well...kinda sorta 68.
74 tub on mostly 74 frame, with 68 parts, 69 parts, 75 parts, cruiser parts of unknown vintage, 83 fj60, 79 chevy, 91 chevy, freightliner, nissan, modified ford, toy pickup, 80 series...and god only knows what else...
motor is a delco reman 350 for a 79 vintage cheby...i'd just put it in my old gmc k1500 the year before i got the cruiser...wasn't a hard decision to pull it back out. the tranny also came from the k1500 (sm465).
the transfer is a mix of 74 case and 69 gears, rebuilt when we first started the project. it's mated with a classic cruisers adapter plate, which is junk. it supplies the axles via a toy pickup front cv shaft to the rear ends, and a modified stock front shaft up front.
the cruiser started when "dad" (actually my best friend's dad, who considers me his illegitimate child) got sick of me being depressed after a year and a half with no cruiser. he told me of a cheap builder (ha...junker was more like it) and offered to help me build it (big mistake on his part...can't build it from the couch). so, i towed it to his place
and the three year build began. every weekend i was there harrassing him to weld this and weld that and make this and make that...i just cleaned everything up for him to do it Without him, this cruiser wouldn't be possible.
i knew right off the bat, i wanted a tough, capable rock crawler (to bad since then, i've decided, f&^k the hard trails, i just wanna get away), so i wanted v8/gearing/power steering, and soa.
the gearbox was from a later model tahoe (custom rebuilt to a certain turn ratio, that if i ever drove it, i would know what it was), mated to the axles via a hi steer arm that dad made and a shortened relay rod, filled with old head bolts to strengthen it. i've since changed to all pro hi steer, but will reuse the parts on my pig until i can afford hi steer for it. on the other end, is a rod made from a golf cart steering rod and ujoints from the bulk box at the shop that rebuilt the box. that rod goes to a tilt 76 firebird column. jack rice built the tie rod and drag link, and the ends are 80 series.
the front axle is a stock housing that i ground out to accept mini parts, but have since upgraded to fj60. i've also build 4.56's and swapped those in (the 4.11's were needed for my fj60).
the rear is dana 60 shafts shortened and modded to match the cruiser splines, 4.56's, aussie locked and warn full floater hubs, with the standard, chevy disc brakes.
the brakes system, as mentioned, is four wheel disc with power supplied via 75 master and 83 fj60 booster. the proportioning valve is by wilwood and has looked great sitting on the shelf for the last five years.
suspension is stock springs, over axle, with 1 1/2" conferrs int he front and 2 1/2" conferrs in the rear. the front also has home grown shackle reversal and the rears are also reversed for a bit over 6" over stock wheel base. tires are 36x12.5 swampers on cut out chevy rally rims. shocks are 9000s and i do have the ford towers in the fronts.
the body was (for the most part) good. someone had already replaced the rear channel, but we had to weld in the rear corners. rather than grind down the welds and make them look pretty, i undercoated them and put 1/8 inch aluminum on the corners....these things do actually count as corner protection. the rockers were also cut out and angle iron welded onto what was left. there are also removeable nerf bars (hey, i'm short and need a step, but these will still outlast anything smittybilt makes).
inside is a 6pt cage holding nissan pulsar seats (it will be going away for a proffitt's front kit mated to a early 70's dealer rear bar), which holds an overhead tuffy console for the stereo and cb. a rear steel storage box keeps spares and tools.
the rear bumper has been in the works for years, but the front bumper was made by dad (as were the nerfs). there's a belleveiw winch for it (also looks good sitting in the garage with the rear bumper, led rear lights, prorportioning valve, etc)...someday i'll finish it, but in the meantime, i've got the 60 to fix, the 45 to finish building, the 55 to get running, and another 40 in boxes.....
apparel is oem softtop and doors, two piece kayline doors with bikini and rear curtain, or hardtop and doors.
here are early shots of the motor and build (teach dad to let me build a cruiser in his yard ) and a pic with the hardtop. it was multi colored for years, but i've finally rattlecanned it one base color with flames except for a single rear back door...that's just to annoy dad who kept telling me to paint the horizon blue rear doors since i'd already painted the entire rear of the tub grey.
