NiceGuySanti
12-20-2011, 09:00 PM
]After wheeling my FJ Cruiser with a bunch of the Gotham City Land Cruisers crew I got the itch to build up an "Old School" wagon. The fact that I wanted fuel injection and an auto tranny made the choice really simple. I started looking for aFJ 62 that was relatively cheap that I could tear down and restore/rebuild. I found this on Craigslist:
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/62.jpg
A 1988 FJ 62 with 180k on the clock. The engine and tranny ran nicely but the body needed some work. It was being sold by a guy who specialized in Land Rovers and wanted to get rid of the LandCruiser quickly. He had the truck on Ebay as well as Craigslist for $3k. I went to see it with Singha ( fellow FJNE member) and while it had a good interior and everything worked on it I didn’t like the price tag and was about to walk away from it when the seller told me to make an offer on it. Long story short, I was the new owner of a $1600 Land Cruiser. Once it was at our shop we started looking into the price of body panels and calculating time and materials to get the body in tip top shape. I posted up on Gotham’s mailing list the fact that I was looking for some body panels when I got a call from another wheeling buddy (Ordoman) mentioning that a friend of his had seen a 62 in really good shape but with engine problems for sale not too far from me. $1200 later I now had two Land Cruisers. The latest one was in great shape with almost no rust at all. It had spent most of its life in Texas and the owner had really pampered this truck. I knew that I would recoup a bunch of my investment by parting out the things that I wouldn't need. This proved to be true as I sold differentials, the frame, the stock bumpers and some other items.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/2010-04-22170507.jpg
My original goal was to have a wagon running on 33’s for daily use with the ability to run 35’s off road. It would be locked front and rear and with the ability to go on a long trip wheeling out west and be capable on the rocky tree laden trails of the NE as well. I wanted to have a truck that would not give me headaches and would be low maintenance for at least a couple of years. I decided to build up the Texas rig and to drop the other engine and transmission into it as well as regearing and installing lockers into it. All of this would be easier if the frame was off the body so off it went.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/th_MVI_0028.jpg (http://s731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/?action=view¤t=MVI_0028.mp4)
I was able to pull the body off thanks to the info on the IH8MUD forum and some ghetto engineering. A highlift , a couple of bottle jacks, some cinderblocks and some pallet racking crossbeams and the frame had rolled out from under the body.
Once all the drivetrain was out I started looking at the frame and decided that it wouldn’t be that much more work to strip it down to bare metal by pressure blasting it.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/c6d89680.jpg
While the frame was getting cleaned up the third members went out to East Coast Gear Supply for some Arb lockers and some 4.56’s. Chase at East Coast Gear Supply was a ton of help with my gearing questions and got the thirds back to my hands in less than one week. While they were gone we pressure blasted, primed and refinished the axle housings then got them ready for a complete rebuild, knuckles, seals and bearings.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/e66ff403.jpg
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/15fe975e.jpg
Once the axles were built up the new tires – 33x12.5.15 firestone destination MT’s went on the OEM wheels. A new OME suspension also went on as well.
Here is a picture of the frame with the suspension and axles. The frame was primed with Eastwood’s self etching primer on the outside and their zinc oxide internal frame paint. Once this had dried I coated everything visible with a phenolic resin paint. This is a thick coating that suffocates rust and protects the metal from scratches and trail rash. Finally a couple of coats of Eastwood Chassis black was sprayed on to finish the frame up.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/b67d99e0.jpg
Now we had a platform to put the engine on and start working on it. A new main seal, new fuel pump, oil pan gasket, side cover gasket, valve cover gasket, Idler pulley bearings, and a new paint job went on the engine. As well as a galley plug mod and a full desmog thanks to the mud members who have done this before.
While the motor and frame were off the body we stripped down and degreased the engine bay and then had a friend come by afterwork and spray it using the color code off the engine plaque.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/baca7791.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/baca7791.jpg)
Here is how it looks after some stuff went back on it. The master cylinder was rebuilt with new seals from www.rockauto.com (http://www.rockauto.com/) and the pressure booster was repainted while it was out. All the hoses were inspected and most were changed out. All the harnesses were cleaned up with simple green and the heat shields were sprayed with rustoleum high heat spray.
