LJC 160

Rabid Rhino · Post by **Rabid Rhino** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:48 pm

This is the 3rd restored LJ80 I've had form it's builder Leigh Catherick (initials: LJC) in addition to an 8" lifted Vitara.

As Victor Kiam used to say..... "I liked my RHD LJ160 so much, I bought another one".

There's been a few negative comments posted here about the builder so I just want to add a positive note from my perspective and experience with the guy over the last 25 years of knowing him & him helping me.

I had this rig built for me back in 2001 & immediately exported it to my farm in Portugal where it was used as a my holiday toy when I'd go over there but mainly as a work horse by the farm workers where it would carry around about 1,000Kg at a time of picked dry fruits piled high in 50Kg bags from the fields back to the farm over fields & on roads or even drag tillers & harrows around the fields supporting the Ford tractor. Its even been used as an emergency hatchery for chickens and we've lost count of how many farm cats have had their litters in it.
It passed the Portuguese import inspection and after about 3 years of having to drive 150 miles to the border into Spain every 6 months to avoid Portuguese registration, I registered it out there. It went on to pass 10 years of Portuguese vehicle inspections where each time, all it needed was putting on stock size rims & tyres to comply as they're quite picky out there on mods and keeping stock wheel base dimensions.

Vehicle...........1981 LJ80
Body..............Wide Body Conversion by Leigh Catherick in 2001
Engine............1600 Vitara
Gearbox..........Samurai 5 Speed
Transfer Case....SJ410
Prop Shafts.......Custom by Leigh Catherick
Suspension.......SPOA with Front Shackle Reversal
Axles..............Front: 413 with Vitara Diff
....................Rear: Vitara Hybrid: Narrowed.
Wheels...........10x15 Steel Bead Locks
Tyres..............33/12.50/15 Parnelli Jones Dirt Grips cos they have my initials on the tread. Who else has personalised tyre treads ?

Just over a year ago I shipped it out here to the US for my crawler
US customs singled it out for inspection including an x-ray, which it passed so they were happy with it registration legality.
For the different terrain I decided to have a few mods made over the winter 'cos this is 'Murca and we do things big.

The new mods are as follows

Carb..........Toyota 3K
T Case........4.1:1 Samurai with Heavy Duty Front Output
................Rear Drive Shaft Disconnect
................Mighty Kong 2
Rear Axle....Longfield Half Shafts
................Trail Tough Rear Disc Brake Conversion with Subaru 1981-82 Wagon calipers. Need 1" spacers to clear
................ARB
Front Axle....RCV Half Shaft
................ARB
Suspension...Front: 3 link with Panhard
................Rear: 4 Link
................14" ProFender Remote Reservoir Coil Overs
................PAC Racing Springs
Winches......Viper 5,000lb Front & Rear
Fuel Tank....Custom Aluminium
Protection...1/8" steel front and rear bumpers with matching rock sliders

We gave it a shake down this weekend at Zuwharrie and it performed really well without the ARBs hooked up.
There was also no time to fit the fiddle brakes as its getting a bit cramped on the short transmission tunnel but they will go in one way.

This is still a work in progress and I think the fine tuning is going to be the biggest hurdle but any advice will be appreciated.

Pics to follow as soon as I figure out how

Post by **timwilks13** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:17 pm

Looking forward to seeing some progress!

ROBBIE · Post by **ROBBIE** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:51 pm

What Tim said

Rabid Rhino · Post by **Rabid Rhino** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:32 am

: Unloading from Portugal

Rabid Rhino · Post by **Rabid Rhino** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:50 am

Once unloaded at Aftermarket 4x4 & registered it was off to the builder Paul of Paul's Fab to start the build. It was in good hands as he's done a load of work for Dennis Anderson's Grave Digger Megga Truck team.