Builds Putting the rust demon at bay (1 Viewer)

[archie73]

I didn't notice your diagonal also helps support that horizontal piece, you might be ok. A gusset is still probably good insurance though. For the channel, maybe downward, either is probably fine. Just got home driving back from Bozeman, really clear view of the Tetons today when we were on hwy 20.

I might run it as is, I think the diagonal will support it when it’s closed. It’ll rarely be open, so the 1/4x2x3” should suffice. I’ll take your advice and add the diagonal gusset to help brace against the weight of the tire.

 

[archie73]

Sporadic progress at best...
Pulled the cage and had it powder coated. Kind of a chocolate/bronze color. A little more metal flake in it than I wanted, but I’m happy with it. I think it’ll look good with the beige body. Best news is that the cage isn’t so hot you can’t touch it if it sits in the sun all day.
While the cage was out, I painted the rear vinyl seat grey to see if I like it. I like it with the raw aluminum, but I’m not sure once the body painted. at least it’s not blue anymore. Real test is to see if the paint will holdup to a six year old. Time will tell.
Last thing done, while the cage was out, was replacing the tank. I can now use a full tank of gas, instead of the top three gallons. Do other people with Aqualu tubs put a plug in gas well? Mine was full of mud from the one brief bit of mud ding it has seen.

There was more to do, but I was out of time. We had a sunset cruise up at Jenny Lake to attend. So we loaded the cruiser up and enjoyed a nice drive in the park.

 

[archie73]

The wife and kid went to see the in-laws this weekend, so I got some time in the shop- hurray!!! uninterrupted Cruiser time.

1. It was bogging really bad
2. alternator had already died
3. the battery tray had more movement than I liked
4. Water in system should be replaced with coolant
5. the temporary wiring was getting to me
6. Taurus fan to replace Be Cool Fan
7. Fuse block bracket

And the list went on, so lets dive in- While the water was draining from block and radiator, I replaced the inline fuel filter.

1. 

I should of replaced it when I changed the tank, but theres never enough time. I had rushed the tank replacement and didn't think the filter was to bad. Now seeing the two side by side, it looks worse. Mud spilled out of the old filter when tipped. I hoped this would fix the bogging from starvation.
While the radiator was empty i pulled it to replace the fan with a taurus unit. This was my biggest project of the weekend. I'm not a fabricator, so there was a lot of trial and error.

With some sheet metal and some pre-bent scrap, I was able to adapt the taurus fan. I know the welds don't look great, but in person its better. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the final project. I'm happy with the final result. I have it switched through a temp switch in the thermostat neck.

So Thats the end of the pics, but the story gets more interesting. With cooling taken care I turned my attention to the electrical mess I had made myself. ***no one pays me to do this stuff- I'm learning as I go... *** After upgrading to a 100 amp alternator, I went for a test drive and all of a sudden the OE coil fuse is blowing.
I coasted back to the shop and started trying to figure out why this is happening. First thought was the wiring clean up had left a bad connection. Nope, they all look good. I had driven it the day before with the new fan and it drove fine, although it was draining the battery(alternator not fixed yet). Then it hit me, the new fan pulled more juice with the higher output alternator. Sure enough, it ran fine without the fan on. Ok out comes a 60 amp relay kit that came with a temp switch I had bought. Success!! Feeling confident it was time to drive over the pass.
A mile up the pass and it’s bogging again!! Oh good, it’s overheating too. I’ve got this proceedure down- pullover, pop the hood and run the fan and wait ~10 minutes for it to cool off enough. While I was waiting, I was thinking about the bogging. Mechanical fuel pump is basically new. Inline filter and tank were new as well. In a “can’t hurt” moment, I hooked up the leads for the electric pump. Thinking maybe it’ll help the mechanical pump push a little more gas. I make it to the top without issue. A little hot, but tolerable (~200). I was so so stoked that I turned around at the bottom of the pass and drove back to the top just to see how it did.
Now I’m left with a question- would the fuel starvation be one cause the overheating?

