Builds 1997 LX Refresh and More - Tilda Bogue Service Station (1 Viewer)

[wngrog]

About 2 years ago I was at my buddy’s shop picking up or dropping off one of the 40/60/200 projects I was working for him and he said “thanks for helping me with my projects, if you really want to help me you would take that thing away”

It was his 1997 LX450. He had owned it for years. Had taken it apart for an interior rebuild and had a life/job change and it was abandoned. Full of dirt daubers and wasps with a couple of flat tires.

Would not crank.

I said sure.


I got it cleaned up and after about 5 months of pulling what little hair I have out, I got it ready to sell

SOLD - 1997 LX450 Triple Locked, 205,000 - $22,000

This truck has been owned many years by a good friend of mine. He took it apart almost 4 years ago to lay Dynamat in it and had a life/career change and it got sidelined. I grabbed it 4 months ago and have been working out all the bugs from sitting up * disclosure …. I am 99% sure I know...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[wngrog]

November 2022……

 

[wngrog]

So I finally got it running. It was a fuel issue and I tossed part after part into it until I finally replaced everything replaceable and one day it ran and ran good.

I sold it to a friend that had grand plans for it. He was going to send all the parts and I was going to build it up and everyone was going to be happy.


That was February of 2023….

 

[wngrog]

Turns out where to park it was here…..


Then he kinda gets distracted.

I’m busy too.

Then I remembered he had never paid me.

That gets us to May 2023

 

[wngrog]

Well it just sat.

And sat.

And sat.



I stopped cranking it. Battery died. I checked it for rodents but it just sat.

11 months later …..

Finally I decided to take the bull by the horns and make this s*** happen.

 

[wngrog]

Pregame shots

 

[wngrog]

And Jason at @Ozark cruiser Ozark Overland Outfitters took it all apart.

All apart. Sanding many of the parts to bare metal and fixed a couple of dents.

Zero rust so that was good. No telling how many Lx died from mud and rust trapped behind the moldings

 

[wngrog]

 

[wngrog]

Pillars, mirrors and new gutter trim were all painted satin black to contrast

 

[wngrog]

Parts list was pretty legit. Added new OEM where we could and Jason has a local place that made the headliner look like new. This one had multiple holes from a entertainment center


OEM Door Glass Runs

OEM Door Belt Moldings

OEM Cladding Clips

OEM Windshield Gasket

New Windshield

OEM Drip Rail Moldings

Hardware

OEM Quarter Panel Vent Trim x2

Mounting Tape

OEM Hood Insulator w/Clips

Rehab OEM Headliner

WitsEnd Cargo Barrier

OEM Clips

OEM Fender Flare Rubber Pads

Front Runner Rack

Rear HD Swaybar Ends

 

[Malleus]

A well treated 80 is a thing of beauty.

 

[wngrog]

So that brings me to the present on this thing. I have a couple of 40 series projects here that are waiting for parts or still rolling so my goal is to wrap this thing up over the long weekend and put it at Mosley Motors for phase 3

@FJ60Cam …. See you soon

 

[Ozark cruiser]

Once again thanks for trusting my shop on this project it’s a solid cruiser

 

[wngrog]

Once again thanks for trusting my shop on this project it’s a solid cruiser

Thats the third one you painted for me this year

 

[OGBeno]

Hell…. Ozark Cruisers (A Subsidiary of Groganator Industries).

 

[wngrog]

I was kinda thinking the bolt on stuff would be super easy but of course nothing is straight forward.

We used a Come Up 12.5 and I had to move the clutch handle to the 12:00 position. I could not use the supplied bracket with the Come Up solenoid but I bought a Slee Come Up adapter and was able to make it work

Next I installed some metal tech sliders. Quite the pain in the ass to do solo as they are super heavy. Pasenger side was no issue

Drivers side I had interference issues with the caster drop kit on the front mount so I had to modify

 

[wngrog]

Hell…. Ozark Cruisers (A Subsidiary of Groganator Industries).

And……

OG Beno
Mosley
Rocket City
Valley Hybrids
Cruiser Outfitters
City Racer

And more. Can’t be a one man operation without all these folks

 

[wngrog]

Turned out super nice on the exterior

 

[OGBeno]

I miss my black FZJ80.

 

[wngrog]

I miss my black FZJ80.

You destroyed your black FZJ80