The New Job.
I did my first week in the new job!
I'm working for a huge international company as an internal glazier installing shower screens, mirrors and built in wardrobes and sliding doors.
It will be a bit tough for the first few months as my salary isnt huge, but once I'm competent and I'm out there doing my own installations I will be earning good money as the commission and bonuses are very good.
Its also a great package and as my Dad would say "its a socks and pants job" as they provide everything, they provide all your shirts, trousers, boots, tools, phone & van!
They sent me out with some of the other fitters this week so I could learn about the different products and how we install them. Here's a few pics of what I/we installed this week, but I promise I wont bore you with more of these pics in the future!
Bec was amazing
Again and surprised me when I got home on my first day!
Found a note on the front door.
And this in the freezer!
Lexi.
Lexi has recovered well from her surgery and decided to squeeze one of the palm throngs that she plays with in the garden, through the dog flap this morning so she could bring it into the lounge!
After clearing that mess up we took her for a play date with the other Border Collie from her puppy school.
The 2 girls had a great time playing together in the rain while we stood and chatted with the other young couple.
She was exhausted after an hour of that and fell asleep on the way home.
Welder.
I fitted the new electrode holder onto the welding lead I made up for the Miller Dynasty, so I'm now ready to do the work on the trailer project that I need to do.
1985 RJ70 Soft Top.
So last week my mate Brady, down in Melbourne messaged me to say have you seen the blue soft top on Gumtree.
This one:
I did some searching on Google images and after 10 minutes I found the car, from when it was offered for sale 6 years ago.
http://www.4wdaction.com.au/classifieds/42950-v8-short-wheel-base-landcruiser-soft-top
It looked very similar back then but had a slightly different spec and had a V8 petrol engine running on LPG rather than the 2.4TD engine that it now has.
Heres the pics from the above link:
So I went and looked at it Wednesday evening and agreed to buy it!
Yesterday morning I removed the heavy fridge and slide from LJ to make it a bit lighter and to give me more room in the back.
Picked up a hire trailer from the local fuel servo and set off for North Brisbane 100km's/60miles away up the motorway.
All was going well until we went over a long bridge on the motorway and the bloody trailer came off doing 100kmh! I looked in the mirror and the thing was airborne behind us!
I managed to safely slow down and pull over and the safety chain had thankfully kept the trailer leashed to the car and I was able to get it back on.
I'm not sure if I had forgotten to click the lock down or not but the spring on the lock was pretty loose so I put a little carabiner through it to hopefully stop it from jumping off again.
The previous owner, Kieran, was a really nice guy and helped me load RJ onto the trailer as well as the mountain of spares he had given me with it and we set off for home.
Hers a shot Kieran got of us pulling out of the end of his street.
The drive back was pretty uneventful and LJ actually towed it a lot better than I thought she might. I sat on 90-100kmh the whole way back and kept it in 4th gear to avoid damaging the gearbox with the weak 5th gear that LandCruisers are renowned for. It was a warmish day but the engine temp never got above 90 and sat at around 80 for most of the journey.
We arrived home.
And the ratchet straps and D shackles kept RJ safely strapped in place the whole way back.
LJ was however sat on the rear bump stops the whole way, I desperately need stiffer rear springs!
I got a few pics of the underside of RJ while she was on the trailer.
Front and rear Superior Engineering heavy duty adjustable panhard rods.
And Dobinsons 80 series front springs all round, giving a 4" suspension lift.
As the engine had the head removed as it had cracked, getting it off the trailer with just Bec and I proved tricky.
First I had to jack the trailer up as it was tilting towards LJ as it was sat on the bump stops.
We were then able to push it off the trailer between us and then fortunately one of my neighbors, who we have never met before was driving past and asked if we needed a hand pushing it into the garage.
We gladly accepted his kind offer and its a good job we did as even with 3 people pushing it was still bloody hard!
So LJ has now been demoted to living in the back garden and RJ gets the garage!
I got a mountain of spares with the car.
2 spare bonnets that we strapped to the trailer under RJ.
A load of panels that we carried in the back of LJ.
3 x wings (or front guards as they call them here).
There was more parts in the back of RJ.
Lots of heater matrix's.
2 x turbo's, 1 almost brand new, the other slightly worn but still usable.
The cracked head from the 2.4 TD 2LT engine thats currently fitted.
It has been pressure tested and the cracks marked.
Kieran did an excellent job of labeling all the engine parts when he stripped the engine down to remove the head.
These are all the parts from the stripped motor.
Lots more spare parts.
The aircon parts as RJ has factory aircon.
He gave me all the new parts he had brought to fix the engine, all it needs is a new head which he hadnt yet sourced.
