I got an 80 and I love it

[ToyotaIsLife]

My friend had a 1994 80 series with manual transmission he was the third owner of the vehicle, it was always parked in his garage(around 12 years), he never used it and I have been eyeing it for a while but never pulled the trigger. Until now that is, I asked him if I could try it he said yes, and I am so glad and I decided to try it, we changed the oil, filled her up, and installed a new battery and it started right up. I drove it around town and it was surprisingly comfortable and responsive even though the steering has issues, the A/C was not working since it was missing parts, and the dashboard and interior is subpar everything else was great. He offered to sell it to me for dirt cheap and I couldn't resist the offer, perfect timing too since winter/dune season is in two months!

This was yesterday, I tried it at the dunes today and oh boy I am loving it.

First of all, I never expected a solid axle vehicle to ride this well over washboard and sharp edged bumps at speed, especially at the condition of the vehicle, I actually tried a nissan y61 patrol recently which was a solid axle and it does not ride this well and that thing was brand new!, that goes to show how well Toyota makes their vehicles, and secondly the power and torque was unexpectedly good (this engine has never been rebuilt expect for a head gasket swap many years ago and it was fully stock no upgrades or mods whats so ever) which you will see in the videos I posted. The only change from factory on the vehicle were the tires and wheels, I am not sure how old the shocks are and how many times they were replaced but they were OEM and they performed great.

These are my build plans. I will hopefully be documenting the progress here.

Build Plans Phase #1(Starting this week):

1. Swap the engine with the GEN 2 1998+ 1FZ-FE(freshly rebuilt one with all new parts, rebuilt to stock spec NO MODS and a 1998+ LC100 OEM NEW ECU)

2. Full 3 inch exhaust with headers and a 3.5 inch cold air intake by DDR performance (these two will be the only power mods as I am 100% sure without a shadow of a doubt it will be a beast)

3. Replace all the bushings and all the body mounts. (OEM)

4. Replace motor mounts and trans mount (OEM)

5. Replace the steering box with a new one(OEM)

6. Replace the dashboard with a brand new OEM one.

7. Replace wheel bearings front and rear(OEM)

8. 2.5 king shocks + 2.0 king stabiliser if I can get my hands on them, otherwise other off-road shocks until I can find new king shocks.

Build Plan Phase #2(After dune season):

1. Brand new paint job

2. Brand new front and rear bumpers, stickers etc.

Today's Test:

 

[Rusty Marlin]

OH BOY that looks like fun!

 

[sogafarm]

Great video, congratulations on the new ride!

 

[Comet]

+98 1FZ engine. Darn USA restrictions.

 

[brettk]

5. Replace the steering box with a new one(OEM)

If you’re doing a steering box, you might want to look into rebuilding the current one with better internals. A popular mod on here is to rebuild the 80s box with a sector shaft from a 105 Series because it’s a lot beefier. It might be slightly more cost efficient and better than a new box.

105 Sector Shaft upgrade - Steering box rebuild

I don't often do instructional threads but I'm gonna give it a try here. Hopefully this will make sense. I used a few other threads about rebuilding the steering box rebuild as a reference for doing this upgrade and those other threads helped a lot. The only real difference I'll have here is...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[rc51kid]

If you swap in the 98 try to keep the obd1 from the 94. It is a fine system if not turbocharging and the oem wiring will be indignantly more simple and reliable to keep her running.

 

[clx16]

if a 98 you get coil on plug though right?

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

if a 98 you get coil on plug though right?

Yes

 

[Feistl]

3” exhaust is pretty big exhaust for a pretty much stock engine...

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

3” exhaust is pretty big exhaust for a pretty much stock engine...

From my experience second gen 1FZs do very well with a 3 inch exhaust.

They don’t feel like they loose any bottom end either, even if they do I will mostly be above 3500 RPM when I will be needing the power so it is not much of an issue.

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

It has been a busy week, many more parts added to the list, some are on the way from Japan since they were out of stock (axels, and some interior stuff), should be here within 8 days.

I have not started on the engine swap yet, I’ll start on that tomorrow

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

Original engine has been removed, new engine will be installed next week once it has finished being rebuilt.

I also decided to replace the current radiator with the larger 100 series radiator the one that comes on the 2UR-FE 4.7 V8. Instead of the 1998+ 100 series 1FZ radiator. OEM new offcourse.

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

Major progress so far.

Chassis work is complete everything is restored and renewed.

The engine is fully built and ready for the first startup and break in. (Everything in the engine expect the camshaft and valves are new, since the valves never need to be replaced only polished). The oil pump and water pump are also new. The engine was built with manufacture specs nothing modified what’s so ever.

However I still need to get a new wiring harness (engine wire loom) and I need to make new fuel lines as well as install the new 1998+ fuel pump. As soon as I get those two done I should be ready to prime the engine with oil and start her up for the first time.

Furthermore, it turned out the LC100 radiators do not fit the 80 series due to differences in the dimensions. So I will be installing a new 1997 radiator instead.

The exhaust headers will be custom made, since I also found out that the LC100 headers are not a direct fit since the bottom half of the header will be touching the chassis. The exhaust shop told me people who install 100 series headers on the 80 cut the the headers and wield a new bottom end it’s a minor difference but still necessary nonetheless. So for this reason I decided to just request them to custom make one with a idenditcal shape and dimensions. 6-2-1 off course not 6-1 so I can get the signature 1FZ-FE tone, deep and bassy as opposed to high pitched (6-1). The header should be done by this Thursday.

