New FZJ80 Owner - Rust & Maintenance (1 Viewer)

[Jorgei]

Hello mud,

I'm the proud owner on a 94 LC. I've been lusting after on for a while and had one condition, cloth seats. I found this one and pulled the trigger...probably paid too much but it was only 70 miles from my house. It spent it's whole life in Connecticut and Vermont. Wanted to hear some more experience thoughts and opinions on the rig.

- One owner car
- No accidents
- Some maintenance records
- 177K and 100% stock
- No locked, cloth interior
- Has some rust, please see pics
- Thoughts on mitigating existing and preventing new rust

The plan is to do all preventative and required maintenance, which I will do myself, then a mild built, and finally drive it for another 20 years...lol. The truck drives great and feels solid. Good brakes, shifts smooth, and engine purrs. No rattles, except the steer wheel squeak. Slightly slow windows.

Upon inspection it needs:

- Oil pump gasket
- Oil pan gasket
- E-brake cable
- A few vacuum lines
- Will also do:
-- PPH
-- Tires
-- OEM 2.5" lift

Long winded post. Appreciate everyone's comments.


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DIFF

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Spare cross-member

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Gas tank strap
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Passenger rear door rocker

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Driver rear door rocker

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Driver side front fender

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[ewillis]

Well it is the BEST color 80 ever produced! Welcome

 

[Dirty Koala]

If I were you I would gut the interior, pull out all the seats and carpet. That way you will be able to see the condition of the floor pan. Since there is rust on the door sill, I would expect you to have some in the drain/cable channel that runs down the left and right side of the floor. The only way to cure rust is to cut it out and weld in new steel, then coat with a rust preventative paint (POR15, Rust Bullet, Chassis Saver) to name a few of the better ones. Another common spot to look for rust is in the factory roof rack mounts. Most US 80's had port installed racked that are simply a nutsert drilled into the roof.

As far as maintenance, what do the maintenance records tell you? In any case I would start replacing anything rubber (belts, hoses, vacuum lines). How is your radiator? any leaks? Unless the front axle has been rebuilt recently and you have proof, I would plan on replacing the bearings and seals in both sides so that you know they are good. Was the head gasket done? if not, look for any signs of a leak.

At a minimum there are 3 things that you should make sure you know the condition of 1) your front axle 2) your cooling system incl. Head gasket 3) your braking system.

Other than that, baseline until you are comfortable with everything and then fix and mod as needed/desired.

 

[Jorgei]

Thank you for your replies.

Luckily the car doesn't have a roof rack and there is no sign of rust on the roof whatsoever. I did forget to mention that the passenger birf area has minimal gunk build up, so the front axle will have to be done. There are no signs of the head gasket leaking that I can see. The last service performed, at a local dealer, was 10K ago in which the radiator and spark plugs were replaced, and the throttle body was cleaned.

Looks like I'll be pulling out the interior and fixing rust before anything. It's far from terminal but the excitement of finally being able to get a LC blurred my better judgement with respect to the darn rust.

 

[Dirty Koala]

You are lucky that you dont have a rack to deal with! I am half way through welding my holes up right now.

 

[LINUS]

You mentioned the lift, so since that may or may not be in the near future, I'd start getting those lower rear shock bolts ready to be worked - get some penetrating fluid of your favorite flavor (PB Blaster =mine) & start spraying those things now, even if the lift is 3 months away - alternate heat (MAP gas or a propane torch if you don't have a torch) - and once you get the fluid soaking for a few days then hit with heat, & keep the cycle 'till ready to turn the bolt, and if you like a few good hits on the head with a hammer will shock the bolt too.

As for rust, after powerwashing & letting dry, a faceshield (those wires hurt when they come loose) - wire wheel all you can then POR15 for the areas you can brush, and Duro - rust converter for the areas you can only spraycan reach will do you a lot to save what's there.

These also like to rust in either rear corner of the upper rear hatch where the glass gasket meets metal - worth a look.

Nice looking 80! Attaboy!

 

[1ststatecruiser]

Nice 94 here 3x locked