The Pickle (1 Viewer)

[fogblanket]

intro The Pickle 94 fzj80

been somewhat lurking for awhile int he 80 section. I crashed my fj45lv last spring and decided I needed something a bit more modern. I had daily driven my lv for 5 years and before that daily drove an fj62 for 7 years , and before that I had an fj40 that I daily drive for 8 years. Daily drive is a relative term I guess. for me it means its my only vehicle but that does not mean they were on the road all the time

so I decided on an fzj80. my i wants were locked, lifted, and some accessories, on a small budget. What I got was "The Pickle" as the has named her, and while I was looking for a road worthy vehicle, this one has taken me a while to get to that level

what I got
- 94 fzj80
- triple factory locked
- 2.5" lift
- durabeked fenders
- arb front bumper with winch
- snorkle
- 315 bald cupped tires on 2 lexus wheels and two stock wheels
- cb
- foxfab sliders
- grean faded exterior with gray leather and third row seats

The bad (the fix)
- the O2 sensors were swinging free under the truck attached to chunks of exhaust( hole exhaust replaced with EMpowered stainless)
- it had sat for 8-9 monthes in water brakes were all locked up and needed new calipers and rotors all the way around
- shocks were rusted out ( replaced with OME)
-hacked up stereo (one rear speaker was mounted with zip ties , one zip had broken and the speaker was swinging and the magnet would stick th the window channel and ground out the sound. new pioneer speakers and HU, boss 2 channel amp in the rear with a 10" sub in a box. still had bad reception trying to figure out the wiring to run the speakers off the amp in the head unit, stock amp is unplugged.
-the 2.5" lifted was done with out caster bushings ( added OME)
- new 315 goodyear duratrac tires

Mods
- LED cabin lights
- Depo clear turns and tail lights
- HIR head lights
- Dual battery system using Blue Sea battery manager and switch
- Slee head light harness and aux light harness ( got in classifieds for cheap figure to give it a whorl
- slee tcase skid
- 1" .096 walled tube rack built to be full length and to have the hole for the sun roof. the clamps are the low profile the rack is flat and will get a reverse basket on the front and sides so as to keep height low in order to fit in my garage
- bunch of other little fixes that I am forgetting
- 100 series hatch ladder fabbed for an 80 rear hatch

Plans
- rear bumper not sure how this will go yet. my garage is not deep enough to put the spare on the back and after 3 cruisers with a spare on the back I don't think I will have a swing out but I do wheel so I do need more protection than the stock bumper provides, will probable bend up some tube for wings will see.
-I eventually want to paint and will keep it green but not sure of the shade. thinking of vintage cruiser colors like rustic green or maybe even Seafoam green or one of the greens in between.

Questions

my passenger seat recline motor died can I replace this motor with a manual lever or do I need to replace with the electric motor. I took the motor off and can turn the wheel with some channel locks but I dare not ask the to do that

I have a new head unit and new speakers and new antenna but the reception seems poor I have unplugged the factory amp but in my searches people have used the rca jacks to power the speakers is there a plug and play harness or close to it or is this something I will have to create? I have used one set of rca's in the head unit for the rear sub woofer which hits just right but would like a bit richer sound from the speakers.

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[fogblanket]

Some pics

 

[fogblanket]

Figure to update this thread so as to have a record of mods so when i crash this one it will be easier to make an insurance claim

Anyway finished up the lower basket bars of the roof rack i like how the rack turned out

Next up is the rear bumper first took off the stock and got the body ready for the wings before i realized that all the after market bumpers require you to cut your rear cross member off I had re-enforced the stock one and mounted a 100 series hitch receiver and i like how that turned out
... So its wings for me. took the stock ones off and made the mounting brackets for each side

I also durebeked the lower body and redid the fenders

 

[82cruiser]

Sweet 80 Fog. That rack came out super nice...like the sunroof opening.

 

[jfz80]

Very nice Jason. like the list and what youve done so far. Rack looks great!
Will be watching what you do for the wings project.
Should be a good rebound ride from the LVs saddest day. Glad you made it through safe though.

 

[fogblanket]

Thanks guys i am liking this build platform i miss Wilma but i do like having a functioning defrost and going in a strait line is a kewl feature

Last week end i swapped in some recaro seats nothing crazing leather cloth combo but after i replaced the reclining motor in my stock passenger seat and it reclined an inch and stopped then the drivers stopped the next day it was time to go in another direction passenger side tooke three attempts to get right but the drivers came out clean

 

[bigfj62]

Seats? What did you pay? What model? How much fabbing to get them to work?

 

[Douglas S]

They look like Saturn Ion Redline seats.

 

[fogblanket]

They are 2005 saturn redline seats the drivers side has a lift up levere that moves the seat cushion up or down in i rements they are higher than oem a d the track is wider had to cut into the front rib that supports the front of the seats to be able to make room for the inboard track but other wise simple angle iron brackets to the existing mounting holes
I may pull the passenger out again and completely cut the rib and mount them strait to the floor

 

[fogblanket]

The bumper wings progress .... Slowly not alot of time durin the week but i got the lower tubes bent and welded on there will be another tube above it then 3/&"s plate on the tread and back vertical of the bumper should be stout
I have a general idea of what i want but sort of makin it up as i go

 

[Mechanic747]

Is there anything in the rib for the seats? I need to cut on mine, but i'm not sure what that involved.

 

[fogblanket]

Nothing is in the rib but the electric harness for the seats is secured to to it on both sides

 

[fogblanket]

Nothin better than a mental health day. i chose to take mine in the garage got the wings done very pleased with how they turned out.

Started planning out and cutting the plate peice for the top. I plan to notch some tub for supports for the back plate peice should tieit all in nicely.

I did a 40 degree bend right before the 90 on the top tube I wish I could have gotten that 40 bend a little closer tot he 90 but its goign to get covered up anyway . on the leading edge of the wing the partright under the fender flare I plan to add a cut peice of tube that will complete the missing section of the triangle if that makes sense.

 

[Wrench]

Nicely done!

 

[fogblanket]

Thanks Chris

I got smoe more hours on the bumper idea is for it to look like a seamless shell well see progress though the drivers side is just about done though

 

[fogblanket]

Finished up the base bumper View attachment 877074
Plan now is to plate the under side weld on to the new rear shell and bolt to the frame using the rear anchor points


...via IH8MUD app

 

[fogblanket]

Mounted the jack to my roof rack using the hi lift mounts came out pretty clean and it is solidly up there and out of the way


...via IH8MUD app

 

[fogblanket]

been busy on the Pickle but nothing super photo worthy. I installed a pioneer amp and pulled the HU and rewired the front 4 speakers with a crossover box and all new speaker wire. I also added an inline antenna booster, seems to help but my issue is the antenna itself and not being able to get the mount tight enough to ground properly. may find a new place for the antenna or a different solution, regardless the booster puts the plug behind the glove box so when I do swap it I don't have to pull the HU out.

I did work on the rear bumper and added 3/8" plate for some shorty mud flaps. they are not long enough and I ordered some 14" abs sheet to make some rigid extensions the amount of crap kicked up from the tires has greatly reduced so I don't have to clean the windows every five minutes anymore.

pics are a bit dirty/rusty in that I wanted to see the splatter patternsbefore I finished them up

 

[fogblanket]

...via IH8MUD app

 

[fogblanket]

Saw a sale add for ruffstuff LED light and thought that would work well in my rear bumper
Still need to set up the switch but the hole in the 5/8"s thick rear bumper is cut and light mounted figured just tapping the holes was good enough to hold it in

...via IH8MUD app