Motown 80 build

[joe.schigel]

Hey all,

I'm starting a build thread for the 80 series that I've been asked to outfit for overland use. I've had 2 80's in the past of my own and because of that, a friend of my dad's wanted me to build his up. His truck is amazingly clean and has low miles for its age. The biggest issues that is has are bodywork related. the rear hatch has been damaged in the past and "repaired" with a liberal application of bondo. And the roof rack got snagged on something and partially pulled out of the roof. The plan is to build it like my original green one but with a bigger budget.

I'm aiming to be done with it by early summer. This will be a sick truck when it's all over!

1995 FZJ80 - White - no lockers
134,000mi
not a lick of rust underneath!
some body damage

Planned upgrades:
4x4Labs rear bumper
ARB front bumper
Warn VR10,000 winch
Rocky Road rock sliders
ARB 2.5" lift w/ heavy duty springs
extended brake lines
extended sway bar mounts
ARB lockers front and rear w/ onboard air
rebuild front axle
rebuild rear axle
engine tune up (plugs, wires, coil, filters, coolant flush, valve cover gasket etc)
Roof rack
Aux lights
upgraded stereo
Method Wheels
33" BFG's
repair hatch
repair roof
misc (washer diverter valve, hood struts, etc)

the starting point:

 

[joe.schigel]

Yesterday we were able to get the rear bumper from 4x4Labs on the truck! It was a very nice piece and is definitely worth the money. I'm really glad that they packaged it well for shipping and it arrive unmolested. Putting it on the truck was simple and only took a couple hours. The biggest frustration with the build so far is that this truck is SO STINKING CLEAN! My friend John and I are incredibly jealous of the condition of the Oregon truck. Since we live in Michigan, we get to deal with some of the worst rust in the country....

We also got the new wheels and tires on! I love the Method wheels and I've always wanted to use them. The BFG's were chosen because I've had good use of them in the past and I wanted an aggressive A/T with the severe snow rating. The owner uses this truck in the winter a lot. I went with 33's since the gentleman that owns it is in his 70's so I don't need to make it ridiculously tall. The lift will do enough as it is.

 

[GLOCKer]

Consider me sub'ed!

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

Very nice looking. Love the bronze methods

 

[joe.schigel]

Today We got a handful of things done but not a ton of pictures.

First, I started on the engine maintenance with the spark plugs & wires, distributor cap & rotor, Ignition coil, valve cover gasket, and spark plug seals. I also cleaned the valve cover while I had it off of the truck. Not glorious work but it will help the thing continue to run smoothly for the foreseeable future.

Next, we installed the ARB bumper and Warn VR10,000 winch.

That was fairly straightforward but we did struggle a little with the mount bolts for the bumper. We had to install them in a different order than specified to get all of the holes to line up.

When we got the old bumper off, we found a mummified bat in the front of the truck! ew..

We also ran into an issue with the winch interfering with the bumper. I think since the ARB design is so old, it didn't account for the updated Warn dimensions. The edges of the winch hit the bumper. we solved this with some 1/2 steel bushings to space it back a bit. After that, it was wiring in the signal lamps and clean up. I really like how these trucks look with the bumpers on them. just makes them look tough.

 

[El-Dracho]

The mighty 80 series. Great rig and this will be a great built. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to more.

 

[Ob1]

Beautiful truck. They have incredible potential, and each person tailors it’s own ‘suit’. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.

Are you doing any rust protection to keep it clean?

cheers

—o

 

[joe.schigel]

Beautiful truck. They have incredible potential, and each person tailors it’s own ‘suit’. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.

Are you doing any rust protection to keep it clean?

cheers

—o

Thanks! It is a nice one, I wish I could keep it. It spends its life in Oregon and a garage. I don't think it sees much salt. It has 0 carriage rust so I'm not really worried about it. If it were staying here with me in Michigan, it would definitely get undercoated.


This past weekend we got a little more done on the Cruiser. I finished what I could on the engine with fresh serpentine belts and an Aisin blue clutch for the cooling fan. I'll be doing the coolant flush and thermostat once it's a bit warmer out and I can spill coolant all over the driveway as opposed to the garage.

We also installed the rock sliders from Rocky Road. I don't have a great picture at the moment but this is what I have now.

They honestly leave a lot to be desired and I'm a bit disappointed. We had to modify them a bit to make them fit nice but if I do sliders again, I'm making my own or going with the Trail-Gear kit that I used on my 715.

Here are my complaints on the Rocky Road kit:
- the powder coat is not my favorite. it's that rough, flat black and doesn't really match the bumpers. (which is different from what is pictured on their site)
- they are not quite long enough for adequate protection. I think they should extend farther forward to protect the front flare and back farther for the rear.
- the gussets on the mounts have inexplicable circles cut out of the hypotenuse and I can't fathom why
- the supports are all cantilever and are kind of flimsy. definitely made out of cost effectiveness as opposed to strength.
- the front driver's side requires you to drill holes and bolt through the pinch seam on the body in 3 places. we opted to not do that and weld a bracket to the slider that used the existing running board mounts. this kept the front in line with the body and is a bit cleaner.
- the catalytic converter shield is nice, but the bolt holes that mount it utilizing the factory crossmember bolts needed extra clearencing.

I'd rate them 2/5. they are there, there were able to be installed with some work, but they can be greatly improved.

 

[MOAK]

Yup, that’s not the first Rocky Road problems I’ve heard of. I don’t recommend their products to anyone. ARB and Slee bumpers and sliders need no kitbashing to make them work, bolt off/bolt on. Does the rear bumper have a license plate relocation bracket? BTW That’s a very nice bit of work you are doing. 80 series rule, period. There is nothing else available here in the US that even comes close.

 

[joe.schigel]

Yup, that’s not the first Rocky Road problems I’ve heard of. I don’t recommend their products to anyone. ARB and Slee bumpers and sliders need no kitbashing to make them work, bolt off/bolt on. Does the rear bumper have a license plate relocation bracket? BTW That’s a very nice bit of work you are doing. 80 series rule, period. There is nothing else available here in the US that even comes close.

Yeah, I wish I had known that a bit better. I'm 0 for 2 on ordering sliders. The Trail-Gear ones that I bought worked much better.

There is a license plate relocation bracket. I haven't done it yet since the truck is a garage resident at the moment.

Thanks! I really like them too. I wish they were a bit better on fuel... I'm about to have a 100mi /day commute so I'll have to get a gas getter... yay