Silver lining there! That reminds me that I should probably do that too....

 

I guess it's time for a quick update. I haven't had much time to actually work on the truck, but I need to get my butt in gear since we are doing an annual snow camping/wheeling trip the first weekend of Feb. (Hopefully we will actually get some snow!)

The NOS lock cylinders apparently were non-existent and the company cancelled the order. Guess I will be buying aftermarket cylinders and getting them re-keyed. Not a big deal, but I wish I would have know that two weeks ago!

I'm not getting any real bites on my tires and wheels, so I may just keep them. I may end up pulling the wheel weights and running balancing beads to see if that helps smooth things out. Another thought of where the vibrations are coming from is the driveshaft. It is a 1 piece, non-CV shaft, so I will make sure that the angles are good and it is phased correctly.

"vikingsven" on Pirate was kind enough to mail me some stock stereo brackets and my BIL gave me an old CD player. That will be installed at some point along with my 2 meter radio. The ham needs to be in for the trip, so that is somewhat a priority. LOL


I have decided to build my own bumpers and sliders, but I need to get steel. Hopefully I will have them done for the trip, but I have to find time to get the materials. I see a lot of late night fab time in my future...

Georg at Valley Hybrids is the man and has 4.7 gears for me! He mostly deals in Land Cruiser stuff, but if you need anything I would recommend asking him. He is definitely one of the TLCA greats and I'm honored to have him as a friend. As soon as I can shuffle some cash around, the gears will be on the way, however, I won't install them until I can get a twin stick set-up. I'm torn between Dave'z or FROR...

Lastly, I figured out how the PO mounted the Mini seats. He bolted the Mini sliders to 1" square tubing and welded it to the floor. Totally not the way I would have done it, but it is what it is. The problem is the left front weld punched through the floor... That is my priority fix! I think I'm going to seal everything up and brace it with angle under the floor. I will probably do that to the passenger seat too before it breaks through.

With a little luck I will be able to start working on it tonight and I will update with pics as soon as I have some!

 

I spent the day Saturday in the garage working on the truck. It was a beautiful day, so it was pleasant, but I would have much rather been wheeling!



The first order of business was to see why the front left driver seat mount ripped through the floor. I pulled the seat, trim, and carpet back to find whoever installed the Mini Cooper seats cut the front support out. Then in their infinite wisdom (*sarcasm), they welded 2" chunks of 1"x1" square tube to the floor as the new seat mount. No other reinforcement at all...






Needless to say, I was not impressed... The fix was to use more square tubing to brace both front "mounts" the entire span of the floor and up onto the trans tunnel. I welded it in, then used JB Weld to seal up any holes and give it a little more strength.




It's not going to win any beauty contests, but it is nice and strong now!

After that I pulled mounted the stereo and my 2m Ham to the factory stereo brackets I got, only to find out they were the wrong bracket. I messed with them every way I could think of but they just aren't going to work. So back on the hunt for the factory stereo brackets... If anyone has a set, please let me know.

Lastly I put my new Special Interest plates on (no more registration ever!) and helped my neighbor install a spacer lift on his wife's 5th Gen 4Runner. It was a productive day!

Now I need to order some steel and a few other misc parts to try and get this thing set up for the 1st. The likelihood of snow is looking pretty slim, so I better get some protection on this thing!

 

Don't ya just love what POs can do
Love the garage

 

Cool about the SP plates, a friend of mine was gonna sign my 81 Trekker off for SP plates if I had not retired the truck.
only disadvantage is the rules about it if you get caught driving it to work or something. No DEQ would be awesome!

good job on the seat mounts

 

I'm paraphrasing, but you just can't use it as a daily driver. I can drive it to work on occasion. Especially if I say there is a club meeting after work. Besides, the only way I can get pulled over is if a cop recognizes my truck driving the same time of day multiple days in a row. He can't just pull me over for having the plates...

 

I looked it up here in Utah and I didn't see anything about not being able to use it as a daily driver, I'll have to check on it.
Thanks for the heads up on this plate, I never knew.

 

Each state has slightly different laws about special interest plates, but I believe every state has them. Usually the rig needs to be 25+ years old and not a daily driver. You would need to look at your specific state DMV rules.

 

Will do, thanks

 

Ok, here's what I got.(68)(a)"Special interest vehicle" means a vehicle used for general transportation purposes and that isi)20 years or older from the current year; or(ii)a make or model of motor vehicle recognized by the division director as having unique interest or historic value.(b)In making a determination under Subsection (68)(a), the division director shall give special consideration toi)a make of motor vehicle that is no longer manufactured;(ii)a make or model of motor vehicle produced in limited or token quantities;(iii)a make or model of motor vehicle produced as an experimental vehicle or one designed exclusively for educational purposes or museum display; or(iv)a motor vehicle of any age or make that has not been substantially altered or modified from original specifications of the manufacturer and because of its significance is being collected, preserved, restored, maintained, or operated by a collector or hobbyist as a leisure pursuit.

 

Sounds like you can use the vehicle unrestricted (general transportation) and it just needs to be older than 20 years old... Is that a permanent registration in Utah?

 

 

Good job on the seat bracket fix!

Do you have a picture of the wrong radio brackets, so we know what doesn't work?

 

The brackets no longer look like they did since I tried to make them work. LOL! I'm pretty sure the correct ones are Toyota part #'s 86211-89109 & 86212-89104. They are still available through Toyota and I found them on Amazon.

 

That garage!!!

 

LOL
That's what you said about my garage............... Mine is full of wood machines, his is set up for TRUCKS, I like it. Humm, I do have a 1/2 acre ...............One wood and one trucks.............

 

yotadude520 on IH8MUD is the man and was nice enough to send me some door lock cylinders. I got them re-keyed and installed yesterday so I could drive the truck to work and the Cascade Cruisers monthly meeting tonight!

Also this week I was able to order everything else I needed to get the truck to "stage 1" (i.e. I spent all of my money, so this will be where it sits ):

All the steel and winch plate for bumpers and sliders
Stereo brackets
4.7 transfer case gears (Thanks again Georg!)
LED reverse lights
FROR twin stick

I pick up the steel tomorrow and plan on gluing some sliders and the rear bumper together this weekend. If anyone is in the neighbor, stop on by. The hope is to get everything done except the front bumper and TC gears before my trip on the 1st.

 

It's pretty epic. I have definitely been blessed with such an awesome place. It sure beats doing all this work on a slopped driveway in the rain! LOL

Now you're thinkin! If I had 1/2 acre I would be on the same mindset.

 

Gotta spend the money some place............LOL
How about with a 4 post lift, over head crane, HEAT................I'm thinking............

 

Ha! That's because they both have way more space than my oversized single car garage I'm working out of!

Literally me last week fixing a squeally belt.

SAME!