Engine & Solid Axle Swap Build

Work in progress... well... more or less this has been an ongoing project. Also have the tubing bent and ready for a baja/safari bar. Kinda funny... I had this tubing for this cage long before I started the axle swap. I got tired of not seeing any progress since it was all being done "under the hood"... I needed to look at something else for a while. Well... I also needed the cage to mount the radiator, hydraulic resovoir, cooler, and filter. Enjoy. Will post more pics later today.

-Greg

 

I'm killing ya'll aren't I?

 

Thanks for the complements. I probably have about 6k in it and a TON of hard work.
I'll have to try to add up what I've purchased. Bought a lot of crap I didn't need/use in order to get things to fit right. Posting more pics in a bit.

-greg

 

More pics as promised. Roll cage done and baja bar done.

 

LOL! Blood sweat and beer cans! I was wondering if anyone would notice that!

 

The winch plate is just welded directly to the bottom of a 2" drop reciever hitch. The bumper is made from .25" thick 2" x 12" C-channel. I have a bumper thread around here somewhere.

 

Thank you thank you! Just have the hard stuff left. I hate the hard stuff...

 

Ordered all my brake lines/fittings from classictube.com... Should be a good weekend project. Who wants to take bets on what the chance is the stock master cylinder is gonna work? I hope it does bc there is not much room behind the instrument cluster for anything bigger. op:

 

I hope your right. Just depends on the diamter and the stroke of the master. IDK what that is though. The stock Jeep master has a 1" bore. Just thinking that the huge 3" pistons on all four corners are gonna need more fluid that the master can supply. Got my fingers crossed!

 

Brakes are done! Works with the stock master cylinder too! Can't tell a difference in pedal travel although its been a few years... Next up Steering. Already ordered some fittings just need the hose. Everything else I have. Been working on the floor console to hold the shifter and the rear steer valve. Sorry for the crappy camera phone pics.

 

Yay. Get this beast on the road again!

 

Nah! Those are real 4wd knuckles! Actually they are standard U-joints no boot needed.

 

OK. So since its almost been about 2.5 years since i've started this project its about time to raise some hell! Im itching too get this thing out of the garage and it will happen this spring. So my mental list of things to do to get this on the trail are dwindling down to a few things I can actually write down. Here it goes.

Needs to be done:

• Driveshafts (I have everything for this. and its at the machine shop now)
• Transmission shifter and linkage (ordered shift cable and then complete center console to mount)
• Steering (Everything is installed and in place with the exception of mounting the rear joystick control, resovoir, and need to order hydraulic hose and pump belt)
• Throttle linkage (have throttle cable... need a $2 cable stop before I can install)
• Differentials (order diff cover gaskets and top off with fluid)
• Radiator/Trans cooler (Need to mount radiator and plumb)
• Exhaust (Need to weld in O2 Sensor bung and fab a muffler support bracket)
• Misc Wiring (Just tie up some loose ends, tape it up, secure it)

Not really much left... Woohoo! Right now I've started fabrication on the center console so I can mount the trans shifter and rear steer control. Waiting on the shifter cable to come in before I can complete it. Then I can measure and order the hydraulic lines to complete the steering. There are a few more things I need to do after I get this thing moving under its own power but that falls under the test and tune stage.

 

Scratch Differential and Exhaust off the list. Got the diff gaskets and fluid in. Fabbed up the support braket (took 3 tries lol) and O2 sensor is in. Got the rest of the throttle Linkage parts coming and hope to have the shifter cable this week... Really need to finish the center console. Maybe this week/weekends project? Sorry no pics as of right now.

 

Scratch Throttle cable off the list. Although I wonder how its going to hold up. It was a $12 Jr. Dragster cable... so basically a go cart cable. Seems a bit stiff. Time will tell. Maybe I will learn to buy quality parts one day. Was kinda difficult to find a 10ft throttle cable. Hard to believe that It took the entire 10ft... an extra 6" would of been nice. shift cable will be here tomorrow. Started mounting the radiator and ordered a steering pump from a 95 chevy impala with an LT1 engine. I'm still not sure if Im gonna use it or the stock pump I have. Read where too many people are having problem with the stock honda pump not providing enough flow. gonna see how hard it will be to mount the impala pump for now.

-Greg

 

OK so I just found myself in the garage doing some really scientific stuff. I've been on the internet trying to figure out how to bypass the secondary o2 sensor (no catalytic) so I can get rid of the pesky "check engine light"... this is prooving to be a PITA BTW. Was thinking that I could tap into the primary o2 sensor to provide signal to the secondary inputs of the ECU but need to attenuate and shift the output phase of the primary signal to the secondary... Needless to say I found myself in the garage with a can of brake cleaner, voltmeter, primary o2 sensor, a rag, battery, capacitors, resistors, and a few feet of wire. So far it looks good. Damn thing detects the crap out of a brake cleaner soaked rag. So if anyone needs a soaked rag detecter I can make you one. LOL I think im gonna add some tooth pics and duct tape for effect. Why can't i be normal?

P.S. Yes it will be fine to spoof the secondary o2 sensor. It only detects catalytic efficiency and is not used by the ECU for the fuel trim.

 

Interesting thought. I've heard of this for engine knock sensor but not for o2 sensors. the voltage must be lower than the primary so the ECU knows the catalytic is doing its job. Might be worth trying though.