September POTM - Cruiser Guy, Guatemala

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Well finally after 3-4 tries it seems to be holding fuel. Now to put it back in in preparation for heading to fuel up in Mexico tomorrow! $2.00/gallon diesel :)

50 gallons should last me several months!!
 
dont braze a tank. brazing and welding get the metal hot enough for any contaminants to create micro pin holes. Also, if there is any diesel in the pin holes, which there is, since it was leaking it will never stop leaking...cause the pin holes wont take braze or weld....

From the local 70 something year old radiator/gas tank guy near me, he fixed a tank of mine and said "solder only" unless you want to pay me twice to do it right the second time after I asked to have it brazed.


Also he noted it must be cleaned of any petroleum products, and acid washed inside and out.
 
cruiserbrett said:
dont braze a tank. brazing and welding get the metal hot enough for any contaminants to create micro pin holes. Also, if there is any diesel in the pin holes, which there is, since it was leaking it will never stop leaking...cause the pin holes wont take braze or weld....

From the local 70 something year old radiator/gas tank guy near me, he fixed a tank of mine and said "solder only" unless you want to pay me twice to do it right the second time after I asked to have it brazed.


Also he noted it must be cleaned of any petroleum products, and acid washed inside and out.
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Well he's right!! The final time I did a soldering job and that seems to be holding!! What a pain in the "you know where"!
 
Well today some idiot decided to go between a stopping bus and me stopping behind the bus! Fortunately it just bent the end of the front bumper. I'm hoping next time he tries this it will be between a bus and a heavily loaded truck with a huge bull bar! Then it will be one less idiot for the gene pool!

Off to Mexico this afternoon!
 
I didn't think I had as much left in the tank. I fueled up for $1060.00 pesos at $6.66/liter which is nearly 160 liters or 42.5 gallons! for less than $100 USD.

What a trip this time! Toll road to the coast we follow a truck who's brakes stank like you would not believe. yes, smoke included, that's why we followed him!! Then on the coastal highway north we ended up in a traffic jam because a tree had fallen over the road and was being removed, branch by branch with machetes.

This morning on the trip back we were refused entry at the first crossing (we're supposed to be out of Guatemala for a minimum of 72 hours but for Q10 bribe each we could get in but I don't do bribes). Next crossing about 20 miles away the guy stamps the passports and gives all but one back (he lost his advantage right there) and says he needs Q150 each to give the last one back. After he gets so angry and nervous because we're asking for a factura (official receipt) we finally get the last passport back as well without any bribe at all! Later down the road we see a guy who is so drunk they need to hold him up just to put him in the drivers seat of his car!! Needless to say we didn't stick around to see what might happen. A few miles further there is a very slow truck and we find out that two tires on one axle are blown and he's bypassing town!?!? We see him later after lunch another 20 - 30 miles further on (is he trying to ruin the rims?)!

Here we're driving though the border town!
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Well I pulled off the bent bumper today and with a little persuasion from the vise and a few well placed hammer blows it looks alot better than it did! It needed a little help from a pipe clamp to have the bolt holes line up though but all is well now.

Here's a picture of the damage and a picture of the bumper straightened out before I put the licence plate back on.
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Trollhole said:
You need to quit posting up pictures of those frame extensions. I'm extremely jealous.:D
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Well I'l thinking of giving Paul in Panama a visit in the spring and I could always drive the '55 down there and have him whip out a few sets!
 
The Fzj45 build I did a few years ago had a custom bent bumper to look like factory out of 3/8s plate, cut slices in it then heated, bent, ground smooth and it looked factory but much stronger.

Might be a option.

Rob
 
Radd Cruisers said:
The Fzj45 build I did a few years ago had a custom bent bumper to look like factory out of 3/8s plate, cut slices in it then heated, bent, ground smooth and it looked factory but much stronger.

Might be a option.

Rob
Click to expand...

How heavy was the sucker?!?! 3/8" is getting close to 1/2"!! Got pics/thread of the build?


Off to Honduras for the weekend. I may get in some wreckers too!
 
Went back to the thread, I guess they got deleted at some point.

It was not all that heavey, guess you could downsize the material and add some guessets?
 
Got back from Honduras. There was a few piggy parts but nothing I could use just a pair of front wing window doors and a "pigup" about to be parted that was just a tad on the rusty side. Sorry, no pictures as the wife has the small camera and I'm not taking the digital SLR to the wreckers or other shady places! Next time I'll take the camera.

I may have found a full floater rear axle. Did they ever come on piggies?
 
Well today I got around to putting on an extended transfer case vent. I had to pull the normal springy vent thingy off the top as it was not venting properly and was blowing oil out the seals. Since I pulled the vent cap it hasn't leaked at all :) The extended hose should keep most dust and dirt out of the transfer case. I routed the hose up to beside the brake booster.

I would have gotten a 90 degree barbed fitting but with the transfer case saver on there I was not sure if there was enough room so I went with a hose that fits the stub and a hose clamp and we'll see how it does.
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Well after a year or so of asking for aluminum to make up reproduction scuff/sill plates I finally got some last week. I have been doing a little experimenting to get a more gradual curve than what the brake usually will form and I think I have something that, while not EXACTLY OEM, will certainly do a respectable job.

Here's the pictures of the rear doors. The front doors will come later as I need to find a brake longer than 24" to produce those.

The silver on the floor is the "Second Skin" sound dampening mat, over that is the OEM rubber mat and over that is the Spector carpet set.
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Looks great Charles. Do you happen to remember which plug on your gas tank is the vent line and which is the fuel line? I have the same tank and somehow I forgot to mark down the fuel line... Thanks!
 
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