Cruiser Therapy: LaOutbackTrail's FJ62 Landcruiser

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Here is one for ya' bud, 35x12.5R16, no rub :)

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But SOA though, right Ian? I'm not a fan of the spring over idea. I don't trust myself to do it and don't want to pay someone to do that. A SUA setup I can do and feel comfortable with... plus less guess work.

Edit: I just went thru your old thread, I reckon it isn't!
 
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Ridge Runner

Delta V
Here is one for ya' bud, 35x12.5R16, no rub :)

409221_2532837618196_1341635223_n.jpg

Ooohh, the background in this picture really makes me want to head out west.

Scott, I'm anxious to see what yours looks like once you lift it since mine is the same color. While I'm not planning on 35s, I do love the way these look with them.
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
But SOA though, right Ian? I'm not a fan of the spring over idea. I don't trust myself to do it and don't want to pay someone to do that. A SUA setup I can do and feel comfortable with... plus less guess work.

Edit: I just went thru your old thread, I reckon it isn't!

Yup that is right not SoA.

SuA, MAF shackle reversal kit, OME heavies in rear, mediums in front, cut & turn on front axle, 35x12.5s on a 16" rim with 3.65" backspacing. Zero rub and flexed very well.

That truck rode awesome, best riding leaf spring truck I have ever had or been in. Rode almost as good as my new 80 and had less vibes/shakes in 4wd at HWY speeds.

I am surprised you don't know how to weld Scott? It is something I think you would be good at. I have been welding a lot the last 6 months and mine is getting much better. It is fun and you are not limited by not being able to weld! Small little 120v mig can be bought used for fairly cheap.

A couple more pictures of the truck and it's stance for inspiration!

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Cheers
 
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I reckon I can weld a little. I'm not proficient by any means... But I've been building this trailer for a few months now; its been stale since a couple weeks before we our summer trip.
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I'm just, more or less, concerned with the safety aspect of doing the SOA.
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
I'm just, more or less, concerned with the safety aspect of doing the SOA.

My bad, I had forgotten your trailer build.

I had the same feeling about my welds and strength. Then I had to make a jig/arbor to press a seized axle shaft on the Pinz out, not long after your stay here. 60-tons of force put on my welds to press the axle shaft out. They held. Then recently, built 375 mounts for a solar panel system with a buddy. He coached me and looked at my welds while I worked. Not all were as good as his but some were as good. Good penetration and a good bead plus the right amount of heat for the material and yours will be fine too. I think it is about trusting your welds more than anything if you are doing them right.

On my old FJ60, the cut & turn improved the truck immensely and was just about required. On my new 80, a c&t will get rid of lame aftermarket bolt on items to fix castor. A c&t takes a bit more skill than just cutting off suspension brackets, moving them and welding back on but it is pretty easy with an angle finder, a cut off wheel on the grinder and a mig. SoA on your 60 will give you 3-5" of lift, is the cheapest lift you can buy and you can do it yourself! Not saying this is what you should do, just saying....

A buddy of mine just fit an OME lift kit to his FJ60, about 3" lift and cost him a pretty penny. He fit 33x10.5 KM2s on the stock wheels. It looks great too! But cost a lot more than a SoA and 35's would have run him. Food for thought! :)

Cheers
 
So we drove home from Louisiana yesterday (a 6 hour drive), and with the new gaskets waiting on me, I promptly began reassembling the head and rockers. It didn't take long with decent organization.
1510941_10100156658901721_995990604_n.jpg


I'm going to take the engine off the stand tomorrow and begin assembling the clutch and connecting the transmission to the engine.
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Can anyone spot the not so legal modifications?
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Going so far as to completely clean everything that goes onto the engine. All of the brackets, even the AC compressor have been stripped of grease, cleaned and painted.

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1911

Expedition Leader
Can anyone spot the not so legal modifications?

:) Air injection spigots plugged and I'm guessing the EGR bung on the header is blocked off too, though I can't quite see in the photo.

FWIW, I ran my 3FE-powered FJ80 that way, back when I lived in Tarrant County and it always passed smog inspection with flying colors.

Did you paint the head and valve cover, or is just the lighting for the photo? Looks good in any event.
 
:) Air injection spigots plugged and I'm guessing the EGR bung on the header is blocked off too, though I can't quite see in the photo.

FWIW, I ran my 3FE-powered FJ80 that way, back when I lived in Tarrant County and it always passed smog inspection with flying colors.

Did you paint the head and valve cover, or is just the lighting for the photo? Looks good in any event.

