"Vintaging" Elsie (1 Viewer)

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Thank you. I have always been a huge fan of the Spring Green, and since my cruiser started life in that color, I figured it should be that color again.
 
Great build, enjoyed reading about it. I'm also partial to the pistachio green, same color and paint I used on a '61 Power Wagon I restored a few years ago.
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I look forward to see your progression. Very well done...
 
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It doesn't look like much right now... but there it is. 2FE. Slapped an old head gasket on it and set head on it. Going to stick the manifolds and valve cover on tomorrow and pressure wash the whole mess. Same with the transmission and split case. Then replace the head gasket and all the seals and gaskets.. and paint it all purdy.
 
Still slowly collecting parts for the 2FE swap, I got the transmission and transfer case a few months ago, and now I just need to get the head gone through and checked out before I actually assembly the whole thing. At this point, I'm just broke and realize that to do this right, it's still going to be a while. It's been two years now of collecting parts.. which drives me insane.. but having started a business I no longer have the known income I did when I started down this road. It's hard spending large sums of money on an engine swap.. when you can't be 100% you'll have the same income you did this week next week. It is what it is... I don't set my alarm in the morning.. I just get up when I get up.. if I want to take a day and go wheeling with friends on a Tuesday, I can.. but.. I am sometimes broke or too stressed to spend money when things are slow.


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Anyway, I've shifted gears to fix some things that have annoyed me, and do some little stuff to just make the cruiser easier to live with how it is. After our last snow wheeling trip, two things needed to be addressed.

1. On board air. After owning the cruiser half of my life as of this year... I can't believe it's taken me this long to do something I knew I wanted from day one. First I was waiting until I did the engine swap to the V8. I didn't see any point to doing it twice. Then it got to where everyone I wheeled with had air, so it was never a big deal that I didn't. Then we started doing a lot of overland/solo trips and suddenly it's become a very annoying thing to have to plan to come out next to a gas station. But at the same time, I've known I was going to go to the 2FE again.. and been hesitant to spend the $100 for the serpentine clutch when I was just going to change back to V belts when I went back to the I6. But at this point... I realize it might be another year before I'm actually ready to do the swap. And in that time we'll be wheeling a lot.. and airing down a lot. So I figured the plumbing will all be the same, and the clutch and V8 mount I can sell when I'm done.

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The clutch is in the mail, looking for a manifold today. I'll build the mount and have switches in the cab that are empty waiting for stuff. I spend a good chunk of yesterday collecting the parts. I now have spent more on air fittings, hoses, ect then I did on the pump it's self. Actually.. twice as much. lol.

And the other thing.. a defroster! When I did the V8 swap, I removed the stock heater to put the battery where the blower goes, and the heater part came out to make room for the shifter. It wasn't a big deal at all at the time, because I never ever put the hard top on. I actually considered selling the hard top. I just parked the cruiser most of the winter, or wore a jacket. Now however, we do a lot more winter wheeling, and even in the summer I kept the hardtop on this year. But.. we have no defroster and it SUCKS! The rag wiping down the windshield thing is just no fun. Trying to see out a little spot the size of a grapefruit while wheeling sucks. Problem is there isn't much room under the dash, and the shifter is still in the way. I took the rear heater out of an FJ80 and it's going to fit perfectly under there. I cut and flipped the copper tubes for the heater core, flipped them 180, and am building a box today to direct the heat into two rounded ports, where I can attach tubes to run up to the defroster tubes. I'm really happy with the way it's coming together. Pictures later tonight when I've got more to show on the heater.
 
I gutted an Fj80 rear heater today, and flipped the inlet and outlet on the core 180*, and built a little box with 2.25 inch holes. Tomorrow I'll weld in 2 inches or so of exhaust tube to each hole, and attach some plastic flexy hose and have a defroster for the first time in 10 years! Pretty excited about being able to get rid of the rag in the center console.. no more wiping the fog down off every few minutes.

And tomorrow is also the day the old broken transfer case will come out. 46 years was a good run, but she's done. My wife will be happy to have a transfer case that she doesn't have to keep her foot against the shifter to keep it in gear. I will be happy to not have a puddle of gear oil under it every where I park.

I also made some progress on the OBA. Made an aluminum manifold and bracket.
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Love the build and all of your out of the box little dealies and details man! Good job.

D
 
Thank you. I am trying to make it as functional as possible for our needs, and keep with the old school feeling of the cruiser.

Just checked my tracking and the brown truck is coming Monday with the serpentine clutch... awesome! I thought it was going to be coming from the East coast and was bummed thinking it would be here until after Thanksgiving weekend... I might have a chance to finish the OBA next week... in time for a big snow storm. Snow wheeling!!!!!
 
