New Guy Here (2 Viewers)

[jbailey]

Well I just bought my first Cruiser today. I brought Frankie Marion's "Hershal"

I have been a Long time Jeep and Land Rover "guy" Now I'm gonna try something new. I hope you all can bear with me as i bombard you with questions about my new adventure into the Cruiser World.

Thanks in advance!!!
John

 

[NLXTACY]

Welcome and prepare for your conversion

 

[LoneRanger]

welcome. what year/model is it?

 

[FreeBirn Red]

Welcome! I've had my cruiser for about 3 years now and finally am getting around to some upgrades! This forum has gotten me through some sticky situations...you've come to the right place for good advice and good people! Make sure you post in the registry under "Tech Forums" so we can get a good look!

 

[CruiseControl]

Welcome, I have owned mine for a couple of months now, haven't regretted buying her once, even while changing out the oil pan gasket! They each have a very distinct personality

Tim in Tucson

 

[clongacre]

Congrats on the purchase what year and model

 

[jbailey]

1984 FJ60 with 350 Chevy, stock 4 speed and t-case, SOA detroits and 35" BFG mud terrains. It's a start.

 

[LoneRanger]

1984 FJ60 with 350 Chevy, stock 4 speed and t-case, SOA detroits and 35" BFG mud terrains. It's a start.

Nice. How 'bout a photo or 2.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Welcome! (official welcome)

It's a great start.

Soon you will be down in the dark alleys begging for a fix...
of knuckle housings or hysteer parts or AAL's or some other
tasty mods.

And you will find yourself lurking sites like Longfield and PolyPerformance,
Spectre and CCOT.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Welcome!!

Post up some pictures whenever you can.

 

[clongacre]

would love to see some pics must be nice not to have to smog your rig!

 

[landcruiserjunky]

We need eye candy.

 

[jbailey]

Well it has been quite a while since i posted anything. I have been going back and forth on selling the Cruiser. After getting it into the garage I found it needed quite a bit more work than I first thought.
I had it listed here and elsewhere for sale but i think I am going to keep it and just keep plugging along.
Here is a rundown on what i have done so far.....
Here is were I started:

After putting it on the lift and REALLY looking it over I found quite a few issues that needed immediate attention. SO New brakes all around and a knuckle rebuild were first on the list. New extended brake lines and front flex lines.

I knew the steering was in need of attention before I brought it home so a call to Marlin got the parts I needed.

 

[Michael Hanson]

They have got to be a labor of love to repair at the start,but once you do they require very little upkeep. Welcome Mike

 

[jbailey]

On the inside I took out the Corbeau seats that were too small for me and installed some buckets out of a 99 Civic. They were easy to adapt to fit and only $65 a piece!

I stripped out all of the extra wiring that had been left by the previous owners. I pulled the old stereo and figured out why non of the dash lights were working.(bad dimmer) I made new panels for the real cargo area and installed some 6x9s for sound.

The engine bay was pretty clean but the motor had a bit of a miss. A friend of mine determined the distributor advance was struck. So he pulled it apart and fixed it up. runs much better now!

I also had to replace the seat belts. Since I only had one that worked I bought an entire set of used ones from a fellow MUD'r. I installed them last night.
I spent some more time cleaning up some wiring issues and called it a night.

I hope to start on a new rear bumper this week and a roof rack to give it a little more utility used.

The cruiser drives good and runs good so it may win me over yet!!

 

[jbailey]

I've also spent some quality time lower this monster down. It was WAY TALL so I removed a couple of leaves in the rear and fabbed up some new spring mounts in the front and shorter shackles in the front also. Now the ride height is much more reasonable, although I may need to reinstall the rear leaves after the new bumper and spare are installed back there.
current height:

 

[klinetime574]

That looks spectacular! What gear ratio are you running in the axles?

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Yeah, looking good! Curious...what material did you use to make the interior panels? Need to do the same with mine.

 

[jbailey]

The axles are 4.10. Most likely out of an older FJ since the pinions are coarse splined. This was a nice surprise since the PO said they were 3.73. I figured he was wrong after driving a bit and the engine RPMS are way to high for 3.73.
The rear panels are made from Luaun(SP) they sell it at Home Depot in 2x4 sheets which are the perfect size. I just traced the stock ones and cut out. I used self tapping screws to hold them on. I plan to cover or paint them in the future I just have not decided yet. Also if I need to upgrade to a heavier material they will make good templates.

 

[jbailey]

I still have a lot on the list of things to do. I need to address a lack of bumpstops front and rear. Also needs an anti-wrap bar in the back. New shocks would be nice also. I knew from the start I would be cutting the sliders off and making new ones. They get the job done but are not much to look at. I will address some rust/bondo issues as I redo the sliders and fab the new rear bumper.
The visible rust is not to bad but we'll see how much bondo I find there also....