Builds Welcome home Matilda - faded like your favorite pair of jeans

[CruiserTrash]

Great work! Can you tell me what you used for the vacuum and temp gauge cluster? Is that three gauge system something you made or picked up? That is just what I’m looking for.

All the gauges and the bracket are from Autometer, but I pieced them together since they didn't sell these three as a kit. Install varies between easy (vac) and "involves welding" (wideband). The water temp gauge is electronic with its own sensor installed in the upper radiator hose. If you want to save a few bucks they have gauges where the sensor is a probe and it has a line full of conductive fluid or something - seemed to sketchy for me so I paid a little more to just have regular old wires. FYI watching the air:fuel mixture in a carbureted truck is pretty eye-opening. There's zero guesswork in tuning the carb and emissions system. Here are links to what I have:

Wideband Air:Fuel Gauge
Water Temp Gauge
Upper radiator hose adapter for water temp sensor (cut the upper radiator hose and install the adapter, sensor threads into the adapter - get creative with grounding the sensor, I'm using a ring terminal under the mounting bolt for the ABV/smog equipment)
Vacuum Gauge (Comes with it's own single-gauge bracket that I threw away)

Yes, I painted the trim rings on the wideband and water temp gauges black to match the vac gauge! For power I split the main 12V wire coming into the cab before it hits the fuse panel and ran that to its own fuse panel tucked up by the blinker relays on the driver's side kick panel. It's a small 6-fuse unit and it feeds the power to the water temp and wideband gauges, in addition to fuses for my head unit and bluetooth receiver. I built a harness to go from the kick panel to the center of the dash to keep things organized. You could go full OEM and wire the unused fuse panel spots, I just never got around to that on my tomato truck. Matilda has the glass fuses (82 was the last year for that) and only one extra fuse spot so I no longer have room. For the backlights I split the cigarette lighter backlight wires and made a mini-harness that feeds all three gauges. The cig lighter is on the dimmer circuit so they dim too! I probably should have found the dimmer wiring over by the fuse panel and ran that over in the main harness, but ... I didn't.

If you need to pick my brain about any of it, let me know.

 

[bcolvin]

All the gauges and the bracket are from Autometer, but I pieced them together since they didn't sell these three as a kit. Install varies between easy (vac) and "involves welding" (wideband). The water temp gauge is electronic with its own sensor installed in the upper radiator hose. If you want to save a few bucks they have gauges where the sensor is a probe and it has a line full of conductive fluid or something - seemed to sketchy for me so I paid a little more to just have regular old wires. FYI watching the air:fuel mixture in a carbureted truck is pretty eye-opening. There's zero guesswork in tuning the carb and emissions system. Here are links to what I have:

Wideband Air:Fuel Gauge
Water Temp Gauge
Upper radiator hose adapter for water temp sensor (cut the upper radiator hose and install the adapter, sensor threads into the adapter - get creative with grounding the sensor, I'm using a ring terminal under the mounting bolt for the ABV/smog equipment)
Vacuum Gauge (Comes with it's own single-gauge bracket that I threw away)

Yes, I painted the trim rings on the wideband and water temp gauges black to match the vac gauge! For power I split the main 12V wire coming into the cab before it hits the fuse panel and ran that to its own fuse panel tucked up by the blinker relays on the driver's side kick panel. It's a small 6-fuse unit and it feeds the power to the water temp and wideband gauges, in addition to fuses for my head unit and bluetooth receiver. I built a harness to go from the kick panel to the center of the dash to keep things organized. You could go full OEM and wire the unused fuse panel spots, I just never got around to that on my tomato truck. Matilda has the glass fuses (82 was the last year for that) and only one extra fuse spot so I no longer have room. For the backlights I split the cigarette lighter backlight wires and made a mini-harness that feeds all three gauges. The cig lighter is on the dimmer circuit so they dim too! I probably should have found the dimmer wiring over by the fuse panel and ran that over in the main harness, but ... I didn't.

If you need to pick my brain about any of it, let me know.

