Squirt (formally Brownie) gets a new Mom and Dad - Erin's Sami Build (1 Viewer)

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I have one on my 40. I think it was 40$ in my county and it doesn't have to be renewed so was a no brainer for me.


Sent by a dumb ass with a smart phone.

Did you just fill out the form and take it in to the clerks office or did they inspect the vehicle?
 
Nothing gets inspected in this county unless the clerk thinks its something cool and wants to check it out! I just walked in asked what I had to do, filled out a form and left with the new tag.


Sent by a dumb ass with a smart phone.
 
Well I jumped in and rebuilt the shifter this morning. Somewhere in its history somebody broke the shifter bolt and did a jack-leg repair.

Left is the bolt that ended up locking up the shifter at the ACC ride. Right is what the bolt is supposed to look like.
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I didn't get any pictures of the process, but as you can see the bolt was much larger and the wrong pitch, so I drilled it out and Helicoiled the hole to accept the correct bolt. Then I deburred the shifter ball, greased everything and installed the new bushing and bolted the assembly back together.

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Then bolted everything back into the rig.

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It is amazing how much better it shifts when all the right parts are in the right places...

Debated on working on the front end, but decided to just wait til it isn't in the yard to do the knuckles. Just seems like a bad idea. I got a few misc things to do and it should be ready to load up for OTMT. :steer:
 
Shifter made a big difference this weekend, but got confirmation the clutch is fried. Lucky for me my new one should be here this week. Blew a coolant hose off the propane solenoid, but that was quickly fixed and we were back on the trail.

Discovered that there is a hole or something somewhere around the DS spring perch that oil leaks out if the axle is allowed to rest on a steep angle.... guess some research on a Toyota axle swap is on deck.

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Only picture I got of it all weekend. Hoping to find a few more floating around on the interwebs in a day or two.

It went everywhere we pointed it and the only downfall was the mud run on 43? I think at the end of the day on Saturday. Deep ruts and 30" tires don't mix. Thanks to @BMThiker for dragging us out, of course his winch did more than one recovery at that little spot.

Overall, great weekend at OTMT. Now that we have the trailer, not going to be much excuse to not make more events and let this little heifer earn it's keep.

Also, if anyone in middle TN is looking for a Propane supplier, check out Spar Gas. Chasing down a place to get a tank filled about shut down our whole weekend. We caught the Manager by accident on saturday and since they were the only place in town that can fill a tank, she opened up and took care if us. I know I'm gonna call them to see if they can deliver when we get ready to build. Super nice and still local, not been bought out by the big chains and I like that. Just a cheap plug for her.
 
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Man, I had the line, if I hadn't blow that stupid hose. That little heifer will go and is super fun. Needs a seat in the back for the little :princess:, anybody got a kids racing seat laying around?
 
Well, the OTMT trip has the wheels spinning pretty hard these days. So here is what I am thinking, thoughts are always welcome:

  • Front Axle rebuild - got the parts, just need a good flat spot in the shade.
  • Clutch - Came this week, probably will do the rear main while I have the trans out.
  • Shocks & mounts - has none currently :oops: thinking Ford towers up front, SKY upper crossmember out back, TG or LR lower mounts and Doetsch 3000s all around
  • Cage - Looking at a front section from Davesport. Sean @ Rock4x was my first choice, but he is out of the game for now. Have a great offer on the table but the logistics would be a little hard to work out. Daves kit is pretty reasonable and will give me some piece of mind i am after and a place to start.
  • Locker - Going to spend some quality Miller time with my spare diff. Drop that in the rear and go.
  • Tires and wheels - Working on some wheeling and dealing, but hoping for a set of 33x12.5 KM2's on a set of 15x8 steel wheels
  • Plumbing - I have to pull the ridiculous network of piping out from under the hood and see if I can't get the coolant lines in better nick. Also need to reroute the propane feed lines out of the cabin.
  • Axles - Need to try and seal the hole in the DS rear spring perch. Need some armor for the diffs. The front already has a nice dent in it from last falls trip.
  • Misc. - The carb needs a better return spring setup and I'd like to get the cable itself installed a little less janky. I have a un-broken windshield and frame that I just have to pick up and paint. I need to get a good temp and oil pressure sensor on the motor, and maybe a tach.
  • Tunes - Erin says we need a cheap radio so she can listen to some tunes while cruising.
  • Recovery - Front bumper needs some tow-points, so may have to get some 2x3 or 2x4 and build a basic front and install some tow points for now, eventually will build a winch mount up there, but for now just need a good place to tug it out of the mud holes
  • Steering - start scrounging parts for a power steering setup. wrestling the wheel wears me out, that much worse for E to fight with.
Gearing with 33's may be a little high, but since we generally don't get out of 4L on the trail, and have the 4.16 in the T-case I think we will be good for what we generally do.

