Project Boomerang (1 Viewer)

[badsamaritan]

While browsing Craigslist this past Friday I saw a rig listed 15mi from my house that looked a lot like a rig I had regrettably sold about 10 years ago. After a phone call to the seller, I confirmed it was mine and we made the deal this weekend. Everything I did to the truck previously from purchase to LS swap, to selling it can be found here:

Stepping up to a Vortec (LM7) - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/stepping-up-to-a-vortec-lm7.611625/

Which brings us to today. Rig is pretty dirty and has some corrosion but is still running great on the 5.3L/LM7 SM420 combo. There's definitely some things to clean and replace, but so far nothing horrid jumps out at me. The seller just put 10k into it for maint and had a lot of work done to include new tires and a knuckle rebuild. I think to start I need to mostly just clean and do some light painting.

Near Term Issues:

Seats/seat frames are pretty trashed - opportunity to do something nicer here
guages flicker but work.
Speedo is dead - maybe a good opportunity to go to a GPS speedo.
Lots of weird aftermarket electrical crap. I've seen all kinds of ghetto splices etc. that need to be looked at.
Slight stumble on Decel. Need to clean the MAF and check for codes.
Brake and Clutch pedal seem really high compared to throttle....maybe a combo of pedal adjustment and seat height?
May have a radiator leak.
Both full soft top and bikini top are missing


Future problems:
SM420 is a pain driving in the city with frequent traffic would like 5spd.
Has weird Chevy bolt on brake kit, would like to go to 60series brakes and 4runner calipers.

Pic as I got it home today.

 

[badsamaritan]

Biggest things I want to tackle are driveability issues and anything safety related. I made a list, and thankfully it's pretty short

Seats - are shot and the PPPO made brackets aren't in great shape. I purchased a seat frame kit from cumminscruiser which got here the other day. I'll likely be going with the Procar 90's. I've used the Procar 100's in my Chevelle and other cruisers and like them but I think the bolsters would be a PITA in this rig.

Wiring - lots of crappy parts store cellphone garbage and a homebrew stereo setup with a amp. Amp was the source of a huge parasitic loss so I ripped all of it out. Battery is staying charged now and some gremlins in the gauges have stopped also.

Headlights- LED housings were really fogged over and lights weren't working. Got a new pair from City Racer. The headlight switch is still Toyota, I pulled all the spade terminals out of the back of it and ran everything into a new Yazaki 6pin male plug. Headlights work, as do turn signals and running lights.

Gauges - Got most of them working and all have working back lighting. Need to see whats up with the volt meter. Ultimately will need to swap out the speedo for a GPS unit.

Transmission - SM420 doesn't sound happy and shifts worse than I remember. I purchased a used NV4500 and will be calling AA for adapters etc. sticking with the original 3spd case for now.

 

[badsamaritan]

New Headlights and fender mounted turnsignals

 

[archie73]

Congrats on getting it back. Luv my LM7/SM465, but driving in the city would be a pain.

 

[badsamaritan]

Looks like it's been awhile since I have updated this. I made a good list and have been picking away at it as I have time

• Fixed electrical issues with the gauges, everything is working now with the exception of one gauges backlight.
• Fixed battery drain by removing all of the PO's garbage stereo equipment and amps.
• Installed new dash pad
• Removed aftermarket LED taillights and installed 1968 correct taillights
• Had a fabricator fill in the holes in the rear crossmember where the aftermarket lights were so the new bumper could be mounted.
• Rounded up all the parts to rebuild and install the OEM parking brake (never had a parking brake)

Left to-do:

• Weld up cumminscruiser seat frame kit and intall
• Install new Best Top Jeep Seats and rear folding bench
• Install new console.
• Order 4plus front bumper/sliders

Pics of the bumper process:

 

[Sky King]

I love the looks of your Land Cruiser, that is exactly how I want to build mine!

 

[badsamaritan]

Finally got over to the fabricator guys house and had him weld up the cumminscruiser seat frame kit. I order best top trail max pro ii seats and a Tuffy console as well. For seat belts I picked some basic lap belts, once I get the roll cage figured out I'll go to a retractable belt system. Huge improvement over what I had which was crap and non adjustable.

Another issue I fixed was the brake pedal being 10" off of the floor with no more adjustment on the pushrod. I ordered the city racer booster and spacer which spaced everything correctly and gave me plenty of adjustment for the pushrod.

Last up is some nice reflectors I scored from a mud member. Been looking for a good set for months.

