The Life and Times of a 1984 FJ60

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

My 1984 FJ60 joined the family about a year ago and I’ve been slowly fixing her up, working out the bugs and upgrading since then. I figured I’d start a thread about the transformation of my Cruiser for those that are interested and to share ideas and get advice. I have received so much valuable help from people in this community on my projects so far.

The backstory is that I picked this 60 up in Alabama last year and drove her back down to Niceville, FL where I currently live. She has high miles but has had an engine rebuild at some point (probably a long time ago) and very little rust for a southern truck. The transmission is one of the smoothest manuals out of any vehicle I’ve driven and the 4 wheel drive works like a champ.

Right off the bat I could tell it had an exhaust leak at the manifold, rusted muffler and pipes and an aging carb that was probably due for a rebuild plus a slew of cosmetic issues like disintegrating rear interior panels and some light surface rust on the bumpers.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

My first upgrades were repainting the bumpers, grill and light bezels and installing a stereo system so I could have tunes. I decided to ditch the chrome bumpers. Sanded them down treated for rust and painted them a gunmetal color. I was very happy with the cleaned up look.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

For the stereo I replaced the deck with a Pioneer MVH-S501BH and door speakers with Infinity Kappa 50.11CS component speakers and Infinity Kappa powered by a MB Quart ZA2 1000.4 amp. Later on I added an Infinity Kappa 1200W sub powered by a RN1.3000D Rubicon Nano-amp. Mounted both amps under the front seats. My back interior panels were falling apart and weren’t even installed when I got the Cruiser so I bought some thin wood from Lowe’s, traced the original panels and cut out holes for the rear speakers, then wrapped them in fabric that closely matches the seats.

 

[SteveH]

The grille and headlight surround paint job look better (on the truck) than I suspected they would. Nice work!

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

Another project I did was to replace the original center console. When i first sat in a 60 I knew I hated that center console. It was just too low for me. Couldn’t rest my arm on it and the cup holder thing was poorly designed plus it had minimal storage. Figured I could make something better.

Found an old piece of white oak on the side of the road that I though would make a nice lid. Built the body out of 3/4” plywood. Painted it with a textured multi-color spray paint from Wal-Matt (almost like Rhino lining). Installed stainless steel cup holders for a boat from Amazon. Turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

 

[NMC_EXP]

Well done.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

One of the big repairs I’d been wanting to do was to fix the manifold gasket leak. I looked into doing headers but I still have the smog system and I just don’t have the time to de-smog it right now. Instead I opted to clean up the manifold, have it machined at a shop and install a new gasket. I also replaced all the vacuum lines while I had them disconnected. I reinstalled everything but the Cruiser would only run at full choke. I had many people saying it was a vacuum leak but I couldn’t find one. Finally gave up and took it to the shop last week and they told me the carb is shot at is the source of the problem. It is leaking internally and had epoxy on the exterior where someone patched a leak. I ordered a rebuilt (that looks brand new) from a carb shop in California. It’s supposed to arrive tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be back on the road.

While I had everything out I decided to buy a sand blaster from Harbor Freight. I used glass beads as media. Basically cleaned everything up and repainted intake manifold, exhaust manifold, valve cover, air filter housing and hard vacuum lines. Used POR15 on the exhaust manifold and height temp paint on everything else.

These are “before” pics...

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

“After” pics...

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

I’ve done a few other repairs and upgrades if anyone has any questions or anything. Also was surprised found out the other day that my 60 has an OME 2” lift on it!

Repairs/Upgrades Completed:
Replaced exhaust pipe and muffler with FlowMaster
Converted non-functioning AC to 134a
Replaced starter
Replaced front turn signals with clear
Replaced headlights with LED halo

My next project is to install the new carb and get it running again and looking into doing an alternator upgrade since I have power draw from my audio amps and will eventually add lights and maybe a winch at some point. I don’t want to break the bank with a Mean Green but would like something with at least 100 amps. I’ve been looking at threads where people have installed a CS130D alternator. Here’s the thread...
Bringing home a 60, untested...
Any thoughts?

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

I installed a rebuilt carb from Canoga Carburetors out of California this weekend. Purchased it through an eBay listing. They have tons of vintage carbs listed. The thing looked brand new. They did an incredible job. Did a rough adjustment and drove it down to the mechanic who’s going to tune the carb, adjust idles and timing.

