The Great Blue (or at least my blue) Cruiser Project

[whirlybirdbrewing]

After countless of hours of searching I've found what I'm looking for. A functioning 1985 FJ60 with 151K on the odometer, only a wee bit of rust, and everything as stock as can be. So the adventure begins... Not a gearhead by trade exactly but looking for this to be my entrance into that pastime.

Things I already know I'll be scouring Mud for tips on are...
1. General cleanup/tuneup. The boring but important stuff. Seals, belts, vacuum lines, wires, etc.
1a. Knuckle Job Complete! What a mess...
1b. New Rotors Done with the knuckles since everything was in pieces.
1c. Rear Drum to Disc conversion
1d. Desmog
2. ARB front bumper with a winch of course and rear bumper. (Rear built from a Fourrunner kit.)
3. Roof rack. Diamond Rax maybe?
4. Suspension mod. Nothing crazy maybe just SOA a few inches and some better leafs. (OME is complete!).
4a. 33's to match of course.
5. H55 as soon as the 4 speed dies (if I can wait that long)
6. Fun stuff when the time and money are both there (dual battery, air compressor, welder)

A pic or two...







Wish me luck.... I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[klinetime574]

Welcome to MUD <----- Official IH8MUD Welcome


You're gonna learn real quick if you love that thing like all of us do. Looks like a great starting point. Thanks for saving a classic

 

[Fj moneypit]

That color looks familiar!? Lol. SOA sounds a little crazy adventurous to me but if you can do it that would be cool. Oh yeah your first mod should be a driverside mirror, lol. Nice ride. Good luck with the build!

 

[The Phoenician]

welcome to the madness Marine. If you go SOA you're gonna want 37s.

If you go 37's you're gonna want a bigger engine.

 

[90FJ]

You can fit 33s on a stock suspension.

 

[dbleon]

Nice rig!! Love the blue..

Keep it SUA if only need/want to run 33's, it will keep things simple.

The 4 spd likely wont die anytime soon, so your good there.

Think about gears (4.11's) if you want it to move up grades in any respectable fashion with the 2f/4spd/33's.

Cheers and welcome to the addiction!

 

[apollo]

whirlybirdbrewing - I'll be following this build thread closely, as I'm not too much of a gearhead either, but can't wait to find my LC. Good luck!

 

[TallCanDan]

Nice looking rig, where about in SoCal are you? I'm in San Diego (Clairemont) and if I ever get my new to me door mirrors swapped you're welcome to my old ones. They ain't pretty, but will save you a ticket! :flipoff: welcome to Mud!

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

See this is what I'm talking about. Tips-o-plenty. Engine and 37's? Damn. SOA is f-in' out. SUA, you're back f-in' in. Boom.

Yeah, smart glamor shoot angle on the new ride. Old Blue has got this real hard to find, custom mod that a special gravity based mounting system of the driver side mirror under the driver side seat. Yes, I keep the broken off mirror under the seat. Maybe it's so I can say it just happened and sneak out of the impending ticket.

TallCan- I'm up in Oceanside. From what it sounds like you seem to be a good resource in the area. Don't be surprised if I show up with a case of beer and a 1,000 questions some day...

Thanks for the warm welcome, happy to be here.

 

[gregnash]

I still have both my 60 mirrors too and they are in pretty good shape, so if you want them let me know (if you don't take Dan's). Looks like a fun build.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Welcome aboard and nice start. I'll have a few items available as my new build progresses. Stay in touch with me.

J

 

[justacruiser]

Nice ride! I don't see too many blue ones. Ive never seen one in person and it looks great! Nice starting point too, 150K is pretty low for one of these bad boys.

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Well I've owned it for a few months and am just now getting around to its first oil change. 151,4XX Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 10W40. FRAM HM8A High MillageFfilter. I was shocked to find the oil for so cheap (about $20 per 5 qt jug at Wally World) but it's nice because I've never put 8 quarts of oil into anything before. Where does it all go? I should've changed air filter, spark plugs, and flushed the radiator.... but I didn't. Next weekend now has a project. The engine compartment needs a good cleaning and I think I'm just going to rip all the vacuum lines out and install new ones as half of them are in various stages of decomposition.

 

[Sweatyforehead]

I was shocked to find the oil for so cheap (about $20 per 5 qt jug at Wally World) but it's nice because I've never put 8 quarts of oil into anything before. Where does it all go? .

Nobody knows where it all goes, I dump 10 letiers of 15w40 in and poured about 8 Letiers of coolant in when I did the water pump.

All into the deep cruiser abyss, I guess?

 

[rrv333]

Well I've owned it for a few months and am just now getting around to its first oil change. 151,4XX Mobile 1 Full Synthetic 10W40. FRAM HM8A High MillageFfilter. I was shocked to find the oil for so cheap (about $20 per 5 qt jug at Wally World) but it's nice because I've never put 8 quarts of oil into anything before. Where does it all go? I should've changed air filter, spark plugs, and flushed the radiator.... but I didn't. Next weekend now has a project.

The engine compartment needs a good cleaning and I think I'm just going to rip all the vacuum lines out and install new ones as half of them are in various stages of decomposition.

Look on McMaster-Carr for the vacuum lines. Great website and welcome to Mud!

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Look on McMaster-Carr for the vacuum lines. Great website and welcome to Mud!

Jesus.... The options make me go cross-eyed. Umm... based on the old Mud advanced search and 45 minutes of my time that I can't get back.....3mm and 6mm correct? Something like 5041K52 and 5041K74?

 

[Spudman]

Nice looking rig mate, I'll be waiting to see some pics inside and out

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

K&N E-2940 Air Filter installed. Spark plugs in. New tires about to be ordered. Going to flip a coin and either go with the BFG T/A KO's or the General Grabber AT2's. Leaning towards the latter as I can get them for about $45 cheaper per tire.

So here's the next challenge I've been avoiding.... cancer...

So the grinder and wire brush still need to come out and get some work but I'm curious as to anyone's thoughts on the extent of the damage from rust. The vast majority of the frame looks fine. Some light surface rust but nothing serious.... until you get to the rear leaf spring shackle.... then it looks like this...



and this....



So yeah... not the best but the question is how bad? There is about 12-18 inches of the nasty, flaky stuff. Seems like the frame is still sound and I'm not planning on taking this rig off a jump anytime soon but I also don't want the shackle to snap off.

2 cents appreciated from anyone.

 

[Fj moneypit]

Go BFGs!

Looks like my rig!

That rust does not look pretty but I think there's a thread about that area and how to replace.

 

[gregnash]

Answer a couple of your questions.

1. Yes, stock vacuum lines are 3mm and 6mm however you can get away with 5mm instead of the 6mm just fine. Also look at boostcontroller.com I think when I did mine they were slightly cheaper

2. When doing oil make sure you get something that has a good ZDDP rating or add a ZDDP additive. Lots of threads on this but jist of it is that these old flat tappet cam engines need the extra zinc and phosphorous for protection. Most of us use Rotella T, Valvoline Blue Premium, or the like that has a documented (check out bobistheoilguy) high ZDDP rating in 15w40 flavor. Since you are in SoCal you can get away with the 15w40 easy

3. Do a full tune-up when you get the chance so that way you have a good starting point. Call Georg at Valley Hybrid in Stockton and he can get you everything you need (Toyota stuff too) and to your door quickly.

4. Rust.. rust is the bane of these trucks however yours does not look too bad. I would look into joining your local club and having one of the more knowledgeable guys go over the truck with you. Most will accept payment in beer and pizza so the trade-off for knowledge is perfect!