MrMoMo
That's not rust, it's Canadian patina...
Well folks, here goes....
This is the story of my 80. As you can see from my signature, I have had the affliction for a while...
Over my time off at Christmas, I ramped up my search for a replacement for my BJ60. 30 years of Canadian winters have been pretty harsh on it, and though the drivetrain is strong as ever (actually stronger now that its turbo'd and inter-cooled) the body is on it's way out. It was going to be hard enough to replace, I knew it had to be another cruiser. Hoping to get a few more modern conveniences, the natural progression, was of course going to an 80. The huge down side was going to be going from a veggie burning diesel with wicked fuel economy, to a gasser. I'm a diesel nut, I love diesel (who doesn't?) but the reality was, without out of North America importing, it was not likely to happen. I didn't want a RHD, so that narrowed down further.
I finally made the decision to find a truck with a good solid frame & body. That was the number one priority. Drive trains can be replaced, modification made, but having a solid base to start from is very important. With this decision in mind, I knew I had to look outside of Canada. It's an unfortunate reality, the salt here just doesn't let stuff last that long, and remain in the condition that I wanted.
Searching through classifieds, looking on Kijiji, craigslist, and eBay, I finally found what I was looking for here on Mud (of course).
A few conversations, and some negotiating with the seller, and it was a done deal. Just had to get it the 2000 miles home, export it from the US, import it into Canada, pass emissions, pass safety, and I'll have a good base to start building from. Seller mailed me the title, and I dropped it at US customs export control, where I would pick it up when I exported/imported it.
After a few weeks of working with shipping companies, and still no result, an opportunity arose that I couldn't pass up. I had to travel out to the west coast (Portland OR) for work, and made a deal with my boss whereby I flew out, and drove my truck home. Best part of the deal, was that because it was part of a business trip, I could claim the fuel as expenses (as the fuel cost was less than a return flight).
So, after my week in Portland, I hopped a few short flights and was met late at night at the tiny local airport by the seller of my truck, with my new 80! After some quick explanations, and a quick show around, I was off to find a hotel (it was about 11PM on a Friday.)
Day 1, ODO 254,540mi. Near Santa Fe, NM. Saturday morning - 6:30AM. Early start to try to cover lots of miles! First time I have seen the truck in the light! Hopped in the truck and got oriented. Discovered that I had no 12V outlet, which was going to be a necessity, due to my 2000 mile need for GPS. Drove down the street to a gas station and filled the tank 18Gallons, and holy crap is it cheap!
Hung out in an O'Reilys auto parts parking lot until they opened, and stocked up on a few items, including a dual 12V outlet, grease gun, and spare fluids. I noticed there had been quite a bit of driveline vibration, so figured the shafts probably needed some greasing. Crawled under the truck and put a few pumps in each joint that I could get to. Had tools with me for wiring (for work) so I was able to wire some connectors onto the new outlet, and push them into the OEM plug, success! Hit the road at 8:05AM.
About 250 miles later, I stopped and fuelled up again, re-greased the shaft - a few of the bearings were pretty warm to the touch, so I knew they were not in the best condition, but continuing to pump grease into them helped a bunch. I did the same at my next fuel stop, and again at the following, by which time, the joints were all running at mildly warm, to cool to the touch. Still had some vibration, but I felt much better about it. Cheapest fuel price paid on day1 $2.89 / gallon! Stopped for the night in Springfield, MO.
Day 2 ODO 255,332mi. Sunday morning. Departure 6:15AM. Started to see small piles of snow near Rolla, MO, grabbed some fuel in St. Louis. When I hit Illinois there was snow on the north side of hills, and in the shady spots, and once I crossed into Indiana, there was snow on the ground, but the roads were still dry. Grabbed another tank of fuel in Indianapolis, IA, and pushed on into the night to end in Buffalo, NY, just after 11PM. Still managing only about 20 minutes of snow!
Day 3, ODO 256,237mi. Monday morning. Departed Buffalo at 7AM in a decent snow storm. Traffic was nasty getting through buffalo, but the roads cleared amazingly and I was snow free until just before Watertown NY (to be expected!). I arrived at our US facility at around 1PM, just over an hour from home. Spent a few hours in the shop before proceeding to US customs export control.
Since I had been through the export procedure before, I knew what to expect. Shortly after arriving at US export control, and then Canada customs, I was on my way. Got home in time for dinner, end milage 256,538 miles. 1998 miles from my start point.
