Questions about a 94 80 series I’m looking at (2 Viewers)

[davidlytle]

I checked out a super nice 80 series but have a few questions. It’s got 250k miles. 2 owner. Car check rated it 63 out of 52. Absolutely zero rust on frame. Really nice interior. Paint is a 75 to 80.

The engine bay has tons of oil

When driving with slight foot on accelerator there is a noticeable whine.

There is no button for the center diff lock

Seems to pull slightly when accelerating

A rust spot on the back hatch below the rear window seal

The owners son backed the truck out the garage with the door open and bent it back so he replaced it with a different year LC so the vin doesn’t match. Issue with potential reselling?

here are some pics. I’ve never owned a LC but I’ve always wanted an 80 series.

 

[davidlytle]

additional pics

 

[freshspecbluegt]

Looks pretty good.

Oil leak looks to be primarily from the valve cover gasket but would expect to go through others seals as well as PM.

The interior looks great for age and miles.

Not sure if you are referring to center diff lock or factory lockers. Not sure if 94 had factory center diff lock button, wiring should be there though.

White is single stage paint so lots of options for bringing that back to near factory quality.

Definitely address rear hatch rust. I would spend some time looking inside rear storage compartments and around rocker, floor boards to make sure that is isolated. My 95 which has been a California car its whole life needed a small touch up in the hatch area when we took the glass out for paint. Pretty common.

From the pictures as long as the price is right your probably good to go as long as your comfortable addressing the leaks and that bit of rust

 

[davidlytle]

Looks pretty good.

Oil leak looks to be primarily from the valve cover gasket but would expect to go through others seals as well as PM.

The interior looks great for age and miles.

Not sure if you are referring to center diff lock or factory lockers. Not sure if 94 had factory center diff lock button, wiring should be there though.

White is single stage paint so lots of options for bringing that back to near factory quality.

Definitely address rear hatch rust. I would spend some time looking inside rear storage compartments and around rocker, floor boards to make sure that is isolated. My 95 which has been a California car its whole life needed a small touch up in the hatch area when we took the glass out for paint. Pretty common.

From the pictures as long as the price is right your probably good to go as long as your comfortable addressing the leaks and that bit of rust

I’m pretty comfortable fixing things. I’d probably have someone do the rust repair on the rear. The same price is 13,000. Is that reasonable?

 

[bigredmachine]

Not sure if 94 had factory center diff lock button, wiring should be there though.

it did not, but its easy enough to add it and you are correct the connector for it is there

 

[LandLocked93]

View attachment 3438586

Interior is right on. Looks great!
The feature list is odd - cloth, no lockers, and no luggage rack, BUT with a sunroof.

Radiator has been replaced, so that's something.

What is the intended use for it?
Just to own and drive till you decide to resell?
Build it out to some degree for off roading or for overlanding?

The degree to which you would address the things I'm seeing under the hood/underneath/lacking from factory would be different depending.

 

[davidlytle]

Interior is right on. Looks great!
The feature list is odd - cloth, no lockers, and no luggage rack, BUT with a sunroof.

Radiator has been replaced, so that's something.

What is the intended use for it?
Just to own and drive till you decide to resell?
Build it out to some degree for off roading or for overlanding?

The degree to which you would address the things I'm seeing under the hood/underneath/lacking from factory would be different depending.

I’d definitely appreciate your opinion. I thought the same thing with options. No tow option either.

I would clean the and degrease the entire thing and see what seals need to be replaced. My intent would be to restore to as much as factory as possible. Only upgrading to slight off-road improvements like lift kit. I don’t care for the overland look. Especially a white one is want it to look stock but be capable. Because the frame is so pristine I’d be interested in potentially fixing itv up to sell and use the funds to get a triple locked to keep for long time. If this had the triple lockers It would be an end game LC

 

[LandLocked93]

I would clean the and degrease the entire thing and see what seals need to be replaced.

Great place to start, regardless of the end game.

My intent would be to restore to as much as factory as possible. Only upgrading to slight off-road improvements like lift kit.

Not sure I'd do the lift on it. Resale value will not be negatively affected as a result.
Drive it as is and get a feel for it.

Because the frame is so pristine I’d be interested in potentially fixing itv up to sell and use the funds to get a triple locked to keep for long time. If this had the triple lockers It would be an end game LC

Copy that and agree.

 

[davidlytle]

Great place to start, regardless of the end game.

Not sure I'd do the lift on it. Resale value will not be negatively affected as a result.
Drive it as is and get a feel for it.

Copy that and agree.

Any thoughts on the whine I heard when driving it and slight gas pedal press?

 

[davidlytle]

Are interior parts hard to come by? I’ve been in the classic SAAB scene for 23 years and parts have always been impossible.

 

[MUDZLLA]

ebay and Partsouq are your friends for parts. $13k seems about right for the condition. A whine on acceleration could be a carrier bearing in the rear end. Check that for signs of metal shavings on the plug. If found negotiate down a couple grand.

Expect to put some cash into it and you wont be disappointed.

 

[LandLocked93]

Any thoughts on the whine I heard when driving it and slight gas pedal press?

