Round vs Rectangular Headlights and AC Retrofit

[marshcat]

I'm looking at importing an HJ61 from Europe. Most of the HJ61s are rectangular headlight models, with the same front clip as an FJ62. I think the FJ60 style round headlights look so much better. Looking for a low/no rust HJ61 at a good price is already a difficult task. Trying to find an '86 or '87 with round headlights makes the search even harder. Even tougher if I want a truck with AC.

I've read through some old threads where folks swapped FJ60 headlights onto a FJ62. Looks fairly involved, with this list of parts

Core support
grill
grill support
front valence
turn signals
healight buckets
head lights
head light trim

Changing square headlights on FJ62 for round FJ60 headlights?

I did try searching for previous threads, but came up empty. Someone else has had to have done this before, right? I love the look of the FJ60 grill with the round headlights, but the drivability of the FJ62. How difficult is this to do? i Love those round Jeep headlights that have the...

forum.ih8mud.com

Anyone here recently done such a headlight swap? How long did it take? How much did it end up costing?

 

[BrickRunner]

I have. My radiator support was rotted out so it needed to be replaced anyway.
Start of the process is here.

 

[gimme a 60]

Honestly, just buy a 61, and swap it. It’s probably easier.

When I was looking to buy a cruiser, I thought I liked the square 62 headlights more….. then when I bought my 2nd land cruiser I fell in love with the round 60 headlights…. As somebody who owns both, round is better IMO.

However, if you install a nice ARB bumper, the square headlights look bad ass as hell! But, when you take the ARB bumper off it looks ugly.

Also, Remember, the 62 is a little bit more Heavy duty than the 60, so keep that in mind.

 

[marshcat]

Also wondering about experiences retrofitting AC into an HJ60 or HJ61. AC is a must for summertime, but if I can potentially retrofit after purchase that significantly expands my pool of eligible vehicles.