Car Car Nut talks about 80s

[bicycleagent003]

That was my 60! I was happy with his work and feel lucky to have him local. He is very much the OEM or nothing approach. He takes great care in his work and you can tell when talking to him he really appreciates these older Toyota vehicles.

I am bringing him my US spec '82 FJ40 next month for some work and he's planning to do a video on that one as well.

That's awesome that he's local to you. I would not hesitate to take one of my 3 Toyotas to him.

 

[cruiserdan]

He is very much the OEM or nothing approach.

That's because like all really good mechanics, he hates come-backs. Those cost a lot of money, time and reputation.

Personally I'd much prefer the reputation of being very expensive rather than a sloppy short-cutter.

 

[landtank]

That's because like all really good mechanics, he hates come-backs. Those cost a lot of money, time and reputation.

Personally I'd much prefer the reputation of being very expensive rather than a sloppy short-cutter.

If he doesn't want come backs he should start prepping his surfaces properly and stop all of his oil leaks. That goes for the coolant hoses as well.

For those of you that think the clamp on the hose is to prevent the hose from leaking, your wrong. What prevents the hose from leaking is the bond that is created between the hose and the adjoining nipple.

To facilitate that bond you need to thoroughly clean the associated nipples and the inside of both ends of the hose. I prefer Naphtha, it's a degreaser, safe to use and leaves no residue after drying. They actually make laundry soap with it. The tension clamp is there to add some pressure to the hose to ensure that a good bond occurs which happens after a couple of drive cycles.

 

[bicycleagent003]

If he doesn't want come backs he should start prepping his surfaces properly and stop all of his oil leaks. That goes for the coolant hoses as well.

For those of you that think the clamp on the hose is to prevent the hose from leaking, your wrong. What prevents the hose from leaking is the bond that is created between the hose and the adjoining nipple.

To facilitate that bond you need to thoroughly clean the associated nipples and the inside of both ends of the hose. I prefer Naphtha, it's a degreaser, safe to use and leaves no residue after drying. They actually make laundry soap with it. The tension clamp is there to add some pressure to the hose to ensure that a good bond occurs which happens after a couple of drive cycles.

Thanks for that advice. What's your preferred brand and application manner of Naphtha? Any link you can share with us? Thanks.

 

[landtank]

Thanks for that advice. What's your preferred brand and application manner of Naphtha? Any link you can share with us? Thanks.

There is no brand. It’s something that’s been around since they were defending castles in Europe.

They would have barrels of this stuff staged along the top of the wall. When a grout would storm the castle they would dump this stuff on them followed by some torches. Now it is flammable but has a high flash point so if it does ignite it’s a slow lasting burn.

It wasn’t a shock and awe thing. But watching your buddies running around on fire for 10 or 15 minutes had an impact.

Home Depot, acs hardware Lowe’s has it in the paint section.

 

[mudgudgeon]

If he doesn't want come backs he should start prepping his surfaces properly and stop all of his oil leaks. That goes for the coolant hoses as well.

For those of you that think the clamp on the hose is to prevent the hose from leaking, your wrong. What prevents the hose from leaking is the bond that is created between the hose and the adjoining nipple.

To facilitate that bond you need to thoroughly clean the associated nipples and the inside of both ends of the hose. I prefer Naphtha, it's a degreaser, safe to use and leaves no residue after drying. They actually make laundry soap with it. The tension clamp is there to add some pressure to the hose to ensure that a good bond occurs which happens after a couple of drive cycles.

A bit of BrakeKleen sprayed in the end of a rubber hose works great too.
Makes the rubber slippery for a few seconds until it evaporates. So, it makes it easy to push a hose on then you get a good clean bond.

 

[Broski]

Wow tough crowd
No one’s perfect, I sure wish I had a good
Honest thorough mechanic near me like TCCN
Be watching his videos for years now !

 

[Batameez]

I think he's on the money. Easy to nitpick him when we know a particular vehicle in depth. His knowledge is more like a mile wide and an inch deep by comparison. And even still I think he knows significantly more about an FZJ80 than 90% of mechanics out there. That being said, no way I would afford my 80 if I let someone else do all the work. Compared to a 4Runner or Tacoma I think it's much more involved too. I would say the 80 is a very advanced archaic design and you have to want one. An exception would be if you're Joe Rogan and can afford to drop your custom built 80 at Jonathan Ward's for an oil change and knuckle greasing every month.

