Ginger (1 Viewer)

[bush]

I am categorizing this as a mod thread and not a build thread. Read on to understand why.

It all happened suddenly.

Been wheeling my 100 series with the HOT South Cruisers quite a bit lately and just haven’t felt quite right about it. I mean it’s fun and all but Shades (100 series’ name) is my DD, my family hauler, my tow rig, my long trip camping vehicle and it’s quite pretty. Every time we go riding I long to take that harder trail, to just goose it and see what happens, to let loose a little. I really wanted something to beat on without hesitation and without remorse…

So I have been toying with what to get. I had some requirements. There are 4 kids and a girlfriend so I need some seats. I had a 60 before the 100 and really liked it for short hauls. Maybe I could do it again and make it more comfy? I really wanted to build a 3rd row 60 but who has the time for another build these days? So I have been looking at the 80s and the 60s. Cruising craigslist and the classifieds looking for the right candidate.

At the Club meeting a few weeks ago a guy walked up and mentioned that he had a 95 model for $1k. I thought I had found my dream girl. Went and looked at it and was appalled. It’s probably worth it for the parts but what a mess. I had been watching one on mud and weighed the built versus bought option and made the call. I didn’t expect to buy another cruiser in a 24 hour period. I was playing the long game… But the universe spoke, some negotiating happened and here we are.

She didn’t have a name before. I name all my vehicles. I wanted something a little slutty, but not too much as I have girls. Something that says she gets rode hard and put up wet. Toyed with a few names and Ginger stuck. Was totally on the top 50 list of stripper names.

I now have a pretty well built, slightly used and abused and named 80 series that’s 90% trail ready. It has been sitting for a while and needs some attention but the PO put his money in the right places IMO. Fluids check out (I will definitely baseline), runs good, stops good, needs some attention here and there. Will document all of that as well as some tweaks I have in mind to make her more mine along the way.

SPECS:
94FZJ80
233k miles
Factory Triple Locked
94 Toyota Land Cruiser FZJ80
4” Iron Man suspension kit
1” iron man spacers
Heavy Duty steering linkage
(5)Tundra Steelies
(5) 315/75/16 Toyo Open Country MT’s
Custom front bumper
Custom rear tire carrier
2 drawer storage in rear
Badlands winch 12k winch
Snorkel
Cobra CB with PA system
White Knuckle Sliders
Iron Pig skid plate
Slee Rear diff locker protection
Transfer case low range gears and spool
AISIN front Hubs- converted to part time 4WD
Flan Clutch upgraded
Nitro Chromoly Front Shafts
roof rack

Came with some extra parts:
SLEE headlight harness – installed
Rear shock protectors – installed
LCP Front sway bar disconnect kit - installed

Future work in order of planned addressing:
Rear windows off track - Epoxy rear window regulators to glass
Needs power steering rebuild - Mr. T pump installed
Head gasket has not been done - scheduled with local guy
Leaky passenger axle seal - Finally figured out mu bronze bushings were toasted and got this recurring problem fixed
Leaky trans pan
NO A/C - New compressor and drier
Lockers are sluggish - Been working them for a while and they are now good
Interior needs some work - Probably never do anything here...

Mods I have completed thus far:
Pin 7 mod
Pin 15 mod

Mods on the short list:
Change profile of front bumper
move front axle forward 1"
Finish building out rear bumper
remove spare tire carrier
build storage under rear compartment
OBA
37s when the 35 are worn
likely take out rear 1" spacers depending on stance when weight is figured out
modify roof rack - cut basket off

Pics of the girl...

The happy new owner. Ginger by herself, all loaded on the trailer and some poser shots in my ditch once i got her home.

 

[bush]

First mod that would definitely cost me 5 hp and probably get me scorned by all LC owners on the web was to remove all the stickers. I am more of an incognito sticker guy... I did have a hard time pulling off all the old GSMTR stickers. Ginger has apparently been to quite a few but it wasnt with me. Left the TEQ sticker only because I want to find another to place elsewhere.

 

[bush]

Second mod. remove the drawers and install seats. I have to have space for the damily ( dating family).

Testing out my stack of gear. Ginger had zero rake with the drawers and a bunch of other stuff in the back. I will roll lighter than that so she has a good bit if rake now.

 

[bush]

Got bored the other night and went and did the pin 7 and pin 15 mods. Pin 7 mod is covered in great detail all over the place. But the pin 15 mod was a little obscure. If you dont know, it allows the modder to use the rear locker without having CDL engaged. So its only really for the 2wd conversion crowd but when I was a jeeper ( I know sacrilege) there was nothing more fun than locked 2wd low. I call it party mode!

For the pin 7 mod, I removed the pin and put some heat shrink over the terminal, folded it over and zip tied it to the harness.

