SteelHunterFJ80
SILVER Star
NOLA; a build story
Hello Mudders! I have now owned my second cruiser for three years so I decided to finally put together a build thread. I'm writing one in part because this community is so freaking knowledgeable and has helped me fix so many things on my own truck that I would like to see if I can add to the great content if not fabbing skills and, of course, as a place where I can document my progress and keep track of the various projects and hopefully then next 30 years plus of travel and fun with this cruiser. I want to make sure an document all the trips I do in it as well because after all isn't that the point?
So how did I get here.....
In mid 2016 I bought a 1993 TLC with zero rust, a pretty good interior and a really smooth motor despite having over 300k miles. The truck had been in the Pacific Northwest its entire life and the body other than the one obligatory rear door rust spot and a poorly screwed on flare was as good as ever could be expected. All in all a good starting platform. And just as a disclaimer now, I practically knew nothing about vehicle maintenance or had any automotive knowledge other than how to change oil and break pads and rotate tires. I didn't even understand how a engine really worked and what each part did (ie intake and exhaust valves, crank, timing chain etc). I was no doubt, a one banana mechanic, maybe even negative bananas. Perhaps a plantain mechanic? Either way my knowledge was extremely limited.
I worked on it here and there replacing some worn parts (hoses, window runs, replacing broken switches etc) and put lizard skin sound deadening throughout the interior and doors which was a huge PITA but man what a difference in noise level! Afterwards, the car doors sounded like a Bentley when you closed them. Did a few oil changes and was looking at tires for a bit too.
But after a while I started thinking about all the things that I liked about my cruiser and all the places it could take me fishing and camping and thought this could be a truck that I keep for decades. And because I was thinking about owning this truck forever, I started wondering if this 93 was really the platform that I wanted to build off of. I decided it wasn't. Not because my truck wasn't a great vehicle but rather I knew I wanted to go the forced induction route someday which isn't possible on OBDI and I liked the idea of getting a OBDII truck so I could read codes easier, have better rear breaks, and air bags along with the more updated interior. One of my good friends was interested in purchasing my cruiser so I knew I could sell it to someone that would take care of it. He of course, was very interested in me getting a new rig so he could get my own rig, for weeks he would ask me "when are you going to NOLA?" and "whats up with NOLA, when was the last time you talked?" and "has NOLA sent you anymore videos?" I hasn't yet explained my plan to my wife and I thought my wife was might wonder if I was having affair the way I was wandering around the house answering these questions in hushed tones.
So I started looking for a a new LC and what I wanted was something that had a majority of the critical maintenance done so I could use it a lot while learning how to work on it a bit at a time myself. I knew I wanted a white or moon glow with tan interior that had all the hard to find or NOLA items such as headliner, carpet, doors in good shape. I figured any other things I could fix myself or better yet learn to fix myself. I also was more interested in building an expo rig than a crawler so lockers weren't critical for me.
I should also mention at this time that Toyota's tend to go for a higher price in the Northwest. Up here its called the Toyota tax. Just take a look at the Seattle craigslist for LCs and you will see many trucks going for multiples higher than what a lot of the parts of the country pay for their rigs. Its insane, a lot of sellers have unrealistic price exceptions or perhaps just list their trucks at ridiculously high prices to appease their spouse so they can say "See I listed it for sale but not takers yet." Meanwhile they plan to never actually sell. Smart strategy actually....
But I digress, after searching for a month or two, I found one that I liked. All the major maintenance items had been done (brakes, birfs, heater valve, PHH, seals etc). Only issue was that the truck was in New Orleans and I live just north of Seattle, WA. After emailing the seller back and forth some and getting some great videos of the truck I decided, Phuck it, I'll do a fly and drive thing. Never done that before but it seemed to line up with the idea of purchasing an adventure rig; why not go on adventure to get it too? I spoke to my wife and she was down with the idea. Only problem was that we had to wait until Thanksgiving week to go because my wife couldn't take any time off because her work was so busy. And then when teh week arrived, it turned out she couldn't go at all. So what to do? I certainly wasn't going to not go get the cruiser. But I have a spare airplane ticket and didn't necessarily want to go solo. All my buddies were spending time with family and they could go either.....I know! I will invite my 72 year old mom to go! She was thrilled with idea.
Hello NOLA!
