Builds Locked 94 FZJ80 Build (1 Viewer)

[furryapples]

Figured I would post up here to document my progress and hopefully get some pointers along the way. I purchased an 80 about a year ago and it's just recently started to pick up speed and snowball. I had always wanted one of these rigs and finally pulled the trigger when I found one for sale at a tire shop down the street from my house. It was pretty rough but it had lockers and ran (and it was dirt cheap). The PO told me the only thing wrong was the PS pump was busted but they had replaced the motor with a lower mileage unit recently. The chassis had about 210,000 miles on it when I bought it.

Shortly after the purchase I went to move the truck around and the trans popped and spewed ATF all over the driveway. So after that she just sat there for about 6 months while I debated on what to do with it. After I sold another one of my project cars and getting some low ball offers on the truck i decided to have a new trans put in. I had a local shop source a low mileage JDM unit that came with a warranty and since then I've been sourcing parts to maki it road worthy again. Which brings me to where it sits now...


But first... here's how it sat when I bought it. The interior was super nasty and it had fugly chrome wheels.

Switches were busted...

Custom audio from PO....

And looks like someone broke in to it at one point

 

[cc93cruiser]

holy ...... I hope to see after pics real soon...

 

[furryapples]

The first thing I did was replace the battery and fix some of the jacked up wiring in the bay from the previous motor swap (sorry for the crap photo... I will try and get better ones moving forward)

Then I set about tearing out the interior for a deep clean and got rid of anything that was trashed

It looks like they spilled about 10 liters of soda in this thing

Lots of crazy wiring from the ghetto rigged stereo all came out

Eventually I plan on using dry ice to get rid of the sound deadening so i can clean up all the surface rust. Then replace it with either lizard skin or dynomat

 

[furryapples]

holy ...... I hope to see after pics real soon...

Yep! Adding lots of pics soon

 

[Red Merle]

The before pics do make it look pretty rough, but I see the potential. I have a '94 too and I wish mine had the lockers, so you have a little better platform to work with. It can be a little discouraging when you see some of the rigs that folks here post in such stellar shape, but what you have is a still a Land Cruiser and it looks like it has plenty of life left.

One thing that I am thinking about is the possibility of buying a parts truck from one of those salvage websites. I see trucks with damage, but still have a ton of usable parts left. Many seem to sell for around $1000, all in. Something like that might be good for a guy like you since it looks like you have a lot of little things that need attention. You could scavenge as much as you could use off of one of those and then sell the stuff you don't need and cover the costs of the parts you do need.

Keep us updated on your project, this one looks like one that would be up my alley.

 

[furryapples]

After cleaning out the interior I set about stripping the exterior of anything I didn't want to use

I also found a full lock set locally (including ignition) to replace the busted one on the driver side (hence the white door handle). I also found some used door switches that worked.

I also found some OEM wheels because I couldn't stand looking at the ones that came with it. Blacked out the grill and cleaned up some of the nasty window trim.

Heres the interior after further cleaning...

At this point is right around when I sent her off for the new trans. Here she is waiting for the tow truck

 

[furryapples]

The before pics do make it look pretty rough, but I see the potential. I have a '94 too and I wish mine had the lockers, so you have a little better platform to work with. It can be a little discouraging when you see some of the rigs that folks here post in such stellar shape, but what you have is a still a Land Cruiser and it looks like it has plenty of life left.

One thing that I am thinking about is the possibility of buying a parts truck from one of those salvage websites. I see trucks with damage, but still have a ton of usable parts left. Many seem to sell for around $1000, all in. Something like that might be good for a guy like you since it looks like you have a lot of little things that need attention. You could scavenge as much as you could use off of one of those and then sell the stuff you don't need and cover the costs of the parts you do need.

Keep us updated on your project, this one looks like one that would be up my alley.

Thanks you. I actually just bought a parts truck off craigslist with about 130k miles . Same color and year but no title and no lockers. Ended up paying only $1500! Hopefully this will help breath some life back in to my truck. More on this to come...

 

[furryapples]

After a couple weeks I got the truck back from the shop with the new trans. I've driven it around a good bit but haven't ventured too far since its still not registered. Once it came back I decided to do a full tune up with new spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, new belts, EGR valve (mine had a broken nipple), K&N intake filter and fresh oil. I also gave the engine bay a good cleaning beforehand.