These are the removable rear windows.
The bigger, drivers side one is in great condition.
But sadly the other one is badly corroded.
Kieran had the great idea of cutting the window frame off a normal hard top rear door to weld to the brackets on the rotten soft top one!
He gave me the brackets that go on the bonnet and secure the windscreen in position when its folded down.
One of them is missing some parts but I'm sure they could be made if not bought.
He gave me the special double pivot windscreen wipers that allow the windscreen to fold down.
He gave me some freshly powder coated rock sliders/side steps/scrub bars that mount to the bullbar at the front.
The bullbar is a rare original, genuine Toyota one that kieran had started to modify to take a winch.
Its shaped perfectly around the contour of the front panel.
The modifications to turn it into a winchbar .
And this is the original 9000lb Toyota supplied Super Winch that is to be mounted to it.
He added aerial tabs and tabs for a light bar.
He gave me the Ironman light bar that bolts onto the tabs on the bullbar.
I couldnt get all the parts in LJ, RJ and on the trailer. So we did another trip up in the Astra yesterday evening to collect the rest of it.
We ended up with one very full car!
He gave me a fiberglass replacement screen surround complete with screen.
As the screen surround on RJ is starting to rust out, as they always do.
Aluminium checkered sheet to go on the 2 rock sliders/side steps and a piece to go on the rear tube bar.
A decent receiver hitch tow bar.
Another dash board.
I'm not sure if the dash boards in the soft tops are identical to the hard tops or not, but this spare one is out of another soft top as it has the sticker on the drivers side.
An original genuine frame that goes beneath the standard soft top.
Its looking slightly worse for wear, but these are so rare and it could possibly be repaired or copied.
This is the rear section that the removable door tops shut into.
A pair of inner guards/arches.
A spare gearbox/transferbox.
A pair of drive shafts/prop shafts.
A fuel tank with guard.
Theres a rear bench seat too that I forgot but Kieran is hoping to drop off to me next weekend.
So lets take a closer look at what I've bought............................
With the soft top removed there is a nice chunky roll bar/hoop made from 75mm alluminium tube.
I will probably get it powder coated black along with the bull bar and rear bar once their finished.
I like the rear bar! Not stupidly heavy like LJ's but perfectly adequate at protecting the rear end.
Blue airbrushed flames wouldnt have been my first choice but I dont hate it and it looks smart enough for now.
Few pics of the inside.
I'm thinking the sun shade will have to go as it will prevent me from locking the windscreen down onto the bonnet, so that might go on LJ instead as I actually quite like it.
OK....................
So heres what I'm thinking...........................
The original plan was to source a replacement body for LJ as LJ's body is only going to last so long, what with the roof swap after the roll over and all the welding and filling that has been done over the years.
So I thought it would be cool to put a super rare soft top body on it and as they are hard to find and often very rotten I would start looking now and it might take a year or 2 to find a suitable donor, but when one comes up in the right condition I could sell all the parts off to recover some money and just store the body for a few years until I need it.
But seen as RJ is in such good condition and Kieran has done some great work on it so far, I cant bring myself to do that to it, its just too good and deserves to be fixed up and put back on the road.
But that got me thinking can I really justify another car when I already have 2 cars and a motorbike registered and on the road?
Then I thought about it some more and thought bugger it! I dont need to justify it! Having a car collection might not make much financial sense but that doesnt matter, if it makes you happy then its perfectly justified!
So what I want to do is either get a head and fix the 2LT engine thats currently fitted, or fit something different, either a 2.8 or 1KZ-T.
-Finish the rear bar and bull bar and get them shot blast and powder coated black.
-Get the roll hoop powder coated black.
-I need a spare wheel and a new set of 33" tyres.
-Fit the windscreen hold downs to the bonnet.
-Service the winch and source a fair lead and hook (I've already got a spare plasma rope) and an albright solenoid.
-Fit a rear seat and belts.
And then it should be some where near usable. I cant afford to spend any money on it just yet as I havent really received any wages in over a month now and I need to start building the saving accounts back up ready for the wedding later in the year and buying a house next year.
But I would love to have it back on the road when 4 of my mates arrive from the UK for my wedding, so we can take LJ and RJ to Fraser Island for a few days.
How cool would RJ look with the tops removed from the front doors and windscreen folded down, cruising along 75mile beach!
But of course this means I will still need a replacement body for LJ, but as I now own a soft top I will try and find a rust free hard top body instead!
Finally.......................
Huge thanks to Brady for finding it for me, Kieran for being such a great guy to deal with and Bec for being incredible and supporting and encouraging me to buy yet more toys!
