Builds Finally got my own...Meet BeBe (2 Viewers)

[gregnash]

@NeverGiveUpYota yup sure did. And thanks on the business...... I think. Not really our first go round but will be our own first venture.

Got a little time before it got freezing tonight and messed with the timing a bit to see if I could figure out the backfiring issue. Seems I had it retarded a bit too much as I was able to get it to stop backfiring on decel. Of course that was after retarding it more and having it backfire after decel. Anyways gonna keep messing with it and tweaking.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

@NeverGiveUpYota yup sure did. And thanks on the business...... I think. Not really our first go round but will be our own first venture.

Got a little time before it got freezing tonight and messed with the timing a bit to see if I could figure out the backfiring issue. Seems I had it retarded a bit too much as I was able to get it to stop backfiring on decel. Of course that was after retarding it more and having it backfire after decel. Anyways gonna keep messing with it and tweaking.

Is your diz recurved? Get it done! That's the exact scenario that Dave had happening when he decided to figure out how to do his recurve.....

 

[gregnash]

Yeah not recurved but something that has been on the To-Do list for a while... Just never saw information on how to actually do it, yours was the first.

Question... since you have the dizzy pulled, is it easier to remove the side plate for the connecting rods? I have a new gasket for it but decided not fight with it when I was rebuilding the top-end last year (was trying to get out of my friends barn quick).

 

[gregnash]

So this weekend we had a club trail run out to a remote mining camp area. Was a fun little trip to do with the guys other than the 3hrs of driving on the highway (one-way), but it is what it is. BeBe did pretty good, still have the occasional backfire/popping on decel but seems to happen only when under load and then at 2kish rpm, either in 3rd or 4th only too. Thinking I may build a little jumper wire for the negative for the ICS to see if it is because the ICS is not functioning properly (cheap ChiCom as Jim put it) or possibly something else. And also believe that Alex has put his spare carb in the mail so I can see about rebuilding my carb again to see if I possibly screwed something up.

From Carson to Hawthorne is like 120ish miles of 60-70mph highway and was able to pull 13.7mpg for the trip (according to Fuelly) so she is right within the original specs for gas mileage. Just wish that the around town mpgs were a little better as normally I don't hit the highway for more than a few miles if at all.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

 

[gregnash]

And it was kinda funny, wandering around through all the rabbit brush and sage and what not and really nothing else other than that. Then I randomly come upon this single cactus all by its lonesome.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Trail lead was telling us that the place was once home to about 10k miners during its peak and was supposedly one of the most dangerous places to be. Apparently on year the stagecoach was robbed once a week, and one week it was robbed four times.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

 

[gilamonster]

cool looking trip

 

[gregnash]

Yeah it was a neat little trip. I like exploring things like this just because it gets me out. Going to be investing in a good Atlas map of the state and a HAM radio (and license eventually) in the very near future. Just have to remember to take my ACTUAL camera with me, not just my iPhone.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Yeah not recurved but something that has been on the To-Do list for a while... Just never saw information on how to actually do it, yours was the first.

Question... since you have the dizzy pulled, is it easier to remove the side plate for the connecting rods? I have a new gasket for it but decided not fight with it when I was rebuilding the top-end last year (was trying to get out of my friends barn quick).

Pulling the side cover can really only be done w/ the diz removed as the inside of the cover has a bent section of metal that only releases when the cover is pulled out and down. And removing the bracket for the alt (leave the alt attached) is necessary unless you have smaller hands than me. The one bolt in the upper right corner is basically impossible w/o removing the bracket.

 

[gregnash]

Haven't really had much time lately due to the fact that the wife and two of her business partners (and family friends) will be opening a new salon in about a month. We finally got the go ahead from the building owner on our TIs and got to start demolition of the interior. Was started out as we were going to take down two walls and chip up the nasty, old, ugly, badly applied epoxy seal for the concrete ended up turning into almost completely gutting the place and ripping up the epoxy.

I did however, get to play with the cruiser a little bit this last week due to the weather being nice. I pulled off the front lower valence as some of the rust was starting to show again from the last time I painted. Well come to find out that I had put self-etching primer on it without any type of top coat which just let the rust start again. So I ground down to bare metal, sprayed with Etch & Prep to kill the rust then painted with the Rustoleum Self etching (since I had some left anyways) and then tried to decide on color for the truck.