 

[furryapples]

Here are some quick photoshops I did of how I want the truck to look eventually. I was going back and forth on painting it but I'm now leaning more toward bedlinen since I actually want to enjoy wheeling the rig. I'm leaning more toward the first image but I'm open to feedback!

 

[eurosonic]

first is much better.

 

[tampacruiser95]

Second pic looks more unique...Love the wheel choice

You are making good progress. Good luck with the build.

 

[onemanarmy]

since you asked.....I'd keep the stock Toyota wheels, tires under the fenders, and no snorkel. and accent the TOYOTA across the grill with silver or white paint, similar to stock.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Nice 94!

I went with option 1. Looks way better. I'd do monstaliner though, bedliner UV fades really fast.

 

[retrofive]

Looking good

Ditch the K&N filter as they are oiled I believe and muck up the VAF/MAF. The stock OEM one is good and is washable.

 

[Red Merle]

I would take it easy with the bedliner. Your truck looked pretty clean in the pics. I would pay more for a painted fender in the future

 

[furryapples]

Nice 94!

I went with option 1. Looks way better. I'd do monstaliner though, bedliner UV fades really fast.

Thank you. Looks good! Is the green on top monstaliner as well? I've got a friend with a body shop and I was planning on doing prep there. He suggested doing raptor liner so we can spray it on.

 

[furryapples]

Looking good

Ditch the K&N filter as they are oiled I believe and muck up the VAF/MAF. The stock OEM one is good and is washable.

Thank for the info. Reading up on this now that you mention it. I've got a new OEM filter as well so I'll probably throw that in there. I just cleaned out the MAF and don't want to deal with that again...

 

[furryapples]

Here's some of the parts starting to stockpile around the house. Not pictured is the OME 2.5 in medium lift and MAF 30mm front spacers.

MAF full knuckle rebuild kit with new koyo bearings and some DBA front rotors/pads

Got my SCS f5's couple weeks back. These are the 16x8 with 4.5in BS (same as stock) Plan on running some 35's with these.

I've got a bunch more stuff that I'll need to grab pics of. I'm currently in the process of replacing the cats and o2 sensors (Waiting on new gaskets). Also waiting on my 4x4 labs front bumper kit and a Prinsu roof rack to come in.

 

[furryapples]

I would take it easy with the bedliner. Your truck looked pretty clean in the pics. I would pay more for a painted fender in the future

Yeah I've been going back and forth on this for awhile. I talked to my friend at the body shop and its little more involved that just painting the fenders. I would pretty much have to do a full respray which gets $$$$. I put a bunch of time and money in to my last project and I ended up so scared of getting it scratched that I rarely drove it. I would like to have a little more fun with this one Ive currently got some flush plugs in the fender holes and it looks OK so I may just leave it like that for awhile.

 

[rc51kid]

Please get to know the AMAZING local resources you have. First of all you have Onur right here in Atlanta for a few more months. He will be PRICELESS to you getting you the right parts for the right job. As a new owner his knowledge is priceless. Also Sam down at the dealership on the south side offers a price discount but it does not come with the advice and guidance you get from Onur. Also you have literally one of the best cruiser shops in the country here, ACC. They are not cheap but they are honest. They wont do work that does not need to be done. And what they do will be right. In the long run it will save you money. By know means am i a LC shop expert. But i would safely put ACC in the top ten best shops in the country! Trust me on using these people.

Leave the exterior as is for now. It loos good. Good move on stripping the interior. Concentrate on base line repairs and maintenance and use OEM parts. Do service as "big jobs" and do it all at once rather than several smaller jobs. What i mean is if you are going to replace brake roters do a full birfield job with new seals and wheel bearings. Probably rebuild the calipers and maybe go to the longer OEM brake lines. Just do it all at once or you WILL be in there several times.

One of my biggest pet peeves is new owners and the coolant system. After basic maintenance and fluids, replace the ENTIRE coolant system with OEM. Trust me, the head gasket issue are closely linked to engine temps. everything you have in there is 20 years old or questionable aftermarket. It will be a big bill but under $1000 or so. But it is so critical! If you dont do it now you WILL do it piece at a time.