[darwink1]

Hey yous guys!

I've been a long time lurker and may have even posted a time or two.

The scenario:

I have an 00' taco that I wheel and put away for the winter to keep it out of the salt. The last 2 winters I rocked a 90 ex cab mini 4x4 that died a slow death this spring. While debating between buying another beater to DD or a toy to wheel I happened on a beater worthy FZJ80 for the "right" price.

The Taco




The new winter beater.














93 FZJ80 LC. New shocks, brakes, birfs, top end of motor redone last year, 231xxxkm, 4.5 inline 6, seats 7 adults or 19 midgets, full float rear axle, discs all round............rust..........old leather... no elockers but its got an aussie in the rear and the center diff lock.

All in all its surprisingly sturdy and rattle free on the road. It drives straight although I do get vibes around 80km/h. Going to get the tires balanced sometime soon.

Plans so far are to get rid of as much of the rust as I can, find a windshield, and give it a paint job of some sort. I need a new diff breather fitting for the rear axle as the one on there is sheared off, gonna search for that pt#. I also need to search to see if I can get my 15" taco steelies w winter tires on there somehow. Maybe grinding the caliper will work........... Lots of fun. I have some steel so I might fab up a front bumper eventually seeing as though it doesnt have one.

Funny thing is I remember seeing this thing when I was in high school. The original owner was a doctor and lived down the street from the school.

The dude I got it from just upgraded to a 90 JDM 80 with the turbo diesel and the whannot. Sweet rig man.

I really do have to spend more time on here thats for sure.

Thanks for reading.


D

[Wrench]

Holy RTV Batman....

[caldentey]

Looks nicer than my beater. congrats

[retrofive]

Some beater LOL! congrats.

[darwink1]

we loaded up the bus last night before our super extreme hack session. the rearmost seat is being shared by pete #1 who is 6'4" and pete #2 who is........ shorter.






busses are cool. not as cool as tacos but close.

D

[darwink1]

oh, and sorry for the lack of tech. froont bumper build coming soon....

D

[Lka1988]

Nice beater. Heh heh...

[ALCO]

Sturdy and rattle free is a common trait of these LC beasts.

[darwink1]

Made a fake bumper today to get an idea of what it will look like..........with one. This is just the first draft but i like it.








Like a retard i didnt get a shot of it on the van.

D

[Lka1988]

That looks good, I like it.

[vjr021]

How about some more shots of your garage/basement??

Looks like a great place to hang!

[darwink1]

Some pics of it on the van.









Thats my garage in the pics. Its set up with couches/tv/stereo/intrabox and makes for a cool place to chill out. Especially when you have messy bastard friends who spill beer and such. They dont even step foot in the house.

When i want to pull my truck in (not the van cause its too ginormous) i just move stuff around a bit and it reverts back to being a garage. The only bad thing is i spend way too much time in here........oh and theres no bathroom, that too.

Theres a sweet loft upstairs that provides lots of storage room and partially makes up for the "lack" of head room downstairs.















D

[Bomar]

nice garage!

[Farr off road]

Sweet pad!

Oh BTW I don't think your "van" as you call it is even close to being a beater!!!

[darwink1]

thanks lol.

youre right, its not really a beater, i guess any winter dd ive had has been called that. If i can manage to fix the rust around the windshield and back window along with the other various spots and make it look half decent i may have to give it another nick name.




On a completely different note, does anyone know wheat size bolts (size, thread and pitch) fit into the top of the frame horns at the front of the 80? There are 2 holes at the top of each horn that have nuts welded inside the frame that id like to use for the bumper. Using the 3 holes on the outside of the frame, the 2 tow hook mount bolts on the bottom and said top bolts would make 12 - 14 mount points and would be plenty strong.




I made an appt. for the exhaust today and got the front tires balanced. It rides a little better now but new(er) tires are gonna be needed. If only I could get my 15's on there I'd be set for winter. Dude that had it said he got 15" rims to fit on the front but the back wont go. I tried the other day and the rim slides over the studs but then stops short of the WMS because it hits the caliper.

Anyways, havin lots of fun. Might start to cut up the steel for that bumper today. Kind of wishing my plasma would find its way home to make things easier.

D

[Farr off road]

Originally Posted by darwink1

thanks lol.

youre right, its not really a beater, i guess any winter dd ive had has been called that. If i can manage to fix the rust around the windshield and back window along with the other various spots and make it look half decent i may have to give it another nick name.