 

[Seth S]

Really nice work. So clean and pretty.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

I’m ordering a new alternator and they are asking what pulley I want. My belt is a V-groove and measures about 9/16” wide. It fits the crank and PS pulleys perfectly but barely fits in the alternator pulley. The current alternator has a 2 groove pulley that is probably 3/8” wide each groove. The second groove isn’t even being used. I checked the part number and it is oroginal. The alternator dealer told me that the FJ60 calls for a 3/8” double groove pulley but when I look up the replacement belt on various sites it calls for a 5/8” wide belt (which is probably what I have now). I told them to give me a 5/8” pulley so all my pulleys are the same. Can anyone explain what the double pulley was for or why the shop would be calling for a 3/8” belt rather than the 5/8”? Just curious. Here’s a pic of my current alternator pulley (obviously way too small). The final pic is of my PS pulley and how it should fit. I know the belt is shot and I have a replacement ready, just want to remedy the alt pulley situation before I install the new one.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

Well after I got the carb installed I found out that I still had a bad manifold leak. I decided to pull everything back out and use a RemFlex gasket due to its crush design instead of the FelPro. It was also recommended in the forum that I give the bolts and nuts a few extra ft lbs of torque. That did the trick! It’s all back together with no manifold leak. Unfortunately I still have a ticking exhaust leak. I used a stethoscope and the only leak I could find was pretty bad and at the EGR pipe flange. The flange is pretty rusted and integrity was questionable. I just ordered a stainless steel replacement from SOR so hopefully that’ll close the leak and I’ll be back in business!

< Update >
So I replaced the EGR pipe and it fixed my last leak. I have a solid leak free system now!

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

Next up on my to-do list was my extremely leaky power steering system. The entire side of my engine was completely covered in fluid, and dirt since the day I got it and I had to constantly add fluid. Needless to say it was time for an overhaul. I opted to do the Saginaw conversion and ditch the stock pump. I ordered the pump from the auto parts store using a 1984 Volvo 244 diesel to look it up. I also ordered a new high pressure line from www.partsgeek.com and replaced low pressure lines with cut-to-fit from auto parts store. I couldn’t find a pulley in the right width that would fit the Saginaw so I ended up boring out my original with a 3/4” drill bit and then pressed it on the Saginaw. Seems to have worked perfectly. I cut out a couple of spots on my bracket to make it work and used about a 1” spacer on the left mount point and a series of a metal bar, bolts and spacers on the right mount point. It may look a little funny but it’s vertical and solid as a rock. Everything runs perfectly and best of all there isn’t a single leak!

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

In the next couple of weeks I plan on replacing my stock alternator. I purchased a rebuilt GM alternator (modded for 1 wire install) from Quality Power out of CA. I’m ordering replacement wires to the battery, starter and grounds. I have several auxiliary systems that I’m running so I’m going to bump my wire gauge up to probably a 1 or 1/0 gauge. I have 2 sounds system power amps that are running 1/0 from the battery already as well as a light bar and would like to eventually get a second battery and winch. I figure heavier gauge is a good idea for future expansion.

 

[SteveH]

Great progress and photos. I ran a GM 1-wire alternator in my FJ45 and was totally happy with it. Very simple to wire, needless to say.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

Great progress and photos. I ran a GM 1-wire alternator in my FJ45 and was totally happy with it. Very simple to wire, needless to say.

Thanks! What did you do with the alternator wire that goes toward the firewall and the plastic connector when you converted to the 1-wire setup? There are 2 wires coming off the alternator, one to the battery and one toward the firewall as well as a plastic connector. I’ve read just to stow them as they’re not needed. Is that right?

 

[SteveH]

On the FJ45, I'm pretty sure I ran my 1-wire through the ammeter and then back to the battery, and the entire vehicle was just powered off that. It had a rather simple electrical system, of course. You don't have an ammeter, so just running it to the battery (+) should work. You don't need a field-exciter wire, so you can just insulate that and leave it disconnected.

 

[Nathan Kuwitzky]

On the FJ45, I'm pretty sure I ran my 1-wire through the ammeter and then back to the battery, and the entire vehicle was just powered off that. It had a rather simple electrical system, of course. You don't have an ammeter, so just running it to the battery (+) should work. You don't need a field-exciter wire, so you can just insulate that and leave it disconnected.

That’s what I figured. Thanks!