Thanks for the detailed response and taking the time to do this. When I get to this I will definitely take you up on picking your brain. Again I appreciate it. Also I believe you are in Denver, if you ever get up to Steamboat hit me up. I would love to see Matilda. I also get down to Denver from time to time as well.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Thanks for the detailed response and taking the time to do this. When I get to this I will definitely take you up on picking your brain. Again I appreciate it. Also I believe you are in Denver, if you ever get up to Steamboat hit me up. I would love to see Matilda. I also get down to Denver from time to time as well.

Let me know if you’re coming this way and I’ll do the same if we head up your way. We haven’t been to Steamboat in a couple years, but it’s awful pretty up there.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Posted elsewhere, but figured the build thread was appropriate too. Two days ago, after putting 600 around-town miles on the newly-running Matilda, we left for Utah. Matilda climbed the passes on I-70 without breaking a sweat. She rode the bumpy stuff and a couple of steep 4 Low climbs on the Rimrocker Trail with no issues. She proved herself.

Temp, oil pressure, voltage, vacuum, and mixture are all great. Got 16.5mpg on a couple long I-70 runs, and 12.5-13.5 after the trail.

She’s heavy and the rear end is saggy because of the load and in relation to the height added up front with the shackle reversal. The springs might be sitting lower than they were yesterday. I should put leaf springs - at least the rear - on the future project list.

I’m just amazed that we’ve made it all the way to Moab in a pretty much unknown truck. Heading up the first hill on I-70 out of Denver, the climb to Evergreen, I had no idea how Matilda was gonna do. And beyond that would the Continental Divide Summit at the Eisenhower Tunnel or Vail Pass blow a coolant line or the head gasket? So thankful for how the truck is running. Knock on wood of course.

We also got to meet @MoaByte for some tacos in Moab. Really appreciate his guidance on locals spots. He’s got a great 60 full of Trail Tailor and other goodies. Helluva truck.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Little update:

Home from our trip and Matilda did perfectly the whole way! Today she passed emissions so I can replace the temp tags with real plates. This was my second shot, she failed the first time for slightly high NOx. EGR was disconnected first time and connected the second time so that did the trick.

Question: who has run Dobinson AND OME on a 60 and wants to type out their opinion? I need at least rear springs. Fronts … I’m dealing with the shackle reversal. I think longer, flatter springs than stock would be best up there. Longer than stock in other words. Maybe not as long as SOA, but same concept. Looking for any and all thoughts here, because the rear springs are pretty flat.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Some photos of the front springs.

Shackle angle is … less than ideal?

Because the springs are stock length, which seems to short for the SR

The wheels are almost centered in the opening - maybe a little forward. I’d like to keep them centered if I change springs.

But the back …. Saggy. It carried an extra 850-900lbs on our trip, but it wasn’t happy about it. I need something that will accommodate the weight.

 

[LETSROLLEM]

Some photos of the front springs.

Shackle angle is … less than ideal?
View attachment 3089543

Because the springs are stock length, which seems to short for the SR
View attachment 3089546

The wheels are almost centered in the opening - maybe a little forward. I’d like to keep them centered if I change springs.
View attachment 3089549


But the back …. Saggy. It carried an extra 850-900lbs on our trip, but it wasn’t happy about it. I need something that will accommodate the weight.
View attachment 3089551

Boss airbags for the rear. Reasonably priced and Install is a breeze (I did both sides in about an hour), and not only does it help with heavy loads, it has virtually eliminated my body roll. You can adjust them for loaded up and empty situations. You can get creative with where to mount the schrader valves, some guys wire them into on-board air and control them with guages and toggles in the cab. I’m hoping to add that feature soon. Just my $0.02

 

[LETSROLLEM]

 

[LETSROLLEM]

If I had it to do again I would get the kit with the 3 chamber bags, just for a little more adjustment. I have an OME medium/heavy suspension, just for reference

 

[CruiserTrash]

If I had it to do again I would get the kit with the 3 chamber bags, just for a little more adjustment. I have an OME medium/heavy suspension, just for reference

@Kleatus told me to go this route too. I looked at the Boss website last week and here's what they say:

"BOSS load assist kits are easy to fit and most simply bolt on using basic hand tools and when filled with air, raise the rear end (when under load) to make the vehicle level again."

