IH8RUST: FJ60

Backdating this a little.

I've always been fond of Land Cruiser Wagons. There's just something charming about their tall roofs and boxy designs that appeals to me, even back when I was a teenager in the '90s. But my fascination with them goes even further back. During my time in the Middle East, I had a cool cousin who drove one. I don't remember every detail, but what stood out to me was how impressive it looked as it crawled. A relative of mine also owned a shop that specialized in zhuzhing these rigs; they'd add all sorts of fantastic overland gear for the wealthy Middle Easterners, and it became a pretty thriving business for them.

I've been fortunate enough to earn a good living after years of hard work, and I've realized I need an outlet, something that gets me out of the house more. I love the outdoors, but I haven't been able to enjoy it as much as I'd like. Unfortunately, my knees aren't what they used to be, which makes backpacking a bit more challenging. Even the simplest activities can cause me a lot of pain. I still need something to drive up to the yonder, though.

I've now justified why I'm going to invest money in it, aside from the fact that I'm experiencing a relative mid-life crisis.

I was casually browsing the Land Cruiser listings when I came across this one, and I almost immediately bought it, knowing that I'd made either a good or bad decision. I'm the third owner. GR Auto Gallery inspects some, but none to the degree that's required. However, what I saw from the pictures was enough to assure me that I'm buying a relatively decent rig with minor rust issues.


Living on the edge of a divorce.

I asked for C-Channel pictures, which weren't in a terrible shape, but also weren't in the best shape either, and will require future redoing. The motor was running alright, but no compression test was available. The biggest buyer mistake anyone who doesn't know anything about these can make. I should have done my homework.

The interior was also in a decent shape, the carpet is dated, the dash has a crack, as one would after 40 years. The upholstery had held up, but it isn't in the best shape. It wouldn't be a FJ60 without the driver seat having a hole in it.

I saw this is person the other day. Drooooool very nice!!

Started to inspect the rig closely. The dealer listing omitted a bunch of issues, that was for sure. The inner rear quarter panel has rot, the inner lip on the hood is also rotted, and the passenger fender was in poor condition. Used the magnet technique to scan the rest of the body to see if it contained fillers; nothing was found, so it stands as original, with the expected body panel issues for a rig this old.

It was also over-sprayed... poorly and quickly. Didn't bother removing the seals on the frame, doors, etc.

The original motor is running; ah, yes, we have some irregularities there, don't we?

Yeah, I love it, even with its imperfections. Time to pull together a project list, figure out the moving parts, and talk to people to see how much I'm willing to do or not.



Divorce averted, took my wife for a ride: "My dad had an old Yoda pickup, this smells like it."

Ah, sweet nostalgia.

Now in month 3 or 4 of ownership.

The motor was old and tired. Started researching my options: rebuild the motor or go with a V8? Yes, many people on Mud advised me to do the V8, but I wanted to keep it stock, so it's either rebuild or new 2F. I settled that.

I'm not sure if slapping a 400+ horsepower motor on a barn on a frame and solid axle is a good idea. OK, not doing that.

I wrote off the restomod. I sheepishly called Proffitt's to see how much it would cost until I sourced their estimate on the Stage 1 online. Yikes! Okay, definitely not doing a restomod; I don't have an investment banker's budget.

By now, I've settled on rebuilding the 2F, keeping it near purebred with some new bells and whistles on the drivetrain and chassis to improve drivability. I've started making more calls and plotting the project.

Even if I had wanted to do this, I didn't have the resources to remove the motor and send it to a shop for rebuilding. Even if I tried to rebuild, most of the shops wouldn't take it on, or they had a backlog that had been ongoing for a long while. Even if they rebuild it, I'd still not have the resources or means to put it back together at my house, so I'm facing the same problem. Seemed like an impass.

With that in mind, I started to shop around for prebuilt 2F motors, and Mosely came up over and over again, but they're a boutique company and told me it might be six months. Big Maybe.

Moving on.

I found Man-a-Fre, they have the 'hot rod' 2F. It's not a hot rod, damn it, stop calling it that. Yes, I've read and heard all the nasty reviews. There's a risk associated with a modified motor featuring 9:1 compression and a bunch of non-OEM components; then again, the same can be said about the other shop building the same. I'm taking the risk. So what, it runs hotter, or needs premium fuel?

That said, their lead time was considerably shorter than that of the others, so I bought it. So now the off-the-shelf motor is out of the way.

Next step: find someone who can install the motor and H55F transmission. I get highway speeds out of that.

I found a list of mechanics on Mud and even contributed to it when I found a bunch of outdated listings. I found a local shop in town, visited them, spoke to them about the rig to see if they're receptive, felt like a one-way conversation, and the arrangement was for me to drop it off, and for them to inspect the mechanical, compression test, then tell me what it would take. Except for one major issue: there is no indication of budget, hourly fees, or any other relevant details. You can drop it off, and maybe you'll get something, or you won't. I would pay an undetermined amount of money sometime in the future.