So, what did I see on this trip? Well, to keep from dying of boredom, other than some cool scenery (which I will post pics of later) these are the stats;
First off, the always required on long road trips, road kill tally...
New Mexico - 5
Texas - 5
Oklahoma - 5
Missouri - 17!!!!!!!
Illinois - 4
Indiana -1
Ohio - 1
New York.... Zero
Ontario .... Zero.
So, if you are a critter, live in ON or NY, but most definitely NOT in Missouri!
Lowest gas price $2.89
Highest gas price $3.85
Strangest sign seen? "Don't drive into smoke"
After arriving home, it was back to work, so the 80 went in my shop and I fiddled away on things for the next few weeks.
Following things have been fixed...
Passed my emissions test (no work needed)
Replaced all the wiper blades
Bought and installed new floor mats
Wired the passenger side low beam, and aimed all the headlights
Re-connected the MAIN ground wire (?!?) was totally disconnected!
Re-attached one end of the drivers side front AND rear shock. Rides better now!
Installed Akellas extended brake line kit, so the lines are not stretched!
Swapped in new rear rotors and pads (pads from Beno!)
Did the zip tie mirror wobble fix - Amazing!
Fixed the passenger side window squirter
Removed and cleaned the window switch "cluster"
Lubed all the window tracks, MUCH better now!
Removed and re-installed the snorkel a pillar mount, (wasn't quite in the right place, and the bolts wouldn't go in)
Bled all the brakes, flushed new fluid through all the lines
Adjusted the e-brake
Extended the axle breathers (only enough to prevent them from popping off on the lift - proper extension to follow later)
Removed the aftermarket alarm, that locked my ignition out!
And finally, today, passed my Safety, got oil sprayed (rust proofing) got registered, and got my PLATES!
And so begins my gas guzzling adventure of an 80!
Still many things on the to do list, maintenance items first, and then on to the "fun" stuff (like the front axle rebuild kit I got from Beno!)
Hope to eventually swap in a diesel, but hoping the 1FZ-FE has some decent life left in it yet, to get me to that point!
And, for now, here it is: (more photos, including some of the drive to follow later)
This is the story of my 80. As you can see from my signature, I have had the affliction for a while...
Over my time off at Christmas, I ramped up my search for a replacement for my BJ60. 30 years of Canadian winters have been pretty harsh on it, and though the drivetrain is strong as ever (actually stronger now that its turbo'd and inter-cooled) the body is on it's way out. It was going to be hard enough to replace, I knew it had to be another cruiser. Hoping to get a few more modern conveniences, the natural progression, was of course going to an 80. The huge down side was going to be going from a veggie burning diesel with wicked fuel economy, to a gasser. I'm a diesel nut, I love diesel (who doesn't?) but the reality was, without out of North America importing, it was not likely to happen. I didn't want a RHD, so that narrowed down further.
I finally made the decision to find a truck with a good solid frame & body. That was the number one priority. Drive trains can be replaced, modification made, but having a solid base to start from is very important. With this decision in mind, I knew I had to look outside of Canada. It's an unfortunate reality, the salt here just doesn't let stuff last that long, and remain in the condition that I wanted.
Searching through classifieds, looking on Kijiji, craigslist, and eBay, I finally found what I was looking for here on Mud (of course).
A few conversations, and some negotiating with the seller, and it was a done deal. Just had to get it the 2000 miles home, export it from the US, import it into Canada, pass emissions, pass safety, and I'll have a good base to start building from. Seller mailed me the title, and I dropped it at US customs export control, where I would pick it up when I exported/imported it.
After a few weeks of working with shipping companies, and still no result, an opportunity arose that I couldn't pass up. I had to travel out to the west coast (Portland OR) for work, and made a deal with my boss whereby I flew out, and drove my truck home. Best part of the deal, was that because it was part of a business trip, I could claim the fuel as expenses (as the fuel cost was less than a return flight).
So, after my week in Portland, I hopped a few short flights and was met late at night at the tiny local airport by the seller of my truck, with my new 80! After some quick explanations, and a quick show around, I was off to find a hotel (it was about 11PM on a Friday.)