I added the blue for emphasis. So in my case, I would use the Boss airbags to compensate for tired old leaf springs - not as intended, which is in addition to healthy leaf springs as a way to keep the truck level when loaded down. So what are the cons to using them this way? Reduced suspension flex? Harsher or softer ride? I would air them up enough to level the truck out which means they'd be constantly carrying a lot of load (with the leaf springs doing very little work) - would it put too much strain on them? I'm a little gun shy since it will be one more system to maintain, not to mention it will lead me down the expensive path of probably getting on-board air at some point. Yes that would be a useful thing ... but again, one more system to maintain. @LETSROLLEM It looks like they mount under the rear u-bolts. I feel like if I'm taking off these crusty age-old u-bolts I'd just replace them, and if I've got the springs halfway off why not just take 'em all the way off and put new ones on?

My assessment is that it seems like throwing a band-aid at a problem when I could just remedy the problem directly. I can be convinced, so let's hear what y'all have to say that would push me in the air bag direction.

 

[LETSROLLEM]

@Kleatus told me to go this route too. I looked at the Boss website last week and here's what they say:

"BOSS load assist kits are easy to fit and most simply bolt on using basic hand tools and when filled with air, raise the rear end (when under load) to make the vehicle level again."

I added the blue for emphasis. So in my case, I would use the Boss airbags to compensate for tired old leaf springs - not as intended, which is in addition to healthy leaf springs as a way to keep the truck level when loaded down. So what are the cons to using them this way? Reduced suspension flex? Harsher or softer ride? I would air them up enough to level the truck out which means they'd be constantly carrying a lot of load (with the leaf springs doing very little work) - would it put too much strain on them? I'm a little gun shy since it will be one more system to maintain, not to mention it will lead me down the expensive path of probably getting on-board air at some point. Yes that would be a useful thing ... but again, one more system to maintain. @LETSROLLEM It looks like they mount under the rear u-bolts. I feel like if I'm taking off these crusty age-old u-bolts I'd just replace them, and if I've got the springs halfway off why not just take 'em all the way off and put new ones on?

My assessment is that it seems like throwing a band-aid at a problem when I could just remedy the problem directly. I can be convinced, so let's hear what y'all have to say that would push me in the air bag direction.

Yep all you say makes sense. I didn’t take into account that your springs are probably way tired! You are correct that using the bags “for lift” is not their intention, only to take “some” pressure off the springs. I apologize, I should have stated that in my post so as not to give bad advice to other potential users that may have a sagging rear end problem as well. So thanks for addressing that. Well hopefully when/if you change your springs out you can throw the bags on for added “help” when loaded out. When I installed mine, my OME suspension was basically new. I should have gone with the heavy/heavy kit from them because since my purchase of the kit I have installed front and rear aftermarket bumpers which I had initially thought I would not do. Good luck with everything. And one more thing, PLEASE KEEP THE FADED BLUE PAINT AND PATINA!! It looks so good! I’m about to do this over my patina’d rig. I’m sure you’ve already seen this stuff

Poppy's Patina - The Original Patina Clear Coat.

Located in Tulsa OK, Poppy's Patina is widely know as the Original Wipe-On Clear Coat for classic cars and trucks. Restore paint or preserve patina. Poppy's Patina is not just a "sauce" that wipes off. It seals your patina in UV protected coat. Find products to preserve your patina/paint in...

poppyspatina.com

 

[CruiserTrash]

Yep all you say makes sense. I didn’t take into account that your springs are probably way tired! You are correct that using the bags “for lift” is not their intention, only to take “some” pressure off the springs. I apologize, I should have stated that in my post so as not to give bad advice to other potential users that may have a sagging rear end problem as well. So thanks for addressing that. Well hopefully when/if you change your springs out you can throw the bags on for added “help” when loaded out. When I installed mine, my OME suspension was basically new. I should have gone with the heavy/heavy kit from them because since my purchase of the kit I have installed front and rear aftermarket bumpers which I had initially thought I would not do. Good luck with everything. And one more thing, PLEASE KEEP THE FADED BLUE PAINT AND PATINA!! It looks so good! I’m about to do this over my patina’d rig. I’m sure you’ve already seen this stuff

Poppy's Patina - The Original Patina Clear Coat.

