[paulwolf350]

Well its been 4 months since my last update! I wish I had more time to work on this thing.....

Work on the tray just about complete, I couple more little brackets an it will be ready for top coat. I have found places for all the gear I will need to carry and made all the brakets to hold it all on. I also made a spotlight rack for the top of my rollbar. The lights fold down when not in use and if I rollover they will also fold dow hopefully saving the lights. I started to undercoat the underside of the tray yesterday and put some colour on today


Undercoat



Pretty, ..................nice blue

the top will be the same blue with a charcoal deck, Ive decided the all blue is a little bit much

I have also ripped out the A440 in favour of a Turbo 400, and spent a few months chasing the bits for it

It now runs a 34 element sprag and direct clutch drum, aluminum pistons on all of the cutch packs, all new seals and bearings, roller thrust in the geartrain, full manual reverse pattern valvebody and a new pump...............wowee



some pics of me putting the finishing touches on the t400
the 60 in the background watching on


waiting for her new home............having transfercase dramas

While i was supposed to working on the tray I managed to cotton onto a complete nissan coil sprung frontend which just happens to fit straight under a 60, the chasis widths are within 5mm (1/4 inch) of each other so I now runs a coil front and nissan front diff



I had changed the front to an 80 series diff, but with the 36 inch simexs I was worried about the small front diff, Now I have a full size diff under the front and the width I was chasing


front looking toward the back


Nissan Radius arms

I wanted to try to keep it as much toyota as possible but with the holden v8, turbo 400 and now this the old girl is becoming quite a mismatch of parts - oh well I still love her. There is quite a bit of work involved in this I have had to move the steering box forward, (and now using a nissan one) unpicked all of the brackets off a nissan chassis and weld them onto the 60 series, then use nissan radius arms, nissan drag link, tie rod and panhard rod. It is all good now though. I think it will handle very well because we have kept the geometry spot on by using all of the components from the same model vehicle.

Will post some more soon

Paul

[paulwolf350]

Seeing as how I havnt posted much in the last 12 months, I better get my act together. So here I am posting.

I have been trying to work on my 60 as much as possible but I am still having dramas. The modified layshaft and gear for the transfercase turned out to be the wrong one. Seems the gears in a latermodel transfer are different to a 60 one.

After lots of to ing and fro ing I tried to make it work, modified my cases to take the bigger shaft went to fit it all together only to find that the gears are also different. Back to the machine shop with my gear, which has now been modded for tapered roller bearings. Another trial fitup only to find that the spacers between the bearings wont fit in my gearset. so back to the machine shop again for more work. Now I am getting a all the bits made so I have a complete kit for a 62 transfercase to sell.

So that has been the 3 frustrating weeks after the transmission shots in the last post. By the time this transmission is in, it will have been 2 months from go to whoa.

While all this is going on, on a more positive note, the tray is now complete and painted, ready to be installed. I am going to be mounting some of the lighter gear to it while I am waiting for the bodywork to be complete.

Bodywork is well underway, I am attacking it with spurts of inspiration but I finally have one side complete, finished the rocker panel today. I am halfway across the roof also so the main body is about half done. One door is started, it needs a rust repair to be done, that leaves the other door, both front guards and the bonnet not yet started. No mods or repairs to these though.

I have also got the steering hooked back up, got a nissan shaft resplined the end and it fits perfectly between the nissan steering box and the toyota column.

Started work on the fuel tank, its a 76 litre(16 gallon) tank from a local Holden. I used it because of its square dimensions but now I am having problems with an internal fuel pump for the EFI so I will be figuring that out in the next few days hopefully.

I will post pics tomorrow, so stay tuned

Paul

[paulwolf350]

pics as promised, (see yesterday post for full story)



finished tray, side shot



from the back, using the original towbar mounted on top of chassis



showing the lightboard and towbar. The rear infill (light board) is a piece of stainless channel, I am going to polish



fuel tank mounts under tray in front of towbar. As I was saying, tank is from a carby car, I need to run an intank setup for the EFI


some shots of my bodywork

the rocker panel and lower rear



one whole side completed, yipee



As an aside hands up who likes my brand new shed, (the tray is sitting in) 23 foot by 20 foot, it is to be my new workshop.

My wife gets her backyard back, Yipee (her).

