Builds Introducing Princess Buttah' Cup...... AKA the wifes' new DD

[RS6tofj80]

Back in an 80 after selling my old built 40th and moving into a sc'ed 100 and built 200....( we won't talk about that Jeep mistake in the middle of those....

As amazing as my 200 was , it lacked the soul of the 80 and I always found myself searching CL for a clean one...... luckily my 200 found a great new home in the NW and literally the next day I saw this rig - a locked CE in tan...

We had traded my wife's old 07' FJ ( manual w/ 265k on it) that ran like a top in on my new DD last year, and while she loved the 200 as well- she really liked the old school 80 look and feel more ...So after a quick call off to the owner of the 80 - off we went to Baton Rouge with check in hand to make sure it was all we hoped for....

And it was.... great guy, super clean truck and it was a done deal.... it had 177k on it, new front leather from LCH and most importantly had that lovely rotary dial... We drove her home 4 hours non-stop, with no major issues other than discovering that the powersteering hoses leaked like crazy....

Pics of her that first day....

 

[RS6tofj80]

So my wife and I agreed on a rough build plan - goal being to baseline her fully, replace any questionable components and build her as a DD with mild lift .... key concern for her was ease of getting our 120lb German Shepard in.... the ARB drawers that I loved in the 200 would negate that - so they're off the list on this build, going to have to get a bit more creative on storage etc...

I chatted with Duc at Duggy's Garage - who'd been great at sorting out some final issues on the 200, and he ordered up the suspension, front bumper and a wheelbarrow load of parts.... and I waited for him to get her scheduled.... the power steering became a daily issue so we ordered a new pump and full hose kit, new starter, WP and Thermo, dizzy rig and all the hoses and belts and tuneup parts plus fluids..

while waiting to get her infor the baseline I dropped her the bodyshop that has done all my work and they pulled the faded flares off and are going to repsray them to match and also do the grille and headlight chrome in Satin black. my wife calls it the "ugly duckling" stage.....

 

[dogfishlake]

Sweet 80. That's getting to be a rare find. Miles, CE, locked.

Has antenna delete too!

 

[RS6tofj80]

thanks - they're for sure rare.... I wanted a sage 40th, with Moonglow CE as my 2nd fav... and this as my 3rd...

It's going to look even better with one of your racks on it.... !

E

 

[RS6tofj80]

the ugly duckling phase pics..... Vin at SCS was kind enough to let me jump in on his GB and I snagged a set of 5 17 inchers for the rig.... the CE rims and tires while in mint shape were a but small the wife felt.... so they're off to a new home on a CE in Virginia ! I'd run the STT pros on my JKU and was impressed with them for their all-around use so we pulled in a set of 315's.

 

[RS6tofj80]

pics with the new SCS's

 

[RS6tofj80]

While waiting for the baseline and lift the wife and I sorted thru the things I'd done to my old rig, and some of the new options - and decided to order up:

• LCP puma mount for a subwoofer and misc other things
• Ditch light mounts and dual rears w/ some really bright Baja Design lights...
• Dogfishlake roof rack w/ 40" LED cutout and cheapo LED for time being....
• ARB bumper and 12k H20 winch w/ synth - wanted the Slee but not an option until production is back up and running
• 4X4 Labs rear basket for drivers side- I've had one in all 4 of my 80's and it's one of my favorite mods.
• Orange Fab rear panel for the Drivers side - planning to mount a batch of things there that I used to carry in the drawers...
• Delta rear cargo mounts and a Container Store 48" shelf section.
• Depot tails, side, markers and headlights - also ordered up some Vision X 80watt and 100 watt bulbs and the correct adapater snad the Slee harness
• Slee dual batt and relo kit...and blue seas isolator and busmann resettable fuses. working to get dimension to Kevin this week so he can build up a set of his lines for it.
• ARB diff breather kit
• Vision X 180 watt Driving light set for the ARB - old school Halogens that they're closing out

Duc was able to get the lift in and fully baseline her and she's running like a top now - the OME lift rides nicely and the caster paltes have her tracking well. We also added the LCP swapbar disconnects.

Waiting for a bit of wiring and misc to arrive and then hoping to rip the back of the truck interior out and fatt matt the rig and wire up everything... but we test fit a few things last night.

 

[OGBeno]

Welcome back to the fold amigo!

nice find and great build Erich.

 

[RS6tofj80]

Thanks Onur ! hope you're well - how's life in upstate NY ? !

 

[RS6tofj80]

In case anyone need some really clean interior parts or OME exterior stuff -.....

Parting Out - Semi part-out of my 80 series....1997 CE tan/tan

lots of changes afoot.

 

[RS6tofj80]

the shop did a great job on the flares and installed the dorkel..... working to get the lights wired up this weekend....

 

[RS6tofj80]

doh - pics

 

[OffRoadScott]

Good looking rig. I had those STT Pros on my Xterra and loved them. There were situations I put them through in 2wd that I should have been in 4wd but they did their job.

I am looking forward to seeing where this build goes.

 

[RS6tofj80]

the spare wheel and shifter plus my center conmsole lid came back from Craft Customs in Dallas - not cheap but fast and great work and high level of service - I can't recommend Kathy and her team highly enough... putting the wheel on in the am....

I also snagged one of the cool billet Transfer case shifter knobs the REdline built.... it just needed a 6mm set screw and it fit perfectly.

 

[G-Cat]

Love your builds

 

[ranma21]

Looking good!

 

[tplane2]

Nice. Link to shifter knob? Google game weak today.

 

[RS6tofj80]

Nice. Link to shifter knob? Google game weak today.

here's that link

Red Line 80 Series Billet T-Case knobs

 

[RS6tofj80]

Wife and I knocked out putting together the Dogfish rack - not only really well built and thought thru but also packaged well and easy to assemble. I'm going to leave the final bolts of until she settles in on the rubber runners in the sun and a drive around town - but it feels super solid - and the light bar worked out perfectly after I figured out which way to mount it

......

 

[Cruzerman]

That's a whole bunch of lights! It must get pretty dark in Houston