Wow!
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- Thread starter
- #842
That’s what I said! Haha now I’m looking around at all the other things in the garage that I want to get blasted
I need to find a shop in Denver that can blast my whole rig haha.
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- #844
That's my goal eventually. They usually do entire vehicles but I'm not ready to take the 80 in yet. They had an old Dodge truck someone was restoring, they blasted the whole chassis and it looked brand new.
Shops are few and far between though. We have this one and maybe one other in the SLC area and there's one in Boise I know of.
Looks brand spanking new. What was the cost?
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- #846
They charge by the hour and it only took about 20 min. But, lesson learned, the cold can be rough on old plastics so they accidentally broke one of the transfer switches and he insisted I take it for free. Cool guy, and a Toyota enthusiast too. I assume it would have been like $50 or less.
For price reference though, he showed me a truck they did entire underside/chassis on, and with blasting and applying an undercoat, it was around $2000-2500
- Thread starter
- #847
Got a new ignition switch for a manual 80 and installed it. I had torn the steering column apart to rebuild it but I never got around to ordering the parts so I put it back together and I'll take care of that after paint.
Removed the main HVAC assembly:
and then carefully disassembled it, taking probably 50 pictures along the way because as far as I can tell, there's no guide in the FSM and nothing in the EPC so you're on your own for reassembly.
It's all grimy so I've been working on washing everything. There's a thin layer of black soot/grime/nicotine tar maybe that's difficult to remove.
Worked on the transfer case a little as well. I was going to open it up, reseal it, and add underdrive and low range gears, but it seems like the only place that was leaking was the speedometer o-ring. I also don't know exactly what the H152 + 35s + stock 4.10 will feel like, so I figured it would be smart to leave the case alone and run it as-is for a bit before modifying it.
I also replaced the long auto transfer shift rod with the shorter manual shift rod.
Removed the main HVAC assembly:
and then carefully disassembled it, taking probably 50 pictures along the way because as far as I can tell, there's no guide in the FSM and nothing in the EPC so you're on your own for reassembly.
It's all grimy so I've been working on washing everything. There's a thin layer of black soot/grime/nicotine tar maybe that's difficult to remove.
Worked on the transfer case a little as well. I was going to open it up, reseal it, and add underdrive and low range gears, but it seems like the only place that was leaking was the speedometer o-ring. I also don't know exactly what the H152 + 35s + stock 4.10 will feel like, so I figured it would be smart to leave the case alone and run it as-is for a bit before modifying it.
I also replaced the long auto transfer shift rod with the shorter manual shift rod.
Great stuff! Where did you find the shorter transfer case shifter rod? Afaik it's NLA, but Amayama claim they can get me one by April.
- Thread starter
- #849
I believe I got it from Dave last year. Longest manual swap of all time, I think I started collecting parts in 2024.
Amayama has been pretty good about getting obscure parts lately. Only had a couple things turn out to be NLA
If it's not too late, could you take a measurement of the transfer case shift rod? Ideally from the bottom of the "ring" to right before where it steps down to the taper and threads.
I have a buddy who can cut and machine down my old one, so having this measurement would save a lot of headache!
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- #851
Awesome thank you, that's perfect.
- Thread starter
- #853
Time to pull the engine.
I don't have a huge shop and my driveway has a decent slope to it so I jerry-rigged it. Backed up the Tundra to the 80 and put an old tire between the two bumpers, then strapped the frames together so I could push/pull the 80.
Used a 2K lb shop crane and the engine came out with no issues.
It doesn't need a rebuild but I thought this would be a nice way to keep working on it while the body is in the paint shop. I have a laundry list:
- IP refresh
- Injectors refresh
- New turbo
- New injector lines
- Clean out the intake manifold
- Clean up the block
- Redo all seals, clean up leaks
- Timing belt, water pump etc
- New harmonic balancer
- Valve clearances
- Clean up wiring harness/repair broken loom
- Might do a new oil cooler housing with the ACSD port delete
- Check on BEBs
Maybe head studs? As much fun as it would be slap on a big turbo and go 30+ psi, I might keep it more conservative at 18-20psi and call it a day.
I don't have a huge shop and my driveway has a decent slope to it so I jerry-rigged it. Backed up the Tundra to the 80 and put an old tire between the two bumpers, then strapped the frames together so I could push/pull the 80.
Used a 2K lb shop crane and the engine came out with no issues.
It doesn't need a rebuild but I thought this would be a nice way to keep working on it while the body is in the paint shop. I have a laundry list:
- IP refresh
- Injectors refresh
- New turbo
- New injector lines
- Clean out the intake manifold
- Clean up the block
- Redo all seals, clean up leaks
- Timing belt, water pump etc
- New harmonic balancer
- Valve clearances
- Clean up wiring harness/repair broken loom
- Might do a new oil cooler housing with the ACSD port delete
- Check on BEBs
Maybe head studs? As much fun as it would be slap on a big turbo and go 30+ psi, I might keep it more conservative at 18-20psi and call it a day.
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What a sick build! I’m jealous.
future proof and def do head studs!
- Thread starter
- #857
Took the trim off the sunroof, well actually it just crumbled and fell out. I might get my new sunroof tinted to keep the new trim in better shape.
I've been buying everything I can before it goes NLA
Removed the tire carrier. Everything was easy except for the security bolt. Left handed drill bit saved the day.
I have enjoyed having this tire carrier more than I expected. It's light, maybe 20lbs. That being said, I have been considering getting a bumper, but maybe one without swingouts, and keep the OEM tire carrier. Maybe the Dissent extreme clearance rear bumper.
Anyone ever dismantled an OEM tire carrier before? I would like to blast/paint or powder coat it but the hinges seem pressed in.
