September POTM - Cruiser Guy, Guatemala

[cruiser_guy]

Off to two more car shows this weekend! They are a good place to meet folks.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Some pic's of the piggy in among other classics!

 

[PabloCruise]

Some pic's of the piggy in among other classics!

Bueno!

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Transfer case breather vent hose mod.

I was thinking that some of the oil leakage from the transfer case was due to the oil sticking the breather closed. Last year I popped off the breather cover and spring and slipped a hose over the remains of the breather and then ran the hose up to the top of the firewall. I was always concerned about the hose remaining fixed in place and last year when talking with Georg (orangefj45) he said he uses a barbed elbow threaded into the top cover in place of the breather. I got an elbow from him and now that it has warmed up I decided to install it.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the hose had not come off the breather remains over the course of the past year but I proceeded anyways.

The breather threads into the cover and is a 27mm bolt. Remove that. Next with a 1/2" NPT tap rethread the top cover (if doing as I did and threading in place put grease on the tap to catch the cuttings, though I doubt the soft aluminum will do much harm to anything). You'll need to thread quite a ways as the 1/2" NPT is slightly larger than the original threaded hole. I ran the tap in probably 1/2" at least, remember that the NPT is a tapered thread so to allow it to tighten down you can't go too far. You want the elbow pointing up as I did so any oil that does find it's way to the hose can drain back to the transfer case. Blockages in the hose, like oil pooling, will defeat the breather function. If you have a transfer case saver as I do you'll need to install the one piece barbed elbow first and then the transfer case saver or use a two piece part as the transfer case saver rib interferes with the barbed elbow when threading it in.

You can see the tap needed, the barbed single piece elbow and the OEM breather in the picture.

Charles,
This is really timely for me as I just finished a mod which combined my breather hoses from the axles as well as the e lockers. Now they all lead up the firewall to a small airfilter. It would be nothing to plumb in a t fitting and pick up the breather from the t case. What do you think?
John

 

[cruiser_guy]

Charles,
This is really timely for me as I just finished a mod which combined my breather hoses from the axles as well as the e lockers. Now they all lead up the firewall to a small airfilter. It would be nothing to plumb in a t fitting and pick up the breather from the t case. What do you think?
John

That's what I did on the '60. I tied the rear axle to the transfer case breather and ran that up the firewall.

Remember that the tranny doesn't have or need a breather as it vents through the shift tower.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Charles,
Again thanks. This was a very timely suggestion. Looks like I need to go back to the store and buy another t fitting. Great idea.
John

 

[cruiser_guy]

On the last trip the odometer fell out of the mounting and I'm pretty sure why. I picked up another '55 dash cluster so I could repair the odometer.

The first picture shows the speedo ready for disassembly.

The second shows the disassembled speedo head with the cleaned odometer back in place. When removing the odometer to fix sticky numbers (when the odometer 1/10ths only turn) pull the pin shown by the green "GO" arrow. Then slide the whole odometer out of its mounting. DO NOT do as I did and try to "snap" out the little shaft where the red "STOP" arrow points to or you'll literally snap the white plastic housing. Ask me how I know !!

The last is the reassembled speedo head ready to be installed.

This is a kmh/mph head with the odometer in kms as that makes the most sense for us driving in Canada. I also have a broken mph head which the truck came with and a mph/kph head as well should I decide I need to have everything in mph and the odometer in miles.

More pics once it's daylight and I can swap speedo clusters.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Swapped out the speedo head and my suspicions of the problem were 100% dead on!

First picture is the speedo with the broken odometer.

Second is the repaired/cleaned speedo head installed. I used a kph/mph face since we're in Canada and most speed limits are in kph but when we go stateside I'll still have mph as well.

Last is the reason for the broken odometer. Like I said in the previous post, DON'T try to "snap" the odometer out to free it up, it doesn't work!

 

[PabloCruise]

I am digging the kph/mph head!!!

 

[Kief]

I think the KPH vs. the MPH is a better idea- 80 sounds a lot faster than 55.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Well I also have one that is mph/kph for you Americans so you can still see how fast you're going when you come up and visit us in the "Great White North" (also known as Canada)!

 

[cruiser_guy]

Took my daughter over to school on Vancouver Island last weekend. We felt like the "Beverly Hillbillies" with all the crap on and in the '55. It did good and the Suzuki had a tough time passing us on the hills even though we were loaded to the gills.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Some more bits and pieces to make this piggy 100%. The slider knobs so I can slide the sliders without nearly poking holes in my finger tips.

I'm still looking for the drivers side that matches this one. If anyone has any leads I'd appreciate it (no speaker holes please).

 

[cruiser_guy]

Today is headliner and windshield day! I'll be posting pics as things progress.

 

[nocents]

Today is headliner and windshield day! I'll be posting pics as things progress.

Interested in that I have to do this soon too! Take lots of picture & notes please

Nocents
Don

 

[cruiser_guy]

First pic is with the old headliner installed but the windows all out. Next shows the headliner out with the insulation all falling down. Last shows the insulation back up and also you can now see how I added a few beams to the roof to better support it if I carry stuff in a rooftop box. I also ran the wire needed to allow me to install a second dome light in the cargo area. I have a spare one with the little switch handle broken off. I'll have it wired so both go on or off from the front light.

Back out to glue down the edges.

Don "Nocents", it's a NASTY job!!

 

[cruiser_guy]

Getting there slowly. It's a finicky job to try to avoid wrinkles. Supposedly minor ones will come out with a little warmth. Good to have an extra pair of hands as you work through this. The toughest part so far was anchoring the ends. There are metal straps at both ends of the truck to hold the bows upright. The first set is relatively easy to wrap around the bow. The opposite end, after all the other bows are in, is a little tougher. I wrapped the bow near the strap with a rope and had my wife pull on the bow so I could get the strap around the bow while there was a little tension on the headliner. So far it seems to be pretty decent.

 

[Kief]

Upholsterers use steam to get the wrinkles out-- maybe a breather extension on your extra teapot?

 

[PabloCruise]

Good stuff!

It has been a while since we have had any headliner install pics.

 

[Sno bored]

Good stuff!

It has been a while since we have had any headliner install pics.

I just posted in another thread asking about pictures.