Hello all,
One could spend endless hours on this very informative forum. I have learned a lot just from browsing through threads not looking for anything specific. So thanks to everyone for a great community.
I've been wanting a diesel powered 80 for a while now. Never thought the dealer (AJL) in Saudi would/did offer it for this market. But then I saw Hamza's thread. He picked up a cruiser with a 1HZ motor. I was inspired by his build, cleanness and simplicity. So the hunt started a few months ago and this is what I found.
1997 HZJ80 GX trim with 300,000KMs
Here we are getting the vehicle fully inspected (bumper to bumper) at a friend's inspection shop.
Here it is next to my millitary-spec 3 door J8
I had new rubicon BFG laying around. So I mounted those on the Patrol wheels that were on the cruiser when I bought it.
Full floater
New shoes installed
Drained all fluids. The axles had what looked like original fluid from when it rolled off the showroom. not good.
Next thing was to take it to the dunes and do some test driving. wasn't so sure about the diesel performance. And my concerns proved to be right. the motor lacks power big time.
The next day I stopped for refueling. Being that I live in a country that produces oil for a living, I'm frustrated at the stupid (no diesel inside the city law). This will cause a lot of problems down the road.
Same day, I decided that I've had enough of the stupid patrol wheels. They look good, but definitely out of place. So I picked up 5 new TLC steel wheels.
The next day, the AC quit working. So I took it in to have the AC flushed and replacing the tired compressor.
What came out of the hoses was really disgusting (probably explains the smell in the cabin)
Abdul is my AC man. give him any car with any cooling issues, he will make it work.
Abdul gave me the truck ICE cool. very happy with it
Took it in for a much needed cleanup, excuse the dirty car wash. regular scene in Saudi
AVM hubs have started to show signs of failure. I'm not a fan of these so I ordered Aisin hubs.
Fedex man called me and my hubs are available for pickup today.
What's the plan for the truck? no plan really. I'm going to beat on it. It will never be showroom quality as that defeats the point of having it. I will be upgrading equipment as needed. I see a bigger fridge/freezer going in. Bumpers and a winch. RTT is also a possibility.
The motor needs to be either rebuilt or replaced. and the cruiser needs a turbo very badly.
One could spend endless hours on this very informative forum. I have learned a lot just from browsing through threads not looking for anything specific. So thanks to everyone for a great community.
I've been wanting a diesel powered 80 for a while now. Never thought the dealer (AJL) in Saudi would/did offer it for this market. But then I saw Hamza's thread. He picked up a cruiser with a 1HZ motor. I was inspired by his build, cleanness and simplicity. So the hunt started a few months ago and this is what I found.
1997 HZJ80 GX trim with 300,000KMs

Here we are getting the vehicle fully inspected (bumper to bumper) at a friend's inspection shop.

Here it is next to my millitary-spec 3 door J8
I had new rubicon BFG laying around. So I mounted those on the Patrol wheels that were on the cruiser when I bought it.




Full floater

New shoes installed

Drained all fluids. The axles had what looked like original fluid from when it rolled off the showroom. not good.

Next thing was to take it to the dunes and do some test driving. wasn't so sure about the diesel performance. And my concerns proved to be right. the motor lacks power big time.

The next day I stopped for refueling. Being that I live in a country that produces oil for a living, I'm frustrated at the stupid (no diesel inside the city law). This will cause a lot of problems down the road.

Same day, I decided that I've had enough of the stupid patrol wheels. They look good, but definitely out of place. So I picked up 5 new TLC steel wheels.

The next day, the AC quit working. So I took it in to have the AC flushed and replacing the tired compressor.
What came out of the hoses was really disgusting (probably explains the smell in the cabin)

Abdul is my AC man. give him any car with any cooling issues, he will make it work.

Abdul gave me the truck ICE cool. very happy with it
Took it in for a much needed cleanup, excuse the dirty car wash. regular scene in Saudi

AVM hubs have started to show signs of failure. I'm not a fan of these so I ordered Aisin hubs.

Fedex man called me and my hubs are available for pickup today.
What's the plan for the truck? no plan really. I'm going to beat on it. It will never be showroom quality as that defeats the point of having it. I will be upgrading equipment as needed. I see a bigger fridge/freezer going in. Bumpers and a winch. RTT is also a possibility.
The motor needs to be either rebuilt or replaced. and the cruiser needs a turbo very badly.