Builds Bought another 60 - Red, 1981, built for wheelin'... (1 Viewer)

[orion]

Got the tailpipe welded up last night...

Old and busted:

(cat is almost broken off right behind that flange!)

New hotness:

Might be a little hard to see, but it just runs about 3ft straight back, then has a 45-degree turn down as the exit.

Muffler is a "Super Turbo", 2.25" center in / offset out. For future reference, the stock downpipe is roughly 2-1/8" OD. I used some 1/16" aluminum sheet as a "gasket" to take up the space between the 2.25" ID muffler inlet and OD of the exhaust pipe. Clamped it on in case I have to remove it in the future.

...

So, new (used) igniter shows up tomorrow, and I grabbed a cheap signal generator from the other currently active thread discussing those...in case the igniter doesn't do the trick.

I'll post back here when it's running...

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

You gonna make it to Gsmtr with this one Brian? I registered yesterday.

 

[orion]

^^^ Matt - Probably not. I thought that I would, but then I remembered that GSMTR was moved to June...and I'm out of town for the week leading up to the event.

I mean, I could just try to take more days off, but it's not likely I'll be able to.

...

Update on the "no spark" problem: It appears to be due to a dead igniter!

(I also realized I had been spelling it wrong all along --> "ignitor" is incorrect, apparently. Says "igniter" right on top of the part. Oops. Had to go edit my earlier posts).

As I mentioned earlier, I picked up a used one from a member here. That showed up this morning. At lunchtime, I ran back to the house and put it on. Truck fired right up!

Old on the right, new on the left:

I was skeptical this was the fix, as the GM igniter I tried didn't do anything, so I was focusing on other possible causes. But maybe it was the culprit this whole time!

So far, it hasn't started twice in the same day (well, at different times in the day)...so if it starts after work, I'm gonna call it good!

Maybe I can actually drive it tomorrow!?!???!?? Owned it for a month now, and I've never even been behind the wheel!

- Brian

 

[orion]

Igniter definitely did the trick - Starts every time now.

I do have a decent vacuum leak (only idles with the choke on, only pulling 10in of vacuum), so I'll track that down / fix it tonight.

Maybe I can actually drive it tomorrow!?!???!?? Owned it for a month now, and I've never even been behind the wheel!

The test drive on Saturday was a spectacular failure! I made it to the back of my neighborhood before it started pulling HARD to the right, then pretty much skidded to a stop within 15 feet.

Front passenger tire lost all pressure (huge sidewall crack). When that happened, the truck was pointed nose down...and the poorly capped fuel return line started it's own siphon somehow (???), dumping about 2 gallons of gas onto the street.

Awesome.

I called my wife, who came and picked me up...and we went back with a spare wheel/tire, a jack, and my 20v impact gun.

5min later it was back in my driveway, and I just went inside to forget about buying this "fun project" for a while...

- Brian

 

[orion]

I've been terrible about taking and posting pics...but I'm making small progress on this truck daily.

Most recent work was to fix the rear shackles and bushings. The rear shackles are some universal "Autozone" kit, cut to length (roughly 5.5" hole to hole).

However, the PO used the supplied 1/2" diameter bolts along with some FJ40 leaf spring bushings (16mm or 5/8" ID). Not ideal.

The passenger side shackle was also bent into a "Z" shape, so that had to be corrected. I few quick smacks with the 3lb sledge made them flat again.

I couldn't put it back together without doing something to fix the wrong bolt size, so I grabbed a few 1/2" ID - 5/8" OD metal sleeves from Lowes. Slipped those into the bushings, put it all back together...and, one less thing that's "wrong" with this truck.

(you can see the sleeve I added in that top bushing here)

I also cleaned up the 16.5" wheels and got the other (2) 36" military tires re-seated on the bead (they had gone flat from sitting, and the 45-degree beads on those tires just kind of "let go" when that happens. Also makes it real hard to re-seat them / get them filled with air!). That was fun - Lot's of starting fluid and small explosions, along with a strap around the center of the tire and quick timing with the air hose!

