Building my HDJ-80 and dads HZJ-80, EU

[Vitek]

So for my future manual to auto project I found a grey matching style shifter console, but the seller is only willing to ship within the US.
Is there any nice US located reader here who would be willing to help me out with receiving and forwarding the shifter console?
I will cover the costs ofc.

 

[Vitek]

Merry christmas!
Finally had some time at home. Took of the aisin winch from the parts 80, to be put on the red one. The original plan was to use my mechnic winch for this, but as the base plate of the winch tray is not flat, we will use this. Little crusty, but with the great write up by @NLXTACY it will get refreshed. Now I just need to source an original remote control for it.

 

[Vitek]

So people of Ih8mud, I need your wisdom:

With the new Terrain tamer suspension, all new body mounts, rebuild front and rear axles, the car is slightly leaning over to the drivers side, like 2,5 cm (~1 inch). Upon removing the old 4' OME lift, we found some spacers on top of them, also I have seen this leaning, but I thought the old beaten up bumper was tricking my eyes.
AFAIK, the car never been in a serious accident to have bent chassis.
Local mechanics say its a typical issue with 80s, being the fuel tank, steering gear is all on the left side. They also say the OME front springs are left and right hand side.
So what is the real reason/ situation and what should be done about it?
Or just get in the spacers and be done with this?

 

[Vitek]

Body shop is working on the car:

 

[Vitek]

Also new aisin clutch master and slave cylinder will be installed, they came at a fraction of the price of the toyota boxed ones Tee current ones were fine, will be kept as a spare and maybe rebuilt, as I also have the toyota rebuild set. Funny thing it costed approx the same with shipping and tax from UAE as a new slave cylinder from aisin...
CRT-025 and CMT-040 are the aisin part numbers for reference

We will install a spare rear upper hatch I have, its cheaper and easier than to repair the current one, which had some s***ty rust repairs from the PO.
This will get a new window seal and wiper arm and install hardware. Also new nuts and covers for the front ones, as the nuts are rusty and the covers are missing.

 

[MonsterCruiser]

So people of Ih8mud, I need your wisdom:

With the new Terrain tamer suspension, all new body mounts, rebuild front and rear axles, the car is slightly leaning over to the drivers side, like 2,5 cm (~1 inch). Upon removing the old 4' OME lift, we found some spacers on top of them, also I have seen this leaning, but I thought the old beaten up bumper was tricking my eyes.
AFAIK, the car never been in a serious accident to have bent chassis.
Local mechanics say its a typical issue with 80s, being the fuel tank, steering gear is all on the left side. They also say the OME front springs are left and right hand side.
So what is the real reason/ situation and what should be done about it?
Or just get in the spacers and be done with this?
View attachment 2885917


View attachment 2885918

I was reading up on the issue of 80's leaning recently as well. Most threads seem to reference OME and the way the springs were labelled 'A' and 'B' and RHD vs LHD. In my case, I have a Dobinsons kit with about 2.5-3" of lift. I have a lean of about the same as yours (20-25mm) but to the right side. After checking that my springs were installed correctly and reading through a bunch of the other threads on peoples' rigs leaning I decided to just get the coil spacers. I haven't installed them yet, but I expect it will work out ok. Now that I've noticed and measured, the lean is really bothering me, LOL!

 

[Vitek]

While the never ending waiting for the body shop is on, some part for the future sub fuel tank system are being cleaned.:
(They should be done next week, but this is what they say for the last 3 weeks )

I feel exremely lucky to have a parts car which had everything in place and its an original factory turbo diesel, so return lines and diameters should all match with my 1hd-ft.

 

[Vitek]

Body shop is slow as hell... but there is proccess. I am getting constant promises of the painting day, but there is always an excuse for the delay.

No more rust on the upper tailage, new eveything will be installed when reassembled.

Bonet also got redone:

Next month marks the 8th month of this predicted 3-4 month project... I am loosing faith in the workshop....

 

[Vitek]

So finally it happened:

 

[Vitek]

Nice gift from @73FJ40 (Thanks a lot!) for the upcoming OEM winch installation! I am a sucker for small details like this. Diesel label for the fuel flap, sub tank instructions label for the sunvisor, the collection is growing.

 

[Vitek]

Transfer is off for the front output shaft replacement, winch is up, bumper, winch cover and corners are being painted.
Its coming together. New issue is the classical broken mirror holding tabs.

 

[Vitek]

Slowly but steady.
Unfortunetly the aftermarket bumper corners did not fit, once I have triple checked the part numbers I will order the toyota post 95 version, but the non fender flare ones. Pricey piece of plastic.
Winch is up, wired, winch cover was missed at painting so no its back to the painter... so many little details are still missing, but now the priority is the roadworthy, as the car needs to get some work done and come with me from Hungary to the Netherlands by mid April.

 

[Vitek]

So just spent a week at home. After almost 9 months, the car is ready and its so good to have it back. Did something like 1000km as a quick shakedown trip, after it went back on the hoist for a safety check, all fine.

During the shakedown drive, I averaged 10L/100km, which is roughly 23 miles/ gallon. I did not race the car, 70-90km/h so roughly 45-55 mph. That where this car can be kind of "economic" with 285/75 R16 cooper mud terrains.

 

[Vitek]

I also started to do some long waiting cosmetic projects.
- replaced several door handle trim pieces which were broken
- OEM radiator cap
- OEM shifter know
And replace the shifter console, as it had some holes drilled into it, which I hated. A friend had a spare one, which he traded for my drilled one as he will anyway leather wrap his. I know these things are pretty impossible to get in LHD and I had 2 for a while!

 

[thelal]

great to have it on the road

 

[Vitek]

The car is on they way to the Netherlands, but not on its own steam. I simply did not had the time to do the drive myself, but got a pretty good deal, so trailer time.
Also for the time here, installed a set of yokohama geolandar AT g15, in 275/75 r16. no point of wearing down the coopers while it will mostly see bitumen and dirt roads only.

it also got a detailing and deep inside cleaning, nice and tidy now

 

[Vitek]

Now that the car is here with me in the Netherlands, I can utilize my spare time to do the little details I wanted to get done for so long...
First, badges on the back!

I know I know... its not really a VX limited, but it is quite close to it I am installing a lot of rare OEM options to make it "limited".
There is a nice general market barn door fzj80 in Wageningen, will try to meet up with the owner at some point!

 

[Vitek]

Bought some second hand ARB drawers, the side kit is for the 100 series, but should be close enough, or will get the 80 kit eventually. For now I am pretty happy with the added storage and organization.

Also put aroun 2000 kms in the car in the last 2 weeks, exploring the Netherlands with the familiy here is a nice shot at Ijsselmeer

 

[thelal]

looks good

 

[Vitek]

Since my 80 is not a 7 seater version, I miss the usual mounting points for the ARB drawers. I have some cargo tie down points which I will use for now. Today mocked up on cardboard the dimensions for a adapter plate as the fixing points of the drawers can not be move forward/backward enough. My only concern are those small bolts, will those be strong enough to keep the drawers in place? Also wondering if I should leave or remove the carpet from below.