FLWookie's 2000 LX Build "CRUSTY" (1 Viewer)

[FLWookie]

Howdy. I've posted over in the FL clubhouse already but I figure I might as well introduce myself here!

I bought a 2000 LX back in April with 147K on the clock. Check the VIN on Lexus, and it had lots of service history, but nothing about the timing belt. I had the timing belt, water pump, heater Ts, and all the front end seals replaced before I even drove it home.

AHC is still functioning but I think one of the rear accumulators is going bad, plus allof the lines are very rusty and the fluid in it currently looks like motor oil (i think someone refilled it with hydraulic fluid). I'm going to follow @ga12r1 (sorry @Ramathorn15 , i got you confused) and delete the whole system in favor of an OME system.

Came with a brand new set of Michelins that i'll probably keep until they are ready for replacement then upsize for a more aggressive tread.

How it looked the day I bought it

AHC high

Looked it over (not on a lift) and it looked great! Some rust here and there. Interior is immaculate. Everything but the sunroof works (typical stuck LC problem? slide motor actuates but doesn't move, tilt does nothing). Test drove and all the gears/center diff lock/low range work properly.
Knee on the ground inspection looked good, couldn't see any underbody rust. Paint and body is great save the typical top of window rust that even my 06 Tundra has developed.

Then I took it to a friends shop to assess the state of maintenance....

Got it on the lift and saw all of this:

That's the passenger sway bar mount (what little is left of it). No wonder this thing was a little sloppy even in sport mode.
No problem, we fabbed up a new mount, ground off all the cancer there and welded a new bracket on.

There's a bunch of rust across the bell of this pig that I'm slowly tackling with the brush, wire wheel, and copious amounts of naval jelly. Followed by a slathering of POR-15 and spray on bed liner.

Had a leaking intermediate pipe to, so that had to go, and we had to have a little fun with it out.


Put a new hatch lever mechanism is since this one was missing and the fingers were bent and rusty.

Yeah the hatch pinch seam is pretty rusted out, its an ongoing theme with this truck that i'll be slowly addressing. None of it affects the day to day driveability of this truck though.

Then i decided it needed a good spa day so I claybarred and started the polish and waxing process.
Pre-polish, post clay bar. Still shines like new!

Lots of small scratches on the 17 year old doors.

Mmm, love the smell of fresh carnauba

Like a mirror! Took my girlfriend a few seconds to realize what this was a picture of.

Wanting to build this thing up as a light duty family camping rig.
- gamiviti roof rack
- OME 2.5 Medium
- some sort of rear deck storage
- Dissent aluminum front bumper

I acknowledge I probably could have found a similar condition LC or LX without all of the Northeast Maine salt cancer, but it's slim pickins in south florida. (only paid 7600 before tax and title for this one, without knowing about the sway bar. would have talked him down further).

So here is my official build thread. I'm looking forward to some great adventures with my family in this rig! (PS: anyone interested in a set of third row seats with very limited use)??

 

[BEG]

Welcome aboard! I have the same year and color LX. Ironically, I'm in the Northeast and my LX is from Florida. Go figure. BTW, that polish job came out beautifully.

 

[FLWookie]

Welcome aboard! I have the same year and color LX. Ironically, I'm in the Northeast and my LX is from Florida. Go figure. BTW, that polish job came out beautifully.

Thanks, I only got half way done yesterday. Need to go find a slightly more aggressive rubbing compound to really take the deep ones out of the driver side and bumpers.

 

[brando1]

welcome, not many south florida people here.

 

[FLWookie]

One of the Tundra I mentioned. Don't have a lot of good pics of it. Made a custom roof rack for my kayak and Tepui awning.
I've gone through several Plasti-Dip colors in it as well. The green is current.

Last color was metallic blue until i'd had enough just before Halloween and convinced a friend to use her body covered in red paint to add a little zombie massacre to the look.

And the first one i did desert tan with a digi-cam hood and tailgate.

 

[4Beast]

You sure do love your paint and spit polishing, I salute your patience! I think I need "Move Over" too, I'm amazed at the number of people who blatantly cut me off as if they didn't see me driving a lifted 7,000# truck with a RTT!

 

[geanes]

Yeah, but those same drivers cut off 75,000# semis as well. A Chevy Spark cut in front of me this morning without using a turn signal....on a 75mph highway here in Austin. I'm guessing they weren't a rocket scientist.

 

[FLWookie]

Finally got to take Crusty on her maiden voyage. Didn't get to hit any dirt, but that will come. Its summer in florida so it's best to stay in/near the water! Off to Cudjoe Key for some diving, snorkling, fishing, and drinking!

Saturday we spent at Looe Key, and this friendly Goliath Grouper hung around our boat for quite a while.

The clear waters made finding dinner to spear that much easier. Black grouper is delicious!

I'm anxious to get this truck out on the dirt where it belong! But it does a great job as a family hauler. Quiet, cold A/C, decent power and we even managed 14mpg with the kayak and bikes on. Not sure if that's bad, but i'll take it as a win.

 

[FLWookie]

Heavy rains in south florida the last week led to some minor flooding of my drivers and passenger floorboards.
Step son and i tackled the problem this weekend.
My sunroof doesn't cycle but i found out how to pop the glass out to access the drains. The whole mechanism is in really good, clean condition. Drain tubes are empty and dry, no rust on the runners. but for some reason the sunroof still won't cycle.

Weed eater line worked great, once it came out I tied a knot and pulled it back up.

Using a hose showed us the window was the cause, leaking across the whole upper edge and down the sides. Windshield is aftermarket with the tell-tale Safelite install screws in the trim instead of the rivets.
We pulled the trim then cleaned all the mud and junk out from around the window and cleaned it up really well.

