Builds 1995 80 series build- a rolling black hole where money disappears

[reklund5]

So I've had my 80 series for a couple years now, and have made lots of progress in that time. I figure I should document it somehow, so this thread will serve as my feeble attempt of sorting through photos and posting build progress.

It started out with a December 2022 FB marketplace ad for a 1995 cruiser that had seen better days. The PO had tried to clean it up, had it painted, and put some 315s on it, and took a few photos that caught my wife's eye. We'd been looking for an 80 or a 100 series for quite some time, but the right deal hadn't come along. She liked this one, so we arranged to look at it.

Well, it was well-used, with 343k on the clock, and years of .... "Deferred maintenance". It was originally sold here locally, and spent all its time as a family ski car and commuter. The individual I bought it from had lofty goals of fixing it up, but reality stepped in and he was forced to sell. The asking price was silly- $12k if I remember- and I nit-picked it before I decided it was more work than I wanted to take on. I was ready to walk. If it held fluid it leaked it. Badly. The brakes were shot. The oil pressure gauge didn't work. The bumpers weren't there, as the suspension was so worn out the 315's wouldn't clear with them in place. Every bushing was split, the shocks (Pep-Boys finest, I'm sure) were leaking, the balljoints all had split boots. The heater valve was just a blob of JB Weld and orange RTV, held together with the hope that it didn't leak. The front seats were shredded and it had hobby lobby foam crammed under some Cabela's covers. The power adjustment on the seats didn't work. 2nd row seats were shredded. 3rd row seats were there, presumably never used as they're perfect. 3/4 of the power windows didn't work. Rear wiper didn't work. Mechanically it was a mess, but seemed to run halfway decently, and the transmission fluid was clean (albeit like 2 quarts over full...) and it shifted ok. ( I later found out it only shifted ok on cold days...the trans solenoids hated life when the ambient temp was over about 80 or after 20 minutes on the freeway). The heater wasn't working on the test drive, which was because it was a gallon low on coolant- likely from a blown head gasket. The carpet was filthy, the exterior door locks didn't work, and it only had one very badly worn key.

After I pointed out all the things wrong with the vehicle, I thanked the guy for his time and split. He messaged me back asking me to make an offer, as he felt like I'd fix all the issues and make the vehicle right. I explained to him that I couldn't come near his asking price and didn't want to insult him with what I'd be willing to pay for a vehicle that needed so much work. He pressed me for a number. I made an insultingly low offer (which was still probably $2500 too much, but it did have fresh paint, and I didn't really find any major bondo or rust, aside from one small spot on the hatch) He said he needed time to think it over, and I figured I'd never hear from him again.

He messaged me a week later, while I was out of town on a business trip, saying he needed to sell it urgently, and wanted $6k. I told him I wouldn't be home for a few days, and that I was firm on my offer. He was in a hurry, and needed the money that day. I called the wife, she made the deal, paid him cash, and brought it home. My new black hole for money was waiting for me in front of my shop when I got home.

Before anyone wonders about me sending the wife to deal with a used car FB marketplace purchase- she scares me so I know she'd be fine. She scared this guy too I think...

Here's the photo from the FB ad, and screenshot of my ring camera footage of it sitting in the driveway in front of my shop before I got home 12/8/2022. Check out those awesome checker auto fog lights that didn't work, and his custom "LAND CRUISER" letters stuck to the hood like a damn Land Rover... They stuck 'em on when the paint was still curing, so peeling them off pulls the paint off with them. They're still on there today...

 

[reklund5]

Step one when I got home was to get it in the shop and baseline it and make a list of parts to order. I quickly made a list for @cruiseroutfit and his team at Cruiser Outfitters starting giving my UPS guy a workout. Partsouq and my dealership friends played their part too.

That December I began collecting parts and knocking out little things, but the major work wouldn't start until April. Step one was getting some old repair manuals liberated from an undisclosed location, and repping a proper Cruiser Outfitters sticker (December 15, 2022)

 

[reklund5]

Parts began to trickle in, so many that I used the bed of my F250 to store them all. I got it on the lift and got busy fixing and repairing things, making a list of things wrong, and generally getting to know it. The CDL wouldn't engage- the switch was faulty so that got done early on. Added the red shift interlock button replacement, and found some interesting custom exhaust work. The aftermarket hanger failed, so they made a rubber rest for the exhaust to sit on the frame crossmember out of orange Permatex... Awesome.

