Love it!
Love it!
Java: HAM is definitely going to be going in the runner, but for now it's gonna have to be a CB. I have an old Tram D42 laying around but no where really works for a mount (tried it in my truck). A friend at work came to my rescue with a Uniden D510. I snagged a firestik antenna (4') off of CL for $20, and then just ordered a 12ft line, spring, and stud to mount it all up. I think "out the door" I'm out less than $50 for the whole darn thing (not counting shipping) 
84FSP: I don't know what it is about those Toyota stickers, but the rigs just don't look the same without em
mattmacklind and Crankwalk: Thanks! I'm glad I got to practice on something before I tried body work on my Alfa. There are a handful of blemishes but nothing anyone would notice unless it was pointed out to them.
I'm mostly caught up on fleet maintenance (Still need to change the oil on Mrs Hungary's Saab) so the push begins:
A week ago I started a thread on an overlanding forum asking if anyone wanted to putt across the mountains with me. The response was a bit overwhelming. In short, about 14 vehicles are making the run (three of us are grassrooters), and I'll be leading the group down a twisty set of forest service roads I've never been down before. The area is called "Stampede Pass" and it basically just connects I-90 to WA Hwy-410 (near Lonesome lake where we go camping). the journey should take us most of the day, and from what I hear it's pretty smooth sailing the whole time (just dirt roads and great scenery) I'm super stoked and super scared at the same time 
One week to prep, and the list is a little long for the time frame:
Timing chain replacement
Oil change
CB install
CD radio install (just because it happened to be in work when this hit)
full size spare tire install
Rock chip protection (See Java's post)
I'll probably change the oil at the same time as the timing chain. If I'm going to be in there that deep, I might as well adjust the valves and double check the ignition timing too. oh, and the battery hold down is a little loose. I better tighten that up as well.
The radio might as well be finished with the CB install. And the CB is a must so I can communicate with the others on the run (Java: If this doesnt work out, I may need to borrow that handheld you mentioned)
aaaaaand the spare tire thing is a must because I'm running 31 x 10.50's and the original spare to the truck is much shorter (and narrower)
I know I'm forgetting something here... anyhoo, here goes! It's monday now, that leaves me with 4 mornings to get it all done
Like I mentioned, the radio was in work but here's what you missed on that one:
The old tape deck was getting annoying. The tape plays slow, and about twice a minute I have to adjust the tuner to keep from losing a station...
Here's a top-gear top tip. If you want to keep your truck from getting broken in to, make it look like a thief beat the would be thieves to the punch!
I swear that screw was loctited in there (same thing with the same one on the other side too!). I went to town on them before I finally muscled 'em round... Oh well, I still win because I has the Dewalt!
I finally got the cd player installed, but there's a 15-amp inline tube fuse that's blown. That'll have to wait until my next trip to the store.
Meanwhile I decided I should start looking at placement for the CB. I pondered a couple different areas before settling on this one. My favored spot was going to be under the shelf that sits under the CD player. It looked like it was going to be gravy until I hooked up my antenna wire. Then it didn't fit there anymore.
This spot is a bit of a compromise. It's accessible, out of the way, and I didn't have to drill any new holes to make it work. Done.
I've got power and ground to the CD and CB run, so once I get that fuse I'm hoping I'll have tunes again. If not, no big deal. I'll just put it back together and depend on the CB for my driving entertainment.
Good times.
For my antenna (I scored a 4ft firestik off of CL for $20) I wanted to mount it in a way that it wouldn't require drilling new holes. I have an idea and I'm hoping it'll work out. Basically I'm going to make a mount that will use a bolt from the fiberglass cap to hold it in place. From there I'll run aground wire and Bob's my uncle.
To start, I had some sheet steel from another project. I was going to use it for tig practice so I'd be good to go when it came time to fill the body kit holes on the Alfa. After my work on the 'Runner with kitty hair, I'm probably going to skip the tig...
