Hello everyone. I am neck-deep in a rebuilding process, and decided to start a thread to document what I am doing. I promise to try to do my best with the updating as I get work done.
A little back-story:
Almost 40 years ago, my uncle bought a Toyota 4x4 to help get him to and from his remote cabin outside of Boulder, CO. He drove it for a few years in the mountains and on his notorious adventures to any part of the country he fancied. When he decided to take his carpentry business to California, he traded the Landcruiser to his mother (my grandma) for her Audi, so he would look more "upscale" when bidding jobs to movie stars (which he did successfully, according to family stories). That was 1979 or 1980. My grandparents used the rig as a 3rd vehicle for 3-4 years, whenever a load of lumber needed to be hauled on a small trailer or whatever. After loaning it out to some irresponsible family members, my grandparents "repo-ed" it and parked it. The last time it was started was 1984. It sat, occasionally hauled to a different part of the lot or another barn for the next 27-ish years.
I grew up looking at the old Toyota, wanting to play in it as a child, and wanting to work on it as an adolescent. Family drama kept it in its rotting state for a long time. Around Thanksgiving 2011, my grandmother offered me the opportunity to have the old rig and bring it back to life. I honorably accepted, angry family be-damned. Here is it rotting in the mud around Thanksgiving 2011:
It was in North Texas clay up to the axles. That was its resting place for over a decade. The brakes were rusted to the drums. I pulled the drive shafts, changed the fluids in the axles, hand-mounted some recycled used tires, installed a tow-bar, and hauled it 260 miles from St. Paul, TX (NE of Dallas) to my then home in Kyle, Texas.
A little back-story:
Almost 40 years ago, my uncle bought a Toyota 4x4 to help get him to and from his remote cabin outside of Boulder, CO. He drove it for a few years in the mountains and on his notorious adventures to any part of the country he fancied. When he decided to take his carpentry business to California, he traded the Landcruiser to his mother (my grandma) for her Audi, so he would look more "upscale" when bidding jobs to movie stars (which he did successfully, according to family stories). That was 1979 or 1980. My grandparents used the rig as a 3rd vehicle for 3-4 years, whenever a load of lumber needed to be hauled on a small trailer or whatever. After loaning it out to some irresponsible family members, my grandparents "repo-ed" it and parked it. The last time it was started was 1984. It sat, occasionally hauled to a different part of the lot or another barn for the next 27-ish years.
I grew up looking at the old Toyota, wanting to play in it as a child, and wanting to work on it as an adolescent. Family drama kept it in its rotting state for a long time. Around Thanksgiving 2011, my grandmother offered me the opportunity to have the old rig and bring it back to life. I honorably accepted, angry family be-damned. Here is it rotting in the mud around Thanksgiving 2011:
It was in North Texas clay up to the axles. That was its resting place for over a decade. The brakes were rusted to the drums. I pulled the drive shafts, changed the fluids in the axles, hand-mounted some recycled used tires, installed a tow-bar, and hauled it 260 miles from St. Paul, TX (NE of Dallas) to my then home in Kyle, Texas.
