Flashback....

[woody]

<quote>
When I requested membership information, I received the July/August 1991 issue of Toyota Trails. In that magazine was a question from a guy in Green Bay regarding a Wisconsin or perhaps a Midwest Chapter of TLCA. Has any such chapter been formed? If so, I would also be interested in membership. If not, maybe he and I should get together and work on forming one!

Anyway, my first Cruiser experience was around Christmas of '85 when a college buddy gave me a ride home to Rochester in his 1967 Land Cruiser. It was an interesting truck. No heat (it was 18 below zero), very rusty, and the alternator went bad after about 25 miles, so we ended up getting towed the rest of the way. But I still enjoyed the trip and thought the little truck had potential.

I purchased my first Cruiser in 1989. I was a 1977 with a 305 Chevy. Unfortunately, the motor exchange was not done properly and it gave me nothing but trouble. The final straw came with I destroyed both the tranny and transfer case in the same weekend. Rather than replace them for around $800, I bought a 1974 Cruiser with a blown motor and a factory winch. $500 later, that truck ran but only for 24 hours!! Two days later, I installed my old 305 and was back on the road.

But as with most Land Cruisers, there's always something. Now the 305 is about to be replacd with a $3000 Chev 350. This motor will not go bad!! (I hope!) Once this project is done, it's going to be time to begin a total rebuild of the 1977. Plans include a fiberglass body and total overhaul of everything else. I just hope I can bear to take this one out on the road when it's finished.

Thanks for any local club info and for any tech info. I enjoyed reading Toyota Trails and can't wait to get more in the mail.

Brian Swearingen, Ashland, WI
<endquote>

[plagerized from the May/Jun '92 issue of Toyota Trails]

[SpaceGhost]

Old Fart :P

[woody]

hey, I resemble that... :P :P :P

I was just reminicing about why I originally joined. Tech was it. There was little/no internet then to find out about stuff, so the Trails was the source, along with the advertisors and when they offerred.

Now the internet is the parts and tech source, and Trails would cover events, photos, buildup stories, etc.

IMO, TLCA needs to improve their "instant gratification" for it's members with regards to tech assistance....the Tech Editors outta be hitting SOR.com, here, Pirate, LCML, etc and getting involved with those...then pulling the mail-only stuff and some selected net stuff for the Trails issues.