Back Story:
I owned a '95 80 that I drove from 75K miles to 200K miles, then sold to a buddy whose kid wrecked it and sold it back to me. I rehabbed and resold it. I never fell as much in love with the 80 series as I did with 40s, 60s, 100s, etc. It did not have lockers and of course, was dark green metallic, like every dang 80 series in Colorado. But, if faithfully toted my wife and my camper all over the place and was reliable. I should mention that my brother owned a dark green '94 at the same time.
Now:
So, a neighbor of mine and an old co-worker had a '93 80 since 2000, and literally didn't even know what the locker switch was for. I have been tracking this (green, of course) truck for years, and he finally sold it to me, tired and weary. Redline Land Cruisers checked it out for him and found a laundry list of leaks, worn items, tired items, etc. It starts, runs, drives, but the front end feels loose and the knuckles leak grease worse than Julian Assange leaks classified information. Very little rust - some in driver's door and surface rust on the hatch. Underside looks great.
So, here is the next green (what other color?) 80 in my garage. Umm - the mileage is correct. I have records from 2000 and it has never had a timing chain or head gasket or any internal engine work. Trans is original and leak free, and shifts properly.
The valve cover was leaking possibly worse than the steering knuckles, so I pulled it and did a compression test, inspected the timing chain, etc. and checked valve lash. Compression is pretty even and well within spec. Valve lash is off for several exhaust valves (.006", .007", versus the .010" minimum). I ran a bore-scope down all cylinders and they show original cross-hatching. The PO was not a wrencher, and just took it to local shops for oil changes and repairs, but it survived in spite of this.
I plan to rebuild the knuckles, drive it some, evaluate, and then decide to keep/sell/horse trade. I love my FJ40 (had it since 1990) and my very clean FJ62 (as honest a rig as Toyota ever made), but an 80 with lockers has chronic appeal. I also have a '99 LX 470 with a swapped in locker axle, so it's not like I'm short on Land Cruisers.
Enough blabber - on with the photos. First shot is my '95, then the new '93:
I owned a '95 80 that I drove from 75K miles to 200K miles, then sold to a buddy whose kid wrecked it and sold it back to me. I rehabbed and resold it. I never fell as much in love with the 80 series as I did with 40s, 60s, 100s, etc. It did not have lockers and of course, was dark green metallic, like every dang 80 series in Colorado. But, if faithfully toted my wife and my camper all over the place and was reliable. I should mention that my brother owned a dark green '94 at the same time.
Now:
So, a neighbor of mine and an old co-worker had a '93 80 since 2000, and literally didn't even know what the locker switch was for. I have been tracking this (green, of course) truck for years, and he finally sold it to me, tired and weary. Redline Land Cruisers checked it out for him and found a laundry list of leaks, worn items, tired items, etc. It starts, runs, drives, but the front end feels loose and the knuckles leak grease worse than Julian Assange leaks classified information. Very little rust - some in driver's door and surface rust on the hatch. Underside looks great.
So, here is the next green (what other color?) 80 in my garage. Umm - the mileage is correct. I have records from 2000 and it has never had a timing chain or head gasket or any internal engine work. Trans is original and leak free, and shifts properly.
The valve cover was leaking possibly worse than the steering knuckles, so I pulled it and did a compression test, inspected the timing chain, etc. and checked valve lash. Compression is pretty even and well within spec. Valve lash is off for several exhaust valves (.006", .007", versus the .010" minimum). I ran a bore-scope down all cylinders and they show original cross-hatching. The PO was not a wrencher, and just took it to local shops for oil changes and repairs, but it survived in spite of this.
I plan to rebuild the knuckles, drive it some, evaluate, and then decide to keep/sell/horse trade. I love my FJ40 (had it since 1990) and my very clean FJ62 (as honest a rig as Toyota ever made), but an 80 with lockers has chronic appeal. I also have a '99 LX 470 with a swapped in locker axle, so it's not like I'm short on Land Cruisers.
Enough blabber - on with the photos. First shot is my '95, then the new '93:
