Saving a 98 Locked Landcruiser from the scrapyard (1 Viewer)

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Hello mud, I acquired this truck in the late Fall of 2024 - 1998 TLC , 295k miles., factory E-locker, southern rust-free truck.

The story: I got the truck almost for free. It does have a clean title! The truck was about to be scrapped, it had been broken into and the interior trashed & radio stolen, also the cats had also been stolen. It had been sitting for some time after that. It still ran ok, but the engine didn't sound too healthy. I thought I could fix it up and either keep it or sell it.

The good: What I loved about the truck was the color. It's a fairly rare color too: Imperial Jade Mica, one of my favorite Toyota colors. It also has the factory e-locker, which is cool. It's been in South Carolina its whole life, so no rust, and all the original VIN stickers are on all the body panels, so it's never been wrecked. I felt like this truck needs to be given another chance!

The bad: Well, where do I start? Interior trashed. It almost looked like someone locked a rabid wolverine inside and it tried to chew its way out. Someone had stolen the radio and possibly other things, including the Catalytic Converters unfortunately. The paint has seen better days, the clearcoat is faded on hood & roof. And then there's the engine. After getting it home, I began diagnosing the engine. It has low oil pressure. I don't know exactly what happened to cause that, but clearly there was something very wrong. Now I am seeing why this thing was given up on

In this thread I will document my attempt to save this truck ! These are few pics from the day I went to look at it.

 

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and here's what it looked like on the inside

 

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First job is to assess what the truck needs, and in what order to prioritize.

----Frist Priority:-----

• ( DONE ) Identify Source of water leaks into the interior & repair said leaks
• ( DONE ) Pull entire interior, power wash carpets and deep clean all interior pieces & components
• ( DONE ) Engine has low oil pressure, unknown for how long it was run with low oil pressure. Solution = source good used engine.
• ( DONE ) Pull original engine, and replace with used engine
• ( DONE ) Source new or used Catalytic converters, repair exhaust damage from cat theft

----Second Priority:-----

• ( DONE ) parking brake inoperable - diagnose and repair
• ( DONE ) replace torn leather on front seats
• ( DONE ) Front lower ball joints squeaking - replace both front lower control arms
• ( DONE ) Steering rack is shot, steering is all over the place, boots torn & leaking - replace steering rack
• ( DONE ) Front Passenger exterior door handle broken
• ( DONE ) Several wheel studs are damaged or cross-threaded- replace all wheel studs with new OEM studs
• ( DONE ) driver tail light broken
• driver look lock inoperable
• Baseline all fluids - Flush brake system, etc.

 

[akrafty1]

And now I am along for the ride. Cant wait to see the re-birth.

 

[Trapper50cal]

I'm on the "cannibalize it" side of the fence, but only because I want the locker

Subscribed.

 

[Coin]

Here here, good man!
Blessing in your attempt to save a worthy LC!

 

[Foehammer]

Hopefully the engine isn't too bad; would be a nice beater to rip around in for sure.

 

[sterling]

This is gonna be fun to watch.That color is sweet!

 

[AARONTLC]

No rust means let's go! I would love that project. Completely gut the inside and clean. I would go full military on it. Matte Olive Drab, change the badging to military stencil "Cruiser, Land, Toyota, M100". I'm sick in the head. LOL! Subscribed!

 

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First job, repair water leaks.
This led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. First, i discovered the sunroof drains were clogged, and of course the sunroof doesn't work. So I pulled the headliner, pulled the sunroof mechanism. I discovered that the sunroof cables were completely frozen. Aamazingly, I was still able to get a new set of cables from Toyota. With quite a bit of work, I got the old frozen cables out and replaced. I found out why the sunroof was leaking, When someone was throwing their beer bottle caps out of the sunroof, they missed and one flew into the sunroof drip tray - blocking the drain. I got this all cleaned out, and re-installed the sunroof. and it works!

 

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I was still experiencing a small leak in the rear cargo area. First, i tried sealing up the 3rd brake light with Silicone. While the original seal was completely deteriorated, this didn't solve the leak. I next tried re-sealing the drip rails under the rearmost windows. It was really difficult to get at these, because you have to remove the rear glass to access the screw holding in the molding. After all that work, still had a very minor leak.

 

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Finally, i traced the leak down to the drivers side rear vent. Over time, the rubber had deteriorated and allowed water to leak down, rather than being directed away. I carefully removed the vent cover and replaced the vent with a new OEM one. Glad to see all these parts are still available. FINALLY leak free! Now, time to attack and clean the interior

 

[onemanarmy]

IN for this ride!

 

[GerLC100]

Wow, that's rough! All the best and happy to read along!

 

[Jack90210]

Finally, i traced the leak down to the drivers side rear vent. Over time, the rubber had deteriorated and allowed water to leak down, rather than being directed away. I carefully removed the vent cover and replaced the vent with a new OEM one. Glad to see all these parts are still available. FINALLY leak free! Now, time to attack and clean the interior

View attachment 3857459

View attachment 3857460

That's a new one, never saw those leaking before! Thanks for posting that.

 

[excessive]

So I have been working on the interior. I pulled the seats, and then the entire carpet. The carpet is really gross, but no major tears or wear. I am thinking that with the right methods, this might actually clean up. I am also taking out all the interior peices and pressure washing them to get them back to freshness. here are the before pics

 

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So here's the method I used. I first soak down the entire carpet with water, and then liberally apply a mix of dawn dish soap and powdered "oxiclean". Let that soak in for about an hour, then pressure wash with plain water. I could not believe the transformation! The carpet looks almost new now, and after it dried, has no smell whatsoever. here's the before and after.

I also fully cleaned the headliner. This has to be cleaned more gently, but it also came out great. It looks almost new. I used a mix of warm water and oxiclean, applied gently.

 

[Trapper50cal]

That carpet came out amazing!

 

[ranma21]

Great Job !! =)

 

[MongooseGA]

Nice job on the carpet. Can't understand how some people keep their cars. Imagine their houses