Builds 1983 Cruiser Story (1 Viewer)

[Gretsch]

All smooth sailing as of lately until I went to replace the distributor stop pin bushing.... When I loosened the clamp bolt on the distributor to pull it, the distributor immediately rotated very freely. That was odd. I went top pull up on it and it had free play up and down. Very odd. Well, it turns out the disributor casting had cracked!

I'm guessing this was a pre-existing condition but for the life of me can't figure out when or where it would've happened. The truck must've only been running (well) since it was locked into position with the clamp/clamp bolt.

So I went on a search for a new distributor and fast because my DD was down. Luckily, a local TLCA member had one leftover from a flood vehicle and delivered it the next day!

I disassembled it and cleaned it up, put all of my parts back in (weights, springs, breaker, etc.) and had my truck back up and running for the time being.

I of course didn't want to trust previously "flooded" bearings so I went about finding a good used unit which I found from a MUD member.

We're back up and running as good as new with a new stop pin in place and timing set.

Also went ahead and installed the OEM distributor cover and the coil cover which I had never seen before! (Scored with the distributor).

Up to 109K miles!

Man thanks for posting the picture of the cover. I only learned about this being a thing recently and had never seen one before....until now. Super cool.

 

[Comet]

Ian, glad the cruiser is running well. Hope the family is happy and healthy. Keep up the good work/maintenance on that nice ride!!

 

[Ian Crawford]

Still serving as the Daily Driver. Up to 110K miles!

Quick little job to eliminate a belt squeak/squeal. Upon engine deceleration the AC belt would slacken and touch the AC Idler as intended but the bearing was nearly locked up.

Popped the old bearing out, cleaned up with some Simple Green, and a $10 bearing (in stock at the local Grainger) we're good as new!

 

[ntdb]

So, yesterday in Kentucky was beautiful, perfect working temp in the 50's and 60's (Fahrenheit) so it was time to put long sleeves and pants on and get to work with the cup brush to knock off the loose rust and get a protective coating on it. A nasty but necessary job. My primary goal was to clean and inspect the leaf spring mounts making sure they were indeed solid.

A nasty job (I still have rusty boogers) but I'm very pleased with the outcome. My plan was to use POR-15 but between the price and lack of availability at my local supply house I decided to use Rust-Oleum Protective Enamel it's available to brush on and in spray can.

Onto the photos!

I also took the opportunity to install the new rear drums/shoes/wheel cylinders/hardware kits.

Thank you for documenting this nasty job, it's one I need to take on soon. Did you spray right on top of the leaf springs or did you separate them? How is the coating holding up after some miles of flexing those springs? Cheers!

 

[Ian Crawford]

Thank you for documenting this nasty job, it's one I need to take on soon. Did you spray right on top of the leaf springs or did you separate them? How is the coating holding up after some miles of flexing those springs? Cheers!

Coating on the frame is doing well! I ditched the stock spring for an OME lift in late 2019. But I did just roll/spray on top of the spring packs and did not separate them. It held up Ok but not great though the lift was added due to sagging springs.

I’ve also since done the @TRAIL TAILOR C channel kits another bear of a job just satisfying and a great product!

 

[Ian Crawford]

Installed the new @ToyotaMatt reproduction combination switch.

I had had my wheel off recently so install was a breeze. A 1 beer, 1 hour job. The fitment was perfect and he eliminated the intermittent wiper feature and added a spring loaded (push up feature) for a single swipe. After DDing with it, it is a great feature!

 

[UZJ100LC]

wow great build, thanks for taking us through the journey. I just picked up an 83 as well and needs a lot of work

 

[Ian Crawford]

Still just pulling DD duty. Filled it up for just over $70 last week....
Gave it a bath last night:

And MUD, what do you think about these IPF lights? Too Big? Just Right? Found them on Marketplace for a song about 40 minutes down the road.

 

[batthewmrown]

Still just pulling DD duty. Filled it up for just over $70 last week....
Gave it a bath last night:

And MUD, what do you think about these IPF lights? Too Big? Just Right? Found them on Marketplace for a song about 40 minutes down the road.