 

[archie73]

With the weekends worth of work on the cruiser done, we headed out to the trail to test it out.

It was a good outing, nothing to crazy but enough rock to bounce around and flex it out.

• Front driver tire came in contact with the old steering pedestal and tore open that fender opening.
• Couple electrical gremlins showed there head from bouncing and flexing.
• Started dying as we got up to 8000’. This may have been the electrical issue just starting.
• Steering column separated and sent me into a small aspen. We fixed it, thankfully some have hunters came up with the Allen key we needed.

Sadly the bronco did better than my cruiser. His rig isn’t the prettiest, but he’s been working on it for a while.
The tranny or transfer is leaking at the adapter plate It’s a pretty steady drip. I’m pretty sure it’s coming from the tranny, but until I pull the transfer I won’t know.
We’re heading to Moab in October , so I need to get this stuff dialed in, so I can deal with what crops up there.
Fortunately, the temps were holding great. I got the Volvo 2sp controller in today, just need another temp sensor for the low speed setting. I’ll take that as a win for now.

 

[dbaird]

What size tires are you running? I really like how they look

 

[White Stripe]

Your rear tires don't kiss the quarter panels? They look like they are really close. May want to carefully flex it out to make sure your bump stops hit b4 the tires hit your new tub.

 

[archie73]

What size tires are you running? I really like how they look

35” BFG Muds w/ 4” lift

Your rear tires don't kiss the quarter panels? They look like they are really close. May want to carefully flex it out to make sure your bump stops hit b4 the tires hit your new tub.

Yeah, they have hit once, but not much at all.
I’m debating on moving it back an inch or so or cutting The fenders. I had the rear springs flipped, but it was to far back for my taste. I think 4plus makes a spring plate that moves the axle an inch back, but there’s not enough money right now. Other things are in the more need.

 

[archie73]

So as I said: other things are taking up time and money from things I’d like to buy and modify. Here’s the first:

The adapter between transmission and transfer case started a steady drip all of sudden. If you look you can see the gasket is saturated on the lower end(left side of th picture). So out comes the transfer case, it needed a new set of output seals. While I was there, I resealed the case and changed out some bearings.

So I cleaned the case up and scraped as much crud off as I had time for. It’s not as pretty as some of the rebuilds I’ve seen on here. This is not a show cruiser, so it’ll just get dirty again. I’m hoping to get the case back in on Friday. Then I’ll find out how good my rebuild was...

Got me thinking about a Tcase saver. I have a moderately built 350/SM465 and 35” tires, so I’m guessing I should make one. I’m using the AA propeller support on the tcase. (I’m hoping to make an new crossmember like this, but the propeller mount needs to stay for now.) So has anyone diy’d a t case saver?

 

[archie73]

Mother f$&@er!!!
This transfer rebuild is killing me. You’d think I liked doing things two or three times. The simplest things are crushing me. The case is finally in place and the linkage is hooked up. The AA crossmember is in place. That’s the good news.
The flip side is I decided it would be easier to do the e-brake on the vehicle. That thing pushed me around at every opportunity. I ran out of time getting the drum back on and needed to clean up for company tonight and tomorrow.
Has any one had trouble getting the drum over the shoes? The lever isn’t pulled, the adjuster is as closed as I can get it. Sorry no pics, to frustrated.

 

[archie73]

Ok, the transfer is back together and leaks much less. Looks like I need speedi sleeves front and rear. The drip is dramatically slower, so it’ll have to wait for now. The ebrake is functioning really well. Honestly, I have’t had a working ebrake in so long it’s a bit mind boggling.
Power steering pump(Sag canned ham) is rebuilt. I had one out of a hydra post truck before and it leaked, so I got a new one without the extra port at the pic-n-pull. As side bonus it had a larger pulley, that should help with turning the 35’s at idle. I resealed the new box and put it on. Just need to get the right size belt for it and then se if it leaks as well.
Heading to Moab on October 10th, so now I need to bottom up the front bumper and a few other loose ends before then.