Best to post a video of it. Impossible to tell otherwise.
Mine has a pleasant 'whirr' if you will. I like the sound and hope it never goes away. lol
A whine speaks to maybe the power steering pump/system. I've personally r&r'd that system so can answer questions if need be.

The pull under accel...likely drive line bushings - front control arms, panhard, maybe a worn trunion bearing, loose nuts in places/draggy brake component. I've done all those as well, like many others here. We'll be happy to help.

Welcome to the slippery slope. lol Most individual systems (steering, cooling, suspension, etc) can be dealt with one at a time.
Search the forum; videos/sound help alot for team t-shooting efforts.

 

[gummycarbs]

There is no button for the center diff lock

Good. A CDL button from the factory means that it doesn't have ABS and doesn't have a fully-floating rear axle. It get advertised on Craigslist and whatnot as some great feature when it's actually a sign that someone didn't want to pay the $500 upgrade when new.

The same price is 13,000. Is that reasonable?

Only you can answer that. I paid $1,700 for my '94. You won't find one that cheap anymore.

If this had the triple lockers It would be an end game LC

So add Eaton or ARB lockers. What an utterly insane thing to get hung up on.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Agreed on the comment about lockers.

Either hold out for your "end game" cruiser with lockers, or grab one in the best condition you can find and add lockers.

There's pros and cons for and against all the different lockers, I wouldn't get hung up on not having oem lockers.

Also, unless it's minty fresh, a lot of the money you'll spend on PM probably won't come back to you in a sale price. You'll get back pennies on the dollar.

I think a lot of interior trim parts are largely NLA or available in limited colours

 

[effjay80]

I drove my 94 off the dealer lot new with no lockers, cloth interior, moonroof, and no luggage rack. What's odd about that? Also ABS but no high CDL button but the wiring is behind the dash and easy to add. In bad snow that's my favorite way to drive - high CDL engaged with ABS off. But Phoenix so...

The OEM towing package was just a bolt on below the frame hitch nothing special.

I had the EXACT same rear hatch rust problem and was pretty easy for good body shop to remedy correctly.

One thing to consider with 93 and 94 is the VAF vs MAF issue. Don't touch those screws!

Interior looks nice just like my 94. The foam seat pads under the fabric are easy to replace and made a big difference after 30 years. I'd also agree with above take a good look under the carpet and padding too.

Most of the interior parts are still available BUT perhaps not in the color you want.

I also gotta agree with Gummy the "triple factory lock" issue wouldn't be a remote consideration for me if looking and a nice candidate came up. Add lockers if you want. Shrug.

Good luck!

 

[CrabCake]

Nice looking rig in my opinion and twin to mine...If you've been looking for an 80 and like how this one is optioned, I'd jump on $13k. As long as you have a few $k in backup for little projects and can wrench a bit yourself, I'd call it a no-brainer. I made the trip from MD to AZ to grab mine last summer, so being local would save you a few $K just in travel/transport that I spent.

As far as general issues, as others have said, hatch repair can be done or at least controlled for now and cleaned up. Oil leak really isn't that bad since it's more caked than dripping out of it (shows a long time slow leak). A quick engine clean and you can diagnose the repairs needed, starting with the valve cover gasket. Whine can be a lot of things, but doubt that it's catastrophic given the overall look of the truck which shows minimal abuse.

For the triple lock, it's a nice option, but highly overrated (in my opinion) when it comes to resale value. The CDL button is a very easy add with just a button in the dash as the wiring is already there, and as others mentioned, means that you have ABS and full float rear axle and better brakes which is great. Mine has the CDL add on button and is rear locked via ARB and compressor in rear hatch. Front on mine is open and unless you are a hard core off roader, makes zero difference in the capabilities....I've run mine to the limit and still got through everything with a little extra effort that a triple locked (aftermarket) truck did with my same lift/tire spec. In the end, if you lock the rear first and actually use it, you'll probably not worry about the front like me. Also, a high quality Eaton is a relatively easy install and far less expensive than a factory locked truck, while performing as well if not better in the end and not needing the additional compressor (although handy for air-ups too!). In fact, if you look around, you can get the wiring harness for the dash and a wiring diagram to actually hook up an OEM lock switch to run the Eatons which would be cool and clean looking on the dash.

With the ABS optioned truck, I believe that you'd be a late '84 production, which is good. I think the cut is around 3/84 or 4/84, but if after that (mine is 10/84), you'll have the beefier front drive flanges plus other little odd's and ends that are improvements. One quirk to this vintage is that you'll be on OBD1 instead of 2, so you'll need to do your diagnostics with a jumper pin instead of a scan tool. Grab yourself the full service book on it, and it goes through diagnosing just about every system that you could have any issues with, using voltages, vacuum readings, etc....so again, if you are handy, it's pretty easy to work on.

Depending on your off-road wishes, you could probably go with a fresh OEM or equivalent spring and shock set and still be able to bump up a little in tire size to beef it up a little...you'll be amazed with the stance and extra capabilities with this alone as you'r probably sagging a few inches now.