Ding Ding Ding! Yeah, the truck is now 25 years old so is technically exempt from the emissions. I'm hoping they don't open the hood. But That's one reason why I went ahead and did the desmog now. Good to hear yours did well after the fact.

I've cleaned and painted 99% of the stuff on the engine including the head and valve cover. The head, block, and bellhousing got Duplicolor Engine Enamel Cast Coat Iron and just about everything else received Duplicolor High Performance Wheel Coating in Graphite. I like the color, and is said to be resistant to chemicals, cleaning solvents, heat and chipping. So far it has been pretty durable (clanking engine hoist chains on the valve cover today without a mark....). Oh, but the oil pan received Duplicolor Cast Coat Aluminum to help monitor for oil leaks, there bloody well better not be any!!!

So, I'm pretty much ready to connect the transmission to the engine. I'll save that for tomorrow night... I need to build a stand for the engine so that I can use the hoist to pick up the transmission to put it on the transmission jack. The bugger is heavy!

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The milk crates are only there to help stabilize the engine to reduce the rocking and moving.

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1911

Expedition Leader
... the oil pan received Duplicolor Cast Coat Aluminum to help monitor for oil leaks, there bloody well better not be any!!!

Here's how to guarantee no leaks from an F-series oil pan:

1. Bottom of block and oil pan flange antiseptically clean with no trace of previous gasket.

2. Check oil pan flange for level and straightness; correct with large flat drift or similar and anvil if necessary. Many oil pan flanges have been bent by previous owners prying them off.

3. Use only the factory Toyota one-piece cork gasket; accept no substitutes!

4. put a very thin coating of good FIPG all over both sides of the cork gasket. I much prefer the Toyota FIPG over all others but it's expensive. The manual only says to put it on the corners, but in my experience all the way on both sides is the way to go.

5. DON'T OVER TIGHTEN THE OIL PAN BOLTS! The torque spec is only 91 INCH-pounds as I recall, i.e. 7.5 ft-lbs. If you crank the bolts down like you normally would most other gasket surfaces, the cork gasket will deform and squish out and you will have leaks. Use an inch-pounds torque wrench; your foot-lbs wrench will not be accurate at that low of a setting. I have one you can borrow if need be.

6. Tighten the bolts gradually in a cross-hatch manner; finger tight then only to the torque spec after that.

This is how I do it, and my F engines don't leak a drop.
 

cruiseroutfit

Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
Here's how to guarantee no leaks from an F-series oil pan:

1. Bottom of block and oil pan flange antiseptically clean with no trace of previous gasket.

2. Check oil pan flange for level and straightness; correct with large flat drift or similar and anvil if necessary. Many oil pan flanges have been bent by previous owners prying them off.

3. Use only the factory Toyota one-piece cork gasket; accept no substitutes!

4. put a very thin coating of good FIPG all over both sides of the cork gasket. I much prefer the Toyota FIPG over all others but it's expensive. The manual only says to put it on the corners, but in my experience all the way on both sides is the way to go.

5. DON'T OVER TIGHTEN THE OIL PAN BOLTS! The torque spec is only 91 INCH-pounds as I recall, i.e. 7.5 ft-lbs. If you crank the bolts down like you normally would most other gasket surfaces, the cork gasket will deform and squish out and you will have leaks. Use an inch-pounds torque wrench; your foot-lbs wrench will not be accurate at that low of a setting. I have one you can borrow if need be.

6. Tighten the bolts gradually in a cross-hatch manner; finger tight then only to the torque spec after that.

This is how I do it, and my F engines don't leak a drop.

Great protocol, particularly the one-piece gasket. Still to this day, Cruiser parts vendors are selling/shipping the 4 piece gasket kit which is nothing more than using their customers as guinea pigs, i.e. in my opinion one must question everything else they sell if the consider that an appropriate part. :D I will say that there are absolutely tried and true aftermarket one-piece gaskets, more specifically Japanese made ones that come from the O.E. supplier. ;)


Great work on the engine build Scott, excited to see the rest of your project. I think you were very wise to replace the head gasket, no only is a re-used gasket a liability, there are in fact visible differences between the 2F and 3F gasket.
 
I opted for just using FIPG on the pan and torqued to a little tighter than spec. Cleaned the snot out of the gasket surfaces too. I checked for it being true as best as possible. Crossing fingers.
 
Great work on the engine build Scott, excited to see the rest of your project. I think you were very wise to replace the head gasket, no only is a re-used gasket a liability, there are in fact visible differences between the 2F and 3F gasket.

According to Toyota, the part numbers are the same?!? Don't make me rip the head off again!
 

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