[TimJG]

When i got my 40 it had the most ridiculous jerry rigged electrical harness with wires splitting off and then reattaching to other wires and every other stupid thing you can imagine. It has since been dealt with but it was awful. Should've taken a photo. What are the worst things you guys have had to deal with from previous owners?

[flaminbandit]

wiring is the most common i would say followed closley by lack of maintenence

when i got my 45 it was a nightmare the po had installed around 4 massive uhf/vhf ect radios under a false floor in the rear and there was about 6000 wires runnign there nfi what they all did but they quickly got ripped out

followed by every fluid being changed along with filters and most seals and bearings

nightmare


or my first 40 that had scary steering after they did a bodylift and had tac welded a uni joint into the steering setup so it would work but with no support on the bottom of the colum it had about 1" of play in the shaft NOT FUN (tho i could hardly complain about that one i was given it after all)

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Ha! Where do we begin?

What pops to mind, besides the excessive amount of bondo over rotted-out sheet metal in the body tub, was the "PO" (numb-nuts) using regular household carpet insulation underneath the front floor mat, but not plugging the drain holes in the tub.

So, when I pulled the floor mat out there was all this soaking wet carpet insulation, and a rusty floor pan.

Good times!

Alan

[bad_religion_au]

the worst mod my P.O. did was transfer the rego into my name.

most my original mods were terrible. although my rear spring swap still works well.

[matty_sunn1]

stickers the po of my 40 loved them he put them everywhere. he was really good at wiring, random splices every where.

[rockcrawler]

I escaped rather lightly with PO mods as they are mostly minor compared to the stuff guys on here have had to deal with. But all the same, I hate them all and can't wait until they are all sorted out so I don't have to see them anymore. The worst thing is the peripheral damage they cause when making these "mods". It's really nothing more than vandalism. That the vehicle belonged to them when they did the mods is neither here or there to me in that respect.

[Clint79]

Proberly old rags as cusion padding for the drivers seat as there was no seat foam left

[psreno]

Uugh! 1 inch long green and orange shag carpet, top to bottom, side to side.

Talk about a dust collector! (and dead bugs, lost screws, contacts...)

The worst thing I ever did was break a bottle of garlic flavored olive oil in back. That smell lingered for years. On sunny days you could smell that truck from a block away. YEARS!!!

[cjgoode]

mind you this was about 30 years ago when I was a teen, but I used old orangish red shag carpet for the head liner in the hardtop and dash pad cover. Headliner did not look that bad, but the dash pad not so much, but it kept anything from sliding off.

We also hacked the wiring so that we had a switch to turn off all lights, brake lights, turn signals etc. Total blackout. We use to play 4 wheel hide and seek at night in a large area that had hills, fields and tons of trails that crossed over each other etc. Only light I could not hack was the CB, but easy to cover. As a teen wiring was cut, twist and tape. But who knew back then, you could pick up these in perfect running shape with no rust for 1,500 or less.

[micky]

for me i would have to say the wireing and the so called "complete engine overhaul" who woulh have thought that was a reletave term. i have since had the top end off the engine and now the bottom half and it appears that all the seals have been reused for the whole drivetrain. he did however put in a cool tarzan horn. it yells like tarzan. its a nice way to announce your presence at a bonfire party or say hello to fello cruisers.

[Tankota]

I really enjoyed the way the seatbelts were tied (not bolted) in a knot around the tack welded seat mounts. The front tack welds on the passenger seat mount broke on the test drive and the PO went flying into the back of the truck right when he told me to "punch it!"

[Lil'John]

The wiring harness in my pig was in good shape minus the ignition and headlight circuits.

Having the tailgate window opening cut apart was my worst PO mod In this picture, the part missing is the outer lip.

[D'Animal]

I wish the wiring was messed up.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series...th-thread.html

[romegadave]

Green garden hose used for door rubber on driver's side......this rig is so godawful I haven't even posted pics yet

[Combat Chuck]

Originally Posted by psreno

Uugh! 1 inch long green and orange shag carpet, top to bottom, side to side...

The worst thing I ever did was break a bottle of garlic flavored olive oil in back. That smell lingered for years. On sunny days you could smell that truck from a block away. YEARS!!!

I feel ya, I worked as a butcher for two years in a supermarket, and my pants, and boots spread the work stench to every fiber of my car's interior. It was like the smelly car episode of Seinfeld, no matter what I did, no matter how much cash I spent on carpet treatments, the smell still lingers in tat car.

Originally Posted by cjgoode

... a switch to turn off all lights, brake lights, turn signals etc. Total blackout. We use to play 4 wheel hide and seek at night in a large area that had hills, fields and tons of trails that crossed over each other etc....

I've got my Pain(full)less harness stretched out on the ground right now, and I was thinking about how to wire in a blackout switch, just to mess with tourists at night as they're going up the windy roads I live off.
4X4 hide and seek is really an awesome idea, though.

