1979 Refresh (1 Viewer)

[JulianJ]

Hello,

I recently picked up my first Land Cruiser and I am excited to learn about these beasts and get things going!

Thought I would share how I picked it up.

This Cruiser had been parked for at least 5 years outside near my house. The first time I saw it I had no idea what it was. This got me looking into Land Cruisers a while back and slowly building an interest in them. After a few years of looking at it and not seeing , I finally approached the owner to purchase it. After multiple weekends of knocking on the door to no avail, I resorted to leaving a note in the front door. a two week span passed of not hearing a thing and I was quickly losing hope. Sure enough I hear back and now I am the new owner!

Being a university student with limited funds the work will be slow and I will have to store it over the winters. Lucky for me the truck runs great and is just in need of some body work which will require a new tub in the coming years.

But for now I'm just gonna enjoy and drive it!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Welcome! Great start!

Make sure it's safe to drive before you do anything else... e.g. Brakes and steering.

Change all the fluids and filters... Don't forget the fuel filter... Lube it and keep up with it... e.g. Check your fluids regularly.

Read the FAQs, a sticky at the top of this forum... Lots of great info there.

Drive it and enjoy it!!

 

[Mace]

79 is the best year cruiser made!!

my god those taillights are horrid lol

 

[JulianJ]

79 is the best year cruiser made!!

my god those taillights are horrid lol

I agree, there are a few things I want to reverse ASAP! Those lights being one. Another is the tach duct taped to the steering column

 

[Mace]

Might want to change the oil. Toyota has not made those filters in a long time. And unless the PO bought a stockpile of them, it's likely to have been on there for a while.

 

[Mace]

I love the ziptie work on the hood window squirter.

The stock squirter is in the window frame. They ran steel tubes to it. Those tubes clog all the time... Access to the windshield sprayer was from the rubber oval grommet to the right of the rear view mirror.

 

[JulianJ]

I love the ziptie work on the hood window squirter.

The stock squirter is in the window frame. They ran steel tubes to it. Those tubes clog all the time... Access to the windshield sprayer was from the rubber oval grommet to the right of the rear view mirror.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

Welcome!! Nice rig!!

 

[3_puppies]

it's a nice feeling when you get that phone call after waiting.
Nice find.
looks like the engine has been swapped for a slightly earlier version.
the speedometer looks funky.
those taillights are an aftermarket boat trailer setup.

 

[Disasterman]

Congratulations on finding a good looking truck. As the others have stated, just make sure the brakes, steering and driving stuff works and enjoy it. A good cleaning might help.

By the way green trucks are always best.

 

[cruiserkev]

By the way green trucks are always best.

X2 - stay green and welcome to Mud!

 

[JulianJ]

School is keeping limiting my cruiser progress both timewise and financially so I have been brainstorming some cheap things to do over my summer break.

I started with picking up a carb kit and pulling off the carb to rebild. Thought removing the carb would be a bit easier but I ended up having to cut one of the air cleaner fastening bolts as the the PO replaced the original wing nut with a regular nut which has then rusted. I got the carb out and took it back to school to rebuild.

I currently have it disassembled and soaking in some cleaning solution. I followed Pinhead's videos and they have been awesome and an enormous help so far. So thanks Pinhead for that! Hoping to put it together later in the week.

Also got a qiuck welding lesson from my buddy who is a welding apprentice. Hoping to put that to use this summer as the cruiser needs some floor pannels welded in.

Anoyone have some suggestions for cheap things to do over the summer? I was thinking of a solid clean of everthing, rebuild front axle, brakes and steering.

 

[Varty Yo]

Yes 1st thing is clean it well! Looks pretty dusty everywhere!

As far as cheap well..... nothing is cheap about owning or bettering a landcruiser haha. Just go with the basics brakes, fluids, hows the cooling system look? Do a good rad flush. On my 67 i had a ton of crap stuck in the back of the block from sitting and lack of maintenance. make sure its drivable not just around the block. Last thing you want is to loose your brakes doing 100kph on the deerfoot. I had a brake scare last week in my 42. Turned out to just be a vac hose that came off.

You have a great wealth of knowledge and cruiserheads in the calgary area who im sure would be happy to give yah some advice in person.

Cheers

 

[JulianJ]

Carb put back together and looking much happier.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Nice. Congrats!
What is the build date on the door jamb data plate?

 

[JulianJ]

Nice. Congrats!
What is the build date on the door jamb data plate?

I believe it is January but I will have to check next time I can get to the vehicle

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Cool. Mine is a Feb. 79
CCOT has a Jan. 79 build on their show room floor. I just saw it today.

 

[JulianJ]

View attachment 1665320 Cool. Mine is a Feb. 79
CCOT has a Jan. 79 build on their show room floor. I just saw it today.

Awesome! Love the green. My 40 was originally rustic green and will go back when I get the chance.

 

[JulianJ]

Well, haven’t updated this thread for a long time since I have been in school and the vehicle has been stored for that time. Since I am now graduated and have a garage to leave the truck, I can finally get to work on this thing! My plans for the vehicle at this point are to take the body off and restore this thing.

I am trying to decide if I should get an aluminum tub or patch this body up. The tub is in rough shape but there are a lot of great threads on here which give me some hope that I can make it happen. I have little welding experience but I have a buddy who is a welder and is going to help me through the project. I like the idea of higher resale value and authenticity of the steel but if I'm being realistic I don't know if I have the skills to salvage this thing.

Here's a picture of the carnage hiding under the diamond plate.

My plan is take the body off when it's a little warmer in Canada and then decide which way to go when I can have a better look on the underside of the tub. Until then I am going to start going through mechanical bits like redoing the axles, brakes and suspension.

 

[1969FJ]

If you plan to keep it in Canada , and also use it, I would go aluminum.