OK, so there is a little story here....
A few months ago, my sister's V6 pickup had a blown HG, and insisted that I fix it (instead of taking it to the dealer like I suggested because of my schedule). But, because I am the world's best brother, I went ahead and got to work fixing her pickup. In the meantime, she borrowed a friend's spare vehicle to get to and from work.
Somewhere along those lines, my brother (MT Economist) saw a 60 for sale in Missoula, MT (https://forum.ih8mud.com/vehicles-trailers-sale-wanted/405116-1984-fj60-1500-missoula-mt.html), and called to see if I needed a 60. In the meantime, our sister's friend got into an accident with his primary vehicle and needed his car back, and I figured it would be a while before she could drive her pickup again, so she decided to buy this 60 from Missoula.
Of course, she needed to get it back to Colorado, so I flew up (I have travel privileges on most airlines), picked it up and drove it first to Helena. Mostly because then I could use my brother's driveway and tools if it needed anything, and because I could stop by 3_puppies' place if I needed parts (I always need parts).
So, it drove uneventfully from Missoula to Helena, with the backfiring (more like "chuffs" out of the exhaust than pops or bangs) consistent but not a huge problem. Fine power, but with 33's and the 3.7 gears 1st gear was definitely not a happy place.
Once there, I monkeyed with the timing, replaced vacuum lines and did anything I could think of that might help with the backfiring. None of it worked, really, but in the morning I headed over to 3_puppies' place and we tinkered a bit more. We tried to adjust the carb per the FSM, which didn't seem to make a lot of difference, but definitely helped a bit and made it run smoother. Just in case, he had another carb that had come from a running truck, so I bought it, a windshield washer bottle, a radiator overflow bottle, and some bits for my 45 and hit the road. I figured that if worse came to worse I could swap carbs on the side of the road if I had to.
Long story short, the truck drove back to CO really well actually. I stopped and played with timing and the carb a few times on the side of the road, but by the time I got to DEN I had it getting 14.6MPG at 65mph! Which I know is great for a 60, but I'm used to my diesel and roughly twice that. So, roughly a thousand miles is what I put on it getting it down to CO for my sister, and she had some plans to do little bits here and there, but of course only once her truck was back to running (which I am happy to report it is, and running better than ever).
But there's a catch.... turns out it wasn't really for her. Apparently the family conspired to buy it and hang onto it anticipating that I would get married and thinking that it would be the kind of gift that wouldn't revolt either me or Kate. And they were right, Kate and I got married unannounced at the County Register, surprising nobody, really. Imagine our surprise though when we were given the 60 as a wedding gift!
There's a bit more, but I'll get some pics going now...
A few months ago, my sister's V6 pickup had a blown HG, and insisted that I fix it (instead of taking it to the dealer like I suggested because of my schedule). But, because I am the world's best brother, I went ahead and got to work fixing her pickup. In the meantime, she borrowed a friend's spare vehicle to get to and from work.
Somewhere along those lines, my brother (MT Economist) saw a 60 for sale in Missoula, MT (https://forum.ih8mud.com/vehicles-trailers-sale-wanted/405116-1984-fj60-1500-missoula-mt.html), and called to see if I needed a 60. In the meantime, our sister's friend got into an accident with his primary vehicle and needed his car back, and I figured it would be a while before she could drive her pickup again, so she decided to buy this 60 from Missoula.
Of course, she needed to get it back to Colorado, so I flew up (I have travel privileges on most airlines), picked it up and drove it first to Helena. Mostly because then I could use my brother's driveway and tools if it needed anything, and because I could stop by 3_puppies' place if I needed parts (I always need parts).
So, it drove uneventfully from Missoula to Helena, with the backfiring (more like "chuffs" out of the exhaust than pops or bangs) consistent but not a huge problem. Fine power, but with 33's and the 3.7 gears 1st gear was definitely not a happy place.
Once there, I monkeyed with the timing, replaced vacuum lines and did anything I could think of that might help with the backfiring. None of it worked, really, but in the morning I headed over to 3_puppies' place and we tinkered a bit more. We tried to adjust the carb per the FSM, which didn't seem to make a lot of difference, but definitely helped a bit and made it run smoother. Just in case, he had another carb that had come from a running truck, so I bought it, a windshield washer bottle, a radiator overflow bottle, and some bits for my 45 and hit the road. I figured that if worse came to worse I could swap carbs on the side of the road if I had to.
Long story short, the truck drove back to CO really well actually. I stopped and played with timing and the carb a few times on the side of the road, but by the time I got to DEN I had it getting 14.6MPG at 65mph! Which I know is great for a 60, but I'm used to my diesel and roughly twice that. So, roughly a thousand miles is what I put on it getting it down to CO for my sister, and she had some plans to do little bits here and there, but of course only once her truck was back to running (which I am happy to report it is, and running better than ever).
But there's a catch.... turns out it wasn't really for her. Apparently the family conspired to buy it and hang onto it anticipating that I would get married and thinking that it would be the kind of gift that wouldn't revolt either me or Kate. And they were right, Kate and I got married unannounced at the County Register, surprising nobody, really. Imagine our surprise though when we were given the 60 as a wedding gift!
There's a bit more, but I'll get some pics going now...
We have an uncle who just had to get in on the action, and who gave us money to buy a set of tires, so there are 4 33x10.50R15 BFG AT K/Os ordered now.
. And if I decide to sell it then I imagine they wouldn't hurt. But, we may just recover and replace the foam in these, and add seat heaters or something. Depends on what I find a good deal on...
