TxTrek's '81 Project

[txtrek]

Okay, after all the gnashing of teeth and 'sell her... sell her not" monkey mindedness... The angel on my one shoulder kept reminding me that I have two sons in college and the devil on the other kept reminding me that 'hey, no one paid for MY college'... ;D well, let's just say there was a compromise struck between the two and leave it at that!

I'm not the mechanic all of you guys are but I intend to do as much work on her myself as I can. I do want to keep her as original as practical and my first goal is to get her running so that I can split the driving time with my RX8. On that note, I spent $1000 on a mechanic that screwed around with the original carb and probably wasted loooots of my money... I've been driving her for a couple of weeks with her loading up, etc... a co-worker saw her in the parking lot and the conversation resulted in a recommendation of Javier's Auto. I drove her directly over that afternoon. Upon our arrival, I paused and I swear I heard the angels sing...
Landcruisers, and FJs and tube frames OH MY! I think I'm at the right place now. LOL! Guys came from the woodwork to oooh and aw at her!
Even turns out that he knows some buddies of my that race Moroc! I've decided to replace the original carb with a weber and simplify the whole operation. I'm keeping all the original parts... just in case! I should have her back next week and will report how it goes...
I have lots of body/interior etc... to do and will be bugging you all for help/advice and support... from what I've seen so far... you guys never lack for any of that!!
So thanks in advance and I'll post any pics when they are warranted!!!

Toni

(I don't need anger management... you just need to quit pissing me off...)

[zuni]

I have the Weber carb on mine and would not think of changing it back, seems to have more power and I get better gas mileage.

[txtrek]

That's the report I've gotten from everyone!

[Slacker]

yep , I concure .. the webber is an excellent choice ..


and , yes .. we will be here to help where we can .. dont be afraid to ask .


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[txtrek]

The weber is installed and solved everything (except that ping that will require a rebuild one day not too distant)! The only issue is the gas pedal is now very "sticky". I suspect it's the linkage and will investigate it this weekend.

Enough of the mechanics for now... on to interior...

I tore off the door panels for a thorough cleaning and to install some speakers... typical issues... originals must have been square covers because the round ones hit the arm rests!! So the covers are now hack sawed off (can't even tell =)
Got one installed stepped back and my spatial relations kicked in... sure enough... rolled down the window... it hit... So.... a couple of nuts were just the spacers needed to get it out of the way.
I think I am going to glue some felt on the base of them so there's a bit of cushion when the window's rolled down.... don't want to break the window when I'm rockin out! LOL!
It was a bear to get the new speaker wires through the door grommets... how do you guys do it with your big ole paws?? LOL!!!

Now the dash is torn apart and taking the time to clean everything in site, clean up the multitude of wiring pieces and lubricate the a/c/vent/htr cables...

I would like to eventually mount the receiver in the glove box and put in an original stereo/unmolested dash. Anyone have the dash??

I will put pics on when I get time to do more... life is very busy when you are busy living it!!!

[Slacker]

on the gas pedal , check the mount on the floor .. there is hinge there , and it rusts .

speaker grommets are best to pull the grommet out of the door , and run your wires threw it , and then put the gromet back in the door


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[txtrek]

what's the best thing to do for the air control cables?
Should I replace them or just oil them with 3in1 oil?
or clean them and use graphite or???

[txtrek]

Finally I found some time to work on her a bit. With the dash still disassembled, I removed all the vent hoses, etc... and washed everything I could in the sink with hot water and dish soap! I scraped and 409'd and scrubbed 29 years of dust and dirt under there...
I found some silicon lubricant and greased everything I could find... replaced disintegrated foam... the dash was already butchered up and I did a much better job with the new receiver... It doesn't look half bad! I put it all back together and TADA!!! I have music and the blower motor still works and the switches switch.







My camera battery was dead when I had it all disassembled!

Now can anyone tell me how to 'remold' the dash where it has curled up at the edge... any tricks? And what can I do about the door openers?

[Slacker]

and paint that gear shifter .. ;D


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