Baselining my 1997 fzj80 3xlocked Rust Bucket of Hope! 🙏🙏🙏 (1 Viewer)

[80 Series Al]

This is all I've done
Plus I've been experimenting with the mother's Powerball, I've always just used rags n elbow grease. But polishing is a whole nother thing man, getting the hang of it,.,. Working the product as larry koscilla says

Some pics when its bright

Ps it's the sticker, that's it. All I did is add a sticker...LAME.
LMAO
BUT I LOVE IT!!


BTW I love Mothers wax n stuff my metal is feeling (not looking) great. Maybe some more polishing tomorrow...
So far...
Hit each panel w dawn diluted
Dried
Clay barred
Washed again
Mothers 1st stage cleaning wax (by hand)
Then stg 2 polishing wax with mothers poweball
NEXT UP IS CARNUBA STICK
slather that stuff all over and we GUCCIIIIII!!!!!

 

[Tachycardic]

Some easy things to do that will make you feel productive...replace all standard bulbs to LEDs, get a new radiator cap, and replace the PCV.

 

[Broski]

Congrats on your 80, you seem truly excited about it. JMHO these Reg are money pits even if you find a clean example.
I have bought and sold many cars and trucks it's been my hobby, I never buy when I need I always buy when it's a good deal then sale what I have, all most always making money or breaking even = driving cars for free .
When I bought my clean rust free 3x locked 80 for under 3k the first thing I said to my wife is, I want you to know that we are not going to get our money back on this one. I don't plan to sale it any time soon as it bring me much joy, But every month when the bills come in I have to listen to my wife bitch about my credit card bill. And I spend most of my free time working on it.
I would also say that living at the Beach I never buy Rust, it makes everything hard to work on and hard on the resale.
One last thing, we are a visual group please post more pictures, We need to see pics of the undercarriage to see what your are working with. most of the rust seems to be on the parts that were used in the body repair.

 

[80 Series Al]

More busywork
Hope it turns out ok

I polished the chrome back and gonna paint the rest...
Might look wack...we'll see

 

[80 Series Al]

I have the parts you need. Just cut my tub up for scrap a week ago, but I cannot take it to the scrap yard thanks to the beer virus. Door, most of the rocker, B pillar, etc. Not that far away either, especially not if you are willing to drive to Detroit to bring home a truck!

How are those parts doin?
Sorry I didnt jump on this earlier.
I can definitely clean u out for the driver side
Hope all is well, beer virus almost over .,.I mean corona

 

[80 Series Al]

Sooo

 

[Tachycardic]

Congrats on your 80, you seem truly excited about it. JMHO these Reg are money pits even if you find a clean example.
I have bought and sold many cars and trucks it's been my hobby, I never buy when I need I always buy when it's a good deal then sale what I have, all most always making money or breaking even = driving cars for free .
When I bought my clean rust free 3x locked 80 for under 3k the first thing I said to my wife is, I want you to know that we are not going to get our money back on this one. I don't plan to sale it any time soon as it bring me much joy, But every month when the bills come in I have to listen to my wife bitch about my credit card bill. And I spend most of my free time working on it.
I would also say that living at the Beach I never buy Rust, it makes everything hard to work on and hard on the resale.
One last thing, we are a visual group please post more pictures, We need to see pics of the undercarriage to see what your are working with. most of the rust seems to be on the parts that were used in the body repair.

You bought a triple locked 80 for under 3 grand. Congrats! My buddy lost at least that much the moment he drove his new Audi off the lot—and oil changes don’t cost hundreds of dollars.

These vehicles are for enjoyment as you said. People spend thousands on guns, bikes, watches, golf clubs, etc—adult toys just cost more and very few should expect the same money back unless you’re buying collectibles.

Love the passion Al! Keep the updates coming!

 

[JeepinPete]

Parts are still here, scrap yards are closed. I'll drop you a PM.

 

[80 Series Al]

You bought a triple locked 80 for under 3 grand. Congrats! My buddy lost at least that much the moment he drove his new Audi off the lot—and oil changes don’t cost hundreds of dollars.

These vehicles are for enjoyment as you said. People spend thousands on guns, bikes, watches, golf clubs, etc—adult toys just cost more and very few should expect the same money back unless you’re buying collectibles.

Love the passion Al! Keep the updates coming!

All good stuff @Tachycardic and @brosky,
I promise I'm not here to make a buck lol (or try to)
Ya I'm pretty sure cars dont make any money...unless they're doing a job.
I do love these old trucks though, and I definitely plan on doing a frame off one day *starry eyes**
But a car is a car and a truck is a truck...
Basically its here to perform a service to me and my family, and I'm also pretty sure theres nothing this truck cant handle for what we can throw at it...

...my last family "truck" a 2003 Honda Pilot just died at 230k miles. Land Cruier Larry serves as a replacement to that truck and an upgrade in my opinion

These are some inspirations I've seen for more of the stock look...again I'm still planning on keeping it in stock form for as long as I can

I'm also pretty dead set on a pair of these headlights...found some on ebay need to pull trigger!

