80 series body removal

[Robert Clark]

A friend bought a new car then a few days later she inherited the Lincoln. It had been parked in a garage for some time. She bought new tires and a battery. She drove it a few times. One day the transmission would not pull in forward or reverse so a transmission shop told her it would be $2000.00 to repair it. I bought it for $500.00 and then I bought a wrecked Mercury Grand Marquis for $200.00. I took the transmission out of the Grand Marquis and I studied everything on the internet and YouTube on how to rebuild the transmission. I bought the parts and rebuilt the transmission. I sold the Grand Marquis to a scrap yard for $200.00. I bought a new torque converter and a transmission cooler. I bypassed the cooler in the radiator. 3 years now, the car is just like new. I completely put everything under the hood new except the engine. I put aftermarket headlights because the factory headlights were faded and they took away from the "look" of the car. Here is my 2000 Lincoln Town Car Cartier edition.

 

[Jacob100]

Brilliant. Thanks for posting.

 

[Robert Clark]

Here is two of my 4Runners. (In the first picture) The one on the right is a 2000 2X4 that I deliver eggs to Atlanta in it each Tuesday. The middle one was bought new by a friend of mine. It is a 1996 4X4 4Runner. I gave my friend $500.00 for it because he was selling it for scrap. It had over 300,000 miles and a teenager drove it for the last couple of years without maintaining it. I really enjoyed building her back and now I use her as a daily driver and especially on rainy days on the farm. The 4Runner on the left is my friend's new 4Runner because he loved his last one so much. I park his old one beside his new one and he always comes and tells me a story of when his old 4Runner went to Alaska or Canada or New Mexico or Utah or Niagra Falls . In the last picture the old truck is a 1967 Ford F600. it was abandoned along a pasture and tress grew up around it. I rebuilt the carburetor and put a few parts on it. A gas can and a battery then drove it home with no brakes. It is fully restored now.

 

[Shayne]

Don't tell anyone but its the Ford i want

 

[Robert Clark]

The Lincoln, Crown Victoria and the Mercury Grand Marquis were all built on the "Panther platform". They were used as police cars, taxis, limousines and corporate fleet vehicles for many years. I do not understand why Ford quit building them but you can buy them really cheap right now. They are tough and reliable.

Here is a picture of my Sweetheart. My 1994 Ford F250 4X4.
I put a 351 40 over Factory Remanufactured Engine and a low stall torque converter with steel planetaries in the transmission. All new suspension. All new brakes. Water Pump, Starter, Alternator, Injectors, all new belts hoses and vacuum lines. Even new headlight, taillights and bumpers. Toyo tires. This is a serious load pulling truck. I pulled a loaded stuck F150 out of a mud hole the other day and the F150 was not running. It was in neutral but not running.

 

[Shayne]

Have you actually driven the 80 theyve be known to rescue stuck lorries !

 

[Shayne]

 

[Robert Clark]

I was just given the 80 the other day and it has a wheel bearing that needs replacing. The 80 was FREE. A dog was left inside and it destroyed the interior. I ordered all the parts and I am rebuilding the entire front axle. This 80 has the optional triple differential locks so I can understand their ability to pull heavy loads. Most folks that have a 4x4 do not realize that all 4X4s have limited slip differentials so they are not true 4X4s. The ones that have the transfer case that locks and both differential locks are true 4X4.

 

[Shayne]

Which is standard UK spec , I guess Japan thinks it never stops raining here

Its the apex of Toyota engineering , a civvy street tank with a bus engine so don't let the luxury element leave you in any doubt that its built to work .

 

[Robert Clark]

It was only an option in the US and when they put the Lexus emblem on them, they became so ridiculously expensive that very few people paid for the extra option. It is the1996 and 1997s that have triple lock that are bringing as much as $50,000 dollars here in the US and guys are raising them up, putting big tires on them and they are making rock crawlers out of them. I will go ahead and fix this 80 but I have my heart set on a 40 series. If I did not have two other 4X4's then I would probably be happy with the Lexus but I am a Vietnam Era Veteran and i don't need the Adrenalin rush or the need for speed like I did years ago. They say, "If you can't run with the big dogs then just stay on the front porch" so my little log cabin sits right by my pond and I sit on the front porch with a fishing pole and a Grey Goose, if you know what I mean...

 

[Shayne]

I get what your saying but its a comfortable place to be and it will never let you down . You have the skills and a decent interior shouldn't be hard to come by so why not cash in on it and import a fully restored 40 from Japan or somewhere .

 

[Robert Clark]

Thanks for the conversation. You are quite right. I just got excited when someone just gave me a Lexus for free. It is not just an average Lexus either. I immediately got on the Land Cruiser forum to chat. Hello, to the UK from Loganville, Georgia!!!!!

