Build a Cruiser for a Fallen Soldier - Part Deux (1 Viewer)

[Southeast Overland]

The build this coming weekend has been postponed due to an illness in the Reeves family. I'll keep everyone up to date on a future build date to finish everything up. It will probably be this summer sometime to give everyone lots of lead time.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I and the Reeves appreciate it very much.

Reserve the date - Feb 11-13, 2011.

This will be a great build to finish up what we started. For those who are not familiar with the first part of this event which occurred in January 2010 please check out the thread for that event at https://forum.ih8mud.com/sc-upstate-cruisers/324116-hamom-father-soldier-killed-iraq-part-un.html. For a (very) brief synopsis we (MUD Cruiserheads) took it upon ourselves to selflessly assist the Reeves family in repairing their son's 40. Their son, Joshua Reeves, was killed by an IED in Iraq. His son was born one day the day before he was killed, and Josh found out about his son's birth as he was preparing for his final mission. The plan is to complete a 'rolling restoration' on the 40 so it will be safe for the family to drive and the family plans on handing the 40 over to Joshua Reeves' son, Jackson, when he is old enough to drive.

This time we will have a professional garage to work in thanks to the Reeves' family mechanic. Darcy Lapointe. Darcy owns Watkinsville Service Center in Watkinsville, GA. The real build starts Friday night, the 11th. We'll be doing prep work during that day off-site to get ready and some minor wrenching. We have the garage all day Sat and Sunday. If anyone is around Watkinsville, please tell Darcey 'Thank You.'

I will be making a trip down to Watkinsville ASAP to check out the 40 and see what we need to do to finish this build. If anyone would like to come with me please email me at the email below.

Also, feel free to email me with any questions you might have at Steve@SoutheastOverland.com.

The first build was simply amazing. The local community came out of the woodwork and brought food, coffee, supplies, gave discounts on parts we needed, brought tools, provided work space, portapots, you name it... The Cruiser community also answered in force, along with the Patriot Guard Riders who provided an escort into the build site.

Please join me to pay service to our men and women in uniform.

NEEDED PARTS - we will update this list as we get more info
Fine spline hubs


Thanks everyone!

 

[LDowney]

Steve,
Thanks for taking the lead on this. I will be watching for details on the work to be done. You identified wrenching, but made no mention of sheet metal and painting work for this round. Did the body work get pushed out?

 

[Southeast Overland]

Hey Larry - we are still sorting all the stuff out. I'm going to make a trip ASAP to check out the cruiser and make a list of what needs to be done and I'll post that up here as soon as I have it ready.

All are also welcome to join me on that trip.

 

[landcrusher909]

Well I am just about out of grits ! Better start planning on another trip to the airport LOL

 

[smtyblt]

Can we get a list of what is being done so outa towners can try and schedule some help

 

[Southeast Overland]

Can we get a list of what is being done so outa towners can try and schedule some help

Definitely! I am still sorting out exactly what will need to be done. I hope to get down to check out the 40 in a few weeks and I'll have a good list after that. We do have some bodywork needed (not too bad for a 40 really), a few leaks to plug, and need some parts. Probably need to fab up a better seat bracket for one of the front seats IIRC. I know that isn't a good, definite list but I'll get a better one as soon as I get my eyes on the truck.

Thanks!

 

[Southeast Overland]

Little bit more info added to the first post.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Southeast Overland]

Working on getting planning moving forward on this. The next big thing we need to get done is have the 40 checked out so we can get a list of everything that needs to be done. Several guys with Georgia Cruisers have offered to help and it looks like Jibber might make it out there in the next few weeks.

We will need some parts and seals to finish the build so please stay tuned for this to be posted up.

In the meantime if anyone has any questions please post up or shoot me an email at Steve@SoutheastOverland.com.

Thanks everyone!

 

[jibber]

I spoke with Mr. Reeves the other night to set up a day to look at the FJ. I am going over Saturday the 11th to scout out needs. Just couldn't come up with anything sooner in daylight hours with our schedules. I will have camera in hand! With this said, please suggest things to check. I can recognize the obvious, but if anyone has specific questions about something in mind please list here and I will make notes before I leave. If its to in depth, I may appeal to you for a walk through on the phone that date. I am far from the talent that most you guys are when diagnosing and working on these babys. However, I am awesome at tearing down a '79 to the frame and looking at it for two years
Just a couple things to start pondering:

-Steve mentioned base for driver seat in need of fabricating.
-Mr. R said it still needs hubs
-Body work
-check for engine, tranny and tcase leaks
-missing parts (rear light, axle breathers, etc)
-I can deal with seat fab at the build
-He needs fine spline hubs.

 

[Southeast Overland]

Sounds great Jim - thanks for the help.

What I can remember off the top of my head:

1. check for engine, tranny and tcase leaks
2. missing parts (rear light, axle breathers, etc)
3. I can deal with seat fab at the build

I'll need to check with ACC Toyota and/or Trollhole and see if they remember what the deal was with the hubs.

Take a bunch 'o pics if ya don't mind. I can host them on my website.

Thanks again!

 

[Trollhole]

He needs fine spline hubs.

 

[3pits]

I am going through my huge pile of parts these days and though I do not have any fine spline hubs, is there a list of things still needed?

