Now that I've had the truck for a month or so, I thought I would start a thread here ...
This story starts when I was much much younger. After grad school, before I embarked on life in the so-called real world, I spend a few weeks in Europe where I first saw a 70 series LC. Kinda fell in love with these trucks then and, like a lot of us in the USofA, was amazed and a little PO'd that Mr. T refused to bring these trucks to the US.
DISCLAIMER: It is always interesting to buy a truck from a user on an enthusiast forum than start posting about items you are repairing. Steve, i hope you realize that anything I discuss is not a shot at you, but merely comes from my expectations for some items on the truck.
Fast forward twenty(mumble mumble)-odd years and this truck comes up in the classifieds. I remember following the build by the original US owner . Cutting to the chase, I committed to go see it in late September. After a few hours of looking and a quick phone call with @1978HJ45 to make me feel a little more comfortable with the breathtaking power of the 3B , the deal was cemented and I started the trek back from Atlanta up I-85 in a truck that requires a calendar to measure 0-60 times and can make 70 MPH if driven off a cliff ... with Saturday afternoon traffic on Atlanta's 285 and Clemson having a home game, there was a lot of suction holding me to the seat - but the truck maintained 110kph without too much drama (OK, other than the hills on I-85)
It's in my garage now and every time I drive it, I get a big smile on my face ...
Details, details
From the VIN, the truck is a 09/1986 build date, BJ73LV-MRW standard. It was originally sold in Spain and appears to have been serviced for quite a bit of its life at Toyota of Valencia Spain. It is the standard trim, 3B diesel, 24V electrical, H55 transmission, and removable FRP top. Because it was a Spanish truck, it has a "roll bar" on which the back seat shoulder belts are mounted. It has approximately 248,000 kms on the odometer when I bought it.
The truck has some sort of add-a leaves on it. Anti-Inversion shackles that are mounted upside down and backwards, a front bumper that appears to have started life as a ARB, a 24V 12K winch, a European rear bumper, and an ARB roof rack.
The truck appears to have been used as designed, but does not show any obvious areas of abuse. The frame is solid, drive train has no significant leaks, and the body does not have the "rust in typical spots, easily repaired". It is not pristine, but there is very little if any bondo on the body (the left rear corner of the top has a little) and it has a few dings, scratches and small dents. The passenger door has been painted at some point since the Araco sticker has some over-spray on it. It does have some interesting quirks though.
Near Term Plans
and enjoy
I do need to take care of a few issues and add a few items (in no real order)
Pics
I will get some more, but for now, I'll just use the poseur ones I shot for insurance purposes. For these pics, a few steps had already been done ...
I will add to this thread as I go ...
This story starts when I was much much younger. After grad school, before I embarked on life in the so-called real world, I spend a few weeks in Europe where I first saw a 70 series LC. Kinda fell in love with these trucks then and, like a lot of us in the USofA, was amazed and a little PO'd that Mr. T refused to bring these trucks to the US.
DISCLAIMER: It is always interesting to buy a truck from a user on an enthusiast forum than start posting about items you are repairing. Steve, i hope you realize that anything I discuss is not a shot at you, but merely comes from my expectations for some items on the truck.
Fast forward twenty(mumble mumble)-odd years and this truck comes up in the classifieds. I remember following the build by the original US owner . Cutting to the chase, I committed to go see it in late September. After a few hours of looking and a quick phone call with @1978HJ45 to make me feel a little more comfortable with the breathtaking power of the 3B , the deal was cemented and I started the trek back from Atlanta up I-85 in a truck that requires a calendar to measure 0-60 times and can make 70 MPH if driven off a cliff ... with Saturday afternoon traffic on Atlanta's 285 and Clemson having a home game, there was a lot of suction holding me to the seat - but the truck maintained 110kph without too much drama (OK, other than the hills on I-85)
It's in my garage now and every time I drive it, I get a big smile on my face ...
Details, details
From the VIN, the truck is a 09/1986 build date, BJ73LV-MRW standard. It was originally sold in Spain and appears to have been serviced for quite a bit of its life at Toyota of Valencia Spain. It is the standard trim, 3B diesel, 24V electrical, H55 transmission, and removable FRP top. Because it was a Spanish truck, it has a "roll bar" on which the back seat shoulder belts are mounted. It has approximately 248,000 kms on the odometer when I bought it.
The truck has some sort of add-a leaves on it. Anti-Inversion shackles that are mounted upside down and backwards, a front bumper that appears to have started life as a ARB, a 24V 12K winch, a European rear bumper, and an ARB roof rack.
The truck appears to have been used as designed, but does not show any obvious areas of abuse. The frame is solid, drive train has no significant leaks, and the body does not have the "rust in typical spots, easily repaired". It is not pristine, but there is very little if any bondo on the body (the left rear corner of the top has a little) and it has a few dings, scratches and small dents. The passenger door has been painted at some point since the Araco sticker has some over-spray on it. It does have some interesting quirks though.
- Somebody spent a lot of time painstakingly drilling a bazillion holes smaller than 3/16" in the radiator support around the left headlight and over to the opening for the radiator. The holes are fairly evenly spaced and the panel was nicely painted after the operation
- There are at least 5 or 6 relays under the hood that have no wires hooked to them.
- The air intake from the air cleaner assembly tho the intake manifold is cobbled together using some sort of OEM air tube (but not one from an LC) connected to a radiator hose
Near Term Plans
and enjoy
I do need to take care of a few issues and add a few items (in no real order)
- Eliminate the wheel spacers (especially since there are spacers between the hub and spacers on the front) Complete
- Get new lug nuts since there were 4 different styles on the truck with three different hex wrenches required Complete
- Get rid of the cobbled together air intake – would like to go OEM, but do not know if that is possible since parts are NLA. May have to go with aluminum tube and silicone hoses a la street tuner crowd
Getting fixed soonComplete - Verify engine health through compression test and “diesel tune up” as soon as I can find a competent small diesel shop … or get the stuff to do it myself Blackstone sample complete
- Verify accessory wiring is up to my standards
Parts and supplies orderedComplete - Get AC working and the compressor aligned (compressor pulley is crooked compared with crank) and the AC is not blowing cold. It appears to be an aftermarket setup.
- Add a real oil pressure gauge and temp gauge and probably a tachometer, possibly a pyro.
- Rebuild the front knuckles
- Replace AVM lockouts with OEM or Warn – prefer OEM, but I figure that might be cost prohibitive
- Then the ususal ... suspension refresh, better tires, etc.
Pics
I will get some more, but for now, I'll just use the poseur ones I shot for insurance purposes. For these pics, a few steps had already been done ...
- ARB Rack removed so I can get the truck in the garage.
- Wheel spacers removed.
I will add to this thread as I go ...
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