dovetail...finally (1 Viewer)

[72cruiser]

hey y'all,

so i've finally been able to get some work done on the cruiser, so i figured i'd start up a thread to show y'all what i'm doin and to keep me motivated, ha ha

also, i challenged my bro-in-law to a build-off...his '77 bronco vs. my '72 cruiser: deadline -- october 12th we're goin to tellico. he has to finish his body up, i have to completely rebuild my cruiser from the ground up...but he's got a 7 month old kid, so i think he's got a bit more on his plate.

so here's the list of plans for the cruiser:

drivetrain
rebuilt 1983 2F
4spd tranny + later splitcase (thanks rutbeer...)
fj62 axles (thanks lowtide...) w/ 30spline longs when the cash comes in

suspension
soa & sr front on fj62 rear springs, pushed as far forward as i can
frontrange fab hysteer i picked up cheap last year
soa rear on fj55 rear springs, pushed way back, new spring mounts and shackle mounts of the back of rear bumper

body
cutting 4.25 inches out of the floor on each side to pull the b-pillar of the door even with the a-pillar
dovetailing the rear of the tub so that the opening is one door width (a la OnTheSpot...)
no front fenders...just inners

other stuff
saginaw power steering setup...goin to go ahead and tap the box for hydro assist b/c i'm pretty sure it'll be shortcoming.


oh, also aiming for the 37-39 inch tire window...


enough typing...i'll start puttin up the pics here soon, been doin the body stuff first



malphrus

 

[crazylandcruiser]

im going to be 100% watching this! thats awesome good to see you got your plan all set up and sounds like you will have a pretty good rig for some hardcore trailing minus a 4link or something more intense i the suspension...

 

[72cruiser]

im going to be 100% watching this! thats awesome good to see you got your plan all set up and sounds like you will have a pretty good rig for some hardcore trailing minus a 4link or something more intense i the suspension...

cool...i'd appreciate any opinions/comments you've got while i'm doin it

about the 4-link...i was this close to goin for it, but i'm a broke grad student and i've got all the stuff for the soa and time is of the essence



malphrus

 

[projektdotnet]

What about gearing, I haven't studied the splitcase gears but I know my 74fj40 is getting an SM420 and 3-spd case swapped in for the purpose of being able to crawl a little bit

 

[crazylandcruiser]

cool...i'd appreciate any opinions/comments you've got while i'm doin it

about the 4-link...i was this close to goin for it, but i'm a broke grad student and i've got all the stuff for the soa and time is of the essence



malphrus

So far my only comment is move to oregon and lets do the dovetail together so i can do it to mine! cant wait to see the outcome i saw the one on pirate the guy is from oregon and lives somewhere near me cause we both go to TNF to wheel

 

[72cruiser]

aight so here are some pics...


just to give you an idea of how much i'm cutting out of the tub at the b-pillar, here is the 4.25 inch chunk i removed

here's the rocker/doorframe and quarter panel after i drilled out all the spotwelds and cut it off the tub...it ended up being easy to just cut it all off rather than keeping it attached at the a-pillar

 

[72cruiser]

here's the tub after i cut off that stuff and some of the wheelwell. i'm hoping that i don't have to raise the wheelwells when it's all said and done b/c i am moving everything in 4+ inches and putting wider 62 axles so it'll be close with tire rub...

1" square tubing welded in to brace the floor after i cut out the wedge in floor

 

[72cruiser]

floor support channel clearanced and welded up

 

[72cruiser]

patch panel welded into a-pillar, also shows square tubing under edge of floor

tub back upright w/ bracing to keep the doorframe square while i welded it back in

 

[72cruiser]

shot from above, trying to show the difference in the driver/passenger sides. kind of hard to see

side shot...good look at the rocker chop as well

 

[72cruiser]

What about gearing, I haven't studied the splitcase gears but I know my 74fj40 is getting an SM420 and 3-spd case swapped in for the purpose of being able to crawl a little bit

big goal is to get this guy back on its wheels (i haven't driven a cruiser in goin on 2 years now)

i'm plannin on savin up the nickles and dimes for a 4.7 toybox as the next mod...i know that's goin to mess with driveshafts but i'm okay with that. i'm also going to keep the spacer in between the 4spd and tcase just so the change in drivetrain length won't be so drastic

oh, and the splitcase is 2.313:1, iirc.



malphrus

 

[miker]

Cool project. Very interested in how the body will look.

 

[VTCruiser]

lookin good malph! when it's finished I hope it'll be primer gray, you know for ol' time sake.

 

[Trollhole]

Looks good. I'll be keeping my eye on this thread.

 

[72cruiser]

lookin good malph! when it's finished I hope it'll be primer gray, you know for ol' time sake.

haha, i'll take a couple pics of it in its "true form"...but it'll be goin back to the original color of my old cruiser that got stolen, i think it's called horizontal blue or something like that?

(not my old cruiser, just one that's the same color, ha ha)

malphrus

 

[MudHunter]

Thats a nice pic of the color blue mine should be also! Currently its a darker blue.

 

[Isotel]

nice work! good idea too, should be pretty slick when your done!

 

[rockcod]

Nice work, keep the pics coming.

I wish I could put a deadline on my project. I might be eliminating my mini truck rock box from Snotz. If I remove it, you can have first refusal.

 

[chattfj40]

Looking good...let us know if you need an extra set of hands!


I find it quite interesting that you don't consider a Dovetail to be "Hardcore". I like that!

 

[72cruiser]

sorry fellas...no pics tonight, me and the roommate had some of our friends over dinner so i was busy cookin, then eatin, then drinkin, ha ha.

tomorrow i'll try to get some more work done and some more pictures up but i'm goin to be beat after work. have to get into the hospital at 5:45 in the morning so i can shoot a kid's sciatic nerve with a laser...should be good fun.

I wish I could put a deadline on my project. I might be eliminating my mini truck rock box from Snotz. If I remove it, you can have first refusal.

the deadline...hope it works out, never tried it out with the cruiser before. my measly stipend will be the limiting factor though...

also, with the doubler...will it work with a splitcase? can i just get a rear adapter from marlin?

I find it quite interesting that you don't consider a Dovetail to be "Hardcore". I like that!

well...outside of body trimming, nothing much with this build is all that hardcore. i mean, it's just another spring over, ha ha. oh, and expect a work weekend comin up soon...



malphrus