LC80 project (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 26, 2021
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Location
UK
Hi All, I'm Felix from the UK, recently bought myself a 1991 HDJ81V 1HD-T.

I will be keeping a thread going for the works and adventures I hope to have with my new 80 series.

Not long after I bought it I took it to Overland Cruisers to have a thorough once over. My logic being that I am more than capable of finding faults with a vehicle, but being new to Land Cruisers and not wanting to waste time breaking down or waiting for something to break that could have been spotted earlier by a more experienced eye. The main issues were leaking radiator, front hub seals, brake and clutch fluids, plus cambelt, plus some diff naff and triv.

I will try to do a fair amount of work myself, since it non of it looks especially complicated. Nothing major has been started yet with it because I am waiting for a load of parts to arrive so I can get stuck in. First main job will be a refresh of the cooling system, the radiator is pretty haggard, and is most likely the original. I already have a replacement, but am waiting for top and bottom hoses, thermostat and rad cap to arrive before I start with that job.

Before I go any further, everyone loves pictures.....

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A smaller item that was picked up was that the front and rear diff locks were not working. Had a bit of a play about with them and did some reading.

Turning the rotary dial, I can hear, I guess, a relay clicking while in rear lock position, but no noise from the actuator itself. The front one is making a noise, but not been able to check if It is actually engaging with the diff. Rear position switch, on the diff wasn't working for a start, plus one of the wires to the plug on the front one was broken..... so ordered a new set. Beck Arnley make switches that seem to be a common replacement. Not sure how much a genuine one is, but way more than £12 I guess.

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Fitted both the switches, obviously that didn't make the actuators work, can't be that simple! Took the rear actuator out to investigate a bit more....

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First problem was a common once from what I have read, and that is the magnets de-bonding from the housing, weirdly one of them was cracked in half too. Im hoping that once it is all glued back together it will still work. Does any one know if it will affect its magnetism?? I was a bit confused at first thinking there was a magnet missing, but its just because they had all moved around the housing to one side.
Second issue was the actuator rod is seized into thee housing, I have left it soaking in wd40 over night, I was able to get a tiny bit of movement out of it using a soft faced hammer so have hopes its salvageable.....

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So a long awaited delivery arrived, bulk of which was bits to overhaul the cooling system. Hoses, rad cap, thermostat etc. The radiator had a slow leak. I already had got hold of a new Nissens radiator, just needed these bits to be able to fit it.

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First off was to get the batteries out, and try not to look too closely at the additional wiring for the light bar that the previous owner had done. Have got some proper connectors on order to tidy it all up. Bad wiring is a pet hate of mine, as soon as I see stuff wrapped in electrical tape, I have to have a look underneath, its rarely pretty.

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Once the batteries were out, had to work out how to get the headlights out to then be able to get to the upper radiator mounts. The little peg on the bottom of the side light on both sides was corroded and needed the use of a pry bar to gently pop it out. Nothing broke on the lights fortunately! The upper radiator mount sleeves......well another story. strange design, sleeve with a threaded rod going forward, obviously the thread was totally corroded and trying to undo the nut it just sheared... will see how long it will take to get replacements, or drill them out to take a normal bolt.

Bit of wrestling with the radiator vs fan shroud later and it was out.....I think its done its time, the fins are so rotten!!

The aircon rad being at the front was in even worse state, new one is on its way from Autodoc, so that was pulled out while I was in there...

The last job I did while the front end was apart was replace the one way valves for the headlight washers. I'm guessing the spring inside the old one has rusted away as the water just pours out them till the washer bottle is empty.

Will all be going back as soon as the aircon rad arrives. Be nice to not have a dripping radiator.

Took it to Overland Cruisers to have the cam belt and accessory belts replaced along with the brake and clutch fluid changing. Don't have time to do all the jobs on it myself....

I had noticed some rust bubbles on the bottom of the doors and lower edge of the rear fixed windows. I had my friend Lee at BP Motor Bodybuilders sort the rust and paintwork out. Luckily it had been caught early enough and not metal had to be cut and welded.

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