Creating a new classic car
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:27 am
My Toyota Landcruiser tow car is now 18 years old and close to 400,000 km. It has never given me any issues and I have only needed to just do routine 6 monthly checks and maintenance of wearing items myself on it for the last 18 years (i.e. fluids, brake pads, greasing, plugs, and occasional V belt and wheel bearing replacement, never had to replace the clutch!!).
Toyota claim the Landcruiser is designed for 300,000 km without major maintenance and that and more has certainly been my experience. I have pampered it with synthetic engine oil and the best Redline gear oils and other fluids which I am sure have helped. Now I am starting to see end of life items such as, replaced the shocks, have a noisy alternator bearing, an axle shaft seal leaking out diff oil (only oil leak ever on the entire car despite its complex drive train), the spider gears on the front diff having excessive backlash, leaking valve stem seals resulting in increased oil consumption (don't I wish a Lotus Twin cam could go 400,000 km without oil leaking down the valve stems ) .
I need to decide if I take on a long term maintenance view and turn it into a classic car. The economic sums add up
i.e.
$4000 a year in maintenance at the most to fix these sort of items doing much of the work myself is much cheaper than $10,000 depreciation a year on a newer 3 or 4 year old tow car
I also like the fact that the 1999 Landcruiser FJ105-FZFE is one of the last cars you can open the bonnet and still see the engine and have some hope of doing it yourself
But do I really need to spend time looking after it versus spending time on the Lotus that is the question .... life is never easy
cheers
Rohan
Toyota claim the Landcruiser is designed for 300,000 km without major maintenance and that and more has certainly been my experience. I have pampered it with synthetic engine oil and the best Redline gear oils and other fluids which I am sure have helped. Now I am starting to see end of life items such as, replaced the shocks, have a noisy alternator bearing, an axle shaft seal leaking out diff oil (only oil leak ever on the entire car despite its complex drive train), the spider gears on the front diff having excessive backlash, leaking valve stem seals resulting in increased oil consumption (don't I wish a Lotus Twin cam could go 400,000 km without oil leaking down the valve stems ) .
I need to decide if I take on a long term maintenance view and turn it into a classic car. The economic sums add up
i.e.
$4000 a year in maintenance at the most to fix these sort of items doing much of the work myself is much cheaper than $10,000 depreciation a year on a newer 3 or 4 year old tow car
I also like the fact that the 1999 Landcruiser FJ105-FZFE is one of the last cars you can open the bonnet and still see the engine and have some hope of doing it yourself
But do I really need to spend time looking after it versus spending time on the Lotus that is the question .... life is never easy
cheers
Rohan