Build Family Hauler: 1997 Night Shadow Pearl FZJ80

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chatt100

chatt100

SILVER Star
10 Year
Joined
May 15, 2013
Threads
18
Messages
265
Location
Chattanooga, TN
I've always been a 'Toyota guy' since high school when we used to go exploring through fields/back roads in my buddy's 1988 Toyota pickup. I discovered land cruisers after I wrecked my 1997 Toyota pickup and was looking for something bigger/more comfortable. I ended up with a 1999 locked 100 series that met its demise secondary to outside forces. However I discovered this forum during that time and really fell in love with the 80 series.

So after many years of wanting an FJZ80 I finally purchased one! I'm very much a newbie so please point out anything I could/should address

One of the guys at work bought and restored it several years ago and decided he wanted to get back into racing Porsche's. He bought it out of Texas with 185k on it. When he got it there was no rust, it's triple locked, 2.5 in OME lift, ARB bumper, winch, LED lights, and custom roof rack. Shortly after buying it the head gasket blew and ultimately decided to replace the head gasket, put a new short block from Toyota in it along with all new belts/hoses/water pump/radiator/master cylinder/crank seal and harmonic balancer/knuckes rebuilt

In addition to this he put in all new leather seat covers in all 3 rows, new steering wheel and shifter done by craftcustoms, new carpet, new Kenwood stereo, back up camera, LED lights, paint correction, ceramic coating, weather tech mats, and of course a BH3d cup holder

So its pretty much been baselined already for me. But I still have a few small mods in mind.

There are a couple of issues that still need to be addressed. The roof rack is shaking a bit and apparently the screws have started to wear through the roof? Sounds like i need to find a body shop to pull the headliner and the have it bolted on securely. Anyone know a reputable body shop in Chattanooga TN that would be able to do this?

The second more minor issue is the driver side rear upper speaker grill has fallen off

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chatt100 said:
I've always been a 'Toyota guy' since high school when we used to go exploring through fields/back roads in my buddy's 1988 Toyota pickup. I discovered land cruisers after I wrecked my 1997 Toyota pickup and was looking for something bigger/more comfortable. I ended up with a 1999 locked 100 series that met its demise secondary to outside forces. However I discovered this forum during that time and really fell in love with the 80 series.

So after many years of wanting an FJZ80 I finally purchased one! I'm very much a newbie so please point out anything I could/should address

One of the guys at work bought and restored it several years ago and decided he wanted to get back into racing Porsche's. He bought it out of Texas with 185k on it. When he got it there was no rust, it's triple locked, 2.5 in OME lift, ARB bumper, winch, LED lights, and custom roof rack. Shortly after buying it the head gasket blew and ultimately decided to replace the head gasket, put a new short block from Toyota in it along with all new belts/hoses/water pump/radiator/master cylinder/crank seal and harmonic balancer/knuckes rebuilt

In addition to this he put in all new leather seat covers in all 3 rows, new steering wheel and shifter done by craftcustoms, new carpet, new Kenwood stereo, back up camera, LED lights, paint correction, ceramic coating, weather tech mats, and of course a BH3d cup holder

So its pretty much been baselined already for me. But I still have a few small mods in mind.

There are a couple of issues that still need to be addressed. The roof rack is shaking a bit and apparently the screws have started to wear through the roof? Sounds like i need to find a body shop to pull the headliner and the have it bolted on securely.

The second more minor issue is the driver side rear upper speaker grill has fallen off

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Gorgeous truck. Best color on an 80!
 
There are a few other things I want to do/have questions about

1. Car seats? I have a 2 yo and another one on the way. What car seats take up the least amount of space and what is the best way to secure them? I haven't driven any cars that didn't have the car seat latches since we had kids and I know its just as safe to use the seat belt but our current seats (graco 4ever) you're supposed to use the over the top latch and I couldn't find a good tie down point in the back

Also whats the best way to protect the leather from car seats? I currently have one of those car seat pads and put a towel under it.

2. This is going to be my DD for a while and its plenty comfortable for me but would be nice to have an arm rest for my right arm. Possibly the Delta Center console? Anyone else modded anything up?

3. MOAR CUP HOLDERS! @BH3D printing

4. Fix speaker grill? Any Advice on how to do this?
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5. Repaint fading LED lights, advice on how-to, types of paint?

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6. Heat seaters/possibly coolers? Talking with Mosley motors to see if these leather covers will work with their kit

7. CDL Switch

8. Auto up mod

9. I'm 6'3" so the lanktank seat extension feels like a must do mod

10. I like the look of the Grill with TOYOTA instead of the sombrero from the pre-1995 so may change that out if I can find one

11. Pipe dream - bolt on turbo by @NLXTACY . I will do this down the road but seeing as I had to agree that we would buy my wife a 200 if I got this and we have a baby on the way I don't really have the finance to sink into this right now.