On a completely different note, does anyone know wheat size bolts (size, thread and pitch) fit into the top of the frame horns at the front of the 80? There are 2 holes at the top of each horn that have nuts welded inside the frame that id like to use for the bumper. Using the 3 holes on the outside of the frame, the 2 tow hook mount bolts on the bottom and said top bolts would make 12 - 14 mount points and would be plenty strong.




I made an appt. for the exhaust today and got the front tires balanced. It rides a little better now but new(er) tires are gonna be needed. If only I could get my 15's on there I'd be set for winter. Dude that had it said he got 15" rims to fit on the front but the back wont go. I tried the other day and the rim slides over the studs but then stops short of the WMS because it hits the caliper.

Anyways, havin lots of fun. Might start to cut up the steel for that bumper today. Kind of wishing my plasma would find its way home to make things easier.

D

They are 14mm and any 14mm bolt should fit!

What tire size are you going with?

I have some 1 1/2" wheel spacers that will fix that problem...I'll take $150 for them.

[huckthehaus]

nice garage. another ontario banshee rider? lol

i used 12 of the 14 holes on my front bumper, the size is 10x1.25. like your bumper design, nice low profile/good approach. fibreglass over the cardboard and run it!

btw, the cruiser should be your dedicated wheeler, i could go into depth i think you'll find out in good time.

cheers

[darwink1]

More bumper.



















Its turning out ok, end is in sight. 4 more little pieces to cut and weld then more grinding.....

D

[Lka1988]

Looks pretty cool. I'd put a brace from the wing to the main body on the bumper though. Extra support, ya know?

Kinda like this:

[darwink1]

meh, the brace would interfere with those low shopping carts and id het hung up.

dont worry, shes boxed now and a gusset or 2 are going in.

D

[nat88toy]

dont know what i like better the bumper or the garage great build

[darwink1]

Well finished er up today and I must say I really like the way it looks. Glad I took the time to buff it out before primer and paint. Just need Sam to bend me up a lil piece of tube in his spare time to connect the 2 sides of the winch box and act as a little stinger/light mount like the taco has.

The front of the van doesn't look so welfare now and all I paid for is cutting/grinding discs and wire.





















Oh yeah, did the poser flex thing and tried out the low gear. Lifted the rear no spinnage.

I really really like this thing man.

D

[gotmud]

Originally Posted by Farr off road

They are 14mm and any 14mm bolt with the proper thread pitch and length should fit...

Fixed it.

[darwink1]

Actually my bolts turned out to be 12mm...... I had a buddy at the nut/bolt store come out and measure, sure enough a 12mm fit prefectly. Again these are the 4 bolts, 2 on the top of each frame horn.



Heres another one. The rear diff breather was extended when I got it but the fitting at the axle has sheared off. The nut part of the fitting is still there so I will be able to get the old one out, its just the part that the hose presses on to thats broken off and still in the end of the hose. Whats the thread type for that fitting? I searched half hartedly and found different routing options but no pt #'s or descriptions of the actual fitting so far. I may just take it off and run to the parts place and match it up...

The cruiser has exhaust now and will go for cert tomorrow. Wish me luck.

D


D

[IronYuppy]

Nice score, man. Tough enough finding an 80 in Canada, let alone a cheap one!

[T Y L E R]

Dudes rollin a fatty ain't he ..

Nice find on the 80 man .. I had to import mine ya luck SOB.




TY

[T Y L E R]

Dudes rollin a fatty ain't he ..

Nice find on the 80 man .. I had to import mine ya luck SOB.




TY

[cody c]

nice looking cruiser! i like the bumper, its kind of minimalistic but you kind of want to keep the weight down on these things and it looks sturdy for its size.

Actually i was just scrolling through the pics and seen the tims cup on the hood and said to myself, what the heck? i guess hes in canada! Without reading you location, Not as many canucks posting new to them 80's on here i guess!

[darwink1]

Ummmmm thats someone prefabbin......a cigarette... . lol.

Spruced it up a lil more today.

Painted the wheelchair load out on the back if the bus. Pete stopped in and I put the bastard to work scuffing up the rims. Primer, paint, and clear. They look like new rims. Also cut the huge assed tail pipe down a little, it sounds deeper now at idle.

Got a new rear diff breather fitting and ran it to the engine bay beside the one for the front axle.

I think thats it for today.

Thanks testico, and thanks for the case chris.







D

[cruiserdan]

Nice job but I think you might be ass-backwards.

The 80 is the "keeper" and the Taco should be the beater.


IE you are saving the wrong truck.