Builds A Touch of Gray build (2 Viewers)

[jfz80]

Well another year has gone by and not too many changes.

I went back to an OEM driveshaft with original ujoints and 235k miles. Wasnt the plan; the shop was supposed to retube it with 1/4'' tube and then replace the ujoints. The technician didnt replace the joints and when I asked why he said they felt great, plus thems is them toyota joints, wouldnt replace it unless its broke. Place is out of town so I went with it, plus had really wanted OEM units if they were replaced but was under a time crunch and had not ordered them. The tom woods had developed some play b/w the ujoint cap and the yoke and they do not really have a lifetime warranty

Picked up a windcheetah roofrack by FrontRunner. I had wanted a flat profile rack for eventually strapping a Maggiolina to it for a while now and picked this up from a local mudder.

pretty slick 8mm bolt mounting system allows alot of flexibility, made a bicycle fork mount for it today

Made GSMTR this past year and developed a knocking on the way home. Kinda worried this might be the culprit....it was a bit muddy in TN

Paranoid ears doing what they do best I stressed a good bit as I ran it trying forever to track it down. Turns out all that racket was a bad belt !! I would have never believed had I not changed them myself.

Unfortuantely a month later I tore my ACL and miniscus and ended up needing surgery. So as life would have it the cruiser funds are now depleted and there will be no new shoes or gears for any time soon
All my wheeling was now relegated to 1/10th scale. Now to find the 80 body to keep this tech

At least with an auto you can still wheel on crutches got to do some exploring as I became more mobile here for fall time in the mountains and subsequently exponentially increased the pinstriping in the span of one day so I broke out the wax (shhh I know) and gave her a lil love.

 

[AShoe]

Nice rig!!! How do you hit 8946rpm with an 80?

 

[jfz80]

still trying to figure that one out. Went to recalibrate the scan guage since I had the battery disconnected during a tune up before gsmtr and it was set correctly for 37's so still

and side note, i got 14 mpg going to GSMTR and 14.6 on the way home; same as the guys trailering their 80s
(course they could push it harder and still have a ride home)

 

[Taildragon]

Sorry if you said already, what spacers did you finally end up going with?
I'm going to be rockin the sequoia wheels soon.

Thanks, Justin

 

[jfz80]

Sorry if you said already, what spacers did you finally end up going with?
I'm going to be rockin the sequoia wheels soon.

Thanks, Justin

I rock the rerattle can your frame rail every few months. NO spacers yet. Only rub the frame rail at full stuff in the rear and the side lugs grab the control arm at full lock in the front and that is likely b/c the 13.5 tread width. I bought a set of 1''s and they ended up on the 45 instead :whoops:.

Already found your wheels? Want a set wrapped in sub 6k mile BFG at's in the 315 flavor? pm me if interested

 

[bullmas1]

Thanks for taking us through the years. I just got my 80 in August, so the addiction has just begun. I also tore my acl and meniscus last year so I feel your pain.

 

[jfz80]

let there be light!!! and less police harrassment

I have had this on the shelf for over 3 years now and havent found the time or inspiration to hook it up. However the very day Lance from IPOR was kidding me about my tag I got pulled over on our OBX trip.

I fixed it by removing the tag and ziptied it to the wheel but it didnt satisfy the lighted requirement so I was relegated to daytime driving.

Fast forward two weeks and I made it back to GSMTR this year. In the haste to leave out early to get home I forgot to toss the tire back on the roof rack for the ride home and the NC highway patrol was nice enough to inform me TWICE I was breaking the law.

So I didnt have to order the relocate plate and deal with disconnecting it each time i needed the spare (or more appropriately switched tire sizes) I drilled and tapped the swingout instead. Tag fits perfect. Had wanted to mount it to the bumper but the tag is 1/4 inch larger in dimension and would hang down grabbing rocks or stick up making the shelf of the bumper less useable.

Only regret is that it interferes with the bumper when opened past 90*. Not to big a deal cause if you open it past ninety your getting ready to crack a tail light with my setup.