Day 1, ODO 254,540mi. Near Santa Fe, NM. Saturday morning - 6:30AM. Early start to try to cover lots of miles! First time I have seen the truck in the light! Hopped in the truck and got oriented. Discovered that I had no 12V outlet, which was going to be a necessity, due to my 2000 mile need for GPS. Drove down the street to a gas station and filled the tank 18Gallons, and holy crap is it cheap!
Hung out in an O'Reilys auto parts parking lot until they opened, and stocked up on a few items, including a dual 12V outlet, grease gun, and spare fluids. I noticed there had been quite a bit of driveline vibration, so figured the shafts probably needed some greasing. Crawled under the truck and put a few pumps in each joint that I could get to. Had tools with me for wiring (for work) so I was able to wire some connectors onto the new outlet, and push them into the OEM plug, success! Hit the road at 8:05AM.
About 250 miles later, I stopped and fuelled up again, re-greased the shaft - a few of the bearings were pretty warm to the touch, so I knew they were not in the best condition, but continuing to pump grease into them helped a bunch. I did the same at my next fuel stop, and again at the following, by which time, the joints were all running at mildly warm, to cool to the touch. Still had some vibration, but I felt much better about it. Cheapest fuel price paid on day1 $2.89 / gallon! Stopped for the night in Springfield, MO.
Day 2 ODO 255,332mi. Sunday morning. Departure 6:15AM. Started to see small piles of snow near Rolla, MO, grabbed some fuel in St. Louis. When I hit Illinois there was snow on the north side of hills, and in the shady spots, and once I crossed into Indiana, there was snow on the ground, but the roads were still dry. Grabbed another tank of fuel in Indianapolis, IA, and pushed on into the night to end in Buffalo, NY, just after 11PM. Still managing only about 20 minutes of snow!
Day 3, ODO 256,237mi. Monday morning. Departed Buffalo at 7AM in a decent snow storm. Traffic was nasty getting through buffalo, but the roads cleared amazingly and I was snow free until just before Watertown NY (to be expected!). I arrived at our US facility at around 1PM, just over an hour from home. Spent a few hours in the shop before proceeding to US customs export control.
Since I had been through the export procedure before, I knew what to expect. Shortly after arriving at US export control, and then Canada customs, I was on my way. Got home in time for dinner, end milage 256,538 miles. 1998 miles from my start point.
So, what did I see on this trip? Well, to keep from dying of boredom, other than some cool scenery (which I will post pics of later) these are the stats;
First off, the always required on long road trips, road kill tally...
New Mexico - 5
Texas - 5
Oklahoma - 5
Missouri - 17!!!!!!!
Illinois - 4
Indiana -1
Ohio - 1
New York.... Zero
Ontario .... Zero.
So, if you are a critter, live in ON or NY, but most definitely NOT in Missouri!
Lowest gas price $2.89
Highest gas price $3.85
Strangest sign seen? "Don't drive into smoke"
After arriving home, it was back to work, so the 80 went in my shop and I fiddled away on things for the next few weeks.
Following things have been fixed...
Passed my emissions test (no work needed)
Replaced all the wiper blades
Bought and installed new floor mats
Wired the passenger side low beam, and aimed all the headlights
Re-connected the MAIN ground wire (?!?) was totally disconnected!
Re-attached one end of the drivers side front AND rear shock. Rides better now!
Installed Akellas extended brake line kit, so the lines are not stretched!
Swapped in new rear rotors and pads (pads from Beno!)
Did the zip tie mirror wobble fix - Amazing!
Fixed the passenger side window squirter
Removed and cleaned the window switch "cluster"
Lubed all the window tracks, MUCH better now!
Removed and re-installed the snorkel a pillar mount, (wasn't quite in the right place, and the bolts wouldn't go in)
Bled all the brakes, flushed new fluid through all the lines
Adjusted the e-brake
Extended the axle breathers (only enough to prevent them from popping off on the lift - proper extension to follow later)
Removed the aftermarket alarm, that locked my ignition out!
And finally, today, passed my Safety, got oil sprayed (rust proofing) got registered, and got my PLATES!
And so begins my gas guzzling adventure of an 80!
Still many things on the to do list, maintenance items first, and then on to the "fun" stuff (like the front axle rebuild kit I got from Beno!)
Hope to eventually swap in a diesel, but hoping the 1FZ-FE has some decent life left in it yet, to get me to that point!
And, for now, here it is: (more photos, including some of the drive to follow later)
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