What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (15 Viewers)

[gator25]

Got a little more done, finally cleaned the shop up some. Rolled the chassis outside, went a head and cut the rockers off. Treated the insides with Rust Bullet.

Welded in some patches

and another one

 

[JohnnyC]

... I simply haven't yet had any opportunities to photo a Land Cruiser. ... Any takers ??

You can take pics of mine... but.... you will definitely need to give your camera a tetanus shot before coming within non zoom range

Lol

 

[gator25]

Had Mr. Pittman go ahead and bend me up some rockers, dropped them off with the measurements yesterday. Called me today about 11 to come get them.

Man it takes forever to weld these things in.

just about done with the P/S, still got to weld in the flange and the triangle supports on the back side.

 

[waiting for time]

Got a little more done, finally cleaned the shop up some. Rolled the chassis outside, went a head and cut the rockers off. Treated the insides with Rust Bullet.View attachment 1397950
Welded in some patchesView attachment 1397952 View attachment 1397954
and another oneView attachment 1397956

I like your style Gator.

 

[gator25]

I like your style Gator.

Thanks Michael!

 

[65swb45]

There's a lot of fun to be had in NV!!

I'm thinking of returning to Pine Nut (a very rough 6 mile offshoot), off Mormon Well. It's just over 6700'... Then climb the mountain, to the ridge, go over the next range and ultimately arrive at the backside if Hayford Peak.

There are great views of Hayford Peak, from Mormon Well, just east of the campground... 800' climb to get the best views.

I'm always driving solo and have gotten over worrying... The most eerie place was Cabin Springs (40 miles north in Alamo, 9 miles southeast on Cabin Springs a Road (very poor shape) to 5500') ... A VERY slow and rough drive... Spent one night and got out of there... It's a very odd place... Jumbled boulders the size of air conditioners, where three canyons merge... Thick thickets of trees, perfect deer habitat and not a sign of an animal or a sound of a bird... I started worrying about mountain lions, loaded up daBoise and left. I wouldn't go back there again, with just one vehicle... Too many places to get into trouble.

Next time I get my Cruiser out to LV we should do it. Heading to Death Valley next week.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Next time I get my Cruiser out to LV we should do it. Heading to Death Valley next week.

I'll be up for it... But, not in heat... Too miserable in the heat, much cactus and too many snakes...

It's also one of the areas where I've seen mountain lion scat.

I got my Nuclear Stress Test results today... Heart is there alright... And is fine and dandy... Cardiologist reminded me I just turned 68... I need to slow down, especially when hiking over 5k'.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Had Mr. Pittman go ahead and bend me up some rockers, dropped them off with the measurements yesterday. Called me today about 11 to come get them.View attachment 1397960 View attachment 1397961
Man it takes forever to weld these things in.View attachment 1397965
just about done with the P/S, still got to weld in the flange and the triangle supports on the back side.View attachment 1397966

You sure making that purty, Nolen!!

 

[Skydog]

What kind of lens did you use that is exotic?

I grew up in a portrait studio my pops is a PPA master and a national judge Before he retired. I can appreciate what technology has given the trade. Over digitalization of images just drives me crazy...

@Redgrrr : thanks for asking.

The lens that I used to make the portrait of that yellow-orange GTX1 prototype car, plus a series of other such images made that same morning, of the same car, that I've not shown here, was a Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4 lens, shot with its aperture set at f/4. The 600mm f/4 is considered 'exotic,' as it is not commonly owned or used. And when owned, this lens (like the 800mm f/5.6) is primarily used for wildlife photography (birds & such).

As with any piece of camera equipment, no different than all the hit-or-miss components used on our own 40-Series vehicles, the 600mm 'prime' lens (meaning does not zoom) has huge advantages & disadvantages. The main advantage of this lens, that I most regularly use it for, is that of its ability to literally compress a setting, with the subject professionally super-sharp, and everything else nicely blurred, via the naturally beautiful, massive bokeh (blur) of the lens. A 200mm f/2 lens would be another example of an 'exotic' lens with such 'exotic' bokeh. Or perhaps non-telephoto-wise, the super-rare, 58mm f/1.2, which has forever been known as the "King of Bokeh."

A down-side to using the 600mm lens for a photo shoot of a car (let alone a person, which I've done before), above it's massive size & overly heavy weight, not to mention it being expensive to purchase, is that to make such a portrait (of a car), one must be far, far, far away from the subject (car). As a case in point, for the image of the GTX1, I was forced to be positioned as far as I could physically be away from the car, on the far side of the vacant, early Sunday morning parking lot; where, I was literally pressed up against a concrete, property wall. I desired the car to be positioned alongside the seen, still standing puddle of water. So, the car could not be relocated. What I wish to point out, as being a disadvantage : since the 600mm 'prime' lens can not zoom, it's utility is therefore extremely limiting. One makes up for the disadvantages of the lens, via the creation of an image that literarlly can't be touched by other lenses. The sharpness, compression, and professional bokeh made by such a lens - can not be pin-pointed by a common, typical viewer of the image. To such a person, the image seems really unique & beautiful, but they have no real clue as to why.

