'64 SWB and '65 LWB 45 Irish twins (1 Viewer)

[wngrog]

I haven't done anything with the springs. Thanks for the observation. I wonder if the overload springs from a 55 pack would work?? I have a set of those and a set of 40 packs too.

You might not ever need them. On Lockwoods 45s I removed them

On this current 45 I’ve kept them in for now.

Personally I’d rather it ride great the 96% I use it and sag in the ass the other 4%

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

The Euro mount of my nice mule deer taken in Gunnison, CO in November arrived yesterday. What an incredible hunt with buddies I grew up with in Las Cruces, NM!

 

[middlecalf]

Wow, nice desert mullie!

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Haven’t updated in a while, but progress continues. Cleaned up all the disc brake front axle internals and installed new races in the knuckles. Time to start building the axle now. Also, still in the midst of building a new F engine. Crank currently being polished. It’ll have all new internals. The current plan is: disc brake axle, new engine, Saginaw PS, and 4 speed tranny out of a parts truck I need to pick up. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

One of the things I enjoy most about working on Land Cruisers is being able to make what you need out of what you got. While waiting for front axle parts, I’m pulling apart an H42 to rebuild. I made a bearing puller (SST 09950-20014) out of a harmonic balancer puller and some spare 1/4” bolts. It worked well after getting the hang of it. Bought some all thread to do the back bearing tomorrow.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

It turned out to be impossible to get that back bearing out with my homemade tool. I tried everything and finally resorted to the plasma cutter. It was ugly, but effective. The bearing was absolutely stuck on the shaft. I just touched the shaft with the plasma. It should work just fine I believe.

 

[ERNRAM]

That maybe a problem. New output shaft maybe needed

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Thanks for the note. I posted that pic bc that was the worst spot on the shaft. I filed it down and it's not terrible in my opinion. I'm considering turning my mig up as high as it'll go, putting some metal in there via the mig, and filing and polishing down smooth and round. To me, it seems like even if I don't do that, it should work fine because the roller bearing inside race is thick enough that it'll ride true on the shaft just stretching over that little dip. Thankfully, it's not a performance vehicle and this old truck will probably never even see 65 mph.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Tranny is assembled and shifts well. Hopefully, it’s all together correctly.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Back to work on the front axle. Several months ago I bought a local parts disc brake front axle. Turns out it has been sprung over with welded spiders and FJ60 knuckles. So, I decided to use a spare drum brake axle tube from a 55 and just use the knuckles out from the disc brake axle. So, it’s been a learning experience getting everything figured out. I had to grind the drum brake housing to accommodate the bigger birfields. That was a mess. I’ve put those birfields in many times and rotated and turned to find where there’s contact with the housing. I think I finally got it ground down enough. First time doing this, so someone tell me if I’ve made a mistake before I put it all together. Sorry for the poor pic quality, but I wasn’t about to close the garage door for a pic. Crazy hot in my shop.
Driver’s side before

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Driver’s after

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Passenger’s after

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Convalescing at home after hernia surgery on Thursday. My son, Nate, took the opportunity to clean the short bed up and snap a few pics. Wow, what a truck!!!

 

[Michael B]

He’s a good son. I hope you recover quickly and completely Mike.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Continued progress of the F build and disc brake front axle. On the front axle, had to swap the outer axle out at the birf bc it was a late 40 outer and I needed a ‘76-‘78 outer. Got that done. Put the head on the engine and plumbed a 2F oil pump on it. I had to modify the baffle on my almost new 2F oil pan, but got it fitting well now. Hopefully, more progress this coming week.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

The disc brake axle is finally built. What an adventure! I bought an axle sight unseen only to discover it was SOA with welded spiders. I swapped in a spare drum brake axle tube and third from a 55 and built it, which required me to grind out the outer part of the tube to fit the bigger disc brake birfields. Once built, I discovered the passenger side binded. I assumed I hadn’t ground out enough, so had to disassemble that side. I measured the birf before more grinding and discovered it was bigger than the driver’s side. I learned that there’s a slight size difference in the early and late disc brake birfs. So, I found a ‘76-78 early outer birf and swapped that onto the inner axle. Got it all back together this morning and no more binding with hubs engaged. All told, I assembled and disassembled everything 3 times. Guess I’m a slow learner! However, I can now do a knuckle job in my sleep and completely disassemble in about 20 minutes.

Now on to installation, install brake booster, new MC and running brake lines.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

As you can image, everything went very easily and the pins were practically begging to come out. No need for grinders, sledge hammers, and crowbars on this job.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Very sad day today. I loved this short bed, but, in the end, she had to go. I love Land Cruisers that I can use, abuse and hack without a care. I had too much invested in her and she was just too nice for a hack like me. I’ve sold plenty of Land Cruisers that were hard to watch leaving. Had to turn my back and not watch this one leave.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

I’ve spent a few days working on adding Saginaw PS to the 45. Lots of work and had to add support steel plate to the front frame rails. All is welded and put in place. Pulled it all back apart to clean and paint. After I get everything painted and the box in, it’ll be time to cut the original box out, reinstall the suspension, and add my rebuilt disc brake axle. After it’s back on all 4s again, then go back to building the f engine and swap it in with a rebuilt 4 speed tranny. Maybe she’ll be running and driving again sometime by spring hopefully.

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

I got a little distracted buying this and building a home for her.