FJ60 Build

[KeepCruzin]

Iv had my FJ60 for 2 years now, and its come a long way since I got it used from a guy in LA. He used it as a daily driver and with traffic and whatnot he just couldnt keep it. My dad drives two FJ60's as his work vehicles, and now I have one. It had 170,000 on the clock, newly re-built stock straight 6 2F engine, 28 inch tires and NO rust. Got it at a good price, and got to work. The leaf springs were FLAT so we lifted it with Old Man EMU 4 inch lift, done by Gary at Mudrak Custom Cruisers. With such tiny tires and a big lift, it looked like it was on training wheels. All my summer job money went into buying a full set of BFG All-Terrains- 32x10.5 and they look great.

Recently started a new bumper build. Got tired of having my hi-lift laying in the back, and wanted to carry it outside the car. So I rebuilt a hi-lift that I got for free. Hi-lift was in ROUGH shape so i stripped the paint off of it, and re-painted it.

Got the Raw Steel in 20ft strips= 1 length of 3 inch x 1/6inch steel, and one length of 5x1/6inch
Measured out the mounting brackets, and made a 3D scale design on SketchUp. Cut the strips to size, and got the mounting holes drilled. Used welding magnets to hold the pieces in place to check for line-up. Then I bolted the pieces on and tac welded the whole thing together. Removed it, and welded the whole thing.

Mounting brackets for the hi-lift are home made; milled on a lathe from 1inch solid steel rod. Drilled for lock and pins.

End caps and paint to come!

 

[JohnnyS]

Nice rig & welcome!!
That has a straight six as opposed to a V6, it is a fantastic engine.
You are super lucky to have Gary (AKA MUDRAK) around he's a great guy & a tremendous wealth of knowledge & ability.
My vote is an ARB front bumper next...
Don't ever sell it!!!

 

[KeepCruzin]

Well Im 16, and I cant imagine driving anything else. Its pretty underpowered though, and to get better milage and power Im thinking about swapping in a toyota turbo diesel. (that will be long down the road Im sure)

 

[MANUCHAO]

Nice looking 60.... a Toyota TD engine would be awesome to have under the hood...

 

[RMP&O]

Very clean 60....take good care of that truck.

Cheers

 

[NM-Frontier]

Very clean 60....take good care of that truck.

X2! Very nice wagon you got there! Welcome!

 

[BritKLR]

Great looking truck. Good luck on your build!

 

[96Delica]

:coffeedrink: The only thing I would trade my Delica for!

 

[KeepCruzin]

Hi-Lift Bumper mount is welded, ground, drilled, painted, and bolted on!

Just the bumper



Lift Mounted







Interior Welds

 

[KeepCruzin]

Rusty fluid in the radiator

Opened the radiator cap today to check the fluid level and it was the color of coffee. Is this a common problem? Knowing the previous owner I cant image he's checked it in all 165,000 miles. Radiator doesnt leak, but if anyone has any recommendations please let me know. I plan to flush it this weekend, and refill with 50-50 anti-freeze and water.

 

[MANUCHAO]

if and when you flush it.. see that you flush the heater at the front and the heater at the rear.......
FYI on your Hi Lift.
I have seen set ups that sit outside the vehicle (front or rear) seize up due to dust, and gunk from the fire road, and what not....
I keep the complete running gear for the High Lift inside the cab, so I know it will work when I need it.

 

[KeepCruzin]

Flushed the Radiator....... 4 times

So I drained the radiator 4 times yesterday. The first run came out looking like very dark coffee. There was about 1/6th of a cup of black sediment and chunks of rust that were in the bottom of the bucket after I emptied it out.

First Flush


The second and third.... and fourth runs all stayed fairly consistent in color. It lightened a bit after each run, but even after the fourth it was still pretty dirty. After each flush I would refill the radiator with water, and run the the engine for 10-15 minutes, then re-flush. I think its pretty apparent that the radiator was never flushed during the 200,000 miles the car has driven. I wonder what else Ill find...

The third run

 

[JohnnyS]

Make sure the heater valve (for lack of a better term) on the firewall is open so you flush out the heater core as well.
Might want to flush it out a few more times using distilled water before filling again with 50/50, especially seeing how the PO neglected it.
I'd be thinking about replacing all of the hoses (including heater line)...hmm, maybe silicone

 

[KeepCruzin]

Knuckle Re-Build and Brake Upgrade

I was getting some rather ludicrous wobble in the steering over 45mph, so I took it to Mudrak to get it checked out. Gary and I pulled apart the front end and in about 3 hours had everything fully rebuilt. We did the knuckles and front axle, and fixed the e-brake that was sticking. We replaced the rotors, and put in larger caliper's (brand new) that are on the 80 series. The truck stops much quicker now, and I can lock up all four wheels with a firm stomp on the brake. (previously it took about a mile to come to a stop from 50mph).


Couldnt get any pictures during dismantle or re-build but I got some final pictures.





Truck drives sooo much better now. I have way more confidence braking and controlling oversteer at high speeds.

Next up are some smaller fixes, then Ill post up my H55 swap! Rebuilt the transfer case and dropped in an entirely new 5 speed manual transmission. Pictures and writeup coming soon!

 

[roscoFJ73]

Hi some nice work going on there. With all that rusty water, I would budget for a new radiator sometime in the future. It gets rusty because air is getting in ,so you need to go through all the hoses and clamps and check for tightness.The radiator also gets clogged up in the cores,the only way to get to them is remove the upper and lower tank and rod them with a piece of wire. But then they often start to leak,so a new one is the usually the best way to go.
The heater matrix is best flushed separately by flushing it the opposite way the coolant flows through it.You nearly always get a load of muck coming out of there.