Doubt I could ever get used to the lack of trees and other 'green' stuff but you guys out west take some dang cool desert/LC pictures!
What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (33 Viewers)
- Thread starter IH8MUD
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Doubt I could ever get used to the lack of trees and other 'green' stuff but you guys out west take some dang cool desert/LC pictures!
The "Duke" will ride across the valley floor shortly
1911
chupacabra
My favorite National Park. Here is a photo of mine from my first 4WD trip there, in 1977 or '78:
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2004
- Threads
- 1,472
- Messages
- 36,768
- Location
- 818-953-9230
- Website
- www.marksoffroad.net
Ain't that the truth. Having roamed the California deserts for over three decades, I was in culture shock when I drove my 40 to TX in 2005 and realized the whole state was fenced. After six more trips to the Roundup I couldn't help the feeling that an Off Road park was a human version of a habitrail.
I think it is one of the things that pushed me to put a backpack back on.
4Cruisers
SILVER Star
Yee-Hah!
I've done this twice, first time without a wet suit. The long swim of about 100 yards (no stopping because there's no place to touch bottom and the walls are vertical) was downright cold when the air temperature was only about 75 degrees. The water was probably close to 50 degrees. Just one of the many adventures to be had in canyon country. BTW, all accessed by Land Cruiser.
I've done this twice, first time without a wet suit. The long swim of about 100 yards (no stopping because there's no place to touch bottom and the walls are vertical) was downright cold when the air temperature was only about 75 degrees. The water was probably close to 50 degrees. Just one of the many adventures to be had in canyon country. BTW, all accessed by Land Cruiser.
Last edited:
@4Cruisers we have an area back on the West Fork trail in Oak Creek Canyon on the outskirts of Sedona that involves wading and swimming with gear to access, on my hit list!!
4Cruisers
SILVER Star
I don't know what it is, but any time the thought of narrows/slot canyons enters my mind, especially where gear and off-the-wall thinking is required to make it through, the urge to go out and face a new challenge rises to the surface. Nothing (except the threat of flash flood) will stand in the way - floating carcasses of dead birds and small animals, nope; logjams, nope; extreme drop-offs, nope; stemming and/or wall running ("developed as a means of crossing unfathomably deep potholes that were too wide to simply jump and, with smooth vertical walls on either side, too sheer to climb around" - Steve Allen, Canyoneering 2, requires a knowledge of centrifugal force and shoes with sticky tread good on sandstone), nope. The more challenging the better.
Now back to the FJ40 technical discussion (sorry for the off-topic). Started to get everything ready for the new water pump and oil cooler on my '76 FJ40. I've had a used oil cooler assembly in the garage for quite a few years, intended for one of my FJ40s. The tube exiting the top of the cooler had been bent over (inwards) about 30 degrees when I got it. I wasn't sure I could bend it back straight and take out the kink without tearing/splitting the tube, but I took a shot at it this morning, and it worked! Here are a couple of photos of the set-up:
After setting it up, all I did was gently push down along the upper edge of the cooler, bending the tube up a little at a time. Every few degrees I tightened the wood clamp a little more. In a few minutes the tube was back to vertical. The wood clamp constrained the wall of the tube in the area of the kink and kept it from splitting. This was done cold, without heating the tube.
Here's a photo of all of the required parts (thermostat and OEM hose clamps not shown):
I sourced these parts from quite a few places, including a couple of Toyota dealers, SOR, Classic Cruisers, and NAPA. I'll post some photos when I finish the job, which includes an FJ60 distributor/coil/igniter.
Last edited:
O
Only temporary unless it works
I sense a lot of 70-series in these photos!
Nothing...its' to FN hot. Days of 100 + heat index are not conducive to doing diddly squat
Very excited to start working on these OEM FST bows. I have been looking for quite some time. Picked them up somewhat locally (go figure) and they only had a few surface rust spots. Bolts are pretty rusted out but I will replace and weld on new ones. Going to have them media blasted first though. I will most likely wait on the doors and make those a winter project.
Damn shame to have to cover this beautiful Aisan carb rebuild with the air filter. Wow! Rig fires right up, purrs at idle and is even more punchy on the throttle. I mean as much as an FJ40 can be punchy.
You might want to do bolts n welding before blasting them. Spatter n tool marks cutting oil etc must be cleaned off before painting. They will get a patina of rust in 1/2 a day after being cleaned to bare metal. Been there done that. Nice project you've got there. Any pics?
