Project Land Cruzah

[Dooner]

Hey it looks like its time for my monthly installment! The fuel cell install went great, just got an electric fuel pump for transferring gas from the stock underseat tank to the cell. I'll try to get it mounted tomorrow, wire it up to the switch and finish plumbing the fuel lines.

Got a couple of cool little projects started and somewhat finished.

I found this sweet electric fan in a Mercedes out at the bone yard. I mounted it in front of the radiator to help out with the cooling chores. Still going to run the factory Chevy mechanical fan as well. The Mercedes fan has a localized pin on the bottom of its shroud. I made a small tab and welded it to the front cross member to support the fan. Two small bars made out of 1/4 inch round stock with eyelets welded to the ends keep the top from flopping around.


Still need to get a thermostat and a relay or two..

Edit: Found this cool fan relay kit from Painless Wiring. Wired it up using a toggle switch rather than a thermostat. Set it up with a dash light to show when it is energized. Works Shweet!



I made a little panel that mimicked the shape of the '40's glovebox / cluster to mount the fan switch on

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Couple more of the little top mounting bars

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Ive been working on a putting a power steering cooler in the croozer. Plan A was to remount the old trans cooler that I have been running for years. Ive had some issues with my power steering in the past. I think I had the steering cooler mounted too high, being attached to the radiator, it was close to a foot higher than the Saginaw power steering pump reservoir. I think this created back pressure on the system causing the fluid to run out the res cap. I think adding to the problem was the fact that the lines from the pump ran very close to the exhaust manifold, causing it to boil over. Between these little design flaws, all the usable fluid would be puked out in no time, leaving me with manual steering . Im betting the pump is fried, but ill give it a shot and try to reuse it.

I found this cool oil cooler in a Turbo Volvo. It was mounted vertically, next to the radiator. Thought about mounting it the same way for my steering cooler, but I figured I'd play it safe and mount it as low as I could, to make the system easier to bleed and to help keep the fluid in the system rather than on the ground.

I ended up modifying the cooler, welding angle iron across the mounting pads with nuts on the holes to make removal easier. I found a nice spot to mount it beneath the mechanical fan on reinforced tabs. I figured that it is protected from the elements up in there, but will get constant air from the mech fan. Another cool detail on this cooler is that it has a built in air scoop, that is positioned to the front which will be nice for drawing in air out in the dunes.

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A couple more pics of the cooler mounted

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Got back to the fuel system today and got the transfer pump mounted. I used a Carter universal 12 volt pump that supplies 72 gallons per hour, so it should be adequate for topping off my 15 gallon cell. If it ends up being too slow, I can always get a pump that will do double that gallonage.

Anyhow, I found a nice little spot for the pump on the driver side frame rail. I made a plate for the pump bracket to bolt to, with carriage bolts  spot welded to the inner side. The pump bracket will then attach with nylon locking nuts.

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A few more of the mounting area. This looks low in the photos, but it is just below the floor.. Maybe if I get energetic one of these days, I'll make a little skid plate for it. Welds are kinda crappy but there wont be much of a load here so who gives..

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Guess its time for another installment into this ol thread!
After some encouragement from some of my buddies, I finally pulled my thirds and installed the Aussies that have been sitting on my workbench for the last 5 years or so

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I ended up using 4.37 thirds and was happy to find that the gears and bearings in both units were in good shape. I was also happy to find solid pinion spacers too. Maybe all the old 4.37's ran them because I got the 3rd's from two different sources. I set them up going by instruction from Aussie, Zuk's gearinstalls.com, and the Toyota manual. I Used Marlins new pinion seals on both and one of His new HD 5 bolt pattern flanges on the rear.

[THK Matt]

Very niceeee

[Dooner]

 :beerchug:Thanks Bro!
I just noticed that this thread has just gone over 14,000 hits! Dood, Ive gotta get this thing wrapped up soon before they start charging rent for taking up too much space on the server!

Ive been wrapping up details on the rig, trying to get it together to make the Roundup in September. Here's a short list of mini projects that Ive been working on. 1. Throttle cable and Pedal Done, 2. Running Fuel Lines Done , 3. Parking Brakes (Got the parts), 4. Brake Lines (working on right now) , Speedometer Cable (The one I had made is too short,  either will get a new one made thats about a foot longer or will have an extension made that is a foot longer. Will likely be the same cost either way. ). 4. Pull out cage finish welding and paint, Install with frame plates. - Got the steel for the frame tie in's
Parts to get
1. Need a battery. Want to get an Exide Orbital, great battery at a great price. - Found out that they sell red tops at costco for a song, might get one of them's Ended up getting a Red Top at Napa, Costco doesnt sell them anymore. Also got a battery box from Ballistic Fab for like $35.00 2. Need Longfield hub gears - Ordered, will do Longs dowel upgrade down the road. 3. Still need to get a Birf Circlip. Gonna get a Mojave heater for 2 reasons- a) The 465 shifter occupies the same space as the factory heater, b) factory heater fan is wasted. - Gonna redo the motor mounts with bushed tube from Ruff Stuff Specialties, might be able to shift the drive train to the rear which would allow me to keep the factory heater... We will see, otherwise look for a premo heater on ebay..

