Now that I have some time to get my head above water since class is over, I decided it was time to start a build thread of my pride and joy "Boots", got booted on the first two dates with my girlfriend hence the name and it stuck.
A brief history:
Purchased from our previous neighbor in 2004 cause the parents needed a bigger car and he wanted to sell. I didn't know it at the time but it was a steal. Was the family car for 6 years until it became my own in 2010 at 19 after my first year at Georgia Tech. Don't have any pictures of it stock but it was a mom-mobile. Fake wood accents, running boards, etc. and it was time for all of it to go.
The first addition, along with removing the "wood" trim, was a lift, 3" OME put on by the guys at ACC and Hankook MT's (295/75/16). Was super happy with the job and immediately needed to find something to drive over.
Was the first time the new lift and wheels saw something other than pavement. Obviously it was nothing spectacular, a lump of rocks and dirt at my friends farm, but you can tell from the look on my friends face we knew what we had in store.
So after that weekend it was time for school again, no major additions just the usual oil changes and fluid flushes. The cruiser went on hold for a while while I was knee deep in my other hobby, race cars, building autox cars through a club at Tech. I hated seeing her sit in the same shape for a while but the experience I gained fabricating and designing parts was well worth it. Also I moved the speakers and subwoofer from my other car, 1991 Volvo 240 Wagon, cause I needed something to keep us entertained during football season.
Now to jump 3 years a head..
I have two projects now in the works. First a roof rack that I want to call my own. Completely custom cause I know what I want but also I'm still on the poor student budget and since I have access to a welder and waterjet how could I not.
This is the initial design, very basic and mostly just so I have something to look at. It will be full length and most likely aluminum if I can find some for a good price. I plan on adding all sorts of goodies (hi-lift jack, shovel, light bars, etc) and the brackets for them as soon as I get a few of the parts so I know what I need to model.
In parallel with the roof rack it was time for a knuckle rebuild, new rotors and a new tie rod (nice bend from wheeling last year). The axle seal has been busted for some time as it was pretty soupy but there was also a wicked vibration that started to develop at the beginning of the year and has progressively gotten worse.
Started the tear down on Friday last week to find my soup filled knuckle but worse was the worn spindle.
Meanwhile, I work on my truck while my brother find time to use the tire to get in a quick workout.
As of now everything has been cleaned and I have the new rotors on the hub.
I am in the midst of sourcing new spindles, eating into my roof rack budget but thats the way it goes. I am wrapping up my last semester at tech and plan on taking a few months off to work on the cruiser as well as attempt a trip to Moab. I will try to keep up to date with the build but be warned I have more time on my hands than money so it will most likely be more CAD modeling/bouncing ideas off people than actual build stuff for now.
Glad I finally got by build thread started after being on the forum for a few years...
Ive also attached some images of the few times is has been wheeled...
A brief history:
Purchased from our previous neighbor in 2004 cause the parents needed a bigger car and he wanted to sell. I didn't know it at the time but it was a steal. Was the family car for 6 years until it became my own in 2010 at 19 after my first year at Georgia Tech. Don't have any pictures of it stock but it was a mom-mobile. Fake wood accents, running boards, etc. and it was time for all of it to go.
The first addition, along with removing the "wood" trim, was a lift, 3" OME put on by the guys at ACC and Hankook MT's (295/75/16). Was super happy with the job and immediately needed to find something to drive over.
Was the first time the new lift and wheels saw something other than pavement. Obviously it was nothing spectacular, a lump of rocks and dirt at my friends farm, but you can tell from the look on my friends face we knew what we had in store.
So after that weekend it was time for school again, no major additions just the usual oil changes and fluid flushes. The cruiser went on hold for a while while I was knee deep in my other hobby, race cars, building autox cars through a club at Tech. I hated seeing her sit in the same shape for a while but the experience I gained fabricating and designing parts was well worth it. Also I moved the speakers and subwoofer from my other car, 1991 Volvo 240 Wagon, cause I needed something to keep us entertained during football season.
Now to jump 3 years a head..
I have two projects now in the works. First a roof rack that I want to call my own. Completely custom cause I know what I want but also I'm still on the poor student budget and since I have access to a welder and waterjet how could I not.
This is the initial design, very basic and mostly just so I have something to look at. It will be full length and most likely aluminum if I can find some for a good price. I plan on adding all sorts of goodies (hi-lift jack, shovel, light bars, etc) and the brackets for them as soon as I get a few of the parts so I know what I need to model.
In parallel with the roof rack it was time for a knuckle rebuild, new rotors and a new tie rod (nice bend from wheeling last year). The axle seal has been busted for some time as it was pretty soupy but there was also a wicked vibration that started to develop at the beginning of the year and has progressively gotten worse.
Started the tear down on Friday last week to find my soup filled knuckle but worse was the worn spindle.
Meanwhile, I work on my truck while my brother find time to use the tire to get in a quick workout.
As of now everything has been cleaned and I have the new rotors on the hub.
I am in the midst of sourcing new spindles, eating into my roof rack budget but thats the way it goes. I am wrapping up my last semester at tech and plan on taking a few months off to work on the cruiser as well as attempt a trip to Moab. I will try to keep up to date with the build but be warned I have more time on my hands than money so it will most likely be more CAD modeling/bouncing ideas off people than actual build stuff for now.
Glad I finally got by build thread started after being on the forum for a few years...
Ive also attached some images of the few times is has been wheeled...
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