My "New" 100 series and a bit of history (1 Viewer)

[diego355]

Hi everyone,
It has been a long time since I have been on mud, about 3 years but on the 80 series section. I'm really excited to start this new build but let me give you a bit of history of how I got here.
I'm from Venezuela, land of many many cruisers and awesome 4wdriving, move to Canada in 07 when I was 17 and I guess, started from zero in the overland/wheeling/4x4 world. Back home It is almost impossible to start unless your parents pay for everything.

So everything started with a terrible but fun $900 manual tranny 92 XJ that lasted for about 8 months (E-brake didnt work, tranny linkage broke and went rolling down a small cliff towards her death).
After a few weeks I was fortunate enough to find a great stock 91 80 Series on a importers website and pulled the trigger. Many mods, many nights and great trips went by, but after 3 years of wrenching and love, it was time to let her go.
I bought a 13 JK Unlimited. Yes, after owing a 80 Series I went and bought a Wrangler Sahara with the 6 speed. Although it sounds crazy it was a great idea at the time due that I was working for Jeep and got a insane deal ($500 over dealer cost). On this beauty I did not spent many nights of wrenching because it was brand new so only with accessories was more than enough. This JK took me all over Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana, Alberta and British Columbia. I can tell you guys that it was fantastic but after 40K the lack of quality started to show and it was time to let her go.
After this easy decision I went and bought a stock 08 FJ Cruiser with the rear factory locker and a 6 speed tranny from a local dealer and let me tell you, FJ's are absolutely fantastic. I build this baby up in no time and started to go on adventures again until the inevitable happened. I rolled the FJ on its roof on a winter trail ride..
After this unfortunate event I spent a year paying of some bills got rid of all debt by purchasing a fuel efficient Toyota Matrix and a non fuel efficient but almost free Jeep Liberty to do some light summer camping.

After a year of torture I and plenty of thinking I decided to go for a new ride, and guess what? It was a 100 Series.

I got her about three months ago and although there is a dark side of the story, Im very happy and excited about my 100.

Here is the official start of my build thread.

Thanks

 

[diego355]

more

 

[diego355]

And finally the most important ones, the LX
It is a 98 LX470 with the rear locker and only 150000 km / 90000 miles.

View attachment 1403037

 

[diego355]

First mods:
1- Remove the side steps
2- Tires (295/75R16 Bfg ko2 10 ply)

The choice of tires was hard, very hard actually but ended up with what I think if the best combination for Overland travel, daily driver and a wife that does not have a great experience driving in snow.

 

[diego355]

Here is where everything turns (2.5 months ago)

The same night after installing the new tires I went flying to the registry to get the LX registered and something like this went down.
Me: Hi, I'm here to register my new vehicle.
Registry lady: No problem, can I see the insurance and bill of sale
Me: No problem, here it is
Registry lady: Ummm, there is a problem
Me: What do you mean? My insurance up to date and the bill of sale is also filled up correctly with all necessary details
Registry lady: It is a SALVAGE and you need a salvage inspection

After thanking the lady, I left the registry and said the word you are all thinking that starts with F

I could not believe it, I was so pissed and angry at myself for this.
I had checked with my insurance and I the Carproof report, both saying nothing about accidents.
I guess that was not enough, I should have checked with the registry office first for the status of the vehicle but sometimes we make the mistake of trusting in people and believing what they are telling the truth about the history of the vehicle

 

[diego355]

Luckily I work for a local repair/body shop with great people that helped me with this issue.
After a deeper inspection we noticed plastic pieces welded together with who knows what and a pushed back rad support. Disassembly started and with the help from a co-worker and his framework experience we got her straight again

 

[diego355]

After this I had no choice but purchase new headlights. OEM was the first option but I had no idea the amount of money that two new headlights cost so I ended up ordering a set from EBay.
I got a set of the previous mentioned on this forum "Halo, Angel eyes headlights"
It sounds terrible and looked horrible in the picture but it was less than a third of the OEM price.

My input and review:
Great price, not the best bulbs and not the greatest look but work great and with a bulb upgrade things are looking better

 

[LX470Mack]

This is a little freaky. I was 17 in 07 too, started with an 80 series, sold it for a brand new JKU which I kept for 45'000kms before trading it on my LX for the exact same reason due to feeling the lack of long term quality. I also have 90k miles on my LX lol.

Welcome.

 

[JonD]

Welcome back to mud!

 

[tacoduck]

who did you buy the truck from? why not take it back to the guy? I wouldn't want a truck with a salvage title...

 

[diego355]

who did you buy the truck from? why not take it back to the guy? I wouldn't want a truck with a salvage title...

I bought it of a guy who had it posted on Kijiji, his reason for selling it was that his wife did not liked it because of the fuel consumption and size. He seemed a legit guy and the Carproof being clean it didn't gave me any reason to doubt him.
I guess anyone can bypass the Carproof/Carfax by not doing a insurance claim and repairing it on the side.
After evaluating the condition of the LX, the needed repairs and the price I paid for I decided not to fight about it and keep her. I know that it will hurt the resale value but I'm planning to drive this thing for at least 10 more years.
On the next part of the story Ill mention all the cost and mechanical issues I found adding this to the reason for me to keep it.

 

[alethal]

That's really s***ty they didn't disclose it was a salvage title. That being said I have a salvage title 2006 Toyota Corolla that is running strong. I've put 140,000 miles on her.

 

[diego355]

That's really s***ty they didn't disclose it was a salvage title. That being said I have a salvage title 2006 Toyota Corolla that is running strong. I've put 140,000 miles on her.

I know right, Is Impossible to trust people nowadays.
And obviously , the guy disappeared and would not answer his phone or emails for about a month.
I asked him for some money back which I'm still waiting for and possibly will never see

 

[diego355]

After fixing the front end we tackled the mechanical. Two of my mechanics did a 120 point inspection on the vehicle on separate occasions and everything came out perfect, no leaks, brakes were good, diffs and the rear locker worked flawlessly.
For the Salvage inspection the LX needed to be almost like factory including frame measurements, seatbelts, all the existing safety items and there has to be full communication will all the modules.
When we plugged the scanner.... A C1225 code.
Searched on mud and data stream, came as the skid control/ABS actuator.
Did all the testing available and found out that the piece of sh#t previous owner took apart the light from the dash.
Now what? I phoned my suppliers and what a surprise I got when I saw those prices for the booster/master cyl/ ABS actuator assembly.
I got in touch with Cruiserparts and ordered a used one for a good price.
When the part came in it looked rusty but after doing some cleaning and install everything worked perfect.
For 10 minutes...
Abs, e-brake and a annoying buzzer came on. Having done my research here I knew exactly what I was.
I pulled master cylinder assembly out and swaped the accumulators and boosters, did the strange bleeding procedure that it calls for and done. No lights, no problems
I wish I had taken pictures for this but with grease, anxiety, tension and Brake fluid I totally forgot.

 

[Bardiya]

So cool that the Lx470 comes with a rear diff lock in Canada.
I don't think we got that option even in the UAE.