Take 3, the Forever 45- IFS and 1uz-vvti (1 Viewer)

[Vossie]

No real work done on the cruiser as I've been away on holiday with the family for a much needed break. Did get to do a lot of 4x4ing and beach driving in the Mrs 3rd gen surf, so that was fun!

Then straight back to the realities of life and moving my workshop and the cruiser to the new house.

So threw the roof and doors on and loaded it up to move to the new digs.

Loading the cruiser

unloading the cruiser

 

[Vossie]

No real work done on the cruiser, been too busy making knives to try and make some money to sink back in the cruiser

Did get the chance to throw some old 265s onto the front to replace the 255s that were there. At least she sits level now and already is looking a lot better in the front.

Parked up next to the Mrs 4runner and my mom's prado, you get an idea of how tall the cruiser really is. Right now all 3 are on 265s(31s) and the final plan calls for 286s (33s) on the build !

I love it though. Has such a great feeling driving position. Not often you can look down into a prado

 

[Vossie]

First ever work that's not being done under my roof, the exhaust.

Very nerve racking having your baby handled by someone else and 6 foot off the deck!

It was a good opportunity to have a look at the underside though!

Helping to figure out the routing. It's actually quite tight in a number of places

 

[Vossie]

Finally finished with the exhaust. They did a nice job. Very happy, civilised and quite below 3000rpm, has a nice snarl to it and a bit of volume when you open her up.

Drove it from the exhaust shop about 1km down the road to my friends shop. She will live there basically until the build is done now. Final body work, paint and finishing will happen there. I'm still doing all the work, but a lot of what I need to do can happen there, and at least I won't have to trailer it home again.

Good news is she drives really nice. I only went nice and slow, but at least I know the gear box shifts as it should and kicks down too.

 

[Vossie]

As a knife maker, I get to play with some nice materials. Been working on a hydraulic press for a while that will enable me to make Damascus steel for knives alot more efficiently and also some more intricate patterns.

Already paying off and making some great steel.

Obviously, this is a chefs knife. BUT, I'm wanting to make some Damascus steel to use in the cruiser. Just some trim peices that will look good. Maybe turn the shift knows out of it.

Any one have any good ideas on what peices of trim I can make out of Damascus that would look good on a 45?

 

[Bripars40]

As a knife maker, I get to play with some nice materials. Been working on a hydraulic press for a while that will enable me to make Damascus steel for knives alot more efficiently and also some more intricate patterns. View attachment 3132644

Already paying off and making some great steel.

View attachment 3132643

Obviously, this is a chefs knife. BUT, I'm wanting to make some Damascus steel to use in the cruiser. Just some trim peices that will look good. Maybe turn the shift knows out of it.

Any one have any good ideas on what peices of trim I can make out of Damascus that would look good on a 45?

Definitely the shift knob. Some other ideas:

-turn signal switch cover
-Knob for the glove box
-A bezel around your immobilizer key

 

[Vossie]

Definitely the shift knob. Some other ideas:

-turn signal switch cover
-Knob for the glove box
-A bezel around your immobilizer key

The immobiliser fob bezel is an awesome idea. I like the idea of the glove box knob too. I wonder if I make a frame for the shift instructions panel too?

 

[Vossie]

Still messing around with small things. This time trying to figure out final tyre size. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Bripars40]

Skinny 34 or 35”

 

[Vossie]

Skinny 34 or 35”

That would be a problem. Finding 33s here in Zim is hard and expensive enough, 35s would have to be special imports and cost me around 600 a tyre, definitely out of budget!

 

[Vossie]

It's annoying at the moment, working hard to make some bucks to sink back into the cruiser, so time to work on it during the day. Can't wrench at night because it's at my mates workshop. So I'm stuck dreaming and messing around with CAD and drawings renders wishing I could be turning a spanner instead....

Still, all good things come to those who wait. In the mean time....

 

[Vossie]

Well, finally an update on the cruiser. Made a little money and was able to get my rims and tyres.
285/75/r16. So a 33" basically. Really like the look, brings the whole build onto better proportion.

For those interested the brand is Sailun. Good tyres, reasonably priced. I run them on the Mrs surf, got about 50k kms on her set and they have been brilliant.

Tall bliksem though. Before the new tyres, 2' exactly at the bottom of the cab. New rubber on and now its 2'1 1/2" to the bottom of the cab and 33" to the bottom of the door.

And really stoked with tye placement of the tyres in the Well.

 

[Vossie]

Small things here and there done.

Correct sized bolts on the prop shaft done. All the cab bolts to correct length and tigtlhtened down.

Speedo working on the acewell cluster. That was a bit of a mission. I was trying to figure out a way to use the stock speed sensor in the back of the tcase but it's a 12V 3 wire and the acewell works on 5V 2 wire. I had it all figured out though, the only snag is that the toyota sensor will not work on 5V, only 12V, so that sunk the whole ship. In the end went with the speed sensor that came with the unit, made a bracket to mount to the back of the tcase and we're all good.

