AJ's '72 Cruiser Crawler Build

[Yukon Jack]

Nice to see the crossmember working for you now - keep after it!

[BLUE THUNDER]

When are you gonna fire it up?

[AJs72K5]

Still lots to do before I get to that point...

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 01/01/10: Drivetrain relocation. What better way to ring in the new year than to spend the afternoon at the shop working on the truck? I couldn't think of a better one. Onto the good stuff. By drivetrain relocation I mean: getting the engine off the stand; getting the tranny off of the floor; and putting them where they're supposed to be.... in the truck!

First I had to reintroduce the engine and the tranny... they've been separated for quite some time and it was an arranged marriage after all.


Now to consummate the marriage...


To quote Mr. Happy Gilmore, "This is your home. Don't you wanna go to your home? GO TO YOUR HOME!!" It was a battle getting the engine in. The master cylinder and booster had to be removed, then I had to remove the motor mount brackets from the block to get it to clear the crossmember mounts. The fresh paint on the oil pan took a beating. It'll have to be repainted.


Finally settled in.


Driver side header fits well. No clearance issues.


The passenger side...not so good. The number 6 tube is hitting the shackle. The number 8 tube within a milllimeter or two of the firewall. Worst of all, the collector flange is not playing nice with the clocked up transfer case. This header is going to require a bunch of rework. Can't really tell in this pic, oh well.


The good news is that with the work I had done on the firewall, and even with raising up the engine 9/16", everything on the engine still clears and looks good. The distributor clearance is the only remaining question now...I was too tired to check.

All in all, it was a great way to start the year!

[AJs72K5]

Added a little bling to the front of the motor. It's a lousy cell phone pic, but you get the idea. I'll get a better pic up next weekend.

[Wildstreak]

are those march performance brackets? Either way me likey

[AJs72K5]

Originally Posted by Wildstreak

are those march performance brackets? Either way me likey

They are. I didn't have the fundage for the pulley set just yet, so I just got the brackets. I got the mid-mount ones cuz they sit nice and symetrical.

[AJs72K5]

Not much of an update, but some new hardware showed up today. It was my birthday present to me! In light of how much torque the motor is going to put out, I knew I needed to do something about the front axle. I came to the conclusion that since I don't have plans to ever run a tire larger than 35", that building up the 44 was the right path for me. After all it's got flat top knuckles, a Ruffstuff diff cover, and I'd already done a 3/4 ton conversion to it, and the hubs and brakes have been completely redone. So, with that said, I picked up a set of barely used Yukon chromo axles that already had Yukon Superjoints....it was a deal I couldn't pass up.

Unwrapped.


4340 Chromo with Superjoints

[lks dcvn]

Happy Birthday AJ [from 10 days ago] - always nice to see progress on your truck.

Do you have a schedule to be back up and running or are you just doing what you can when you have time?

[AJs72K5]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

Happy Birthday AJ [from 10 days ago] - always nice to see progress on your truck.

Do you have a schedule to be back up and running or are you just doing what you can when you have time?

Thanks. I wish I had a timeline. But time has been the hardest commodity for me to come by lately. I'd like to say that I'm gonna have it ready to drive sometime this spring, but I don't know if I can make it happen. Stay tuned, we'll see...

[Yukon Jack]

Nothing wrong with keeping the Dana 44 especially with the things you have done to it and your intended use. Sounds like it will be plenty beefy.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Hope to see it running soon.

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 2/28/10: Small steps... It seems like all I've been able to do is baby steps lately on the truck. Time has definately not been in a surplus lately. The annual bonus was good to me this year, so I added some more new parts, with plans for more to come as time permits.

Finished out the serpentine set from March. Serious bling.


Then plumbed in the new prop valve and ran new brake lines down to the front crossmember.


I figured while I was at it, I'd try out a different set of headers. These are Hedman 69130's. 2" primaries, with a 3" collector. They fit a whooooole lot better. The passenger side even clears the front driveshaft with the clocked up xfer case. I may try to coerce it for a bit more clearance, but I'm at least in a better starting point.