Done.. for now. I still want to add a tank, and a switch in the cab. But until I find a tank for free or super cheap, this works just fine for airing up. We'll see if the rubber line holds up to the heat too.. it may melt.. time will tell. I flattened a couple of tires and refilled them today, and was very happy with how it is working. The two middle ports on the manifold are just capped off for now, for future air locker solenoids.

Also got the defroster done.. it works. Nothing amazing there... a box attached to a heater with two hoses coming out. haha.
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Nice air setup. Here is a good site for air accessories for someone following this thread and is building there own air system Train Horns & Train Horn Kits: Loudest Horns Available
You may have problems with the air coming off of the compressor. It gets super hot and melts hoses. I ended up running a steel power steering pump cooling tube to allow the air to cool a bit before entering the manifold. Also, you may already have this covered, a pressure cutoff switch can be screwed into the manifold and wired in series with the compressor clutch. It will then shut off at a predetermined pressure, that is less than the pop off pressure valve, for convenience and safety. They are inexpensive. I chose one rated at 120psi for my system.
 
Apple logo is cool looking, you sure got good with the plasma cutter.
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Thank you. After two years of owning it, I'm still learning a lot every day, and it's been a ton of fun. It's nice to finally do something I enjoy for a living (and work for myself) instead of be sick from stress on my way to work each morning.



I love the Apple graphic, your wife did a great job! What compressor is that please?

Thank you. It's a York 210. This one is off a 1970's Ford car, but they come on a lot of stuff. There are 3 different ones and they look the same externally. You want the 210 (biggest air output) and there are lists on the internet about what cars and trucks have what compressors. I had to buy the serpentine clutch.. and it was $100.. which kind of stung since I paid $30 for the compressor. I ended up spending about another $150 on everything else. So it's not the cheapest way to get OBA, but the York will smoke any electric compressor out there. I aired up from FLAT to 30 PSI my 35 and just guessing it was under a minute. It was like using a smaller shop compressor. Very fast.



Nice air setup. Here is a good site for air accessories for someone following this thread and is building there own air system Train Horns & Train Horn Kits: Loudest Horns Available
You may have problems with the air coming off of the compressor. It gets super hot and melts hoses. I ended up running a steel power steering pump cooling tube to allow the air to cool a bit before entering the manifold. Also, you may already have this covered, a pressure cutoff switch can be screwed into the manifold and wired in series with the compressor clutch. It will then shut off at a predetermined pressure, that is less than the pop off pressure valve, for convenience and safety. They are inexpensive. I chose one rated at 120psi for my system.

I am aware that rubber hose's days are numbered with the heat. I just wanted to get it set up and running and make sure I was happy with everything before I got a hardline made for it. There is a big rig shop in town, that makes custom lines. They did my PS lines and brake lines and some other odd custom stuff I've needed over the years. I'll have them make a nice metal line for it at some point soon... or likely after the rubber one melts. haha

I just have a toggle switch on it right now, with the pop off valve. It's not as fancy as the pressure switch, but it works just fine for airing up tires. I was going for cheap and easy to get air. I don't have lockers at the moment, so I don't really need to have the compressor running other then just when I'm filling tires, and the pop off works fine for just keeping it from exploding while I'm moving from tire to tire.


What are those fittings at the top of the York?

I think they are propane or gas fittings. I got them at a local plumbing/electric place. Here is the package. They are pretty slick. 3/4 NPT to 1/2. Then I got some 1/2 NPT to 1/4 reducer and put those on and it came out really clean.
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Yep. This one is anyway. I am not sure if they all have the same... I know the fittings are different depending on the application but the way they mount might be the same.
 
Thank you. I need to be better about putting stuff on the website. 90% of what I do is custom... so its hard to list stuff on the site when each project is custom. I need to be better at least about putting pictures of stuff on tge site.
 
Leaving Tuesday morning for Overland Expo. Almost 900 miles to Flagstaff, via 395. Should be a pretty epic journey. Getting ready the last few weeks, we've repaired a leaking transfer case, repacked the wheel bearings, put dynamat down (best thing ever, we can actually hear ourselves think now) and fixed a bunch of little issues that have been bugging me.

Also, built a lid for our trailer, and bought a RTT.

I'm super excited, but a little scared. It's going to be a LONG drive for an old cruiser, but I am pretty confident we won't have anything major happen, or we wouldn't go. 1800 miles, 3 states, and an almost 50 year old Toyota. Should be amazing no matter what happens.

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