It all started in the mid ‘70’s. To say that I grew up around Land Cruisers would be an understatement. I grew up IN them!
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1976: Me in my car seat in Dad’s 1975 FJ40. Dig the safety!
Dad belonged to a club and we went on a lot of runs together with other Land Cruisers, Jeeps, Scouts, Willys Wagons, etc.
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1979: Me at a trail run in the back of the Land Cruiser. I remember it seemed pretty roomy back then. Dig the Tru-Tracs!
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1979: Me in front of the Land Cruiser. This was about as cute as I ever got.:meh:
Dad sold the Cruiser in 1980 and bought this 1976 with a 350 a few years later. He promised to teach me to drive as soon as my feet reached the pedals. I don’t think he was counting on that happening when I was 9 years old, but he kept his word and this was the first vehicle I ever drove.
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Since then I’ve owned 3 of my own FJ40’s, a ’70, a ’72 and a ’76. All were great rigs for different reasons.
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My 76 in Azusa Canyon two years ago.
I sold my last Cruiser a few years ago as my wife hated it (manual everything, no A/C, not much room, etc. ) I decided to build more of a light expedition/camping rig that we could both be comfortable in.
Her Demands
“Doesn’t look old” (But Honey, all the cool stuff is old!)
“Must have paint” (Hey now! Spray paint IS paint!)
“Must have doors” (Why?)
4 of them (an SUV??? UGH!!!)
“Must have a COMPLETE floor” (She was really adamant about that one)
AC (Yeah, I can get behind that)
Power Windows (Well, if it’s going to have all those damn doors…)
Power Steering (Agreed)
Automatic transmission (UGH!!!! I don’t trust automatics.)
My Demands:
Solid Axles (Ha! That ought to keep us out of anything too newfangled!)
Backwoods reliability
Aftermarket support
Reasonably presentable
Able to tow a small trailer
Proven off road vehicle with a real transfer case (I’m NOT going to be the first guy to show up in Moab with a lifted Hyundai Santa Fe.)
V8 power
With all of that in mind, I began my search. All search results matching those criteria returned the same result – Land Rover Discovery. I didn’t know too much about Disco’s so I test drove a few. I really liked the driving position, but each one I drove had different things wrong with it. I decided to hit the internet forums to find out what the best year was as far as equipment and known mechanical issues. OK, so…head gaskets, electrical problems, tranny issues and every once in a while the transfer case grenades. Lovely! :bang::bang::bang: I was becoming disheartened by the whole thing , searching Disco web and Expedition Portal endlessly for a glimmer of hope that there was a hidden “good year” to buy. As I was reading yet another new Discovery II’s owner’s plea for help, I saw the following comment:
“Dude, the answer to all your problems is an 80 series Land Cruiser.”
Huh. Quite honestly, I had been of the mind that the last “real” Land Cruiser was the FJ60. It was my assumption that all the following vehicles to carry the name were IFS soccer mom minivans in disguise.
Little did I know.
I headed over to Mud, where I had been all but excommunicated from the 40 section a couple of years before for daring to suggest that there were viable alternatives to the stock FJ40 carburetor) to investigate. Sure enough, there’s an 80 section! And they’re not all purists! Ok, so…let’s see…Solid axles? LOCKERS??? These things had lockers? Why didn’t anyone ever tell me? I’M IN!
I ended up spending a couple of months reading threads there and here on Expo in order to avoid any pitfalls. I posted a few times and everybody seems pretty cool.
Armed with a solid Muducation, I headed out for a few test drives. My first impression was that it felt like a Toyota truck, not the uber plush yuppie wagon I was expecting. Same driving position that I liked in the Disco too.
It took a few weeks of searching Craigslist before I found what I was looking for – a 1997 FZJ80 with lockers, nice paint, no issues and not overpriced. The test drive went well, lockers work as does everything else. $4k later, she was mine! It came with a full service history and when I did my baseline checks, all the flujids looked like new and were at their proper levels (Even the axles AND t-case!) Although everything seems fine, I'll rebuild the front axle when I re-gear in a few months.
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My 1997 FZJ80:bounce:
Well, if you actually made it past my long winded introduction, here is the plan for the build:
2.5 inch OME lift
315/75/16 ******** Cepek Mud Countrys - EDIT: I have decided to go with 285/75/16's instead in the interest of keeping a lower center of gravity.
