Gary's Cruiser Build (1 Viewer)

[Cruising Canuck]

Hey Everyone,

I've been rebuilding an old bj-60 for awhile now and thought i would share my story here.
Mainly so I have a good place to ask possible questions, but also as a possible resource to help others doing the same as me.

I go my cruiser from my dad, it was my trusty college car and served me very well. But Canadian winters were tough on it and I decided to do a body restoration to get rid of the cancer all over it.

Very quickly into the restoration I smacked my hand on a rusty fender that left me with an incredible wound and over a month off work.

During that time I had alot of time to think and i decided to just buy a clean body from california and transfer all the stuff from my truck into it.

So I contacted a member on here and drove out to pick up the body.

I must say that I am very thankful for the California weather, it keeps old cars alive.

 

[Haggis]

I got my cruiser from my Dad as well. Glad you still have her. You won't regret for a second getting her back in shape, busted knuckles and all. My cruiser came from California. After you make the switch over, keep her garaged. What I do here in Wyoming.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

I drove through wyoming to get the truck body, and without a doubt it was my favorite state that a passed through.
I didn't even get to see yellowstone national park. I figure I'll see it next time in the cruiser

This was one of my favorite pictures From Wyoming, its on the top of medicine bow peak mountain

 

[offkilter]

Look forward to watching this build. It is always exciting to see an old rusty BJ60's
drivetrain get transferred into a rust free US 60/62. B.C. is littered with diesel 60's
sitting idle due to rust. Really is a shame. Please Post up some photos of the donor truck !

 

[Haggis]

Beautiful photo from Medicine Bow Peak! Looking forward to pics/progress of your build. Yellowstone is a circus this time of year. When she is all done, take her for a road trip to Yellowstone and The Tetons in the Fall sometime.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Subscribed

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Unfortunately I did not take as many pictures as I would like to have, The Cali body is already pretty stripped down, but it shows you the condition that it is in.

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[Lated]

I drove through wyoming to get the truck body, and without a doubt it was my favorite state that a passed through.
I didn't even get to see yellowstone national park. I figure I'll see it next time in the cruiser

This was one of my favorite pictures From Wyoming, its on the top of medicine bow peak mountain

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/246439_10151877658885302_692629786_n.jpg

I landed in federal court for "discharging an implement capable of causing bodily harm," aka throwing rocks off the next peak south of there, above Lookout Lake. Good times

Lookin forward to watching the build.

How well did the Cruiser tow on the dolly? I may be dragging mine across the country soon and can't decided to dolly it or get a flat bed.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

These are some photos of my bj60 as it sits

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[Cruising Canuck]

I landed in federal court for "discharging an implement capable of causing bodily harm," aka throwing rocks off the next peak south of there, above Lookout Lake. Good times

Lookin forward to watching the build.

How well did the Cruiser tow on the dolly? I may be dragging mine across the country soon and can't decided to dolly it or get a flat bed.

I strongly recommend not using a tow dolly. I found that while towing with the dolly any speed over 100km/h (60mph) would cause severe wobbling. It is a truly scary experience and I could not figure out a way to counter act it. I tried speeding up or applying brakes, both made it worse.
If you are just going around town a dolly is fine, but for anything more I will definitely suggest using a flatbed.
I was white knuckling it for about 4000km home

 

[Lated]

I strongly recommend not using a tow dolly. I found that while towing with the dolly any speed over 100km/h (60mph) would cause severe wobbling. It is a truly scary experience and I could not figure out a way to counter act it. I tried speeding up or applying brakes, both made it worse.
If you are just going around town a dolly is fine, but for anything more I will definitely suggest using a flatbed.
I was white knuckling it for about 4000km home

Sounds like I'll definitely be going the trailer route, or if I'm lucky driving it

 

[Cruising Canuck]

I plan on painting the cali body brown, the white engine bay would look a bit garish in contrast. And because I am throwing a 3b in there the engine bay is going to be black in no time due to oil and soot.
So I opted to just paint it black right off the hop

I didn't do anything fancy, just sanded primed and painted.

Next up will be the frame, while the body of the truck is in 9/10 condition, the frame was actually in fairly rough shape. I would give it a 7/10. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it before and after sandblasting

 

[tminsf]

did you mask and rattle can or brush somehow? How did you get around the hoses, etc?

 

[Cruising Canuck]

did you mask and rattle can or brush somehow? How did you get around the hoses, etc?

Because I am swapping in a different engine I removed almost all the hoses and wiring, I then used some brushes to do the actual painting. It gave me the precision to paint around all the leftover tubes and wires, eliminating the need for masking tape. It took awhile, but I like spending evenings in the garage. I don't usually care about the fastest way of doing things, I am more concerned about the most pleasurable way

 

[Cruising Canuck]

I spent a day wire wheeling the frame, but I couldn't get it into alot of places because of how bulky it was.
So I tried sandblasting for the first time. I was amazed at the difference, I thought I was doing a good job with the wire wheel, but it looked like garbage compared to what the sandblaster could do in a fraction of the time.
After sand blasting I applied 2 coats of master series.
Next time I repaint a frame I think I will do it with the body off, unfortunately I do not have the room at this time to do that.

 

[offkilter]

If you are not familiar with this build thread - BJ60 , have a peak as it is very similar to what you
are tackling. John/Jzilla has been very helpful to others and is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

If you are not familiar with this build thread - BJ60 , have a peak as it is very similar to what you
are tackling. John/Jzilla has been very helpful to others and is a wealth of knowledge.

Haha, John stopped by my place when he drove across the country last year
A couple pics of his beauty ride

I am very familiar with his thread, it has been an invaluable resource.
Really good guy

 

[Cruising Canuck]

These are some pictures of the engine removal from the old truck.

 

[offkilter]

That is great that you and John are acquainted !
Nice wagon indeed!

 

[Cruising Canuck]

I plan on adding a turbo to my 3b so while the engine is out I thought I would freshen it up.

I did my cam bearings, and the front one had an incredible amount of wear. The other two were in good shape but I replaced them while I was in there.

The head needed new valve seals, they were all shot.

And the precups had quite a few cracks, so I had new ones installed.

I used plastigauge on all the crank bearings and they are all in spec.

And the cylinders have a small amount of glazing but its not bad at all.

All in all I am very impressed with the robustness of this engine, it has 430k kms on it and I see no reason why it cant do another 250k