1991 FJ 80 Build... (1 Viewer)

[Ronin344]

I recently picked up a 1991 FJ 80, first Landcruiser ever. I have built several Jeeps over the years, so I have experience building and fabricating, just limited Toyota experience.

It currently has 347K miles on it. Interior isn't in bad shape though the original front seats are gone. So far I have not found any significant rust, couple of minor spots. All of the windows go up and down nicely but I haven't tried the sunroof yet...going to wait until I clear some space in the garage . Obviously it is going to need some TLC and a few parts to get it roadworthy. I'm fairly certain the motor has been overhauled or the head gasket has been replaced at a minimum...both the head and valve cover are painted a light blue color . I also have a vacuum leak to track down as it idles at about 1200rpm. There are some oil leaks to fix, which appears to be a valve cover gasket and maybe a rear main seal. I will need to go through the front axle as I have the "Birfield Soup" going on. The front bumper that came with it appears to be an older style ARB and the top plate has the Warn "W" cut out. It looked a little beat when it was on but when I took it off it was obvious it had been hit pretty hard before and someone decided to do some "fabrication" to fix it. I am trying to figure out a way to salvage it and modify it to bring it back to a functional and useful existence but I feel it may be going to the scrap yard. The previous owner had installed a 6" OME lift on it and it was sitting on some no name 35" tires and had a sweet set of "s***tybuilt" side steps on it. Side steps were taken off and tossed and I just happened to have a set of Allied bead locks with 38" TSL SX's. They fit in the wheel wells fine but I do feel like I will need to push the front axle forward about an inch and push the rear back an inch as well.

Received some various parts yesterday, new steering column cover and a new ebrake cover. Got those installed and it definitely made the interior look a little better. Waiting on some more parts to come in and then I am going to dive in deep on this ...stay tuned. A few pics for your enjoyment.

 

[Ronin344]

Few more...

 

[KYLXFJ]

Congratulations! She looks solid with some goodies already.

 

[LandLocked93]

Welcome! (MUD salute)

 

[BILT4ME]

Welcome!

The 91's typically did NOT have the head gasket issues you read about on here. You have the 3F-E 3ngine and the HG issues are with the later model 1FZ-FE engines.

If it appears that the head has been reworked, it's still possible, but it also appears this truck has been worked hard.

There are a few folks on here that are passionate about their 91-92 models. Unfortunately, some of the engine parts and powers steering parts are becoming NLA (No longer available) for this model.

Stick with it, do what you enjoy. A 6" lift can be a good thing or bad thing, depending on how it was done and how YOU intend to use it. A 6" lift creates a lot of NEW challenges in suspension geometry and can be quite the rabbit hole.

Odds are the "rear main seal leak" is either a bad valve cover gasket or the upper oil pan arch seal. Both much easier to replace than the rear main seal. (Pull the transmission to complete)

Good Luck!

Work safely!

 

[Ronin344]

Pulled the front seats today and scrapped them. They appeared to be Chrysler minivan seats and were not only beat to hell, very uncomfortable. . They did have what appears to be the original factory seat mounts/sliders attached to the built in seat mounts on the minivan seats. Can anyone confirm these are the original factory Toyota seat mounts? New seats are inbound along with a set of mounts (Corbeau Sport seats) and I currently have a Tuffy center console sitting on the shelf.

 

[Ronin344]

Got the new front seats and sliders installed today. I will say this, Corbeau seems to have poor quality control these days. I had to modify both of the seat mount brackets even though they are advertised as " a direct bolt in". I am used to having to modify parts and fabricating but damn, y'all can do better than this. Seats are a huge improvement over the raggedy assed minivan seats that were in it when I bought the cruiser. The center console is not installed yet, I did the mock up of where I wanted it to sit and played around with a couple of variations of mounting the cup holder. Monday I will get a piece of aluminum and after cutting and bending, the console will be installed. To be continued...