ARB front bumper - DONE
Winch - DONE
Lights - DONE
Prin su roof rack - DONE
Tepui Tent - DONE
Spare tire and jerry can carrier
On Board Air
Drawer system to hold camping gear with slide out kitchen
Fridge slide
ARB awnings on driver’s side and rear
CB and HAM
Upgraded stereo
Cupholder - DONE
Center Diff Lock Switch - DONE
Pin 7 mod
Plasti Dip center of hood and flares
A few other one off ideas that I have
Did I mention that all of this has to be done by August? Yeah, our anniversary is in September and we’re planning a camping trip. Luckily (depending on how you look at it) some unlicensed ************ blew through an intersection and totaled my Silverado, so we have a workable budget.
I removed the running boards and third row seats the minute I got home and put the truck to work the next morning.
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Towing my 1950 Chevy project to the alignment shop
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A little rain makes it easy to see where your clearcoat is horked.
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ARB Bumper, Smittybuilt 9.5k winch and some lights I had lying around.
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Not sure if the bumper/winch is super heavy or if my front springs are just super whipped. Probably both.
Installed a Chinese snorkel. There are a lot of valid reasons to run a snorkel and when I think of one, I'll post it here. I promise that this will be the only purposeless mod I do. Meh, it was $33 and it's functional.
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Snorkishness!
I called Slee and Cristo was nice enough to walk me through my suspension order and suggest the correct springs for my intended use (fully loaded all the time). They arrived yesterday. I’m going to hold off on installing the lift until I have all the weight on the truck, as I’m sure those springs would be pretty harsh unloaded.
I was able to get in on a deal with Q-Ball over at Mud for a Prin Su rack (same one as on Boxrocket’s truck. I am anxiously waiting for that to arrive.
I will be contacting Boxrocket this week to order my tent. As my hair gets greyer, I find that I am still physically capable of doing the things I did when I was 17, but the next day usually sucks so, I’m planning to have it shipped to my work where I can use a forklift to set it in place.
The ARB awnings arrived today!
That's all for now...stay tuned!
Scott
Cup holder situation is handled.
$6 at Pep Boys and it securely holds a 32oz Gatorade bottle. It can go even bigger, so a 7-11 Bladderbuster 9000 shouldn't pose a problem.
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Received some new toys today! My 3D printed cup holder from bhicks over on Mud arrived. It fits perfectly, looks great and...um...holds cups.
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I've been wanting to add a CDL switch to my 80 but I couldn't find one at a reasonable price. finally, I decided to just use a hazard switch. As I was perusing Ebay, I came across a listing for a CDL switch with very little detail and 1 crappy out of focus picture. All I could tell was that it was some sort of switch and that it was dirty. The price was $60.00, so I decided to roll the dice. This afternoon when I opened the envelope, this is what I found inside:
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[/URL][/IMG]
Brand damn new switch!!!
I am no stranger to being monstrously, deeply and thoroughly hosed by the wonderment that is the online shopping experience, so it's nice when something turns out to be better than expected.
Hopefully, I'll get to install it tomorrow before work.
Progress!....of a sort.
I managed to break my ankle and foot last week (3 fractures total, what do I win?). The doc told me that I'll be in a cast/boot for the next 6-8 weeks. I can get around on crutches but I need to be able to drive to work. Hmm. What to do? The motorcycle is sadly out of the question. Maybe if I sit sideways, I can drive the 80 with my left foot? Left foot works fine for the brakes but the gas is a no-go. DAMN!
Right about the time that my wife started talking about Dial-A-Ride, I hobbled my *** out the door and down to church (aka my garage). I sat amongst my tools and raised my head to call upon the gods of hoarded parts for a solution. Directly above me sat my old mountain bike. Hmm... I'm either constipated or...I HAVE AN IDEA!!!
Utilizing the front brake lever and cable from the bike, some small square tubing that In had laying around, a few odds and ends and my welder, I made this:
[/URL][/IMG]
Ran the cable through here and attached it where the factory hand throttle cable goes.
[/URL][/IMG]
Hose clamped the tube to the bottom of the shift lever.
[/URL][/IMG]
It works! Smooth as silk but not too comfortable.
[/URL][/IMG]
Time to clean up the design. I cut the tube and welded it back on at an angle to allow for enough travel in the lever, then added a T at the top ton rest my hand on.
