A Series 80 build that's "bigger on the inside"

[120mm]

As many of you know, I picked up a relatively rust free, but quite neglected 1996 Series 80 4.5L Land Cruiser in Arizona back in January, sight unseen. It had an inoperable transfer case, but the price was right, so I bought it.



Unfortunately, I shucked a passenger side spindle in San Diego, and fell into the hands of a thoroughly disreputable mechanic, who not only overcharged me, but failed to do a proper job, which resulted in the destruction of my entire front axle in the middle of the Mojave desert at midnight, with my boss in the passenger seat. I had the axle replaced in a wonderful place in Gilbert Arizona at a place called "Desert Tool Service", home to Landcruiser nirvana.



Then it was 1300 miles of trouble free trekking across the American southwest to my home in Iowa.



The good folks warned me about the ticking time bomb that is the original Toyota radiator, and directly at 181,000 miles it expired.



While I was in there, I rebuilt the thermostat housing with epoxy



the non-functioning passenger seat



And the expired tail gate lift



And the driver's mirror, which had a wobble and was cracked.

 

[120mm]

One of the caveats for my travel to buy a Landcruiser and drive it back, was that it could not be gray, gold or brown. It was, of course, some kind of gray-ish color, so a repaint was key.

First I attacked the trim, and turned it from shop worn chrome/gold to black.



Then I did the wheels:



Both the trim and wheels were sprayed using aerosol can products marketed as trim and bumper as well as wheels, respectively.

Then, I bought some General Grabber AT2s. About this time, I received notification that I was hired for a long term gig in Germany, so all those things like cracked taillights, constant airbag light "on" and fluid leaks that one can ignore in the US became extremely important.

So, I put it in the paint booth, and resprayed it blue. The industrial distressed look is really popular, so I did no body work, leaving the trail dings and what not on it, and used a gloss blue paint I found at the tractor store.





I briefly lost my mind and purchased a $40 snorkel off ebay, and spent a couple hours installing it. According to all I've spoken with, these are amazingly well made, and installation was a breeze.



Both of my daughters just left the nest for the last time, and have ventured out to make their way in life. As a tribute to them, and their undying love for "The Doctor", I decided to make this Series 80 "bigger on the inside."



I am now preparing to ship this rig to Deutschland, from where I plan on learning how to overland, with my lovely bride.

 

[froggy Steve]

You might get a smacked botty with that colour and POLICE written on it! Germans are not renowned for the sense of humour

 

[Shayne]

No sense of humour for imitating police this side of the planet , a young lad i know who wouldn't say boo to a ghost , a long time volunteer at the lifeboat and a few other charitable organizations and a full time gardener for the council passed his driving test when he was 19 . As kids do he was happy to bolt anything he could get his hands on to his car and one of those things happened to be a blue flashing light behind the grill . First offence and very likely last offence and he got 6 months in prison !

 

[Chas]

Six months inside! that's a bit stiff.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Wonder what they do to Dr Who then if they ever caught him flying around impersonating a Police Box.

Just stick 'The other Tardis' up there. They might get it ...

 

[MarkW]

Six months inside! that's a bit stiff.

I suspect the offence wasn't 'just' fitting a blue flashing light but maybe using it on the road possibly behind other vehicles........multiple offences racking up to a short spell ?

 

[Chas]

Main charge probably Impersonating a Police Officer, or in this case a police car.

 

[120mm]

Yes, indeed. But once the picture is taken and the children get to see it in person, it's vinyl cling and peels off.

It's funny to see the reaction of USians to it, though. Maybe 1 in 10 "get it", but those that do, go absolutely bonkers over it.

 

[Rarf]

its original car color?

 

[clivehorridge]

its original car color?

Take a scroll up to post #1 Rarf, Drew posted a pic before the repaint.

 

[120mm]

And now I am cleared by customs to import it on a temporary basis (dependent on my continuing employment here) to Germany. Three cheers!

Delivery is the week of the 17th.

 

[Shayne]

Congrats now to wrangle a week off to join us in Romania

 

[clivehorridge]

A relatively short hop from Germany to Romania...

 

[120mm]

Not really possible at this time, but for sure we will make the trip.

Business is really hopping right now, with the first chance for a break around Christmas.

 

[clivehorridge]

You're welcome Drew, even at Christmas, plenty of skiing to be had then!

 

[120mm]

So, Marjan just got released from "shipping jail" today. Seems my business and the shipper got into a fistfight over billing procedures, so it got to sit at Bremerhaven for a week.

Delivery should be soon. Oddly enough, I went on a walk around my new neighborhood in our German village, where I encountered this gem:



I think I need to get to know this fellow.

 

[Ben]

Great thread.

I only just spotted it.

The green 40 looks cool!

 

[120mm]

Thanks!

Well, today was the big day. Drove down to Regensburg and met with the moving company, which hired Polish movers. They looked extremely sheepish when I approached them. First thing I noticed was that the hood wasn't down all the way. Somehow, they managed to break my hood release.

Not a huge deal; I'd shipped lots of tools with Marjan, and in a few minutes I had it all sorted out.



I drove a few miles to the nearest Esso station (I get a significant discount from Esso as part of my contract) and when I tried to top off, I noticed that my gas cap was broken in two and the grip just put on it to make it look "ok". How do you break a gas cap in two?

I took a chance and drove to the nearest inspection station and to my surprise, sailed through with no faults. Though I did spend about 20 minutes chatting with the staff, who expressed admiration at Marjan. Seems that lots of Germans like Landcruisers, though you don't see many on the road.

 

[clivehorridge]

I don't like the sound of folks tampering with the "goods" on shipment.

Did anyone have any legitimate reasons for opening the hood and messing with the fuel cap?

I have had some intermittent problems with my fuel cap though, it tightens on a ratchet, so there's no way to over-tighten it. But on occasions, it's a tough cookie to undo. It only takes a moment with some slim-line pipe grips I have, but I can't see any reason for it jamming like it has done now and again.

Anyway, it doesn't happen often but it could be a clue to yours getting broken, if the "tamperer" used excessive force trying to open it.

Good luck with the move and settling in Drew.