Meh. I think the round/square combo is weird. Probably wouldn’t look bad on a 62. I vote Nay.

 

[Captron]

Part of what you like about them is the deal you got. Run em till they don't give you satisfaction. The bull bar on mine looks ridiculous but my grandfather made it so it stays as long as I own the vehicle

 

[Ian Crawford]

Replaced a faded tail light lens with two new ones. While I was in there I decided to clean things up utilize LED bulbs in the tail/brake light.

Pulled all (presumably) 39 year old, still functional OEM bulbs out.

 

[HemiAlex]

So fancy.

 

[Ian Crawford]

So fancy.

Only the best, @HemiAlex

 

[Comet]

Still a pretty girl. Thanks for sharing your journey.

 

[Ian Crawford]

Still a pretty girl. Thanks for sharing your journey.

You're welcome! How are you guys?

 

[Comet]

Still driving my bride crazy with projects. This is next. 1973-1985 40 series mash-up. I wish your growing family all the best my friend.

 

[cruisecontrol3]

Ian, I like the contrast of the square aux lighting, looks very period correct. And a great deal. = Win!

If you are needing light upgrades for the front check out what Adam has been doing for his 60 and 40

Finally got around to some comparison shots with the various headlights and fog lights.

Please note - cameras adjust for lighting so while the pictures may look bright, that's because the camera has magic inside it that enhances what it sees. (Anything I can't explain uses magic.... auto transmissions, cameras, wifi/bluetooth and so forth.)

Poser shot!
View attachment 2889843

Below - Diode Dynamics SS3 Max fog lights - Yes, these are SAE compliant fog lights. Amazingly they do not look bright to oncoming traffic. Their beam pattern is low, thin and wide. I imagine that if I could strap two small stars to the front of my rig that these fog lights would still be brighter by comparison. Worth the extra $$, hell yeah. These are amazing!! Oh yeah and the Philips H4 headlight bulbs are also on in this picture but they're not adding much, unfortunately.
View attachment 2889844

Below- H4 Philips halogen bulbs in Koito housings outlined in a previous post. These light bulbs are considerably brighter than the original Koito bulbs but still not even close to comparable to some of the LED H4 bulbs I used like the Auxbeam H4 or the Haikari Ultra H4 bulbs. Those were in my estimation twice as bright and then some, but the downside was they iced up in cold weather. I have a new H4 LED bulb being delivered tomorrow that I'm going to try. These halogen bulbs are just not adequate.
View attachment 2889846

Below - Koito headlight bulbs in Koito housings with Off Road Town fog lights (which I ended up returning because the took on water). Again, pictures of light are deceiving due to the auto light adjusting nature of cameras (aka magic). These headlight bulbs are too dim, fog lights are awesome for the $90 I paid. Bummed they soaked up water like a sponge, my other pair on my FJ40 are dry as a bone after 2 years of use.
View attachment 2889847

Once I receive the new H4 LED bulbs I just ordered I'll do some more comparison shots.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Ian, I like the contrast of the square aux lighting, looks very period correct. And a great deal. = Win!

If you are needing light upgrades for the front check out what Adam has been doing for his 60 and 40

Thanks, I think I have a pretty good set up now. The Diode Dynamics fog lights are amazing. The recent LED headlight bulbs are great but I think I had similar light output with the less expensive Hikaris Ultras. I just ordered some ARB knockoff Intensity lights that I had a few years back and they were amazing.

I can't wait to do what Ian is doing to his taillights. Mine are DIM.

 

[Ian Crawford]

The 81110-60P70 Headlamp Assembly has arrived. This has to be one of the best deals out there.

Bought from my local dealership, with discount I paid $46 and change out the door!

 

[John Staton]

The 81110-60P70 Headlamp Assembly has arrived. This has to be one of the best deals out there.

Bought from my local dealership, with discount I paid $46 and change out the door!

totally agree. My headlights sucked and I was researching all kinds of options before I ran across that from Toyota. Work great now.