 

[WhitePhoenix]

BTW I love Mothers wax n stuff my metal is feeling (not looking) great. Maybe some more polishing tomorrow...
So far...
Hit each panel w dawn diluted
Dried
Clay barred
Washed again
Mothers 1st stage cleaning wax (by hand)
Then stg 2 polishing wax with mothers poweball
NEXT UP IS CARNUBA STICK
slather that stuff all over and we GUCCIIIIII!!!!!

I'd caution you with using dawn to wash down the vehicle. Especially with the paint on the hood not in the best condition, you run the risk of drying out the clear coat over time and make it prone to failing faster. Love your passion for the vehicle and here are a few tips to make the rest of the vehicle paint last and get some solid results:
-Plenty of dedicated car wash soaps out there to be had for an inexpensive price, Megs gold class is always a popular choice and I use it in my foam cannon on vehicles.
-No need to wash the vehicle again after claying unless it was to make sure you got that dawn off.
-The powerball (I hope you didn't use the metal polishing 1 on the paint) isnt quite the best tool for the job , not gonna really give you good results on paint with the cleaning wax and polishing. For that you want a polisher (dual action or a rotary with more experience) and some polishing foam pads and then a pad with 0 cut on it to apply a liquid wax if you so choose.
-Carnuba wax is nice for a shine but doesn't really have longevity for protection. The new line of turtle wax hybrid solutions is getting really good reviews, ceramic spray especially. Also the Seal and Shine is another good consumer available one from turtle wax. Plenty more options out there that I would be more then happy to discuss aswell.

Keep up what all your doing and I like that you addressed the paint as most people neglect their paint and it goes bad quite fast. I have a 99 Ram (Michigan aswell) that I just had repainted and I see cars 10+ years newer with absolute trashed paint.

 

[subzali]

Those quad (keyword) headlights are available in Aus, Central America, and maybe Euro. I’m not sure if the ones for RHD markets can be adjusted for a LHD application so you may want to research that.

 

[80 Series Al]

Those quad (keyword) headlights are available in Aus, Central America, and maybe Euro. I’m not sure if the ones for RHD markets can be adjusted for a LHD application so you may want to research that.

Thx im gonna check good idea
Thx for info

 

[80 Series Al]

I'd caution you with using dawn to wash down the vehicle. Especially with the paint on the hood not in the best condition, you run the risk of drying out the clear coat over time and make it prone to failing faster. Love your passion for the vehicle and here are a few tips to make the rest of the vehicle paint last and get some solid results:
-Plenty of dedicated car wash soaps out there to be had for an inexpensive price, Megs gold class is always a popular choice and I use it in my foam cannon on vehicles.
-No need to wash the vehicle again after claying unless it was to make sure you got that dawn off.
-The powerball (I hope you didn't use the metal polishing 1 on the paint) isnt quite the best tool for the job , not gonna really give you good results on paint with the cleaning wax and polishing. For that you want a polisher (dual action or a rotary with more experience) and some polishing foam pads and then a pad with 0 cut on it to apply a liquid wax if you so choose.
-Carnuba wax is nice for a shine but doesn't really have longevity for protection. The new line of turtle wax hybrid solutions is getting really good reviews, ceramic spray especially. Also the Seal and Shine is another good consumer available one from turtle wax. Plenty more options out there that I would be more then happy to discuss aswell.

Keep up what all your doing and I like that you addressed the paint as most people neglect their paint and it goes bad quite fast. I have a 99 Ram (Michigan aswell) that I just had repainted and I see cars 10+ years newer with absolute trashed paint.

I've wondered about those synthetics, once I get my new panels sorted and painted - the entire truck will be protected with something synthetic... leaning towards that turtle wax like you said.

Another application never hurt right? Wax on top of wax?

Can a waxing noob like me simply grab orbital and just go to town or do I need to fo some studying and buy like a paint measuring tool and all that.


I know it doesn't take much to burn through paint...just keep product on there to avoid excess heat ie friction no?

Phoenix thanks again for all this info right here, I'll be referring back to it more than a couple times I'm sure ...

Quick question...
After polishing and waxing ...comes sanding priming painting all the bad spots? Im jumping the gun a little?
...or just wait and do a full respray whens it$ time lol

 

[tacocat]

Those quad (keyword) headlights are available in Aus, Central America, and maybe Euro. I’m not sure if the ones for RHD markets can be adjusted for a LHD application so you may want to research that.

And........ buying the entire conversion second hand is about 1/3 the original purchase price of this rig.

 

[80 Series Al]

Wait wat?
,.,. Dreams fizzling...
That's down the road we'll see how motivated I am for them in a year or 2

 

[80 Series Al]

Picking up some goodies
...parts dept not accessible due to beer...er
Wait is tied up with service people...yuk... get me home to install!!!

Phew! My paint is lookin nice in here!
Had to take another....still here!!

 

[thecapedcapper]

I, too, bought a 80 series from the Detroit area, and I've been fighting rusty bolts ever since. I had to cut off all of the shocks to replace them, getting the steps off was a PITA, the wheels were frozen to the rear brake tophats which were frozen to the hubs,the hitch carrier was super rusty which i had to have powdercoated (don't do this just buy a new one - mine still has rust on the inside and the price comes out to be the same/less than what I paid), and the rear suspension is still pretty rusty. If you decide to keep it and go through with it just keep all that in mind.

