Builds Lumpskie's Diesel 80 build

[Lumpskie]

More lighting tests:

I swapped the center lens from being an amber fog to a clear fog. Here's what is looks like:

You can see that the center "hot spot" in amber color. But, you can see the white light that spreads out to the sides. The picture doesn't do the light justice. I was surprised how usable the "side light" was.

For now, I like this setup. I might try swapping the center to a clear spot... or the side lights to clear spots later on. It's fun to play with the combinations.

 

[Lumpskie]

Ok, after this post, I'll quick posting a bunch of lightbar pictures. It just seems like my other pictures didn't do the bar justice. So this time I wanted to show how the bar, by itself looks, compared to my other lights.

Here's headlights at the local pond

Here's lightbar only in the same spot

Here's headlights only in the woods

Here's lightbar only in the woods:

And rigid D2s on high only

The more I play with this bar, the more I like it. I'm betting switching the amber spot beams with clear spot lenses would make the hot spot crazy bright. This is fun.

 

[IanB]

That lightbar looks so impressive, it makes me wonder if your headlights need to be adjusted up a bit, lol. I'm surprised your headlights throw so little light to the sides, they seem like a spot beam pattern, are they DEPO's?

 

[Lumpskie]

That lightbar looks so impressive, it makes me wonder if your headlights need to be adjusted up a bit, lol. I'm surprised your headlights throw so little light to the sides, they seem like a spot beam pattern, are they DEPO's?

Yes sir, they are DEPOs. I'm realizing that its hard to get pictures that show light patterns! The DEPOs are actually really good. They throw light really far and wide. But the light bar is way brighter. The way it's adjusted right now, the yellow spot goes down the road way farther than my highbeams. Those trees down the road were probably 200 yards or more. It's so hard to get the exposure right on the cell phone camera!

 

[Lumpskie]

I haven't kept up on this thread very well...

Went wheeling up the infamous Volkswagen hill. I tried to get up the hill without lockers and failed. I hit my front diff pretty hard and used my sliders a number of times... more as standoffs from rocks on the side than anything. We found an old farm with a very old root cellar. Had a good time:

Here's the group

Why do they call it Volkswagen Hill?

Old Farm:

The stone that goes over the door of the root cellar is held up by a root. (the irony)

Rob caught a rock on top of his rear spring... no idea how long it was up there but we took it out at the end of the trail

Random fun somewhat flexy shot

 

[Lumpskie]

Opportunity for everyone to make fun of me...

I dropped the Cruiser off at a local Toyota mechanic. Having him do the following:

- Rear Pinion seal
- New U joints in rear driveshaft (matsuba u joints that I already have)
- New tie rods (555 tie rods that I already have)
- New kickdown cable for transmission
- Tighten up wheel bearings in front
- Transfercase drain and fill
- Power steering leak... search and destroy
- Repair or replace slightly sticking rear brake caliper. New rotors and pads in rear.

I've been meaning to get to all these maintenance items but I never actually made progress on any of them. At this point, I will just be happy to have them done.

 

[Bludozer]

Opportunity for everyone to make fun of me...

I dropped the Cruiser off at a local Toyota mechanic. Having him do the following:

- Rear Pinion seal
- New U joints in rear driveshaft (matsuba u joints that I already have)
- New tie rods (555 tie rods that I already have)
- New kickdown cable for transmission
- Tighten up wheel bearings in front
- Transfercase drain and fill
- Power steering leak... search and destroy
- Repair or replace slightly sticking rear brake caliper. New rotors and pads in rear.

I've been meaning to get to all these maintenance items but I never actually made progress on any of them. At this point, I will just be happy to have them done.

Nothing wrong with using a mechanic you trust. I don't tackle every job on my 80 either, time is precious and often I have little

 

[mattimooseprime]

Opportunity for everyone to make fun of me...

Time is money, and I'd pay to have some of my build done if I could at this point lol.

That light bar is impressive! it really makes the depo's look....sad. are you using LED's in the headlights?

 

[Lumpskie]

Time is money, and I'd pay to have some of my build done if I could at this point lol.

That light bar is impressive! it really makes the depo's look....sad. are you using LED's in the headlights?

Yeah, in person it is a really impressive light bar! Cut offs are really clean and the light output is awesome. I'm just using high output halogen headlights, in the Depos. But, I've really been happy with them... much brighter than stock. But, compared to the bar... you can't tell if the Depos are on or off.

