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This last week, I decided to get to work on my Cruiser.  Originally, my 66 Toyota Land Cruiser had a pair of fold-down jump seats that were mounted to the rear wheel wells. I went back and forth, between original and what I wanted. Original? What I wanted? Finally, I decided that I wanted a single seat in the back and that’s what I did.

I took one of the original jump seats and prepped it to make it into one back seat. The original seat had two little arms that shot out and down for stability. I decided to cut them off because I didn’t need them. Simple enough. Grinded it down, smoothed it out and it’s good.

I then had to create a platform to attach the seat to. Since I hang on to every little part and piece, I reused the front bumper to make a platform for the seat. I cut parts of the front bumper into  two 12 inch pieces, with a little left over. I then welded two pieces of angle iron to the two used bumper pieces and made a simple but very effective platform.

I then spent some time, locating the angle iron supports that were under the floor. It took a little time to find the right place then drilled the holes and bolted it down.

Once the platform was in place, I bolted the back seat to the platform and checked to make sure it had plenty of leg room for the back seat passengers.

In this space, I mostly write about my 66 Toyota Land Cruiser and all the work I’ve done to it. Honestly, I’ve been really busy with TAG, TAG Design and helping my wife with her store, Kids and Maternity Consignments.

I did find a little time to escape this weekend and went to the cool mountains of Ruidoso. My dad and brother were on a mule deer hunt on state land  just north of Ruidoso and I went to help them.

When I was driving there, I noticed a ton of motorcycles on the road and realized that the Golden Aspen Motorcycle Rally was being held in Ruidoso. I love motorcycles. I see the ad for Damron every issue and there’s always one or two styles that catch my eye. I think once I get my Cruiser done I might invest in one. That’s down the line.

Our house is north of Ruidoso on the road to the Spencer Theater, which is a great place to get out and ride. We saw (and heard) quite a few groups riding that beautiful and seldomly traveled back road. What a great way to enjoy the fresh air and feel that power at your fingertips.

On my way home from Ruidoso on Sunday, I encountered many individual riders and some in groups. One thing I’d like to point out to all drivers, both cars and motorcycles, is to share the road. Motorists in cars need to be aware of what’s going on around them, especially in blind spots, making lane changes and pulling on to the road. Motorcyclists should always be aware of their surroundings, cruise in the cruising lane and please do not pass cars on the shoulder. Both motorists and bikers on my way back were guilty of these acts.

My plea to all, including myself, is to the share the road. Take a chance and get on a motorcycle. You’ll see the road through different eyes. And bikers, treat motorists the way you’d want to be treated.

These last couple of weeks, I’ve spent more time working on my wife’s store (Kids and Maternity Consignments) and haven’t spent much time in the garage, which results in less work on my 66 Cruiser.

But, I have done a few things these last couple of months. I built an awesome grille guard, which I talked about last issue. Still needs to be painted, but it’s functional and ready to go.

In July I built a custom roll bar, similar in style to the original roll bars built for the FJ40 Land Cruisers.  Mine wasn’t outfitted for a roll bar and I had to build and weld some supports to the frame, underneath the tub in case of a rollover.

In July, some friends and I decided to drive a 4 wheeler through a deep mud hole out back of a friend’s house in Smyer. A few weeks later, I brought my Cruiser out and I took a couple of runs at it. That mud was so sticky and deep that it immediately grabbed my tires and I was stuck. I’ll admit, I had to be pulled out twice by a tractor. It was fun though and I look forward to more days in the mud!

Well, it’s official. The readers of Texas Auto Guide have chosen Freeborn Red as the color of my “66 Toyota Land Cruiser. Thanks to all for voting.

I’ve spent a little time in the garage working on the Cruiser. A few months back I found a big piece of pipe, 3 inches in diameter and about 6 feet long at my Mimi and Papa’s house in McCamey. It’s not just a normal piece of pipe, it had a cool curve to it and instantly, I knew I’d like to use it as a grille guard for my Cruiser.

So, I brought it back to Smyer and started working on it. First I took off the old bumper, which looked like it had been used as a battering ram. Then, I cut some very thick diamond plate sheet metal and built some mounting plates for the bumper. I then put some floor jacks under the pipe and lifted it up to match the height of the frame of the Cruiser. Welded the mounting plate and the pipe together and had the basic frame of the grille guard in place.

I then bought some 1 3/4 inch pipe and started making cuts to match the front of the body of the Cruiser. It took a little time to get them all perfect, but the end result is very cool. I pity the fool that decides to step out in front of it.

Next, I took the doors off the back of the cruiser and did a little work to the sheet metal on them. Of course, they were rusted out and needed repair. The top part of these half-doors was still in good shape and didn’t need any work. The bottom part did. I took a grinder and cut out the bottom part of each door, leaving the basic frame of the door intact. I then cut out sheet metal to match the part I cut out and welded it in place. A little grinding and looked good as new.

After fixing the back doors, I turned my attention to the front doors. The front doors are full size and have a window crank and glass in them. I decided to change that. I took the window crank assembly and the glass out of the door frame.  I then unscrewed the glass frame off the door, with basically a half door remaining. This looked wierd so I cut 6 inches off the top of the door and welded on a new strip of sheet metal across the top to make a better looking half door.  I then grinded the welds down smooth and touched up a couple places. I know I probably could have bought a vinyl half door but it just wouldn’t look the same, plus I like it better this way.

After getting a new oil pan gasket on, I realized that I needed to get those dang seats fixed. They were in terrible shape with some kind of homemade seat cover sewn over them. I took them over to Fisher Auto Trim and after visiting with Marc Fisher, he got them fixed up and looking real good.

With new seats in place, I started working on the inside part of the Cruiser. I bought some spray-on bedliner stuff and with a little help from Meisha, we got it put on. It’s nice having it all over the inside of the Cruiser.

Recently, I’ve been working on the grille guard, tail lights, roll bar and working some dents out of the body. I’ll get into those more next issue.

After taking the original doors off and cut them down to half doors, I turned my attention to the engine.

After getting the headlights working and the speedo cable attached properly, it was time to take on the grease and grime.

On the bottom side of the engine, is a skid plate, bolted on to the engine and frame. I noticed that fluid was leaking out and so I pulled the skid plate off to take a look. When I unbolted the skid plate, there was probably 10 lbs of oil and dirt and grease stuck to the bottom of the engine and the top side of the skid plate. It took forever to get it really cleaned!

After pulling the skid plate off, I noticed that the leak was coming from the oil pan. Seems that the original oil pan gasket was still attached and was not doing it’s job properly. I bought a new one online and after draining all the stinky oil, proceeded to unbolt the pan from the lower part of the engine.  It wasn’t too bad taking it off, but putting it on took two days and a miracle.

It was by far one of the most challenging things to try to get back on. Trying to fit all 20 bolts through the holes while keeping the gasket in place was not easy. It’s done and hasn’t leaked. Although the oil pan plug still does…