[AckerDackerly]

I am considering an LJ80K purchase.

It is less than 15 miles away!

From pics, The body has some rust notable on to of the front fender above the headlight/turn signal area and on one of the fender flares over the right rear wheel wells along with a crappy paint job. It has an F8a engine and is a complete vehicle.


It has been sitting quite a while - perhaps 3 or more years - although I do not know if it has been in storage or sitting out in the Missouri weather (I hope not...)

Is there a particular item I should check (Engine/Transmission/Brakes/water pump/timing belt etc.) when carefully inspecting it?

The owner wants $800 US (roughly $1100 Aus) for it with title (!).

If available, can I swap an F10 into this vehicle?

Any comments on what I should look at on this LJ?

Yes, it is LHD....

[MrRocky]

Basically a good body is all you can hope for, count on possibly all things mechanical needing refurbishment given the age. F10a fits as do sierra hubs/disks ect...
Have a read on www.lj10.com most parts for the lj80 are still available via ebay from australia or columbia.
Heres my lj80 build/restorer viewtopic.php?f=4&t=54162

[Gwagensteve]

Brake drums welded to hub nuts
Rust
Rust
Rust
Rust
Yes an f10 will basically bolt in.
Did I mention rust?

Personally I don’t see the love for LJ’s other than novelty value. Yes they’re slightly better off road than a samurai but they’re much, much harder to work with, cramped in comparison and less pleasant to drive.

[sideways]

Personally unless you're a body guy I wouldn't worry that much about mechanicals. It's all cheap, easy and straightforward to rebuild. LJ80s aren't quite as well thought out as SJs but they're still a breeze to work on compared to most other cars. There's nothing scary/expensive/difficult/common that goes wrong with them mechanically.

There's no such thing as an LJ80K. There's the LJ81K which is a LWB pickup with the factory suzuki pressed steel tray ("K tray") but I think you're talking about a SWB here.

LJs hide the worst of their rust and they rust in a lot of spots that are a real pain to fix. Typically the first place to rust is the front body mounts. Rear corners of the tub behind the tailgate. All the body seams, particularly the one from behind the door and over the rear wheel arch. The seam in the front floors. Where the rear wheel tubs meet the external body skin just behind the door. LJs had super thin paint and suzuki didn't seal most of the seams so they're quite good at rusting, most people didn't give one single fuck about them which doesn't help.

SWBs don't tend to rust the chassis rails but LJ80s love to rust the mount on the outriggers above the front leaf fixed end hangers, you'l see the lovely little mud trap suzuki built in behind the front wheels.

[AckerDackerly]

Thanks for the responses so far!

Here is what the Craigslist post says:

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/d/suzuki-lj80v-tin-top-and-stuff/6550203515.html

There is no telling what is was called in the US... That is just what it is listed as....

From what you all say, it sounds like all I have to do is examine it like it is my SJ413 Sierra hard-top...

Yes, it IS a rare vehicle in the US!

I'll post again when I get a chance to look at it...

[Gwagensteve]

To be clear, I wasn’t saying they are hard to work ON- they’re easy. They’re hard to work WITH. The steering is a bellcrank nightmare of play and bumpsteer
- Converting to later crossover steering is difficult becuase the steering shaft needs to go through the engine mount and the chassis isn’t deep enough to bolt a steering box to easily. Front diff is centred and swapping in an offset (samurai) diff is almost a impossible because of the narrow chassis width.

None of these things might trouble you if you want a restored stock car or want to go crazy with mods, but there’s a lot of ground in between those two points where a mildly modded and modernised LJ would be sweet, and that’s where they get hard to work with.

[Gwagensteve]

Actually looks less rusty than many I see. Still, looks to be missing lots of small parts that are going to make life tough.

[MrRocky]

Most are lj10/20 in the u.s.
I dont believe the 80's were ever imported in great numbers so yes a vsry rare car for the u.s. of a

[AckerDackerly]

IF I buy it, itw will a basic restoration to stock operation. I have one offroader - I really don't need a second one. It is bad enough that I have another SJ413 "Tintop" waiting in the back yard for some bodywork and a Diesel swap...