1. My throttle cable was frozen, so instead of mearly replacing it, I decided that it would be cooler to use a 3rd gen 4runner cable      This lead me to creating a hybrid throttle pedal to make it all work together, using the 4Runner cable head. '40 center section with mount, and the 4Rnner pedal head that I made to pivot. Pedal head pivots about 1/2", which should add to the comfort factor some. Turns out the 4Runner Throttle Cable is quite a bit longer than the 40 cable. The cable now runs along the valve cover, flips a 180, and now pulls the cable cam from the bottom rather than the top. I know, it sounds funky, but it works great and allows me to use the old spot on the carb linkage for a hand throttle. Mounting the cable was easy, just had to bend up a little ol bracket out of some 1/8" steel and auger out the stock holes in the firewall for the 4Runner cable with tacked nylock nuts for ease of install.

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Been inching along with the Cruzah, working on it and collecting parts between trips to Pismo, the Sierras and working. Finally got some OT so I was able to order some much needed parts that were holding me up.

Picked up and installed my Longfield gears for the lockouts. This was a major victory for me, cuz I knew that they were must haves after dropping all the coin on the 30 splines to be able keep Bobby's warranty. Its just hard to spend money on parts that cant be seen even though they are Super Bling 

[chim]

I just bought the hub gears as well.. but I think I read something on Pirate that he would still warranty the 30's

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More Updates
I ended up getting 3 inch Bushed tubes to build up some new motor mounts from Ruff Stuff Specialties. These things are mondo thick walled beasts! Im gonna put the motor mounts off until I have time to do them justice. For the time being,  I redid the AA motor mounts that are in place, relocating them so that my drivetrain is straight. The bushing pucks are kinda beat but they will hold up for a good while longer.

Spent some time working on the body. Ive been bouncing off trees since the early 90's in this thing so the tub is somewhat less than prestine. After running a hand down the inside of the driver rear quarter panel I found that I had close to a good inch of Bondo filling some of the valleys! I spent some quality time with the grinder hoggin all that plastic out of my pigs butt and then beat the dents out the best I could
It turned out that the front fenders wernt too much better, as rust had eaten its way from the supports through the sheet metal. These areas were patched with sections from the inner skirts and some cracks were welded up.

One thing I had been wanting to do from the get go was to replace the marker and turn signal lights with LEDs. I was able to do this by welding some 1/8" plate over the stock light openings, so that I could install some flush mounts along the sides. Once all this was done, I mixed up a batch of filler and layed down a "discrete layer" of bondo on the quarters, and front fenders. I cut the front fenders down by 6 inches to effectively dovetail the nose, so I need to find some turn signals that are Land Cruiser-ish only on a smaller scale. I bought some streetbike signals that are pretty much what I was looking for, but I was in a hurry and didnt catch that they wernt LED, so no bueno. I ended up putting a pair of flush mount signals on the front for now, but Im gonna keep looking.

Another major triumph! I got my Round Eye HID headlights in the mail. They are the Cats Meow, being brighter than the old halogens I had been rocking all these years and just plain look High Zoot.

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I just bought the hub gears as well.. but I think I read something on Pirate that he would still warranty the 30's

Hey thats cool about the warranty, I guess its worth the peace of mind to have the gears anyway, I hear the stockers do nasty things to the longfield splines!

[chim]

Yeah I guess the stock ones can strip the splines... I know what you mean about dropping coin on bling parts without showing them off..  at least they came with a sticker haha

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Gratuitous New in Box With Stickers Pics!

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Yeah I guess the stock ones can strip the splines... I know what you mean about dropping coin on bling parts without showing them off..  at least they came with a sticker haha

Yeah I had a real hard time hiding the 30's away.. I need clear axles!

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Here's a couple of before and after pics of the headlights installed. (Ok so Ive been craving on these for a long time!)

I think I need a paintjob to do my new lights justice. What color should I paint it...Hmm Well what ever color I use, it needs to come out of a rattle can!

