This is a rolling build thread for a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser. I'd been wanting an 80 for a while. I had sold my 87 FJ60 and looked at a 1994 3x locked truck, but decided for the money what I wanted to do was to find a rust free unlocked truck with solvable problems within my skill set. I wanted a 95-97 for OBD2. The wife's requirement was that it couldn't require "significant" work and be a "project". So the truck needed to be running/driving/stopping at time of purchase.
I found a CL ad for a 96. The ad said:
373,000 miles on odometer. Replaced with new motor at 188,000 miles.
Gray Leather seats.
Here are the photos from the ad
My friend and fellow Cruiserhead went to look at it. His specialty was interiors, and he's owned 4 80s, so I let him have the interior inspection. I handled the exterior and the mechanical. It is a very clean car. The seller has owned the car since 1999 and has never taken it offroad. Car has been in Mississippi and Alabama since new. Only corrosion is some minor damage where she backed into a mailbox and the typical right lower corner of the liftgate window spot. The truck had been sitting since January of 2020. It came off the road for a "thunk in the front end". Clean car fax.
It has all the typical 80 issues. Shaky mirrors, seat gears stripped, front main seal/oil pump cover leaking, rear oil pan arch or RMS leak. But the birfs are only starting to leak, and everything mechanical is fine (with one exception I'll describe later). The initial inspection situation was atypical because the alternator had failed and the car would not stay running after being jumped. The test drive was quick and abbreviated as the car stalled on the side of the road. AC didn't work and the windshield was cracked in several places.
But the car was unmodified and very clean. So after a few days of haggling, she followed me home on a trailer behind the Tundra.
Off we go. Named her Jackie after the previous owner, a very stately older lady. Seemed fitting.
I found a CL ad for a 96. The ad said:
373,000 miles on odometer. Replaced with new motor at 188,000 miles.
Gray Leather seats.
Here are the photos from the ad
My friend and fellow Cruiserhead went to look at it. His specialty was interiors, and he's owned 4 80s, so I let him have the interior inspection. I handled the exterior and the mechanical. It is a very clean car. The seller has owned the car since 1999 and has never taken it offroad. Car has been in Mississippi and Alabama since new. Only corrosion is some minor damage where she backed into a mailbox and the typical right lower corner of the liftgate window spot. The truck had been sitting since January of 2020. It came off the road for a "thunk in the front end". Clean car fax.
It has all the typical 80 issues. Shaky mirrors, seat gears stripped, front main seal/oil pump cover leaking, rear oil pan arch or RMS leak. But the birfs are only starting to leak, and everything mechanical is fine (with one exception I'll describe later). The initial inspection situation was atypical because the alternator had failed and the car would not stay running after being jumped. The test drive was quick and abbreviated as the car stalled on the side of the road. AC didn't work and the windshield was cracked in several places.
But the car was unmodified and very clean. So after a few days of haggling, she followed me home on a trailer behind the Tundra.
Off we go. Named her Jackie after the previous owner, a very stately older lady. Seemed fitting.
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