Builds My first 80 Series (2 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

It is a beast of a cylinder head
 
Decided to order some parts on Black Friday as I wait on the machine shop.
image.jpeg
 
It towed great behind my Trooper, better than I expected! I was probably at the tow capacity for it.

The previous owner had a shop with scrap metal and said I could use his welder, drill press, and anything else I needed. I just used a piece of angle iron bolted on each frame rail top with a couple of Isuzu ISO #9 bolts. I can't recommend what I did for towing, but for my temporary use needs it worked flawlessly. 2 bolts isnt much, but than again many tow bars only use 2 bolts that aren't fine thread either. I'll try to post a pic up later.

Word to the wise, if flat towing slow way down below recommended speed limits on curvy roads. The Cruiser didn't like tracking back and forth.


I flat towed my much lighter Wrangler behind my rather large F-150 (Super Crew 4x4 Max Tow with 600lbs in the bed for weight) and almost stuffed it into the concrete wall of an overpass (wet pavement and the MTs on the Wrangler didn't help). I can't say I recommend flat towing if a better option is available -- the lack of tongue weight doesn't offer a pleasant towing experience imo.
 
Yeah, it got the job done for me too, I fab'd a similar setup and used a tow bar, but I almost peed myself just a little outside of Chicago.
 
The worst problem I had was a 2 lane quick/short winds that the 80 did not want to track on. It was hair raising. I don't care to do that again.
 
Seriously considering returning the Beck Arnley head bolts as they are made in China unless I hear a convincing argument otherwise. Also, the box the gasket set came in was huge and packed well which was good considering the actual gasket set box was slightly open and head gasket was peeking out an inch but best I can tell is ok. Nevertheless, I contacted the vendor.
 
Seriously considering returning the Beck Arnley head bolts as they are made in China unless I hear a convincing argument otherwise. Also, the box the gasket set came in was huge and packed well which was good considering the actual gasket set box was slightly open and head gasket was peeking out an inch but best I can tell is ok. Nevertheless, I contacted the vendor.

Dude take it from a previous engine builder, do not use Chinese steel on anything for your motor. I understand cutting costs but never on your engine.
 
Thanks guys! I'm happy with everything except the Beck Arnley parts. The Ishino Stone gasket set is made in Japan and I used it on my 2F. It may be the OEM supplier.

I stopped by the machine shop today and had him inspect the parts. He said the head gasket looked very high quality and that he would not be afraid of the Chinese head bolts. I asked him if he ever saw a TTY head bolt fail and he said only when reused. This is interesting because the FSM says you can reuse head bolts if they are in spec. All of mine are in spec.
 
So, the head bolts went back Thursday and I sold my OEM front bumper today. I'm going to have the valve cover, oil pan, and timing cover bead blasted at the machine shop to clean them up a bit.
 
Getting a little ancy about making progress while waiting on the machine shop. Decided to install the diff lock computer. Pulled the passenger door sill with a trim removal tool, cleaned the mess underneath and mounted the computer. I had to clean and oil the threads as there was some paint build up on it. The harness was waiting right there for me.
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
Moving right along, I pulled the combination meter and installed the sockets and bulbs for the front and rear differential locks and did the temperature gauge resistor mod. I fished out the harness for the differential lock switch and put it all back together. I did remove the upper column cover which has 2 screws and I removed the circuit board to solder the resistors in putting them in the middle of the air space for maximum cooling.
 
Also interesting to note is that the air filter clogged lamp in the cluster doesnt connect to anything on the circuit board.
 
Last edited:
Tonite I removed the back seat and carpet over the fuel pump service cover to change the fuel pump sock. I started thinking about the e-locker swap coming up and wondering about the wiring. Someone told me that I may only need the front and rear harness as the Collectors Edition may be mostly pre wired. Not real sure where to begin here if anyone could chime in. I need to know where to look. I have what I believe to be a set of 96 LC front and rear elocker axles and most of the wiring harness. If it is pre wired, where are the dead end plugs I plug in to? Thanks!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom