Builds Treebeard

[cheeese]

Yeah, I felt the same way for my 60 - it's a pleasure use vehicle rather than a DD, I do occasionally do longer road trips in it but mostly it gets used for camping and adventure within a couple hours of my home, which may be afoul of the letter of the law but not the spirit. I feel like a TLCA member with a classic vehicle should be able to use it as they see fit if it isn't a DD.

I mostly got the SP plates to not have to smog every 2 years in the Portland area, and the one time registration is a bonus.

 

[Jonathan Faunce]

could you please elaborate on the ignition upgrade?

Purists will disagree but the premise is upgrading your ignition system with more modern components creates a hotter/more reliable spark which in turn combusts fuel better which in turn makes your vehicle start and run better. Manafre sells one called Lightning Strike. I drove a 60 with this in it and was surprised at the difference it made.

 

[Jonathan Faunce]

Here’s a link… FJ40 FJ60 Ignition Module for Manafre "Lightning Strike" HEI Ignition System - Landcruiser Parts - https://manafrelv.com/product/ignition-module-for-manafre-lightning-strike-hei-ignition-system/

 

[Jonathan Faunce]

Oops. That’s the link for the replacement module. This is the link to the HEI ignition system

Man-A-Fre "Lightning Strike" Vacuum Advance HEI Distributor Kit for 1975-1987 Toyota Land Cruisers - Landcruiser Parts

Man-A-Fre "Lightning Strike" Vacuum Advance HEI Distributor Kit for 1975-1987 Toyota Land Cruisers. Improves power, response, and fuel economy.

manafrelv.com

 

[BMValentine]

Oops. That’s the link for the replacement module. This is the link to the HEI ignition system

Man-A-Fre "Lightning Strike" Vacuum Advance HEI Distributor Kit for 1975-1987 Toyota Land Cruisers - Landcruiser Parts

Man-A-Fre "Lightning Strike" Vacuum Advance HEI Distributor Kit for 1975-1987 Toyota Land Cruisers. Improves power, response, and fuel economy.

manafrelv.com

thank you for this. I am very intrigued!

 

[MoaByte]

Ummm. I'm running their HEI. It's great. But not until after I rebuilt it packing the shaft with high temp bearing grease and the upper end with die electric grease. They warranteed the first one, the second failed too. It's not entirely their fault, but these engines get rusty. Really, it's a great product.

But it would be worth your while to disassemble the unit and pack the upper casting area with high temp grease. If your rotor, for any reason, desires to not ground through the spark plugs, it will quickly burn up the lube in the bushings and the advance leave you stranded.

Other than that, I think their distributor seems to have a nice advance curve. I love it;

 

[ntdb]

Ummm. I'm running their HEI. It's great. But not until after I rebuilt it packing the shaft with high temp bearing grease and the upper end with die electric grease. They warranteed the first one, the second failed too. It's not entirely their fault, but these engines get rusty. Really, it's a great product.

But it would be worth your while to disassemble the unit and pack the upper casting area with high temp grease. If your rotor, for any reason, desires to not ground through the spark plugs, it will quickly burn up the lube in the bushings and the advance leave you stranded.

Other than that, I think their distributor seems to have a nice advance curve. I love it;

Interesting! How would you describe the difference in terms of drivability?

 

[MoaByte]

Interesting! How would you describe the difference in terms of drivability?

I cannot be definitive because I did a full desmog, Holley Sniper, and their complete exhaust from header to tail pipe. Was it worth it? Hell yeah!

So being that an accurate recurve on the the stock dizzy is not a couple weeks process, and at the age of this beast, and my daily, I needed something. It took me a bit to find the right setting, but I believe nailed it. I'd like to put her on a Dyno and see... But driving? Lol, she sounds serious and I've been asked if I put a V8 in her. But there is a reason I haven't sent the better built stock dizzy off to Ohio yet. The HEI has a hotter spark. Does it matter? I dunno.

 

[Jonathan Faunce]

Ummm. I'm running their HEI. It's great. But not until after I rebuilt it packing the shaft with high temp bearing grease and the upper end with die electric grease. They warranteed the first one, the second failed too. It's not entirely their fault, but these engines get rusty. Really, it's a great product.

But it would be worth your while to disassemble the unit and pack the upper casting area with high temp grease. If your rotor, for any reason, desires to not ground through the spark plugs, it will quickly burn up the lube in the bushings and the advance leave you stranded.

Other than that, I think their distributor seems to have a nice advance curve. I love it;

Ha! I didn’t know it actually changed the timing advance curves. That would explain the difference in feel I experienced more than it having a “hotter spark” did.

 

[ntdb]

Updates, get yer updates...

The restored plate is registered, installed, and stickered with the month/year the truck was manufactured. I love it.