 

[badsamaritan]

Got my front bumper from 4plus just before the holidays. Big thanks to 4plus and trailtailor (awesome frame mount brackets) for the quick shipping. Had to adjust my Saginaw Box a little to clear the winch tray but everything is bolted up. Starting to gather parts for H55F swap

 

[theoii]

Finally got over to the fabricator guys house and had him weld up the cumminscruiser seat frame kit. I order best top trail max pro ii seats and a Tuffy console as well. For seat belts I picked some basic lap belts, once I get the roll cage figured out I'll go to a retractable belt system. Huge improvement over what I had which was crap and non adjustable.

Another issue I fixed was the brake pedal being 10" off of the floor with no more adjustment on the pushrod. I ordered the city racer booster and spacer which spaced everything correctly and gave me plenty of adjustment for the pushrod.

Last up is some nice reflectors I scored from a mud member. Been looking for a good set for months. View attachment 3474177
View attachment 3474174
View attachment 3474178

Do you have any more pictures of the seat mounts in the rear? I've been trying to mock mine up and don't want to lose the seat belt mounting nuts if possible.
Also how thick are the seats? My old seat mount (homemade) with generic universal seats was 2 ½ inches shorter and with that I was having trouble seeing through the top of my window.

 

[jembourbe]

Nice looking 40. Body lift? Why did you decide against the NV4500?

 

[badsamaritan]

Do you have any more pictures of the seat mounts in the rear? I've been trying to mock mine up and don't want to lose the seat belt mounting nuts if possible.
Also how thick are the seats? My old seat mount (homemade) with generic universal seats was 2 ½ inches shorter and with that I was having trouble seeing through the top of my window.

My frames are as low as possible without hitting the tank. If I ever go to a rear tank I'd go back and cut the legs down about an inch or so for a slightly better view. I'm 5'9" and every once in awhile I feel like I'm looking at the top of the window frame.

Rear seats use the factory body mount bolt that's behind each front seat. I added the center latch/seatbelt mount and then added the two outer lap belt mounts farther back to clear the body brace under the rear pan. I only needed to use the brackets that were provided with the seat, I didn't make any new ones. For kids it's fine, if I thought I'd be hauling adults I would make new brackets and left it up a little ways. The rear seat is made for a jeep yj and I think they have a foot well that is deeper than what we have. Hope this helps

 

[badsamaritan]

Nice looking 40. Body lift? Why did you decide against the NV4500?

I haven't fully decided against it yet, but a couple issues I have are:

I'd like to have a regular 5spd with no granny 1st gear.

I like how they shift vs. the more clunky truck feel of the NV

They are hard to find, and if buying a reman they are about as pricey as a new H55F

If going through all the trouble why not ditch my 3spd case and go for a split case? I think you can adapt a split case to a nv4500, but I'd like to keep adapters to a minimum. For me, I think I just need to buy a new bell and a cross member for the H55f

 

[theoii]

My frames are as low as possible without hitting the tank. If I ever go to a rear tank I'd go back and cut the legs down about an inch or so for a slightly better view. I'm 5'9" and every once in awhile I feel like I'm looking at the top of the window frame.

Rear seats use the factory body mount bolt that's behind each front seat. I added the center latch/seatbelt mount and then added the two outer lap belt mounts farther back to clear the body brace under the rear pan. I only needed to use the brackets that were provided with the seat, I didn't make any new ones. For kids it's fine, if I thought I'd be hauling adults I would make new brackets and left it up a little ways. The rear seat is made for a jeep yj and I think they have a foot well that is deeper than what we have. Hope this helps
View attachment 3579463

View attachment 3579464

Sorry I wasn't very clear on seat. I am also using the cumminscruiser seat mount and am trying figure out the best way to mount the rear bar. It looks like you are over to one side. The front bar is limited because of the toolbox.

 

[badsamaritan]

Sorry I wasn't very clear on seat. I am also using the cumminscruiser seat mount and am trying figure out the best way to mount the rear bar. It looks like you are over to one side. The front bar is limited because of the toolbox.

Post #7 is the only other picture I have of the build process. I had to have a local guy weld them up for me. It's using the factory frames bolt holes, so it's shifted to the drivers side

 

[theoii]

Post #7 is the only other picture I have of the build process. I had to have a local guy weld them up for me. It's using the factory frames bolt holes, so it's shifted to the drivers side

Thank you for your response. Are those the seat belt holes?

 

[badsamaritan]

I'll snap some pictures tonight. I never had factory seat frames. Only ghetto fab PO brackets

 

[theoii]

Me too.

 

[badsamaritan]

Me too. View attachment 3579755

 

[badsamaritan]

@theoii the bolt next to the tool box I added, all the others are factory holes that I re used. Hope this helps

 

[badsamaritan]

1 year of re-ownership down and I celebrated with some new bilstein's for the 40. It had some old ranchos from the 90's in there that had long since failed. I could compress all 4 with almost no effort. New shocks feel great, rig rides a lot better and a lot of the squeaking has died down.