tucker74
Moderator
I guess it's my turn to give this a go ... so here's my first Cruiser that I aquired in the fall of 2002. I bought the truck on eBay for $2500 after the previous owner had rescued her from a field in southern Missouri. I learned a couple of things really quick from this experience - they don't call the Midwest the rust-belt for nothing, and never trust that anything is fixed just because the PO replaced it 
The truck was a complete basket case when I started on it, and without the benefit of this forum I jumped in with both feet. First order of business was shoring up the rats-nest wiring harness so it would get fire consistently (nothing more frustrating than when it dies for no apparent reason
). Now, why is it running like a WWII spitfire ... guess you need to set the timing better than just getting the engine to fire. Wow, that's an improvement - except she sounds like chitty-chitty-bang-bang with 1/8" gaps on the valve adjustments 
Once that was sorted out I decided to tackle the Aisin rebuild since the truck had come with a kit (never again - Mark and Jim are guru's for a reason). Viola - we have a running 2F 
About this time I stumbled upon this forum and a lot of these medial tasks became much easier (after I pestered the old timers
)! I decided next I needed to fix the multiple leaks that were decorating my driveway. The first up was the parking brake drum, which didn't work anyway, so I replaced the xfer case seal and rebuilt it. Now we're cooking with propane! No ... I mean literally - when I was trying next to replace the leaky pinion seal I couldn't get the nut off for anything (even after heating the hell out of that sucker). In comes Edwin and LCS with the magic of air tools and hydraulic lifts!
Standing beneath my truck:
Me ... "I can't get that damn pinion nut off for anything"
Edwin (pondering with a confused look) ... "You notice anything different about those third members"
Me ... "What do you mean?"
Edwin ... "I mean look up there ... now turn around and look back there. Notice anything different?"
Me ... "Well ya, but what are you getting at?"
Edwin ... "What am I getting at? I'm getting at the fact that's a Cruiser third up there - and I don't know what the hell that is back there."
Me ... "You're pulling my leg"
Edwin ... "I'm not pulling anything, but this pinion seal ain't going in that third wheather you get that nut off or not!"
My rear axle had a mid-50's cheby third member ... guess that's why she had a little play
Edwin found a donor 4:11 third and installed it the next day, but when I came to pick it up he had made another discovery.
Edwin ... "You notice anything unusual about the brakes?"
Me ... "Not really - they sure are touchy for a 25 year old truck."
Edwin ... "Was it a little hard to push around the driveway?"
Me ... "Ya - that sucker must weigh a ton"
Edwin (grinning) ... "That's probably because someone replaced the '76 master with one from a '75 and didn't remove the proportioning valve. Your front pads were clamped all the time"
Fawking PO's
Ok - just thought I'd share a little of my newbie tribulations and ignorance with ya, here's some pics of the beast as she sits today before you get bored...
The truck was a complete basket case when I started on it, and without the benefit of this forum I jumped in with both feet. First order of business was shoring up the rats-nest wiring harness so it would get fire consistently (nothing more frustrating than when it dies for no apparent reason
). Now, why is it running like a WWII spitfire ... guess you need to set the timing better than just getting the engine to fire. Wow, that's an improvement - except she sounds like chitty-chitty-bang-bang with 1/8" gaps on the valve adjustments Once that was sorted out I decided to tackle the Aisin rebuild since the truck had come with a kit (never again - Mark and Jim are guru's for a reason). Viola - we have a running 2F About this time I stumbled upon this forum and a lot of these medial tasks became much easier (after I pestered the old timers
)! I decided next I needed to fix the multiple leaks that were decorating my driveway. The first up was the parking brake drum, which didn't work anyway, so I replaced the xfer case seal and rebuilt it. Now we're cooking with propane! No ... I mean literally - when I was trying next to replace the leaky pinion seal I couldn't get the nut off for anything (even after heating the hell out of that sucker). In comes Edwin and LCS with the magic of air tools and hydraulic lifts! Standing beneath my truck:
Me ... "I can't get that damn pinion nut off for anything"
Edwin (pondering with a confused look) ... "You notice anything different about those third members"
Me ... "What do you mean?"
Edwin ... "I mean look up there ... now turn around and look back there. Notice anything different?"
Me ... "Well ya, but what are you getting at?"
Edwin ... "What am I getting at? I'm getting at the fact that's a Cruiser third up there - and I don't know what the hell that is back there."
Me ... "You're pulling my leg"
Edwin ... "I'm not pulling anything, but this pinion seal ain't going in that third wheather you get that nut off or not!"
My rear axle had a mid-50's cheby third member ... guess that's why she had a little play
Edwin found a donor 4:11 third and installed it the next day, but when I came to pick it up he had made another discovery. Edwin ... "You notice anything unusual about the brakes?"
Me ... "Not really - they sure are touchy for a 25 year old truck."
Edwin ... "Was it a little hard to push around the driveway?"
Me ... "Ya - that sucker must weigh a ton"
Edwin (grinning) ... "That's probably because someone replaced the '76 master with one from a '75 and didn't remove the proportioning valve. Your front pads were clamped all the time"
Fawking PO's
Ok - just thought I'd share a little of my newbie tribulations and ignorance with ya, here's some pics of the beast as she sits today before you get bored...
