I am officially starting this thread however both my daughter and I will contribute significantly over the weeks, months, and years ahead.
Documenting this land cruiser build really starts in may of 2018. I Purchased the vehicle at auction in Atlanta Georgia, it was exact like mine and seeing as how my daughter loved mine and wanted it to be hers I felt this would be the right thing to do. I mean who wouldn’t want a really nice 80 series desert doing Land Cruiser?
It had been in a slight accident, the previous owner appeared to have ran into a fire hydrant near dead center of the front bumper. Transmission lines, radiator, and a few other things suffered injury. The PO decided that he would take out any aftermarket items he added, so there were some things missing and some things that needed to be replaced.
I trailered it home from Atlanta and brought it to my shop. I replaced radiator, water pump, thermostat, plugs, wires, distributor, battery, battery box, alternator, transmission lines, and a lot of rubber hoses.
I brought it over to Juan and had him finish up bodywork, put on a new valance, and get it painted.
It looked really nice!
I was going through some electrical issues that resulted from a hasty removal of hey stereo system by the previous owner. Everything was going fine and I was nearly ready to give it to her on Christmas Day. Uh... not so fast.
In November I brought it over for the DMV inspection, and on the way home about half a block away from my house the head gasket blew.
With help from the forum, a great parts guy, and some help from @stpetedale I was able to get the head gasket finished up. Of course not without a few bumps in the road like the number 6 fuel injector O-Ring ripping and not knowing until I started it for the first time and smelling gas.
Once I finished the head gasket I completed work on the remaining electrical issues. Then, I ordered up the front leather seats from Lseat.com. I got the seats installed last week, the pioneer stereo with Apple CarPlay installed on Monday. And today it goes through the car wash.
The wife and I are planning to surprise her for Valentine’s Day. We will bring it to her school. I am looking forward to it.
My hope is that she will enjoy the Land Cruiser as much as I do, so far I think she’s on the right track.
Documenting this land cruiser build really starts in may of 2018. I Purchased the vehicle at auction in Atlanta Georgia, it was exact like mine and seeing as how my daughter loved mine and wanted it to be hers I felt this would be the right thing to do. I mean who wouldn’t want a really nice 80 series desert doing Land Cruiser?
It had been in a slight accident, the previous owner appeared to have ran into a fire hydrant near dead center of the front bumper. Transmission lines, radiator, and a few other things suffered injury. The PO decided that he would take out any aftermarket items he added, so there were some things missing and some things that needed to be replaced.
I trailered it home from Atlanta and brought it to my shop. I replaced radiator, water pump, thermostat, plugs, wires, distributor, battery, battery box, alternator, transmission lines, and a lot of rubber hoses.
I brought it over to Juan and had him finish up bodywork, put on a new valance, and get it painted.
It looked really nice!
I was going through some electrical issues that resulted from a hasty removal of hey stereo system by the previous owner. Everything was going fine and I was nearly ready to give it to her on Christmas Day. Uh... not so fast.
In November I brought it over for the DMV inspection, and on the way home about half a block away from my house the head gasket blew.
With help from the forum, a great parts guy, and some help from @stpetedale I was able to get the head gasket finished up. Of course not without a few bumps in the road like the number 6 fuel injector O-Ring ripping and not knowing until I started it for the first time and smelling gas.
Once I finished the head gasket I completed work on the remaining electrical issues. Then, I ordered up the front leather seats from Lseat.com. I got the seats installed last week, the pioneer stereo with Apple CarPlay installed on Monday. And today it goes through the car wash.
The wife and I are planning to surprise her for Valentine’s Day. We will bring it to her school. I am looking forward to it.
My hope is that she will enjoy the Land Cruiser as much as I do, so far I think she’s on the right track.
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