I finally finished my mild (although to me it was a major) restoration on my locked 1997 FZJ80 and figured I’d share some of the finished photos with you all. As I do, I have to say that I put a ton of work into this truck and am truly forever grateful for this forum - which was a lifesaver many times throughout the process.
To give some background, I purchased the truck with 228k miles on it and it was in okay condition (completely rust free) and mechanically sound with plenty of maintenance records. She was clean, but had some wear and I set out to make her as close to mint (like new condition) and as close to OEM as possible (except an OME suspension and KO2’s). The paint was all original and I set out to keep it that way as best I could. With a color correction I was mostly successful but did end up painting the bumpers, lower tailgate hatch, and rear fender flares (I had them painted by a certified Mercedes Benz body shop and the paint work is excellent and matches perfectly). As it sits today, all paint is glossy and the truck looks awesome. I should also note that all panels are original with original VIN #'s.
Below are just some of the things I did to her:
To give some background, I purchased the truck with 228k miles on it and it was in okay condition (completely rust free) and mechanically sound with plenty of maintenance records. She was clean, but had some wear and I set out to make her as close to mint (like new condition) and as close to OEM as possible (except an OME suspension and KO2’s). The paint was all original and I set out to keep it that way as best I could. With a color correction I was mostly successful but did end up painting the bumpers, lower tailgate hatch, and rear fender flares (I had them painted by a certified Mercedes Benz body shop and the paint work is excellent and matches perfectly). As it sits today, all paint is glossy and the truck looks awesome. I should also note that all panels are original with original VIN #'s.
Below are just some of the things I did to her:
- New Windshield & OE Weather Stripping
- Power Coated all black trim components (no rattle can!)
- Painted gutter/trim rails
- New OE e-Brake boot
- Sourced an almost perfect OE steering Wheel (very hard to find)
- Pulled all seats and detailed & steam cleaned entire carpet
- Refurbished leather seats - I wanted to retain OE look versus using leatherseats.com, etc.
- Sacrificed the original drive's seat and used this leather (on top part of seat) for new armrest
- Rebuilt both mechanical seats, lubricated gears, etc.
- Repainted grille and installed new OE Land Cruiser emblem
- Belts, idler pulley, misc, and new window trim
- Found one of the last Diff Decals
- Many other misc Parts
- Replaced scratched rear passenger glass
- New OE leather shifter
- Removed trailer hitch (but it's Powdercoated and can be put back on)
- New plugs and wires
- Missing a lot I'm sure
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