Wow when you put it all in writing like that it seems like way more than I thought. As the old saying goes, how do you eat an elephant?

Clutch will probably be the first thing to be done, followed by getting some shocks on it. Got alot of irons in the fire right now, so things will probably happen as time allows but at least I have put it down and have something to work towards.
 
Went out to the farm today to check on things and do a little mowing and crawled under the truck and did a little snooping on the spring perches.

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You can see the hole on the right pretty clearly, there is one on the left side as well but it is harder to see from that angle. I think it is a pretty easy fix. When I do new lower shock mounts I can weld them up and make sure there aren't any cracks or other bad news under there. Also need to reinforce the open ends while I'm at it too.

Grabbed this shot while I was chillin' under the rig. Thought it was worth sharing.

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I guess we know why the rear end was full of mud now, eh?
 
I guess we know why the rear end was full of mud now, eh?

Yep, that crossed my mind as well. :bang: Difference is I will be a little more observant and attentive than the PO, at least I hope :smokin:
 
Well with all the changes going on in our lives it is only fitting that this thread get a bump for an update. We have a contract on the house and will be moving into an apartment closer to the farm until we get the house built. Being at the farm and working on stuff, having a mule or something to use to get around on has been a topic of discussion, so I think we have settled on making the squirt into our farm rig. Way cheaper than a mule or other SxS and we already have it.

So with that plan in mind, the build plan is going to shift a little. First off I am going to see about finding a smaller propane tank that I can fit under the truck so the bed is free'd up. Then I will build a small frame to divide the rear cargo area into a true bed. To go along with the truck bed, I will build a drop tailgate to replace the swing out.

To go along with the new purpose we will go ahead and get an antique tag for it, maybe swap on some more road friendly mud terrains (may just wear out the swampers first) and then shocks and maybe a radio for some tunes.

That should get us a pretty sweet little farm rig for Erin to putt around in.

So, aside from finishing a barn, building a house, building two cruisers, taking care of the farm and all the other fun stuff, we gonna get this going too...
 
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Actually, not as much as I probably should...
 
You are not missing much, its about as boring as watching paint dry. Youtube, nextflix and amazon the way to go
 
Well, bringing this one back from the dead, we spent the afternoon clearing the route for the water line, About 400 feet thru the woods. And after we finished that we decided to air up the tires and relocate the squirt. First time it has moved in over a year and it kinda bumped it up the list, so I may see about getting some parts ordered for a tune-up on both the motor and the cooling system since it blew some lines on its last ride.

Grabbed this shot while we were moving it.

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And it's new parking spot.

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Looks kind lonely over there, need to drag the deuce over there to keep it company.
 
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We were just talking about squirt the other other night. Poor truck doesn't deserve to be put out to pasture, do whatever ya gotta do and get that thing on the trail buddy!
 
To all my peeps, we be rollin' under our own powA again.

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Cruised around the farm today after I got it up and running. Erin has decided traveling around by ancient Japanese warrior is way better than walking, so gonna have to spend a little time getting it in good shape. Guess that will be one of the first projects to go into the barn once the furniture and other stuff gets relocated.
 
I can help make more room in that barn if you'll let me take that mini truck off your hands.
 

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