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Got around to doing the floor under the fuel tank the other day. I was still in the process of mocking up the fuel system when I did the rest of the tub so the tank area got no love I did the floors a few years ago so they wernt in that bad of shape. I cut some felt out and cemented it in like the factory rubber strips to keep the rattles down.

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Got around to pulling the cage too so I could weld up the blind areas that wernt accessable with it in the Croozer. I enlisted the help of my Wifey Linda to help me get the job done. We used my trusty ol engine hoist to pull the cage from the rear. We figured that all we needed to do was to lift it just enough to clear then we could drag the hoist with the cage away from the truck. Worked like a charm until Linda got a phone call and abandoned her post. For some reason the cage wanted to get inverted and spin the hoist in a circle Note: Wear gloves when manhandling large metal objects out in the sun in Fresno in the dead of summer! All was good, and nothing was damaged  except some nerve endings in my palms!

After I finished welding the cage, I knocked all the weld spatter off and cleaned everything up with a flap disk and a wire wheel. I then rubbed the cage down with a thinner soaked Scotch Brite pad followed by a wipe down with more thinner and paper towels. The cage was then primered and painted with a lovely shade of Oakie Chrome.. I mean Aluminum paint

[Dooner]

Well I didnt get er done for the Roundup But I'll be at Surf N Turf in November! Got a few details to attend to, but the Cruizer is done for the most part.

Got the rig fired up today and made a couple of low speed passes down the street with out incident .
Gonna have to update this thread when I get a chance

Check out this Youtube video of the Cruzer doing it Marlin style!  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7toZEMyQqw

[AaronB]

  nice job, wish mine was running!

[freds40]

Good to see that things running. I'm looking forward to SnT. Been a couple of years for me.

[Dooner]

Thanks guys! Yeah it sounds like this is going to be the last official Surf N Turf, been wanting to go since I found out about it a few years back. We need to make a good showing out there, lets get a Marlin Caravan together

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Looks like I have to pull the tranny cuz it looks like the rear main or something is spewing oil at the back of the block. Anyhow, ill mess with that when i get more time. I figured id do something less practical and start another non essential sub-project thats way more fun than sealing oil leaks..

Been playing with ideas for what to do for sliders. Keeping with the theme of the build, I want to maintain an overall Land Cruisereque flavor with my modifications. So with this goal in mind, I set out to build sliders that have a style, and shape similar to factory running boards, down to the diamond plate. Besides trying to stay true to the Cruiser look, my other goal is to do stuff as cheaply as possible, reusing original parts where practical.

With that said, I was looking at the old factoy rollbar thinking about what to do with the thing. About that time I was looking at the cool bends on the bar, and after a quick measurement I figured that this could work for the slider step.


After laying a straight edge and marking the angle I wanted I chopped it up. This is where I find out that a 71 Vintage FJ40 roll bar is worth thousands of $$!


Checking the angle of the intended slider with the factory running board


Got ahold of some 2x3 rectangular tubing and cut some 45's into the ends

Capped the ends and welded the tubing to the boxed section

Heres one checking angles after welding
After reasuring myself that this would work, and that it was a good idea, I took a deep breath and chopped off all of the mounting hardware for the running boards and hacked the front running board supports off of the forward body mounts that normally serve as rock anchors!




After measuring and marking I chopped 1 1/2" off of the rocker panels. Another quick check shows the sliders in place. Need to pick up some more cutoff discs then Ill tie it all to the frame.

A poser pic of the sliders from the front

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Finally got a little time to spend with the Cruiser, and got the sliders finished up. First off, I knocked out some scab plates and the frame tie ins legs. The frame on a 40 gets wider at the rear so I had to cut a couple of degrees into the legs so that they would follow the frame angle. The legs were also angled up a bit to hug the rockers and to provide a little more ground clearance.

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Threw a small section of tubing in to help keep the outer slider from getting smashed

I really wanted these things to resemble the factory Cruiser running boards, so from the begining I wanted them to be diamond plated like the stockers, I also want these things to be a full on rock slider that can be used as a jack point. I made a quick template from some 1/4" plywood scrap that I had lying around and popped out the new running board covers.

Here's the new plate sitting next to the ol school ones

Here's the matched pair after fully welding them up

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Here's a few shots of the driver side after welding them up to the frame and splashing a little paint on them.

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Here's the passenger side all done up. Ive been waiting to try this for awhile! Here we have the full weight of the right side on the slider. Its nice when a plan comes together!

[baxter650]

Hadn't noticed before but i have the same wheels on my PU (i removed the rivets on mine though), will most likely be moving them to the 40.