So we fly down to New Orleans and the seller, a mud member, meets us at the airport with the truck. Saw the truck from a mile away and was super pumped. The seller was pretty cool and took us to a nearby parking lot where we did a walk around. I knew enough to look for major items and didn't see anything major (some oil leaks from the valve cover, clean knuckles but not dry and no coolant leaking). I did a test drive with the owner who physically recoiled when I floored it on the highway. I warned him before I was going to do but I had to work it out to see if there was any issues. The plus side was that kind of reaction told me he was pretty protective of his truck. The only downside was that the truck had a bit rougher body than I expected but I could fix that over time. The body panels still had matching VIN numbers so at least I knew it was all original. The seller did warn me about an intermittent starting issue where the truck wouldn't start once in a while. This had begun just recently and he had replaced the battery with a brand new one just before we got there and it hadn't happen since. More on that later......So after agreeing on payment we went to a local DMV changed title, dropped off the seller and took off!
The drive home was started a day after spending the night in New Orleans. We stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental and had an amazing dinner to celebrate. Being from Seattle we are big fans of seafood an was very surprised at the quality of the oysters in NOLA. They were on happy hour and I think we got 2 dozen of them. Great time and it was cool to have the cruiser parked right up in front of a pretty nice hotel. As people passed by I saw a lot of double takes which of course is awesome as a new owner.
Celebration Dinner
Next day we rolled out of NOLA and had made about three hours outside New Orleans and stopped for gas. Filled up, went to start the truck, heard a click and that was it. Nothing. Sh*t I thought. Looked over at my mom and she said "uh oh, that doesn't sound right." Popped the hood and couldn't see any loose wires, battery terminals looked fine, what could it be? Doubtful it was the battery, it was brand new and had been tested by the previous owner. Plenty of power going to the interior electronics so wasn't sure what to do (as I said no mechanical knowledge whatsoever).
So I made contact with a friendly guy in the next bay who looked self dependent and automotively inclined and asked him for some help. He looked at it and after checking all cables etc thought it might be the starter. So he said lets rock it back and forth and see if the starter then gets contact. Sure enough it worked! He recommended getting it replaced as soon as I got home. He also explained how the contacts can wear and rocking it will get them to connect sometimes. Lesson #1 How a starter works!
After leaving New Orleans our next destination was San Antonio. Drive out across the south was uneventful, the motor smooth and the ride pleasant. Hit San Antonio and got a hotel right on the riverwalk. I was impressed with San Antonio, friendly people, great food and interesting city. We didn't make it to the Alamo, but we did make it to a beautiful church and watched a light show displayed on it. Later it was some great food and drinks on the riverwalk. After an early morning start, our next destination was New Mexico. After some debate and updates on the Colorado Rockies pass conditions we opted to go to Las Cruces NM and then through Moab, UT because why not?
Riverwalk
Riverwalk Blvd
San Antonio Light Show
Season Greetings
On our way to New Mexico we passed through a town in east Texas by the name of Van Horn. Going up a small grade out of town, disaster struck. I started to smell the sweet smell of coolant burning, glanced at the temp gauge and saw the temperature gauge rising . I pulled over immediately in a slow down maneuver that would have impressed Ivan Stewart and I thought "s***, I either blew a head gasket or hopefully its just a coolant hose that cracked or popped off." See after reading Mud for two years I was preconditioned to head gasket failure at anytime followed by massive internal damage and warped heads. But then I thought there was no stumble in the motor driving up the grade because of a misfire so its probably a hose. Popped the hood and sure enough, upper radiator hose had failed. I was relived, my mom was pretty worried because we were out in the middle of nowhere. I told her relax, we got cell phones and some cash. Sit back and relax and stay in the moment as we will never be here again so might as well enjoy the moment. After all isn't that what a land cruiser is for? Getting you out there to see things and places your likely never to see again?
Relax enjoy the breakdown
Next step was to call an auto shop in the nearest town and see if we cold get some roadside assistance and a new hose and coolant. Got a mechanic to come out, confirmed it was just the upper radiator hose thank all that is holy, refilled on coolant and off we went.
Van Horn, TX
Out next stop was in Las Cruces NM, where it was Thanksgiving eve and the dining choices were few and far between. We found a Chilis or Applebees which all I can remember was how lousy the food was and then off to a Best Western for the night. Next morning after checking Oil and Coolant levels we headed out for Utah. The plan was to make Salt Lake and then stop off at the Land Cruiser Museum. Why not on the maiden voyage home stop off at a place that is mecca for all cruiser heads? Next morning we grabbed some breakfast and headed out to try and reach Moab by end of day but with a stop at 4 corners since it was on the way.
