Builds Buffalo Pusher! (Cummins) (1 Viewer)

[bigfj62]

My dad got my Cruiser senses going this weekend when he said there was a farm auction down the road that he had seen a Fj60 sitting in the yard on occasion.

I showed late in the day figured it would be sold but they were three vehicle away from selling it. Looked her over and saw lot of problems and rust but I knew it would go cheap because everybody at the auction knew more about cows than a 2F.

I grabbed a bidder number. I told myself $200 was my hghest price because my wife does not think I need another Toyota. They started at $500 and no one put a hand up until $300. A guy noticed me eyeing it and put his hand up at $300. I probably could have had her for $50 if he didn't bid. SOLD $350 to bidder 58.

You are probably thinking I must have towed it out of there. Nope drove her down the road to our place. I added another few miles to the 313,000.

Smelled like a burning mouse nest out of the exhaust, no power steering, pass door does not open from the outside, window regulator messed up on drivers door. It has the original owners manual and bottle jack. SCORE.

So my question is? Part her out, or tune her up and use it. If I was to tune her up what would you guys do first? I was thinking of desmoging and checking the fluids, timing, and valve adjustment. Oil Looked clean and full. New battery and air filter.

The bumper was put on there the guy told me for pushing his Buffalo. Only in a Cruiser. Anyways I think it was a $350 well spent.

 

[The BurgerMeister]

Hell yeah! And "Buffalo Pusher" is a great name, too!

 

[BlueCrui]

Neat cruiser! Cant wait to see what the outcome is, depends if you wanna make some money by parting it, or invest some and make it a sweet ride... either way you got a great truck!

 

[cocruiser62]

Great story! Hope you decide to keep it. I will own a tan 60 one day. One day.......

 

[klinetime574]

Desmog looks like it has already been done. There is nothing on the driver side fender haha

Does it have a smog pump? De-vane it if that has not been done.

• Do a compression test.
• Find any exhaust leaks (there will probably be some lol)
• change the oil, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs
• remove any other smog gear, sell it in the classifieds (don't break any of it)

Check and see how old those tires are. Might need replacement.

And turn those front signal lights over. The running light should be on the bottom! Either the lens or the housing was swapped side to side. They are marked "L" and "R" I'm pretty sure.

I would love to have another cruiser for $350!

Clean it, drive it, wheel it. Have fun

 

[Lated]

That hood prop alone was worth the $350

 

[rrv333]

Save her; she's the ultimate l/c color and she runs. If you flip her tomorrow, you could double maybe even triple your money.

 

[Dixiedog]

I say get it running for as little money as possible and then drive it around some to see if you want to keep it. Even with the rust that is showing, if you did nothing to the body it will last for years as a beater. $350.00 WOW!

 

[bigfj62]

Beige is my favorite Cruiser color too. I have always wanted a beige Cruiser. I thinK I am going to get things running good again. If the Compression is bad I may just part her out. I can use alot of the parts on my 40.

I just bought a used p/s pump here on mud to get that going again. I wont have many more pics probably till this weekend when I can work on it again. I am going to try to keep this project cheap as possible and enjoy her.

I will have lots of questions.

 

[ThreeFJman]

"Buffalo Pusher" freaking awesome! Great color too. Here is my 60. ARB up front, ARB's hiding in the diffs with 4.88 gears. Geared for fun, not for the pavement. It's made several "mall crawlers" stick their tail between their legs and limp home!

TFJM

 

[rw74228]

How's the interior?

 

[bigfj62]

Seat covers on the front seat because they are pretty torn. The back seat is just dirty. The headliner is still intact. The dash is cracked missing the ash tray and cubby but all the switches are intact.

The carpet really is not too bad up front but none in the cargo area. Seatbelts all there. Missing door handle on driver's side. The middle console is still there with a functional door. Steering wheel looks good.

I would give the interior a solid 5 out of 10 for the abuse it has taken.

 

[8960series]

"Buffalo Pusher" freaking awesome! Great color too. Here is my 60. ARB up front, ARB's hiding in the diffs with 4.88 gears. Geared for fun, not for the pavement. It's made several "mall crawlers" stick their tail between their legs and limp home!

TFJM

Absolutely love the color! Sharp rig!

 

[bigfj62]

Update on Buffalo Pusher! I spent most the weekend covered in Grease. I did a compresstion test to see if it was worth getting her runnning good or not. 115 was the lowest I got up to 127. I was pretty pleased for a 334,000 mile 2f.