We back filled around the entire windshield with Permatex black window sealant (not window weld), filling the entire channel under the upper seal and down both edges, then reinstalled the trim wet. Ran a hose over the car for about 10 minutes the day after and no leaks so far!

This car has the easiest trim removal of any vehicles i've owned. Didn't break a single tab.

 

[yotasavg]

Good work so far! I had the same type of leak, but mine was indeed a pinched drain. Also, in my case, the sunroof doesn't cycle because the cables are all tired, though it looks pretty good up there.

 

[FLWookie]

Finally finished the buff and wax job. Also pulled the step boards off. So much happier with the look of the truck now. Windshield hasn't leaked since the fix work. Also had a chance while under the truck to investigate my A/C cooling issues (no cold air out of rear AC, front getting less cold by the day). Figured it must be cracked rear lines leaking when I engage the rear system since everything under the truck is made of rust or some form of salted oxide.

Then i found some dirt, because what good is a clean truck!
With:

Without:

Dirt:

Now I just need that @benc aluminum front bumper!

 

[FLWookie]

ooph, i feel like i should go get a tetanus booster after the work i did yesterday. AHC took a crap, looked like globes and sensors a few weeks back. finally got OME kit ordered from SLEE after IRMA hit us. Yesterday I was able to pull the globes, accumulator, and res/pump. I think i can clean up the res as it's still working properly. I had to break the globes to get them out since i couldn't extract the top bolt on any of them due to rust. The accumulator was hanging on by one bolt at the top already. Calling this truck "Crusty" is such a severe understatement. All of the pile of rust came raining down every time i hit a big chisel with a mallet. Most of the fuel tank cover is so gone it tears like paper. Though the linkages seem pretty rusty they are actually in pretty good shape. Next weekend we'll tackle the struts and get the OME kit installed. Got the rear window flag decals from Overlook Graphics (utah_goat on IG).

Riding low with no fluid.

Big pile of crap that was either cut from or fell from the truck.

Gotta get rid of the old UCAs to make room for the SPCs.

Had to cut the tire hanger since the winch was locked up and has the stupid anti-theft nut on it.. Really need to find a soda blaster and have this whole thing hosed down.

Anyone interested in this crap? The globes themselves actually look pretty good but they are definitely the factory originals, dated august 2000.

Res and pump are in good working order!

So where exactly under the dash is the AHC ECU so i can pull the power and stop all the Christmas lights on my dash?

 

[FxFormat]

Your paint looks great, but man the under carriage makes me wanna throw up. Wire brush what you can and seal with POR15?

 

[FLWookie]

I got the EMU kit installed this weekend. Went pretty well at my buddies shop. Thank god for heavy duty impact wrenches and REAAAAALLYY long breaker bars. We only had a problem with 3 bolts on this rusty bitch. The driver side torsion adjuster bolt did NOT want to come out. Those fine threads are hell if you don't clean them before you try to run it out. Took about 30 minutes with the 40" bar going 1/4 turn at a pull to get it out. After I wire brushed it it went back in no problem. One sway bar bracket bolt sheared and the rear center diff shield bolt rounded off. Those were the only other mishaps. Did a centered lineup on all the alignment bolts to get me to the shop and the truck actually drives really well. it's still settling and i need to get some weight over the rear springs. Also need to determine which computer under the dash is the AHC so I can pull power and clear all these dash lights.

mmm, tasty new parts!

a lift is the only way to tackle this job in my opinion.

don't mind the rust, we hit anything that really matters with a big hammer to make sure it's still solid.

These SPC UCAs were totally worth the extra cash. And what a joy it was to take the sawzall to all the old AHC equipment. There was no way I was getting those rusted ass nuts off the tops of the struts.

Looking so good, but I gotta get some slider steps installed next, family can't climb into it anymore!

Stupid instagram chop job on the photos.

The flags are from Overlook Graphics. A 22"x30" fits the rear window great.

I'm going to keep the 275/70 Michelins on for now since they are almost brand new and save some money for a set of 17's and KO2s while I work on some of the other reliability centric things this truck needs.

 

[Rolocado]

Ride better ehh?

 

[FLWookie]

When the AHC was "working" the ride was buttery smooth. Right now with no weight on the rear springs it's a bit harsh on sharp bumps. But still smoother than my Tundra.

 

[thibaut]

nice truck but you have to do something about the chassis rust.
This under body looks like it' been exposed to salt
Are your diff locks still working ? in my experience they are even more exposed than the AHC bits. the little motor that locks - unlocks them may be gone by now

 

[FxFormat]

I know what you mean about the TB adjuster bolt not budging, we had to use heat on this guy’s LX to get them to unseize. Then we used a 1300ft lbs impact gun and kept it on there for a bit to get it to come out. Didn’t want to break it using a cheater bar. We actually had to cut the old torsion bar out, it wasn’t coming out by banging the housing.

 

[FLWookie]

nice truck but you have to do something about the chassis rust.
This under body looks like it' been exposed to salt
Are your diff locks still working ? in my experience they are even more exposed than the AHC bits. the little motor that locks - unlocks them may be gone by now

slowly working on it. the Center diff lock is my next tackle. been trying to find a used actuator to swap in. It definitely was in salt, it lived in Maine it's whole life (as my original posts shows). No front or rear locks on this rig (yet).

 

[FLWookie]

Got some new stuff for christmas. The entire exhaust system is rusted through, headers are toast. All I wanted for xmas was a new system from the block back. I got it!! Then I put a coat of high-temp on everything except the manifolds. Its in the oven for a full cure now!

My fiance is awesome and got me a pair of TRED4x4 1100s to go on top! Now I just need that @benc modular aluminum roof rack and bumper to mount them to!