Money Shot
Las Cruces
At this point we were heading across Navajo reservation and gawd it was desolate. I admit after the radiator hose episode that I had a slight pucker factor looking out across all the land with virtually nothing in sight and the bars on my cell disappearing almost as fast as the gas in the tank. 12 mpg with a headwind what you gonna do?
The Rez
Rolled into a tiny town called Monticello south of Moab on a cold, crisp Thanksgiving evening. We had really pushed it that day covering 590 miles with a couple stops for gas and food and didn't have the energy to push on to Moab. So after checking in, we went to the nicest convenience store we could find, got some turkey and cranberry sandwiches, some beer and headed back to our so so motel. The sandwiches were actually pretty good and beer is always good so after about one and half sandwiches and beers I laid back on the bed and promptly fell asleep. I was awakened several times by the ancient heater in the room that sounded like a new blue clutch fan on startup that completely failed to match the ferocity of the noise with any real heat production.
Off to Moab in the morning and pushing on to SLC. It was uneventful except I would say that Moab was smaller than I expected and SLC had a lot more sprawl than I thought it would. Rolled up here and was virtually shaking with excitement.
Arrival
Suspicious Character
From Every Corner of the World
Drool
Land Cruiser means on every land
Best fishing and overland rig ever?
Wow
On the road again we aimed the cruiser towards Boise, ID and looked forward to our second to last day on the road. Got into Boise, enjoyed a fantastic dinner at great bistro and some really great ales and by the next day we were home. All in all almost 3,000 miles and 5 nights. The cruiser was dependable and thats about as a solid introduction you could ever want.
So what is the build gonna be like? I can only say my inspiration comes from many of the fantastic builds on "mud including but certainly not limited to @ZeGerman , @Lumpskie , @Box Rocket , @Luke111 , @IanB , @CaptBeardilocks , @SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr and many others, sipping whiskey (rye preferably), fly fishing for anything that swims in the northwest and a undefinable passion for this truck. One of the most important aspects in this is for me to learn to take care of almost anything on my truck. After all, I graduated from high school the year my truck was built and I know how I am holding up over the years so I know this 80 will need care.
I have already gotten great advice and help from many of you including @BILT4ME , @LINUS , @Kernal , and many others. I am looking forward to every little part of this build.
Hello Mudders! I have now owned my second cruiser for three years so I decided to finally put together a build thread. I'm writing one in part because this community is so freaking knowledgeable and has helped me fix so many things on my own truck that I would like to see if I can add to the great content if not fabbing skills and, of course, as a place where I can document my progress and keep track of the various projects and hopefully then next 30 years plus of travel and fun with this cruiser. I want to make sure an document all the trips I do in it as well because after all isn't that the point?
So how did I get here.....
In mid 2016 I bought a 1993 TLC with zero rust, a pretty good interior and a really smooth motor despite having over 300k miles. The truck had been in the Pacific Northwest its entire life and the body other than the one obligatory rear door rust spot and a poorly screwed on flare was as good as ever could be expected. All in all a good starting platform. And just as a disclaimer now, I practically knew nothing about vehicle maintenance or had any automotive knowledge other than how to change oil and break pads and rotate tires. I didn't even understand how a engine really worked and what each part did (ie intake and exhaust valves, crank, timing chain etc). I was no doubt, a one banana mechanic, maybe even negative bananas. Perhaps a plantain mechanic? Either way my knowledge was extremely limited.
I worked on it here and there replacing some worn parts (hoses, window runs, replacing broken switches etc) and put lizard skin sound deadening throughout the interior and doors which was a huge PITA but man what a difference in noise level! Afterwards, the car doors sounded like a Bentley when you closed them. Did a few oil changes and was looking at tires for a bit too.
But after a while I started thinking about all the things that I liked about my cruiser and all the places it could take me fishing and camping and thought this could be a truck that I keep for decades. And because I was thinking about owning this truck forever, I started wondering if this 93 was really the platform that I wanted to build off of. I decided it wasn't. Not because my truck wasn't a great vehicle but rather I knew I wanted to go the forced induction route someday which isn't possible on OBDI and I liked the idea of getting a OBDII truck so I could read codes easier, have better rear breaks, and air bags along with the more updated interior. One of my good friends was interested in purchasing my cruiser so I knew I could sell it to someone that would take care of it. He of course, was very interested in me getting a new rig so he could get my own rig, for weeks he would ask me "when are you going to NOLA?" and "whats up with NOLA, when was the last time you talked?" and "has NOLA sent you anymore videos?" I hasn't yet explained my plan to my wife and I thought my wife was might wonder if I was having affair the way I was wandering around the house answering these questions in hushed tones.
