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Something only Cruiser Heads can appreciate (my wife rolled her eyes): after painting the shield for my steering wheel I replaced the gold and black Land Cruiser badge in the middle of the shield with the one from my '83 NAS fj40 I had in college and for about 17 years.

I couldn't fit under the steering wheel with the doors on, so I swapped in a 60 series wheel early on. I popped out the badge and it's been glued to my tool box for about 35 years; which has followed me all around America and Australia.

It was in nicer shape than the one on my 43, so I cleaned it up and put it in the shield. I now have the one from my 43 on the place where my 83's badge was.

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To answer the oft-asked "why are Toyota parts so much more expensive than Chinese knockoffs when they 'look the same'?"

Here is the light my 43 was 'restored' with -100% pure Chinesium- next to my new Toyota light (I'll leave it to y'all to distinguish). There's little wonder why Great Wall Motors trucks don't hold up like the Hilux.....

Unfortunately, the Chinesium bases are larger than the Toyota bases. Even after wet sanding the indent and buffing it out, you can still see the damage done by the poor choice in lights after it was painted.

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@Chamba …will those gaskets between the fender and the lamp base help to increase the “coverage”?
 
knuckle47 said:
@Chamba …will those gaskets between the fender and the lamp base help to increase the “coverage”?
Click to expand...
They would.... but I haven't got any.

But on a positive note and in order to provide a balanced criticism, the Chinese lights will likely improve fuel economy: they are about 2 lbs lighter than the Toyota lights, they are notably smaller and are wonky rather than vertical so will be more aerodynamic. So there is that.
 
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Wiring coming together slowly. I've got all of the front lights, horn (Hella horns for an Audi- nice and loud!), turn signals, flasher and the interior electrics tested and working. The only item I'm struggling with right now is the hazards. The switch didn't come with a wiring diagram, so I'm trying to figure out how it's meant to work. It could be a faulty switch, but I haven't given up yet. I do think I'm closing in on the solution.

I ran truck bed lights along the rain gutter for the dome light: Very happy with the results. I will need to find a factory-style headliner to fit the 43 eventually as the Paki liner is very low quality.

I made a cover out of 1/4" PVC plastic for the firewall where the heater fan was. @cruisermatt will be able to run the OldAir heat and air con through it.


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This is what a Pakistani wiring harness looks like once it's completely removed..... note the burnt plug. Almost every fuse in the block was either 25 or 35 and they still blew regularly. A fun feature was that when you flashed the headlights sometimes the horn honked too.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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Full shopping cart? Yup, I'm familiar. I've been filing shipping carts everywhere I go. Every time I think I'm done and my shopping cart is on its way.....I fill another one.

I helped my friend Willy put a Spector headliner in his '82 40 many years ago. It was very nice quality. Hopefully they make one for the 43. It's 14" longer, but otherwise it's identical.
 
Likely a troopy liner and then cut it down.
 
Before and after. Wiring is now basically done. Everything works as it should except the hazard lights. They flash on right side when the switch is on and the left side when it's off. I'm thinking it's a faulty switch....I hope. Unplugged everything works fine.

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@Chamba excellent…that is a major job in my book ! Coming along
 
Does anyone have any experience using the Cool Cruisers (or anyone else's) receiver hitch with the factory Toyota step? I want to put one on mine but if the ready-made one is too long then I'll have to make one. I'd rather just buy one than make one, but I don't want to buy one just to find out it doesn't fit.
 
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I wasn't scammed by Joe: not at all. I told him I wanted one on his thread and bdmoody10@gmail.com reached out to me on email posing as Joe saying I could have the last one.

I was getting ready for bed, so was off my guard and it didn't occur to me that it was odd that he contacted me on email. I said I'd PayPal him the money, and the scammer said he was having trouble with his PayPal but I could just send him an Apple gift card (which are on PayPal) instead. His email even identified the sender as Barn Find, so I thought it was Joe.

So I sent him the card (stupid. But there's no fool like an old fool), he said he received it and all was well..... until I had a chance to think about it after I slept. I realised it was fishy, so I PMd Joe, and he confirmed my fear: he hadn't reached out to me yet.

So I'm out the $160, but my bigger concern is I gave the scammer my address to send the hitch. I have filed the information with PayPal and apple though and told Mud @Rigger about it and his email so hopefully if anything further comes of it I can help find the guy. It appears the guy lives in Missouri, so hopefully one of my reports will help find him. May my misfortune be a lesson to others.
 
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Before and after. Now for the 8274-50. Also got factory wiper arms. The ones on there were J hook arms and were 1" shorter than stock.

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Parts starting to pile up here. :)


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Looks like we just made a minor change of plans that will make this project even better... :hmm:
 
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