Located in Tulsa OK, Poppy's Patina is widely know as the Original Wipe-On Clear Coat for classic cars and trucks. Restore paint or preserve patina. Poppy's Patina is not just a "sauce" that wipes off. It seals your patina in UV protected coat. Find products to preserve your patina/paint in...

poppyspatina.com

No worries man! I've had folks singing the praises of airbags to me and I'm just trying to wrap my head around it with some healthy debate. The rear springs on this truck are definitely old, have a "Made in Canada" sticker, and have about 1.5" of arch under load currently. Who knows what they are, but I know they need to be put out to pasture. Some new springs PLUS airbags for when I load the truck down on family camping trips - that would be a great setup! I just really think I need to address the springs first and I'm not a rich man so it's one thing at a time.

That patina coating looks interesting. Wipe-on application, starts liquid, dries hard. I wonder if it's a wax or oil similar to fluid film rather than a "clear coat" like lacquer or poly. I'm kind of on the fence about the though. I need to address some small rear wheel well rust and then what do I do with painting over new metal? Try to match the patina? Or just go whole hog and have the thing painted? If you go back through some of the early photos you'll notice that on the passenger side the front fender and both doors were repainted at some point so maybe getting the rest painted to match isn't the worst idea. I do like the faded stuff though.

 

[Kleatus]

The bags can do both lift and assist. But as you have already realized if you use them for just lift it will get stiffer. They're best used as supplement for heavy loads after you have the height where you want it unloaded already.

How do the front springs feel and how does it flex? There may be an even easier option here - Have you considered pulling a leaf from the front and putting it in the back? Bring the back up and the front down? It's a lot of screwing around but new springs are $$ these days. I wouldn't worry about length of the front springs, when that pack flattens out the shackles will swing back some.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Speaking of one thing at a time ... here's the latest thing:

I saw Tim @nakman from Gamiviti Racks at SAS and we talked roof racks for a bit. We know each other from the Rising Sun club and a mutual friend in Denver so it was cool to bump into each other halfway across the state. I've had a Surco aluminum rack for a while now - pretty decent rack for the money but kind of heavy, pretty tall, and not the best construction - and I've been thinking about getting into something a little better, so the timing seemed right. When we both got back to town from our trips we kept talking racks and it snowballed into me getting a Gamiviti installed yesterday! My 60 now has a little bit of class to it.

I know there are some other good rack solutions out there, but going Gamiviti felt right to me for a bunch of reasons. Clearly they're robust as hell otherwise they wouldn't have the good reputation that they do, but they also look right. They bridge that gap between classic and modern looking so well. They're pretty darn low profile which is nice - the Surco stood about 6-8" off the top and acted like a huge windbreak. I drove up to Tim's house yesterday and he was gracious enough to help me install it ... he actually did most of the work haha. He showed me all the thoughtful stuff he's designed into it that I had no idea about. I can't wait to load it up for a camping trip in a few weeks. I posted this on IG as well and I probably sound like an advertisement. I'm just very, very excited about getting this thing as you can tell.

The feet on these things are overkill in the best way. I noticed that the pieces are cut concentric to the fasteners. Even the bent pieces that wrap around from the back (on the left and right sides) are notched with a radius to match the cutout of and be continuous with the cutout in the top of the lower piece. The outer portion of the foot that tightens against the bottom of the gutter does NOT contact the chrome trim FYI, it has a nice bend out and around. I was very, very happy about that. The rack has a million details like this.