I pressure washed as much of the old dirt and grime off the engine and undercarriage. I tackled the horrible exhaust leak at the manifold flange. One of the studs was broke off so I drilled it out and retapped it and through in a bolt. This job sucked still picking dirt and grease out of my eyes, and drilling straight up was like benching pressing for 15 minutes. Still has a slight leak so I think I need a gasket.

The nice burning smell was indeed a mouse nest in the exhaust. It was quite comical as it spitted out mouse turds out the tail pipe.

I took off the ginormous bumber (My dad has the stock bumber lying around). The bumper weighed around 300lbs suprisingly was not sagging that bad.

The carb is a total mess. It smells to me like it is getting too muck fuel I drained the gas tank of all the old varnished gas and put in a new filter. I think someone did a half ass de smog. This is probably causing most my Carb issues.

I was thinking I would attempt my fiirst spring over with this truck. If I mess up no worries. Then have fun dont worry about the body since it is beyond repairable (Several Fiberglass patched and cut the bottom of the rocker panel off on the whole truck).

Transmission was overflowing with oil and t-case was ugh not full. Typical seal leak between the two. Does anyone know what parts are needed to get put in the hose between the case and the transmission fill plugs?

I also have a decent oil leak below the front crank pulley. Can access this seal if I pull the oil pan???

Sorry no pictures I will try to get some more soon. I would like to make this a low budget fun build. Seems like most my trucks have been too nice and I never used them to their full potential. I am excited to see where this one takes me.

 

[hj 60]

Nice, did you try a turn on sand in 4x4 and listen to the clack clack birfield?

I made this hose very cheap at a farmer store:
the parts numbers are readable if you click on the image. M18x1,5 = like lambda sensor etc.
I think the flexible hose (15,25"=40cm) is not good enough for heavy whatevering, so maybe get a better one but mine is not leaking and I first want to see what happens.

other on line stuff: http://www.euro4x4parts.com/parts/vbp1001-2169_by_pass_gear_box_to_transfer_case.html

youre lucky I had to collect all the data

Thisone would break so no go but it is outthere.

 

[bigfj62]

hj60 thanks for the hose info. The knuckles are needing a full rebuild for sure.

 

[bigfj62]

View attachment 1359037 View attachment 1359037 View attachment 1359038

 

[bigfj62]

View attachment 1359049

 

[gregnash]

Nice... so what are the plans with the interior ripped out?
And might want to edit that image to take the guys SSN out of it...

 

[bigfj62]

Well I thought I better post an update and get this thread going again. Old Buffalo pusher has been sitting for about three years now. A rabbit got up in the engine bay and chewed a few wires. I have been without shop space for awhile so some of the projects have been on the back burner. A few weeks back I decided to see if I could get her running.
Repaired a few wires (positive battery cable, coil wire) put some fuel stabilizer in the tank, put on a new fuel filter, took mouse nest out of the air filter housing, and jumped her with the 80. I pulled the choke turned her over expecting a fight. Nope....started right up. I couldn't really believe it.
Started cruising around the farm with it a little bit. Was kinda wanting to get her going good enough to drive to work to keep the salt and road grime off the 80. Did I tell you I hate rust. I wish they would just use gravel on our icy roads.
I had to use a torch to heat the lug nuts red hot to get them off but not before I broke two lugs. Brakes are non existent and bearings feel pretty rough.
I tried to fix the window regulator by putting a few spot welds on the top of the ground down gear teeth. Decided I didn't want to be filing all week so I just ordered a new one. I also ordered a few used parts from @cruiserland to fix the parking brake, passenger door that doesn't open, dome light.
I pulled the carpet and seats and washed them down to try and get some mouse piss smell out.

Things to do.
-Brakes
-Bearings knuckle rebuild
-heater seems weak, I am guessing there is no thermostat or it isn't working
-windshield could be replaced
-fix the bazillion vacuum leaks
-put on new used manifold
-fluids changed
-valve cover, timing chain cover, front crank, and oil pan seal
-Overall tune up valve adjustment.

There are a bunch of other things to do but time and money are not on my side right now. I am going to try and do this low buck as possible so sorry if it is slow.

I found one of the owners old DL from New Mexico from 1981. Stuck under the rear heater. I guess I don't know if he is an owner but maybe. Thomas P Brahl born in 1952. I did have a picture attached but realized it had his DOB and SS# so I deleted it. Kinda cool. Maybe he is on Mud. Anybody know the guy?