Anyhoo:
I bent that by hand in my vice. I'm surprised how well it worked out
Unfortunately that's as far as I got today...
Good times 
Your not using that diamond blade the cut the steel are you? Ugh....
Can't wait for your run! I think there are many more than 14 rigs now.... I think I have a swr meter I could bring to tune your antenna if needed.
Mine looked just like that except it was an SR5 V6. I added the small bushwacker flares to cover the rust under my wheel well trim. Then the tires were too small so I torched the centers out of a set of Chevy truck rally wheels and painted them semigloss black. Looked great with the Chevy center caps and deep dress up rings. Man I miss that truck.
Just bought a cabin up north and one of my neighbors has a red 4Runner that I will be keeping my eye on.
The stripes totally make the truck.
Java: I did 
I didn't have a suitable abrasive blade and the next thing in line would have been a hacksaw... I'm sorry.
Sticking with my long history of staying on task, I decided to pop the hood today!
The timing chain begins...
I've been having bad luck with vacuum lines recently. I broke a few on the wife's Saab, and now the first one I barely bump breaks on my truck. This isn't the start I wanted
I think I'm down to the point where it's just the cam sprokets, water pump and then I can take the timing cover off. With a little fudge room, it's looking like I might make it by Thursday
And of course I just jinxed myself 
Good times
PS
I hate 80's rats nests. I may do a little cleaning in that department while I'm in there. The "ease of maintenance" benefits alone make it worth while... I mean, could you imagine being an engineer back then trying to design this crap?
80's vacuum systems are like circuit diagrams for air.
Kind of funny isn't it? Everything air powered seems to get replaced by electricity!
oil lamps became headlights, vacuum wipers are now electric, rats nests are now CPU's, and now we're replacing internal combustion with electric motors.
Wonder what's next?
Night time work while I put the oldest to sleep. (He makes me "help him" by waiting in the hall outside his room).
The base is painted (black), holes are drilled, and the spring and base arrived! I put it all together but it turns out I bought the wrong base. This one is for a fire-ring attachment and not a PL-259 connector like the one on the end of my 12' line.
I ordered what I think is the right one and forked over a few extra bucks for expedited shipping from Amazon. ETA is before September 30th.
Good times
Hungary Bill wrote: I think I'm down to the point where it's just the cam sprokets, water pump and then I can take the timing cover off. With a little fudge room, it's looking like I might make it by Thursday....
I should have known better than to say some dumb stuff like that...
So, along with the water pump and cam sprokets were the crank pulleys that I forgot about and the oil pump. Then there was the smog pump bracket that shared a mounting bolt under the engine mount bracket (same bolt, just that the smog pump bracket was between the engine mount and the engine...). Long story short, I spent a bit of time scrambling to get tools I could have had ready had I been thinking
I did waste a bit of time with the alternator and alternator bracket, thinking it too was mounted to the timing chain cover...
Anyhoo, the short version is "It took me way longer than I expected to get that darn cover off" (but off it came)
Tomorrow it's new chain and tensioner time. I completely spaced the tensioner inspection in my haste to get ready for work. There's a chevy pickup with a certain exhaust note that drives by at 5am and lets me know it's time to call it quits. I call it my "alarm chevy". Well, he was 15 minutes late driving by today so it was a bit of a scramble getting things put away...
To save a bit of time tomorrow, I brought all my covers and whatnot with me to work. I'll use my lunch break today to get the mating surfaces cleaned and prepped for install tomorrow.
Good times 
In reply to java230:
Dude, I would LOVE it if you could bring your SWR meter. Thanks man!
In reply to Hungary Bill:
Found meter, didnt find short cables to go with it..... Will have to dig more.
In reply to java230:
Aw man, don't go through a bunch of trouble on my account. If you cant find it, no big deal.
Thanks for looking though!
Man, today did not start well...
I splashed brake cleaner in my eye (cleaning the timing cover), dropped a bolt down the hell hole, woke up 30-minutes late aaaaand really didnt get much done.