Anything I missed?
 
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WarDamnEagle said:
The speaker grills are still available in gray. Just buy new ones. They are not expensive.
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Thanks! Found them, the part number is 86269-60040 if anyone else is looking

Will probably wait until I can get a body shop to pull the headliner and address the rack. Can't really tell if the assembly needs to replaced as well but seems like that part is discontinued. Maybe that's why this was glued onto the headliner?
 
Car seats are a pain in the 80. The only position I feel good about is the center in the second row. The outboard seatbelts just never seem to get tight enough with the retractors. One trick is to tilt the seat back a couple notches, tighten the belt as much as you can (helps to kneel on it while tightening) then move the seat back forward. This will tighten it even more. You shouldn't need to worry about finding skinny car seats for only 2 kids. If you end up with 3 check out Diono.
 
iptman said:
Car seats are a pain in the 80. The only position I feel good about is the center in the second row. The outboard seatbelts just never seem to get tight enough with the retractors. One trick is to tilt the seat back a couple notches, tighten the belt as much as you can (helps to kneel on it while tightening) then move the seat back forward. This will tighten it even more. You shouldn't need to worry about finding skinny car seats for only 2 kids. If you end up with 3 check out Diono.
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Thanks I used that tip and it definitely helped. Not sure what arrangement I'll use when the new baby comes. Would be nice to just have a base in permanently for easy in and out

Don't think were going to make the jump to three we've only got the one and are already exhausted! I constantly wonder how I didn't get more done before, I had so much free time!
 
You can anchor the back of the car seat to one of the anchor D-Rings on the floor of the rear with the rear seats folded up.
 
Marathon seat covers.

We have two car seats in the 80, one rear-facing, haven’t had trouble with the seat belts not getting tight enough.

Beautiful 80! Need to do that kind of paint correction on mine.
 
I think it depends on the car seat and how low the seat belt pass through slot is. We have a Britax and the pass through is so low that I'm basically pulling the seat belt latch and buckle up in to the pass through. If the pass through was higher with only webbing going through it'd probably be fine.
 
subzali said:
Marathon seat covers.

We have two car seats in the 80, one rear-facing, haven’t had trouble with the seat belts not getting tight enough.

Beautiful 80! Need to do that kind of paint correction on mine.
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Thanks I'll check those seat covers out. They seem a little spendy but the leather is brand new and damn do kids drop a lot of sticky crap

The paint correction job is incredible. The previous owner did it just before I bought it, and it looks like a brand new truck. Probably wouldn't have done it my self as it was pretty expensive, ~2.5k, but it does look amazing.
 
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BILT4ME said:
You can anchor the back of the car seat to one of the anchor D-Rings on the floor of the rear with the rear seats folded up.
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Thanks I did this. Was going to remove those seats anyway so a convenient solution for the time being
 
Beautiful truck, congrats.

Id ditch that stock rack instead of repairing for re use. Regardless of repair or not id look into rain gutter mounts for the rack as i would not want that basket rack and accessories bolted to a plastic dealer add on.
 
Yea lose the stock rack all together. Do some research here and you'll figure out it isn't worth fixing. Clean truck!
 
If the rack is loose/inserts are loose then I would think that water has made it's way under the rubber rack feet. Good time to check for rust and delete it all together.

Amazing color by the way. Looks well maintained/cared for.


chatt100 said:
10. I like the look of the Grill with TOYOTA instead of the sombrero from the pre-1995 so may change that out if I can find one
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I believe you need to swap out something else along with the grille if you want to go with the 93-94 grille. I cant remember if its the metal garnish or something like that.
 
jfz80 said:
Beautiful truck, congrats.

Id ditch that stock rack instead of repairing for re use. Regardless of repair or not id look into rain gutter mounts for the rack as i would not want that basket rack and accessories bolted to a plastic dealer add on.
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After doing some research I agree that this seems like the best route to go. The current rack seems like a cheaper home cooked job anyway.

I don’t really need a rack right now until kids get older. I would like to just remove the whole thing for now and save some money for a nicer rack down the road but I’m not sure what I would do with the light bar. Is there an easy way to cap the wiring so it could be attached later?

is there a cheap gutter rack that could be a temporary solution?
 
bigCatdiesel said:
Nice looking truck. Clean. Love the color and the blue on black combo. He's mine, after a rain when it looks the best. As for a gutter mount roof rack, I recommend a Rhino Rack Vortex RL110 (not shown the pic). Its a tough rack and looks good on an 80.
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Good looking truck! Obviously biased but definitely my favorite color. I like the fenders blacked out. Is that line-x?

That rack looks like a good solution and not too expensive. Now just need to find a shop to pull the rack/weld/paint
 
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