Baselining my 1997 fzj80 3xlocked Rust Bucket of Hope! 🙏🙏🙏

[80 Series Al]

What's up guys,
I hit won the bid on an ebay auction and here we are!
*skip to post #4 for baselining list etc*

The Good:
Detroit area truck Hamtramck actually $2,700 won the bid with one second left!
1997 fzj80 in Black!
268,xxx miles (runs smooooth)
No factory roof rack
Factory locking hubs
Two owners (I'm third)

The Bad:
One known accident... DS rear door hit-replaced with a pos door. PO story goes, body guy pulled the b pilar and was working on the rocker and door but sadly passed away...rip.
B pilar looks like crap but the truck tracks staight.
THE ROCKER is shot theres a mess w bondo, the door barely closes and locks but it does. Wind noise tho,.,.whew.,.,.

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STOP!!!!!
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I know what ur thinking, I bought a heap! Or maybe ur thinking i got a deal,.,. That's why I'm here-I NEED YOUR HELP! LOL Please let me know ur opinions good or bad. I need this community's ruling and wisdom on what to do with MY heap. Back to the story
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READ ON
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Check engine light was present but no longer is due the miraculous results of my tomfoolery (I think the oil change did it but that sounds too easy)

Bad exhaust, rather was missing a 7 inch section running from just below the engine, got it patched in detroit before driving it home!

Pretty uneventful drive home on 80, caught a pretty nice blizzard through Ohio. Found out how my hood latch worked on this forum when I popped the hood the check things out at 3am ...wouldn't catch. All kinds of gunk in the hood latch some wd 40 saved the day/night/morning, was able to push the latch in place and off I went!
Too tired and dipped into a holiday inn express before NY border around 5 am

Was up for the continental then blew that popstand and it was smooth sailing all the rest of the way home some 600 miles to Long Island

 

[80 Series Al]

Cool thanks for creating a post to tell us of your future post

I'll try to make it worth ur while goat

 

[80 Series Al]

Baselining list ******************************

Change all oils
-Engine oil ***changed using Penzoil 5w30 high mileage (po says was using high mileage)
-Power steering fluid ***"flushed with a syphon pump, didnt look like atf in there. I used valvoline max life full synthetic atf dexron vi
-Transmission fluid ***feels like I have a sticky throttle or my tranny is slipping in 1st... I have plenty of atf left....use this?
-Transfer case ...need to do this as per u guys
-Front & rear diffs (plus breather mod?)
-Birfs...
-coolant flush to the red stuff
-oem oil filter
-hoses hoses hoses
-spark plugs tune up etc
-maybe new valve cover gaskets as I have leaks..


That's really the list as far as I know right now with out any outside advice on what the truck actually needs.

My plan is to baseline the heck outta this thing
Put it back to stock condition (ie fixing broke stuff) and maybe more one day (frame off resto). I dont want to get bit too badly by the big bad modding bug just yet,.,.,.but one day
I've modded out some subarus in the past...
Cant wait to see how things develop with the truck. BUT I JUST HOPE ITS NOT ALREADY DEAD IN THE WATER WITH ALL THIS RUST!

(probably just the coronavirus jitters)

Al out

 

[80 Series Al]

Working on these a little tonight

Just keeping busy

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Tiger king is calling. What else is going on here. Asking for a friend.

 

[Bludozer]

Since you're looking for opinions, sell that heap. Just because its cheap doesn't mean its a "deal." Those words are not interchangeable. I would not put the kind of money you are talking about into a truck like this, just not worth it. If the rocker is that rusted out, I'm sure the undercarriage is a total mess. It will never be right. Sell it, get out of from under it and find a clean one.

 

[80 Series Al]

My rocker

 

[Tachycardic]

I'm leaning towards bludozer on this one. Messed up 80s are like troubled women--they may give you a decent ride at first, but you're gonna be regretting the emotional bond you developed with it. Better to let this go early on and find a better example. Or save it as a parts mule.

 

[1973Guppie]

congrats, this is your beater, do the basic maintenance and then go flog that truck like crazy. Dont put a ton of money into it. There are better, cleaner platforms to be had. Just wait 6 months.

 

[80 Series Al]

Since you're looking for opinions, sell that heap. Just because its cheap doesn't mean its a "deal." Those words are not interchangeable. I would not put the kind of money you are talking about into a truck like this, just not worth it. If the rocker is that rusted out, I'm sure the undercarriage is a total mess. It will never be right. Sell it, get out of from under it and find a clean one.

Thx Dozer for ur honesty
I guess it wasnt cheap enough...maybe less a grand or so would've made more sense...I'll be doing most of the work myself fwiw... there is some minor surface rust under there but not horrible... worst parts are that rocker pl plus door..(I sourced one for cheap) hood needs to go, some rust on upper hatch,.,.also lower radiator support....ya... will have to see

I'm leaning towards bludozer on this one. Messed up 80s are like troubled women--they may give you a decent ride at first, but you're gonna be regretting the emotional bond you developed with it. Better to let this go early on and find a better example. Or save it as a parts mule.

Lmao man that metaphor hits home
It's all part of the ride tho,.,.the ride of life ,.,.I'm reaching here
Might just drive it for a while...see what happens... ur right she'll ruin me

congrats, this is your beater, do the basic maintenance and then go flog that truck like crazy. Dont put a ton of money into it. There are better, cleaner platforms to be had. Just wait 6 months.

Thx guppie, I'm ecstatic to have it back,.,.SOMETHING,.,.my last mode of transport died,.,.this should do for a while,.,. Hopefully I can pull off some wizardry and make it last another 20 yrs WE WILL SEE!