I had planned on going with a standard Charcoal Grey from rustoleum just because it was cheap and with my compressor and a HF HVLP gun I could paint the truck myself in a couple days during the summer (after bodywork was done). Really this started because about a month ago I was able to get a good passenger rear door from another mud member for a price I couldn't refuse, however it is white, so would need repainting. Then this weekend @LAMBCRUSHER was nice enough to snag me a good drivers door. The other two are salvageable so now I just need to work on the passenger rear quarter and get things done.

Anyways, The lower valence became my test bed so I was spraying the Charcoal Grey and really it was just Meh.... looking on the rustoleum website I saw they had some new colors, one of which is called DEEP SLATE. Grabbed a can of that at HD and found I really really like it, so once the bodywork is done then she is getting a coating of that! Bad part is that Rustoleum doesn't have plans to make that color in gallon sizes for at least another 6 months (end of Q3 is what I was told) so that gives me some time. However, if I happen to get stuff done sooner then I may see if the local paint shop or Sherwin Williams can match the color in a hard enamel.

 

[gregnash]

Well really wish I had some sort of update for the build but alas life and nice weather has gotten in the way.
Nothing new other than the door from Simon (@LAMBCRUSHER) is in town and I am just waiting to arrange pick-up from my brother who happened to be down near Simon over the weekend.

Aside from that the wife and I have been traveling a lot for her work on the weekends, life and work in general getting in the way and now that the weather is nicer I am spending time on the mtb again. I actually just undertook my first major wheel build over the last few days slowly assembling a new rear wheel!

If I can get a clear weekend that the wife is home I will swap the carbs to see what is going on with mine. Last tank of gas gave me 7.9mpg in town and then I am averaging a little over 13mpg on the freeway, so something is definitely up as I should be getting around 10 in town. Anyways, hopefully I can get a clear weekend here soon to take care of a few things.

 

[gregnash]

Ok so dumb question... looks like this weekend will FINALLY give me a chance to work a little bit on BeBe. Had Alex's spare carb for a bit now, just havent had the chance to take the truck down for a few days due to travels, strange weather, etc. Next week is bike to work week so she won't get driven except to softball on Wednesday night.

Anyways, I can't seem to remember but there isn't gaskets between the carb and the insulator plate correct? I don't remember from when I rebuilt the carb and the ones that I do see in the rebuild kits don't really answer the question in my mind. Just purely swapping carbs to see if I still have the high idle issue that I am plagued with, but the truck seems to be running just fine. When she is idling high a quick pump of the gas will normally drop her back down to normal (about 700rpm or the screw on the tach) or I can put my toe behind the pedal and pull ever so slightly.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Ok so dumb question... looks like this weekend will FINALLY give me a chance to work a little bit on BeBe. Had Alex's spare carb for a bit now, just havent had the chance to take the truck down for a few days due to travels, strange weather, etc. Next week is bike to work week so she won't get driven except to softball on Wednesday night.

Anyways, I can't seem to remember but there isn't gaskets between the carb and the insulator plate correct? I don't remember from when I rebuilt the carb and the ones that I do see in the rebuild kits don't really answer the question in my mind. Just purely swapping carbs to see if I still have the high idle issue that I am plagued with, but the truck seems to be running just fine. When she is idling high a quick pump of the gas will normally drop her back down to normal (about 700rpm or the screw on the tach) or I can put my toe behind the pedal and pull ever so slightly.

It's should. I picked up new gaskets from outfitters (I think, it was them). Green has the two holes for the underside of the carb to the black spacer on the plate and is plenum material.
And there is another they offer which is pink that has the long single oval that fits under the spacer to the intake, and I believe was more of a paper material. IF your spacer is smooth as butter 'maybe' you can get away w/o but often that's not the case top or bottom of the spacer. You can buy gasket maker too and cut your own.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Ok so dumb question... looks like this weekend will FINALLY give me a chance to work a little bit on BeBe. Had Alex's spare carb for a bit now, just havent had the chance to take the truck down for a few days due to travels, strange weather, etc. Next week is bike to work week so she won't get driven except to softball on Wednesday night.

