The Big Red Bucket Build

[FJ62sasquatch]

I have been saying I'm going to do a project thread for a long time, and finally TheMachinist inspired me to do one! This is my 1988 Fj62 Land Cruiser that my friends and I have deemed (dubbed?) The Big Red Bucket

That was after a good cleaning. She is wearing 33x10.5 wheels on some 15" Mickey Thompson Classic 2s. That picture was pre-blackout step 2... Above I have just painted the mirrors and the vents black they look pretty good if I do say so myself. I don't have a shot of the window but here is the back hatch and cargo windows done

And some pictures of the interior

She is a pretty sweet little rid I have spent some long days cleaning her up and all, when we first got her she had a lot of stains in the carpet and the seats... as you can tell in the drivers bottom seat. No bad rust on the body or the frame.. some of the engine components are pretty rusted, but the body and frame are good. I'm planning on here in the near future to do some pretty nice renovations like some wagon-gear-esq cargo panels (sorry kevin) and getting the seats reupholstered. I'll continue the thread with more pictures of what I have done today.

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

Here is some pictures of her in the mud

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

So let me just start by saying, working on these cruisers is deff a labor of love. Nothing on these things is easy to get to and everything seems to be in the most complicated place possible. Today I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, cap, and rotor. Took me and my girlfriends father a good couple of hours for a few reasons.. These plugs had probably never been changed and the plug wires still said 1988 on them... The plugs were NGK so I recon they had been changed at least 1 time because didn't denso manufacture all the factory components? The plugs should have a .031" gap the plugs I pulled out had about twice that much... the electrodes had been burnt down so much that I can't believe this thing was running!! here are the old plugs

to add to my fun day, when we were taking the cap off the screw closest to the passenger side snapped in two!! and on extraction it snapped off again!! so we had to break out the power tools and drill the screw out... WE BROKE TWO BITS OFF DOING THAT!! after drilling we had to tap the threads again.. but now everything is ok.. well almost everything but more on that later.. here is the new cap and plugs installed

you'll notice in that last picture that I had to remove the air intake hose to get to those plugs and cap... well apparently that rubber hose from the EFI to the first part of the intake was dry rotted and my efi had some gunk in it and we could figure out why.. until the rubber hose almost ripped in half.... this is the part thats torn and rotted

a little duck tape fixed that up real good! but I still need a new one.. if anyone knows where I can get that piece let me know!

to close out the thread I'll post another vanity shot of my behemoth she is no where on the level of what you guys run, but I'm proud of her. In the next couple of weeks I'll get the handles powder coated and a front bumper and winch.. things are swamped at work (a tanning bed I know!) and we are short staffed so I work everyday but saturdays and sundays are for cruisers so maybe I'll have something for you all to look at soon Tell me about what you guys think of the rig

 

[HotelCalifornia]

Thats one clean truck

 

[Trapper50cal]

Looks beautiful!

Those tires sure look wide for 10.5's

 

[The Machinist]

I've been looking forward to seeing this! I thought I had a nice 60, but yours makes mine look like a dented up piece of crap; your paint is so nice, and those wheel well covers look pristine!

This is definitely a thread I look forward to following.

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

You can't really tell from the pictures, but the clear coat on the roof and right below the windshield are both gone and the paint is fading... I really wish I could do something about it.. but there is no amount of wax I can put on it to stop it... any advice?

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

Thanks machinist! My interior is pretty well off now... thats why I'm focusing more on the body and engine now... if anyone wants to know those blackout pieces for the windows are from kevin over at wagongear.. $34 shipped to you and I'm pretty sure a link needs to be put in the best mods under 50 bucks thread lol

 

[The Machinist]

Ahh, well then maybe our paint situations arn't too different after all. The clear coat on my roof is done for, along with a few other spots. But mine is also covered in rock chips and has some rock damage in front of the rear passenger wheel well.

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

I wish there was a way to "spot paint" everything you know?

 

[The Phoenician]

She pretty. Love the color, just like mine.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Looks like a really great truck, sure starting with a solid foundation.

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

Thanks for the kind words, iirc that color is called freeborn red quite a-pro-pro I think

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

Well guys, I promised something to look at and I didn't want to jinx it.. But the ball is rolling on a new front bumper and winch!! here is the bumper, still arranging shipping on it!

Its not too bad rusty its all surface rust mostly, and I will clean it up REAL GOOD (if my interior tells you anything) I found where it originated... it's off a member named Yup Yup's rig I think he was in Alaska at the time. anywho yup yup had built a bull guard as well as his custom winch mount.. I am going to get some weld through clevis shackles on there and re build his bull guard... here is what his looked like

in that photo you can tell he had extended his bull guard to be a full brush guard but IMHO it looks better like that, so I'm just going to roll with a bull guard (think police cruiser ram) depending on how much the winch drops my front end (hopefully none) i will contemplate the size steel I will use.. I'm thinking 1/4" right now.. but I really want something powerful and protective so maybe 1/2" but I think that will drop the front end too much... so maybe something like 3/8" would be a good compromise.. and I'm thinking about getting some of these as well

but upon looking at them just now... I don't know... they look cool... i just don't know that drilling is really worth it... but that has to wait for now... I still have to buy another 12 quarts of Mobil 1 full synthetic for my Rodney Flush thats coming up... not to mention the air hose that has to be replaced before I can hit the trails again.. ugh so many things to do... so little time! I'm glad I've started working over time at the tanning bed! A high school senior doesn't make too much money, but I put a lot of time in work just for my cruiser and that Mobil 1 costs 9.99$ a freakin quart!! After the flush and the bumper and the winch I'm gonna start on some rear cargo panels!! I think I'm doing a pretty good job!

on another note, I have a coupon for a 12K Badlands winch from harbor freight for $330 good until March 30th! I'm going to give them a try you know.. I don't have much to loose, i'll get the extended warranty and seal up the box with silicone real good.. I read that part in the winch section of IH8MUD and it should work with the holes already in the winch plate... I'm looking forward to the days when I can winch myself out of some deep s***

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

woops I just realized that the image of the bumper, well the bumper is upside down in the image.. here it is right side up

 

[Trapper50cal]

My opinion only:

Do not get those rear tail light brush guards. They are known here on mud as "damage multipliers" for a reason. Would you rather replace a $30 plastic tail light lens? or have body work to do? All those things do is bend more metal when you hit or get hit by something.

Cool OEM front winch bumper though.

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

You know, I didn't even think about that!!! Good call on those tail light guards!!

 

[60 toy ota]

;hey sasquatch, we just got the same winch on the same deal, it is sweeeet. only problem is its going on the 80. i would love to see how it looks on a 60 series and how it works out for you, maybe i could convince the real owner of the car to invest cool build so far

 

[FJ62sasquatch]

If I remember right... I'll try to find the post about it... But I think you have to cut the grill on the 80 to fully engage the lever on the badlands winch... Well I guess that really depends on the bumper, but I hope all goes well! I'm pretty excited about the winch too!!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

<snip>
Nothing on these things is easy to get to and everything seems to be in the most complicated place possible.
</snip>

You've never worked on a transversely mounted front wheel drive V6 domestic, have you?

These are easy to work on. Don't get too frustrated just learn and work through each problem you come across. You and your truck will grow to become one

Now quit messing around and get started on your SOA!