IM WAITING 6 MONTHS BABY!
BUT STEP 6 NOW
.,.,.Yikes and maybe a 12 step thrown in if my baby's not good to me eh Dozer!

 

[80 Series Al]

Going through service records to try to learn some more about my truck.

-Found the VIP RS300 owners guide, now I know those beeps are oem, need fobs...
-nothing notable, at least the first owner serviced the transfer case a couple times
-a couple o2 sensor failures
-new radiator
-tires have 10k wear look good
-one problem I see po was using fram filters , heard bad things, need to check specifics on this

I found a land cruiser mechanic thx @JeffD who owns an 80 and a 40 who's gonna help me check this thing out from top to bottom keep ur fingers crossed for me guys say a prayer to cruiser dan or something!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[LINUS]

If you’re honest with yourself & the level of rust.....cool.

But if it was me, with a set lf locker diff axles (seems like you said as much / 1st post) ) - I’d strip the axles & sel the hulk if it’s rusted.

Not trying to flex a a$$ opinion, just the age old “lipstick on a pig” - in this case a pig maybe / maybe not worth building off.

Whatever 80 you decide get crazy on, you’ll drop stupid man-hours.

That said, rusty rigs aren’t worth dropping those srupid level of hours - your time on this planet is worth more than a rusty/crusty 80.

Start with a solid 80, build your house on a solid foundation.

 

[Bludozer]

I guess it wasnt cheap enough

You're still missing the point. You can never get a good deal on a bad car. This one is too beat with too much rust to come back from. Either sell it and get out from under it like I said and start entirely with another or like @1973Guppie said, put the absolute minimum $$ into and just have fun beating it.

 

[mingles]

... You can never get a good deal on a bad car...

Unless you have the optimism and passion of a teenager unrestrained by years of life experience .

I am thinking back to my first truck that had floors so rusted out that driving through puddles would spray the occupants with muddy water coming up through the floor. The cab mounts were blocks of 2x4s jammed between the cab and frame. Unsafe, illogical, impractical, money pit? Absolutely. It was my pride and joy however, and I have tons of great memories from that truck.

@80 Series Al , take the words of wisdom given here as “guidance” (there absolutely is a lot of truth to them), but don’t let it kill the enthusiasm of having an 80 to play with. You already have the makings of a good story (roadtrip from Detroit to LI, finishing a deceased body man's work, etc.). Life is too short to have boring vehicles.

One man’s cream puff is another man’s beater .

 

[BILT4ME]

Since you are looking for reliability:

Do the MECHANICAL things first, unless the rust or other makes something unsafe. Rocker panels are low on that list.

* Make sure the brakes work very well. Replace brake hoses, rotors, calipers, pads.
* Make sure your engine is reliable. It may leak a little, but that's rust protection. If you can get 5000 miles on an oil change and only be down one quart of oil at the 5000 miles mark, you're golden.
* Make sure your cooling system is up to the task. If the radiator is yellowed, replace it. Replace ANY hoses that have dry rot marks on them, especially the PHH and around the heater valve. Do the rear heater bypass at this time. Keep the heater, but bypass the hard steel lines with Gates green stripe hoses and tuck them up, away from the catalytic converters.
* Make sure your axles and wheel bearings are good. Do one axle at a time, prepare ahead of time with all parts necessary. Do rebuilds in "groups" so you only expend your labor once.
* RESEARCH your projects. Everything you are planning on doing here has been done before by SOMEONE. Search it out, look up videos, ask on here on the hard stuff. Rusty stuff is hard, but there are techniques that can make it easier, but you will have to own specialty tools.
* PB Blaster is you friend. Buy a LOT of it, by the case. Seriously.

Make it run
Make it stop
Make it safe
Make it reliable
Make it pretty.

Always in that order.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Make it run
Make it stop
Make it safe
Make it reliable
Make it pretty.

Always in that order.

Agree with one change.....make sure it'll Stop before you make it RUN. Trees for brakes suck...ask me how I know.

 

[80 Series Al]

Agree with one change.....make sure it'll Stop before you make it RUN. Trees for brakes sucks...ask me how I know.

Nooooooooo!
Seems all is well now

 

[Rusty Marlin]

... You can never get a good deal on a bad car...
Unless you have the optimism and passion of a teenager unrestrained by years of life experience .

That's tee shirt material right there!

 

[80 Series Al]

Aye matey, there b gold in them threads!

If you’re honest with yourself & the level of rust.....cool.

But if it was me, with a set lf locker diff axles (seems like you said as much / 1st post) ) - I’d strip the axles & sel the hulk if it’s rusted.

Not trying to flex a a$$ opinion, just the age old “lipstick on a pig” - in this case a pig maybe / maybe not worth building off.

Whatever 80 you decide get crazy on, you’ll drop stupid man-hours.

That said, rusty rigs aren’t worth dropping those srupid level of hours - your time on this planet is worth more than a rusty/crusty 80.

Start with a solid 80, build your house on a solid foundation.

This is also a solid bit of advice...thx Linus
I really have yet to post more pics of the underbody..
Is there a post limit or something or can I just stuff a bunch of shots here so we can "get to the bottom of this thing"

Rocker job aside if that puts it back in contention there might still be hope, tomorrow the dawn comes

Let's see how these bones look!

 

[80 Series Al]

You're still missing the point. You can never get a good deal on a bad car. This one is too beat with too much rust to come back from. Either sell it and get out from under it like I said and start entirely with another or like @1973Guppie said, put the absolute minimum $$ into and just have fun beating it.

Thanks Dozer
I understand what ur saying about money pits and beating on a dead horse etc but there has to be a number that makes things safe, like for example if the truck turns out to be shot what can be salvaged to make sure I'm not upside down on the proposition,.,.locking axles, engine so on... I AM crazy BUT crazy like fox