Anyways, I can't seem to remember but there isn't gaskets between the carb and the insulator plate correct? I don't remember from when I rebuilt the carb and the ones that I do see in the rebuild kits don't really answer the question in my mind. Just purely swapping carbs to see if I still have the high idle issue that I am plagued with, but the truck seems to be running just fine. When she is idling high a quick pump of the gas will normally drop her back down to normal (about 700rpm or the screw on the tach) or I can put my toe behind the pedal and pull ever so slightly.

It really would be lovely if someone could give us the magic answer to high idle issues.

 

[gregnash]

Yeah I may just run down to Vatozone/Napa/Oreilly and see if they have gasket paper to make my own instead of waiting on gaskets from whereever.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Even an Ace Hardware. They have the 1/64 or the thicker one avail in the automotive section.

 

[gregnash]

Wish we still had ACE Hardware's around here... all those smaller franchises have gone away, all we have is Lowe's and Home Depot. Gonna take a look this weekend, if not then I will be calling Kurt to put in an order for a few replacements.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

I can cut a few for you if you want. Easy to do and put in an envelope. Just lmk. Tho your looking for the one below the carb right? Seems after @mwebfj60 post yesterday on the power valve, that the type of material is pertinent. I could be wrong but after his thread and seeing how my plenum gasket looks from the suction on it the paper wouldn't be sturdy enough.

 

[gregnash]

Yeah I am looking for the one that is between the insulator/plenum and the carb. Only about $5/ea from Kurt so I will probably just put in an order from him.

 

[gregnash]

Finally got the gaskets and a new carb rebuild kit from Cruiser Outfit yesterday, salon is just about done so now I can finally spend some time on BeBe!!! Still have a little work to do at the salon but hoping this weekend I can get some time to swap the carbs.

Next question, I have noticed that e-brake is no longer holding the truck at incline, even with it full pulled. I had looked a while back and noted that the shoes were getting pretty warn (they are 3yrs old abouts) so got to replace those soon but way back when I do remember seeing some slight ridges in the drums. IF I need new drums, what is the best option other then OEM? I will be sending an order Beno's way soon for some other things and wondering if I should just grab these while I am at it (as long as they aren't $150/ea)......

 

[Helocrazed]

So after close to two years of looking for the "right" cruiser, test driving multiple ones, a couple deals falling through it seems that all was as it was meant to be.

At the beginning of the week I randomly saw that Cruiser Outfitters posted about a 1985 Land Cruiser on their Facebook page that was located in Utah. A quick look at the ad and I contacted the owner regarding his rig. He was very honest and responsive to my questions, normally getting back to me within and hour or two with pictures of the things I asked him for. Being that I am in Carson City, NV the 10hr trip to "see" the truck was a bit out of the question so I relied on pictures and info from others about the truck.

Well I got the go ahead from the wife and am now the New owner of a 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60!!! Not necessarily the 464 Beige that I have been lusting after but for the price and the amount of miles on the truck it was a deal to good to pass up.

Now here is the new truck, I take ownership next month but for the time being here are the pictures from the owner.

1985 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
146000 miles on the odometer, he estimates at a high 175000 miles as the speedo cable broke a few years back and since it was his dd and he had only a short commute he figured that 10k a year would be a pretty accurate, albeit high, estimate.


HPIM1263 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1269 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1268 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1340 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1339 by renofizz, on Flickr

