Yellow Jacket finally got an FZJ80 (1 Viewer)

[Yellow Jacket]

Thought I'd make an intro / maintenance / "build" thread. I won't be breaking any new ground here, but thought I would try to document my ownership and any wrenching I do. As much for my own records as anything.

I'm still relatively new to Cruisers. I had a '76 40 for the last three years and recently sold it. In part because I wanted to get an 80 series. It didn't take me long, 3 weeks in fact. I ended up with an unlocked LX450, which wasn't my first choice, but it was a clean CA truck that had only been on the East Coast for a year. God bless military transfers. It was too nice to pass up.

So I jumped in the Tundra and headed ~4.5 hours down to Norfolk to grab it and bring it home. It was a Sunday, so I couldn't get a PPI, so I had to rely on my own experience. The 40 helped with that a lot. Test drive was great. Everything worked and no codes. PO was a MUD guy in hiding. Hasn't posted much, but been on the site and using the collective knowledge to maintain the truck. He had done the PHH, front axle rebuild, fixed several oil leaks, replaced the radiator, and a bunch of other stuff. I did the chemical test (Autozone version) for a head gasket failure and it passed no issues, so I struck and deal and strapped her down to the POS Uhaul trailer. My Tundra towed like a champ. Gotta love a 5.7L V8, but gas mileage SUCKED. The 80 did push it around some though, but I never felt unsafe. It just made its presence known. Got home safely with zero drama.

Here's what it looked like when I picked it up:

 

[Yellow Jacket]

some undercarriage shots. It has a little surface rust, but nothing by East Coast standards.

 

[cahill]

Looks like a good find.

 

[Yellow Jacket]

I got it inspected in PA this week and my mechanic was blown away at how nice it was. It has 185K on it and in his words, "the only way you'd know is looking at the odometer." I think he actually wanted to try and buy it off me.

Known issues at this point:

1) Oil leak around front oil pan gasket.
2) A few lights out in the dash. D light, right side of cluster and on the shifter.
3) Rear pads are low and need to be replaced
4) Oil pressure is higher than I'd like. On the highway, it gets high in the upper quadrant. PO may just have overfilled a bit.
5) Belts are aftermarket and need to be replaced with OEM.
6) Aftermarket plug wires, rotor, cap need to be replaced with OEM.
7) Paint is spider-webbing on the hood.

I'm working on my baselining list in addition to the above. Bought a wallet busting ton of Mobil 1 0W-40 and gear oil this weekend.

To keep the undercarriage from rotting away, I'm going to give fluid film a try. Never done it before, but doesn't look to hard. I bought an el cheapo HF electric paint sprayer to make quick work of it.

 

[Yellow Jacket]

I'm still deciding exactly what I'm going to do with it. I bought it really to have a winter truck (I'm selling the Tundra, but that's another story), but I do want to build it up some. I doubt I'll do any hard core rock crawling in it, but who knows. Keystone Cruisers are a great bunch of guys that go out almost every month year round. Will be hard to resist.

The CFO gave her thumbs up at a lift and sliders, so that will be step one and we'll see after that. It's a slippery slope. I'll probably wait until Spring before I start any mods. Plan right now would be an OME 2.5" lift and MT sliders.

 

[97 greenmonster]

Another 80 in pa, I'm over by Pittsburgh, nice find.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

You may have reasons unknown to me for your choice, but isn't 0W-40 a bit low viscosity for a 1FZ?

 

[Yellow Jacket]

went with it after reading the FAQ

Oil Recommendations and Discussion Thread for FAQ

I like the 0 for the cold starts it's about to have after sitting outside at night. It was also a good price at Wally World.

 

[scottryana]

I have been running 0-40 for years, works great. Thinner when cold and thicker when hot can't go wrong.

went with it after reading the FAQ

Oil Recommendations and Discussion Thread for FAQ

I like the 0 for the cold starts it's about to have after sitting outside at night. It was also a good price at Wally World.

 

[dogfishlake]

Nice 80! Kudos to your CFO too. Once you get that inch, you just opened the door to taking that mile, especially if she likes the 80 as much as you (which is likely). Keep updating how the fluid film works too.

Oh, and welcome!

 

[Yellow Jacket]

Thanks guys. I love the truck and my girls do too. They have taken to calling it the "Bat Truck". They get a kick of riding in the third row.

 

[Yellow Jacket]

Nice 80! Kudos to your CFO too. Once you get that inch, you just opened the door to taking that mile, especially if she likes the 80 as much as you (which is likely). Keep updating how the fluid film works too.

Oh, and welcome!

Ha! Agreed but she balked at the front and rear bumpers when I brought them up. I flew too close to the sun that time. Happy to "settle" for a lift and sliders....for now. Muh, ha, ha, ha.

Forgot to mention my first Mod: KO2s baby! Yeah! Had them on my 40 and Tundra. I love this tire.

 

[The Bumble]

Nice rig! Keep us posted on how that fluid film holds up to the PA brine and salt. Good luck with your new Cruiser!

 

[Yellow Jacket]

Let the baselining begin.

All was great until I stripped the fill bolt on the rear diff. Used a proper 6 point socket too. Frustrating. Guess I'll be taking a chisel to it but I want to get a hex bolt in hand first. Time to go shopping...again.

 

[brian]

4) Oil pressure is higher than I'd like. On the highway, it gets high in the upper quadrant. PO may just have overfilled a bit.
.

level has no effect on pressure....unless they are both low..
of course if it's way over filled, the crank hitting the oil in the pan can be a bad thing.

 

[Yellow Jacket]

Interesting. I thought it went both ways but I have no basis for that. I just remember being told at one point that too much oil is just as bad (for different reasons) than too little. I need to get a proper gauge on it to check the actual pressure vs the vague dash needle. Still it freaks me out a bit. Looks k how high it is at 65 mph.

 

[Notch]

That's how it's done! I had to ship one from Florida to Maine to get a rust free specimen. That thing is super clean. Firewall harness clip, dipstick clip...wow

 

[brian]

op looks good to me.

 

[mehbohdi]

I would take the factory oil pressure sending unit out and check psi with a good manual gauge to see if it is just a failing sending unit. Or you could just drive it not worry about it.

 

[hikermike]

Too much oil CAN damage the engine that's correct...blowing seals et al. But the cruisers do run high when running...whats the pressure when idling?