Hey All,
So a few weeks ago, I bought a new 60. I'm new to the whole 4x4 thing. I've only ever had small sports cars. By small I mean tiny. My new Cruiser dwarfs the Fiat in my driveway! It's a bit strange getting used to both the speed difference and the drivers sitting height!!
I must confess, I'm guilty of making two road trips with it already yet haven't posted any pictures or given the stories. I drove over to Port Townsend and all the way around the Puget Sound, putting on roughly 1500 miles in my first week of ownership!! Drove through Snoqualmie pass in the few hours it was opened and helped two motorists after their car accidents. I guess if a truck needs a name, this one's Lucky. I can't count how many deer I've already avoided!
This weekend I went out to Helena for my sister's high school basketball tournament. She got 3rd!! Saw someone in a gray Cruiser, I think it was a 60, but didn't look closely may have been a 62. If you're reading this.. was on my way to Staggering Ox, good food!
I was hoping to stop in Missoula today and see a 60 that is being parted out, but was witness to an accident on the pass and decided to help out. After the whole ordeal I decided heading home and calling it a weekend sounded a bit better. Driver was drunk, had a pretty good concussion and had some serious issues with his wife and new fiancee (yes, I worded that correctly). Not sure what you call the Highway Patrol out here in Montana (called them Troopers in WA and HP in CA so...) but they took almost two hours to get to the scene. I'd say that was pretty quick considering I was in the middle of absolutely nowhere and then off road a few hundred feet!
At any rate, I'm still guilty of not posting pictures. As soon as I can find the camera cord I'll get those up. I'm loving the 60, and am probably close to 2500 miles on it already!
The thing is running great, these road trips were my test for her. Drove through torrential rain, heavy winds, some 200 miles of white outs, dodged deer, slept in the back three times, and helped a few people out of some tough times. All in all, I'm impressed.
As a new owner I do, of course, have a couple of questions..
On my last few vehicles I have installed an Electric Water Pump and cleaned up the engine bays from smog, thus eliminating an entire pulley system. Has anyone done this with their 60? I know in my other cars it's made a huge performance difference both in the arena of power as well as in gas consumption. These mods required a bit of tuning and playing with the carb, naturally, but I found the EWP in particular to make a big difference on how the engine ran. It was like turning the air conditioner on and off in a mid 90s vehicle!
This is the pump I used, it took me roughly an hour to install in a Fiat the first time I bought one:
Davies, Craig EWP High Performance and Racing Electric Water Pump Kits
I used the smaller of the two pumps available, and think if I went this route for the Cruiser, I might choose the latter.. Any thoughts or ideas? Oh and the Land Cruiser wiring system is a true God send compared to Fiat! You guys have it easy!!
Any ideas on finding a front seat, or recovering the upholstery? I've got the brown stock interior, and while at first I didn't like it. I have to admit, it's almost growing on me (shoot me now?) and am looking to keep it at this point! I've only dealt with recovering leather/faux leather seats though, and I'm not sure how cloth differs, if at all.
Anyone in the Kalispell, MT area?
Anyone dealt with VA trying to get educational benefits recently and have advice?
Anyone in the Air Force, Army or Navy..?
Hoorah Marine Corps! (Sep. Oct 2007)
God Bless the Lot of you!
Jon
So a few weeks ago, I bought a new 60. I'm new to the whole 4x4 thing. I've only ever had small sports cars. By small I mean tiny. My new Cruiser dwarfs the Fiat in my driveway! It's a bit strange getting used to both the speed difference and the drivers sitting height!!
I must confess, I'm guilty of making two road trips with it already yet haven't posted any pictures or given the stories. I drove over to Port Townsend and all the way around the Puget Sound, putting on roughly 1500 miles in my first week of ownership!! Drove through Snoqualmie pass in the few hours it was opened and helped two motorists after their car accidents. I guess if a truck needs a name, this one's Lucky. I can't count how many deer I've already avoided!
This weekend I went out to Helena for my sister's high school basketball tournament. She got 3rd!! Saw someone in a gray Cruiser, I think it was a 60, but didn't look closely may have been a 62. If you're reading this.. was on my way to Staggering Ox, good food!
I was hoping to stop in Missoula today and see a 60 that is being parted out, but was witness to an accident on the pass and decided to help out. After the whole ordeal I decided heading home and calling it a weekend sounded a bit better. Driver was drunk, had a pretty good concussion and had some serious issues with his wife and new fiancee (yes, I worded that correctly). Not sure what you call the Highway Patrol out here in Montana (called them Troopers in WA and HP in CA so...) but they took almost two hours to get to the scene. I'd say that was pretty quick considering I was in the middle of absolutely nowhere and then off road a few hundred feet!
At any rate, I'm still guilty of not posting pictures. As soon as I can find the camera cord I'll get those up. I'm loving the 60, and am probably close to 2500 miles on it already!
The thing is running great, these road trips were my test for her. Drove through torrential rain, heavy winds, some 200 miles of white outs, dodged deer, slept in the back three times, and helped a few people out of some tough times. All in all, I'm impressed.
As a new owner I do, of course, have a couple of questions..
On my last few vehicles I have installed an Electric Water Pump and cleaned up the engine bays from smog, thus eliminating an entire pulley system. Has anyone done this with their 60? I know in my other cars it's made a huge performance difference both in the arena of power as well as in gas consumption. These mods required a bit of tuning and playing with the carb, naturally, but I found the EWP in particular to make a big difference on how the engine ran. It was like turning the air conditioner on and off in a mid 90s vehicle!
This is the pump I used, it took me roughly an hour to install in a Fiat the first time I bought one:
Davies, Craig EWP High Performance and Racing Electric Water Pump Kits
I used the smaller of the two pumps available, and think if I went this route for the Cruiser, I might choose the latter.. Any thoughts or ideas? Oh and the Land Cruiser wiring system is a true God send compared to Fiat! You guys have it easy!!
Any ideas on finding a front seat, or recovering the upholstery? I've got the brown stock interior, and while at first I didn't like it. I have to admit, it's almost growing on me (shoot me now?) and am looking to keep it at this point! I've only dealt with recovering leather/faux leather seats though, and I'm not sure how cloth differs, if at all.
Anyone in the Kalispell, MT area?
Anyone dealt with VA trying to get educational benefits recently and have advice?
Anyone in the Air Force, Army or Navy..?
Hoorah Marine Corps! (Sep. Oct 2007)
God Bless the Lot of you!
Jon
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Just kidding....hope you have fun with it! 60's RULE! 