[/URL][/IMG]
Wrapped the T in some rubber that I had. I'm all about luxury.
[/URL][/IMG]
Finished! Swanky, no?
[/URL][/IMG]
1976: Me in my car seat in Dad’s 1975 FJ40. Dig the safety!
Dad belonged to a club and we went on a lot of runs together with other Land Cruisers, Jeeps, Scouts, Willys Wagons, etc.
1979: Me at a trail run in the back of the Land Cruiser. I remember it seemed pretty roomy back then. Dig the Tru-Tracs!
1979: Me in front of the Land Cruiser. This was about as cute as I ever got.:meh:
Dad sold the Cruiser in 1980 and bought this 1976 with a 350 a few years later. He promised to teach me to drive as soon as my feet reached the pedals. I don’t think he was counting on that happening when I was 9 years old, but he kept his word and this was the first vehicle I ever drove.
Since then I’ve owned 3 of my own FJ40’s, a ’70, a ’72 and a ’76. All were great rigs for different reasons.
My 76 in Azusa Canyon two years ago.
I sold my last Cruiser a few years ago as my wife hated it (manual everything, no A/C, not much room, etc. ) I decided to build more of a light expedition/camping rig that we could both be comfortable in.
Her Demands
“Doesn’t look old” (But Honey, all the cool stuff is old!)
“Must have paint” (Hey now! Spray paint IS paint!)
“Must have doors” (Why?)
4 of them (an SUV??? UGH!!!)
“Must have a COMPLETE floor” (She was really adamant about that one)
AC (Yeah, I can get behind that)
Power Windows (Well, if it’s going to have all those damn doors…)
Power Steering (Agreed)
Automatic transmission (UGH!!!! I don’t trust automatics.)
My Demands:
Solid Axles (Ha! That ought to keep us out of anything too newfangled!)
Backwoods reliability
Aftermarket support
Reasonably presentable
Able to tow a small trailer
Proven off road vehicle with a real transfer case (I’m NOT going to be the first guy to show up in Moab with a lifted Hyundai Santa Fe.)
V8 power
With all of that in mind, I began my search. All search results matching those criteria returned the same result – Land Rover Discovery. I didn’t know too much about Disco’s so I test drove a few. I really liked the driving position, but each one I drove had different things wrong with it. I decided to hit the internet forums to find out what the best year was as far as equipment and known mechanical issues. OK, so…head gaskets, electrical problems, tranny issues and every once in a while the transfer case grenades. Lovely! :bang::bang::bang: I was becoming disheartened by the whole thing , searching Disco web and Expedition Portal endlessly for a glimmer of hope that there was a hidden “good year” to buy. As I was reading yet another new Discovery II’s owner’s plea for help, I saw the following comment:
“Dude, the answer to all your problems is an 80 series Land Cruiser.”
Huh. Quite honestly, I had been of the mind that the last “real” Land Cruiser was the FJ60. It was my assumption that all the following vehicles to carry the name were IFS soccer mom minivans in disguise.
Little did I know.
I headed over to Mud, where I had been all but excommunicated from the 40 section a couple of years before for daring to suggest that there were viable alternatives to the stock FJ40 carburetor) to investigate. Sure enough, there’s an 80 section! And they’re not all purists! Ok, so…let’s see…Solid axles? LOCKERS??? These things had lockers? Why didn’t anyone ever tell me? I’M IN!
I ended up spending a couple of months reading threads there and here on Expo in order to avoid any pitfalls. I posted a few times and everybody seems pretty cool.
Armed with a solid Muducation, I headed out for a few test drives. My first impression was that it felt like a Toyota truck, not the uber plush yuppie wagon I was expecting. Same driving position that I liked in the Disco too.
It took a few weeks of searching Craigslist before I found what I was looking for – a 1997 FZJ80 with lockers, nice paint, no issues and not overpriced. The test drive went well, lockers work as does everything else. $4k later, she was mine! It came with a full service history and when I did my baseline checks, all the flujids looked like new and were at their proper levels (Even the axles AND t-case!) Although everything seems fine, I'll rebuild the front axle when I re-gear in a few months.
My 1997 FZJ80:bounce:
Well, if you actually made it past my long winded introduction, here is the plan for the build:
2.5 inch OME lift
315/75/16 ******** Cepek Mud Countrys - EDIT: I have decided to go with 285/75/16's instead in the interest of keeping a lower center of gravity.