 

[Lumpskie]

Updated task list:


Mechanic did:
- Rear Pinion seal
- New U joints in rear driveshaft (matsuba u joints that I already have)
- New tie rods (555 tie rods that I already have)
- New kickdown cable for transmission
- Tighten up wheel bearings in front
- Transfercase drain and fill

I replaced:
-Water/air separator
-Diesel filter
(hoping this takes care of a slow diesel leak I had as well)


Left to do: (hoping to have mechanic dig into this next)
- Alignment
- Power steering leak... search and destroy
- Repair or replace slightly sticking rear brake caliper. New rotors and pads in rear.

Overall, the old rig drives so much better. I didn't realize how sloppy the steering was until now... wow it feels nice. Also, the new cable and trans fluid make the transmission feel so much more firm. It also feels like the torque converter has less slip in it... much better. Pretty soon, this thing is going to be a joy to drive!

 

[Lumpskie]

I got new seat cushion as well as seat pad foam in the mail. Both are OEM toyota (got some remaining cushion stock even though it is out of production) for both. Now... just waiting on the leather and heater/cooler kit. I can't wait to have fresh seats in the 80. But, I have a feeling getting everything done is a little way off yet.

 

[Lumpskie]

Rear calipers, rotors and pads replaced
Alignment done
Officially leak free... we'll see how long that lasts...

Next step... go wheeling in Vermont

 

[Lumpskie]

Seat upgrade program is almost ready for kick off!


New OEM seat foam (front row bottom cushion and back rest)

Leather from Mosley Motors!

The quality of the leather looks really good!

The kit came with head rests, center console, door rests and even leather for the door inserts!

Behind the leather, you get the "reticulated" open cell foam

You can see how open this foam is:

What's the reason for the foam? To support the heater/cooler kit!

Each seat will have 2 of these little fans:

The heater/cooler element:

Switch

Here's a color comparison between the original and the Mosley setup. I think the color match is exceptional.

 

[Lumpskie]

Met my buddy Adam in VT this last weekend. It was a beautiful drive... it even had a cool old school, 1 lane covered bridge along the way.

We reached the rental. This was the driveway up to the old house:

When we got to the house, everyone was excited to stretch their legs:

We spent the weekend exploring the area.

We visited a lake and let the kids throw rocks in the water for a few hours. It was a beautiful and relaxing day. You can see Shorty taking it in here:

We also rode a gondola up a local ski slope to do a little exploring and have lunch. We had a great view from our lunch spot:

We also got to wheel a little bit. I had a route that was a "blue" from the Vermont Overland Birdwatching Safari. Usually, a blue would be pretty easy to navigate. This one ended up being really tight in the trees. In a couple of spots both my left and right mirrors were basically rubbing on trees at the same time. It made for a bit more excitement than we expected. So, we didn't get any pictures of the stressful spots. I also had to winch the 80 for the first time. My buddy got some video, which I hope he sends me.


Trail entry:

Early rocks... before we got too busy navigating

Easy section with fall color:

We felt like we were aiming straight down here... picture looks like nothing. Oh well, I'll post it.

We ended up having to use my rear bumper and the spare tire as sliders in the section that I got stuck:

The views were beautiful:

We were excited to make it out alive!

 

[IanB]

Man, those seats are going to be amazing when you're done!

 

[TYM4FUN]

Seat upgrade program is almost ready for kick off!


New OEM seat foam (front row bottom cushion and back rest)

Leather from Mosley Motors!

The quality of the leather looks really good!

The kit came with head rests, center console, door rests and even leather for the door inserts!

Behind the leather, you get the "reticulated" open cell foam

You can see how open this foam is:

What's the reason for the foam? To support the heater/cooler kit!

Each seat will have 2 of these little fans:

The heater/cooler element:

Switch

Here's a color comparison between the original and the Mosley setup. I think the color match is exceptional.

Agreed, you are going to be very happy.

Nice trip...

 

[Lumpskie]

Man, those seats are going to be amazing when you're done!

Agreed, you are going to be very happy.

Nice trip...

I think I'm going to like the difference, once the new seats are in. Here's what I'm sitting on now:

 

[Lumpskie]

Here's the spot that forced me to winch. I hate mud.

 

[Lumpskie]

I headed up to the cabin yesterday afternoon and decided to take "the bumpy way" (as my son calls it). I caught the evening light at the right time, as I headed up the class 6 road. I grabbed a couple shots along the way:

Mandatory poser shot

 

[Lumpskie]

Not 80 series related... I figured I'd post progress on the cabin:

Before:

Midway:

After:

I'm pretty excited by how it's turning out.

Also, just did this:

I haven't gotten to use it yet, but I'm hoping a small fire will create a surplus of heat this winter. Still working winter plumbing, but I'm hoping to have water all year round...

Ok... Back to Land Cruiser stuff.