I think they thought I was some rich old dude with pockets full of cash who's willing to dispense like a broken ATM in the movies. Again, I don't have the investment banker budget.

I cast a wider net and spoke with several old-timer mechanics. Classic Cruisers was awesome on the phone, but way too busy. Spoke with Robbie A.; he knows so much, but it's a bit out of reach. He gave me a quote, so I had it on hand. I spoke with OTM Cruisers, and they provided me with sufficient details and prices. However, they're out of state, which is making me nervous. At least I'm building a good baseline for the budget.

Note that I've already spent several months calling people, asking around, and posting messages on the forums, so I'm a bit discouraged.

I finally got in touch with Cruisers and Company and spoke with @JohnnyP. I don't exactly remember how I found him, but I'm glad I did. Johnny is the man, he spoke enthusiastically, really took the time to understand what I was looking to do, and made his recommendation. For me, there's an instant comfort when a mechanic isn't talking past or through me, but rather, building an understanding of what I want. I drove over and met him at the shop. This is around the same time he had just opened up. We agreed to do business after he provided the deets.

Instant man crush.

September 2024.

Now that I have a motor on order and a skilled mechanic, I might take the time to take care of the undercarriage before installing the new components. If there's ever the right time to do it, now is the time.

Sand blasting time.


Here's a time-lapse of the work:

So. Much. Blasting Media. All over the place. Everywhere. In the cabin, all over the place. Unfortunately, caused a couple of rips in the floorpan.

More on that later.

The Colorado winter months were long and rough. I gained weight by online shopping and sourcing a wide range of parts and components from the comfort of a 65-degree basement. Life was rough, but I managed to keep my mind engaged:
View: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qbqg9345KDapyPK8FPAnt-9awIwuftb2jJoKdzDGLAY/edit?usp=sharing


The list is evolving and very much meant to be a living trail of how much I hate my wallet, but how much I'm willing to spend on my passion.

October 2024

Kept the rig in the climate-controlled garage bay, had a dehumidifier running nonstop, but the climate at the time was super dry. Surprisingly, the sandblasted frame didn't scale at all during the month it sat around.

I spent a good couple of days painting the undercarriage. Crawling under, lifting it, painting it, masking the part, painting, touching up, taking the wheels off, Eastwood Encapsulator Plus all over the place.


I went a bit overboard, painting pretty much everything, excluding the motor, knowing that I would be replacing it, and there's no need to approach it lightly. It smelled like burnt paint fumes while I was driving, which was probably a health hazard—I lost a few more brain cells. Also, as you can see, those QuickJacks are no good for this application. Ended up selling it. That's a bummer because I could have used the space.

Here's me going at a million miles per hour!

From November to December 2024, yearning for the warm weather and sunlight, I spent time restoring the parts I had sourced. I kept myself entertained with the "What have you done to your rig today" updates while waiting for the motor to be finished. At this point, I've been waiting for the new build for 4-5 months, and the order was placed in June 2024. Back to the parts!

Bought myself that fancy Cruiser Trash Parts Fuisble Link, solid! Also got the flasher relay that works with LED bulbs, solid. What's that now? A brand new OEM steering pump? Yes, please!

I took the vacuum piping, made it look good, repainted the intake manifold, acquired a newish alternator, and restored it. Found the mount fo the alternator, repainted that too. Got an EGR valve, sandblasted and repainted that too.


I was bored, what better way to use my time is there?

November 2025.

The Motor is shipped and sent back. I'm still in awe of the carelessness, and we're not talking about some minor delivery issue; they went out of their way not to pack it up correctly, and then the freight company took it for a spin by destroying it. Do they not like me?

@JohnnyP refused delivery. Called me to deliver the bad news, and then I called Man-a-Fre to pass on the equally bad news in the game of telephone. I'll say this, Rick over there immediately took care of the issue, not a flinch, made sure he made me whole.

It turns out, they had another 2F already built out of production. I encouraged them to pack it upright. However, he said they don't do that. Fine.


There, was that so hard to crate it like a normal human being?

@IH8RUST thank you for letting myself and the crew be part of such a great and awesome truck! What a journey from where she started!

I’m sure @MonPetiteShoe could contribute some photos as this progresses!

Hey man, it wouldn't be here without you and the crew, that's for sure! I'm going to endorse (not that you need it) C&C whenever I get the chance. Solid work.

More updates later!

Dude! Sweet write up. It's pretty awesome seeing the whole picture, and it was a pleasure being a part of it. Your 60 is sorted. That H55 makes a world of difference.
All the pictures I have are of my hand tracing vac lines to supplement the emissions manual. Pretty boring stuff.

@IH8RUST This is some great background. You pinged me for a little assistance with the fusible link replacement kit, but I didn’t really know what you were up to with your truck. Now I know!

Great job picking Cruisers & Company. Solid dudes, solid work. I know folks at some of the other places you mentioned - Classic Cruisers, OTM, etc - and they’re all good folks too. But they’re also super busy!

Anyway, thank for grabbing some of my little widgets, and keep up the good work.