Below was from a different photo shoot. And just like the result of the photo shoot of the GTX1, a number of really cool images were made of this prototype Corvette. The photo shoots I conducted for both cars were used for feature articles in Robb Report magazine and DuPont Registry magazine. Absolutely ALL of my imagery goes through Photoshop. For me, the camera is merely a starting point. However, none of these images 'here in this post' were manipulated, they're from the camera & lens, and the unique, natural lighting painfully chosen (a lot of time & effort goes into this process of actual camera work). On this first image, we can see how the 600mm lens compressed the full moon that early morning, and that the lens, with its relatively shallow depth of field, equally blurred-out the moon, via its super-smooth bokeh. This can not be similarly obtained via a "normal" lens.

Similarly, when Air Tran Airlines was still around, I made the image below with the same, 600mm f/4 lens, shot at f/4. To make this image, I had my tripod extended all the way to its maximum height of 9.5-feet. And I was atop one of the airline's heavy-duty, mobile A-frame ladders. ... And... I was clear across at the other side of the maintenance hangar's ramp. A great distance away, for sure.

To focus the image below, as I do for most all my portrait images, I use the Live View on the camera's LCD sensor - with the Live View zoomed way-on-into my subject (or where I desire the focus to be). As a note, I created a huge poster of the image below for the former airline. Something like 5-feet tall by 9-feet wide. Was Super Impressive !!!

An exotic lens can do a lot of good - for any photographer. But it typically stays in the closet quite a bit, as its utility is super-limited.
The lens I use absolutely MOST, for over 15-years now.. a fast-focusing 300mm f/2.8 lens. I use it for ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING !!

~Skydog

 

[gator25]

You sure making that purty, Nolen!!

Thank you Danny, I'm trying.

 

[Skydog]

You can take pics of mine... but.... you will definitely need to give your camera a tetanus shot before coming within non zoom range

Lol

Johnny, your Cygnus White rig is beautiful, as is. ~Marc

 

[tls3601]

@Skydog I have used my Nikon 200mm f2.8 lens forever but with the digital body it is 1.5X magnification; was awesome on my old F5 though-gorgeous images especially the plane!!!

 

[Skydog]

@Skydog I have used my Nikon 200mm f2.8 lens forever but with the digital body it is 1.5X magnification; was awesome on my old F5 though-gorgeous images especially the plane!!!

I'm aware of what you speak of regarding your camera's 1.5 crop sensor. I've previously had camera bodies that had the same sized sensor. Like everything else in the camera world, it both helps & hurts. I too LOVED the F5 film body. I also had an F100 body that operated similarly. My longest surviving lens is also my sharpest one. And it profuces a beautiful bokeh. I speak of my AF 180mm f/2.8, which I use alongside an 85mm f/1.4 lens for portraits of people. The 200mm f/2.8 lens produces similarly beautiful results (on a full-frame sensor). The macro version of the 200mm f/4 lens is also quite good in its utility. ~Marc

 

[tls3601]

Yep Mark I need to get the forthy out in its natural element; Mountains! Working on completing my hardtop install-man these seals are spendy, but trying to use OEM wherever I can. Then post up some super pics of it on here with my 200 f2.8 lens! -Tom

 

[Skydog]

Yep Mark I need to get the forthy out in its natural element; Mountains! Working on completing my hardtop install-man these seals are spendy, but trying to use OEM wherever I can. Then post up some super pics of it on here with my 200 f2.8 lens! -Tom

Sounds like both a good goal - and a good plan. I indeed can relate ~Marc

 

[4Cruisers]

I'll be up for it... But, not in heat... Too miserable in the heat, much cactus and too many snakes...

It's also one of the areas where I've seen mountain lion scat.

I got my Nuclear Stress Test results today... Heart is there alright... And is fine and dandy... Cardiologist reminded me I just turned 68... I need to slow down, especially when hiking over 5k'.

The first mountain lion I saw in the wild was on Pahute Mesa (Nye County) in the mid-'80s, about 4:30 a.m. at about 6,800 feet. It was crossing the road ahead of me just within range of my headlights in a light snowstorm. It was a very large cat. Roll forward about 28 years - my wife saw one crossing the road in our subdivision just before noon mid-week, a block from the elementary school a few minutes after the kids in kindergarten were let out for the day. A couple of months ago we saw one crossing the road in front of the '76 FJ40 on our way to a day hike in the canyon below our house. Recently, on two different occasions, we saw a bobcat roaming the streets in front of our house. We've learned to take a look outside when the ravens flock together and start a loud commotion - they're out there circling and chasing the bobcat out of the neighborhood.

 

[Booch]

Lots of trouble shooting my TBI system for a no spark condition , after many hours of testing items my hand hit the wires going to coil found a interment ant issue with the white wire going to tach, investigated and found the orginal GM connection had failed. After correcting the issue life is good again.

 

[gator25]

Lots of trouble shooting my TBI system for a no spark condition , after many hours of testing items my hand hit the wires going to coil found a interment ant issue with the white wire going to tach, investigated and found the orginal GM connection had failed. After correcting the issue life is good again.

Man, I bet that's a big relief.

 

[Booch]

Man, I bet that's a big relief.

Big relief ... I guess the tach sends a signal to something to say RUN lol , Hooked it up to my old trusty scan tool OBD1 after no codes .. made me smile more

 

[4Cruisers]

Nice floormat.

You haven't seen the best of it!

I've got them reversed in the FJ40 - the one on the right is now on the passenger side. In the pickup it was on the drivers side as you can tell by the heavy wear.