On the cliff side, we saw an eagle or a hawk hunting and bringing back food for its spawn. Certainly a very cool place to visit, I'd imagine that the Grand Canyon would look a little like this.
Builds 'Biscuit's Big Adventure' -- driving a 1992 Middle East spec RJ77 across America
- Thread starter John Young
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #42
Well it is time to bring this trip to a close.
The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum is housed in a good-sized warehouse that shares some space with what appears to be an antique dealer, which is fun. I won't try to cover all the cars in the museum, because that would be impossible and besides everyone on this forum should try to make it there to see this amazing place. I asked the professional curator to show us the very best truck in the place and he brought us to this Model 40 troopy.
What I find heartening is that this truck was restored by just a guy working in his garage in Australia. He knew what he was doing and he did everything right. It is truly a beautiful truck. I don't aspire to a Model 40 myself, at least not yet, but I could certainly appreciate its beauty and the privilege of having the hood opened for us to look inside.
At this point it is worth mentioning that the museum is an invaluable store of reference examples of the Land Cruisers we all love. The technical director at the museum knows everything about these vehicles. He was kind enough to look at Biscuit closely and he answered many questions I had about wiring under the hood. He determined, after looking up the engine serial number that the engine, or at least the upper end, had been replaced at some point in Dubai. (I would tend to believe that the engine as a whole was replaced just by the way they tend to do things here.)
I was actually very pleased to learn that Biscuit does not have a matching engine. Both my son, Jonathan, and I had come to feel that the 4-banger in Biscuit just really is not big enough for our truck. Knowing that I wouldn't be loosing anything, I now feel free to do an engine swap for biscuit when Biscuit's stay at the museum is done. Biscuit is on loan for a minimum of two years, but likely will stay there until I move back to the US. The museum's technical director even put me in touch with an outfit with a great track record for doing swaps that is located on the East Coast. I've checked with them and I'm inclined to do a 1HZ or 1HD diesel swap. But who knows, maybe by the time we are ready, drop-in electric power plants will be mature enough for our hobby. Either would be very nice.
Here are a couple of videos [video 1] [video 2]. The second video is Biscuit coming into the loading dock at the museum. Right at the end you can see a quarter-million dollar Icon truck--it was my first opportunity to see one of these. But these do not do the museum any justice. You really have to go there and spend some time.
I most appreciated the oddballs:
And then there was the dream early 90's troopy conversion done in Germany with no expense spared:
The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum is housed in a good-sized warehouse that shares some space with what appears to be an antique dealer, which is fun. I won't try to cover all the cars in the museum, because that would be impossible and besides everyone on this forum should try to make it there to see this amazing place. I asked the professional curator to show us the very best truck in the place and he brought us to this Model 40 troopy.
What I find heartening is that this truck was restored by just a guy working in his garage in Australia. He knew what he was doing and he did everything right. It is truly a beautiful truck. I don't aspire to a Model 40 myself, at least not yet, but I could certainly appreciate its beauty and the privilege of having the hood opened for us to look inside.
At this point it is worth mentioning that the museum is an invaluable store of reference examples of the Land Cruisers we all love. The technical director at the museum knows everything about these vehicles. He was kind enough to look at Biscuit closely and he answered many questions I had about wiring under the hood. He determined, after looking up the engine serial number that the engine, or at least the upper end, had been replaced at some point in Dubai. (I would tend to believe that the engine as a whole was replaced just by the way they tend to do things here.)
I was actually very pleased to learn that Biscuit does not have a matching engine. Both my son, Jonathan, and I had come to feel that the 4-banger in Biscuit just really is not big enough for our truck. Knowing that I wouldn't be loosing anything, I now feel free to do an engine swap for biscuit when Biscuit's stay at the museum is done. Biscuit is on loan for a minimum of two years, but likely will stay there until I move back to the US. The museum's technical director even put me in touch with an outfit with a great track record for doing swaps that is located on the East Coast. I've checked with them and I'm inclined to do a 1HZ or 1HD diesel swap. But who knows, maybe by the time we are ready, drop-in electric power plants will be mature enough for our hobby. Either would be very nice.
Here are a couple of videos [video 1] [video 2]. The second video is Biscuit coming into the loading dock at the museum. Right at the end you can see a quarter-million dollar Icon truck--it was my first opportunity to see one of these. But these do not do the museum any justice. You really have to go there and spend some time.
I most appreciated the oddballs:
And then there was the dream early 90's troopy conversion done in Germany with no expense spared:
- Thread starter
- #43
Here's one more shot of the inside of that troopy...
Soooo nice when you compare it to the accommodations of my troopy as it stands at present:
(Photo from last weekend doing a little overnight on the desert. Maybe one day I will send my troopy to Germany....)
This is where Biscuit will go for now:
The truck right next to it is most interesting. It was bought new, shipped to Canada and converted for below-ground mine use.
It's actually quite new, with low mileage. Just lived a very hard life. The front axle has been converted to something mine-compliant that requires hydraulic pressure to unlock.
The museum really was kind of overwhelming, particiularly as tired as we both were.
Soooo nice when you compare it to the accommodations of my troopy as it stands at present:
(Photo from last weekend doing a little overnight on the desert. Maybe one day I will send my troopy to Germany....)
This is where Biscuit will go for now:
The truck right next to it is most interesting. It was bought new, shipped to Canada and converted for below-ground mine use.
It's actually quite new, with low mileage. Just lived a very hard life. The front axle has been converted to something mine-compliant that requires hydraulic pressure to unlock.
The museum really was kind of overwhelming, particiularly as tired as we both were.
- Thread starter
- #44
After a couple of hours we decided that it would be fun to do just a little bit of off-roading before Biscuit rests. Here is the curator waving goodbye as we pulled out:
We drove about 30 minutes North to try a trail up into the mountains to a weather station. It was rush hour and we were tired, but it was not too bad.
For a while Jonathan had been commenting that he thought Biscuit was hesitating a bit. I said, let's go on. We got to the foothills and headed up and Biscuit started faltering. I gave it a try but it was obvious that the something was off. Our old truck had faithfully taken us all the way across the country, and it was as if it was saying 'enough already!' My son has a couple of photos and video of this he might post. In any event I called it off and we drove back to the museum at dusk to leave Biscuit at the Museum. There is a small overpass just before you get to the museum and Biscuit hesitated there too. I'm almost certain it is a problem with the carburetor--Jonathan had noticed a small amount of gas leaking at one point the day earlier which we had been monitoring closely but did not seem to re-occur.
Our journey took 49.2 engine hours.
And we left the key, said goodbye to Biscuit [video], and took an uber over to the motel--our flight leaving early the next morning.
We drove about 30 minutes North to try a trail up into the mountains to a weather station. It was rush hour and we were tired, but it was not too bad.
For a while Jonathan had been commenting that he thought Biscuit was hesitating a bit. I said, let's go on. We got to the foothills and headed up and Biscuit started faltering. I gave it a try but it was obvious that the something was off. Our old truck had faithfully taken us all the way across the country, and it was as if it was saying 'enough already!' My son has a couple of photos and video of this he might post. In any event I called it off and we drove back to the museum at dusk to leave Biscuit at the Museum. There is a small overpass just before you get to the museum and Biscuit hesitated there too. I'm almost certain it is a problem with the carburetor--Jonathan had noticed a small amount of gas leaking at one point the day earlier which we had been monitoring closely but did not seem to re-occur.
Our journey took 49.2 engine hours.
And we left the key, said goodbye to Biscuit [video], and took an uber over to the motel--our flight leaving early the next morning.
- Thread starter
- #45
So Biscuit is now happily resting at the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum for a couple of years at least.
David Wicai was kind enough to send us a couple of photos.
Here is Biscuit after the museum gave him a thorough cleaning:
And here is Biscuit as he rests today in the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum:
Thank you all for coming along with Jonathan and me. This trip was very special. I hope you all can have something like this with the ones you love.
My older boy, Maxwell, and I are working on a road trip, probably in his Middle East spec Model 80, I think....
David Wicai was kind enough to send us a couple of photos.
Here is Biscuit after the museum gave him a thorough cleaning:
And here is Biscuit as he rests today in the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum:
Thank you all for coming along with Jonathan and me. This trip was very special. I hope you all can have something like this with the ones you love.
My older boy, Maxwell, and I are working on a road trip, probably in his Middle East spec Model 80, I think....
- Thread starter
- #46
It's hard to believe that two years have passed since Jonathan and I drove Biscuit to Utah. Jonathan is going to take Biscuit with him to Florida for use while at university so it is time to fetch biscuit. Cruiser Dan moved 17 land cruisers to free Biscuit (thank you Dan!) and I'm in the process of getting the truck serviced for the return journey. We originally had planned to swing though Canada to see our friend Jan with his diesel Troopy but COVID restrictions seem to have put the kibosh on that.
I've submitted Biscuit to Regular Car Reviews. I sure hope they pick Biscuit. It would be so very cool to stop to see the guys on our return leg. If any of you have an in with them I'd be very grateful.
I've submitted Biscuit to Regular Car Reviews. I sure hope they pick Biscuit. It would be so very cool to stop to see the guys on our return leg. If any of you have an in with them I'd be very grateful.