 

[Southeast Overland]

Here is a list of things needed. Thanks to everyone for being so patient and a big thanks to Larry for taking time out of his schedule to look at the 40 and help generate the list below.

If anyone wants to help out with organization I could REALLY use the help. The biggest thing I need is for someone to keep tally of parts needed and donated, a general list of items that need to be done at the event (see below list already started) and someone who won't mind rallying the troops for assistance and donations.

Thanks!

PARTS NEEDED

• Fine spline hubs
  [STRIKE]
• Axle breathers[/STRIKE] Steve
• Rollbar Tie-Ins to frame: ACC still has them from last build
• [STRIKE]Brake fluid[/STRIKE] Larry
• Clutch fluid
• [STRIKE]Engine coolant[/STRIKE] Larry
• [STRIKE]Gear oil[/STRIKE] Larry
• Running (side marker) lights are missing (left front & rear; right rear)
• Rear seal for t-case
• Front window felt and rubber water deflector need to be replaced [left and right]
• Front door latches are very worn. They should be replaced. [left and right]
• Front door strikers need to be replaced [left and right]
• Under seat tool box if one is available - might help with seat mounting
• Rear emblems missing
• Rear reflectors missing
• Seat belts: Has only lap belts, but shoulder/lap belts are needed (basic safety)
• Rear tire carrier is incomplete (missing center bracket which the tire actually bolts to)
• Heater Coolant shut off is needed. The original F engine would have had a valve at the heater hose outlet so hot coolant would not be flowing into the truck in the summer. Since this is a 2F, a shut off valve of some nature should be added.
• If anyone has fairly basic bumpers (front or rear) or sliders that could bolt on to provide extra protection to passengers this would be nice. They don't have to be new - we can scuff and raddle can.

THINGS WE NEED TO DO

• Speedometer and Temperature gauge are not working, figure out why
• Brake fluid needs to be flushed (already blackening)
• Clutch fluid needs to be flushed (same as brakes)
• Engine coolant is low
• Need to add plug over open hole on air cleaner (I think it is hose that would go to air pump on later model)
• Left rear brake light needs to have lens in stalled (James said that he has it)
• Left rear combination light (brake & running): brake light works but running does not [could just be a bulb or there could be a wiring problem]
• Transfer case is leaking into parking brake drum [expect rear seal will need to be replaced]
• Tub rust in several areas
• Hood has a lot of bondo on it and it has chipped off in several spots [no obvious damage visible from the underside so I don’t know why there is bondo there to begin with]
• Fiber glass top has a lot of filler added around the edge such that gutter is mostly filled with filler [probably was leaking and was filled to stop it; was it the right filler to last? How much corrosion is buried? i.e. is there a buried problem that we need to dig into?]
• Transfer case shift boot: Is not attached. In place but not bolted to tunnel cover because it looks like the tunnel cover has not holes
• Transmission shift boot: It is there but again not attached. It looks very generic like it was meant for any vehicle
• Rear jump seat need to be installed. This will require fabrication of brackets to allow off-setting of seats due to roll bar install
• Rear hatch lifts and latching needs to be fixed (missing bolts, broken bolts in hatch) [James said that Oscar removed the hardware from right side when he inspected the truck, so we need to review this with Oscar]
• Steering is reported to have play and possible ‘sticking’
• Braking is reported to be good (rear brakes should be set up and we should show the Reeves family how to do this since it needs to be done regularly)
• Choke may not be hooked up properly because it does not start well in cold weather
• Running boards are not installed. James said that he has them, but the bottoms of the fenders are cut off so the boards cannot be bolted to the fenders. [???? Plans]

 

[LDowney]

Steve,
On the parts/supplies needed, how do you want to handle it? This is only a few weeks away now, so do we need to get going on the needed list?

Thanks

 

[Southeast Overland]

Steve,
On the parts/supplies needed, how do you want to handle it? This is only a few weeks away now, so do we need to get going on the needed list?

Thanks

Larry,

Yes - we really need to get going on collecting parts and supplies. I meant to get posts going today on GC, UC and ONSC but didn't get around to it. I'll do it tomorrow or feel free to start posts on the event if you wish. I welcome all the help I can get. Any parts, supplies, or anything else that anyone wants to donate is very welcome.

Thanks!

 

[JamesR]

It was really good to see Larry and meet his youngest daughter. I really appreciate Steve for heading this up. I hope Jim is recovering from his injury. Our home will be open again to all who want to crash with us. I am in awe, once again, at the unselfishness and compassion of everyone involved. I'll let my neighbors know that if anyone is "lurking" about, it's probably just Boomslaphappy going to the wrong house. Let me know what I can do to prepare for the build.

 

[Southeast Overland]

I'll let my neighbors know that if anyone is "lurking" about, it's probably just Boomslaphappy going to the wrong house.

LOL - I had totally forgotten about that!

 

[HENDOG]

That's funny!!! It will be hard to top last year. But knowing this bunch we'll try really hard.

 

[Southeast Overland]

That's funny!!! It will be hard to top last year. But knowing this bunch we'll try really hard.

Sounds good - hope to see you there!

 

[Trollhole]

Steve I'm planning on coming. I will try to bring the Cuban as well. I'll go through my parts and see what I have I can donate. Most likely I'll only be able to come for one day. Maybe sat.