Progress... Slow but sure.
So I know it's been awhile since I posted, but I'm still around and as much into 'Cruisers as ever! Long story short, my wife and have moved to just outside Durango, Co (a lot closer to 'home' in Pagosa Springs, Co than we were when we were in Red River, Nm) and are now managing the beautiful
www.BlueLakeRanch.com .
So between moving, training for a new job, driving to Florida and back for my little sister's wedding, working 50 hours a week, and doing some repairs on my property in Pagosa preparing for new renters, I have managed to get a few things done. I finally ordered tie rod ends and a rebuild kit for my carb from Kurt at
www.cruiseroutfitters.com Super nice guy, great to deal with, and ships your stuff out quick, as I'm sure that many of you already know. I did rebuild the carb, but haven't got a chance to do the tie rods ends yet. (Maybe next weekend.) While I had the carb off, I noticed my intake manifold is cracked and since I didn't have time to mess with it, just slapped the carb back on. In the next few weeks, I plan on taking the manifolds off, having them machined flat, and getting the intake ceramic coated after drill stopping the crack. I will then put them back together with a couple of gaskets and a heat insulating plate. (You guys have any thoughts where the best/cheapest place is to get those?)
Another thing I have worked on is the springs. I bought a set of Alcans that were set up to someone else's specs, so between that and "Cruiser lean" (which I am convinced is caused by the drivers side positioning of the ol' 2F and transmission) I have had a heck of a time getting them to where I like them. The springs on the front were to stiff/short. So after swapping leaves and springs around several times and still not liking it, I finally just took the 3rd leaf out of the passenger's side front spring pack, and it seems to be close to what I'm looking for. The driver's side has had a good (read better) shackle angle because of the extra weight sitting on that side of the frame. Since taking the leaf out of the passenger side it has improved that shackle angle quite a bit and has not seemed to adversely affected the handling. (You guys with more experience with springs/handling have any thoughts?) I think I might also try putting a 3/8ths plate between the rear pas. side axle and spring pack to correct the rest of the "Cruiser lean." Once I am satisfied with how everything is sitting and working, I am going to figure out where I want the mounts for the 12" Doetsch Tech's I picked up from a 'Mud member in the 'Mud Classifieds.
Perhaps the biggest visual difference that has been made, is the new 33x10.50x15's that I'm riding on. To make a long story short, I found and bought 4 used BFGoodrich all terrains for $200. They came with some nice Aluminium rims that had been painted black. Two of the tires were not much good, but I figured that I could turn around and sell the wheels and almost pay for the two new tires I would need. Well, 4 days later, the people that I now work for came up and handed me a gift certificate for a set of four brand new tires!
They were originally going to put tires on my pickup, but since I can get tires for that through Treadwright so cheap ($507 to my door for 285/75-16s) I asked them If I could use the certificate for my 'Cruiser instead because Treadwright doesn't make the 33x10.50's like I wanted. They were cool with it, so I now ride on four brand new BFGoodrich KM2s! (The two good used BFGoodrich all terrains are now my good spares.) I am a very happy, thankful man!
More pics to follow this weekend hopefully!
Maybe I can work something out...
I had no power to my blinkers, wipers, and a couple of other things. After troubleshooting for a little bit, I figured out that the contacts in the old switch were almost completely gone. I added a drop of solder to each one to build them back up, and by doing so got power to everything, and it is working for now. I need to either buy another one ($20-$75 if you get it from Toyota) or find a thin sheet of copper that I can cut another set of contacts out of. (Which would be easy and I think would make great Tech) 
)
last weekend. Thought that you guys might enjoy...
