FJBen
SILVER Star
I don't have a whole lot to report on this 80, so I'll delve into how I got it, then go over the mods.
After a brief stint away from the 80's that involved a selling my old 80 ROTW Old 93 I've come full circle again. ;p
I sold my old 80 to a member, on the eve of one of the nastiest winters colorado had seen in MANY years.
Of course...I was wearing my bad idea jeans. I purchased a 1974 HJ45 with intent to fix it up and drive it. Well, being 6'4"+ and a family of 4, this proved to be a not so smart idea. While the HJ45 was undoubtably one of the coolest cruisers around, I just couldn't spend the money to fix it up like it needed. I sold that to a mud member and who completely restored it from the ground up. Here's a completed pic, the link to all pictures/work is here:
HJ45
I ended up then getting my friends 67 FJ40 and started building it up. Again...with family involved I just wasn't going to be able to use it like I wanted. No A/C, no room and a family of 4 with a popup camper....wasn't gonna happen. I wish I could have kept that AND got another rig...but sometimes just doesn't work out that way.
I was perusing the classifieds as I like to from time to time and found someone looking to trade/sell an 80. It was nicely built up and he was looking for a built 40. After some talks and negotiations/work we traded straight across. We made the trade and met in Salina Kansas. I live in Greeley, he lives in Arkansas. Driving a 40 on 37's 500 miles in January was fun
Everything checked out, we made the trade and started the fun drive home. It honestly felt like i was in a cadillac. My friend is a Jeep guy was blown away by how nice it drove...of course it felt stellar after sitting in a 40 that long.
And we actually had control of the heat 
WHOA!
Here's what I got on my end of the deal.
1993 FZJ80
ARB Bull Bar (winch model)
OME lift J spring front, Heavy rear
OME "L" shocks
DC driveshaft,
Slee Caster plates
Slee bumpstop spacers
Extended stainless steel brake lines from Slee
Slee Adjustable upper rear control arms
Metal Tech Rock Sliders
Custom made high clearance rear bumper with swing away spare tire carrier. Its 95% finished. I need to redo the latching mechanism, and was going to change a couple things to make it look a little better.
Center diff lock switch from Slee
ARB Air Lockers both front and rear
Air compressor and on board air (a 2.5 gallon tank where the spare tire used to be just needs to be plumbed in).
4.88:1 gears front and rear
Marlin Crawler chromoly birfields (still trying to figure out of they are longfields or newfields)
315/75/16 BFG Mud Terrains (90%+ tread)
Wet Okole seat covers in the front
Pesky Heater Hose permanently upgraded and replaced: Silicone
Fuel filter replaced recently as preventative maintenance.
O2 sensor replaced about a year ago when a light came on. Light hasn't been back on.
Kenwood CD head unit (MP3 capable), MTX front component speakers, 4" rear speakers
baselined, fluids changed, etc...
A HUGE bag of receipts for everything done/purchases/serviced
Sooo...of course I had to put my personal changes/touches on it
here's the current set of changes.
Slee 4" front springs, J rear springs
Slee Skid plate
Plumbed in ARB compressor to 2.5 gallon tank, using quick couplers on front and rear bumper, air manifold, pressure guage, quick connects
Deka Intimidator battery AGM DEKA Battery 9A78DT
Backup Camera
PIAA Lights
Blackout hood paint Hood Blackout paint
Plumbed breathers into engine bay
New Starter contacts/plunger
Removed front sway bar
Removed OEM roof rack
Pin 7 mod
Future mods/projects:
custom paint scheme (coming real soon)
Slide out drawer (I have the slides/tray....I just need the time
)
subwoofer...I need thump...system sounds great...just no thump
finish tire carrier, new latching, power opening (strut) highlift carrier ( I have a Detaco latch, and strut to hold open the carrier...just that time thing again )
Here's some current pics of the rig:
Right after the hood blackout
After a brief stint away from the 80's that involved a selling my old 80 ROTW Old 93 I've come full circle again. ;p
I sold my old 80 to a member, on the eve of one of the nastiest winters colorado had seen in MANY years.
