What are your opinions of the late 80 Land Cruisers? Local dealer has one for $10,995. Everything original and new tires. Manual 4 speed and 6 cyl. 4.2 liter engine. 142,000 miles. Interior needs help, but was thinking of a possible hunting rig.
I have owned all versions of the 60 and 80 series, to include the Japanese right hand drive diesel exports.
I sold my last 87 fj-60 to some folks who filmed the movie "sugar mountain" down in Seward.
Some issues with an 87 60:
Gobs of obsolete vacuum actuated emissions components. If they're not proper, they will fk with the carburetor
Lock in 4wd, climb a steep incline. If 4wd pops out of gear, the transfer case will need a rebuild
In 4wd, turn tight right and tight left, if you hear clicking, the front axle will need serviced, which takes at least 10-12 hours of work for a beginner.
Pull of fuel filter hose and let some gas onto a white rag. If it comes out rusty from the tank side of the filter, the tank is rusted out. They had aweful tank coatings .
You should see about 12-13 mpg cruising at 55 mph.
Check the front driveline for slop at the axle pinion side. If any play, that will have to be serviced.
Jack up rear tires and check rear axle for backlash. If back lash is excessive, rear axle will need to be serviced.
The 2f in my opinion, is an aweful motor. Yeah they last, I didnt think misery could last so long. They are bloody expensive to work on, and give 454 big block chevy fuel economy, with 120 horsepower.
I would never own another one. A Chevy 350 conversion will be the cheapest. Your fuel economy will go up as well.
Many different vendors sell a new in box h55 transmission, which gives you a 5th gear. This also mates up to a chevy 350 with an adaptor.
$10,000 is absurd. You can pick up a right hand drive hj61 with the 12 ht turbo diesel from Canada for that price or lower. 4.0 inline six turbo diesel, a full floating rear axle, and usually come with a better transmission than the 87 go 60.
Pal, that was the transitional model, where the 3fe carried over into the 80 series. The next engine was an excellent one: the 1fz-fe. That was a 4.5 liter gem. Though a head gasket job on the one I owned, was about $4000 in oem toyota parts and machine shop work on the head. To put that into perspective, you can build an entire 292 chevy inline or ford 300 inline six with forged over bore pistons for 4 grand.
The American inline sixes: 292 chevy, 300 ford, 6bt cummins blow the expensive toyota stuff out of the water.
The 300 cid Ford is a great engine. The 3-liter Toyota in the Land Cruiser is a dog. There is/was an outfit in SoCal doing small block Chevy V-8 conversions in Land Cruisers.
"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon
"...most of us would be better off losing half a pound around the waist than half a pound on our rifle."--dhg
pal, I am giving my 6.2 military diesel to a friend who owns an fj 62. Same bolt pattern as a chevy 350. It should be a torque laden beast, while shedding some major weight, dropping that worthless, 9 mpg on the highway 3fe.
He should see 18-20 mpg.
Over 200 ft lbs of torque from idle. That should be interesting:
pal, I am giving my 6.2 military diesel to a friend who owns an fj 62. Same bolt pattern as a chevy 350. It should be a torque laden beast, while shedding some major weight, dropping that worthless, 9 mpg on the highway 3fe.
He should see 18-20 mpg.
Over 200 ft lbs of torque from idle. That should be interesting: ...
Very desirable.
My vehicle for the past ~10 years is a 2000 Tundra V-8 4x4.
"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon
"...most of us would be better off losing half a pound around the waist than half a pound on our rifle."--dhg
Tom Lowe will sell you $3000 of forged pistons, roller cam, lump port head kit, shorty headers, p.e.s. intake, roller rocker a, etc. With these goodies, you're pushing 300 hp to the rear wheels with the 292 chevy:
LOL....the Toyota in-line 6s are awesome motors, for what they were intended for: longevity and torque at low rpms. Sure, you can swap in a small block, but a diesel would be better....small blocks are so much lighter than a 2f, that they change the feel and weight distribution, off road. If you need 300hp fj40/60/62, go nuts....but those 2/3F motors do EXACTLY what they were built for.....for as long or longer than anything ever made.
I have had three LC's. A FJ40, a FJ60, and a FJ62. The 40 was a great rig. Slow, fuel consumption was about the same as pouring it out of a can, and reliable, in a 150,000 miles nothing broke.
The 60 and 62 were rust magnets. Would not touch one with a stick.
There is a 1987 HiLux 4x4 pickup for sale near where I live. It has 82,000 miles on it. The dealer wants a bit over $40,000 for it. Makes that Cruiser you're looking at a bargain.
I’m up to to 5 now....(2) 40s, a 60, an FJ, and an 80.....didn’t have much in the way of rust problems with the 60, but I’m in the south. Only motor issue I ever had was when I loaned the 60 to a bud, and he ran it hot and blew a head gasket. Cooling systems on ANY older vehicles are worth re-doing, just for peace of mind.
Well the dealer sold it twice. The first guy brought it back after it wouldn't start (bad starter from what I was told.) Now it is gone again so someone was willing to fork over the cash for it.