I've been buying everything I can before it goes NLA
Removed the tire carrier. Everything was easy except for the security bolt. Left handed drill bit saved the day.
I have enjoyed having this tire carrier more than I expected. It's light, maybe 20lbs. That being said, I have been considering getting a bumper, but maybe one without swingouts, and keep the OEM tire carrier. Maybe the Dissent extreme clearance rear bumper.
Anyone ever dismantled an OEM tire carrier before? I would like to blast/paint or powder coat it but the hinges seem pressed in.
Long time lurker here. Both on your old LX470 and now this. Love the good photos and the amount of detail showing what you are up to. Seriously, thank you for documented stuff here instead of on social media. As someone who's been around since the forums were "the way" it's amazing how much depth of knowledge is still on the forums and also the depth of the community. It takes effort to create and maintain a good build thread, and I for one, sincerely appreciate it. Love how you are just tearing this thing down to the chassis and now going full paint too! What's the plan for paint color? Going to keep the two tone? (I know you mentioned maybe doing Desert Dune on the flares earlier in your thread)
Funny story - I have been searching for another 80 for about 6-10 months (I used to have one back in like ~2014). I was on your thread looking for some inspo and it dawned on me how much I loved the Desert Dune/Moonglow combo - I just think it's very era-correct and I always think that the nice metallic colors typically age better. I also saw how you bought your truck in AZ and drove it up to SLC. Low and behold, I just bought a Desert Dune/Moonglow 80 out of Prescott last week and drove it north through Sedona, Monument Valley, into Moab, and up to SLC, before heading all the way home to Canada. It was an epic drive and a good bonding/trust-building experience in the new-to-me Land Cruiser. You've inspired me to start a build thread on here once I start sinking my teeth in.
Excited for more updates! Also going to copy you on the sunroof trim before they go NLA. Hard to tell from your photos - is your new trim grey or tan?
Cheers,
Addison
Funny story - I have been searching for another 80 for about 6-10 months (I used to have one back in like ~2014). I was on your thread looking for some inspo and it dawned on me how much I loved the Desert Dune/Moonglow combo - I just think it's very era-correct and I always think that the nice metallic colors typically age better. I also saw how you bought your truck in AZ and drove it up to SLC. Low and behold, I just bought a Desert Dune/Moonglow 80 out of Prescott last week and drove it north through Sedona, Monument Valley, into Moab, and up to SLC, before heading all the way home to Canada. It was an epic drive and a good bonding/trust-building experience in the new-to-me Land Cruiser. You've inspired me to start a build thread on here once I start sinking my teeth in.
Excited for more updates! Also going to copy you on the sunroof trim before they go NLA. Hard to tell from your photos - is your new trim grey or tan?
Cheers,
Addison
- Thread starter
- #859
Glad to hear it! Appreciate it, this is honestly my favorite place on the internet and I don't really use social media that much. I've always liked forums more too. I wonder if forums will make a resurgence as people get tired of FB groups and bots.
This time I'm doing the opposite of my LX build, that one I had triple locked and armored up within a few years of buying it. Sometimes I wonder if I should have done the same with this 80 but it's nice to actually know that the mechanicals are bulletproof... with the LX I was just having fun and hoping nothing major broke while I was in the middle of nowhere.
Paint color - I'm going to go all desert dune and get rid of the moonglow. I have seen some cruisers with the two tone color scheme that look really good but on mine it's kind of mismatched. Some parts look more gray and others more blue. I'm a big fan of the desert dune overall look:
(random inspiration pic I stole from someone on here)
But that's awesome, congrats on the 80, and that sounds like a fun trip. Good job your excellent route planning skills, haha. Nothing better than flying out to buy a car and drive it home. Looking forward to the build thread
New sunroof trim is gray. I was thinking about painting it tan but I'll probably just leave it. At least on mine there are enough gray trim pieces like grab handles and the altimeter console that I think gray looks fine. My headliner and pillars are gray too, not sure if US 80s had more tan inside than I do.
- Thread starter
- #860
Wrapped up everything on my to do list to strip it down and get it ready for paint.
I may have mentioned this earlier in the build but FYI, late model LC flares fit on LX fenders with slight modification, you just have to drill one extra mounting hole. I had a set of LX fenders that I'm going to run so I won't have the antenna hole, the JDM mirror or JDM side marker lights. I think it'll look clean.
Finally got around to mounting the Radius snorkel. I couldn't quite get fitment to line up right so I bent the mounting bracket just a little and it's all good now.
Used Sikaflex on the riv nuts to seal them up. I wasn't very careful about moving the bracket around while messing with the snorkel because I knew it was going to be repainted. Otherwise I would tape up the A pillar and be careful, it scratched up easily.
With that, all door handles/trim, badges, latches, windshield washer sprayers, etc etc were off and it was ready to head out.
The paint shop just wrapped up a vintage Ferrari today so there was room for my 80.
Excited to see it all come together.
I may have mentioned this earlier in the build but FYI, late model LC flares fit on LX fenders with slight modification, you just have to drill one extra mounting hole. I had a set of LX fenders that I'm going to run so I won't have the antenna hole, the JDM mirror or JDM side marker lights. I think it'll look clean.
Finally got around to mounting the Radius snorkel. I couldn't quite get fitment to line up right so I bent the mounting bracket just a little and it's all good now.
Used Sikaflex on the riv nuts to seal them up. I wasn't very careful about moving the bracket around while messing with the snorkel because I knew it was going to be repainted. Otherwise I would tape up the A pillar and be careful, it scratched up easily.
With that, all door handles/trim, badges, latches, windshield washer sprayers, etc etc were off and it was ready to head out.
The paint shop just wrapped up a vintage Ferrari today so there was room for my 80.
Excited to see it all come together.
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