 

[archie73]

I leave for Moab in a week and half , so I’m trying wrap up some loose ends. Power steering pump had failed, it was from a junkyard, so I grabbed another to rebuild. This one had a larger pulley, so it would have more boost at idle. Unfortunately, the rebuild failed, so with the trip looming I bit the bullet and got a rebuild from Napa. This came with the reservoir clocked wrong for my bracket. Now I have a rebuilt pump with my old reservoir and a junkyard pulley. Boost is better at idle, but the pulley out of true( it’s working right now). Oh well.
We had some 8” steel strap in our scrap pile, so I solved the storage issue I’ve had all summer. I’ve been using old coolers to store anything I need. Problem was with the tire carrier I couldn’t fit a cooler behind the rear seat anymore. So I boogered together a box to replace the cooler. It holds everything I need at the moment, but it’ll need future mods. Someday I’ll figure out a solution to barn doors or a tailgate.

When I first tore this thing down 17 years ago, 3/4 elliptical springs were being thrown around. Theory was it would allow for more droop. I can’t complain about the flex, but my older self is apprehensive about this, so I went back to a traditional shackle hanger. With the extra spring out of the way, I added another exhaust hanger help with droop.

other points of interest on the weekend are the recovery points are on the front bumper and the distributor clamp is finally holding tight. Overall, the truck is looking pretty good for the easier trails in Moab. We’re not really trying to do anything hardcore. One buddy is locked and beefed, but the rest of us are just shaking the bugs out still. It’ll be interesting to see how the weekend goes.

 

[archie73]

Made it to Moab!!! We’ve been talking about getting our rigs ready for the last twenty years. For the usual reasons it hasn’t happened, but we finally made it happen.
Woke up to the first day to rain- really raining. The guys went in town, so I went for a spin when the rain stopped. Found Black Ridge road and went for little dirt. On the way back it got a little greasy, so I threw it in 4wd. Next sound I heard was a banging. The front drive flange had fallen off and separated the drive shaft. Turns out I forgot to put a cotter pin the castle but. I’ve got no one else to blame, my finger prints are all over this thing. This might be a theme for wheeling.
Next day, we shuttled Porcupine Rim on the bikes. The rain left the sand perfect, as one of the guys said “it was like a powder day.” We topped that off with another late day run on Steel Bender with the rigs. We made it a little further this time before we turned back to the condo. My luck continues with fixable breakdowns. This time it was the power to the fan and spitting a leaf in the front drivers spring pack. Still it was a great day. One more day left, perhaps it’ll be better luck in break downs.

 

[archie73]

We had one last wheeling adventure of the trip- Strike Ravine. We were working with an older topo map and what we could glean from the net. This ended up being more cruising around on power line roads than anything. Pretty sure we found the loose hill climb to the Big Ugly. Cruiser powered up it without too much drama. Bronco was behind me, so I didn’t see how he did, but I’m sure it wasn’t to hard for him. After that we didn’t find to much of interest before going back to watch Wisconsin lose to Michigan.

After airing up the tires for the drive home, I was able to go 65 mph without any issues. I really wasn’t sure how the cruiser would feel after a couple of trail rides. But it felt good to know all the hard work had payed off.
Overall, I’m super happy with the mods I’ve made along the way:

1. OME 2.5 springs and SR(front) /ext shackle (rear)were the flexiest of the group. It was able to make all but one 3’ ledge climb. Other than that it just walked up the ledges and rocks. ***I did find out 2 full grown passengers were a bit to much with the 35” tires, but just one is ok.
2. The Quadrajet never stumbled or caused any trouble. Still don’t have secondaries, but for low speed it was great.
3. Temps were nice and cool with the Taurus fan.
4. The granny on the SM465 was just the right speed with the stock 3speed transfer case. There were times I didn’t bother with 4low.
5. I had some belt slippage, but the Saginaw/FJ80 steering was awesome.
6. Metaltech family cage is well engineered for ergonomics and the Montero seats were comfy.
7. Never used the bumpers for recovery, but the tire carrier seems to hold up well

