Bought the 2000 LC on CL.. Going to need a steering wheel or recover?

[jclarke450]

Well, I was looking for a 200 and then this CL ad popped up. So I bought a 1 owner 2000 with 190k and a supposedly blown head gasket. Dirty as hell, will be interesting to see how it cleans up. My question is ..Does anyone know where I could score a steering wheel, or am I better to get this recovered. Its bad, real bad. Anyway, now we are a 3 cruiser family potentially on the way to 4 if I find a 200 I am happy with. Ill post pics later and as I start tearing it apart. Im still not convinced its a HG until I do a leakdown test. Runs great and no water in the oil. But if it is, oh well. Anyone here done a 4.7 motor? I haven't been into one yet, so this will be a new experience for me.

 

[centralworks]

I am glad to see somebody had more patients that I do for that LC. Make it tough again.

 

[Rudster]

Save some land cruisers for the rest of us...lol

Keep us posted on what you find regarding if it is a HG. Hope its nothing to serious

 

[jclarke450]

@centralworks , were you one of the 2 that made an offer? Did it shift into 4 low for you? It shifted well for me. The owner indicated it didn't yesterday for 1 or 2 people who drove it. I think the actuator was just sticky from non use. I think I will come out pretty good on it, but you never know with these. If nothing else, it will be a little project for me to learn a little about the 4.7

 

[murf]

Hope its simple. I was wondering who grabbed it...

Check with upholstery shops. About recovering it

 

[jclarke450]

Ive always had an affinity for that copper color. Pretty rare and I got it cheap so it was worth the risk. It really does run well. Needs a crazy azz interior cleaning and the front seats will get recovered. By my best count, this is car #70 for me. Been kinda slow the last few years

 

[medtro]

I talked to the seller too. His description of the cruiser is very different from how you described it.

 

[jclarke450]

@medtro , how did he describe it?

 

[DSRTRDR]

like it really matters now - you are stuck with it, regardless

not trying to be a smartass, but that's the situation

 

[medtro]

The info I got didn't make me think the interior is dirty as hell and needs a crazy azz interior cleaning.

First owner with head gasket leaks. Dent in rear bumper, tears in front leather seats, poor steering wheel cover, auto door lock not working. Overall fair condition.

 

[re_guderian]

... Dent in rear bumper, tears in front leather seats, poor steering wheel cover, auto door lock not working. Overall fair condition.

sounds like every other 2000 land cruiser out there...

 

[jclarke450]

@medtro I think that's interesting because the inside is dirty. Not like mud and dirt dirty, just needs a good deep cleaning. And someone smoked in it previously. Doesn't seem recent but still smells. I told the PO that it was in worse cosmetic condition than I expected, but in better mechanical condition than I expected. I am pretty confident with the purchase, a good cleaning will do wonders. That waits until I know the full extent of the repairs though. Maybe it can make the August Club meeting if I hurry.

 

[jclarke450]

Okay CSC, Heads are off of the 2000 and I can't see on either HG where I had a leak. I haven't cleaned up the heads yet, but the gasket isn't showing me anything. It was taking a while for the cruiser to get hot after driving. No miss, no oil in the water, water in the oil, etc. Only indication was PO claiming the shop that has done his service said it had a blown HG and the coolant level would actually rise after driving it, indicating what I believed to be a minor cylinder to coolant leak. Wondering now if it may have a cracked head. I guess I am curious if any of you have seen a HG leak without being visible on the HG after removal. All of the ones I have done in the past have been pretty obvious. Just looking for thoughts.

 

[murf]

Jason, most are obvious but I have seen some HG's that don't easily reveal an obvious breach. So yes, I have seen some where it was hard to tell but we knew it was an issue and this would usually include a magnaflux at the machine shop to check for a possible crack (which is rare but can and has happened).

 

[jclarke450]

@murf , my next question was going to be for you anyway. Who do you recommend to do the heads? anyone good you know of? I haven't had any machine work done on engine parts since leaving Yuma 4 years ago

 

[murf]

For most of our machine work we use Kellys machine shop in N central Phx