 

[reklund5]

Along the way I replaced all the bulbs with new LED, found a front bumper to hang on it and trim the ends to clear the tires, and start knocking the ugly off the interior. Mechanical parts continued to arrive in anticipation of a big push to get it somewhat reliable.

 

[reklund5]

One of my peeves was the fact that only one worn out key came with the vehicle, and it only sorta worked the drivers door and the ignition. It had no function in the pass door, rear lift gate, and glovebox. I got the factory key code and cut some factory keys, and got all the lock cylinders working. Even got a valet key cut that works the doors and ignition, but not the glovebox- like it would have come with from the factory. The Ignition was always wonky- someone had put an aftermarket cylinder in there and it was really sloppy. The steering column bracket that holds the ignition cylinder was completely worn out, and you had to crank on the key to get the starter to engage. More money disappeared into the black hole ordering parts... Cluster came out and all bulbs got replaced, oil pressure sender got replaced and oil pressure gauge got repaired so it actually works. I presume someone hooked up the sender wires backwards and pulled the little peg for the needle off the fork on the guts of the gauge. I was able to disassemble the gauge and reset it and all was well. Check out that fully functional "D" light!

 

[reklund5]

Mid April the fun really began. I decided to begin some work under the hood to slow down the oil leaks and see if I could get it to hold its fluids. The usual oil pump o-ring, crank seal, valve cover, distributor o-ring were all hammered. All of the oil pump cover bolts had to be drilled. The PHH pipe was of course held together with Permatex and the heater valve was ready to crumble. Did the water pump, thermostat, all the belts, cap/rotor/wires/plugs a new hood insulator, and added some under-hood lights. The work would definitely slow down the leaks- but not cure them. Turns out the o-ring between the timing cover and the block just above the oil pump was ruptured, so a nagging leak continued for the next year or so... Further inspection after more degreasing revealed the lower oil pan had a diff-sized dent in it. Somewhere along the way there was a bit of a collision on the RF of the vehicle, although no damage to the radiator support or fender. Odd...

View attachment 3760376

View attachment 3760377

 

[reklund5]

With a bunch of engine work done, including a ton of new OEM hoses and parts it began to feel like an almost-reliable vehicle. By May of that year, I was able to shift focus a bit and do some interior work, while continuing to collect parts for more upgrades and repairs. I added a dual battery system and an ARB dual air compressor for the fridge and lockers that would come later. Got the steering wheel reupholstered and installed new buttons on the HVAC controls. Added the wiring/bulbs and OEM switch for the lockers, even though they were a ways off.

 

[reklund5]

Spent another weekend prepping for future upgrades and got some aux fuse panels added to the passenger side front kick panel and rear 1/4 panel area. Added a switch pros and hooked up my LP9s I'd scored. I just mounted them to the stock front bumper for fun, but already had an ARB bumper bought off marketplace. I modified it some, removing the roller fairlead mount and adding some proper tabs for the LP9s to fit, and then sent it out to powder coat, knowing it would be installed that summer.

 

[reklund5]

That brings us to July of 2023. I'd been whoring myself out doing side work and overtime and amassing parts for months for the next stage of hemorrhaging money. I took a week off work and with the help of a couple friends we got a s***load of progress made. My lovely wife had called @cruiseroutfit guys at the shop and got hold of a quote I'd had them build for the suspension too, and had it all delivered in time for my birthday. In a week I did gears, lockers, full suspension, winch, bumper, and brakes on all 4 corners.

Did 4.88 yukon gears and ARB lockers supplied by Martec Engineering locally
Did OME BP-51 shocks and Dobinsons springs, Delta Arms in the front, and OME links in the rear, Stainless brake lines, Delta sway bar spacers, and new sway bar bushings supplied by Cruiser Outfitters
Installed that ARB bumper I mentioned earlier with a ComeUp winch from Cruiser outfitters
I removed the whole front axle and stripped it bare. Hot-tanked the housing and knuckles and got it all cleaned up. All new seals and bearings.

