stinky will probably be our daily driver from here on out.
Then came the purchase of another FJ60 to assume trail duties, but that’s another story.
Steve
I was first introduced to Land Cruisers when I was a teenager and moved to Costa Rica to live with my dad. At that time 80% of the vehicles on the road were Land Cruisers. Dad gave me a beat up and dilapidated HJ45 pickup, a true rattletrap. It was my first attempt at body and paintwork. Every body panel ended up being a different color. If you ever heard the song “Piece of s*** car” by Adam Sandler, it described it too a “T”. I loved that truck. Stayed in Costa a year, moved back to the US. Once back in the US, never really considered owning a Land Cruiser here.
Fast forward the clock 20 some years. I acquired an HJ60 in Costa Rica. It was still drivable, but body was way beyond repair. Early in 2004 started looking for a replacement body or vehicle to export so I could have a decent vehicle down there. Surfing the net, found an FJ60 listed for sale in the Cruizer Classifieds. It was upstate in Gainesville. Went up the next weekend, shelled out $1500 for it and towed it home. It was a one owner family vehicle with a fairly good body and nice interior. It had just sat a year or two in the guys’ back yard without being driven. Gummed up fuel lines and a frozen starter was all that ended up being wrong. It ran fine after a fuel tank and starter cleaning.
A couple of weeks later got a great deal on an 82 GMC utility truck from a junk car pickup call. The 6.2 diesel engine in it was good. I got on the net and started researching Land Cruisers and diesel conversions. Then started reading about people running vehicles on veggie. I discovered a whole new world. Up to this point I never realized IH8MUD, cruiser clubs or cruiser enthusiasts ever existed.
I pulled the diesel out of the GMC, cleaned it, changed all the seals & gaskets, painted it, and attached an NV4500 5speed transmission. Then I fabbed up a cross member and motor mount brackets and installed it into the FJ60. While doing the conversion, plumbing for a second fuel system to run veggie was done.
To save typing, a link to the build up:
LC
I went ahead and put tags on it, so it could be driven and bugs worked out. I started hanging out here on Mud, met some local cruiser heads and got bit by the cruiser bug.
The usual modifications ensued. On went an OME lift, new wheels, 33” X 12.50 Firestone MT’s and an Aussie locker.
The cruiser started to grow on my wife Terri, and she started to like it. She named it “Stinky” and it evolved into our daily driver and weekend off-roader. Needless to say we gave up on our original intentions of exporting it, and Stinky will probably be our daily driver from here on out.
Then came the purchase of another FJ60 to assume trail duties, but that’s another story.
Steve
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