New snow plow/project/conversation piece...

[darwink1]

Had to drop off the dog at the vet for her surgery this morning, got the call this afternoon, all went well.

Peetie helped me line up the front end a bit. We made brackets for the ps fender and it now supports its own weight without the center support. Got the majority of the cutting on the ds fender done as well and its hangin out with the help of some vise grips. We put the hood on for the hell of it and it seems that everything will line up with some tweaks here and there.... and here again. Not bad for a bunch of random crap thats never been bolted together before.

D

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Looking good D.

Get the package?

 

[darwink1]

Oh yeah, thought I pm'd you man. Got it last friday and picked up a new gasket yesterday.

Hey, what are those two fittings on the block off plate for? I thought I knew but, all my vacuum lines are accounted for I think.

Thanks again

D

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I must have missed it, my bad.

Those two fittings are to be plumbed into your cooling system, probably easiest in the heater core circuit. It helps warm the intake when it's cold out to help with cold starts. Replaces the function of the heater valve in the stock exhaust manifold.

No problem man!

 

[darwink1]

Cool, thanks.

D

 

[darwink1]

Well, after going cold turkey and staying out of the garage for a couple few days I finally made it back out after nursing the dog. Butters seems to be doing good, looks funny as hell but hey. Made her a set of "pants" to cover up her hamburger leg and keep it clean then she got to come out and sleep on her couch while I messed around. I think she missed going out there more than me.



Pete and I tore the body panels off and started to line up the tub and firewall yesterday. Tub bolted in but it took a bit of massaging to get the firewall to mate up to it. I bought this tub/firewall from another cruiser head and knew it wasnt finished so I expected it. Firewall is now body mounted and clamped to the tub, tranny tunnel is 80% bolted in, and the front ps fender is bolted on again. Still have to mess with the ds tub fw interface to get it to line up a little better, get to that hopefully today.






My buddy James (northernrighty) came over the other day and dropped off a 36" (Q78x15) tire/rim from his 80 for me to use for test fitting purposes. Looks frikkin sharp and clears all of the things it has to clear (so far). Love the look of the tall skinny on the pile.






Decent approach?





In other news I got my double belt wp pulley and crank pulley from a mud member and theyre off to get lightly blasted and primed by a buddy of mine. I can start messing with the steering soon I guess. Now that the firewall is gonna be in place I can do some calculating and figuring to see if I can shoehorn the whole 60 column in there. Planning to use the old steering box pedestal as a mount for a funky bracket that the column will bolt to. Have to make up some brackets for the under the dash mount to fit around the larger dia sixty upper column as well. Lots of plans, not enough money or time lol.

D

 

[myquestoyota]

Loving the Frankencruiser man, looking good!

 

[darwink1]

Thanks, and thanks again for the pulleys.

D

 

[darwink1]

Quick tip for those aspiring toyota rebuilders. Matching up a tub/firewall/doors that were never together before and previously hacked at is a huge pain in the ass. Youll be adjusting this and that going from side to side all day and wondering why your ds door wont line up. Then youll clean up and stare at the thing for a while and finally see that the ds door pillar on the firewall is pushed in a good half inch..

Threw the windshield on just to make myself feel better.







Awesome. Gonna try and pull it back into shape today, that is if I dont set fire to it first.

D

 

[Chamba]

Ah, previous owners. Such a Joy to clean up after.

I thought I was really lucky buying a firetruck from the fire house in Australia when we lived there...turns out their thing was butchering the wiring for radios, lights, etc. I spent years fixing the wiring and just when I thought I had it, more Budweiser Brigade wiring would rear its ugly head.

 

[ARCTICMUTT]

That front suspension is awesome Cant wait to follow the progress on this.

 

[darwink1]

Well, had to take a break from the tub/firewall clusterfawk. My good buddy Brian showed up today out of the blue and checked out the project for the first time. He likes to build stuff so we made up a tail gate... Hacked the 83 mini truck gate up and mounted it to some 1/8" 2x2" posts. Used the mini hinges and two half barn door clamp things to hold it in place. Ones upside down but hey thats the way she goes. Used parts of the sections we took out to make a top sill and a bottom inner sill that has yet to be welded on. Left the dents in the tg skin to remind myself to pack s*** better, and Im lazy.

Some welding, grinding and capping and it should look alright I think, maybe.






D

 

[cruiserjunkie]

I like the tail gate looks good with some panels on her

 

[darwink1]

Finish welded the gate, added a lip and a handle made from the old mini truck top lip thing and ground on it some.






Randall the animal came by and hacked into the ds rocker while I did the gate. It was shoved out too far from the door recess so he ground out 1/4" and welded er back on. Ds tub finally lines up as good as the ps if not better. Awesome





We also hammered out the dent in the side of the firewall and got it pretty close. Little more massaging and itll be good to go.



D

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I'm loving that tailgate! I may have to copy you on that...

 

[Chamba]

Very cool tailgate idea. I am going to have to look for one from a '79 or '80 (latches, not door handle in the middle). Much cooler than my 1/4" aluminum plate...

 

[darwink1]

Sleeper! Havent heard that name since the 80 section lol. Feel free to copy all you want man..

Chamba, yeah the early one with the latches would have been mint but I worked with what I had.

The tub and firewall finally mated yesterday after a prolonged ritual. The ds rocker is welded back in, the door seam is ground out but needs a little more love, the ps rocker is attached to the fw, and the ps floor is 87.5% welded in. Have to make a little panel for the ds ploor and finish weld then I can move on to the fenders and bib.

Gotta say, my buddy randy is awesome to work with. Way more patience than I have and that helps a bunch. He got the doors lined up great, I can swing em closed and they latch which is awesome. Some new bushings for the door hinges and they should be golden.

D

 

[darwink1]

Had two helpers yesterday which was cool. Randall and Peetie stopped by so while I finished up the ds floor patch Peetie welded the rest of the ps floor and Randy started effing around with the fenders. We got both fenders mounted and Randall started making new inner fenders out of a princess auto trailer fender I picked up. Looks great so far and should keep crap out of the engine bay.









D

 

[ARCTICMUTT]

This is coming together nicely. I probably missed it, but what did that front suspension come out of originally and was it a kit or homemade? I'm planning a similar suspension...once I get a 40 and am curious on link lengths and such. I saw the coils were from an 80 series. TIA

 

[darwink1]

Thanks.

The front suspension was made for my buddies dodge raider two years ago by another friend who ran a 4x4 shop. It is made up of custom coil buckets/shock hoops, jeep zj 4" lift springs (Im sure others will work), and the front section of a ford radius arm (wedges/clamps) mated to a length of 1/4" wall dom tube. The arms have adjustable johnny joints at the ends and we used a ruff stuff leaf spring outrigger welded to the inside of the frame rail to mount them. The trac bar is also 1/4" dom with jj's at each end.

If you are a half decent welder or knew someone who is this could probably be put together fairly cheap, the jj's/coils/tube probably being the most expensive pieces. Everything else can be scrounged from a junk yard.

If you need lengths I can go measure later, let me know. I think the radius arms are roughly 4' long.

D