The Adventures of Ash and Baby Taco

Whatever you do, don't order the Marlin Crawler seals (or axles, they are soft spring steel, super strong but wear quickly on a daily driver). They are the reason I had to rebuild my knuckles, the previous owner installed them and they barely made it 10,000 miles. Some links I have saved- Ended up ordering from Lowrange. Don;t forget the 54mm socket!

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/toyo...earings.html?gclid=CL7J5rKpicsCFQtFaQodl5cHMA

http://www.jtoutfitters.com/front-a...p-4159.html?osCsid=48i315b3kj5fhto9c7o7fbg2p2

http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/lockers.html

 

Thanks for the info! All I have read was to use the marlin seals so this is good to know.

 

OEM Toyota is the best, same with wheel bearings. Koyo from Japan is hard to beat. Most guys get 150K out of them, anything else is a gamble.

 

This... just helped my buddy rebuild his minitruck 8in not long ago..

 

Why not just get stock tires? For fuel economy and just cause there cheaper.

 

Probably smarter. Not sure what I will do. I personally will be wanting to sell it soon as my truck is running. It's fun but just another project. If the gal wants it I would sell it to her and help her work on it but I don't think she realizes what fully needs to be done. I can't wait to have my truck back .

 

You might change your mind after you drive it a bit. They are the toughest vehicle in the world, super reliable, unbelievably capable, and just plain comfortable to drive around. I have some really cool vehicles in my driveway, and for some reason I always grab the keys to the old crusty FJ80. I have taken it some places where it had no business being. Running some high country snow, came out on top and met some guys on 44's locked up who said "how'd you get that in here?". When I bought mine, my wife drove it to town and said "this thing is cool!". It is indeed cool.

 

It is super cool and I really do think it's fun to drive around. I wouldn't be against keeping it if I had a reason to haha. Like most things, after a few months the shock of spending money will fade, the truck will still run, and I will hopefully have my truck running.

Contacting the machine shop to see what the cost of them finishing the job will be. Part of me want's to just pull the head and take it in but I just don't see that ending well for me . My luck it would be rings and I am back at step 1.

 

It might be something you can fix yourself. Is the "dent" on a bearing? Some pics would be very helpful. Pulling the head is pretty easy, assuming you have basic hand tools. It's also free, minus the cost of a head gasket. I don't think it's anywhere near as serious as you are making it out to be.

 

No, it's on the head where the cam sits. Such a small but imo big problem. I am more worried that it is actually a ring.

If this isn't a big deal I would be relieved. But I can't believe it wouldn't be an issue.

 

Is it just that little knick on the top left? If so, sand it smooth and put a new bearing in it and you are good to go.

What do the intake ports look like? Lots of gunk?

 

New bearing? Everything have been pretty clean so far.

 

And yes, it's the little nick. It is also indented on the top and I would assume that might cause a valve cover leak?

 

I forgot there is no bearing in there. Either way, 30 seconds with some fine sandpaper will smooth it out. When you get it close, mark it with sharpie and spin the cam a few times. Any high spots will wipe the sharpie clean.

 

Ok, ill give that a shot. Not like I can fuck it up any more and thats a $5 fix

 

The last valve seal is also near impossible to get out with the head on. There is no room to get the tool in there.

 

now the hunt for an FJ80 toy begins...

 

I've been looking for a 60 pretty steady. Love those things. I wouldn't worry much about that nick, smooth it down, and runit

 

Lol, now you want one? Good luck on your search. There are plenty out this way but most are 4k if they run, have an alright body, and require the basic maintenance. 6-10k for anything under 200k miles. I sacrificed getting a clean body for one that runs and needs some maintenance. Figured if I kept it I would just continue the abuse on trails.

I love the 60's and had a few on the list to go see. The owners also loved them and wouldn't budge on pricing very much. Some old lady posted one for $500 because it didn't pass emissions in CO. It was gone in a few hours.

 

I've found a few in co for a fairly decent price. Just haven't jumped on any.