The lines on this thing are beautiful:

Here's a couple of photos of Tim's 40 and Matilda, both from 1982. @nakman I didn't tell you yesterday, but olive has always been my favorite color on a 40.

 

[nakman]

thanks again Jim for all the support! so glad you're happy here I'm sure you'll come up with a ton of uses for the rack.

and yes, 653 Olive is the best 40 color, no question.

 

[CruiserTrash]

The bags can do both lift and assist. But as you have already realized if you use them for just lift it will get stiffer. They're best used as supplement for heavy loads after you have the height where you want it unloaded already.

How do the front springs feel and how does it flex? There may be an even easier option here - Have you considered pulling a leaf from the front and putting it in the back? Bring the back up and the front down? It's a lot of screwing around but new springs are $$ these days. I wouldn't worry about length of the front springs, when that pack flattens out the shackles will swing back some.

The front feels really great both on road and off. Way less jarring than the OME mediums felt on the tomato truck when I hit a big rock or pothole. That's why I'm prone to living with the SR for a while to really see how I feel about it long term.

I thought about adding a leaf to the rear packs, and I actually have 2 OME rear AALs sitting at the shop that were take-offs from the tomato when I went from X-heavy down to Heavy. Dimensionally they would fit these rear mystery packs, but I don't know if one AAL is gonna save them and it's a lot of work to find out. Maybe not a lot of work, but it'll be work.

For the front I'm trying to wrap my head around suspension geometry theory before a I make a move. You know I like the heady stuff. Removing a leaf is a good idea though. I have also noticed that the front shackles seem pretty large. I think they're around 4" and maybe some 3" ones would help bring the front down. Back to the theory though, I feel like a shorter shackle would exacerbate the issue of the front springs being short. Hard to explain but when I see both systems flexing in my mind's eye, the shorter shackle setup has a more abrupt flex that requires the spring to really be getting compressed before the shackle moves.

 

[CruiserTrash]

thanks again Jim for all the support! so glad you're happy here I'm sure you'll come up with a ton of uses for the rack.

and yes, 653 Olive is the best 40 color, no question.

Hey, send me that photo of you holding up the 1982 user manual in front of the trucks when you get a chance. I gotta see that one.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@RodrigzCrzr Photos of the rack above ^^^

 

[CruiserTrash]

Wow, long time no post - almost two years. So much has happened and I should revive this thread. Still daily driving Matilda and she's still taking me everywhere I need to go. I'll post a list of stuff below with more detailed posts coming soon. I just want to maintain the record of everything that's happened to this truck!

Suspension
-60 Dobinson springs in the rear with 5.5" shackles and IMS shocks (the shock are fantastic)
-4Plus u-bolt flip kit in the rear (fronts coming soon)
-HZJ75 Dobinson springs up front for a better shackle angle (also amazing for shackle reversal setups)

Lighting
-4x PIAA 85w halogen lights mounted to the front bumper
-Custom built harness for front lights
-40 Series headlight switch in the throttle cable spot on the dash, modified so first pull operates 2 PIAAS and the second pull turns on all 4
-Engine bay lighting on underside of hood
-Upper hatch lighting (helps with cooking on the tailgate when camping)
-All LED lighting inside and out except headlights and PIAAs
-Modified OEM flasher module to get the LED blinker bulbs the correct speed (I'm selling these now)

Electrical work
-Fusible Link Replacement Kit (this is also a product I now sell)
-Extra fuse panel in the engine bay for further accessories
-Extra fuse panel in the cab to feed power to extras on the dash and a power drop for the cargo area
-USB charger/voltmeter mounted to the rear cargo panel
- @ChaserFJ60 switch blank USB charger - looks perfectly like it belongs there

Engine
- @mattressking rebuilt carb
-New water pump, all new coolant hoses everywhere
-Gently used CSF radiator from @Rockymtnreaper (original one sprang a leak)
-Full flush and fill with Toyota red coolant
-Saginaw power steering pump
-Finally investigated bearings - they are worn and suck, #6 almost spun at some point
-New rear main seal, brand new OEM oil pan, new oil pan gasket, new oil pan bolts from Overland Metric
-25cc VTV added to the main air feed from HAC to carb (this really brings down the hyper-lean condition from the HAC at cruise; I'm at 15.5-16 A:F instead of 17.5-pegged)
-Resealed side cover with new gasket and new OEM bolts
-New warranty fuel tank from Toyota (not engine, but fuel system related)
-Also had the sender and pickup tube replaced
-AC Delco vapor canister
-Zero leaks from the engine!