I should be done with everything by the end of next week. Then I will be doing several tests (0-60 using draggy GPS device, dyno, off road) and taking videos of the engine in action so you guys can see what a second gen 1FZ is like on an 80.

 

[StinkyPig]

What does the 1998 Fuel pump offer over the original?

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

What does the 1998 Fuel pump offer over the original?

Bigger, higher pressure, more flow.

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

Man its been almost a month now, this is taking much longer than I anticipated but I have to take my time on this.

The engine and chassis were already complete by the time I made the last post, however what was holding me back was the interior and interior wiring.

Turns out the original owner replaced the engine way back from the carbureted 1FZ to the fuel injected 1997 1FZ (which is Gen 1), issue is he did not replace the interior wiring and instead just fused everything together. So we had to remove all the interior wiring and start from scratch with a new 1991-1994 interior wiring set.

Also, the 1991-1994 transmission will not fit with the second gen 1FZ, so I had the choice to go with either the 1995+ manual transmission or the 1998-2007 100 series manual transmission. Naturally, I went with the 100 series manual transmission which is being installed as we speak. The 1995-1997 80 series manual transmission and the 1998-2007 100 series manual transmission both have the same gear ratios.

The original owner also replaced the factory dashboard with a 1995-1997 dashboard. I switched back to a 1991-1994 used dashboard in good condition (found it in the scrapyard).

I also want to note (forgot to mention this last time) that after the body was reinstalled to the chassis (when the chassis work was complete) the location was changed so much that the doors couldn't be opened because they hit the fenders. Ironically this is a good thing since it means the body got back to its original position, after a few adjustments everything operated correctly. Before the chassis work, the body mounts were so torn up that the body position was shifted.

Everything is complete now apart from the following.

Whats left:

1. Finish installing the 100 series manual transmission (by the end of today)

2. Finish making the custom header (By the end of this week)

3. Create new 3 inch exhaust connecting pipes from the custom header, to a new electronic 3 inch mid muffler, and finally to the factory tail pipe resonator. (By the start of next week)

Hopefully its ready by the start of next week, if all goes according to plan.

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

Headers are done !

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

Progress Update:

First start up was today, this is the most excited I have ever been for a vehicle.

Interior is done apart from the steering wheel. All gauges work properly except the oil pressure. The RPM gauge wont be working permanently which I'm fine with. The electrician told me the RPM wont work since the 100 series ECU handles RPM differently.

Before start up as I mentioned before, we disconnected the fuel and ignition, and just cranked the engine to allow the oil to flow to all the dry places, to ensure proper lubrication in the precious first few seconds on startup.

Started up perfectly, thankfully. Right after start up, raised the throttle up just a bit and I let it sit there for 20 min. Monitoring the temps like a hawk.

Stuff completed from last update:

1. Exhaust fully complete (3.5 inch connecting pipes, went with 3.5 inch instead of 3 which is even more overkill I know, F1 3.5 inch Electronic Muffler with a Remote, OFF = goes through the factory tail pipe resonator, ON = Dumps out right after the muffler). Also added a aluminum heatshield on top of the header.

2. 4 inch oversized Cold Air Intake with a Specter filter (This is a 100 series intake that used to be installed on my LC100, It fitted perfectly on the 80 after slightly shorting the intake length just a bit).

3. New door locks on all sides finally! Doors feel nice and tight, no more door rattle on the rear passenger side door.

4. New bonnet lock , new trunk lock.

What's left:

1. Install the new bonnet (Have it sitting in the garage, will be installed tomorrow)

2. Final touches and checks on the interior electricity.

Should be fully complete the day after tomorrow!

Break in process:

First thing after taking the 80 out is the 300 mile break in period, here is my usual procedure which is overkill but I do it for peace of mind even though I am going to beat the crap out of it at the dunes after breaking it in:

Stay under 3k revs throughout the 300 miles, not exceeding half throttle.

1. First 60 miles, Accelerate gradually up till 3k RPM, then let go of the throttle and let the engine breaking slow the car down till idle, Ill do this throughout the normal driving. This puts a lot of pressure on the piston rings and helps with the seating process.

2. The rest of the miles, take a really long trip on a highway and heavily vary the RPM and throttle, Ill stay on 2400 RPM then engine brake to 2000 RPM then go back to 2400 RPM then switch to 2800 and so fourth.

After 300 miles, Ill change oil then the fun starts!

 

[Saito]

Awesome ! So, you’re in Australia ? With those custom headers you could have routed your exhaust inside the frame rails. I modded some ARH headers for a 100 series 1FZ(turned the collector up and in an inch and a half so it wouldn’t hit the frame) and it’s working well. They’re 6-1 and the tubes are timed to the firing order. Even put a cat in. I’d like it all to be 3” but the 2.5” pipe is newish.

 

[ToyotaIsLife]

Awesome ! So, you’re in Australia ? With those custom headers you could have routed your exhaust inside the frame rails. I modded some ARH headers for a 100 series 1FZ(turned the collector up and in an inch and a half so it wouldn’t hit the frame) and it’s working well. They’re 6-1 and the tubes are timed to the firing order. Even put a cat in. I’d like it all to be 3” but the 2.5” pipe is newish.

Qatar, Middle East not Australia.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Nice, I tried 6-1 ARH headers before on my 100, the sound was too high pitched for my liking, but I do know they are the best for max power output.