I was gifted some 1/2" plywood and started working on a box to fit between the drawers and the rear seat. Currently I'm losing a lot of drawer space to spare parts and rarely-used tools and this box will make a much better home for them. There's a top piece that fits flush with the top of the drawers and I'm hoping to finish it in gray carpet to match. Unfortunately I measured wrong at some point so I'll need to do some tweaking.

Tonight I replaced the window regulator, door handle, and moisture barrier on my driver's door. The window hasn't been staying rolled up since I drove through Minnesota in September. Fixing that problem has really helped with the road noise! The door handle was cracked and felt very weak. The new one feels crisp and solid. I used clear 4mil plastic sheeting from Home Depot for the moisture barrier and it seems like a great option. I found quite a bit of moisture on the inside of the old barrier (next to the door card) and I'm hoping it's because there were a couple of gaps in it near the top. No photos of this update but I did take a time-lapse. This is about an hour of work in 30 seconds. Props to @CruiserTrash for posting his experience with this job earlier in the week!


There might be another long road trip brewing... more to come soon.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@ntdb Nice work man. That plate is really cool. Colorado has some provision for "original" plates and I keep thinking about finding some.

On the window regulator: It's so nice to be able to roll the window up and down with ease after fighting skipping teeth for months. FWIW to those who come across this later, I found it easiest to remove the glass entirely. I didn't want to break it and I didn't want it in the way. After you unbolt it from the regulator you can turn it at an angle - between 45 and 90 degrees somewhere - and it lifts straight up and out on the outside of the door. You can lube the window tracks while you're in there too - I've heard silicone spray is good if you wipe it off the window edges afterwards, but I had a can of dry-spray teflon handy so I used that.

 

[ntdb]

@ntdb Nice work man. That plate is really cool. Colorado has some provision for "original" plates and I keep thinking about finding some.

On the window regulator: It's so nice to be able to roll the window up and down with ease after fighting skipping teeth for months. FWIW to those who come across this later, I found it easiest to remove the glass entirely. I didn't want to break it and I didn't want it in the way. After you unbolt it from the regulator you can turn it at an angle - between 45 and 90 degrees somewhere - and it lifts straight up and out on the outside of the door. You can lube the window tracks while you're in there too - I've heard silicone spray is good if you wipe it off the window edges afterwards, but I had a can of dry-spray teflon handy so I used that.

I wish I had removed the glass, I just worked around it and managed to not break it.

@CruiserTrash by the way you mentioned that one of the bolts was missing from your regulator. I realized that my original regulator didn't have threads in that top position at all, even though the hole was there in the door skin. My replacement (TEQ) regulator had threads for the bolt so I found another one in the shop that fit. My regulator had died in the same way yours did with the crank gear wearing away the surrounding metal.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I wish I had removed the glass, I just worked around it and managed to not break it.

@CruiserTrash by the way you mentioned that one of the bolts was missing from your regulator. I realized that my original regulator didn't have threads in that top position at all, even though the hole was there in the door skin. My replacement (TEQ) regulator had threads for the bolt so I found another one in the shop that fit. My regulator had died in the same way yours did with the crank gear wearing away the surrounding metal.

I'll have to check the wrecked OEM one I took out to see if that top hole has threads or not. The new one, which says "PAN ASIA" on it (definitely not from Mr. T, but a $10 junkyard pull so oh well) DOES have threads in all four holes.

My guess is that as the window track gets dirty and the felt/flocking on the side tracks gets old and tough, the window has more resistance. The metal becomes weaker than the track resistance in other words, and so the central gear axis starts to wallow out the metal. Regularly lubing the tracks would likely save the regulator from eating itself, but it's one more maintenance item in a sea of other items on these trucks. Their analog nature makes maintenance easy ... except it's like you'd have to do a quarterly 300-point inspection haha.

 

[ntdb]

I'll have to check the wrecked OEM one I took out to see if that top hole has threads or not. The new one, which says "PAN ASIA" on it (definitely not from Mr. T, but a $10 junkyard pull so oh well) DOES have threads in all four holes.

My guess is that as the window track gets dirty and the felt/flocking on the side tracks gets old and tough, the window has more resistance. The metal becomes weaker than the track resistance in other words, and so the central gear axis starts to wallow out the metal. Regularly lubing the tracks would likely save the regulator from eating itself, but it's one more maintenance item in a sea of other items on these trucks. Their analog nature makes maintenance easy ... except it's like you'd have to do a quarterly 300-point inspection haha.

Yep I may do this occasionally… but I’m expecting the new regulator to last another 300k miles even without the new lube.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@ntdb no 4th hole on the OEM. Sheet metal doesn't even extend over by that hole. Maybe it was for a power window regulator outside the US. Anyway, I guess my gear just have up the ghost as it fought a dirty window track for all those years.