LitePLATE tm from offroadonly.com

Overall im pleased with the unit. However the weather pack connector was pure T crap. During assembly the crimped the end connectors so tight it cut through the wire. I finished installing and the wires fell out on the first test run. So I eliminated the quick connect and hard wired it in.

 

[jfz80]

and the routing from OEM liscense bulb fixture I pulled the clip and removed it from the tailgate, ran it inside the rear rocker void and out the square pop out panels. I can always run it back as it was without ever cutting into the system.

Cool feature of this unit is if you want to you can wire it in as a 3rd brake indicator. I did not however there are 3 red led's facing out and now that I see it is eye level for most drivers it might not have been a bad idea.


So ladies and gents, depending on how bored or broke your highway patrol division is it might be time to take care of that tag.

 

[jfz80]

Another year already............

well about a week after that last post the radiator cracked on the top tank. Not much but enough to make me leary and I read too many failed repairs to try. Called up Mr. T and got a new one on the way.....ouch!

Fast forward a year and I turned quarter million miles this week and gave the old girl some love as she is getting ready to take me to NY for a month of work and then the "long" way home for some camping and backroads.

I installed the EMS full stainless exhaust to replace the custom unit I had made 4 years ago. Like the sound a lot better but the blingin tip is likely in harms way if I can get this thing offroad again. It is still louder than I like right at 2500 but right in the useable powerband and definately acceptable.

Then installed a new OEM power steering pump and high pressure line as well as all new lines and an aftermarket 10'' cooler so I could drive through the neighborhood without the whine. Plus the plan is to be back on 37's when these wear out I cut up, bent, and rewelded existing brackets off the PS cooler to use to hold the lines in place and out of harms way as I rerouted the cooler in non-stock configuration.

and concrete jungle gifted me a front elocker guard from marlin st some point

 

[lt1fire]

Looking good J

 

[jfz80]

wow….. three years without an update. I blame the 45



Not too much going on lately but a few significant changes. First off the above aforementioned trip to NY was great. The return home not so much. Started experiencing cutoff situations in high ambient temps on the trip home and just a few miles from my house on a 31 hour trip home it cutoff again and i learned my brake vacuum check valve had failed resulting in the rearranging of the structural integrity of a ford Who knew sport cross beds were fiberglass. poof!


crunch

That sucked and this issued in the era of the “runs with white fender” jokes on the ham/cb’s on our club events for a few years as money was tight and im good at procrastinating. I got this one off a local part out near me.


‘runs with white fender’ on a few olde north state cruiser runs

I dont even recall what happened with the old arb???? but i picked up a used one from a local member whose 80 met an unfortunate fate. Back in Black and i was kinda digging it. Wheels followed shortly for a change of pace from the monochrome



Black arb

 

[jfz80]

Ok i really liked the change and sold my IPOR rear bumper and picked up and 4x4 labs shell only bumper and went rattle can black with it too. Like the naked look but need a swing out for tire/fuel/bike solutions in the future. However I will have to say after years of beating on the IPOR and dropping it on rocks across the east coast while the 4x4labs bumper has greater departure angles I bent mine in two spots on the very first trip out. Not so impressed with that aspect but still like the high clearance. I think it would be great if Luke would incorporate ribs like the MT sliders inside the rear shell to beef it up. Oddly since purchase I've been more into the overland style trips.

labs bumper

Since she shares DD duties the longer hauls to work usually get the nod toward the 80. It was one of these trips that the heater hose decided to retire. Luckily for me it was at a red light when it let go and i pulled into a gas station and googled up the local auto zone. again luck on my side just over a mile away so off i go. It actually wasn't the PHH but the heater hose above that equally short and stubborn. Got me home and i ended up replacing all the hoses and oem heater valve as well doing the bypass for rear heat due to condition of hard lines.

Steaming mad

Back on work action and back in the same town I suffer a stuck starter. Again a few calls and posts around the local board , olde north state cruisers, and I have a starter sourced and a delivery inbound. Sweet!


Along the way, there was also a twisted rear axle spline in there somewhere that had me struggling to diagnose a non functioning rear locker for a while. Pretty sure this climb was the culprit.

