Rufus The Doofus

I’m almost done.

I’ve been working on getting the BJ42 Landcruiser ready for our upcoming 6,000 mile trip. I noticed the front steering knuckles were leaking axle fluid pretty badly a few days after I topped off the front differential lube. I knew this couldn’t be a good thing so I spent some time researching it [...]

The OME (Old Man Emu) suspension kit was installed today. I’m pretty impressed with the difference in ride quality over the old, flat stock springs on our ‘82 BJ42. I have no idea who Old Man Emu is or was but he makes some nice leaf springs.
I was a little worried the Cruiser [...]

When our BJ42 arrived it had a bull bar on it. One of the first things I did was remove it because it was damaged and barely held in place by the broken and bent bolts. It would rattle horribly on every little bump. I knew I’d fix it some day. [...]

I’ve been working on getting the auxiliary fuel tank installed in our BJ42 the past couple of days. It’s mounted and the plumbing is done. I still have to hook up the fuel gauge and the transfer pump.

The Sea Foam treatment worked so well I decided I would try Liqui Moly Diesel purge treatment. I ordered four cans from TDI Parts on Friday night and they arrived here on Monday afternoon. (I get my oil and filters for the Jetta from TDI Parts too.)
If you read any of the VW [...]

The long-awaited Land Cruiser BJ42 has arrived. It’s pretty amazing that it’s so easy to buy a car from the opposite side of the globe.

I spoke with the customs broker today. It looks like our Land Cruiser BJ42 should clear customs tomorrow or Monday. That’s much faster than I had anticipated. There could be one delay due to the Registered Importer selected by the broker. The RI doesn’t usually handle non-conforming vehicles. There’s usually [...]

I was reading a bunch of news articles earlier tonight and noticed that the Ron Paul Blimp was in Baltimore today. I wonder if they saw our Toyota BJ42 being unloaded from the ship?
You didn’t know there’s a Ron Paul Blimp?

I’ve previously mentioned that we’re importing a Toyota BJ42 from New Zealand. That’s it in the picture. The ship it’s on is named “Texas”. The ship arrived in the Port of Baltimore today. I’m curious how long it’s going to take for the shipment to clear customs and make its way [...]