I hope that this is inspiring....mine is my first 80 and I will pass it along to my son (that turned me on to them) in another 30 years before I sell it!

One quick note after looking through your pics again, I'd probably plan to service the front axles...the wiper seals on the Birfs look a little "too dry" for my liking. At least pull the plug out of the top and dip the grease to make sure it's still looking good and proper fill (easy to find out how here on the forums). I'd plan on checking these plus changing all of your diff and trans fluids right off the bat unless you have some service records with history on these items.

Good luck if you take the plunge! Honestly, I can't see how you would loose a dime if you put a few $K into the regular maintenance items that you should do anyway.

 

[CharlieS]

My advice is to hold out for the one you really want.

If you aren't going offroad, no need for front and rear lockers except to brag about having them. If you are really going to take it on challenging terrain, that's a different story (they're magical), but you said you weren't. Adding them is easily a $6k proposition with Eatons or ARBs (I put Eatons on my 200 series).

Plan on several thousand dollars of deffered maintenance, invluding a full front axle service, fluids, filters, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and replacing every bit of 30 year old rubber in the engine bay. Chasing leaks will start with the valve cover gasket and distributor o-ring, then you'll discover all the other leaks you need to fix.

This may sound obsessive, but the cooling system, vacuum hoses, gaskets, seals, o-rings and suspension rubber is all 30 years old and either failed or failing. I ended up replacing all of the engine bay rubber and lots of other rubber stuff on my '94.

Also, check the rear wheel wells where the backing plate for the seatbelt anchor is attached for hidden corrosion. Mine had holes, and required welding patches in.

Last of all, know that some parts are becoming very hard to find (or may be NLA), or have become quite expensive. Examples of NLA parts include O2 sensors & VAF. IAC valve runs $350++, fergeddabout headlights $$$$, etc. There are alternatives for some of it: other year parts, used, rebuilders, etc. Aftermarket repair parts are mostly crap in my experience.

They are absolutely awesome rigs, as long as you know what you're getting into...

 

[COYS]

Resale and this example shouldn’t be mentioned in the same thread.

Life is short. Just wait and find your end game 80 instead of a rusty stop gap rig. Stepping over a dollhair to pick up a dime dude.

Good luck!

 

[davidlytle]

Resale and this example shouldn’t be mentioned in the same thread.

Life is short. Just wait and find your end game 80 instead of a rusty stop gap rig. Stepping over a dollhair to pick up a dime dude.

Good luck!

There’s no rust on the frame at all. I think it should be mentioned that resale is potential and me asking specific questions because I don’t know anything about land cruisers which is why I’m asking. I feel intent is important to disclose. This LC seems in really good shape. Just the rust spot on the back hatch.

 

[davidlytle]

My advice is to hold out for the one you really want.

If you aren't going offroad, no need for front and rear lockers except to brag about having them. If you are really going to take it on challenging terrain, that's a different story (they're magical), but you said you weren't. Adding them is easily a $6k proposition with Eatons or ARBs (I put Eatons on my 200 series).

Plan on several thousand dollars of deffered maintenance, invluding a full front axle service, fluids, filters, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and replacing every bit of 30 year old rubber in the engine bay. Chasing leaks will start with the valve cover gasket and distributor o-ring, then you'll discover all the other leaks you need to fix.

This may sound obsessive, but the cooling system, vacuum hoses, gaskets, seals, o-rings and suspension rubber is all 30 years old and either failed or failing. I ended up replacing all of the engine bay rubber and lots of other rubber stuff on my '94.

Also, check the rear wheel wells where the backing plate for the seatbelt anchor is attached for hidden corrosion. Mine had holes, and required welding patches in.

Last of all, know that some parts are becoming very hard to find (or may be NLA), or have become quite expensive. Examples of NLA parts include O2 sensors & VAF. IAC valve runs $350++, fergeddabout headlights $$$$, etc. There are alternatives for some of it: other year parts, used, rebuilders, etc. Aftermarket repair parts are mostly crap in my experience.

They are absolutely awesome rigs, as long as you know what you're getting into...

I don’t do hard off-roading. I have/had a 2020 4Runner with no lockers and really enjoyed it. My wife got it in the divorce, but I I’ve always wanted an 80 series LC. I don’t need lockers and I’d be cool adding aftermarket rear locker. I was just thinking since the prices have gotten so crazy and the triple locked LC’s are the most desirable I’d go that route.

I think Im going to get it but I’ll have a shop here look at to see what I’m in for. There’s a few few LC specific shops I’ll check out. I can’t believe o2 sensors are NA for these!

Regarding replacing all the bushings grommets and seals is right up my alley. Ive done all these things on 2 Saab 900’s 85 and 87. Im actually looking forward to doing it. Do you guys recommend just rubber bushings or poly? I know Poly is really easy to install but not sure with off-roading if they are too hard.

I think things this needs interior wise is a new dash and 2 front door cards, the vents were very wobbly too, I’ll throw the old radio back in and add a Bluetooth amp so I get the classic look but upgraded speakers and Bluetooth.

I’ll check for Rust by the seatbelt anchors.