So I started looking for a a new LC and what I wanted was something that had a majority of the critical maintenance done so I could use it a lot while learning how to work on it a bit at a time myself. I knew I wanted a white or moon glow with tan interior that had all the hard to find or NOLA items such as headliner, carpet, doors in good shape. I figured any other things I could fix myself or better yet learn to fix myself. I also was more interested in building an expo rig than a crawler so lockers weren't critical for me.
I should also mention at this time that Toyota's tend to go for a higher price in the Northwest. Up here its called the Toyota tax. Just take a look at the Seattle craigslist for LCs and you will see many trucks going for multiples higher than what a lot of the parts of the country pay for their rigs. Its insane, a lot of sellers have unrealistic price exceptions or perhaps just list their trucks at ridiculously high prices to appease their spouse so they can say "See I listed it for sale but not takers yet." Meanwhile they plan to never actually sell. Smart strategy actually....
But I digress, after searching for a month or two, I found one that I liked. All the major maintenance items had been done (brakes, birfs, heater valve, PHH, seals etc). Only issue was that the truck was in New Orleans and I live just north of Seattle, WA. After emailing the seller back and forth some and getting some great videos of the truck I decided, Phuck it, I'll do a fly and drive thing. Never done that before but it seemed to line up with the idea of purchasing an adventure rig; why not go on adventure to get it too? I spoke to my wife and she was down with the idea. Only problem was that we had to wait until Thanksgiving week to go because my wife couldn't take any time off because her work was so busy. And then when teh week arrived, it turned out she couldn't go at all. So what to do? I certainly wasn't going to not go get the cruiser. But I have a spare airplane ticket and didn't necessarily want to go solo. All my buddies were spending time with family and they could go either.....I know! I will invite my 72 year old mom to go! She was thrilled with idea.
Hello NOLA!
So we fly down to New Orleans and the seller, a mud member, meets us at the airport with the truck. Saw the truck from a mile away and was super pumped. The seller was pretty cool and took us to a nearby parking lot where we did a walk around. I knew enough to look for major items and didn't see anything major (some oil leaks from the valve cover, clean knuckles but not dry and no coolant leaking). I did a test drive with the owner who physically recoiled when I floored it on the highway. I warned him before I was going to do but I had to work it out to see if there was any issues. The plus side was that kind of reaction told me he was pretty protective of his truck. The only downside was that the truck had a bit rougher body than I expected but I could fix that over time. The body panels still had matching VIN numbers so at least I knew it was all original. The seller did warn me about an intermittent starting issue where the truck wouldn't start once in a while. This had begun just recently and he had replaced the battery with a brand new one just before we got there and it hadn't happen since. More on that later......So after agreeing on payment we went to a local DMV changed title, dropped off the seller and took off!
The drive home was started a day after spending the night in New Orleans. We stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental and had an amazing dinner to celebrate. Being from Seattle we are big fans of seafood an was very surprised at the quality of the oysters in NOLA. They were on happy hour and I think we got 2 dozen of them. Great time and it was cool to have the cruiser parked right up in front of a pretty nice hotel. As people passed by I saw a lot of double takes which of course is awesome as a new owner.
Celebration Dinner
Next day we rolled out of NOLA and had made about three hours outside New Orleans and stopped for gas. Filled up, went to start the truck, heard a click and that was it. Nothing. Sh*t I thought. Looked over at my mom and she said "uh oh, that doesn't sound right." Popped the hood and couldn't see any loose wires, battery terminals looked fine, what could it be? Doubtful it was the battery, it was brand new and had been tested by the previous owner. Plenty of power going to the interior electronics so wasn't sure what to do (as I said no mechanical knowledge whatsoever).
So I made contact with a friendly guy in the next bay who looked self dependent and automotively inclined and asked him for some help. He looked at it and after checking all cables etc thought it might be the starter. So he said lets rock it back and forth and see if the starter then gets contact. Sure enough it worked! He recommended getting it replaced as soon as I got home. He also explained how the contacts can wear and rocking it will get them to connect sometimes. Lesson #1 How a starter works!
After leaving New Orleans our next destination was San Antonio. Drive out across the south was uneventful, the motor smooth and the ride pleasant. Hit San Antonio and got a hotel right on the riverwalk. I was impressed with San Antonio, friendly people, great food and interesting city. We didn't make it to the Alamo, but we did make it to a beautiful church and watched a light show displayed on it. Later it was some great food and drinks on the riverwalk. After an early morning start, our next destination was New Mexico. After some debate and updates on the Colorado Rockies pass conditions we opted to go to Las Cruces NM and then through Moab, UT because why not?