BUT! A bad morning in the garage is still better than a good day at work
First though, yesterday's lunch scrubbing went well:
I'm glad I did it too. For some reason gasket scraping never goes as quick or as easy as I expect it to It really saved me a lot of time this morning for the installs.
And then there was yesterday's night work!
The antenna stud with the right connection was waiting for me when I got home, and so was my new air compressor! (I have onboard air!!!! yay!)
The compressor cost me $9 from cabellas with a gift card I got ($50) from work. I ordered it online and was getting worried it wouldn't get here in time.
This morning I finally got to look at the timing chain and guide. It wasn't pretty:
(see that broken chunk stuck in the oil pan? I didn't do that, that's right where I found it...)
Some wear on the head...
That's the underside of the head. There's a nice timing chain sized chunk taken out of the head gasket...
And the bolt I dropped down the hell hole. this happened because when I reinstalled the cover it moved that part of the head gasket and caused a misalignment with its hole provision. I tried moving it back as far as I could but it's still not lining up. I'll probably just punch a new hole for the bolt to go through and put the head gasket in the "later" bin.
And look who came out to join me! This was at about 5:15. Long after I should have cleaned up... The Chevy alarm truck was a bit early, and I was behind. I think I only got about 3-bolts in on the timing cover. I'm hoping that's enough to hold it against the block enough to let the gasket sealer set... Time will tell on that one.
Water pump is also installed, but the oil pump needs to go on still (just an o-ring on that one).
Also the front part of the oil pan gasket came off with the timing cover. I'm hoping I put enough sealer on there to keep it from leaking, but of course those holes didn't line up either
I'm hoping to get this thing together enough to make sure it's not puking oil before the run. I might try waking up a little earlier tomorrow (like 2-ish?) and possibly try to use saturday morning as a buffer zone (I really don't want this to run into sunday morning)
Good times
Oh thats a nice tensioner!
How thick is that antenna mount? I have a bad feeling its not going to hold up.... Those antennas get moving, and have a lot of force....
Hungary Bill wrote: With a little fudge room, it's looking like I might make it by Thursday
I just wanted to quote myself again for punishment. This should keep me from saying anything that dumb again
java230 wrote: Oh thats a nice tensioner! How thick is that antenna mount? I have a bad feeling its not going to hold up.... Those antennas get moving, and have a lot of force....
Dang man, you're right. If I hold on to the mount side I can get it to flex a bit. Not sure how thick the steel is (I'll put calipers on it in a minute) but I remember thinking it was probably going to be a bit thin to be "permanent". I'm thinking it should make one run, but I'm open to suggestions if you can think of a last minute option.
Funny, this steel seems thicker than the last mount I remember having (one of those that screw in between the hood and fender)
The antenna mount measures .060". almost half of the thickness of this stainless mount: https://www.rightchannelradios.com/collections/cb-antenna-mounts/products/wide-flat-cb-antenna-mount
I might have to chew on that one a bit...
I used the screw between the hood and fender version on my 85. it was ~1/8" thick.
Quick and and dirty, drill a hole in the front bumper.
or back bumper?
Local auto parts store/wally world likely has the hood gap mounts in stock.
Might weld a tab to the back bumper (smittybuilt tube bumper). Let me see what I have laying around as far as thicker steel goes... Do you think the rear mount would be too low for a 4' antenna though?
In reply to Hungary Bill:
I made an antenna mount for a ~5' Firestik in a similar fashion from some thin sheet metal scrap similar to yours, except I doubled it up so it was twice as thick. Mounted to the 3rd brake light/spare tire carrier on my TJ, so it hit every tree limb, drive through awning, etc. that I drove under. It lasted a few years before the mount metal fatigued to the point that it broke in half.
Randomly driving down the road in town, hear a dragging sound, pull over, and I'm towing the Firestik behind me. Dragging on the asphalt ground most of the tip off, ruining the antenna, sadly that was the end of my CB days.
For one or two outings I'd expect it to survived.
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