*First post!*
Hi Folks,
My name's CJ and I've been a lurking Mud for a few years and decided it was time to post the progress I'm finally making on my 62.
To start though, I wanna tell the story of my Cruiser. My family is the first owner, and my dad bought the car new from the dealer in New Jersey in '88. This is actually the car that I ever rode in. My parents brought me home from the hospital in our 62 in 1992.
My mom and I (in the passenger seat) coming home from the hospital
Camping and adventures in California
I remember growing up in the car, going on trips around California, dealing with the stupid lap belts, and I also remember how my sister and I would help my dad clean the Cruiser using a paint brush to get dust out of the cracks of the interior (which sucked when I was a kid..). My dad babied the hell out of it, and I'm glad he did! My dad unfortunately passed away in '99, and my sister, mom, and myself moved to Tucson. My mom had always told me that we "sold" the truck to our family friends in California. I found out though when I was 18, that our family friends were holding onto it and that my mom still had the title in our name! So in 2010 my friend trailered my car from California to Tucson for me! Our family friends said they drove it about once a month for years, and they had it just sitting in their truck yard, until the fuel pump quite, then they let it sit for about a year. So, onto the work I've done so far..
This was my first real project car so there was a large learning curve! When I got it, the main problem was a bad fuel pump. I quickly found out that the access port in the trunk of the 62's are just a tease, and that I would have to pull the whole tank to remove the fuel pump. Unfortunately, my simple Haynes manual deceived me and so finally, after a few months of letting it sit, and having a mechanic friend coming to the rescue, I started my cruiser for the first time!
Things I've done so far (these things have taken a while for me to actually get to):
Best repair though by far has been cleaning the throttle body! the thing was a mess, and now the truck runs incredibly smooth, and now I can actually accelerate! OK... Maybe not accelerate because it's a cruiser, but you get the picture.
I recently met fellow Cruiser/Mud member Dazed and he's been a great friend to have! He has a sweet rig and he's been more than willing to give me a hand! He's annoyingly convinced me to keep the truck stock for the sake of preserving a first owner cruiser.
So here's the plan hopefully for the next few months:
This has been a long post so I'll shut up. I'm in college, don't have a lot of money or time, so I'll keep this thread updated when I can. Hopefully this will keep me motivated to do some more work! As always, any comments, ideas, or advice is greatly appreciated!!
Thanks for checking my truck out and for all of the Mud members who's rigs have kept me dreaming!
Hi Folks,
My name's CJ and I've been a lurking Mud for a few years and decided it was time to post the progress I'm finally making on my 62.
To start though, I wanna tell the story of my Cruiser. My family is the first owner, and my dad bought the car new from the dealer in New Jersey in '88. This is actually the car that I ever rode in. My parents brought me home from the hospital in our 62 in 1992.
My mom and I (in the passenger seat) coming home from the hospital
Camping and adventures in California
I remember growing up in the car, going on trips around California, dealing with the stupid lap belts, and I also remember how my sister and I would help my dad clean the Cruiser using a paint brush to get dust out of the cracks of the interior (which sucked when I was a kid..). My dad babied the hell out of it, and I'm glad he did! My dad unfortunately passed away in '99, and my sister, mom, and myself moved to Tucson. My mom had always told me that we "sold" the truck to our family friends in California. I found out though when I was 18, that our family friends were holding onto it and that my mom still had the title in our name! So in 2010 my friend trailered my car from California to Tucson for me! Our family friends said they drove it about once a month for years, and they had it just sitting in their truck yard, until the fuel pump quite, then they let it sit for about a year. So, onto the work I've done so far..
This was my first real project car so there was a large learning curve! When I got it, the main problem was a bad fuel pump. I quickly found out that the access port in the trunk of the 62's are just a tease, and that I would have to pull the whole tank to remove the fuel pump. Unfortunately, my simple Haynes manual deceived me and so finally, after a few months of letting it sit, and having a mechanic friend coming to the rescue, I started my cruiser for the first time!
Things I've done so far (these things have taken a while for me to actually get to):
- Replaced fuel filter, air filter, oil, etc..
- Replaced some old leaking fuel lines (ok.. a lot of fuel lines)
- New thermostat
- New spark plugs, wires, distributor cap
- Transmission fluid flush and replaced all of the driveline fluids
- Replaced gaskets in the front left Aisin hub (it was leaking pretty badly)
- Resurfaced brake surfaces and new pads all around
- New O2 sensors
- and more little annoying things that fail/break when a car hasn't had any major maintenance after sitting for 10 years..
Best repair though by far has been cleaning the throttle body! the thing was a mess, and now the truck runs incredibly smooth, and now I can actually accelerate! OK... Maybe not accelerate because it's a cruiser, but you get the picture.
I recently met fellow Cruiser/Mud member Dazed and he's been a great friend to have! He has a sweet rig and he's been more than willing to give me a hand! He's annoyingly convinced me to keep the truck stock for the sake of preserving a first owner cruiser.
So here's the plan hopefully for the next few months:
- Pull the radiator to have a small leak in the top welded, and then have it rod out. Replace all the coolant hoses, and flush the system.
- Repair the A/C clutch and have the system recharged. Thankfully, it's not hard to find shops in Tucson, AZ with R12
- Install a Light/Medium OME kit- the 25 year old suspension just isn't cutting it anymore..
- Rebuild the steering knuckles (not looking forward to that...)
- Send the power steering box off to be rebuilt
- New tie rod ends
- Install some QuietCrap
- Build some storage drawers
- There is a decent leak somewhere around the transfer that will need to be investigated. For now, I'm just keeping an eye on it and topping it off.
This has been a long post so I'll shut up. I'm in college, don't have a lot of money or time, so I'll keep this thread updated when I can. Hopefully this will keep me motivated to do some more work! As always, any comments, ideas, or advice is greatly appreciated!!
Thanks for checking my truck out and for all of the Mud members who's rigs have kept me dreaming!
