Maguire's FZJ80, Baseline and Beyond (5 Viewers)

[hotsaucepizza]

Long time listener, first time caller. back in 2020/21 while living in VT I had put some pretty solid effort into finding a 93/94 FZJ80, and at the time it felt like prices were going vertical, and everything in VT was a rusty pile of crap.

I ended up settling, and buying a red/red '95 Chevy 2DR Tahoe, with a 6.5 diesel and 4WD. That truck turned out to be really great. seats folded flat in the rear and made for a flat space that was just about 6' long to sleep in. in 2023 I ended up moving to Utah with this truck, and an e30 in tow. The Tahoe was a pretty great tool to explore my new surroundings in Utah, trips to Moab, and mountains close to my new home in salt lake, and many more.

Around October of '24 I was growing tired of the pains of GM 6.5 diesel ownership. Spending a whole Moab trip under the hood of the damn thing, and then breaking another tie rod as soon as i got it running well.

Basically as soon as I returned from the trip from hell in the chevy, this '93 land cruiser came up for sale in Kamas,

Stats:
Blue Slate/Grey interior
No lockers
Very mismatched paint in the front end. This thing definitely hit something at some point in its life. I'm thinking a tree. More on this at some point.
Crappy looking aftermarket headlights.
Tires with 2011 date codes.
Very broken and seized o2 sensors

its not the best example, but most important to me there is no rust. so just a pile of crap, not a rusty pile of crap.

First order of business was get those old tires off. my chevy had 16X8 old school Weld Sidewinders that were just about perfect 80 series fitment with decent 33" wild peaks. Threw those on there.

I began preparing to do a proper baseline on the truck to have it ready for daily duty, while on a work trip I lent it out, and got a call that it wouldn't start. Long story short, after 2,000 miles of ownership the head gasket blew in cylinder 6, hydrolocking the engine. F#$@$!$!@!!!

I always wanted a classic land rover, but always talked myself out of it, imagining that I would be replacing head gaskets in the middle of winter at some inopportune time. There I was, replacing a head gasket on a Land Cruiser in the middle of January!!

Got the head gasket kit from a supplier in UAE and got to work

Head resurfaced and valve job done by C&T Auto machine in Orem UT. Found one burnt valve. These guys rock. 100% recommend their work.

I thought id save some money by adjusting the valves on this myself after the valve job, as ive done this on some old solid lifter BMWs. Stupid idea. I spent more in valve shims than it would have taken to have C&T do it. Live and learn. its a fun process.

Continued in the next post.

 

[hotsaucepizza]

At this point I (Allegedly) deleted the PAIR valve, buttoned it up, and it runs better than ever. what a relief.

I should have taken the time to do the front cover at the same time, but didn't want to open that can of worms. at that moment. As a former BMW tech, the 1fz in the 80 series is much more difficult to work on! hoping not to have to do that so often, haha!

After closing the engine back up I took it up 5 mile pass with some friends celebrate.

Found a pretty good deal on some dobinsons drawers for an 80 series, so I drove to LA to pick them up. Cruiser did great on that drive. I was sure to replace all of the window runs before that trip, since they were hammered. didn't think to take any pics of that.

 

[hotsaucepizza]

After installing the drawers, I sort of dragged my feet continuing the baseline, but eventually got the oil pump cover and front main seal taken care of. was very rewarding to clean all of the oil off of there and not have it come back.

This truck always had a VERY stiff accelerator pedal, and one day, all of the sudden, the throttle effort became very easy. Sweet! but it was immediately followed by lazy shifting and a 2-3 shift flare. Broken kick down cable, less sweet.

Was able to get a new cable in there without dropping the valve body, this job is a serious pain in the ass, there is a bolt at the bell housing that holds down the cable that is absolutely awful to get to. And for some reason I put the bolt back in.

 

[hotsaucepizza]

Next up was a full AC system refresh including R12 to R134 conversion with a parallel flow condenser. I used the Nissens unit from RockAuto. It's okay, and your only option for a "Bolt-in" solution for a PF Condenser (doesn't fit up super well). I replaced every O-ring, Condenser, receiver drier, and installed a new (to me) used compressor from my friends at Japanese Auto Parts in Lehi UT. I installed new seals in the compressor, and also pulled the evaporator to clean all the trash out of the unit and wash the fins.

While doing this, I was able to get to the bottom of why the front end looks so awful. this thing took a decently hard hit at some point in its life and repaired badly.

Check out that bondo work on the fender!! and overspray everywhere. well, I never have to worry about making this thing nice i guess. Also effected was the center hood latch support, as well as the valence under the grill, it was pushed into the AC condenser. Unable to source a new one bracket, and unwilling to source a valence, I straightened them out with a combination of pliers, a hammer, my hands, and a block of wood. still lines up terribly, but isn't going to poke a hole in the condenser

 

[hotsaucepizza]

Enter: Scope creep

I got a sidewall puncture while out on trail. and of course learned that my factory jack was seized solid. got it back on trail and finished out the day on the spare (with a 2009 date code).

I had been starting to think about the next set of tires for this thing. the AT3 wild peaks were great tires, but they were getting long in the tooth with 60k miles of badly aligned IFS chevy wear.

I didn't want to be stuck with another set of 33s for a couple years, so I went for some 315/75/15 BFG K03 after some research, the new AT4 didn't seem like a great option since they've gotten a lot heavier, and I like a snow rated all terrain since I take this thing to go snowboarding a lot in the winter, and wanted to confirm with the UDOT traction law.

35s look huge with a sagging 32 year old suspension. they clear, but with much articulation they rub on the rear, so of course... you know what time it is.

That brings us to today.

Dobinsons 3" flexi kit went on

C59-612V
C59-613V

Final numbers turned out somewhere north of 4", but I haven't given it all that much time to settle. Will be doing caster correction and pan hard correction once it settles.

Knuckle rebuild and rear hub rebuild up next. talk to you then!