Joined the club on 2.16.24 as a birthday present to myself. I’ve known this truck since new, it’s a one family truck, bought new in San Antonio in 1996, and driven more than 367k miles on the original drivetrain. As a kid I remember seeing it for the first time in our church parking lot, window sticker still applied. I remember thing it was the coolest truck ever, that started my appreciation of the 80 series. One of the owners daughters ended up with it in the early 2000s, and I saw it almost daily for years in high school and early college years.
About 15 years ago I told the owner that if they ever decided to sell their 80, I’d love a crack at it.
Two weeks ago I got the call, the 80 was cruising down the highway and “just died” unfortunately after 367k miles, the engine decided to exit stage left. They offered to sell it to me, on the condition that I get it back on the road… and I jumped at the chance!
I rented a truck and trailer, conned my brother into helping, stopped at harbor freight for a come along and went on the recovery mission.
Of course no good deed goes unpunished and we had a blowout on our rental trailer, thankfully while we were on a round about Highway exit at relatively low speed.
Once unloaded, I used my “daddy-wagon” and a couple shipping blankets to get it pushed up my steep driveway and snuggled in next to the 40 series my wife affectionately calls “the mistress”…
Hey, two major projects are better than one!
Overall the 80 is very rust free, never been in an accident or off road for that matter, it’s bone stock and pretty much all original/OEM serviced.
For now, the plan is:
1. gather parts to LS/4L80E swap it.
2. Strip and refresh interior.
3. Fix slow windows regulators
4. Fix slow lock actuators
5. Fix tail gate latch
6. Fix sunroof
7. 2” Dobinsons lift
8. Rear bumper
9. Long range fuel tank
10. Exterior paint and minor body work
11. Sliders and mud flaps.
That list is in no order, I’ve got a long road in front of me for this project, and honestly have probably bitten off more than I can chew, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
The end goal: to have a reliable family Cruiser capable of taking my wife and two young children on adventures around South Texas. It will be more overland focused than a crawler build.
Wish me luck, these 80s are way more involved than the FJ40 I’ve owned for the last 15 years!
