Phoenix Gold Phorum

After months of waiting Stoffel is finally here!! 1989 HJ61 with 166km (about 103k miles) and factory cable lockers. This was purchased from Steve at Land Cruisers Direct. He was great to work with, especially the second time around. Anywho, this is just the beginning for the wife and I. We plan on building this rig up to expedition quality and traveling with it for many, many years. I'm sooooooooo freaking excited!!!!!

Congrats man! That thing is sexy dude! Minty as hell!

Not as minty as the wife's, but what can you really expect for a 25 year old vehicle?? It has a few issues, but they are cosmetic. It's a solid platform and a great engine. I'm super excited to build this up!!

What are you planning to do it?

RayBuck wrote:What are you planning to do it?

Well, since you asked the intimidate plans are to build it up for camping and off-roading.

First I installed a 24 volt to 12 volt converter and added a fuse block to pull all 12 volt power from. The amount of weird ass wiring inside this thing was impressive. There were two full wiring harnesses leading to the back that were chopped off. I have no idea what the hell they were running in the back of this thing!!










Right now I am working on a sleep platform/ storage system for the back.

Stage 1 of the build:








Next to be built is the part of the sleep platform that sits where the back seats are right now. When we go camping we will remove the back seats and place that piece there.


As for the future, a lift is in short order. We went out for a quick trail run with the local Cruiser club and it was pretty obvious these guys are serious hard core off roaders. The factory cable lockers were worth their weight in gold, but a lift would have helped out a ton. After that a dual swing out rear bumper is in the works. And after that well, I guess slowly replacing the old 25+ year old parts is going to start happening. I have other ideas (a new center console, replacing the old interior, etc.), but they will be sprinkled in as I get them.

Awesome looking and quality work man!!!

Hell yeah should turn out nice. There are a couple of guys on the snowboarding forum I am on that build there vehicles into mobile houses for living like a ski bum in japan for a couple of months chasing powder. As far as lift goes I would suggest ome I am sure you have done your research they offer two different springs for it HD and not. I am not sure how much weight you are going to haul around do not do a shackle reversal the kit sucks there is one on my 62 it was on it when I got it anyway your truck is sweet keep us updated. Shit I will be in parkshity the end of February would be cool to check it out.

RayBuck wrote:Hell yeah should turn out nice. There are a couple of guys on the snowboarding forum I am on that build there vehicles into mobile houses for living like a ski bum in japan for a couple of months chasing powder. As far as lift goes I would suggest ome I am sure you have done your research they offer two different springs for it HD and not. I am not sure how much weight you are going to haul around do not do a shackle reversal the kit sucks there is one on my 62 it was on it when I got it anyway your truck is sweet keep us updated. Shit I will be in parkshity the end of February would be cool to check it out.

Yep, OME is the only way to go. There is a guy here local that specializes in these older Land Cruisers so I get all of my parts from him. He has a direct line to Japan for the harder to find parts for these imports.

When you get to Park City drop me a message and we will see if we can hook up!

knightrider358 wrote:Awesome looking and quality work man!!!

I have to give my old man credit for the wood work on the sleep platform. I had a few ideas so I asked him about it. After that we bought some plywood and he took over! It actually worked out pretty good for me. Lol

I did however do the wiring for the 12 volt stuff so when this thing goes up in smoke you know who to blame! Lol

mr tibbs wrote:

RayBuck wrote:Hell yeah should turn out nice. There are a couple of guys on the snowboarding forum I am on that build there vehicles into mobile houses for living like a ski bum in japan for a couple of months chasing powder. As far as lift goes I would suggest ome I am sure you have done your research they offer two different springs for it HD and not. I am not sure how much weight you are going to haul around do not do a shackle reversal the kit sucks there is one on my 62 it was on it when I got it anyway your truck is sweet keep us updated. Shit I will be in parkshity the end of February would be cool to check it out.

Yep, OME is the only way to go. There is a guy here local that specializes in these older Land Cruisers so I get all of my parts from him. He has a direct line to Japan for the harder to find parts for these imports.

When you get to Park City drop me a message and we will see if we can hook up!

Will do let me know if you need any info with any of your suspension stuff that is what I do.

So, I have been busy upgrading Stoffel. I had custom bumpers and sliders made and installed along with other various little items to keep me busy. The next big upgrade will be the lift and rebuilding the front axle with upgraded chroemoly axle shafts and Birfields. Here are a few pics of the rear bumper and sliders. Or you can just follow my build thread here.

damn casey, thats a bad ass rig!!!!

twisted wrote:damn casey, thats a bad ass rig!!!!

Thanks! It's coming along nicely. I just ordered the front bumper and hope to get it in for the lift in the next few weeks. While it is in for the lift I will have the front axle rebuilt. After that it will be exhaust and cosmetic items!

looks like a fun project for sure that will lead to some amazing times. I had my ranger set up with a hard toneau cover with a bike/gear rack on top that I love to take up into the mountains for a long weekend of riding/racing/relaxing. While they got everything stripped off of it to do the lift maybe consider doing some kind of underbody rust protection if you have not already done it. I did lizard skin 2 yrs ago and noticed a good amount of road noise was reduced but then there is the peace of mind of knowing it was not going to rust.

i somehow missed this whole thread. thats a bitchen piece of offroader.

so it has a turbo inline 6 in it?

Bfowler wrote:i somehow missed this whole thread. thats a bitchen piece of offroader.

so it has a turbo inline 6 in it?

Correct, a Toyota inline 6 cylinder diesel!!

This weekend the wife and I went to Wyoming to pick up her rig and three new bumpers. 2 for her and a front for me. I dropped them off at the powder coater today and should have them installed by the end of the week. Saturday I will drop off my rig with Cruiser Outfitters for a few things. A lift, front knuckle rebuild, new axle shafts and Birfields, new tie rod ends, and some balanced drive shafts with new U-joints. Should cost somewhere in the ball park of $4k, but should also be good for another 20+ years!!

A few updates. The boys at Cruiser Outfitters have had my rig for the past week doing a few upgrades. First installed was the OME lift. Heavy duty plus in the rear and medium duty in the front. I gained just over one inch in the front and 4 inches in the rear! They also did a front axle knuckle rebuild, installed chromoly Birfs and a short side axle shaft, new TRE boots, and adjusted the brakes. I also received my front bumper back and installed it today. Driving home I was smiling ear to ear! I couldn't be happier with the way this build is turning out. I'm soooooo freaking happy!!!

Pics:


Before lift left side


After lift left side


Before lift right side


After lift right side


New front bumper!!






Sexy under carriage with new lift!!

im diggin it bro!!! thats a bad ass yota

Looks good man.

This weekend the we took Stoffel out on an overnighter in northern Utah. We met up with some of the old FJ Cruiser club members that we used to trail run with and some new folks. The wife, myself, and our friend had a blast with the rest of the group! We took the old transcontinental rail road bed from Wendover, NV all the way to Golden Spike National Monument; about 180 miles of dirt off road. I ended up getting two flat tires, but that is about par for this trail (damn rail road spikes)! The first was swapped out for the spare and the second was able to be patched in the field. It was a great time!! All pics can be found here:

Thats so awesome man! I wish i could do a drive like that out there. Im sure my t4r could do it. But being way out here in VA and work just doesnt make it easy. But its on my bucket list!

Love the photos and the scenery!

Hell yes!!! Looks like a blast. I am leaving in October from here in nc driving out to Colorado in my fj62 going to spend the winter out there and be a ski bum should be fun. Truck looks great.

That thing is pretty badass.