I'll admit, I originally looked at a Hilux surf TD. Then wound up in the offroading SUV rabbit hole, which led to spotting an ad for, and then within two weeks purchasing, my first LC. I think I'm in love. Pam is a '92 3FE beaut. Some cosmetic wear on the exterior, to be expected, but the cleanest frame on a 28 year old truck I ever did see, thanks to being an AZ car for the majority of her life so far.
Mechanical status:
-Engine rebuild <1,000mi ago, some shop used the wrong distributor cap. Whoops. Rebuild done by LC specialty shop local here, so I'm hoping she has another few 100k in her.
-Already base-lined oil (Mobil1 high mileage, extended protection 5W-30 because it gets cold here in winter), TC, diff fluids (STP 75w-90). Impact wrench made it super easy to get the bolts free when I couldn't get the angle for good leverage.
-Cleaned up the battery terminals
-Exhaust leak near the cat, I tried to find it but after snapping a rusty bolt or two, I think I'm going to deal with it until I overhaul the exhaust
----On that note, should I just straight pipe it? Get an aftermarket cat and re-do the whole system from the manifold back?
-Cooling system has a few hose leaks, fortunately mostly easy ones to replace. Just gotta go dig through and find some part numbers...
-Probably needs a valve tune and a timing adjustment, since I'm not running her through the safari with whatever fuel I can force into the tank
-The driver's side window works fine when the weather is good, but likes to get stuck if the window had any water on it. Did I buy a fair weather truck? I can pull the window past the sticking point and it will finish rolling back up.
Cosmetics:
-The vinyl of the driver's side seat has split, which doesn't really bother me, I'll probably stitch it back up and throw a seat cover on it
-Fender flares have some dings and cracks which I'll just bondo and leave until they bother me too much.
-I found out that 3M makes a good heavy duty taillight film when I looked into how best to fix the cracked one
-Interior could use a good vacuum, and the plastic could use some scrubbing, but mechanical stuff first.
-Paint is sun-faded, debating getting a can of spray clear coat and just shining her up again.
What I plan on doing with her:
-Basically, I want to be able to get where other people can't. Rocky forest service roads, backcountry exploring, and remote car camping. I don't have any plans to turn her into a crawler, so in the end I'm looking at putting an aftermarket bumper with more lights, pop 33's on her, and upgrade the suspension.
-Once my mechanical to-do list is finished (lol it's never going to end, I know) I'm debating painting her (still two tone) spruce mica green on top, and the same dark gray on the bottom. Then again, the light color helps keep the interior cooler, so maybe I'll go a silver on the top, and then from around door handles down, the spruce mica. Who knows? I'm a long way from that point anyway.
Mechanical status:
-Engine rebuild <1,000mi ago, some shop used the wrong distributor cap. Whoops. Rebuild done by LC specialty shop local here, so I'm hoping she has another few 100k in her.
-Already base-lined oil (Mobil1 high mileage, extended protection 5W-30 because it gets cold here in winter), TC, diff fluids (STP 75w-90). Impact wrench made it super easy to get the bolts free when I couldn't get the angle for good leverage.
-Cleaned up the battery terminals
-Exhaust leak near the cat, I tried to find it but after snapping a rusty bolt or two, I think I'm going to deal with it until I overhaul the exhaust
----On that note, should I just straight pipe it? Get an aftermarket cat and re-do the whole system from the manifold back?
-Cooling system has a few hose leaks, fortunately mostly easy ones to replace. Just gotta go dig through and find some part numbers...
-Probably needs a valve tune and a timing adjustment, since I'm not running her through the safari with whatever fuel I can force into the tank
-The driver's side window works fine when the weather is good, but likes to get stuck if the window had any water on it. Did I buy a fair weather truck? I can pull the window past the sticking point and it will finish rolling back up.
Cosmetics:
-The vinyl of the driver's side seat has split, which doesn't really bother me, I'll probably stitch it back up and throw a seat cover on it
-Fender flares have some dings and cracks which I'll just bondo and leave until they bother me too much.
-I found out that 3M makes a good heavy duty taillight film when I looked into how best to fix the cracked one
-Interior could use a good vacuum, and the plastic could use some scrubbing, but mechanical stuff first.
-Paint is sun-faded, debating getting a can of spray clear coat and just shining her up again.
What I plan on doing with her:
-Basically, I want to be able to get where other people can't. Rocky forest service roads, backcountry exploring, and remote car camping. I don't have any plans to turn her into a crawler, so in the end I'm looking at putting an aftermarket bumper with more lights, pop 33's on her, and upgrade the suspension.
-Once my mechanical to-do list is finished (lol it's never going to end, I know) I'm debating painting her (still two tone) spruce mica green on top, and the same dark gray on the bottom. Then again, the light color helps keep the interior cooler, so maybe I'll go a silver on the top, and then from around door handles down, the spruce mica. Who knows? I'm a long way from that point anyway.
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