I hoped to have more bodywork done today, but as yet have not found the time

[lulo]

Originally Posted by paulwolf350

pics as promised, (see yesterday post for full story)



finished tray, side shot



from the back, using the original towbar mounted on top of chassis



showing the lightboard and towbar. The rear infill (light board) is a piece of stainless channel, I am going to polish



fuel tank mounts under tray in front of towbar. As I was saying, tank is from a carby car, I need to run an intank setup for the EFI


some shots of my bodywork

the rocker panel and lower rear



one whole side completed, yipee



As an aside hands up who likes my brand new shed, (the tray is sitting in) 23 foot by 20 foot, it is to be my new workshop.

My wife gets her backyard back, Yipee (her).

I hoped to have more bodywork done today, but as yet have not found the time

WOW !!! nice work mate! , i wait for the final pic`s , for you .

[andrew7elk]

Awsome project!!!! That thing is going to be sweeeeet!!!

[paulwolf350]

I suppose its time for an update. I have not spent that much time working on the cruiser lately, my wife gave birth to our daughter last week, so I have been pretty busy.

However, I have been trying to do stuff. I have finally got all my shed sorted, power is on. lots of outlets and plenty of lights, I am really happy with it. I have moved in some work benches and finally have some sort of permanent work area.

My cruiser is now inside the shed and I spent all afternoon today working on her. More filler in the roof, I got the drivers door off, stripped and rust repairs started. The bonnet is also off in order to prep it for paint, so it is still moving forward. I will post up some pics of the latest work. I have also got the mods back for the transfer case so that should be all together soon and it should be starting to happen shortly.


Cruiser in the shed

On a side note, I convinced a young work colleague to join the cruiser fold, I found a cheap 1989 HJ60 ( square headlights like a 62) which I nagged him to buy. The PO thought the motor was dead so we got it home and have been waiting for a replacement engine to be bought. Whilst this was going on I got sick of this thing in my yard and decided to have a look at the engine.

So i started to tear it down and found that it had a broken rocker shaft, the push rods on no 6 cylinder had come adrift and the lifter had come out of its bore. I lifted th cyl head to double check nothing was wrong internally, put it back down with new gaskets, new shaft and everything back where it should be and fired it back up. It ran sweet as, so he now has a running HJ60, to say he is stoked is an understatement

here is some photos to prove I have been working on cruisers





Adjusting the tappets


2H head on the bench


Paul

[paulwolf350]

After a month of running around I have finally got the transfer sorted, all the mods done and got it back together. It seems to work too. Once I get the torque convertor sorted out it will be time to install the sucker.

For the last 2 weeks I have been going flat out in the shed doing the bodywork, I have the roof finished, the rear nearly finished, and the other side about 3/4 done. If I get another good day on it tomorrow, it should be nearly finished. Haven't got pics yet........too busy working, no photographer. But it is really starting to take shape.

As an aside, that white cruiser I was working on is now registered and insured Luke is driving it and is pretty happy - another cruiser convert

I have also stripped mine down to its jocks for paint, guards and bonnet off, doors off, tailgate off. its starting to look a little bare. Hopefully it will start to come back together soon

Paul

[chappysfj40]

intresting for sure, i love it actually

[iaintscared1969]

SO how is the Silver Crush coming? Are ya ready to Squirt some paint?

[paulwolf350]

Silver crush is coming along, (compared to previous anyway). I have been working on it all week. I have some pics from yesterday to post up


This is what she looks like at the moment, I took some clues from you, Iaintscared, and removed all of the front sheetmetal. It makes accessing all of the the frontend so much simpler.


pic of the completed roof, remember I took 5 feet out of the roof




pics of the side, work performed yesterday, It looks ok, nowhere near perfect but you get that. This side was not real straight to begin with.

I have all of this side and most of the rear in primer as of now. its 11pm here





And a few random shots to finish off, the inside has not been so clean for a looooong time. You can see how I sectioned the body. And a shot of my coil front and new steering box

Hopefully it will be in full primer, ready to paint by the weekend. it is only at filler stage at the moment, will need to be rubbed out, puttied, rubbed again and more primer before paint

So still plenty left to do, might be able to start painting colour by weekend after





Paul

[paulwolf350]

Bwahahahhaahahah - I love those pics, everything looks like it has snow on it, pity its the middle of summer here and about 90 deg most of the time.

Its bog dust from the body filler I have been using, it gets into everything, I need to clean up my shed


Paul

[iaintscared1969]

It is looking great! Get some sleep all of that block sanding takes it's toll on the arms. Can't wait to see some color on it!