 

[80 Series Al]

I, too, bought a 80 series from the Detroit area, and I've been fighting rusty bolts ever since. I had to cut off all of the shocks to replace them, getting the steps off was a PITA, the wheels were frozen to the rear brake tophats which were frozen to the hubs,the hitch carrier was super rusty which i had to have powdercoated (don't do this just buy a new one - mine still has rust on the inside and the price comes out to be the same/less than what I paid), and the rear suspension is still pretty rusty. If you decide to keep it and go through with it just keep all that in mind.

@thecapedcapper yes 1000 times to that tow hitch carrier lmao its gonna be so fun destroying that thing, im hitting the gym for a month straight before even attempting it lol.

I have the same wheel issue passenger rear..all other r like butter

Shocks r shot that should be a wild ride!
Cheers man
How long have u had her?
Post up a pic!

 

[thecapedcapper]

@thecapedcapper yes 1000 times to that tow hitch carrier lmao its gonna be so fun destroying that thing, im hitting the gym for a month straight before even attempting it lol.

I have the same wheel issue passenger rear..all other r like butter

Shocks r shot that should be a wild ride!
Cheers man
How long have u had her?
Post up a pic!

I've had her for just over a year now, best pic I have is my avatar, I've been doing baselining so its still a mostly-stock looking LX450 on the outside. If you can get your hands on a strong pneumatic rattle gun that would make taking it off way the hitch carrier way easier, I didn't so I sat down and did it with a 1/2 breaker bar which took a solid 45 minutes.

Edit: Just saw you are also interested in the quad headlights - I looked into those for a while and they are fairly pricey to get your hands on the U.S. as they were an option only overseas. A couple guys also said that if you replace the lights with the LED replacements that they are terrible for driving on the street as well so I decided to give up on that dream and eventually just get a set of DEPOs.

 

[WhitePhoenix]

I've wondered about those synthetics, once I get my new panels sorted and painted - the entire truck will be protected with something synthetic... leaning towards that turtle wax like you said.

Another application never hurt right? Wax on top of wax?

Can a waxing noob like me simply grab orbital and just go to town or do I need to fo some studying and buy like a paint measuring tool and all that.


I know it doesn't take much to burn through paint...just keep product on there to avoid excess heat ie friction no?

Phoenix thanks again for all this info right here, I'll be referring back to it more than a couple times I'm sure ...

Quick question...
After polishing and waxing ...comes sanding priming painting all the bad spots? Im jumping the gun a little?
...or just wait and do a full respray whens it$ time lol

Ya protection for paint has come quite a long way. Both turtle wax products do very well and are used in the detailing community which before the mention of turtle wax wasn't very accepting. I'm gonna grab a bottle of the Seal and Shine for my parents vehicles when I go see them.

Multiple applications of protection is always in interesting subject. Generally folks layer products but only as long as they are compatible if using different products and most go for a sealant base and wax on top. A good example of this is Jescar Powerlock and Collinite 845, very popular in the community and produces great protection/shine. You want the base layer to have longer longevity and the last step product be a semi-sacrificial layer. Doesn't make much sense to put multiple layers of the same wax since they will both be gone at the same time for all that elbow grease you put into it.

I always recommend education before you dive right in. Before I started doing detailing as a side hobby/business, I read several hundred pages of forums, watched hours of youtube videos and then did my truck as my test bed since the clearcoat was already failing and I knew a repaint was going to happen soon. You can always buy a hood from a local junkyard and practice on that, so many folks do this for a multitude of things. For videos, a lot of people watch Ammo NYC, Pan the organizer, Apex detailing, Obsessed Garage, Junkman, Mike Phillips (the poster guy for Autogeek.com and teaches all their detailing classes) and the older videos of Dallas Paint Correction (the new stuff he promotes his own products which i'm not the biggest fan of).

Honestly, with some education above and a simple dual action polisher, you should have no trouble. All about finding technique and how much pressure/speed/product to use. I don't generally use a paint measuring tool unless I'm doing a full paint correction (compound and polish), especially on factory clear coat since it is about as thick as a post it note. But with what you got going on, the cleaner wax or polish doesn't take but such a tiny amount off you'd be just fine. And you don't need to polish every single time. I corrected the paint on my truck and just kept a good quality sealant on it, still looked like money a year later. All about maintiance washes with a good microfiber wash mitt, drying towel and microfiber towels to buff the sealant/wax product.

Dual action polishers would take soo much to burn through paint, it is not even funny. Reason they came about is because the multiple axis rotation helps keep the heat low. Now a rotary is where you can burn through paint with 0 issues if your not ready for that experience. Junkman has a good youtube demo on the highest speed and quite a bit of pressure on a dual action, still did nothing to the paint.

I'm not a paint guy, want to learn 1 day but I cannot speak on the process to prepping a car for even a small spot repaint as I've have not done this yet.