Here's how it looks as of today:

More to come - I'm gonna take it for a spin later today, and maybe adjust the e-brake so it holds. I know, super exciting.

- Brian

 

[orion]

E-brake 'self adjusting' arms were frozen in place. Little clean-up, some light oil, and working it back and forth got them moving again. It's now back to 1) working, and 2) self adjusting. Happy with that, one less thing.

Took it for a few laps around the neighborhood last night - My neighbors must love me. Turns out, the headlights aren't working (parking and running lights are good?), so I had a flashlight with a magnetic base stuck to the bumper. hehe. It drove well, and I feel like I'm making progress!

The alternator belt (I assume) has been squealing like crazy, so I put a new one on. Old vs. new:

(just a little worn out)

Need to adjust the idle (gonna try the 'lean drop' method), and put a few more miles on it...and continue working out the bugs.

- Brian

 

[orion]

Update: It's A-L-I-V-E...! Well, it's running perfect, finally.

For the past few nights, I've been tinkering with things, fixing little stuff that needed addressed. There was a battery tie down on it when I got the truck, but it used a block of wood along with the mangled stock tie down to try and hold a shorter battery (Yellow Top). No bueno.

I bent up a piece of 3/16" flat bar to make a nicer one -->

Also fixed the headlights. Relay was clicking, but I wasn't getting any power to the lights. Turns out, the fuse box had just enough corrosion on the copper (brass?) terminals to keep the power from flowing. It's an early truck, with glass fuses...so I just popped them out, cleaned everything up with a tiny wire wheel on my dremel, and voila!...working headlights. One less thing.

...

So, as I mentioned before --> The idle has been kinda crappy, with the vacuum bouncing between 8-12 in/hg. Truthfully, it was kinda lumpy (almost like it had a misfire?). Drove OK above ~1500rpm, but crappy low end.

Seemed like a vacuum leak, but I've checked and triple-checked everything vac related...and it all checked out.

Took off work yesterday (doing some "social distancing", trying to avoid the 'Wu Flu' ), worked on stuff around the house - And tinkered with the truck a little.

Started it just to warm up the engine, mess with the idle a little. After a couple minutes, it was stumbling, so I blipped the throttle a few times. All of a sudden, it smoothed out and the idle raced up to around 2k... ???

I adjusted it down to just under 1k with the idle screw. Vacuum was all of the sudden perfect, and steady at just over 18 in/hg -->

Like flipping a switch - Crappy idle to perfect. I think what was going on was some junk in the carb, maybe a little piece of something stuck in the idle circuit (little piece of dirt?), and it finally broke loose.

It ran well enough at higher RPM that I wouldn't suspect a stuck valve, but I guess that could have been the cause as well.

In either case, I couldn't be happier. Drives perfectly now. It's ready to wheel...but sadly, I have no place to take it...every place is closed. Sigh.

Thanks for following along!

- Brian

 

[orion]

With everything closed, and my work "encouraging" time out of the office (unpaid )...I found myself with another Thursday at home, no plans or obligations.

...and even though everyone likes the giant front bumper, it sticks WAY out...and must weight 200lbs.

I'm a "simplify and add lightness" kinda guy, so I decided to do something about it. I've had a home made "tow hitch" in my shed for years, with no use for it. Made up of 3x3 angle iron, 1/4" thick. Got to thinking - That could be a minimalist bumper, along with some other 1.5x1.5 angle iron I had in the garage and some 1/4" plate mounts.

What I started with:

Grabbed the welder and grinder, and cut some 6" long / 3.25" tall plates to bolt inside the frame rails...connected the bottom of those plates with the 1.5" angle iron...then put the 3" angle on top. Capped the ends, and voila!...simpler, lighter bumper.

Pic from underneath, before I did the end caps -->

Also added 2 big hooks on top for recovery points.

Hit it with with some paint I had laying around (along with the sliders)...and it's looking pretty decent -->

I swear the front end came up 3/4 of an inch!

...

