Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

thanks sir!

:fry:

the seat spent like 6 months sitting upside down on the stack of tires ... it's new tire oil and it's NOT coming out. you can actually read "General" and see the tread. the seat needed re-covered anyways, but now i HAVE to.

the only local-ish guy who seams like he knows what he's doing with full custom work is backed up for like over a year. i need to call n get in line i guess.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I bought these for my recent project. They fit great and clean up the look nicely. no run time yet though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284107600353

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I made a mistake in terminology. Brain fart.. not a blow off but external waste gate. As the power levels rise you just can't internal gate anymore. You still use it but dial in an external gate. You bypass the extra exhaust and dump it back in for the larger turbo.

I actually have a Hamilton cam in my 12v. I talked to him years ago. My 12v truck has been broken down for years and i am torn on what to swap the drivetrain into. I lost something in the clutch and suffered an electrical fire in the cab. Truck is a 12v with G56 4x4.

On a separate note you will need injectors. As fuel levels rise the injector becomes a bottle neck and actually changes the timing since the slug of fuel isn't in the motor. On a 12v you want to Inject the fuel as fast as possible so that it has more time to excert pressure on the piston. This is what gives the old time diesel rattle.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Coo thanks!!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Looking good. Driving soon?

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i freaking got sick and couldn't work on it yesterday ... uuugghhhh ...

Monday i got all the fuel lines in and checked the trans before filling it, still had some oil. also had some honey, some sludge, and some water. opened the PTO covers and got it all cleaned out, must have just been a little condensation cuz everything was clean. then i was out of RTV! :facepalm:

maybe today i'll feel well enough to seal up the covers n give it a shot.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I like your project. It's a great concept and your moving at light speed.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I drove it!!!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

vids!

https://imgur.com/YyUudp8

https://imgur.com/o8EM0Vz

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

in the second video ... picture this ... the drivers door has no latch, there are no seatbelts, i'm only turning right, the entire yard is well sloped away from the house ... it was a white knuckle lap! :lol:

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Congrats...right on. First drive are suppose to be sketchy...
Must of felt great. Full speed ahead on this build now.

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

OH RIGHT ON!!!! You must be soo excited, great job!!! I like the little burnout lol.
I agree with Marc sketchy is a prerequisite.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

:lol: bases covered!

felt amazing, it just worked. lots of dial in to go and leaks to find/fix, but verification of functionality is real. just knowing i can back it out of the shop to move it around is huge.

fuel leak ... might be from bleeding air before running
power steering leak ... from the adjuster bolt on the top, wtf, it's a new box
oil leak ... pan or new rear main, or both
air ... entire drivers side leaks down over night.

[IMG] of 2 oil puddles under the truck [/IMG]

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Hey that's not bad for building and rebuilding everything.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

so far, a very unpopular decision amongst the guys ... the 55 has been wrapped up and mothballed for a bit. realistically with the extra detail/effort, and with what is left to do, it wouldn't be street-able before winter anyways. so i have til the salt is gone to get it all right. i pushed to this milestone and feels gooood.

i need to fix/dial in a bunch of stuff on the 93 before winter. the rebuilt trans got a new input shaft, that input shaft is apparently sticking at the discs and doesn't allow clean shifting. have to pull it and file all the edges til the discs slide smooth. the t-case needs clocked down, and that'll require transmission cross member mods. that is to have better drive shaft angles so i can stop blowing them out. also swapping to a much better Spicer shaft and that requires new yokes axle and t-case. once all that is done i'm cutting out the entire rear suspension and starting over ... because you know ... #NotAProject. currently stock length 52" springs but 4" lift "dump truck" leafs and a factory 4" block. going to a GM 64" spring, 3" lift for a '98 1500 and a shackle flip to also eliminate the block. wish me luck.

an even more unpopular possibility is that i drop a TDI into my XJ right after. TDI needs a head, XJ has no motor currently, could use a better MPG 4x4, could use something to salt up rather than the 93 unless i need to, etc. should be a pretty straight forward swap, so we'll see.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I'm sorry I stopped reading after the part about butting the 55 on ice for a bit....

Transmission work is overrated (experience talking)

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

:lol:

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i always want to move back to pa but there is the harsh reality of stopping work around september to put everything away till march. my brother lives in meadville and realistically cant even work in his attached 20x40 shop because his SO parks in there on one side, he gets it warm enough and she comes back from the store and lets all the heat out.


at least here in kansas I can fourseasonsgarage™®© it in the driveway year round when the 19x19 attached is full.

maiden trip looks like fun on a bun. thanks for the vid!

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

it's not that bad! we did a 4-car attached when we built the house, 45x25. i use half for my shop and half for daily parking. the key is to keep it warm/cool all the time vs just when you want to work. then when you open the door the air only takes a moment to come to temp with everything else at temp.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

Ya it sucks, but ya I take some time in the fall to get the winter stuff and cars ready for the slop. Good thing is we park outside unless something brakes.
Just keep us posted.

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

i fell to page 2 :whine: oh well ... thought ya'll might enjoy what i was up to though.

the ram needed a few things before winter, so that was first. transmission rebuild didn't take from this spring, the steel cones for the 1&2 synchro's were too worn and not available any more. i had to shim the friction cones pinned to the gears to get engagement. the steels were just landing on the gear and not grabbing anything. also installed the missing anti-rattle buttons in the clutch and a Fluidamr. the whole thing just runs and idols sooooo much smoother. i messed up fan spacing for the new balancer and ended up having to also install a whole new rad too. finally up and running it was time to patch the hole in the passenger floor, it had gotten way worse since i bought it. turns out it was 100% rotting from the inside out, and was slightly worse than i expected. still all flat and an easy enough fix though. rest of the cab is totally clean, even the corner just behind this floor. windshield or AC must have kept the carpet wet in the floor locally for quite a few years.

XJ Project:
i've always had a soft spot for XJs, and particularly wanted a clean 2dr. stumbled into this one, so this will be a winter beater to try and save some fuel and save other old steel from the salt. the engine was FUBAR, so why not engine swap it. going in will be a 1.9L WV TDI ALH, with an MTDI conversion pump. factory xj manual trans, so i'm hoping this all comes together rather quickly. cross your fingers for me.

https://i.imgur.com/LWf7qZz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jKmB5vo.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KFP1jbM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6aH6r8g.jpg

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

nice job fixing the xj soft spot

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

I'm in boycott of this thread until we get back to truck content.....Bha ha ha

Marc

Re: Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)
 

You took the words out of my mouth :). Who cares about some crappy SO, we want more old truck!!!! Lol. Nice repair though :)