Of course...I was wearing my bad idea jeans. I purchased a 1974 HJ45 with intent to fix it up and drive it. Well, being 6'4"+ and a family of 4, this proved to be a not so smart idea. While the HJ45 was undoubtably one of the coolest cruisers around, I just couldn't spend the money to fix it up like it needed. I sold that to a mud member and who completely restored it from the ground up. Here's a completed pic, the link to all pictures/work is here:HJ45
I ended up then getting my friends 67 FJ40 and started building it up. Again...with family involved I just wasn't going to be able to use it like I wanted. No A/C, no room and a family of 4 with a popup camper....wasn't gonna happen. I wish I could have kept that AND got another rig...but sometimes just doesn't work out that way.
I was perusing the classifieds as I like to from time to time and found someone looking to trade/sell an 80. It was nicely built up and he was looking for a built 40. After some talks and negotiations/work we traded straight across. We made the trade and met in Salina Kansas. I live in Greeley, he lives in Arkansas. Driving a 40 on 37's 500 miles in January was fun
Everything checked out, we made the trade and started the fun drive home. It honestly felt like i was in a cadillac. My friend is a Jeep guy was blown away by how nice it drove...of course it felt stellar after sitting in a 40 that long.
And we actually had control of the heat WHOA!Here's what I got on my end of the deal.
1993 FZJ80
ARB Bull Bar (winch model)
OME lift J spring front, Heavy rear
OME "L" shocks
DC driveshaft,
Slee Caster plates
Slee bumpstop spacers
Extended stainless steel brake lines from Slee
Slee Adjustable upper rear control arms
Metal Tech Rock Sliders
Custom made high clearance rear bumper with swing away spare tire carrier. Its 95% finished. I need to redo the latching mechanism, and was going to change a couple things to make it look a little better.
Center diff lock switch from Slee
ARB Air Lockers both front and rear
Air compressor and on board air (a 2.5 gallon tank where the spare tire used to be just needs to be plumbed in).
4.88:1 gears front and rear
Marlin Crawler chromoly birfields (still trying to figure out of they are longfields or newfields)
315/75/16 BFG Mud Terrains (90%+ tread)
Wet Okole seat covers in the front
Pesky Heater Hose permanently upgraded and replaced: Silicone
Fuel filter replaced recently as preventative maintenance.
O2 sensor replaced about a year ago when a light came on. Light hasn't been back on.
Kenwood CD head unit (MP3 capable), MTX front component speakers, 4" rear speakers
baselined, fluids changed, etc...
A HUGE bag of receipts for everything done/purchases/serviced
Sooo...of course I had to put my personal changes/touches on it
here's the current set of changes.
Slee 4" front springs, J rear springs
Slee Skid plate
Plumbed in ARB compressor to 2.5 gallon tank, using quick couplers on front and rear bumper, air manifold, pressure guage, quick connects
Deka Intimidator battery AGM DEKA Battery 9A78DT
Backup Camera
PIAA Lights
Blackout hood paint Hood Blackout paint
Plumbed breathers into engine bay
New Starter contacts/plunger
Removed front sway bar
Removed OEM roof rack
Pin 7 mod
Future mods/projects:
custom paint scheme (coming real soon)
Slide out drawer (I have the slides/tray....I just need the time
)subwoofer...I need thump...system sounds great...just no thump
finish tire carrier, new latching, power opening (strut) highlift carrier ( I have a Detaco latch, and strut to hold open the carrier...just that time thing again
)Here's some current pics of the rig:
Right after the hood blackout
friendly/safe rig as can be. Of course I haven't owned a nice 70 series troopy yet so 
Cool to hear the sequence of events that led you back to a wagon. Family of 4 here to so I completely understand. Would be hard to part with the other two though...
