What's going on at CruiserMatt's Off-Road

[Scro]

Hopefully I get a t-shirt.

 

[NookShneer]

So I have been at the current shop for a year now. Lets see what I've done here (just off the top of my head)...

a lot of knuckle rebuilds and brakes, lost count after 15
5 transfer case rebuilds
3 clutches
3 complete baselines (cooling system, valve adjustment, overall checkup, leaks etc)
2 LS swaps
1 turbo kit (turbo LS C10)
2 suspension installs
3 completely custom fuel systems
2 complete re-wires
and that's just off the top of my head.... there was a lot of smaller jobs as well.

on deck next.. way too much to list and I don't like posting about planned projects in case plans change. But there are a ton of cool projects planned and i will post them up as they happen so stay tuned. CruiserMatt's Off-Road and Performance is going to get wild in 2021



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Great Logo!

Let me know when the check is in the mail .

JK. Glad to see the business take off. Tell your boss to give you 3 weeks off in August.

It might be time to consider a West coast wheeler rig to cut down on the seat time back and forth

 

[cruisermatt]

Well ladies and gentlemen, this has been under wraps for the last few weeks but now it’s time to go public with the news. CruiserMatt’s Off-Road has a new permanent location!!

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Awesome man. Great to have your own place!!!

 

[cruisermatt]

First thing is getting right to cleaning this place up. First order of business is ripping that nasty wood siding and soffit off the west exterior side. Everything else is bare concrete and will be painted fresh white along with the interior and ceiling.
Dumpster being dropped off tomorrow.
Check out the sweet airline system the shop came with.

 

[Irish Reiver]

Great news Matt. Hope to come up soon and check it out.

 

[Bama4door]

Congrats Matt!! Excited for you man, looks like a great place

 

[cruisermatt]

Thanks guys. I have been crazy busy get as much Cruiser work out the door as possible since I’m going to be attending Relic Run and GSMTR next month. Dad has already been hitting it hard on the cleanup

 

[cruisermatt]

We spent a few hours this morning and got the rest of the nasty siding and the soffit overhang pulled down. We used the winch on the FJ62 and ripped it right off. We also got the rest of the lean-to in the backyard removed.
Need to replace the wood door on the shop with a fresh steel door and new framing. After that it’s just a few repairs to the walls, a little more electrical cleanup and we’ll have a nice blank slate to start painting, lighting, etc.

 

[Scro]

If you are worried about break-ins, order a commercial (not Home Depot) steel door that is reverse hung, swings out instead of in. Much much harder to kick in. You will also need security hinges.

Good luck with your shop.

 

[cruisermatt]

I am in the market for a forklift, ideally one with at least 4500lb capacity, 3-stage and side shift, and propane. Something turn-key that I'm not going to have to mess with too much. Ive worked on forklifts a few times and wouldn't mind tending to small issues like a leak here or there but dont want to have to rebuild an engine immediately. Budget, 4-6K?

 

[FL cruiser]

I am in the market for a forklift, ideally one with at least 4500lb capacity, 3-stage and side shift, and propane. Something turn-key that I'm not going to have to mess with too much. Ive worked on forklifts a few times and wouldn't mind tending to small issues like a leak here or there but dont want to have to rebuild an engine immediately. Budget, 4-6K?

Side shift a really great option. You should find something in that price range. The Toyota one I've been using, 5K, side shift, Hydrostat drive, modern and a dream to use, the guy paid $7,000 for it last year, and well worth it. I bought one of my own today, an older Cat T50 today for $2500 in good operating condition. But it's like jumping out of a 100 series Land Cruiser and getting into an early 70's FJ40. No side shift, clutch, manual shift, etc.
It's hard to tell tire wear. Forklift dealers will re groove the rubber and make the tires look new, when in fact they can be worn down to 2" less in diameter of what they should be and are near the end of their service life. Some brand new replacement tires can be slick as a baby's butt because they're made that way.

 

[thatcabledude]

Looks so much better already!

 

[cruisermatt]

Got free washer and dryer today. Nice old school steel ones that last way longer then any of the new stuff.
The office bathroom is nice and already has hookups as well as a nice shower. There’s a water heater that might be able to be seen in the background of previous pics

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Got free washer and dryer today. Nice old school steel ones that last way longer then any of the new stuff.
The office bathroom is nice and already has hookups as well as a nice shower. There’s a water heater that might be able to be seen in the background of previous pics

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So is there gonna be an efficiency apartment so you can pull overnighters on future jobs/projects?

 

[thatcabledude]

Share pics of shower stall a few months from now

 

[JMZ400]

Looks a thousand times better already Matt! Great job going for it.

 

[cruisermatt]

So is there gonna be an efficiency apartment so you can pull overnighters on future jobs/projects?

that’s funny Jim. I have had to do a few overnighters already at the old shop.
the hope is that with the new shop and good planning and project management I won’t have to pull overnighters or be behind schedule. You know, like a proper business?

 

[cruisermatt]

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the paint booth yet. This is attached to the back side of the building (the building was a paint/body shop at one point).
unfortunately the roof is way too low to fit a Land Cruiser and the roof is shot anyways. Additionally, I have zero interest in doing paint/body work. So this will eventually become my machine shop with a big lathe, mill, surface grinder, etc. I may be able to squeeze welders and a welding bench in here as well which would be nice to keep the main shop less cluttered. We’ll see.

Either way the ventilation fan was falling though the ceiling, the drywall was falling down, so this afternoon I demoed it all.

eventually I would like to build the walls up about 6ft taller, install a proper 12ft roll-up door, new roof obviously, and blow out the wall to the main shop for a pass through.

that’s “phase 2”

 

[CenTXFJ60]

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the paint booth yet. This is attached to the back side of the building (the building was a paint/body shop at one point).
unfortunately the roof is way too low to fit a Land Cruiser and the roof is shot anyways. Additionally, I have zero interest in doing paint/body work. So this will eventually become my machine shop with a big lathe, mill, surface grinder, etc. I may be able to squeeze welders and a welding bench in here as well which would be nice to keep the main shop less cluttered. We’ll see.

Either way the ventilation fan was falling though the ceiling, the drywall was falling down, so this afternoon I demoed it all.

eventually I would like to build the walls up about 6ft taller, install a proper 12ft roll-up door, new roof obviously, and blow out the wall to the main shop for a pass through.

that’s “phase 2”

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Dam!!! A paint booth. Would love to have one of those