Newb's new '78 fj40

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rsrai said:
maybe change your name to slow eddy.
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You should see my ride MTBs... Fast Eddy was a nickname given to me by the migrant workers I worked with when I was a kid. My uncle would always be pissed at me driving around the ranch too fast, in a cj2a, or an apple truck or this '62 f200 we had.

rsrai said:
im rsr on mtbr, im in the gilroy area. pm me if you need a hand, cuz i seem to need one in this area too.
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Ah, cool. I live in Morgan Hill. Do you ride Coe? I'm up there all the time when it's not all snotty. In a couple weeks when I'm sure my rig's not going to fall apart at any moment we'll have to hit Hollister for a cruiser shakedown cruise.

rsrai said:
there was thread on here a little earlier about the gauge and how it flickers. i would try the sending unit on the gas tank and make sure the connectors are all solid and clean first.
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I was joking about the shi tty gas mileage. All the gauges work fine.
 
Big tires are ok...

...but I've got a soft spot for Dunlop Snow Cruisers. This is the unrestored original spare and wheel from my rig. It still has the nibs. I'll bet that lead weight was hammered on there by a Japanese guy.

You can see the worst of my cruiser in the picture of the rear. The doors don't fit, are dented, and are hanging by half the bolts. The first-aid-repaired rust hole above the right light has a twin and a little brother behind the spare.
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Vibration solved.

I had to add a pointer to this other thread in case anyone else has the same problem. Line up those diffs gentlemen!

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=89569

I sold the wagon wheels and old tires and I'm getting some steelys and newer tires. Pictures on Sunday night.
 
Stock rims and caps

I attended the swap meet put on by orangefj45 over in Stockontucky and swapped my wagon wheels for stock steelys with 31x10.5 AT T/As. Sweet, eh?

I sold some stuff, and got pictures of everything else. Keep an eye on the for sale board if you need '78 parts.

Pics of the swap here: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=467043

Yesterday I cleaned and installed my factory AM radio and listened to the Giants game while I was fixing stuff. :cool:
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Photo from Henry Coe Backcountry

Once a year the rangers, the Pine Ridge Association and a bunch of volunteers make it possible to drive into the backcountry of Henry Coe State Park for a weekend of fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, backpacking and camping.

Anyhow, my son's scout troop are some of the volunteers, so I get to go every year. Here's some TLC content:

(Format is experimental. I hate the 90k limit.) <- Edit: Not bad, eh?
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Current Events on FE's cruiser

I got some energy suspension black poly spring bushings off ebay from this guy:

http://stores.ebay.com/Energy-Suspension

My rig has a sag in the rear, and as much as I bragged on a thread about "cruiser lean", saying I didn't have it, I found that the reason is because I have a lean correction block under the rear end on the right side in the back. Doh!

I found a spring shop in San Jo' that will recurve the springs for $140 for the pair, so that's the first experiment. I jacked it up and started ripping it apart tonight.

  • The rusty RS5000s are shot.
    • I smashed a finger removing a shock.
  • The shackle end wasn't too hard to destruct.
  • The pivot ends were tougher, but not too bad.
    • The 5 lb is my friend.
      • I smashed the threads on the pivots.
  • I twisted a 3/8" extension in half trying to remove u-bolt nuts.
  • I loosened 3 u-bolt nuts before spraying more WD and giving up for the night.
    • I know that's not the best stuff.
When I put it all back together, I'm going to use most of the parts of a 2nd rear end that I got when I bought the rig from the PO. It has less mileage, and should have good brakes and bushings. We'll see.

Next up will be the front spring bushings, a center arm rebuild from donor parts, a rag joint and a steering stabilizer.

Sometime I'll install the other radiator I have and a stock air cleaner.

Before vacation in mid-June I want a tow bar. I'm going to have one custom made with a ring-and-pintle.

Before the PMC swap in Petaluma in July I want to decide what body parts I'm using, the originals, or the donors, so I can sell what I'm not using.
 
Carnage Pics

Here it is with no rear end or springs. Many have seen one like this before, I'm sure. Sigh.

The springs are heading off to AC Spring and Trailer Works off Old Oakland Rd in San Jose for a $140 recurve. Van is a great guy. I'll post the 'after' pics next week.

AC Spring and Trailer Works

The u-bolts and brackets are off to the powder coater, BRF Spray in Santa Clara for a $75 coat of 60% shiny black. I debated a bit about just leaving them looking like they belong on a farm, but I'm planning for the next 30 years of life out of this cruiser, and PC should still look good and protect the metal until then.

http://www.brf-spray.com/
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Rear End Swap

I got an extra, low mileage rear end with my rig. The pinion shaft bearings in the old one were bad, possibly killed by running it with the driveshaft out of phase for a long time. The stock springs were sagging by 1.5", and I needed to tear into it to replace the shackle bushings anyway. I didn't even bother checking if the original one needed new brakes, the spare was good, so I just dove in.

The springs are on their way to the guy who recurved them for me, and I had the u-bolts and brackets powder coated, for better or worse. They turned out nice, but it was expen$ive.
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