1997 fzj80

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mp_cude

mp_cude

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Threads
175
Messages
1,034
Location
Ancho, NM
So my 92 fj80 fell through. He took my deposit, and sold it on me. To the guy who bought it :flipoff2: :cheers: Yea bring it. So I think I have decided on a 97 fzj80. Going to look at it tomorrow. It is a 40th anniversary. What is the likely hood it has lockers? I don't want to ask him as he knows nothing about 4x4 toys, and I would like to play it off as im ignorant too. I'll find out tomorrow, But im just curious. Also I know nothing about the fzj. What should I look for? Please help, will greatly appreciate it. Thanks!!!:hillbilly:
 
mp_cude said:
So my 92 fj80 fell through. He took my deposit, and sold it on me. To the guy who bought it :flipoff2: :cheers: Yea bring it. So I think I have decided on a 97 fzj80. Going to look at it tomorrow. It is a 40th anniversary. What is the likely hood it has lockers? I don't want to ask him as he knows nothing about 4x4 toys, and I would like to play it off as im ignorant too. I'll find out tomorrow, But im just curious. Also I know nothing about the fzj. What should I look for? Please help, will greatly appreciate it. Thanks!!!:hillbilly:
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Left side of the steering wheel. Rotary switch that says rear. front. front and rear. Something like that.
 
I'm kinda busy tomorrow, otherwise I'd go with you. Look for any major leaks. Check the water in the radiator. Make sure it doesn't look sludgy. Otherwise, just plan on a few grand worth of baselining and maintainance in the first year or so. If you want me to look at it let me know. We can figure something out.
 
mp_cude said:
So my 92 fj80 fell through. He took my deposit, and sold it on me. To the guy who bought it :flipoff2: :cheers: Yea bring it. So I think I have decided on a 97 fzj80. Going to look at it tomorrow. It is a 40th anniversary. What is the likely hood it has lockers? I don't want to ask him as he knows nothing about 4x4 toys, and I would like to play it off as im ignorant too. I'll find out tomorrow, But im just curious. Also I know nothing about the fzj. What should I look for? Please help, will greatly appreciate it. Thanks!!!:hillbilly:
Click to expand...

I hope you got your deposit back at least. I wouldn't bet on it having lockers though, I heard that only like 8% of all 80s had factory lockers. I got lucky. But if it does, it is a round switch that fits in the square hole to the left of the steering wheel.
 
I'm not a guru on the 80s but I had a locked '95. I could go look at with you wanted. Is it here in tucson? I see that you have two 60s. I just bought one and trying to work on it. If possible I would like to look at yours and see what a stock one looks like under the hood. Let me know

miles
 
gringocl said:
I'm not a guru on the 80s but I had a locked '95. I could go look at with you wanted. Is it here in tucson? I see that you have two 60s. I just bought one and trying to work on it. If possible I would like to look at yours and see what a stock one looks like under the hood. Let me know

miles
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The 80 is in phoenix. Anytime you want to come by and look at them you are welcome to. Just pm me....I know those pretty through. I have done a ton of work to the 85 and the 82 gets a new to me tranny and t-case that i'll put in this weekend or the next, thanks Tim Hill. What year did you buy?
 
mp_cude said:
Does the FJZ80 have a problem with the Head gasket? I heard somewhere they did. And what about the timing chain (why put in a timing chaIn...) My 60's have gears., yay 2F:clap:
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Some have had trouble with the HG around 150k miles or more. Many have not had issue. Many just change the HG as prevent maintainance. I did at around 140k.
Don't worry about the timing chain. It's a 2 row chain and I haven't heard of any issues with that.
 
I don't worry about all of that crap. Your main question was about the lockers.
The "majik" switch is on the left of the steering column. It is placed in the dash.
Fewer than 25,000 LC's were imported into the US with factory lockers. Yet my two brothers and I are hogging up three of them within our own family! I had even lower odds, and I looked for several years for a 4wd Van. Only 3200 of them were ever imported into the US. This thing is very rare, yet I found one. And I bought it on sight!
Of 25,000 locked 80's, 80% are still on the road and registered. Of 3200 4WD vans, 95% are still in use in the US. This is more than 20 years later. The 4wd vans are rather under appreciated.
The van is really just a 4-Runner chassis with a different engine, a 2200. It is a 3/4 ton mid-engine, with 4wd. I once used the front of my wife's cute van for a bulldozer. I plowed up a lot of terra "firma" to make a way out of a parking lot on the 4th of July! Nobody would let me back out of my parking spot. So I solved the problem my own way. I locked the hubs and went foreward instead!
I spent 20 minutes trying to back out of my parking spot, to no avail. In front of me was a drainage area about 6 feet deep and ten feet wide. I got out and locked the front hubs. Then I drove a minivan through a trough, up onto a road, and cut into traffic. In the process, I plowed a lot of rocks out of the way, and made a right of way for us. Some rocks were displaced. My apologyes will be expected. The front bumper was dented a bit. I'm Sorry, NOT. I was just sick to death of being stuck. I have 4wd, and I am going! You can all hang out! We will be going! See you there! It is good to have four-wheel drive. But it might be best not to piss off the hotel staff the way that I did! A bit of butt-covering would not be out of line!
 
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