Aloha everyone!
Wife and I inherited a 1992 Land Cruiser from her father. We're expecting our third child early next year and we decided that rather than spend money on a new family rig and have a car note, let's build (or rebuild) our ultimate family outdoors vehicle.
From here, we already knew that we'd be in too deep on this project.
My father-in-law parked the '92 after having an overheating issue back in 2003 and hasn't driven nor started it since. Supposedly it was rebuilt and the overheating issue was addressed by the mechanic. Long story short, he got taken by a shady mechanic for over $3,000. The engine was supposedly "rebuilt" throughout. This wouldn't be the case. Pictures below will speak for themselves.
For half of those 14+ years it was parked outside and the tires were beyond rotten and unable to be inflated. At this point, I decided to replace the wheels and throw on some 285/75's and 16" Method Vex wheels on her so I can at least roll it around without more effort than needed.
The real fun began when we started ripping apart the engine and found out the supposedly rebuilt engine was never touched and head gasket was trashed. That's not even the worst of it. Pretty much the entire engine is seized and rusted together.
A few days ago, I was able to find a rebuilt zero mile engine to start my journey. From there, I'm sure that I will be replacing much more (transmission, fuel system, brakes, etc.), but I will have to be patient and do things one at a time and address everything so the end result is a safe and reliable family rig.
This thread will be updated as I slowly complete the rebuild.
On to the pics...
Wife and I inherited a 1992 Land Cruiser from her father. We're expecting our third child early next year and we decided that rather than spend money on a new family rig and have a car note, let's build (or rebuild) our ultimate family outdoors vehicle.
From here, we already knew that we'd be in too deep on this project.
My father-in-law parked the '92 after having an overheating issue back in 2003 and hasn't driven nor started it since. Supposedly it was rebuilt and the overheating issue was addressed by the mechanic. Long story short, he got taken by a shady mechanic for over $3,000. The engine was supposedly "rebuilt" throughout. This wouldn't be the case. Pictures below will speak for themselves.
For half of those 14+ years it was parked outside and the tires were beyond rotten and unable to be inflated. At this point, I decided to replace the wheels and throw on some 285/75's and 16" Method Vex wheels on her so I can at least roll it around without more effort than needed.
The real fun began when we started ripping apart the engine and found out the supposedly rebuilt engine was never touched and head gasket was trashed. That's not even the worst of it. Pretty much the entire engine is seized and rusted together.
A few days ago, I was able to find a rebuilt zero mile engine to start my journey. From there, I'm sure that I will be replacing much more (transmission, fuel system, brakes, etc.), but I will have to be patient and do things one at a time and address everything so the end result is a safe and reliable family rig.
This thread will be updated as I slowly complete the rebuild.
On to the pics...
