Builds Welcome home Matilda - faded like your favorite pair of jeans (2 Viewers)

[CruiserTrash]

Good progress! I’m planning to work on mine tomorrow. I’ll be at SAS in spirit!

AFAIK the rear shackles to match the SR up front would be pretty long. I wanna say my rear shackles are 3-5/8” pin to pin. Don’t quote me on that. The old rule of thumb is if you increase shackle length by 1” you would gain 0.5” lift. Just LOOK at the image MAF has on their website of the rear shackles. They’re monsters. I say just drive it as is and order those shackles for replacement at a later date.

You got a year to get yours tuned up, so starting tomorrow is a good plan. Don’t wait until the last minute like me!

The rear shackles have to be mega long, you’re right. The longest I can find are the MAFs you linked to (but sold separately from the kit) and they’re 5.75” I think. I don’t even think that would be enough.

My current shackles are 3” from pin to pin, so going to 6” buys me 1.5” of lift. I measured from the body line to the ground and the rear is 2” lower. I also have an OME AAL that will fit these mystery leaf packs on the rear and I might throw those in since we’ll be loaded down pretty good.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@klinetime574 I picked these up from a local Cruiser guy, and they’re 5.5” pin-to-pin. The struggles I’m having is finding pins/bolts to fit them (only came with two), and then finding bushings that will be snug on the pins. I picked up four 5/8 Grade 8 bolts today that will work, but they’ll flop around inside the bushings - they’re 1.5mm smaller in diameter. Might run em like that anyway

The problem is all the long shackles have 5/8 SAE bolts and all the 60 Series stuff - and I mean ALL of it - is 19mm diameter, which is 0.74”. Might go get some long 3/4 Grade 8 bolts, drill out the holes in the shackles, and pound them through the bushings. Right now that’s the best solution I have.

FYI the MAF ones are out of stock…..

 

[CruiserTrash]

Huge win this morning: discover AAA Metric here in Denver. Super nice guy, walked out with exactly what I needed for the shackles. Now so need to find an 18mm drill bit to bore out the holes in the shackles to accommodate the bolts.

Later today I’ll go to Denver Spring & Suspension and have some U-bolts made. When I add a leaf to the back I have zero interest in wrestling with rusty nuts so I’ll cut the old u-bolts off. DS&S usually charges about $10 per u-bolt with nuts & washers.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Had to bore out the holes in the shackles and modify some bushings, but the shackle job is wrapped up. Used the Hi-Lift to get enough space to get the holes line up … these springs have some serious arch to them. My neighbor at the shop welded some anti-inversion plates with gussets too.

Today I also knocked out:
Swap battery from Tomato
Swap beefy @Fourrunner ground cables
Swap new-ish starter
Packed & organized spares/extra tools bin
Adjusted clutch pedal
Installed a pair of my rear seat bumpers

What’s left:
Sliders
Roof rack
Swap tape deck
Swap gauges

Maybe:
Swap headlights & install 8” PIAA aux lights

Not gonna happen:
Install winch

 

[klinetime574]

Looking good! Did you get the add-a-leafs in there too? Should I even ask if the shackles helped the rake? Lol

Oh and I measured my shackles today. For the record: Fronts are 3-1/8”. Rears are 3-9/16”.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@klinetime574 After having to modify or fabricate every single part for this shackle job I decided to skip the AALs. I think the thing to do is sometime in the next few months get some shorter shackles for the front, current ones are about 4”. I didn’t really go seeking out this much lift - the shackle reversal was already there so I’m kind of dealing with the hand I was dealt. we’re good enough for the trip now.

After (top) versus before (bottom). Almost there but not quite. Those are 33x10.5x15 KO2s for reference, and note that I added the swing arm bumper and spare tire weight too. Might be hard to see but I gained about 1.25-1.5”.

 

[klinetime574]

Looks good to me! It looks so much taller than mine. It’s probably just that front wheel gap playing mind tricks. Our are probably sorta similar height. Oh and the winch when it gets put on will weigh the front down too!

Keep up the good work!

 

[CruiserTrash]

@klinetime574 It’s the front shackle reversal. It adds about 2” by itself and whatever springs are on there are probably another 2”. This is really tall for being sprung under.

And thanks. Glad you got some things done on your truck today too.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Today:

Transfer gauges and stereo

It was a pain but it got done. Kind of stuffy in the truck since it was raining, but oh well I’m happy for the break in the hot weather.