Also did an oil change - It was old and black, and 2qts low anyway. Some fresh Rotella T4 15w40 should keep this old 2F happy.

(you can also see the Trail Gear armor on the front diff here)

...

Anyway, I might have a chance to wheel it on this coming Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to update this thread with some action pics next week!

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

Does that thing have a body lift? It's really tall, I think I'd be well worth pulling a couple of leaves out of each pack.

 

[iwashmycar]

Does that thing have a body lift? It's really tall, I think I'd be well worth pulling a couple of leaves out of each pack.

Doesnt look like the body could go any lower....

 

[cruisermatt]

yeah, wasn't paying attention, those look like stock body mounts.

 

[orion]

... It's really tall, I think I'd be well worth pulling a couple of leaves out of each pack.

Yeah - It could go lower, for sure. The front springs are stock, with at least one added leaf (from who-knows-what vehicle).

Same for the rear - I believe they started off as Toyota mini truck leaf springs, with a couple extra leafs added in.

Gonna wheel it, then decide if it needs to be lower or softer.

- Brian

 

[orion]

...I might have a chance to wheel it on this coming Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to update this thread with some action pics next week!

Well, 2 things got in the way of my wheeling. COVID-19, and a busted wheel cylinder.

I was supposed to be loading the truck up and heading North last Friday, but we decided it was a bad idea (with Florida on lockdown, and Alabama heading that way).

Good thing I guess, as I noticed this when I was tinkering on it on Thursday evening:

I beleive I mentioned before that the brake master cylinder was empty when I got the truck. There were no obvious signs of a leak, after filling and bleeding all the brakes (a month ago). But, it came as no big surprise to find the rear drivers wheels cylinder was blown out.

I pulled the wheel to get a closer look, and figured I'd try to crack the lines loose (see if replacement was gonna be easy or hard)...and it was obvious that the brake line nut was fused to the line. It was gonna twist right off when I tried to remove it.

Knowing that, I went ahead and picked up 2 new wheel cylinders, and 2 (straight) sections of brake line (3/16 diameter / metric / inverted flare).

Tore the old stuff off, bent the new lines to fit (as best I could), and redid the "T" where the flex line from the chassis met the 2 hard lines at the axle (it was a clusterfuck of some aftermarket stainless braided line, the stock rubber line, and a 2" long piece of hard line connecting the two...and WAY too long).

Here's the after:

(sorry, those pics came out blurry?)

Anyway, it's good to go now. One less potential issue. Maybe I'll actually be able to get the tires dirty next month. We'll see!

- Brian

 

[orion]

Nothing much new to report...been working on getting the dome light to work (real exciting, I know!).

I did come across a crappy GoPro video I took in 2015 of this truck at Hawk Pride Offroad Park.

Quick edit (for time), uploaded to YouTube, and -->



- Brian

 

[orion]

I was doing another once-over on the truck last Friday, looking for issues that might cause a breakdown on the trail.

Gave the rear driveshaft a tug, and the u-joint on the diff end moved in a way it's not supposed to move.

I had a spare u-joint in the toolkit of my white 60...so I pulled the driveshaft and installed it.

Here's why it was loose:

(I don't think needle bearings are supposed to do that?)

The spare I had was a Moog #389. Pressed it in with my vise:

All finished up, ready for reinstall:

All the wheeling I was looking to do this Spring has been pushed to the Fall, so I'm sure I'll come across other fixes that need to be made...

I keep considering new tires, but 37s are $$$. These military Goodyears are "fine", but way less than ideal (heavy, and really stiff). We'll see.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now...

- Brian

 

[orion]

Here we are a month later...and I found time to tackle another couple small items.

First one was replacing a broken wheel stud on the passenger front hub. It snapped off first time I tried to torque it, and I was just gonna leave it / run 5 lug nuts...but that's not how I like to roll.

Knew I had to pull the caliper to remove the rotor/hub assembly, so I decided I should replace the brake lines as well. They were looking a little crusty, IMO -->

Pulled the locking hub, removed the rotor, pounded out the stud...installed a new one. Old (OEM) vs new (Dorman part #610-264) :

For the brake lines, I decided to swap out for longer rubber lines and eliminate the hard lines at the caliper / backing plate.