There are a couple things to address before spring:

1. Tire rub- yeah I have rubbing with the 35’s, but I don’t want to go any higher Lift and I want to keep the 35’s. I need rear bump stops for a start. I may open the fenders up as well.
2. Power steering pulley is badly out of true, so I’ll need a new one. Also thinking of adding another belt to the second groove to help eliminate slippage.
3. Storage- I need a basket or beef the rack up. Also the storage box I slapped together worked well, but I have plans on making it better(deeper and a lid and/or fold out.
4. Better electrical connectors: I need some that lock together. Fan power came apart several times.
5. Second battery to run the winch and compressor off would be good.
6. Second temp switch for the fan, so I can use low speed too
7. Tunes- Bluetooth sound bar????

It was a great trip. The cruiser had some issues, but they were all handled on the trail without winching or getting towed out. Can’t wait for next year.

 

[archie73]

So we only have one real trail left to drive up. The rest are fully graded dirt roads. So we end up driving up this one a couple times a summer. This could be the last time this year. Snow will be coming soon and the magchloride with it.

Then it’ll be time to put the rigs to rest for the winter. It’s a good time to pull the tub and fix rust and lay down some paint. I’m hoping to get it soda blasted and painted this winter. I won’t paint it myself, but I’d like to lay down some bed liner on the aluminum portion and fix the rust myself.
The other part of me wants to spend the money on a locker and some beadlocks. Cruiser Outfiffers will install an ARB for reasonable price if I get the third down to them. Very tempting. Then there’s the beadlocks....
Descisions....
Took the boy and his friend to the fall festival this weekend. Just trying to soak up the last of the nice fall weather before the snowflakes start flying...

 

[White Stripe]

If u get a rear locker, I would upgrade to a fine spline pinion.

 

[archie73]

If u get a rear locker, I would upgrade to a fine spline pinion.

So this’ll require a new pinion, what else? It would need also require a new drive flange? If so, does that change the driveshaft bolt pattern? How deep is this rabbit hole?

 

[White Stripe]

So this’ll require a new pinion, what else? It would need also require a new drive flange? If so, does that change the driveshaft bolt pattern? How deep is this rabbit hole?

New ring and pinion and drive flange. I am fairly sure that if you can find someone parting out a 80 series with a stock rear differential without the elocker you could just use the whole 3rd member. They have 4.10 gears stock with fine spline pinion. @cruiseroutfit would probably give a more definitive answer if the 3rds will interchange. I think you just have to use your old spider gears and c clips. Then put the arb in that. Or just buy a new ring and pinion and install that.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

New ring and pinion and drive flange. I am fairly sure that if you can find someone parting out a 80 series with a stock rear differential without the elocker you could just use the whole 3rd member. They have 4.10 gears stock with fine spline pinion. @cruiseroutfit would probably give a more definitive answer if the 3rds will interchange. I think you just have to use your old spider gears and c clips. Then put the arb in that. Or just buy a new ring and pinion and install that.

You can use the complete rear 80 3rd member, the only hang up would be the pinion flange pattern and we can easily hook you up with that. We often have good clean 4.1 fine spine gear sets too. If we're setting up an ARB, there isn't any additional charge for doing gears at the same time

 

[archie73]

You can use the complete rear 80 3rd member, the only hang up would be the pinion flange pattern and we can easily hook you up with that. We often have good clean 4.1 fine spine gear sets too. If we're setting up an ARB, there isn't any additional charge for doing gears at the same time

How much for the pinion flange?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

How much for the pinion flange?

$42.50
Cruiser Outfitters