Dirty Koala
SILVER Star
19 years ago my family left the motherland of cruisers and moved from Australia to NJ. Now nearly 2 decades later, my family has all left and live back in Australia/Singapore. Given my chosen career that is focused in NYC, my wife's family living nearby and many other established roots, I am well and truly entrenched here in the North East.
Growing up I always loved the diesel cruisers, 40's, 60's, 70's etc. After moving to the states and realizing my favorite cruisers were not available here, the desire to own one grew 10 fold. In 1999 my family picked up a 96 80 series, it was never built it up and was the family hauler, we enjoyed many trips and fond memories right up until rust eventually took hold and we parted ways with the old girl.
In Feb 2014 I picked up my 97 down in NC which turned into a bit of an adventure requiring a surprise personal Onur parts delivery and subsequent Ramada Inn parking lot axle rebuild...good times. 2 plus years later and that 80 has been reborn completely The Dirty Koala.
Throughout all this time I have always had a passion for the 40's but the stars have never aligned at the right time...until now. A couple months ago a friend informed me of a sweet 1982 BJ42 that was available, I worked out a deal and then proceeded to sell my built and very clean 2nd Gen 24V Ram to fund the purchase.
I am flying out to CO in a couple weeks to pickup the cruiser and drive it back home to NJ. My intended route right now is to cruise along Rt 80 as it's the most direct route. That said, given life is definitely going to be lived in the slow lane on this adventure, I am open to taking a more scenic route if there are places that I really should plan on visiting.
To keep this slightly tech, I plan to carry new belts, hoses and voltage regulator for the 3B with me just in case. After getting home I have plans to swap out the 4 speed for an H55F, get a turbo from Doug, piece together an OEM power steering setup, and if possible pull together an A/C setup.
For those in the know, what recommendations do you have for adjustments to my route and places I must/should see. I am looking forward to this pending adventure.
Growing up I always loved the diesel cruisers, 40's, 60's, 70's etc. After moving to the states and realizing my favorite cruisers were not available here, the desire to own one grew 10 fold. In 1999 my family picked up a 96 80 series, it was never built it up and was the family hauler, we enjoyed many trips and fond memories right up until rust eventually took hold and we parted ways with the old girl.
In Feb 2014 I picked up my 97 down in NC which turned into a bit of an adventure requiring a surprise personal Onur parts delivery and subsequent Ramada Inn parking lot axle rebuild...good times. 2 plus years later and that 80 has been reborn completely The Dirty Koala.
Throughout all this time I have always had a passion for the 40's but the stars have never aligned at the right time...until now. A couple months ago a friend informed me of a sweet 1982 BJ42 that was available, I worked out a deal and then proceeded to sell my built and very clean 2nd Gen 24V Ram to fund the purchase.
I am flying out to CO in a couple weeks to pickup the cruiser and drive it back home to NJ. My intended route right now is to cruise along Rt 80 as it's the most direct route. That said, given life is definitely going to be lived in the slow lane on this adventure, I am open to taking a more scenic route if there are places that I really should plan on visiting.
To keep this slightly tech, I plan to carry new belts, hoses and voltage regulator for the 3B with me just in case. After getting home I have plans to swap out the 4 speed for an H55F, get a turbo from Doug, piece together an OEM power steering setup, and if possible pull together an A/C setup.
For those in the know, what recommendations do you have for adjustments to my route and places I must/should see. I am looking forward to this pending adventure.
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