ARB front bumper - DONE
Winch - DONE
Lights - DONE
Prin su roof rack - DONE
Tepui Tent - DONE
Spare tire and jerry can carrier
On Board Air
Drawer system to hold camping gear with slide out kitchen
Fridge slide
ARB awnings on driver’s side and rear
CB and HAM
Upgraded stereo
Cupholder - DONE
Center Diff Lock Switch - DONE
Pin 7 mod
Plasti Dip center of hood and flares
A few other one off ideas that I have
Did I mention that all of this has to be done by August? Yeah, our anniversary is in September and we’re planning a camping trip. Luckily (depending on how you look at it) some unlicensed ************ blew through an intersection and totaled my Silverado, so we have a workable budget.
I removed the running boards and third row seats the minute I got home and put the truck to work the next morning.
Towing my 1950 Chevy project to the alignment shop
A little rain makes it easy to see where your clearcoat is horked.
ARB Bumper, Smittybuilt 9.5k winch and some lights I had lying around.
Not sure if the bumper/winch is super heavy or if my front springs are just super whipped. Probably both.
Installed a Chinese snorkel. There are a lot of valid reasons to run a snorkel and when I think of one, I'll post it here. I promise that this will be the only purposeless mod I do. Meh, it was $33 and it's functional.
Snorkishness!
I called Slee and Cristo was nice enough to walk me through my suspension order and suggest the correct springs for my intended use (fully loaded all the time). They arrived yesterday. I’m going to hold off on installing the lift until I have all the weight on the truck, as I’m sure those springs would be pretty harsh unloaded.
I was able to get in on a deal with Q-Ball over at Mud for a Prin Su rack (same one as on Boxrocket’s truck. I am anxiously waiting for that to arrive.
I will be contacting Boxrocket this week to order my tent. As my hair gets greyer, I find that I am still physically capable of doing the things I did when I was 17, but the next day usually sucks so, I’m planning to have it shipped to my work where I can use a forklift to set it in place.
The ARB awnings arrived today!
That's all for now...stay tuned!
Scott
Cup holder situation is handled.
$6 at Pep Boys and it securely holds a 32oz Gatorade bottle. It can go even bigger, so a 7-11 Bladderbuster 9000 shouldn't pose a problem.
Received some new toys today! My 3D printed cup holder from bhicks over on Mud arrived. It fits perfectly, looks great and...um...holds cups.
I've been wanting to add a CDL switch to my 80 but I couldn't find one at a reasonable price. finally, I decided to just use a hazard switch. As I was perusing Ebay, I came across a listing for a CDL switch with very little detail and 1 crappy out of focus picture. All I could tell was that it was some sort of switch and that it was dirty. The price was $60.00, so I decided to roll the dice. This afternoon when I opened the envelope, this is what I found inside:
Brand damn new switch!!!
I am no stranger to being monstrously, deeply and thoroughly hosed by the wonderment that is the online shopping experience, so it's nice when something turns out to be better than expected.
Hopefully, I'll get to install it tomorrow before work.
Progress!....of a sort.
I managed to break my ankle and foot last week (3 fractures total, what do I win?). The doc told me that I'll be in a cast/boot for the next 6-8 weeks. I can get around on crutches but I need to be able to drive to work. Hmm. What to do? The motorcycle is sadly out of the question. Maybe if I sit sideways, I can drive the 80 with my left foot? Left foot works fine for the brakes but the gas is a no-go. DAMN!
Right about the time that my wife started talking about Dial-A-Ride, I hobbled my *** out the door and down to church (aka my garage). I sat amongst my tools and raised my head to call upon the gods of hoarded parts for a solution. Directly above me sat my old mountain bike. Hmm... I'm either constipated or...I HAVE AN IDEA!!!
Utilizing the front brake lever and cable from the bike, some small square tubing that In had laying around, a few odds and ends and my welder, I made this:
Ran the cable through here and attached it where the factory hand throttle cable goes.
Hose clamped the tube to the bottom of the shift lever.
It works! Smooth as silk but not too comfortable.
Time to clean up the design. I cut the tube and welded it back on at an angle to allow for enough travel in the lever, then added a T at the top ton rest my hand on.
Wrapped the T in some rubber that I had. I'm all about luxury.
Finished! Swanky, no?