 

[BTLSHP]

The 1fz is leak prone? That would be news to me.

He has never seen an Audi 3.2......

 

[landtank]

A bit of BrakeKleen sprayed in the end of a rubber hose works great too.
Makes the rubber slippery for a few seconds until it evaporates. So, it makes it easy to push a hose on then you get a good clean bond.

Because it dries fast it leaves a residue behind. That why I don’t use it.

 

[cruiserdan]

Don't let Rick's tough talk put you off. In a pinch he'll bleed for you.

 

[FIDO96]

TLDR: I decided I think TCCN is not for me

I watched this the day it dropped, and it’s had me thinking a lot since then. I just got into an 80 last September. I Spent $14k on one that actually was featured in a well known YT series. It’s a 97 LC with 217k and a great set of (non-rusted) bones. I knew I was going to spend more money on it, and set out to build what I wanted for an all-in budget of $30k. After 30 years of driving whatever I wanted, I decided I wanted to drive something that I actually liked, and my first boss had one the year I graduated, and I thought “this is what being rich is like. Who the **** has a truck with an electric antenna”. Ever since that day in 1997, I always said I would someday have a truck just like this.

Fast forward to March 2025. I’m well past my $30k budget and daily drive an 80. Knuckles, ac compressor, radius arms, leaking gas tank, shaky mirrors, green D; I’ve experienced all of it and knew that I would have to fix a bunch when I bought it. There is a thread on the resto, and I’m damn proud of how it is coming along. I’m sure I’ll add Eaton lockers and a Manguson SC in the coming months. Yes, I’m probably upside down, and I’m sure the $40+K I have it in “will bankrupt me”, but I’m thinking TCCN is a jaded Lexus fanboy. Every night I spend an hour in the garage just unwinding and finding a way to make an improvement or just clean 28 years of neglect out of a deep recess on the undercarriage. Tonight I replaced the exhaust cushions, and I no longer have the vibrations when the AC compressor kicks on while sitting at a red light. Easy repairs (that I learned on Mud) are why I love this rig. I paid Dadja and Tandem Off-road to do a lot of things I know I don’t have the time, expertise or facilities (i.e hydraulic lift) to do, but I try to do what I can. Will I get stranded on a busy highway someday and never want to daily drive it again? Hope not, but to listen to TCCN, it’s just a matter of time. Even though I can tell you I have zero oil leaks (I’m under it every night on a my HF creeper, with degreaser and rags), TCCN has me thinking I’m just not smart enough or experienced enough to know I have a lemon. To hear him talk ever 80 has a revolving set of 3 leaks. F this guy!

I’m gonna keep driving mine, learning new things and throwing money at it. Maybe I’ll become my own car care nut for trying to believe I can daily drive an FZJ80 with a 1FZ-FE engine better suited for a fork lift.

 

[pavell]

TLDR: I decided I think TCCN is not for me

I watched this the day it dropped, and it’s had me thinking a lot since then. I just got into an 80 last September. I Spent $14k on one that actually was featured in a well known YT series. It’s a 97 LC with 217k and a great set of (non-rusted) bones. I knew I was going to spend more money on it, and set out to build what I wanted for an all-in budget of $30k. After 30 years of driving whatever I wanted, I decided I wanted to drive something that I actually liked, and my first boss had one the year I graduated, and I thought “this is what being rich is like. Who the **** has a truck with an electric antenna”. Ever since that day in 1997, I always said I would someday have a truck just like this.