HPIM1338 by renofizz, on Flickr

Things that will need to be fixed:
- [strike]Brake booster is showing signs of going (says sometimes brakes take more pressure to get full engagement but nothing dangerous. He has bleed the lines multiple times thinking it may be air in the lines but to no avail.)[/strike] Brake booster is replaced! Here's link!
- [STRIKE]Small vacuum leak causing the engine to idle about 300rpm to high[/STRIKE]Finally got this bad girl desmogged and replaced all vacuum lines. She purrs like a kitten now.
- [strike]Speedo cable broken[/strike] Replaced this weekend and what a PITA. This is the best thread I could find on how to replace. Definitely use the Sil Glyde, take your time and before you replace everything use a drill to check and make sure that speedometer actually works.
- Front knuckles are leaking (common on every truck I have looked at)
- [STRIKE]Windows are hard to roll up/down in colder weather[/STRIKE] Finally got this replaced this past weekend (used this thread), was a bit of a PITA but start to finish took me less than an hour.
- Antenna broken off (currently replaced by hanger - no bigs to me as I usually listen to my iphone)
- [STRIKE]Smog pump done (died on him a couple years ago but he lives in an emissions free county, so do I. Pump was bypassed with a shorter belt to take it out of the group. I will check the pump to see if it just died after old age or not and determine desmog or no from there.)[/STRIKE] Been replaced with JimC pulley and full desmog kit!
- One very small section of rust near drivers side rear fender well (will evaluate and move on quickly before winter comes here) Wish this would have been true now. Much more rust than expected, have replacement wheel wells and replaced entire rear lower tailgate.

Other than those things she is in real good shape. I will do my due-diligence when I get it home, change all fluids, run seafoam through the system, check carb and intake manifold gaskets.

Now people always ask about the name of the rig. Well here is the story now. Like I said, I have been searching for a long time, life/illness/work have gotten in the way prior to this really not allowing me to get a good rig without the compromise of either A LOT of miles or some serious work/damage. About a month ago my last grandparent (Grampa Fizzy) finally joined his wife after 4yrs on his own. Now my grandpa was an ex-marine fighting in WWII with a short stint of combat seen. A good man he was very reliable and believed in accountability for everything you do. He was never much for having a lot of "things" but he loved his Bourbon Manhattans (with an olive not a cherry), Baseball, Golf, and his family. So when everyone was gone the family really didn't expect there to be anything other than enough to cover the cost of the funeral. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when we all received letters with a small amount from inheritance as the last "thank you" from grandma and grandpa.

Grandpa's nickname throughout his entire life (his best friend attended the funeral, they had met when they were 3yrs old and gramps was 90 when he passed) was BB, as he was a short-stop through grade school and high school and played some military ball and was notorious for his BB gun throwing arm and accuracy.

So in honor of gramps, this truck will now be named BeBe.

EDIT: Just wanted to add the "long list" of stuff that will eventually be done to BeBe

(Long List)
- clean interior
- remove interior and put down sound deadener (FATMAT in my Amazon wishlist)
- replace all stereo equipment (RF Prime speakers [STRIKE]and amp in the Amazon wishlist with an Alpine CDE-133BT head-unit that came highly recommended from techs at Crutchfield)[/STRIKE] Put in RF Prime 6.5s in the doors and 6x9s in the rear panels and went with a JVC KDX-50BT deck!
- [STRIKE]add WagonGear headlight upgrade and auxilary box[/STRIKE] Built my own panels! And got the Ultimate Harness from SLC! (still yet to install) (Just found out that SLCfj62 is no longer making them, looks like IPF is the only alternative at the moment)
- wire dash with vacuum gauge
- put "dash pad" from Cruiser Corp on to cover cracked dash
- OME L/M 2.5" lift (already talking to Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters)
- 33" tires on stock 15s (or if I can find them for cheap a pair of FJ or Seqouia 16" steelies)(may talk to Stockton Wheel about widening the stock chromes)
- black out of all chrome items ([STRIKE]debating on this now as the silver/chrome is starting to grow on me[/STRIKE]Ended up blacking everything out.)
- Superflow air pump install in engine bay
- Auxiliary battery (second)
- Smittybuilt console Done and done, barely worth the $90 shipped but much better than the stock console. Cup holders on this thing SUCK!
- replace/refurbish front seats
- replace rear panels with WagonGear panels Built my own panels out of mdf and marine vinyl and put RF Prime 3way 6x9s in them!
- install WagonGear tailgate lid
- [STRIKE]upgrade headlamps with RoundEyes or Rampage lights and new lenses[/STRIKE] Thanks to my brother he got me the Rampage kit and some PIAA bulbs for my b-day!!
- possible WKOR sliders or something similar
- possible Man-A-Fre 4+ Plus front bumper
- install 4x4labs/2mbb/etc rear bumper with ability to add tire carrier later on (really just need it for the hitch for the bike rack)
- roof rack (like the looks of the low profile DiamondRax)

VERY Nice!