[http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/8b7c5073.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/8b7c5073.jpg)
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d89f3acc.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d89f3acc.jpg)
While I was waiting for engine belts to come in I drilled the holes for the snorkel. I wanted to get the holes in before it went to the spraybooth so all the raw edges would get a good coat of paint on them.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/5aa50da1.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/5aa50da1.jpg)
One thing that was worrying me was how would I extend the transfer case breather without taking the transfer case off. I tried to pull out the pressed in breather but it wouldn't give. I was afraid of breaking it and having it crumble into the transfer case. I started looking around my shelves and found a 1/8" NPT brass street elbow like this one;
http://www.toolmarts.com/media/interstate-pneumatics/Interstate-Pneumatics-FST22E-lg.jpg (http://www.toolmarts.com/media/interstate-pneumatics/Interstate-Pneumatics-FST22E-lg.jpg)
I pulled the cap of the factory breather and hand threaded the brass elbow over the short little nub that stuck out from the factory breather. I then used some JB weld to capture the elbow into place. I used the JB weld because there is only one or two threads of the elbow catching on the breather fitting.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/286a1d47.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/286a1d47.jpg)
It held up pretty well so I ran a 1/8" NPT coupling into my elbow and 1/8 x 1" nipple into the coupling. I then slipped a 1/4" silicone hose over the nipple and ran the hose to the top of the firewall with a hose clamp holding the hose to the nipple. In the photo above there is a compression nut on the street elbow. I did not use it but it is the better picture of the breather. Here is a picture that is not as clear but it shows the nipple and coupling.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d1a9ade2-1-1.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d1a9ade2-1-1.jpg)
I ran breather lines and the on board air lines through the frame where ever I could while the body was off. Once that was done the body went on and assembly began.
We started with the soundproofing. I ran a stiff brush on the bare floor to remove the remaining glued down carpet padding. This was a PITA to get out finally after a long time and a ton of "scrubbing" the padding was out, I ran a rag with some denatured alcohol to clean up any reside and then it was time for the sound proofing. I used some foiled faced butyl rubber construction flashing. It was peel and stick so it went on like the "commercial sound deadening products out there but for a lot less.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/9b3bcbd9.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/9b3bcbd9.jpg)
Once this was done we started on the ARB compressor and locker lines. The lines were run within the frame using some 1/4" gas lines as " chafe guards wherever the blue ARB lines came came in or out of the frame rails. See the where the lines come out of the compressor --
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d7144bd4.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d7144bd4.jpg)
Here is a shot of the air reservoir sitting by the rear axles tucke up.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/ecf75e93.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/ecf75e93.jpg)
A wheeling buddy of mine sourced out the tank from a 2.5 gallon craftsman compressor that was in the garbage.
The aluminum bumper that I got from the parts truck did not have a tray to hold the winch, I picked up a Harbor Freight winch mount and made it fit into space between the frame rails.
(http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/de717956.jpg) http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/IMG_20101029_104421.jpg
I also installed a Land Cruiser 80 series tranny cooler to help out the oem cooler on the rig. I had to heat one of the cooler output tubes with a torch to soften it up and bend it in the opposite direction. This worked out really well and has yielded no leaks. It was practically a bolt on install with some minimum drilling and fabbing. I had to make a bracket to hold the side that wasn't held by the hood lock brace.
You can also see in the pics the new Hella horns and the Diehard battery. The red heavy gauge wire goes from the battery through the wall where the headlights are mounted to (via grommets) then it is sleeved in pvc hose and wrapped in red electrical tape for additional chafe support it then runs inside the grill and to the other side of the vehicle where it goes into a terminal stud then a Perco switch for the winch. There is a blue sea fuse panel in the rear by the jack compartment that is fed from the terminal stud. This panel powers all the new electronics in the car (glowshift gauges, radio, cb,auxiliary lighting, compressor, etc...)