 

[reklund5]

It starting to look like a highly polished turd! Had some immediate driveline vibrations that needed to be sorted. I had a new front shaft built with a double cardan, which solved most of the problems. The rear, however, proved to be more problematic. I chased it for months, spending too much on a custom rear shaft from high-angle driveline that only made things worse. I monkeyed with rear pinion angle for days, and ended up with a new OEM rear shaft to get it to the point it was tolerable. That whole saga is outlined here: New lift, driveline vibes. Double Cardan Rear shaft? - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/new-lift-driveline-vibes-double-cardan-rear-shaft.1320156/

The remaining vibrations wouldn't be eliminated until just recently (Oct 2024)

 

[reklund5]

Here's a photo of the $1200 paperweight from High Angle Driveline. I also got some sliders from Metal Tech in November of 2023 and had them powder coated to match the front bumper. Work continued on interior stuff- rebuilding the odometer/trip meter that quit working, adding cupholders, and a semi-temporary fridge slide mount for the back. I rebuilt the power seat mechanism with gamaviti gears and added the @landtank seat track extensions

 

[reklund5]

That gets us to December of last year. It was winter in Northern NV, and on cold mornings I could hear the coolant gurgling through the heater core. Heat performance was dwindling, and I constantly had to add coolant. It seems the HG was letting go. It was still running pretty well, but my already iffy-levels-of-confidence in it weren't getting better. I had no issues running around town, but getting off road very far or a long trip was out of the question. I began to plan for a HG job, and knowing the oil leak from the timing cover I mentioned before was still there, that meant an engine-out job to seal things up right. I decided to find a donor engine, and rebuild it and swap for a few reasons.

1- I could go through it completely and have confidence it was "right"
2- It'd minimize the vehicle downtime. Its not my daily but i didn't want it down for months during an engine overhaul.
3- There was a s***load of other things on my list that would be WAAAAY easier with the engine out.
4- The chances of all 3 of my kids wanting to go to college is low. Might as well have a cool vehicle.



Donor #1 wasn't sealed up really well, and the cams were trashed from it sitting outside. The bottom end was good, but I wanted a better starting point. Luckily donor #1 was free from a friends hoard of parts, so i wasn't out anything.

Donor #2 was picked up on Dec. 26, 2023 and had been pulled from a running, driving vehicle that thanksgiving a few weeks before. Bonus, it came with an A343 and transfer case too, for the princely sum of $350. It had 250k on it, and while it was a greasy mess outside- it was nice n clean inside. If I didn't know better, I could have re-used the rod and main bearings- they looked that good.

 

[reklund5]

The long process of gathering parts began. While that takes a while due to the cost, the harder part was finding a machine shop with the availability to deck the block and head for me. It wouldn't be until June of 2024 that I found the right place for that. I got bounced from shop to shop for a couple months, with the second to last one holding my parts for 3 months without touching them. He finally called and said he wanted to refer me to a retired friend who built engines out of his house. I was really skeptical, but the dude had a full machine shop in a steel building behind his house, and as he put it, "likes the oddballs" He was working on a v12 Jag engine when I arrived, and had an Aston Martin engine in pieces. He had meticulous attention to detail, and liked the idea of a Toyota engine. I left him the bare block and complete cylinder head, with instructions to deck the block and head, very lightly hone the cylinders, and go through the valves. There was no need for line boring or cylinder boring, as it all measured out great.

In that same first 6 months of the year, as I was waiting on the machine shops, I found other ways to stay busy on the old pile. Wheels and tires arrived- 37" Nitto's and 17x9 Icons. I found a complete interior out of a low mileage cruiser in the bay area, and scored front/2nd row seats and new door cards for a song. The leather wasn't even torn! I added seat heaters to them and got all that installed, using factory switches and plugs. Then went ahead and covered up the nice leather with some escape gear covers to keep them kid and dog proof for a while.