Drivetrain
-Rebuilt H42 and transfer case combo, did it all myself
-New OEM hardware, new output flanges, new long spline input gear, reused the rest of the gears, new clutch kit, new transmission mount, pretty much new everything
-Thanks @orangefj45 @CenTXFJ60 and @batthewmrown for the extensive guidance, and to Valley Hybrids and Cruiser Outfitters for parts
-Rebuilt front driveshaft (clearanced yokes for higher operating angle, OEM u-joints, new lengthened splines)
-Knuckle job

Brakes
-New master cylinder
-New NAPA reman calipers (original three-mountain Toyota cores) with new OEM pads
-New rear brake shoes and spring kit; drums were ok for reuse (still fighting the occasional over-adjusting shoes)
-Flush and fill with DOT4
-All new soft lines (maybe I did that in the posts above, can't remember when it happened)

Clutch
-New master & slave cylinders
-Flush and fill with DOT4

Exterior
-Used set of Aussie sliding cargo windows, did a long refurb with as many OEM parts as I could
-Buffed the paint out and brought back the blue - followed the @HemiAlex method with Chemical Guys products
-Added Touge Nation stripes
-Polished all the chrome bits with 0000 steel wool
-New set of five 40 Series rims (well, used, but only 3-4 years old according to the seller) with chrome caps on all, powder coated light gray (soon spray painted charcoal)
-NAPA rack-mount awning (appears to be same factory as ARB, cost $130)
-Replaced the front two body mounts, one on each side

Misc
- @mr2m1 powder coated metal glove box insert
-Rebuilt accelerator pedal bushings
-Added front sway bar from Classic Cruisers with new OEM bushings and hardware (helps a lot of the body roll from the shackle reversal)
-Cruiser Cult taillight and license plate light gaskets
-Cruiser Cult/The Neek speaker spacers with new Rockford Fosgate speakers
-Midland in-dash GMRS radio (antenna on roof rack)
-Spruced up windshield wiper relay
-1981 Canadian spec BJ60 steering wheel


...I'm probably leaving out more stuff but that's what I can remember. I still have a lot to do:
-Spare 2F was dropped off at the machine shop, full rebuild coming soon with me doing the assembly
-Wet/dry compression test so low-ish compression due to trashed rings, and a borescope shows a TON of carbon and oil sludge on the valves & cylinders; combine that with the crappy worn and almost spun bearings ... it's time
-Rebuild steering gear box - it's bleeding all over the place
-Front u-bolt flip kit and new shocks
-New carpet and sound mitigation
-Have the original radiator rebuilt - so far the CSF seems to run 30*F hotter on highway climbs
-Possibly moving to the two-piece 3FE exhaust manifold with a whole new exhaust path
-Recurved dizzy and ditch the EGR and AI systems (not to make the 2F faster, but to preserve those parts in working order for my 5-year smog tests)
-Replace the rest of the body mounts
-Replace inner c-channels with the Trail Tailor ones


Long term goals:
-4.11 diff gears
-Factory cable lockers (not sure if that plays nicely with 4.11s)
-H41 or H55 on the cheap ... somehow
-Rust repair to the rear wheel wells and driver's side rocker
-3:1 transfer case gears (I was warned they were noisy and they're expensive, so I skipped them on my t-case rebuild; the new input gear is noisy enough on its own that I should have just done 3:1s - oh well)

 

[CruiserTrash]

Oh yeah, y’all always want a photo…