For me, it's a toss-up between hacking the dash for a radio that ceased to exist likely long before I ever bought the rig, haphazardly installing a fourth gear into my 3-speed tranny, which just about killed it, tapping the ignition coil for the electric fuel pump, dropping Jeep seats onto the old seat frames. (Literally dropped, no welding involved, anywhere.), or the shiny electric-purple butterfly sticker in the back window that said: "self-esteem".
Regardless, I love my 40, and I'd gladly deal with all these problems again just because it's the car of my dreams.

[3doghouse]

This is a REALLY tough call, because my p.o. was exceptional.

The rear brake mod (no rear brake cylinders) almost won, but I'd have to say the JB Weld instead of an exhaust header bolt takes the cake.

[yotawheeler]

oh where to begine....could start with the patchwork quilt that is my floor pan....or the lb/sqft of bondo on the body...wiring is a bit of a hack, anyplace where he put ne metal in there are half a dozen spot welds then he just took a smear of sealer to close it up, almost forgot his "frame repairs" which i just found, cut out nd replaced all of his bubble gum welds when i put the 60 springs into the rear of my truck, frame is about 1/2" longer on one side then the other because of these "repairs"....the whole rear of the frame is a bit of a gong show...and the bumper was welded to the rails as well. fixed everything as well as i could without pulling the whole truck apart and using my spare frame...too much friggen work to do that...what other surprises did he leave me....nothing else comes to mind, been away from that truck for too long...oh...seat belts! almost forgot, just a half inch bolt through the tub...no washers or anything that i can recall...seats were mounted with tack welds nd i ripped them out without a hammer or any tools...yea, its an interesting truck lol

[Seth_O]

My PO actually built the LC out of two different ones pieced together. Bit of a toss up between the wooden roof rack bolted through the fiberglass roof and the GM carburetor on the 1F engine that caused the valves to burn.

Nice.

[craptabulous]

clothespins shimming up the rear sill and keeping it from vibrating , i thought it was funny actually .

[mtthmpsn]

PO put in a very unusual and dangerous power-steering setup with a welded pitman arm and a lovely heat shield to boot. To get it in he just cut and peeled back the inner fender. Gotta love laziness.

[Tankota]

Nice welded pitman arm I was at a 4x4 show n shine several years ago was shocked when they gave one of the awards to a jeep that had a welded pitman arm! SOmetimes I can hardly believe what people will drive down the road...often endangering the rest of us with their haphazard creations

[Brian in Oregon]

Lift springs with stock flexible brake line in the rear - the line was going taut before reaching full articulation.

[Gimmie Green]

The worst mod from the po on my 40 was definately the railroad tie for a front bumper

[Brian in Oregon]

Originally Posted by Gimmie Green

The worst mod from the po on my 40 was definately the railroad tie for a front bumper

I had a 1952 International Harvester pickup with three railroad track rails welded together for a rear bumper. But a railroad tie? That must have been fugly.

[Gimmie Green]

Originally Posted by Brian in Oregon

I had a 1952 International Harvester pickup with three railroad track rails welded together for a rear bumper. But a railroad tie? That must have been fugly.

Yeah it was hideous. It also had a home made wooden roof rack. Looked like the PO used an ax to cut the lumber for it.

[luvmud]

How bout a speaker screwed to the side of the heater. I didn't like it so i unscrewed it and antifreeze started pouring out! Yelp, 2 inch screw right through the heater core. Also has a massive port hole looking sun roof, complete with about 10 lbs. of silicone.

[hollowbase]

My PO wanted to sit higher so used electrical junction boxes for spacers. I was barely able to get my legs under the steering wheel to drive it home.

[subzali]

My PO was pretty good and did some fairly decent backyard mechanic bodywork (replaced rear fenders, wheel wells etc.), did a bolted-in tailgate with half ambulance doors. Like I said not too bad.

Only problem is that various pieces and parts of my Cruiser were painted purple. My truck was originally Freeborn Red (still poking through under the paint), has been three different shades of purple and is now silver (all oversprayed over the previous paint job). When I took possession of it the valve cover, instrument cluster bezel, glovebox door and ash tray door, as well as shift levers were still purple.

Other than that there were just a bunch of random things missing (dash pads, defroster vents, windshield hold-downs, sun visors, etc.) - don't know why but that's been part of the fun of bringing it back closer to stock. I just found out a few weeks ago (after owning it for 4 1/2 years - didn't know because they were burnt out or missing) that there was supposed to be a headlight knob backlight, a dash knob illumination light, and a heater control illumination light! Crazy!

[jsaltlick]

Well, I've got you all beat. The PO of my1974 FJ55 decided shackles on the front springs of my truck were utterly useless so he took them off entirely. Zero shackles up front. Makes for a rather bumpy ride. Gonna start a new trend with this. I tracked down the owner before the PO and he said it had shackles on it when it left TX.

The hangar set up was 3 pieces of plate steel which were booger-welded together but only on the outside edge. The innards were not welded. not exactly safe in any way.

(also the rear springs were off of a 55 and a 60 series and sagged miserably)

[Wildman]

My truck had a plywood and fiberglass (only on the bottom) body when I bought it. Ohyea, shagg carpet in the back too!