rotw-68 v8j40

nuclearlemon · 07-18-05, 11:54 PM

well...kinda sorta 68.

74 tub on mostly 74 frame, with 68 parts, 69 parts, 75 parts, cruiser parts of unknown vintage, 83 fj60, 79 chevy, 91 chevy, freightliner, nissan, modified ford, toy pickup, 80 series...and god only knows what else...

motor is a delco reman 350 for a 79 vintage cheby...i'd just put it in my old gmc k1500 the year before i got the cruiser...wasn't a hard decision to pull it back out. the tranny also came from the k1500 (sm465).

the transfer is a mix of 74 case and 69 gears, rebuilt when we first started the project. it's mated with a classic cruisers adapter plate, which is junk. it supplies the axles via a toy pickup front cv shaft to the rear ends, and a modified stock front shaft up front.

the cruiser started when "dad" (actually my best friend's dad, who considers me his illegitimate child) got sick of me being depressed after a year and a half with no cruiser. he told me of a cheap builder (ha...junker was more like it) and offered to help me build it (big mistake on his part...can't build it from the couch). so, i towed it to his place

and the three year build began. every weekend i was there harrassing him to weld this and weld that and make this and make that...i just cleaned everything up for him to do it

Without him, this cruiser wouldn't be possible.

i knew right off the bat, i wanted a tough, capable rock crawler (to bad since then, i've decided, f&^k the hard trails, i just wanna get away), so i wanted v8/gearing/power steering, and soa.

the gearbox was from a later model tahoe (custom rebuilt to a certain turn ratio, that if i ever drove it, i would know what it was), mated to the axles via a hi steer arm that dad made and a shortened relay rod, filled with old head bolts to strengthen it. i've since changed to all pro hi steer, but will reuse the parts on my pig until i can afford hi steer for it. on the other end, is a rod made from a golf cart steering rod and ujoints from the bulk box at the shop that rebuilt the box. that rod goes to a tilt 76 firebird column. jack rice built the tie rod and drag link, and the ends are 80 series.

the front axle is a stock housing that i ground out to accept mini parts, but have since upgraded to fj60. i've also build 4.56's and swapped those in (the 4.11's were needed for my fj60).

the rear is dana 60 shafts shortened and modded to match the cruiser splines, 4.56's, aussie locked and warn full floater hubs, with the standard, chevy disc brakes.

the brakes system, as mentioned, is four wheel disc with power supplied via 75 master and 83 fj60 booster. the proportioning valve is by wilwood and has looked great sitting on the shelf for the last five years.

suspension is stock springs, over axle, with 1 1/2" conferrs int he front and 2 1/2" conferrs in the rear. the front also has home grown shackle reversal and the rears are also reversed for a bit over 6" over stock wheel base. tires are 36x12.5 swampers on cut out chevy rally rims. shocks are 9000s and i do have the ford towers in the fronts.

the body was (for the most part) good. someone had already replaced the rear channel, but we had to weld in the rear corners. rather than grind down the welds and make them look pretty, i undercoated them and put 1/8 inch aluminum on the corners....these things do actually count as corner protection. the rockers were also cut out and angle iron welded onto what was left. there are also removeable nerf bars (hey, i'm short and need a step, but these will still outlast anything smittybilt makes).

inside is a 6pt cage holding nissan pulsar seats (it will be going away for a proffitt's front kit mated to a early 70's dealer rear bar), which holds an overhead tuffy console for the stereo and cb. a rear steel storage box keeps spares and tools.

the rear bumper has been in the works for years, but the front bumper was made by dad (as were the nerfs). there's a belleveiw winch for it (also looks good sitting in the garage with the rear bumper, led rear lights, prorportioning valve, etc)...someday i'll finish it, but in the meantime, i've got the 60 to fix, the 45 to finish building, the 55 to get running, and another 40 in boxes.....

apparel is oem softtop and doors, two piece kayline doors with bikini and rear curtain, or hardtop and doors.

here are early shots of the motor and build (teach dad to let me build a cruiser in his yard

