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A journey into a 60-series ownership

Nice 60 you have there Nick! A little bit of rust but as you say you'll get it looked at! Well done with your new addition!:thumbup:

It looks like you have the same terrain tamer set as I... so you have the uprated +50mm lift too! You're ready prepared for bigger wheels and tyres!


I think the terrain tamer springs are rated for +250kg front and rear @iwan_t24 had these i think?
So may need a washing machine in the back to settle it down!

https://cruiserworld.eu/parts/60-series/suspension?prod_id=51520

So funny you should say Ben! They're still in Holland lol! I have to give my girlfriend a lift to Northern Germany soon and I was on the telephone this morning talking about collecting the springs!!!! I just bought 4 x springs, bushes, greaseable anti inversion shackles, u bolts and the greaseable ear pins... apparently they're covered in dust and waiting to be collected after 2 1/2 years!:laughing-rolling:
 
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Nice 60 you have there Nick! A little bit of rust but as you say you'll get it looked at! Well done with your new addition!:thumbup:

It looks like you have the same terrain tamer set as I... so you have the uprated +50mm lift too! You're ready prepared for bigger wheels and tyres!




https://cruiserworld.eu/parts/60-series/suspension?prod_id=51520

So funny you should say Ben! They're still in Holland lol! I have to give my girlfriend a lift to Northern Germany soon and I was on the telephone this morning talking about collecting the springs!!!! I just bought 4 x springs, bushes, greaseable anti inversion shackles, u bolts and the greaseable ear pins... apparently they're covered in dust and waiting to be collected after 2 1/2 years!:laughing-rolling:
Have you got space to collect a 150k miles 12-HT for me Iwan if you can pinch one without laurens noticing it lol!!
 
Ahhh best to forget the 12ht in availabilty form and wear! Best solution is a 1hdt and h55f with Australian early hzj75 gearbox components. Know the procedure but have yet to obtain the vital components and to put it into practice! Without another thread jack... hard to put the theory across! :think::thumbup::lol:
 
Ahhh best to forget the 12ht in availabilty form and wear! Best solution is a 1hdt and h55f with Australian early hzj75 gearbox components. Know the procedure but have yet to obtain the vital components and to put it into practice! Without another thread jack... hard to put the theory across! :think::thumbup::lol:
been thinking of that engine myself, be interested to know how that goes! more or less decided though it's just easier to turbo what I have!!
 
Bit of an update on the cold start issue.

I tested the relays and they seem fine.
The glow plugs on the other hand have no continuity so I will order a new set very soon. Just want to make sure I am ordering the correct plugs (link). :)

In the meantime, here are some more shoots of the truck.

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I couldn't work out what was missing from those pics and then I realised....it was the oil stains! Have to say there is a lot of room for add-ons in that engine bay like a compressor or maybe a small workbench. Cant think why the 60 isn't more popular with people smugglers.
:tearsofjoy:
I've got a compressor, tank and auxilliary fuse boxes under there. alternatively you could easilly fit a domestic battery
 
....Have to say there is a lot of room for add-ons in that engine bay like a compressor or maybe a small workbench. Cant think why the 60 isn't more popular with people smugglers.

I think the one thing missing under the bonnet is a turbo. But I am trying not to get too ahead of myself and focus on getting the car in good condition first.
 
Two months in my 60-series ownership and I have completed a few items on the original to-do list as well as adding a few more. I also started compiling a wish list of bits required (post #1).

First off, I resolved the cold starting issue by replacing the glow plugs (link). The ones that had been fitted a couple of years ago by a previous owner were turned out to be for a 12V systems. Seeing the amount of soot on those, it would suggest that they stopped working many moons ago.

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Having traced the issue with the glow plugs, I decided to leave the car off the road while waiting for the replacement glow plugs to arrive as I didn't want to push my luck with the Easystart.
While I had the car in the garage, I took the opportunity to turn my attention at the front grille which had received a poor paint job in the past. The attempted body colour match came easily enough with some cellulose thinner.

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Only to uncover another previous "custom" job underneath.

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So I am now looking for an easy way to take the black paint off because the cellulose thinner is not being effective on that stuff. I would love to get the original brightwork back. Or I may just find some decent replacement parts (cue item #1 on the wish list)

Whilst I had the front head lamp surrounds off I noticed that the offside horn was missing. (Cue item #2). I assume that the 60-series have a low tone and a high tone horn. If so anybody know with one is the RHS one?

I also found, tucked behing the nearside headlight surround an old relay not connected to anything. Being 12V i assume that this has nothing to do with the car.

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While the car was in the garage waiting for its new glow plugs, I also looked at the electric windows which had been inop since I bought the car. The issue was traced to the common faulty relays, whilst the whole system had been disconnected by a previous owner as a prevention measure. I have unstuck one of the relay and replaced the other.

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I now have 3 windows operating and the driver Window only going down. So further investigation is required and maybe a new relay module would be required.

Couple weeks later and with the car back on the road, I decided to give the car a well overdue service (having clearly never been serviced by the last owner).
First step was to fix the viscous fan and replace the auxiliary belts.

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When I was rebuilding the viscous fan, I replaced the seized Phillips fasteners with galvanized hex M6 bolts which should make potential future dismantling a lot easier.

The old belts were long due a replacement, and it seems that they were the incorrect size anyway.
I ordered the replacement belts from Toyota (top service from Simon Holton) to make sure I was putting the correct sizes on.
Sure enough the alternator belt fitted was too big and the PS belt was too small, to the extent that I had to unbolt the PS pump to get the old belt out.

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The old belts were clearly running on borrowed time.


With the new belts on and an operating cooling fan, I proceeded with giving the car a full service.

