Builds Good Dog Build

[RiggityJ]

Still had some old 3on the tree linkage components. Anyone want it?

Unrelated to land cruisers (but still cool), my father in law picked up this scout. Pretty original, mostly rust free, and only 38k original miles.

I was tired of picking up the hilift to bolt it to the roll cage (and almost dropping it on my head). Picked up a MrLandcruiser mount. Mostly worked. Had to slightly grind the hilift foot for clearance with the door.

 

[RiggityJ]

Everyone likes photos

@HemiAlex with the cozie hookup to be cool.

Cup holders and a mount for the temporary gps Speedo aka my phone.

 

[RiggityJ]

Took the dog for a walk at surfside for a good time.

 

[RiggityJ]

Working on up grading the headlights with the city racer setup. Waiting on coolerman for the plug hookup, cause this dog ain’t gonna hunt.

 

[RiggityJ]

Slowly loosing brake fluid. Drums and lines look ok, but probably need to break my knuckle cherry. I suspect the leak is at the master. Only fluid where it should t be is there.

 

[RiggityJ]

Couple items from Santa. Last one is a mesh shade that is bungeed to the roll cage.

 

[HemiAlex]

Lookin good and feeling good

 

[cruisermatt]

love this thread. can't wait till I get to my Capri 71

 

[RiggityJ]

GD’s side hustle is a modeling gig.

 

[RiggityJ]

Switched over from a single barrel to city racer double. #makeitadouble appositives for the limited pictures.

Couple issues:
1) height and spacer were different - sourced a later year double barrel 2f spacer,
2) the upper air filter arm connection was a bigger diameter - dremmel, a mr gasket carb extension kit, and some rubber stripping solved that
3) needed a new choke (old lawnmower choke wasnt staying) - sourced from city racer
4) I needed a mechanical linkage for the new choke and throttle linkage - some sheet metal, lokar parts off Amazon, dremmel and hammer got that sorted.

At the same time I also upgraded the battery cables to the nice and beefy mud version.

 

[RiggityJ]

I’m facing reality. My situation changed and I was no longer able to work on the cruiser as much as I wanted. I would make 1 or 2 trips to work on it per month. I could start projects, but could never make enough time to make progress and keep it running on the road. The past year GD ended up just sitting in storage. I couldn’t enjoy it and my couldn’t stop focusing on wife what I was paying to keep it stored (if she only knew ). Moral is never let a project go to storage, you won’t work on it there.

So it’s off to a highly recommended shop and the storage unit is gone never to return.

 

[RiggityJ]

I’ll update more details, but in short @samc2447 is amazing and GD made it to SAS6 this year with no issues (that were not of my own making). So without furthers ado, SAS celebration photo:

 

[RiggityJ]

 

[RiggityJ]

 

[RiggityJ]

That last photo in the previous post is my favorite of the bunch. Thanks to @FJmoneypit for the photo session. I gotta think that the ride in an 80 is so much smother than the 40 given how a lot of these came out.

 

[RiggityJ]

Ok as promised, here is a list of upgrades procured and installedby @samc2447 (let me know if I missed anything). Before he got started, we had a discussion about how deep down the rabbit hole he should go. As alway, it’s tough to determine where to stop. In the end, we came up with a list after he went over the rig, which really set it up for success, with one exception that I felt up to doing myself. Again, Steve really set the rig up well and we (the rig and me) had a great time.

Completed upgrades:
-Dobinson FJ40 2” IMS suspension lift and steering stabilizer with stock leads front&rear
-Vintage Air ac/heater
-New starter from Napa (died while at the shop)
-new start switch
-new oil sending unit
-Installed new old dash unit. I picked this up on ebay a while back because it had the right face plate patina and price. Unfortunately non of the gauges worked and speedo is mostly right (+/-5mph depending on if your speeding up or down)
-dash wiring
-completed the hard top including finished welding the gutters up, fitting classic cruisers fiberglass top, riveting, seam-sealing, painting, and headliner
-wrestling the hardtop fit up with the body warped (due to the roll) and straightened.
-rebuilt the drum brakes with new cylinders and pads
-rebuilt the knuckles
-did I mention electrical fault chasing?
-new fan pulley and belts

 

[RiggityJ]

In an effort to make the Texas convey to sas6, I decided to do the some last minute things at SAS. I was late getting out of houston, but joined everybody at Casey’s place around 1am. It hadn’t rained all year, until that night when the sky unzipped and let out torrential rain. I crossed rivers on the roads that were at least 2ft deep. Ended up sleeping the the Tacoma overnight because I didn’t want to step out into the 6inches of water that I parked in .

 

[RiggityJ]

Well, I made the convoy, but somehow got separated and arrived at the KOA a day early. So, now was the time to replace the brake booster, which was the one item I told @samc2447 not to worry about as I’d do it. So, at the koa, I took off the old booster and put on a fresh one from @Racer65, the install went pretty smooth with one extra helping hand I found at the camp site. Thanks @HJ61camper

The old booster seals had all cracked.

 

[RiggityJ]

another upgrade was the floor mats. I already had a city racer back mat, but also picked up the early ‘73 style mat. It worked ok, given the roll cage. Also underneath the city racer mat, I added a couple layers from Home Depot. These were a 2-3mm rubber doorway mat and foiled bubble wrap home insulation. These two I had to custom cut and used double sided sticky tape to keep them together. I liked this combo because all of these mats don’t significantly retain moisture.

Such a big reduction in noise and heat coming into the cab. Now, I can drive it in the summer in houston. I’m still thinking about addding the home depot custom mat to the back as I think it would cut down on noise even more, but this is enough for now.

 

[RiggityJ]

Current rolling build project focuses:

1: carburetor throttle linkage. I’ve got the correct year throttle cable, which comes with a plane end, a “custom” bracket, and threaded barrel stop. I don’t like it as it pulls from the wrong direction and significantly bends the cable (makes for squishy throttle response). Also, the barrel stop (pictured) is aluminum and with the tight space is hard to get tight. If it fails, there is a good chance I will lose the small beebe in the barrel stop, rendering it useless. I’m paranoid of this and have like 4 back ups.

The stock 71 pedal throw was insufficient to activate the secondary fuel jets of the 2F carb. To increase the cable travel, I used a stack of aluminum stripes about a 1/2 inch in height under the throttle pedal pivot point.

I’ve got a 73 throttle cable with barrel ends and bracket. This converts to a mechanical linkage at the carb. Unfortunately the connecting bar and ball ends were heavily corroded. I’ve got a lokar solution for that as I’m assuming a new or good condition 73 bar is basically unobtainable.

2: Overhauling the fuel delivery system. I’ve discovered the PO removed the condensation catch can. So I’ll ask the mud ether, do I need a catch can??? Picking up new filter, fuel sending unit, soft lines. Anything else I need?

3: contemplating flipping the rear dobinson leafs for extra wheelbase.

4: need an AC idle up. This will interfere with the stock air filter to carb arm.

5: Mounting the 8274 winch. I have a new aftermarket spare front bumper with mounting plate, but I like the beat up look of the stock bumper. Is there a way to mount the 8274 to the stock bumper?

6: steering has some slop and will need an overhaul eventually. Do I redo the manual or go with a power steering? If power steering, fj60 or Saginaw? I thought I heard at SAS that Toyota is discontinuing the new fj60 power steering. Do I look at 70series stuff?

7: new gaskets on the valve cover. Drove 90mi yesterday and afterwards I’ve got evidence of leaks.

8: fix the throttle pedal spring

9: horn only works through the use of a “calibrated screw driver” the connection in the column is broken at the end. I’ll need to take it apart to better em under stand what needs to be done.