The threads indicate a different color wire for the pin 15 mod. But I was able to pull the module and identify the pin numbering and pin 15 on a 94 is the yellow wire with the black tracer. You can see the pin 15 location in the pic. Just crimped and heat shrinked a wire with a ring terminal and hooked to the closest ground. Right by the box in the passenger kick panel. And heat shrinked the other end of the wire. Tested and it all works as it should.

The pic of the ground shows the transfer case module in the background relative to the ground.

 

[bush]

Installed shock protectors. Not sure where they were form. Not much to it but they did contact my Ironman Foam Cell shocks so I had to chamfer the edges a bit to make some clearance. Few runs with the flapper wheel and some rattle can and they were perfect.

Second pic shows contact. Third pic has clearance.

 

[bush]

Used this stuff on the windows. Figured out the proper location of the rubber piece and the metal bracket. Mixed it up and applied to the rubber piece, put in place, filled the channel of the metal piece appropriately, got it on the regulator and used a 2x4 and a prybar to get it seated on the window. Didn't roll them down for 2 days ( probably overkill) then went back and greased channels with clear lube and regulator with grease and they work like newsed.

 

[KC masterpiece]

Good looking truck!

Personally I think it looks much better without the stickers. I removed all of the ones on mine after purchasing as well.

 

[Nottajeep]

This thread needs more pics!
Subscribed

 

[bush]

I have been slacking on updates. Going to try and push through quite a few.

Adding some detail here because I remembered after I posted.

PS was very whiney and leaky. I just grabbed a new one from Mr. T. All the mudstructions were helpful. I did break one of the studs putting it back together. Grabbed one from (Insert Rorys handle here) to borrow for a few days and then found one in the classifieds to replace his. Filled it full of PS fluid and it works great.

AC didn't work when I got her. Had the belts removed. PO couldn't remember when or why he took them off. Just said it didn't work. I put some belts on and charged her up. No visible leaks. She ran fine for about 3 hours out wheeling before I started smelling something burning. Checked and the belts were red hot and compressor was TIGHT.

Ordered a Denso from Rock Auto, put a new shorty drier in also. Popped in some oil, sucked her down and charged her up. Also put new Mr. T belts on.

Blowing cold every since.

 

[bush]

Took her wheeling. Didn't hold back.

This was the trip where the AC smelled like it was burning after a few hours.




Slider took a hard hit.

 

[bush]

Blower was making some noise post AC fix. Found some crud in there...

Wanted to keep my AC working so I decided to get the drier up and out of the way. Its tight like gnat bootie but out of the way and not a worry anymore.

 

[bush]

Also found the motor mounts were moving a little after that first ride. SO new ones went in to hold it all together nice and tight.

Definitely needed.

 

[bush]

LCAs were bent a little when I got Ginger but I made it worse on that first ride so I decided to upgrade to some Trail tailor Arms. Went with upper and lower to get a little cleaner on pinion angle and to fine tune overall axle location. Also took the rear spacer off to lower the rear and get the stink bug out.

Safety first I promise.

 

[White Sheep]

First mod that would definitely cost me 5 hp and probably get me scorned by all LC owners on the web was to remove all the stickers. I am more of an incognito sticker guy... I did have a hard time pulling off all the old GSMTR stickers. Ginger has apparently been to quite a few but it wasnt with me. Left the TEQ sticker only because I want to find another to place elsewhere.

View attachment 2363670

View attachment 2363671

I'm also not big on stickers on my vehicle. I use my Yeti flask for that.

 

[Nottajeep]

We just need to have an annual " are your motor mounts good" run...

 

[bush]

I'm also not big on stickers on my vehicle. I use my Yeti flask for that.

I have them all over the place. Cooler, toolbox, etc. I really just dont like them on the glass. I have been covering the sils in the lift gate though. So you see them when its open.

 

[bush]

She was ready to ride at that point. Went to Mardi Krawl at Hawk Pride Off Road and rode her hard!

Some videos.

 

[bush]

More videos from MK




And some night time shenanigans...

 

[bush]

I think those night time shennagains resulted in this. Whoops. Ordered another one but still havent installed it. Really need to figure out what to do next for these. The TTs are over 0.313 wall so I didnt expect to be able to bend it but it happens.

Maybe spline them for the next update. Stay tuned though. There are a lot more updates coming.

 

[bush]

After the MK fun we had we turnd around just a few weeks later and went back to Iron Gap. Ginger held up well to some beating at MK so I was feeling a little bulletproff and decided to push a little harder and try some more difficult limes. And too much throttle

At the very end you can see the girl picking up hub pieces about 15 feet away.



The carnage...

A little duct tape held the grease in enough to get home. 3 wheeled it the rest of the day.

Good ole hub stud and pin shear action. This one was costly.

In hindsight, I remember seeing some grease leaking out around the hub at one point and thought to myself I needed to check that when I got home. The hub studs are now on my bolt check list for every ride. Expensive lesson.