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/IMG_20101029_104537.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/IMG_20101029_104537.jpg)
winch and winch mount
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/c1f90119.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/c1f90119.jpg)
valance had to be trimmed as well as the hood lock bracket
More stuff coming.....
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/62.jpg
A 1988 FJ 62 with 180k on the clock. The engine and tranny ran nicely but the body needed some work. It was being sold by a guy who specialized in Land Rovers and wanted to get rid of the LandCruiser quickly. He had the truck on Ebay as well as Craigslist for $3k. I went to see it with Singha ( fellow FJNE member) and while it had a good interior and everything worked on it I didn’t like the price tag and was about to walk away from it when the seller told me to make an offer on it. Long story short, I was the new owner of a $1600 Land Cruiser. Once it was at our shop we started looking into the price of body panels and calculating time and materials to get the body in tip top shape. I posted up on Gotham’s mailing list the fact that I was looking for some body panels when I got a call from another wheeling buddy (Ordoman) mentioning that a friend of his had seen a 62 in really good shape but with engine problems for sale not too far from me. $1200 later I now had two Land Cruisers. The latest one was in great shape with almost no rust at all. It had spent most of its life in Texas and the owner had really pampered this truck. I knew that I would recoup a bunch of my investment by parting out the things that I wouldn't need. This proved to be true as I sold differentials, the frame, the stock bumpers and some other items.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/2010-04-22170507.jpg
My original goal was to have a wagon running on 33’s for daily use with the ability to run 35’s off road. It would be locked front and rear and with the ability to go on a long trip wheeling out west and be capable on the rocky tree laden trails of the NE as well. I wanted to have a truck that would not give me headaches and would be low maintenance for at least a couple of years. I decided to build up the Texas rig and to drop the other engine and transmission into it as well as regearing and installing lockers into it. All of this would be easier if the frame was off the body so off it went.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/th_MVI_0028.jpg (http://s731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/?action=view¤t=MVI_0028.mp4)
I was able to pull the body off thanks to the info on the IH8MUD forum and some ghetto engineering. A highlift , a couple of bottle jacks, some cinderblocks and some pallet racking crossbeams and the frame had rolled out from under the body.
Once all the drivetrain was out I started looking at the frame and decided that it wouldn’t be that much more work to strip it down to bare metal by pressure blasting it.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/c6d89680.jpg
While the frame was getting cleaned up the third members went out to East Coast Gear Supply for some Arb lockers and some 4.56’s. Chase at East Coast Gear Supply was a ton of help with my gearing questions and got the thirds back to my hands in less than one week. While they were gone we pressure blasted, primed and refinished the axle housings then got them ready for a complete rebuild, knuckles, seals and bearings.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/e66ff403.jpg
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/15fe975e.jpg
Once the axles were built up the new tires – 33x12.5.15 firestone destination MT’s went on the OEM wheels. A new OME suspension also went on as well.
Here is a picture of the frame with the suspension and axles. The frame was primed with Eastwood’s self etching primer on the outside and their zinc oxide internal frame paint. Once this had dried I coated everything visible with a phenolic resin paint. This is a thick coating that suffocates rust and protects the metal from scratches and trail rash. Finally a couple of coats of Eastwood Chassis black was sprayed on to finish the frame up.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/b67d99e0.jpg
Now we had a platform to put the engine on and start working on it. A new main seal, new fuel pump, oil pan gasket, side cover gasket, valve cover gasket, Idler pulley bearings, and a new paint job went on the engine. As well as a galley plug mod and a full desmog thanks to the mud members who have done this before.
While the motor and frame were off the body we stripped down and degreased the engine bay and then had a friend come by afterwork and spray it using the color code off the engine plaque.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/baca7791.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/baca7791.jpg)
Here is how it looks after some stuff went back on it. The master cylinder was rebuilt with new seals from www.rockauto.com (http://www.rockauto.com/) and the pressure booster was repainted while it was out. All the hoses were inspected and most were changed out. All the harnesses were cleaned up with simple green and the heat shields were sprayed with rustoleum high heat spray.
