It doesn't feel like it's been more than 6 months since I last posted, but it has. I've been tinkering with the 80 here and there so I should give an update. I've made a few changes cosmetically which started off with trading bumpers with
@shellb who had what appears to be a TJM that came on a rig he recently picked up. I also treated myself for passing my last Architects Registration Exam with a set of quad headlights. I sourced these from Japan and they came very quickly to my surprise. I had to create some pigtail harness to do the swap, but it was an enjoyable day swapping them out.
My son is finally getting old enough to help out, which makes working on this thing even more fun and the TJM makes a great platform for him to stand on, which he is thrilled about. I also removed the RTT and roof rack in preparation for the new Go-Fast Camper RTT that I picked up, I couldn't be more excited! However, I couldn't bring myself to spend $500 on the 80 series mounts so I built my own using Send Cut Send to cut and bend them and my backyard mastery to weld and paint them. They turned out great and were less than 1/5 of what GFC charges. I will install the RTT once it starts to warm up a bit more and we are ready to get out camping again, until then I'm running it slick top.
On the mechanical side of things, I ordered the parts to swap the valve cover gasket and rebuild the power steering pump. I still haven't gotten to that yet, but I did order and install a new fan shroud and changed the oil. On that note, the 80 has also reached a milestone, its been 10k miles since I purchased it wrecked at the insurance auction. It sure has turned out to be a great one.