Easy to calibrate too, measured how far the car moved for 1 rotation of the sensor in mm, put that in the computer and we got bang on GPS accuracy from word go. Plus now I have an odo too.

Also put in a new brake master cylinder and a couple new lines. Finally have working brakes that actually stop this thing.

So I could finally take it for a test drive. Only a short one around the block, fastest I went was 50kph because I still don't have my hood hinges on! But she moves nicely, kick down is good and she pulls beautifully.

 

[Vossie]

A friend of mine offered me a warn m8000, so I took an hour to liberate it from his shorty prado.

It's been reverse wound as it only works in revers right now. Quickly figured out why....

At least one blown solenoid, maybe 2. Looking around for one for the moment.


Had the Mrs surf parked alongside. I just love the way this thing is looking and the over all size.
The surf is not a small vehicle, but the cruiser makes it feel like a toy.

Saw this guy. Not sure I would give this one a go!

 

[Vossie]

Small things here and there.

Zinc wheel nuts all round.

And celebratory dirt burn out, because why not

 

[Vossie]

Finally doing some meaningful work on the cruiser again. Short term list of things to do is:
Wheel bearings
Ball joints
Half shaft seals
Rear and front diff inspection/service
Odd ands sods


So, wheels off and jacked her up.

Rear half shafts out. At some point this chassis went down the road minus the back left wheel!

Good news is that the rear diff looks mint! No obvious signs of wear and tear and the backlash is good. And was nice to confirm once and for all that there is in fact a LSD back there.

Half shaft splines look good too

The front diff is another story. Pinion won't turn and the one side feel like the bearing has gone. Won't know until I open it up, but there's definitely some work needed there

Also need a front prop shaft and a new set of front CVs.

All the wheel bearings were either done or just about, same with the ball joints. Got them all off and the new ones will hopefully go in tomorrow.

 

[Vossie]

One of the things on my long term list is the steering wheel. As it stands, the stock steering wheel sits too close to the dash. You have to stretch for it and when getting in you really have to slide under it.

Ideally, I would love a nice aftermarket moment wheel with a quick release hub, just for some extra security, but that's a fair bit of money and I would have to import. So for now, modding my stick surf wheel is the way to go.

So no time like the present. First I cut out the 'hub' of the wheel

Then I cut and welded some peices of steel to essentially bring the wheel out from the hub. Braced it in a couple of places to make sure its as strong if not stronger than the original.

The center of the wheel was in pretty bad shape.

Did my best to repair the crack using epoxy and CA glue. Seems to have done a good job, but I then wrapped the whole thing in vinyl which did a really good job of bracing it.

It's by no means perfect, but compared to what it was, and seeing as that's my first attempt at upholstery, I'm pretty happy.

 

[Vossie]

Got the wheel into the cruiser.

Looks so much better and makes a big difference to how the cab feels now. More comfortable seating position and I can get in without bashing my thigh.

Just need to make up a cover for the new 'column' and then it will really be good. The only compromise is that the turn signal stalk is now a bit of a stretch!
But I did get the horn to work correctly, so that's a win.

Changed out my windscreen frame to the newer style.

Need some glass and the wiper motor but at least I can find one for this style frame.

And then found some more bad news on the wheel bearing front....

Now I need to find a new stub axle.

 

[Vossie]

Arrived a bit late to get it on the cruiser before end of day, but my grille has finally been cut by the laser cutters. Super chuffed with this....

Got to clean up and chamfer the individual letters and then weld them on, then mount the grille on the cruiser. A job for Monday!

 

[bikersmurf]

One of the things on my long term list is the steering wheel. As it stands, the stock steering wheel sits too close to the dash. You have to stretch for it and when getting in you really have to slide under it.

Ideally, I would love a nice aftermarket moment wheel with a quick release hub, just for some extra security, but that's a fair bit of money and I would have to import. So for now, modding my stick surf wheel is the way to go.

So no time like the present. First I cut out the 'hub' of the wheel
View attachment 3209144

Then I cut and welded some peices of steel to essentially bring the wheel out from the hub. Braced it in a couple of places to make sure its as strong if not stronger than the original.
View attachment 3209145

The center of the wheel was in pretty bad shape.
View attachment 3209146

Did my best to repair the crack using epoxy and CA glue. Seems to have done a good job, but I then wrapped the whole thing in vinyl which did a really good job of bracing it.

View attachment 3209147

It's by no means perfect, but compared to what it was, and seeing as that's my first attempt at upholstery, I'm pretty happy.
View attachment 3209148

A couple brief thoughts on doing upholstery like the center. First off, after repairing the center I'd wrap it in a thin layer of foam to help hide any imperfections. 2nd, heating vinyl with a heat gun will make it easier to stretch and avoid folds. 3rd, my preference would be to use leather rather than vinyl. I've soaked leather in warm water or water & rubbing alcohol and then stretched it around complex shapes. The important thing is to let it dry at room temperature to avoid damage to the leather.