40th Anniversary salvage rebuild

[HDavis]

As the title states this is the build thread for my new to me 1997 3x locked 40th anniversary Land Cruiser. Having rebuilt a handful of cars from salvage I set out to find a suitable 80 series for my next project. I ran across this one at the local Copart and knew it was the perfect project. From the auction photos I could tell there was significant front-end damage that would need repair. The few things I was able to determine were: It was triple locked, it had 147 miles on brand new tires, It had a lift of some type, and it was a one owner truck out of Boulder. With these known items I set a price and waited for the auction, after a few back-and-forth bids I found myself the owner of this interesting new project. Below are the photos directly from the auction.. As is visible it is quite the project and I look forward to sharing the process as I dig into this project. The plan from here is to detail the process as I dissect and repair the damaged items.

 

[HDavis]

The 80 is now home but currently sitting on the street. My first time seeing the truck in person was at night and only brought up more questions. The priority at the moment is to get it moving under its own power to the back of my house. There are a couple issues keeping me from driving it to the back. After the accident the rear driveshaft was removed, I assume to tow it, I have the driveshaft but they didn't save the bolts and they won't arrive for several days. I am curious about the potential to drive half away around the block with just the front. Any known issues there? Additionally, the accident pushed the radiator into the clutch fan. The only way to open the hood and get the radiator pulled back far enough is to start cutting the arb bumper away. So cut I did. I was able to get the hood open after a few initial cuts but ran out of daylight before I could get it fully off. Until tomorrow.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

I see no problem driving the 80 arounf the block w/ front wheel drive. I've done it multiple times w/ mini trucks at hwy spd for many hours at a time.

 

[Oneops]

Yeah that’ll be fine. It’ll go better in 4low for the locking of the center diff unless it has center lock button you can push.
I’ve got a air bag and clutch fan you can have. Fan needs new oil put in it.

 

[Inukshuk]

Nice of them to hit the pole dead center.
Yes, fine to lock the CDL and drive.
It runs? Sweet. I have DS bolts I could give you Saturday. Most othe rparts I might have would be 93-94 and not so helpful but ask anytime. @ccslider has a pretty great stash too.

 

[HDavis]

Yeah that’ll be fine. It’ll go better in 4low for the locking of the center diff unless it has center lock button you can push.
I’ve got a air bag and clutch fan you can have. Fan needs new oil put in it.

Thanks! I will pm you about the fan clutch and air bag.

 

[HDavis]

Nice of them to hit the pole dead center.
Yes, fine to lock the CDL and drive.
It runs? Sweet. I have DS bolts I could give you Saturday. Most othe rparts I might have would be 93-94 and not so helpful but ask anytime. @ccslider has a pretty great stash too.

I know, they must have been pretty concentrated on lining the pole up. Thanks for the offer! I should have the bolts by then but wanted to at least get it around to the back of my house. I will take you up on the headlight though! About the running part... I dont know for certain yet.

 

[HDavis]

I jumped on the task of sawing off the arb a bit more and got the center section out. This allowed me to pull the radiator back enough to give the clutch fan some room. With enough room for the fan, I was confident to see if it would start so I pulled out the battery and swapped in a good one from the Stout. Until now I had not powered up the truck and didn't know what to expect. I put the key in the ignition and the dash lights up, turn the key to start and nothing happens. I cycled the shifter a bitas well as the ignition but with no success. Unfortunately, I was out of daylight and time so I could not investigate it further. I theorize it's the fusible link, Nss or a bad starter. Until tomorrow.

 

[Jenny Cruiser]

I look at that ARB and see two words - target fixation. Hopefully, it's just a loose/severed ground or that link. I don't know how cold it is there, but you could try pouring warm/hot water on the starter. I had one that worked on every time it would not start in cold weather. How many miles does it have on it?

 

[Oneops]

Ck the 50amp fuse too. Had a no start on mine when the alternator plug fried and found it blown. Had the same deal lights came on most everything worked but no starter. Fired right up after swapping it out.

 

[HDavis]

I look at that ARB and see two words - target fixation. Hopefully, it's just a loose/severed ground or that link. I don't know how cold it is there, but you could try pouring warm/hot water on the starter. I had one that worked on every time it would not start in cold weather. How many miles does it have on it?

I couldn't have said it better myself. It was about 45 degrees with windchill, so not cold per se. Its got 237K on it.

 

[HDavis]

Ck the 50amp fuse too. Had a no start on mine when the alternator plug fried and found it blown. Had the same deal lights came on most everything worked but no starter. Fired right up after swapping it out.

Thanks, I wouldn't be surprised if it fried it. It's all part of the fun and mystery of the project.

 

[Inukshuk]

I know, they must have been pretty concentrated on lining the pole up. Thanks for the offer! I should have the bolts by then but wanted to at least get it around to the back of my house. I will take you up on the headlight though! About the running part... I dont know for certain yet.

I have plenty of extra of those large 80 fuses. Common parts store stuff, but I have a bagful, and a spare old fusible link

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

In all my experiences when a fusible link goes out you get nothing. No lights on dash. nada, zilch, not a darn thing happens!

 

[HDavis]

I have plenty of extra of those large 80 fuses. Common parts store stuff, but I have a bagful, and a spare old fusible link

Thanks Daniel, I'll shoot you a text to see about getting together soon.

 

[HDavis]

In all my experiences when a fusible link goes out you get nothing. No lights on dash. nada, zilch, not a darn thing happens!

Well that probably rules out that. Thanks for the input!

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

Well that probably rules out that. Thanks for the input!

To be fair......... I haven't had this issue w/ my LX450, just a mini truck, second gen 4Runner, and an old Duster.

 

[ccslider]

Those driveshaft bolts are hard to find, I don't have any of those at the moment.

 

[HDavis]

I got back to task to figure out why the 80 won't start. It was not the fusible link or NSS and I suspect it isn’t the starter either. When I was testing the fusible link, I noticed an additional wire attached to the terminal. I was able to trace it back through the firewall and found an Alpine alarm system installed on the other end. I should note that I only received the valet key and have no way to operate the alarm. I was able to find the installation instructions for the alarm system, so it appears I’ll be taking that apart next.

 

[HDavis]

My drive shaft bolts came in, so I stopped by Stevinson and was able to get it mounted back up in short order. I then made quick work of the Alpine SEC-8048 alarm and had the starter signal cable connected back up in no time. I was certain that I had finally solved the issue of it not starting but unfortunately that was not the case. I decided to check the NSS again and sure enough it started to crank. After a second time it fired up and ran well enough for me put it in drive and pull forward 20 feet. In standard fashion it dumped about a quart of transmission fluid from the broken trans cooler, leaving me scrambling to clean up the mess. By bypassing the trans cooler I felt confident enough to drive it around to the back, where it now sits. Now I can really start taking off the damaged parts and evaluate what all I've got.