 

[jfz80]

Well same as the first two arbs the simply cant handle any persuasion from trail obstacles. Bent another wing up pretty decent. Had some fun straightning that one out and then passed it along to a new club member and jumped on the AOE group buy. Ugh. that was interesting and the bumper looked like it was kicked down the road from CA to NC but slipped on and while debating whether to clear coat the raw steel, it formed a sweet patina (did i mention procrastination skills) while the patina was quite cool and lots of votes went toward clearing mad max into permanence i somehow went back to UniqueCoatings and the GB2 gray. Im digging it .

Another arb bending session

AOE onboard

 

[jfz80]

well after a year or so of harassment, maybe two i finally got into the paint booth to fix the fender and the badly failing clear coat on the hood. Decent job for the price but funky color to match at different angles and lights.

moonglow goodness

 

[jfz80]

Since the flares have been gone for years and no intention of replacing them now i decided to drill out the mounting bracket rivets and plug the holes. I picked up some push in plugs from lowe’s for a GM and sanded/painted with a ford gray and fixed my yota viola LOL

paint was bgm o536
plugs were from lowes home improvement. Hillman #881199 variable depth push fastener GM $.80 per pair

flare hole plugs

View attachment 1029505
link to better pics
What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?


My heat related struggles maybe* behind me the 80 started having more persistent intermittent cutoff issues at highway speeds. Would cruise fine and pull out to pass a vehicle and it would cut off. rpm dead acts as if completely off yet the dash lights not on. 1 out of 10 could be resuscitated by manipulation of throtttle but most were sit on side of road for 5-10 and fire right back up. Not completely certain what this issue is/was or if completely resolved but I did dig into the wiring harness extensions for the TPS and IAC that require a 6’’ extension for the SC and checked connections i had experienced previous issues with years ago. found one wire pulled lose from connection and hooked it back. Went home and redid all the connections for piece of mind and so i could take that off list of suspects.

TPS wire lose

Also somewhere in here between bumper changes i made up a set of lower rear control arms by sleeving a set of early FJ80 arms. Added 5/8'' IIRC to overall lenght and added new oem bushings.

New lower control arms

 

[jfz80]

Most recent mod was an interior spare tire holder to get me by until i build my swingout.

I laughed as i read through the pages of this ROTW and the up next mods I had listed 5 years ago and how i still haven't got to them and they are mostly still on the list but perhaps in a different order. But were just getting going right? I mean I just finally logged my own personal 100k on the rig in right at 10 yrs of ownership and at now i gotta keep her to at least 300k.

next up mods:


time for tires 35/37?????

windshield gasket

reatach snorkle

swingout build…. single

replace/rebuild lspv

fridge

platform/drawers

gears of some sort


looking forward to getting out and using it more

 

[Darasick]

I've always dug your rig. Glad to see you're still at it!

 

[jfz80]

Thanks man. I see some goodies in that sigline there id like to add to my list as well.

Funny how the list remains about the same 5 years later. I blame trying to own and modify/maintain two cruisers HA. Although whenever I consider selling one they somehow draw even straws.

 

[GW Nugget]

Wow, driving 100K in one rig... that's a lot of seat time. You have gone threw a lot of tires.
I found your rig because of the black Sequoia wheels. What wheel & tires are you running now?

 

[jfz80]

LOL. I've been accused of that before

Yeah the sequoias have been a staple wheel around here. Just sold my 3rd set. And as for tires, well you see....
the 285 mtrs weren't big enough after the j lift , then I snagged the first set of sequoia wheels for the 315 BFG that weren't aggressive enough so sold those and I thought I settled on 35" trxxus ...until I found a deal on 37" iroks so trxxus went to concretejungle and I found another set of sequoias. Those iroks got sold with the 55 so I picked up some 315 km2s on stock rims. Wore those out and went to an at with the terra grapplers. Then I started wheeling more and picked up the 37" cooper stt and another set of sequoia wheels. Those just got sold this weekend and I'm back to 35" All terrain Mickey Thompson atz (old pattern) on stock 80 wheels. The white for when they lived on the 45 will be edited soon though it grew on me a bit.


I'll update this thread now that I got a phone worthy of taking pictures.