Stereo is my special creation of AM/FM/Cassette/BlueTooth. The BT is all hidden away under the dash - just hit the “CD” button on the head unit. There’s a black box kind of thing on Amazon that uses trunk-mounted CD changer inputs and let’s you pipe in whatever audio you want.

Gauges are Vac, Temp, and Air:Fuel. The AF is not operational for now. I need to get a threaded bung for the O2 sensor and weld it into the exhaust but there’s not enough time before SAS. Vac and temp are my big peace-of-mind ones so I’m good there. Changed the upper rad hose so I could have the inline temp sensor was fun. I really hate anything having to do with coolant.

Also today:
Lube locks
Plastidip roof rack clamps
New cable clips for the engine bay
(Somewhere on Mud was a Honda part number for clips that work - the kind that press into the sheet metal of the front fender wells, the ones that are ALL broken in your Cruiser. I ordered them a year ago and they work perfectly)

After running around this evening I realize the thermostat is either stuck open or installed backwards.

I’m maxing out at 150*F after a highway run. The stock gauge reads low too but I wasn’t sure if it was an electrical problem. Turns out the gauge is fine.

I’m gonna leave it as is for now. Heading to Utah in July …. It’s not the worst thing in the world. I’m bringing a brand new thermostat just in case.

 

[kenavt]

After running around this evening I realize the thermostat is either stuck open or installed backwards.
View attachment 3068277
I’m maxing out at 150*F after a highway run. The stock gauge reads low too but I wasn’t sure if it was an electrical problem. Turns out the gauge is fine.
View attachment 3068278

I’m gonna leave it as is for now. Heading to Utah in July …. It’s not the worst thing in the world. I’m bringing a brand new thermostat just in case.

Sounds just like my issue except I’ve hit a max of 165F in the heat on a hill. 150F straight line highway sounds pretty similar. My money is on a stuck T-star too. Curious who will get to it first… I’m thinking I’ll probably be October for me

 

[CruiserTrash]

Ok, so now I’m thinking more about engine temps. My oil pressure runs at the second line when on the highway - a touch high. Is a 30-40*F temp at Ute difference enough to thin the oil out a little more? I’m running 15w40 like I always have.

This truck also sat for four years and when I got it there was only 2 quarts of oil in it. I had to add 6 quarts to fill it up. I’ll probably hit 500 miles of driving before I leave town, so maybe I should dump the oil and change the filter. Maybe whatever gunk was in the oil system got caught by the filter and I just consider this quick oil change interval a “break in”.

Thoughts?

 

[RDub]

Oil pressure on mine runs right at the second line regardless of water temp, or at least with normal water temps. Once the engine warms up a bit from cold the viscosity drops enough to more or less stabilize the oil pressure. I checked my oil pressure with a separate gauge connected at the sender port and confirmed it stays put.

 

[reddog90]

Mine is always at the second line up on the gauge regardless of temps. I also run rotella 15w40.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Ok, we’ll, both of y’all make me less worried about it. The tomato truck runs about 1mm below the 2nd line so I guess that’s where these trucks like to run … or how these gauges were designed & calibrated.

 

[RDub]

Mine runs just about 60psig on the external gauge when connected at the sender port. I don't have the permanently connected so I can't say what it's done over many miles, but the cluster gauge still runs where it always has.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@RDub

Speaking of gauges… this voltmeter has none of the randomness that the tomato’s gauge has. It fluctuates but seems to be presenting accurate info.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Matilda hit a milestone yesterday:

 

[CruiserTrash]

Today:

Put in some floor mats
Lean dropped the carb from scratch again
Adjusted carb a little after that
Packed the box of trail spares
Installed the roof rack

And …. Spent a bunch of time chasing what sounded like rod knock. Had some help pinpointing it to the clutch area - when I pushed the clutch in the noise vanished. When I got the truck the pedal play was about 4” so I adjusted it to ~1.25” two days ago. I adjusted the pedal back to about 2.5” of play and the noise is gone.

I about had a heart attack since we’re leaving Friday. Anyway. I think Matilda is done for now.

 

[Skniper]

Perfectly distressed denim. Nice.

 

[bcolvin]

Great work! Can you tell me what you used for the vacuum and temp gauge cluster? Is that three gauge system something you made or picked up? That is just what I’m looking for.