Fast forward to March 2025. I’m well past my $30k budget and daily drive an 80. Knuckles, head gasket, leaking gas tank, shaky mirrors, green D; I’ve experienced all of it and knew that I would have to fix a bunch when I bought it. There is a thread on the resto, and I’m damn proud of how it is coming along. I’m sure I’ll add Eaton lockers and a Manguson SC in the coming months. Yes, I’m probably upside down, and I’m sure the $40+K I have it in “will bankrupt me”, but I’m thinking TCCN is a jaded Lexus fanboy. Every night I spend an hour in the garage just unwinding and finding a way to make an improvement or just clean 28 years of neglect out of a deep recess on the undercarriage. Tonight I replaced the exhaust cushions, and I no longer have the vibrations when the AC compressor kicks on while sitting at a red light. Easy repairs (that I learned on Mud) are why I love this rig. I paid Dadja and Tandem Off-road to do a lot of things I know I don’t have the time, expertise or facilities (i.e hydraulic lift) to do, but I try to do what I can. Will I get stranded on a busy highway someday and never want to daily drive it again? Hope not, but to listen to TCCN, it’s just a matter of time. Even though I can tell you I have zero oil leaks (I’m under it every night on a my HF creeper, with degreaser and rags), TCCN has me thinking I’m just not smart enough or experienced enough to know I have a lemon. To hear him talk ever 80 has a revolving set of 3 leaks. F this guy!

I’m gonna keep driving mine, learning new things and throwing money at it. Maybe I’ll become my own car care nut for trying to believe I can daily drive an FZJ80 with a 1FZ-FE engine better suited for a fork lift.

We are all 80 enthusiasts. It is an amazing car for its time but if you compare it to a 2023 4 runner it does everything worse. Minus extreme rock crawling that needs solid axles. I think that was his point. But he didn’t summarize it at the end properly.

 

[Batameez]

TLDR: I decided I think TCCN is not for me

I watched this the day it dropped, and it’s had me thinking a lot since then. I just got into an 80 last September. I Spent $14k on one that actually was featured in a well known YT series. It’s a 97 LC with 217k and a great set of (non-rusted) bones. I knew I was going to spend more money on it, and set out to build what I wanted for an all-in budget of $30k. After 30 years of driving whatever I wanted, I decided I wanted to drive something that I actually liked, and my first boss had one the year I graduated, and I thought “this is what being rich is like. Who the **** has a truck with an electric antenna”. Ever since that day in 1997, I always said I would someday have a truck just like this.

Fast forward to March 2025. I’m well past my $30k budget and daily drive an 80. Knuckles, ac compressor, radius arms, leaking gas tank, shaky mirrors, green D; I’ve experienced all of it and knew that I would have to fix a bunch when I bought it. There is a thread on the resto, and I’m damn proud of how it is coming along. I’m sure I’ll add Eaton lockers and a Manguson SC in the coming months. Yes, I’m probably upside down, and I’m sure the $40+K I have it in “will bankrupt me”, but I’m thinking TCCN is a jaded Lexus fanboy. Every night I spend an hour in the garage just unwinding and finding a way to make an improvement or just clean 28 years of neglect out of a deep recess on the undercarriage. Tonight I replaced the exhaust cushions, and I no longer have the vibrations when the AC compressor kicks on while sitting at a red light. Easy repairs (that I learned on Mud) are why I love this rig. I paid Dadja and Tandem Off-road to do a lot of things I know I don’t have the time, expertise or facilities (i.e hydraulic lift) to do, but I try to do what I can. Will I get stranded on a busy highway someday and never want to daily drive it again? Hope not, but to listen to TCCN, it’s just a matter of time. Even though I can tell you I have zero oil leaks (I’m under it every night on a my HF creeper, with degreaser and rags), TCCN has me thinking I’m just not smart enough or experienced enough to know I have a lemon. To hear him talk ever 80 has a revolving set of 3 leaks. F this guy!

I’m gonna keep driving mine, learning new things and throwing money at it. Maybe I’ll become my own car care nut for trying to believe I can daily drive an FZJ80 with a 1FZ-FE engine better suited for a fork lift.

I think you're being way too sensitive. He's literally saying these trucks are better off owned by guys like us, and the simps that come up to the chads like us at the state inspection station saying how much they want one but had to settle on a new RAV4 because their wives wouldn't approve should rightfully stay away.

 

[Saito]

I see owning and using an 80 like owning and using a 1911. You’ve gotta be a dedicated end user and capable of doing your own maintenance or have deep pockets. It’s a lifestyle decision.

 

[Marco Lau]

From what I have seen, The Car Care Nut is probably the most knowledgeable Toyota/Lexus technician on Youtube. The biggest factor he seems to have with the 80 is an idea that it costs a ton to keep on the road. I think this is because he only uses OEM parts which would make driving anything close to this old too expensive. I have found that while OEM is the best option, there are acceptable aftermarket parks for a lot of stuff. He probably would not use them and if he did, he would not warranty them because he is an honest business owner and stands behind his work.

