My misc restoration ramblings/questions thread (1 Viewer)

[KLF]

285/75R16

5 of those things M&B, that was a big bill. I had to move up to 16" rims to clear the TRE and the RDB.

 

[MatS]

Looks real good. Hopefully if I ever go up in brake sizing my forged 15s will be enough to clear it.

 

[jynx]

You find a set of 5 spoke wheels and I will go halves with you. I need one myself.

Truck is looking awesome. Can't wait to see a full shot with the new wheels and tires.

 

[FrankTorres]

Great looking restoration.
You are doing excellent work.

Will this be a daily?

Monstaliner is great stuff, I had good luck talking to Eric with my questions.
Here is his contact info. Eric Rosenthal President & Technical DirectorMagnet Paint & Shellac Co., Inc.
Office: 631.842.7700 - Ext 100. Cell: 516.313.7865

 

[KLF]

My plan is for this truck to be my DD. Assuming I get all the bugs out of it and the engine is running reliably, my car will get a good detail then parked for the winter. It sucks in the snow and I don't like it out in that stuff anyway.

I'm shopping for better insurance now, I think I will be taking it for inspection this week.

 

[cadot]

Wow, beautiful work. Beautiful truck. I am however sad to see you put speakers in the doors. I just went through removing speakers from my doors that the previous owner put in. Not really a big deal but the fact that i just covered the hole left by the speaker on my doors just hit a nerve i guess. Glad to see love for the minis in restoration style.

 

[KLF]

Oh believe me, it was very difficult to cut those pristine door panels. But good sound is very important to me, and that can't happen with pathetic 3-1/2" speakers in the dash, and there really is no other choice. What you don't see is the JL 300/4 amp under the drivers seat, the MB Quart separates in the back, and I have an old-school a/d/s amp under the shelf waiting for a custom 8" sub that I need to make.

This build is less about factory original, more about comfort, durability, reliability, and capability.

 

[KLF]

Took 3 months to get these...

 

[pappy]

Antique ham?

 

[KLF]

Well, ya I guess I am...

 

[pappy]

Makes two of us.

 

[ken_79-fj40]

Nice. So is it time for this rig to be rolling around southern NH now? Looks great, just caught this thread a few days ago. Perhaps I'll spot it out there.

 

[KLF]

Trying to get the last few things done, was thinking I might try to get a sticker on Friday. Need to find a place in my area that is "SAS friendly". Most shops refuse to even look at it as soon as they see the mild lift and suspension mods, even though it is still 100% legal. I was extremely pleased that my new tires DO NOT stick out at all beyond the fenders.

Still need for sticker:
Coolant in engine, run, check for leaks, test drive
Front bumper installed
Spare tire mounted & hung (waiting for rim I bought on eBay to arrive)
Tailgate installed
Aim headlights

Other things that need to get done:
Toolbox in bed (lots of woodworking to do, in progress)
Grip tape on sliders and rear bumper
"skirts" hung in wheel wells
Put winch together, install on bumper

 

[ken_79-fj40]

Are you more than 30" from the bottom of the frame to the ground? That's about the only thing I can see that might be an issue for inspection. A shop like the one I pm'd you about won't have an issue with a properly done SAS but height is another thing. I don't know if the law has changed but it used to be you had to be under 30 inches from the ground to the factory installed bumper. If aftermarket bumpers were installed they are supposed to measure to the bottom of the frame. Hence the reason I always ran stock rear bumpers at inspection-time on the backs of all the lifted Toyota's I had in the past. IIRC A 4" lift and 33's just barely makes it under 30" at the frame in the rear.

If you haven't already done it I would suggest looking into an agreed value insurance policy too. Obviously collector car insurance won't work if you're going to drive it regularly but I've done agreed value insurance on older vehicles of mine in the past that were nice like this before. Actually have one on my BMW now. It would really suck to get in an accident and get a settlement for the local book value of an 87 Toyota pickup.

 

[KLF]

The front crossmember is only 25" AFF, so I'm very good there. The rear is being a PITA, I'm at about 32" right now. The only weight I still need to add in the back is the assembled tailgate. The shackles are not where they should be yet, so I'm hoping to take it on some bumpy test rides and get the rear springs to settle some. If I can't get it passed like this, I guess I'll have to pull a leaf out of the rear springs.

I contacted an independent agent in the area, and they hooked me up with a "stated value" policy. I'm now insured as of yesterday, only $400 a year, not bad. I will be getting a certified appraisal soon, then we will adjust the policy to match. I told State Farm to suck it.

 

[The Jade Bean]

Can you not just add sand bags inside to lower the rear for inspection? We don't have those issues here in Texas!

-Daniel Kent

 

[KLF]

I have some leftover stone dust here at home that I need to move anyway, so I think I'm gonna toss some of it into a few 5 gal buckets and take them for a ride to get the springs to settle. I'm not sure if the inspection place would bust me if I left them in the truck. These springs have been on this truck for 10 years and I've never had this problem, so I have to assume they need some road time to get them back where they are supposed to be. They are OME Mediums.

 

[KLF]

Today was a good day, I got to do something I've been looking forward to for a long time.

New sticker on my brand new OEM tailgate. Freshly replated parts and hardware.

 

[KLF]

 

[The Jade Bean]

That looks so good!

-Daniel Kent