[paulwolf350]

Thanks randy - you havin a break from the vortecs now, or did someone step up

Paul

[iaintscared1969]

No, The ghost is at the exhaust and running it down for a Saturday date with the owner, I have a 40 I am doing a SOA, AGR Rock ram, Hysteer, etc, and the old school 350. Not to mention I have a few that want to be next. Never a dull moment in my garage, I just wish I could quit my day Job and work on getting Big Blue ready for the trails...

BTW what paint and primer are you using? Are you going to run in a house of colors silver or similar?

[paulwolf350]

Gonna paint it the factory silver, and I use old school acrylic laquer, its easy to apply, no booth, no worries. I am not a body man nor am I a painter but i will do it justice thats for sure. I like to use the old tech paint, I know how it works; rather than learn to use 2 pac as I go.

Paul

[iaintscared1969]

It will come out nice. The Laquer always lays down nice, and it is easy to touch up!

[brokenparts]

very cool project. can't wait to see it all together.

[paulwolf350]

I have had a brain wave or a brain explosion, or somethin.......... not sure really. It looks like the silver paint may be on the way out, I am seriously considering changing the colour.........

I have been building this thing for over 2 years, and it was always gonna be silver, silver was the origonal colour and it was gonna stay that way. Anyhoo was out in the shop last night laying down the last of the primer, came inside, went to bed, woke up with an idea to change the colour.

Was thinking something bold, has to go with my blue tray and wheels.

so now i think it is gonna be YELLOW, the colour is called Yellow Dolly and is a gmh colour from here in Australia

I cant work out how to photoshop it onto my photos so cant have a look in person. But should be pretty cool

Paul

[iaintscared1969]

SO What are you going to do when Big Bird comes by and decides to hump your truck??!! Oh there ya go...BIG BIRD!! With on the doors!

[chicago]

Dude,
that is HARD CORE!
Digging the innovations that youre doing.
However, it seems that your steering wheel is on the WRONG SIDE of the rig.
I hope youre making plans to correct that!?

Seriously...Nice chop.

Chicago

[paulwolf350]

Thanks Chicago, the praise is appreciated


Cant decide what colour to paint it, as mentioned I really like a yellow called yellow dolly but cant decide between it and another colour called STRIKE ME PINK so what do you reckon...............

PINK or YELLOW

Paul

[mel lowe]

This is one of my favorite builds.



"I have been building this thing for over 2 years, and it was always gonna be silver, silver was the origonal colour and it was gonna stay that way. Anyhoo was out in the shop last night laying down the last of the primer, came inside, went to bed, woke up with an idea to change the colour."

One quick question for you.

Were you wearing a ventilator when you made the decision to possibly go pink?


Well, here is 1 vote for pink........


Why not? Your rig is built so well, the exterior color won't matter.



see my avatar.....



The po of my 60 choose pink as well, it sorta grows on you.

I actually had folks compliment the color at traffic signals.


Personally, I liked the silver, but to each is his own.

[MutleyFJ62]

Nicely done, but man, it aint a holden, and it aint a peugot, paint it factory silver, so much easier especially after that much work.; BTW: TJM now has reliable supply of the diff locks.... nudge nudge, wink wink............................

[chappysfj40]

YELLOW, bright ass yellow

[iaintscared1969]

I VOTE YELLOW! OK PINK! Would it really matter after all the work that you put in it. Then you to will have a Pink Panther Anyway you got to admit it is one sweet project!

[Landcruisin'60]

Hmm pink cruiser, that might be a first. But deffinently a sick build that has just motivated me to go out and get crackin on some body rust on mine...maybe a bob while I'm at it.

[candograge]

from the looks of the work you have done the "candograge"kinda wishes you were our neighbor ................nice job can't wait to see the finished job

[paulwolf350]

I have tried 3 times to reply to this thread, every time something goes wrong

Got the TH400 under the cruiser tonight, still no paint yet.

Thanks candograge, I'm sure it has its downside

As for the colour metallics are definitely out, too hard to touch up. My painter mate had one look at the original colour and told me to paint it a different colour. Pink is not everyones favorite, not normally mine either, but it sure would be different, and bright, and everyone will remember the dudes in the bright pink cruiser.

here is a teaser of the pink colour

Strike me Pink
(thanks to Champions Brock experience for the picture)

and the yellow

Yellow dolly

Still not sure about colour yet..........I will think about it some more

Paul

[FinHJ60]

Cool build, I'd say go PINK.

[iaintscared1969]

It helps to compare apples to apples



Not the same model but hey food for thought. And thanks to whoever owns these rigs they both look nice.