Once again, this uncovered a few anomalies. The transfer case was found to be running on about half the oil that it was intended, while the transmission oil was clearly due a change.

IMG_20180406_071711.jpg

The green bottle is what came out of the transfer case, i.e. about a litre, while 5l came out of the gearbox.
This would suggest a leak from the TC (subsequently traced down the prop shaft seal) but thankfully no failure from the seal between the TC and the gearbox.

The gearbox oil change made a noticeable difference with the gear changes. When the gear changes were somewhat notchy and 4th to 3rd required double declutching, the changes are now much smoother and 4th to 3rd is now nice and easy when the gearbox oil is warmed up. It is still a bit notchy when cold but having used mineral oil this time (link), I will experiment with synthetic oil at the next service.

Contrary to the TC, the engine was actually found to be running on more oil that intended with an extra 2 litre of oil been drained off.

Despite the new oil (mineral 15W40), I am still reading a low oil pressure at idle with the engine fully warned up.

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When the engine is revved to 1000rpm (e.g. doing 30mpg), the needle rise to the first mark, while running the car at 60-70mph would see the gauge sitting around the second mark.
Is this a normal behaviour?
I have just completed the first 500miles since the oil change (including an 150miles motorway trip) and the oil level hasn't moved. So maybe the pressure gauge is faulty. Some further investigations would be required.

Next up, will be to tackle the body corrosion starting with the rear arches and get down to the bottom of the driver window issue.

Nick.
 
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Hi Nick,

I had 3 60’s in a row back in the 90’s, I have a 100 now but I do miss the 60’s, re, the oil pressure, Toyota oil pressure gauges are notoriously inaccurate my 100 reads low, if I were you (for peace of mind) I would fit an in-line oil pressure gauge under the bonnet.

Steve.

Thanks Steve for the tip.
I was actually planning on doing a pressure test before installing a mechanical pressure gauge on the car.

Just as a matter of interest, what was the oil pressure like at idle on your 3 60-series?

Nick.
 
Thanks Steve for the tip.
I was actually planning on doing a pressure test before installing a mechanical pressure gauge on the car.

Just as a matter of interest, what was the oil pressure like at idle on your 3 60-series?

Nick.
Hi Nick
My gauge (HJ60) reads at the first mark when its warm and idling at about 700rpm.
At 45mph it reads at the sevond mark then slughtly over rhe second mark if going faster.
The sender is down by the starter motor and may be covered in crud. Worth cleaning off the contacts, probably wont change things as it would likely just fall to zero if bad but something to rule out.
I am also planning to upgrade to a new pressure gauge at some time once other stuff is taken care of.
Good progress there
 
Hi Nick
My gauge (HJ60) reads at the first mark when its warm and idling at about 700rpm.
At 45mph it reads at the sevond mark then slughtly over rhe second mark if going faster.
The sender is down by the starter motor and may be covered in crud. Worth cleaning off the contacts, probably wont change things as it would likely just fall to zero if bad but something to rule out.
I am also planning to upgrade to a new pressure gauge at some time once other stuff is taken care of.
Good progress there

Sounds like your gauge is reading what I would have expected to read on mine. On the other hand it is somewhat reassuring that other 60-series owners are experiencing similar pressure gauge issues.

When I do the pressure test, I will give the sensor a good clean before launching myself into fitting an aftermarket gauge,

Nick.
 
Thanks Steve for the tip.
I was actually planning on doing a pressure test before installing a mechanical pressure gauge on the car.

Just as a matter of interest, what was the oil pressure like at idle on your 3 60-series?

Nick.

Hi Nick, when I had the 60 the oil pressure was the same as it is now, showing quite low. That said I thought the engine was sweet and so I never investigated
Let me ask a question, if like on a Colorado and a 120 there wasn't an oil pressure gauge would this worry be an issue?
 
Hi Nick, when I had the 60 the oil pressure was the same as it is now, showing quite low. That said I thought the engine was sweet and so I never investigated
Let me ask a question, if like on a Colorado and a 120 there wasn't an oil pressure gauge would this worry be an issue?

Haha, I know what you mean. You can't worry about it if you don't see it. I had an old XJ many moons ago, which was also showing low oil pressure. However, being a 80s Jag, I didn't have much faith in the electrics on the car and learned to ignore the gauge reading, and wishing I had a simple "pressure" light instead. In the end, I nearly double the mileage over the 5 years I run the car without any issues.

Not far of my reading TBH, especially considering your car is idling higher than mine.
On a side note, I don't think I ever seen my temperature gauge going so high, especially since I refilled the viscous fan coupling ... or perhaps it is the camera angle.

Nick.
 
The headlight surrounds are available from cruiser world but hideously expensive, I flatter mine back and painted them to match the grill. Be careful what stripper you use if you go down the chemical route as they are plastic so may not appreciate it. You won’t get the original colour back. There is an amazing chrome paint on the market that fills and chromes, gives a proper finish, not cheap and as I’m on my phone can’t search for it at the moment.
If you get stuck for any electric window parts let me know, I have the complete set I removed from my vehicle when I converted it to manual windows.
 
There is an amazing chrome paint on the market that fills and chromes, gives a proper finish, not cheap and as I’m on my phone can’t search for it at the moment.
If you get stuck for any electric window parts let me know, I have the complete set I removed from my vehicle when I converted it to manual windows.

I came across Hydro Chrome paint previously, I don't know if this is what you had in mind.


I agree i won't get the original finish back so I may have to investigate the spray on chrome route if I can't source decent replacement part at a sensible price.
 
Satin black paint for plastic I used on mine with the appropriate primer. That was gosh 8 years ago and the grill still looks very well.

I feel shocked at how long ago it was!!! You're doing very well with your truck Nick!
 
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