74 tub on mostly 74 frame, with 68 parts, 69 parts, 75 parts, cruiser parts of unknown vintage, 83 fj60, 79 chevy, 91 chevy, freightliner, nissan, modified ford, toy pickup, 80 series...and god only knows what else...
motor is a delco reman 350 for a 79 vintage cheby...i'd just put it in my old gmc k1500 the year before i got the cruiser...wasn't a hard decision to pull it back out. the tranny also came from the k1500 (sm465).
the transfer is a mix of 74 case and 69 gears, rebuilt when we first started the project. it's mated with a classic cruisers adapter plate, which is junk. it supplies the axles via a toy pickup front cv shaft to the rear ends, and a modified stock front shaft up front.
the cruiser started when "dad" (actually my best friend's dad, who considers me his illegitimate child) got sick of me being depressed after a year and a half with no cruiser. he told me of a cheap builder (ha...junker was more like it) and offered to help me build it (big mistake on his part...can't build it from the couch). so, i towed it to his place
and the three year build began. every weekend i was there harrassing him to weld this and weld that and make this and make that...i just cleaned everything up for him to do it Without him, this cruiser wouldn't be possible.i knew right off the bat, i wanted a tough, capable rock crawler (to bad since then, i've decided, f&^k the hard trails, i just wanna get away), so i wanted v8/gearing/power steering, and soa.
the gearbox was from a later model tahoe (custom rebuilt to a certain turn ratio, that if i ever drove it, i would know what it was), mated to the axles via a hi steer arm that dad made and a shortened relay rod, filled with old head bolts to strengthen it. i've since changed to all pro hi steer, but will reuse the parts on my pig until i can afford hi steer for it. on the other end, is a rod made from a golf cart steering rod and ujoints from the bulk box at the shop that rebuilt the box. that rod goes to a tilt 76 firebird column. jack rice built the tie rod and drag link, and the ends are 80 series.
the front axle is a stock housing that i ground out to accept mini parts, but have since upgraded to fj60. i've also build 4.56's and swapped those in (the 4.11's were needed for my fj60).
the rear is dana 60 shafts shortened and modded to match the cruiser splines, 4.56's, aussie locked and warn full floater hubs, with the standard, chevy disc brakes.
the brakes system, as mentioned, is four wheel disc with power supplied via 75 master and 83 fj60 booster. the proportioning valve is by wilwood and has looked great sitting on the shelf for the last five years.
suspension is stock springs, over axle, with 1 1/2" conferrs int he front and 2 1/2" conferrs in the rear. the front also has home grown shackle reversal and the rears are also reversed for a bit over 6" over stock wheel base. tires are 36x12.5 swampers on cut out chevy rally rims. shocks are 9000s and i do have the ford towers in the fronts.
the body was (for the most part) good. someone had already replaced the rear channel, but we had to weld in the rear corners. rather than grind down the welds and make them look pretty, i undercoated them and put 1/8 inch aluminum on the corners....these things do actually count as corner protection. the rockers were also cut out and angle iron welded onto what was left. there are also removeable nerf bars (hey, i'm short and need a step, but these will still outlast anything smittybilt makes).
inside is a 6pt cage holding nissan pulsar seats (it will be going away for a proffitt's front kit mated to a early 70's dealer rear bar), which holds an overhead tuffy console for the stereo and cb. a rear steel storage box keeps spares and tools.
the rear bumper has been in the works for years, but the front bumper was made by dad (as were the nerfs). there's a belleveiw winch for it (also looks good sitting in the garage with the rear bumper, led rear lights, prorportioning valve, etc)...someday i'll finish it, but in the meantime, i've got the 60 to fix, the 45 to finish building, the 55 to get running, and another 40 in boxes.....
apparel is oem softtop and doors, two piece kayline doors with bikini and rear curtain, or hardtop and doors.
here are early shots of the motor and build (teach dad to let me build a cruiser in his yard
) and a pic with the hardtop. it was multi colored for years, but i've finally rattlecanned it one base color with flames except for a single rear back door...that's just to annoy dad who kept telling me to paint the horizon blue rear doors since i'd already painted the entire rear of the tub grey.