 

[ntdb]

@ntdb no 4th hole on the OEM. Sheet metal doesn't even extend over by that hole. Maybe it was for a power window regulator outside the US. Anyway, I guess my gear just have up the ghost as it fought a dirty window track for all those years.

Mine did the same thing, seemingly all of a sudden. Maybe that’s when the hole wallowed out enough for the pin to shift. S’all good now!

 

[77CruiserDog]

@ntdb Nice work man. That plate is really cool. Colorado has some provision for "original" plates and I keep thinking about finding some.

On the window regulator: It's so nice to be able to roll the window up and down with ease after fighting skipping teeth for months. FWIW to those who come across this later, I found it easiest to remove the glass entirely. I didn't want to break it and I didn't want it in the way. After you unbolt it from the regulator you can turn it at an angle - between 45 and 90 degrees somewhere - and it lifts straight up and out on the outside of the door. You can lube the window tracks while you're in there too - I've heard silicone spray is good if you wipe it off the window edges afterwards, but I had a can of dry-spray teflon handy so I used that.

If I remember correctly the way they do these at the dealership is to tape the window in the up position with two large pieces of painters tape from the inside of the window up and over the frame and then of course on to the outside, essentially holding the window up and out of the way, this saved them time from removing it entirely. Not certain about this but I am 99% sure I've seen them done this way. HTH!

 

[CruiserTrash]

If I remember correctly the way they do these at the dealership is to tape the window in the up position with two large pieces of painters tape from the inside of the window up and over the frame and then of course on to the outside, essentially holding the window up and out of the way, this saved them time from removing it entirely. Not certain about this but I am 99% sure I've seen them done this way. HTH!

It took me 30 seconds to remove the window and another 30 to reinstall it. The tape trick sounds nice though.

 

[ntdb]

Update tiiime

I'm going on another cross-country road trip starting in February. My little sis is flying to Seattle and we're driving to Atlanta together. This time we're going to do some sight-seeing in Utah ( @MoaByte) and I will be working remotely for most of the trip. In fact, I'm hoping to do a lot of camping and working from the road this year. With that in mind Treebeard is seeing some fun changes...

First of all I bought another rooftop tent. I am EXCITED about this thing! It's a Roofnest Falcon XL. I was worried it would be too wide on the 60 (it's 60" x 90") but @Rockymtnreaper reassured me that 60" is a good fit and it definitely is. There's some overhang on the sides but I don't think it looks awkward at all. I got a good deal on a used unit and the PO threw in lots of goodies including the crossbars, a HQST 100w solar panel, a Renogy solar charge controller, and some tent accessories.

The first order of business was to get my recently-acquired Batwing awning mounted to the tent. The PO included a pair of Roofnest's beefy awning brackets. They're designed for smaller awnings so I cut and drilled some aluminum angle extensions to fit the Batwing (I have more hardware on order). As a result the awning sits about 2" away from the tent and looks amazing.

More in the next post. I haven't typed it yet so it'll be a few minutes.

 

[ntdb]

I have nearly finished up the box for spares and tools. I ended up cutting the back down on one side so that my spare alternator would fit. I may have to fold the seat forward to get at it when needed but hopefully that never happens. The top piece fits flush with the top of the drawers. I'll finish it with gray carpet and call this good for now. I really should have painted it and at some point I will, ain't got time for that now. This is carrying a spare alternator, starter, coil, distributor, fuel pump, fusible link, fuel filter, brake line, belts, spark plug cables, bottle jack, air compressor, battery jumper, and probably something else I'm forgetting right now. That's a lot of extra weight but it's peace of mind.

I finally worked up the guts to chop my Planted seat bracket for more headroom. I cut off the rear legs and installed the seat with only the front bolts. The weight of the seat bends the front legs enough so that the rear of the bracket sits on the seat mounts. Note that one of the sliders overlaps with the outside mount bolt, otherwise I'd bend the back of the bracket and drill holes for the mounts. Instead, I bolted down a metal plate and (I know, I know) clamped the bracket to the plate. The bolts for the sliders are right up against the plate, otherwise I would have flipped it. Eventually I'll cut some tabs for the slider bolts, flip the plate around, drill holes in the bracket and plate, and bolt them together.

I think this FINALLY feels the way I always expected the Scheel-Mann to feel. I have the bottom fully extended for thigh support, the side bolsters hug my butt in a way that feels secure but not painful, and my back is happy. A telescoping steering wheel is the only thing I'm lacking but with the sliders back in place I can easily make adjustments during long driving days. If I spike my hair it'll still brush the headliner but that's just Treebeard telling me to make better fashion choices.

Damn this is a lot of photos. One more post...