) and a pic with the hardtop. it was multi colored for years, but i've finally rattlecanned it one base color with flames except for a single rear back door...that's just to annoy dad who kept telling me to paint the horizon blue rear doors since i'd already painted the entire rear of the tub grey.

nuclearlemon · 07-19-05, 12:00 AM

just realized, i didn't mention anything on the engine/cooling outside of general info. i had a griffin...it's now gone and an oem sized four core is in it's place with a taurus fan. the motor is stock, with an edelbrock performer manifold and carb (one of the thre or four quadrajunks that i have will go on soon, until i can come up with the casht o go fi). it's got pacesetter blockhuggers with stage 8's and an edelbrock water pump...other than that, stock treefiddy.

here are some pics from moab

bad_religion_au · 07-19-05, 12:55 AM

can you go into more detail on the rear axle? is it stock housing, D60 shafts, what brakes?

nuclearlemon · 07-19-05, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_religion_au

can you go into more detail on the rear axle? is it stock housing, D60 shafts, what brakes?

yep, yep and 90s k1500 rotors, warn brackets with monte carlo calipers.

74fj40 · 07-19-05, 08:39 AM

Sweet rig Ige, are those the original wheels? i love that look

bad_religion_au · 07-19-05, 08:56 AM

can i just ask, what's the U shaped tube hunging under the bumper for?

74fj40 · 07-19-05, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_religion_au

can i just ask, what's the U shaped tube hunging under the bumper for?

I dunno but i think it looks pretty sweet

wesintl · 07-19-05, 10:05 AM

Nice to see Ige as ROTW

Maybe you can make it a twofer or 3fer with the 60 and 45 in those sections

Romer · 07-19-05, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wesintl

Nice to see Ige as ROTW

Maybe you can make it a twofer or 3fer with the 60 and 45 in those sections

She actually has 5, but only this one and the 60 are running. I think the 45 is close

camcruiser13 · 07-19-05, 04:28 PM

looking pretty sweet

nuclearlemon · 07-19-05, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 74fj40

Sweet rig Ige, are those the original wheels? i love that look

yep...they are original wheels...for a chevy

there's a lip in the back that goes around the hub and if you machine it there, it will fit over the cruiser hubs. i can even run the ss trim rings for the bling look

nuclearlemon · 07-19-05, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_religion_au

can i just ask, what's the U shaped tube hunging under the bumper for?

no clue...friends dad built the bumper for me...just kinda different i guess.

65swb45 · 07-19-05, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_religion_au

can i just ask, what's the U shaped tube hunging under the bumper for?

[for you older SNL fans] I thought it was the bottom half of Mr. Bill's mouth going "OH NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooh"

Poser · 07-20-05, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65swb45

[for you older SNL fans] I thought it was the bottom half of Mr. Bill's mouth going "OH NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooh"

LMAO!!!!

Right on Mark!!!

Ige-

Wish I would have had more time while in Denver to stop over and see your other rides...

Lookin' good!

:jack: :jack:

nuclearlemon · 07-20-05, 11:00 PM

well hell steve...come on back!!!

GetsUThere · 07-22-05, 09:42 PM

Nuclearlemon, nice looking rig! I have to ask, though, what parts did you use from a freightliner?

nuclearlemon · 07-23-05, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GetsUThere

Nuclearlemon, nice looking rig! I have to ask, though, what parts did you use from a freightliner?

some trim pieces, switches, a clock, and of course dual pivoting some lights

HawkDriver · 07-24-05, 11:26 PM

Wow man, that looks and sounds like a lot of work. Great job. That engine compartment is lookin purrrdy. So what's the story with you saying fu*( the hard trails? Oh and I dig the early hardtop, those are always cool to see.

nuclearlemon · 07-25-05, 07:43 AM

just realized that i really don't get into the one day constantly try to pick a line runs...i'd rather got and see what i'm missing in life. had a great trip to beuna vista this weekend...i haven't been to that area in over 10 years. i live in colorado, yet, i haven't seen colorado.