Always loved the LC80s, and as the story goes, could never find one in decent shape for a decent price around here. Looked at a '92 the guys was asking $1900 for. Expected it needed work, was disappointed it need quite a bit of work and i was somewhat glad he didn't accept my lowball offer.
Then i found the black beauty. Well, she isn't very beautiful, but she is black. 1996, locked, all stock, 259k miles, lots of recent repairs, ended up getting it for $3700. More than i really wanted to spend (i'm a cheapass), but it was complete, ran well, and as rust free as i could expect to find around here. A/C even worked, it just needs some general TLC and minor fixes. I've been looking for a workhorse truck/SUV to do some camping, off-roading, towing and to take to our property an hour or so out of town. I think this thing will do nicely for that.
We've all seen stock ones. She was wearing too small of tires (245/75), the running boards were rusty (no problem for me, i knew they'd be coming off), the bug shield was cracked (same thing), she idled high when warm and the diff locks wouldn't engage.
Work began quickly. Running boards off:
Botch job exhaust (glass pack with clamps on both ends, leaked everywhere) was taken apart, real muffler added and everything welded and tucked back into place.
Then fun time:
245s were replaced with 285/75 Maxxis MTs
Saving up for a mild OME lift (gonna cost 1/3 what i paid for the thing...), so i just added 1" spring spacers for the interim. How she looks now.
Also replaced the throttle cable to solve the idling issue. Replaced the switch on the TC, now all diffs lock
.
Plans for the future include homemade sliders and rear bumper, lots of cleaning up (interior needs work), fix the oil leak on the distributor and get teh thing dirty. My budget build has begun.
Then i found the black beauty. Well, she isn't very beautiful, but she is black. 1996, locked, all stock, 259k miles, lots of recent repairs, ended up getting it for $3700. More than i really wanted to spend (i'm a cheapass), but it was complete, ran well, and as rust free as i could expect to find around here. A/C even worked, it just needs some general TLC and minor fixes. I've been looking for a workhorse truck/SUV to do some camping, off-roading, towing and to take to our property an hour or so out of town. I think this thing will do nicely for that.
We've all seen stock ones. She was wearing too small of tires (245/75), the running boards were rusty (no problem for me, i knew they'd be coming off), the bug shield was cracked (same thing), she idled high when warm and the diff locks wouldn't engage.
Work began quickly. Running boards off:
Botch job exhaust (glass pack with clamps on both ends, leaked everywhere) was taken apart, real muffler added and everything welded and tucked back into place.
Then fun time:
245s were replaced with 285/75 Maxxis MTs
Saving up for a mild OME lift (gonna cost 1/3 what i paid for the thing...), so i just added 1" spring spacers for the interim. How she looks now.
Also replaced the throttle cable to solve the idling issue. Replaced the switch on the TC, now all diffs lock
.Plans for the future include homemade sliders and rear bumper, lots of cleaning up (interior needs work), fix the oil leak on the distributor and get teh thing dirty
. My budget build has begun.