Riverwalk
Riverwalk Blvd
San Antonio Light Show
Season Greetings
On our way to New Mexico we passed through a town in east Texas by the name of Van Horn. Going up a small grade out of town, disaster struck. I started to smell the sweet smell of coolant burning, glanced at the temp gauge and saw the temperature gauge rising . I pulled over immediately in a slow down maneuver that would have impressed Ivan Stewart and I thought "s***, I either blew a head gasket or hopefully its just a coolant hose that cracked or popped off." See after reading Mud for two years I was preconditioned to head gasket failure at anytime followed by massive internal damage and warped heads. But then I thought there was no stumble in the motor driving up the grade because of a misfire so its probably a hose. Popped the hood and sure enough, upper radiator hose had failed. I was relived, my mom was pretty worried because we were out in the middle of nowhere. I told her relax, we got cell phones and some cash. Sit back and relax and stay in the moment as we will never be here again so might as well enjoy the moment. After all isn't that what a land cruiser is for? Getting you out there to see things and places your likely never to see again?
Relax enjoy the breakdown
Next step was to call an auto shop in the nearest town and see if we cold get some roadside assistance and a new hose and coolant. Got a mechanic to come out, confirmed it was just the upper radiator hose thank all that is holy, refilled on coolant and off we went.
Van Horn, TX
Out next stop was in Las Cruces NM, where it was Thanksgiving eve and the dining choices were few and far between. We found a Chilis or Applebees which all I can remember was how lousy the food was and then off to a Best Western for the night. Next morning after checking Oil and Coolant levels we headed out for Utah. The plan was to make Salt Lake and then stop off at the Land Cruiser Museum. Why not on the maiden voyage home stop off at a place that is mecca for all cruiser heads? Next morning we grabbed some breakfast and headed out to try and reach Moab by end of day but with a stop at 4 corners since it was on the way.
Money Shot
Las Cruces
At this point we were heading across Navajo reservation and gawd it was desolate. I admit after the radiator hose episode that I had a slight pucker factor looking out across all the land with virtually nothing in sight and the bars on my cell disappearing almost as fast as the gas in the tank. 12 mpg with a headwind what you gonna do?
The Rez
Rolled into a tiny town called Monticello south of Moab on a cold, crisp Thanksgiving evening. We had really pushed it that day covering 590 miles with a couple stops for gas and food and didn't have the energy to push on to Moab. So after checking in, we went to the nicest convenience store we could find, got some turkey and cranberry sandwiches, some beer and headed back to our so so motel. The sandwiches were actually pretty good and beer is always good so after about one and half sandwiches and beers I laid back on the bed and promptly fell asleep. I was awakened several times by the ancient heater in the room that sounded like a new blue clutch fan on startup that completely failed to match the ferocity of the noise with any real heat production.
Off to Moab in the morning and pushing on to SLC. It was uneventful except I would say that Moab was smaller than I expected and SLC had a lot more sprawl than I thought it would. Rolled up here and was virtually shaking with excitement.
Arrival
Suspicious Character
From Every Corner of the World
Drool
Land Cruiser means on every land
Best fishing and overland rig ever?
Wow
On the road again we aimed the cruiser towards Boise, ID and looked forward to our second to last day on the road. Got into Boise, enjoyed a fantastic dinner at great bistro and some really great ales and by the next day we were home. All in all almost 3,000 miles and 5 nights. The cruiser was dependable and thats about as a solid introduction you could ever want.
So what is the build gonna be like? I can only say my inspiration comes from many of the fantastic builds on "mud including but certainly not limited to @ZeGerman , @Lumpskie , @Box Rocket , @Luke111 , @IanB , @CaptBeardilocks , @SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr and many others, sipping whiskey (rye preferably), fly fishing for anything that swims in the northwest and a undefinable passion for this truck. One of the most important aspects in this is for me to learn to take care of almost anything on my truck. After all, I graduated from high school the year my truck was built and I know how I am holding up over the years so I know this 80 will need care.
I have already gotten great advice and help from many of you including @BILT4ME , @LINUS , @Kernal , and many others. I am looking forward to every little part of this build.
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mechanics first attempt a getting a HG done. The full thread can be found here but I'll post a few hight lights below:
