Blue Mule resto in Malawi

[watrob]

Hi, do you have an estimate of how much more time is required to finish the rebuild?

I had the problem of it slowing down just as it was coming to an end, all those small nitty little things.

My main thing was when I put the longrange fuel tank in and the fuel sensor was not showing the right reading on the gauge. I don't how many time I pulled that thing out.

It's looking good and the best is yet to come, I enjoy the finished product and people coming up to you complimenting you on the FJ, especially other FJ owners who wish to do the same to there FJ.

PS. Make sure you lock that baby away at night.

 

[Twisty]

Wow! Thats awesome! Nice work

 

[Fast Eddy]

Make sure you lock that baby away at night.

Whaddya think the Dobermans are for?

 

[BJEC69]

WOW! What a great project. I have enjoyed your thread very much. Thanks for taking the time to share all of the pictures, and info with us. I am looking forward to seeing it on the road again.

 

[M5driver]

Stunning. How could you bring yourself to drive it?

I thought the "Unleaded Fuel" sticker went on the tub above the door?

:\ that's what i thought as well. it looks damn good though..

I can hardly wait to drive it again

That sticker was one of those dealer/port installed things. I think the dealer did mine and it was on the door until a couple of years ago when it finally let go and got lost. I just decided to put the new one where the old one had been.

Thanks for checking in
Dan

 

[M5driver]

Hi, do you have an estimate of how much more time is required to finish the rebuild?

I had the problem of it slowing down just as it was coming to an end, all those small nitty little things.

I'm already experiencing some of that slowdown. I've got two small bits not here yet that are keeping me from starting her up. I figure it will be from 1-6 weeks before I get the parts... hard to estimate that. Once I have her running, as long as I don't have problems with that, I expect to have her on the road within a few days. There will still be finishing bits to do for awhile, but nothing that will keep her off the road.

My main thing was when I put the longrange fuel tank in and the fuel sensor was not showing the right reading on the gauge. I don't how many time I pulled that thing out.

I had this same problem - turns out my float was hanging up on one of the baffles. Once I figured that out, it was an easy fix. Until then, it was a bit frustrating

Make sure you lock that baby away at night.

You bet! She also has an immobilizer that I installed about 3 years ago, which is already back in.

 

[M5driver]

Wow! Thats awesome! Nice work

Whaddya think the Dobermans are for?

WOW! What a great project. I have enjoyed your thread very much. Thanks for taking the time to share all of the pictures, and info with us. I am looking forward to seeing it on the road again.

The encouragement and information here on MUD and the LCCSA have kept me at it. Wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this far this fast without that. Thanks!

And Fast Eddy is right about the Dobies - every house around us has been hit at least once since we've been here, but not ours. We make sure everyone knows about our boys and where they live - they have been a great help for our guards

'n' s

 

[jgordon]

I found this thread by accident - read through all (at that time) 14 pages. Now I check it daily. Beautiful rig and great story. Can't wait for the next installment.

 

[lostmarbles]

And I'm still lurking around checking this thread a number of times daily and reading about your progress Dan.

I join the others in saying how great your smurf blue cruiser looks.

Having travelled around abit, I especially appreciate the conditions under which you are achieving this 1st class result.

 

[M5driver]

First of all, let me thank once again everyone here who reads this thread. I am continually amazed at how many times folks have checked in on this project; that alone encourages me to keep pushing on.

Got some more of the fiddly little bits out of the way today...

The new gasket for the transmission cover panel is the SOR gasket for puzzle solvers It fits very well, and I will be glad to have an intact gasket there again.

 

[M5driver]

I forgot to post the pix of the firewall grommets the other day. Those worked out really nicely.

Finished up laying out the wiring under the dash and installed the radio today. The mule never had a factory radio. I put an aftermarket one in previously. The tape player failed, so I decided to replace it with another simple radio with tape player. Many places I drive would not be conducive to a CD player, even one with industrial strength skip protection. We have often been to places so out of the way that even the tape player fades in and out

 

[antFJ]

completely fantastic! i'm excited to for this to come together.... and with such attention to detail!

two questions.. did that grab bar come factory? i have holes in my dash for one just like that and just planed on welding up the holes.. unless it's factory..

and second question.. what is this thing! mine had it right behind the cooling fan relay.. but i couldn't figure out its purpose! it's a round thing with that tube in the middle and air travels through it both ways..

 

[M5driver]

completely fantastic! i'm excited to for this to come together.... and with such attention to detail!

two questions.. did that grab bar come factory? i have holes in my dash for one just like that and just planed on welding up the holes.. unless it's factory..

and second question.. what is this thing! mine had it right behind the cooling fan relay.. but i couldn't figure out its purpose! it's a round thing with that tube in the middle and air travels through it both ways..

Howdy

That grab bar is not a factory item. Mine is a item - she noted quite pointedly a few times that I had a steering wheel to hang onto when trying to take the 40 airborne, while all she had was the dash pad. I eventually took the hint and bought the grab handle. It is an SOR item IIRC. Gonna add a wrap around pad to it when I am finishing up. It's been nice to have there - both for climbing in, and hanging on.

The second item attaches to a vent tube that goes to the distributor cap. The piece behind the fan relay is a filter, I think. Since my 40 has to have all the smog stuff intact when I re-import it to the US, I keep all of it in there, hopefully in working condition.

 

[KOOTENAY KRUZER]

A little bit of trivia: the first time I saw one of those grab bars was in Australia in 1988. The Aussies told us it was called a JC bar because the passenger who was hanging on to it was usually screaming "J***s C****t" while the driver performed some kamikaze move. I now have one in my '79 and am going to put one in my '83.

I have been following your build and am very impressed, not only with your results but with your persistance and determination in the face of all the problems you have had. This is one of the first threads I look at every time I log on.

 

[tlc_4play]

Here's a picture of my Je$u$ Handle

In South Africa they are fitted standard to all FJ and BJ45's

 

[M5driver]

Here's a picture of my Je$u$ Handle

In South Africa they are fitted standard to all FJ and BJ45's

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Of course, they are standard in ZA, Keith. I've sen South Africans drive

 

[M5driver]

A little bit of trivia: the first time I saw one of those grab bars was in Australia in 1988. The Aussies told us it was called a JC bar because the passenger who was hanging on to it was usually screaming "J***s C****t" while the driver performed some kamikaze move. I now have one in my '79 and am going to put one in my '83.

I have been following your build and am very impressed, not only with your results but with your persistance and determination in the face of all the problems you have had. This is one of the first threads I look at every time I log on.

I've heard of JC landings, but not JC bars. Good name for 'em, tho

A JC landing is when your passenger(s) are screaming "J***s C****t, I thought you said you could fly this thing!" Usually happens on windy days, when the landing is a little rough

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

 

[M5driver]

Got a bunch more done today - dash pad on, steering wheel, rebuilt heater and fan in, long ranger tank in and partly hooked up, roll bar in and probably stuff I don't remember at the moment. This really feels like progress

the guy in the photo is my second shift guard, Kennedy. He came to us after the 40 was torn down, so he hasn't seen it together and doesn't know what to expect. Things are moving along well enough right now that he asks me just about every day if it is finished yet I usually just point to the remaining parts and tell him until all of that is back on the truck somewhere and it's running, it's not finished.

 

[M5driver]

Steering wheel, new column cover, long range tank

 

[M5driver]

Heater fan, heater and duct, dash pad.