smittycrusher
"Hey big guy, you a golfer" - Roger Dorn
I must start with the fact that my first Land Cruiser was an unlocked white 1993. Back in 2004 when I decided to buy a second 80, I knew I wanted a 1997 locked one. I also didn't want a dark color or a Lexus. Being in SoCal at the time, there word was already out about locked 80s and they were already hard to find. After about six months, I settled on a very low mileage, locked, chromed, gold packaged LX450. The gold and chrome were easy to fix. The color, well I just accepted that I was going to have a black one forever. I did change to a Toyota Front grill a few years ago (thanks @LandCruiserPhil)!
I have an enabler in my life that hides behind the screen name @ZeGerman .
He bought a white parts truck earlier this year and pulled all the white panels (hood, fenders, all for doors and hatch). He was going to put them on his RHD HDJ81. Well, he decided to go a different direction. One hot summer Georgia day, I mentioned that I missed having a white 80. He immediately had an idea
. He offered me his white panels that he had already pulled!!! I politely declined as I really don't have a ton of time on my hands. He handled my objection with, "c'mon, when will you really have this opportunity again?"
He was right. So we swapped the hood over and it started. Over the next five weeks we started working on it one step at a time.
It was a very slippery slope. I knew that I was going to have to spray the roof, A pillar and rear quarter panels. Since I was painting the roof, I knew the right thing to do was weld the holes from the factory roof that that I had removed 10 years ago. Another 80 guy here in Atlanta (@toadshade)
welded up the holes for me. This also meant dropping the headliner...which meant dropping the sunroof to clean and also new insulation. See how quickly things can slide down that slope!
I also decided to copy my bud @Slomo and remove the flares and durabak their spots black. He did this ten years ago and I always loved the look.
I went ahead and added a new rubber antenna as well while I had the fender off.
This was a total team effort and another reminder why I love this cruiser community!
It was a lot more work than I planned, but I am thrilled with the end result.
I am leaving Thursday to head on a 5,000 mile road trip to Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. I get to test the prototype Terrapod mini off road camper with my family of four. The color matches well!!!
Before and after
I have an enabler in my life that hides behind the screen name @ZeGerman .
He bought a white parts truck earlier this year and pulled all the white panels (hood, fenders, all for doors and hatch). He was going to put them on his RHD HDJ81. Well, he decided to go a different direction. One hot summer Georgia day, I mentioned that I missed having a white 80. He immediately had an idea
. He offered me his white panels that he had already pulled!!! I politely declined as I really don't have a ton of time on my hands. He handled my objection with, "c'mon, when will you really have this opportunity again?"He was right. So we swapped the hood over and it started. Over the next five weeks we started working on it one step at a time.
It was a very slippery slope. I knew that I was going to have to spray the roof, A pillar and rear quarter panels. Since I was painting the roof, I knew the right thing to do was weld the holes from the factory roof that that I had removed 10 years ago. Another 80 guy here in Atlanta (@toadshade)
welded up the holes for me. This also meant dropping the headliner...which meant dropping the sunroof to clean and also new insulation. See how quickly things can slide down that slope!
I also decided to copy my bud @Slomo and remove the flares and durabak their spots black. He did this ten years ago and I always loved the look.
I went ahead and added a new rubber antenna as well while I had the fender off.
This was a total team effort and another reminder why I love this cruiser community!
It was a lot more work than I planned, but I am thrilled with the end result.
I am leaving Thursday to head on a 5,000 mile road trip to Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. I get to test the prototype Terrapod mini off road camper with my family of four. The color matches well!!!
Before and after
, so I am a couple of steps ahead
