Round 2: Keepin' up with the Joneses, Mud Devils and Tony Woody

Oh, you made em like that on purpose? I was going to offer to sell you some tube.


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4 car garage...
 
Look ma, no ratchet straps!
Went into work for a few hours this afternoon to wrap up the suspension. Got the rear upper CA mounts and Antirock tabs installed and that completed the rear.
I stared at the front UCA axle mount and track bar bracket for what seemed like an hour before I figured it out. I ended up cutting off the current 3 link tower, shortened it 2" and reinstalled it. This gave me additional uptravel without sacrificing hide height. Next, I grabbed some 1.5 x .250 DOM, burned in a 7/8 x 7/8 heim and made a bushing sleeve for the frame end. I had to hack up a Barnes4wd trackbar bracket in order to clear my steering. I knew I'd need to have a bend or two in my track bar so it'll clear the oil pan. I ended up doing a few slight bends, more like a roll, and now it all clears!
Should have a few boxes from ECGS show up this week so I can fill those axles with some goodies.
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Looking bad ass man, can't wait to see it in person
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Tierod looks like it will be a tight fit
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It's pretty tight when mocked up. My plan is to machine a hole in the arms, weld in a piece of tube, drop the tie rod low enough to clear the TB and attach the cylinder to the tie rod via tabs. Run a bolt through the tube and secure the TR in that manner.
Worse case is I keep the tie rod on the knuckles.
Keeping it as low as reasonably possible crates a little bit of packaging issues. Going with a triangulated 4 link would have been ideal, but there's just no way to do it with pushing the front axle so far forward it no longer resembled a Ranger or making it 8-10" taller which isn't gonna happen.
 
Could you design and build something similar to the Artec arms with a thru bolt from arm to knuckle? That would give you plenty of adjustability.
 
XJsavage said:
Could you design and build something similar to the Artec arms with a thru bolt from arm to knuckle? That would give you plenty of adjustability.
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That's pretty much what I'm after.
I may just run some tube through the top of the arm so the heim nut and bolt has a flat surface to secure to. With the keyed Solid arms and knuckles, I'm not so much worried about strength as much as packaging.
 
UNBREAKABLE said:
....and then
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...staying 3-4 weeks booked out in the shop has slowed progress a little. But it's good for the wallet! I have 3 re-gears this week and 3 more next week.
Suspension, front axle and rear axle are 99% done. I literally have about 6" of welding left. I dropped off my design for my hydro cylinder mounts at Ujoint Offroad today. They plan to cut them on the plasma table tomorrow.
Started installing my driveshats today. I went with 1/4" DOM 1350 series ones from @Oliver's. Gonna have to do a little yoke grinding on them for additional clearance under droop. I rotated my pinion up to get the driveline angle down to about 16* static.
I fully plan to have the all of the chassis work done by the weekend. All that's left at that point is the engine swap, which should be simple as it already has a SBF.
I ordered my converter from Lenny at PTC and have a few remaining goodies headed my way from Summit. Headers, injectors, etc.
My plan is to be running by March 1 and spend March getting the engine tuned and the suspension dialed in prior to April Fools ride at Harlan.
 
I've always wanted to put a 302 in my XJ...... Nice upgrades you got going on there.
 
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What do you do on a cold day off? Fill up on K1 and get to work!
The chassis work is done! Spent today building the tie rod out of .250" DOM and 7/8 heims from @Barnes 4wd . Once I got it built I was able to finish up the steering consisting of Solid keyed knuckles and PSC full hydro from @Oliver's and keyed high steer arms from @4wheelsupply. Mounting those allowed me to weld on the custom steering cylinder mounts that Neil from Ujoint Offroad cut for me on their plasma table.
I plumbed the brakes front to back, reusing all of the braided hoses from the previous axles.
Plenty of tabs from @Barnes 4wd were used to mount new limit straps and my Anti Rock sway bar.
Once again, Dave from @Oliver's came through with some awesome driveshafts in the 1350 flavor. I set the front up at 0* caster and 8* pinion angle to gain additional clearance on droop. I can max out the 14" Fox air shocks and there is zero binding.
As soon as my Racelines show up, I'll mount the 40" Treps and trim the fenders for clearance.
I'll get the 306 prepped for install between gear jobs this week. Still plan to have it done done in about 3 weeks for an appointment on the dyno for an engine tune.
 
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Still dreaming of a 302 in the xj........
 
Jody Treadway said:
There will be one for sale pretty soon...306, GT40P heads, B cam, GT40 intake, etc. Let me know. I'll hook a fellow old school NAXJA buddy up right.
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Hmm, I probably cannot afford it but when you do get to that point pm me a price.
 
Jody Treadway said:
There will be one for sale pretty soon...306, GT40P heads, B cam, GT40 intake, etc. Let me know. I'll hook a fellow old school NAXJA buddy up right.
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That would be awesome in my f100 especially since I know where a super charger for one is sitting... To bad I'm a broke college kid with to many projects other wise I'd have gotten your axles and racelines lol
 
Today was a big day! Bled brakes, mounted tires and set it on the ground! Finished assembling the new engine and plan to drop it in next week hopefully.
Big thanks to @sparkn89 for the deal on the Racelines. Ryno's Tire in Canton NC is the place to call for your wheel and tire needs.
In other news, I met @Infamous1 today when he dropped by to pickup some wheels. Good dude.
I'm super happy with how the stance and over all look turned out.
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