 

[reklund5]

I really dug the factory switches and integration of the aftermarket Rostra seat heaters.

 

[reklund5]

With the new door panels came a chance to seal up the doors. New butyl tape and vapor barriers were installed, and new speakers that minimized cutting up the fresh panels. I did new rubber weatherstrips along the tops of the door panels (and the exterior ones on the vehicle) as well. I'd done the power window motors that were inop shortly after I bought the car, but went ahead and did the one remaining while the panels were off. Cruiser Outfitters offers a sweet Aisin motor/regulator combo that is really affordable and works great.

 

[reklund5]

With the donor engine at the machine shop *still*, boredom set in over the summer. I still didn't trust it to go more than 100 miles from home with the wonky head gasket. I kept chipping away at nit-picky stuff on the vehicle. I installed an Alpine CarPlay compatible head unit to go with those new speakers, and got new speakers in the dash and rear overhead locations. Solvefunction supplied some grilles for the rear speakers that he custom made with the hole spacing for the larger speakers I wedged in there.
The summer temps meant those aforementioned shift solenoids were unhappy too. While I'd hoped to put that off until the drivetrain was pulled, the vehicle was undriveable if it was over 90ºF. It'd start out in 3rd gear, and not shift up or down real well. When it finally threw a solenoid circuit code I knew I had to fix it. New solenoids, internal trans harness, and TransGo shift kit was a fun Saturday afternoon project.

 

[reklund5]

The machinist finally called and said my engine was ready to go in mid July. I'd been collecting parts for months, in anticipation of the engine swap. I got a BAD case of "while you're in there"...

My PS system was real leaky. The reservoir, pump, and box all had issues. The pressure line was leaking as well. Rebuilt a donor PS box and stuffed it with a 105 sector shaft, figuring it would be an easy install with the engine out. Also built a PS cooler setup similar to what used to be offered by Joey.

Ordered the rear heater pipes and every piece of heater tubing/hose that I hadn't already replaced, figuring that again, while the engine was out it'd be way easier.

Ordered bits and pieces for the engine rebuild. Had parts cleaned and cerakoted. New engine harness, new pistons, all new Toyota rings and bearings. ARP Studs, Cometic Head Gasket, New Toyota sensors (all of 'em), various other hoses/clips/exhaust heat shields/etc were collected over the year while waiting on the machine shops. Finally this pile of parts in my shop was getting put to use! My bank account is pissed. I worked OT allllllll summer to fund this mess and I'm worn out. 2 weeks on the road for work in Sept, and it was go-time. Called some buddies and began disassembly.

 

[reklund5]

Had a few discoveries during the disassembly. Remember that dent in the oil pan I mentioned? Turns out the engine had gotten knocked HARD. The motor mount on the passenger side and the "retainer" shield were split. I'd already got new engine and trans mount insulators, but had to order the shields.

 

[reklund5]

New engine was dressed and ready. I was never confident in the amount of crud I couldn't clean out of the PCV baffle in the valve cover. I drilled out the rivets, and got it removed, but then was worried about having to tap and thread and install a bunch of new screws in the valve cover and them potentially coming loose I opted for a NEW valve cover. Partsouq to the rescue again... Had a buddy cerakote it to match my wheels.

Remember those "while your in there" things? New 180A alternator from J2 Fabrication. Delta VS steering box/frame braces were installed. I somehow screwed up and got a RHD pitman arm for my rebuilt steering box with the 105 shaft. Another call to @cruiseroutfit fixed me up and had the proper LHD arm in a couple days. A shot of the new rear heater tubes too.

 

[reklund5]

Got the PS system sorted, new cooler, and all new lines. Used some Aeroquip hose for all of it, as well as the trans cooler lines. All those were done while things were out. That hose is stiff and difficult to install, but worth it.

Drug the trans and t-case out to the driveway and spent an evening getting busy with some simple green and my pressure washer. It's not new-looking but its much less greasy now. Had a couple captured nuts in the frame come loose during disassembly (RH Slider mount- my fault- and a trans crossmember mount that just let go) I can TIG weld, but not upside down, and definitely not as good as my buddy Nick. He came over and helped me make 'em look good.