I have been driving my 1991 80 for 7 years, mostly as a daily driver and have not found it expensive to maintain. I put a good bit of work/money in it the first year but nothing really since. It had setup for several years and had a lot of mysterious bugs. Since then I have put 40,000 miles on it in that 7 years and it has never let me down. Except for the first year of my 80 ownership, my LX570 which I have had for 3 years has cost me more which also hasn't been that much. I did the valley plate leak on the LX570 myself so the labor wasn't a factor. I also installed new accumulator globes. I changed the headgasket on my 3FE myself which I would consider about the same level of difficulty as the valley plate on the 200. Well except for lifting the head out engine bay on the 80. That iron head is heavy!

Anyway, I think that the 80 might be easier/cheaper to keep on the road indefinitely. Oh and for all the 3FE haters, it may be slow but that is likely because when it was imported into the US, the national speed limit was 55. I have found it fine around town but it does not keep up with the people on the interstate doing 80 to 90. 75 is fine though. I bought the LX for long trips.

I have had my 91 for almost 10 yrs now, the 3FE is almost bullet proof in a sense that it is not leak prone. more so talking about HG leaks vs oil leaks and such. I have put almost 60k miles on it and mostly miles on the dirt/ rocks and the rest freeway. I have changed almost everything on it with the exception of the engine @ 250k. It will handle 75mph on the highway, and 55-60 pulling steep grade, and it is slow by today's standards, but if you load up the rig heavy enough with oversize tires, it will struggle uphill just like any other modern vehicles unless you have 2 extra cylinders and or with boost. That being said, i am glad i own a 3FE and not the 1FZ-FE.

 

[FIDO96]

I see owning and using an 80 like owning and using a 1911. You’ve gotta be a dedicated end user and capable of doing your own maintenance or have deep pockets. It’s a lifestyle decision.

Excellent comparison.

 

[simple]

it is slow by today's standards, but if you load up the rig heavy enough with oversize tires, it will struggle uphill just like any other modern vehicles unless you have 2 extra cylinders and or with boost.

Now I haven't driven every modern vehicle but this topic I've discussed with friends recently. I give the auto industry MAJOR credit for recent improvements in transmission design and engine tuning. Here in Colorado we see all the brands with their test cars running around on mountain passes, extreme temperature facilities, and road elevations up to 14,000 feet. Even basic little cars absolutely cruise uphill with little effort (even if you change the tire size or add a RTT lol). We aren't living in the times of crappy 4 speed transmissions anymore. It's been a notable change for at least the past 15 years but I get folks with old vehicles don't know how good modern vehicles are right now. They may be boring looking but performance wise there is little comparison and yes that includes fuel consumption. The MEGA price increases though....yuck

 

[Tyland Cruiser]

Now I haven't driven every modern vehicle but this topic I've discussed with friends recently. I give the auto industry MAJOR credit for recent improvements in transmission design and engine tuning. Here in Colorado we see all the brands with their test cars running around on mountain passes, extreme temperature facilities, and road elevations up to 14,000 feet. Even basic little cars absolutely cruise uphill with little effort (even if you change the tire size or add a RTT lol). We aren't living in the times of crappy 4 speed transmissions anymore. It's been a notable change for at least the past 15 years but I get folks with old vehicles don't know how good modern vehicles are right now. They may be boring looking but performance wise there is little comparison and yes that includes fuel consumption. The MEGA price increases though....yuck

Agreed! Though, IMHO, comparing an 80 with today's new vehicles is comparing apples and oranges. Modern 10 speed transmissions with various drive settings and paddle shifting were a complete game changer, along with many engine, suspension, and interior refinements. To love an 80 is to love the look, feel, ride, and handling of the 80's vintage tech and style. It's the 4-wheel truck equivalent of owning a 1970 Pontiac GTO - its a classic - but it's more practical. I wouldn't drive to Alaska in a 1970 Pontiac GTO, but I will in my 80. I'll keep my 80 mostly old school and limit making "modern" modifications - currently have a new stereo, led lights, and those bronze wheels.

 

[thatcabledude]

Excellent comparison.

Yep. Heavy, reliable, and easy to work on.