[http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/8b7c5073.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/8b7c5073.jpg)
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d89f3acc.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d89f3acc.jpg)
While I was waiting for engine belts to come in I drilled the holes for the snorkel. I wanted to get the holes in before it went to the spraybooth so all the raw edges would get a good coat of paint on them.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/5aa50da1.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/5aa50da1.jpg)
One thing that was worrying me was how would I extend the transfer case breather without taking the transfer case off. I tried to pull out the pressed in breather but it wouldn't give. I was afraid of breaking it and having it crumble into the transfer case. I started looking around my shelves and found a 1/8" NPT brass street elbow like this one;
http://www.toolmarts.com/media/interstate-pneumatics/Interstate-Pneumatics-FST22E-lg.jpg (http://www.toolmarts.com/media/interstate-pneumatics/Interstate-Pneumatics-FST22E-lg.jpg)
I pulled the cap of the factory breather and hand threaded the brass elbow over the short little nub that stuck out from the factory breather. I then used some JB weld to capture the elbow into place. I used the JB weld because there is only one or two threads of the elbow catching on the breather fitting.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/286a1d47.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/286a1d47.jpg)
It held up pretty well so I ran a 1/8" NPT coupling into my elbow and 1/8 x 1" nipple into the coupling. I then slipped a 1/4" silicone hose over the nipple and ran the hose to the top of the firewall with a hose clamp holding the hose to the nipple. In the photo above there is a compression nut on the street elbow. I did not use it but it is the better picture of the breather. Here is a picture that is not as clear but it shows the nipple and coupling.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d1a9ade2-1-1.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d1a9ade2-1-1.jpg)
I ran breather lines and the on board air lines through the frame where ever I could while the body was off. Once that was done the body went on and assembly began.
We started with the soundproofing. I ran a stiff brush on the bare floor to remove the remaining glued down carpet padding. This was a PITA to get out finally after a long time and a ton of "scrubbing" the padding was out, I ran a rag with some denatured alcohol to clean up any reside and then it was time for the sound proofing. I used some foiled faced butyl rubber construction flashing. It was peel and stick so it went on like the "commercial sound deadening products out there but for a lot less.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/9b3bcbd9.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/9b3bcbd9.jpg)
Once this was done we started on the ARB compressor and locker lines. The lines were run within the frame using some 1/4" gas lines as " chafe guards wherever the blue ARB lines came came in or out of the frame rails. See the where the lines come out of the compressor --
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d7144bd4.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/d7144bd4.jpg)
Here is a shot of the air reservoir sitting by the rear axles tucke up.
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/ecf75e93.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/ecf75e93.jpg)
A wheeling buddy of mine sourced out the tank from a 2.5 gallon craftsman compressor that was in the garbage.
The aluminum bumper that I got from the parts truck did not have a tray to hold the winch, I picked up a Harbor Freight winch mount and made it fit into space between the frame rails.
(http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/de717956.jpg) http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/IMG_20101029_104421.jpg
I also installed a Land Cruiser 80 series tranny cooler to help out the oem cooler on the rig. I had to heat one of the cooler output tubes with a torch to soften it up and bend it in the opposite direction. This worked out really well and has yielded no leaks. It was practically a bolt on install with some minimum drilling and fabbing. I had to make a bracket to hold the side that wasn't held by the hood lock brace.
You can also see in the pics the new Hella horns and the Diehard battery. The red heavy gauge wire goes from the battery through the wall where the headlights are mounted to (via grommets) then it is sleeved in pvc hose and wrapped in red electrical tape for additional chafe support it then runs inside the grill and to the other side of the vehicle where it goes into a terminal stud then a Perco switch for the winch. There is a blue sea fuse panel in the rear by the jack compartment that is fed from the terminal stud. This panel powers all the new electronics in the car (glowshift gauges, radio, cb,auxiliary lighting, compressor, etc...)
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/IMG_20101029_104537.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/IMG_20101029_104537.jpg)
winch and winch mount
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/c1f90119.jpg (http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww319/niceguysanti/62/c1f90119.jpg)
valance had to be trimmed as well as the hood lock bracket
More stuff coming.....