 

[Shayne]

Your very welcome , a sleepless night had me google rural Georgia USA which gives me yet another place i'd very much like to retire to but never will

With all this electrification nonsense going on i reckon your sitting on a small fortune with the cars you got which will only increase in value , and sadly you can't take them with you on that final inevitable trip .

Its very cool how fate kind of sent each your way but maybe now its time to make a choice . The 40 you definitely want which is a bit spartan for longer distances and the 80 falls somewhere between your Lincoln and your 4Runner . Do you need a pickup bed ?

Food for thought is all , I can well appreciate how you might feel attached to your trucks because its well recognized here on the forum how Cruisers have character , indeed most of them get pet names because they quickly become part of the family as it were .

 

[Robert Clark]

I retired in rural Georgia. I found a piece of property over 5 acres zoned agricultural that was cheaper than a house in the suburbs. I cleared an area and I put an 80 foot hoop building with Panda plastic (white on the outside and black on the inside). I put tall fences around the perimeter. I put tall fences around the large open area of the hoop building. I have CHICKENS. I sell $3000.00 a month in eggs to the restaurants in Atlanta which is about an hour away. I get up in the morning and spread a bit of feed and let the chickens out. I gather eggs in the evening and lock the chickens up at night. I have a Great Pyrenees livestock dog that protects the flock. Chickens make baby chickens to replenish the older chickens. Older chickens make meat for eating and for feeding the dog. Chickens make black gold. I add it to big hay piles along with free wood chips and compost it. This makes rich soil that attracts worms that supplements the chicken's diet. I also raise meat rabbits. I grow collard greens in the Winter and peel the bottom leaves to feed the rabbits. The rabbit booboo fertilizes the garden where the collars grow. I grow my own food. I stock my pond with fish and I eat them too. I don't have a boss. I don't have long commute to and from work each day and I enjoy my humble life. Why work?

 

[Robert Clark]

Also, there never will be electric cars for the masses. The electric grid cannot support two cars in every driveway. Every house would have to have to be rewired to plug them in and no house is currently built with a charging station. The precious metals required to build batteries are already mined by China. There simply is not enough copper and they are already having trouble with the supply chain for microchips for cars that they are building right now. We will have to go back to basics very soon. If the electric grid fails for one month everybody will go back to the Stone Age while I'm fishing. Wink Wink.

 

[Shayne]

Bravo to you is all i can say to that .

I wish i had invested in chickens rather than people because i have no doubt at all the rewards would have been much greater with less headaches .

 

[SteveJB]

Bravo with a standing ovation Robert you have a way to keep yourself active and your brain busy nice to see pictures of your vehicles and as Shayne said above might be worthwhile putting one up for sale exchange to get your 40 and that would be a restoration to follow best of luck with your search

 

[Robert Clark]

I am waiting for spindle bushings to arrive then I am going to rebuild the front axle on the '96 Lexus LX450. I will try to take pictures and post them. I hope the moderator of this forum helps me post them in the correct location on the club forum. I already have one side apart and I did not take pictures but I will try to explain things and hopefully I won't make a lot of serious mistakes. I put an idler arm on a Chrysler 300 in 1968 by myself without any help or instructions and I worked in a junkyard at night in the early 70's while I was in the military during the day. I have filled a Coke bottle full of orange leaded gasoline and a battery with jumper cables and started many engines sitting on the ground back when engines had carburetors. I have been around cars most of my life. I have my own shop but I do not do work for clients or customers. I will keep you posted from time to time but I have two small farms that I work alone. I have a 100 year old barn that a tree damaged and I am putting in steel reinforcement posts in concrete to support the main structure today in the rain. I already dug the holes and I have one post in the ground. I cut the other post and I have to stand it up right now.

 

[Shayne]

I tell myself far too often lately that i am lucky to have the problems i have because many will never be in a position to have such worries , and if it all goes tits up then i will no longer have anything to worry about

 

[Robert Clark]

I love life more everyday. I cherish every moment. I hug the ones that I love more often. I practice kindness for no apparent reason and I say nice things as if it will be the last thing that they remember that I said. I plant trees and flowers. I realize that EVERYONE has a cross to bear. My cross is quite a bit lighter to bear than a lot of other people's crosses. We all must pass through the cemetery to get to where we are going but while we are here visiting, we can practice being the angels that we hope to become when we step off into eternity someday. Go and help someone. Give a few minutes of your time to make someone else smile. Go help someone carry a heavy cross. It will make you stronger. I know there is EVIL ever present and we have to always be prepared to defend ourselves and not be passive. You don't have to be angry to be strong. You can be somebody's rock but you have to develop that toughness from the inside. Be the person that your dog thinks you are already!