As expected from working on the rear...one twist of the brake nut at the caliper sheared the hard line right off (nut was rusted to the line). Same issue at the axle side...so I cut the little rubber lines and removed them, while holding the nut still.

To install the new rubber line (part #BH38881), I had to put the on the axles side / hard line first...then spin the caliper onto the other end.

In the end, it looks like:

One less potential failure!

Anyway, that's all for now.

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

Oh Brian... trail rigs don't need brakes

 

[orion]

Almost 2 months later, and not much new to report...

I decided to make a post today because the PO sent me a pic of this truck he came across recently, from way back in 2009 when he rescued it from a field.

Before I get to that, I'll post the small things I've gotten done in the last few weeks.

1) The speedometer and odometer quit on me, so I pulled the sender...looks like it ate the plastic gear:

May or may not fix that...we'll see.

2) Had to tighten up the wheel bearings on the front drivers side, and decided to try and remove/replace a broken bolt in the locking hub. I hit the "broken bolt lottery" when it started to spin while drilling it -->

Came right out using a small screwdriver to turn it. Love when that happens.

...

Back to the old pic of this 60 --> It apparently had no doors on it when the PO bought it, but the seller found them later. Pic below is right after mounting the doors and giving it a wash:

One other pic, at the beginning of the SOA conversion -->

Back when the red paint was new!

Anyway, September is getting close...and Mardi Krawl hasn't been canceled. Looking forward to getting it dirty!

- Brian

 

[orion]

Since night wheelin' is the best wheelin'...I needed to do something about the lighting situation. The headlights were stock halogen replacement bulbs, probably 20 years old, and most the silver coating was worn off the inside of the housings. No bueno.

BUT - I got a set of cheap-o 7-inch LED headlights when I bought the truck (part of the package deal). They didn't work "plug-n-play", which I expected (due to the negative switched headlight circuit). So I grabbed one of those $17 relay setups off Amazon to convert it (Online LED Store is the brand, I believe).

Got that installed, and it turns out they only work on high (???)...but for my use, that will be just fine -->

There was also a single "rock light" in with all the spare parts. I figured I could put it to use, so I wired it to the now unused drivers side headlight plug (you only use one original headlight plug to trigger the LED conversion harness).

Bolted it to the bottom of the front frame crossmember (right under the radiator), and VOILA!...something is better than nothing --->

Turned out to be brighter than I expected!

That's the latest - Thanks for checking it out.

- Brian

 

[orion]

Allright...finally got to use and abuse this truck last weekend. Mardi Krawl was a great time this year (as always)...and we did a lot of wheeling.

So, we got to Hawk Pride on Thursday morning and unloaded rigs / set up camp. Here's my 60 and my younger brother's 40 (39.5 swampers, propane, bunch of Metal Tech stuff, SOA rear, etc...) and my older brother's ( @ufg8r ) FJ Cruiser (his 60 is under the knife)-->

After a few more of the group got there, we headed down the hill and onto the trails. There's a small "rock garden" at the bottom, so I rode over there to check out how the new 60 felt -->

This was literally the first time I drove it anywhere other than laps around my neighborhood!

...

So we headed up into the woods, deciding to run "Lucky's Trail" backwards / downhill.

Only made it a mile before the fuel pump quit on me. It's an aftermarket cheap-o electric pump. A few taps with a screwdriver got it flowing again, and we continued on. However, this was a hint that I was going to be plagued by fuel delivery issues all weekend.

Now, the entrance to Lucky's is really off camber, and there's a tree to avoid. That puts you way high on the drivers side (or drag the pass side along the tree).

So, I popped over the first rocks and found out that tall 60's are tippy -->

My younger brother hopped onto the drivers side rock slider, and with a gentle push from the pass side...it dropped back onto all 4 wheels and I rolled forward. No harm, no foul.

(to be continued, next post)