[vtblazer]

It all needs to get done and making it stop is just as important as making it run I'm guessing...

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 4/17/10: Heep Extraction Point I've been traveling a bunch for work again lately. But, I've been accumulating a few things here and there. This weekend's project was to put a hidden hitch on this weekend. Like everything else on this truck, it wasn't a straight bolt on...."adjustments" had to be made.

Early Classic Enterprises Hidden Hitch. Very nicely made.


Those that are running a shackle flip will see here where I ran into issues. The holes for the bottom of the shackle flip didn't line up with those for the hitch. New ones had to be drilled thru the shackle flip and the frame. But because the shackle flip is sandwiched between the frame and the hitch, I had to make a small spacer for the #1 hole. Ultimately, both the shackle flip and the hitch should be stronger since they're both tied together.


Installed. This is probably the closest pic most people have seen of the true fire on the tailgate.


With the bumper in place.


I took the gas tank out (it'll be going up for sale soon) to make the install easier. There's a few things to do on the firewall, then it'll be time to start measuring for the EFI fuel cell.

[BLUE THUNDER]

You're almost ready to roll A.J.

[jojo]

nice!

I want a hidden hitch.

Those flames are sweet

[Burt4x4]

Don't remember you having flames/fire?
Keep up the good work!
Burt

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 7/24/10: A heater in South Texas?? What?? The build has been sorely neglected. Spent a lot of time selling off some parts to buy parts, then went to Las Vegas. Long story short, well, about half the money I made selling parts contributed to the Las Vegas economy.

So what's this about a heater? The truck is originally an AC cab. With a soft top only, and all of my AC stuff sold last year, I've been struggling with what to do about a heater. The goal is to be able to drive the truck year round, even when it drops into the 30's here . So I found a company called AC Delete that replaces the outside AC box, with a fan mount and air box. The heater core remains inside the cab.

Assembled and painted with rattlecan black


Cleans up the firewall a bunch


Profile. Gives me a lot of room back under the hood. I still need to do the gaskets.



Then I put a new torque converter lockup and aluminum tranny pan on. The TCI lockup has a vacuum switch in addition to the keyed power switch that I ran previously.


That's it for now....

[BLUE THUNDER]

Dude, where you been? We gotta get your rig rollin. We are gonna have a meet soon. Call me if you need a hand. Good to see you on the board again. Later.

[AJs72K5]

Originally Posted by BLUE THUNDER

Dude, where you been? We gotta get your rig rollin. We are gonna have a meet soon. Call me if you need a hand. Good to see you on the board again. Later.

I've been here. But, like I said, the truck has been neglected. Build budget for the year is pretty much gone.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Sorry dude. You wanna help me and Blizz? We got plenty of work......

[Blizz]

next weekend the new-ish 350 is goin in my blazer...i can't wait. even though it'll be rough around the edges, i just can't wait to drive it around....even if it's just to HEB

[AJs72K5]

Update 10/10/10: We have headers! and plug wires. Been really slow progress lately due to the lack of budget. I splurged a bit and picked up a set of headers from Jokers69. They're a custom design for 67-72 trucks. Doesn't appear that anybody has put a set on a 4x4, so, here goes.... I immediately ran into clearance issues on the #1 and #2 tube with the DIY4X crossmember. For grins, I put a factory crossmember back in and had the same issues. A couple more tweaks to the DIY4X crossmember and we have fitment!!!

Here's the list of the final changes I made to the DIY4X crossmember:

1. Had new frame channel brackets made with the mount holes 1/4" closer to the bend to push them deeper into the frame. They fit flush to the frame edge.
2. Had Kert cut me a set of 1/4" spacers to match the flange
3. Cut 1" off the top of the flange and the spacers (more clearance at the top of the frame)
4. Had Kert bend up a new set of block brackets that raise the engine 3/4". I actually think the normal height on these brackets puts the engine lower than stock.
5. Last key piece here was to make an additional set of 1/8" spacers for the flange. When tightening everything down, it was pulling in the frame. Every 1/8" counted here for clearance.

Here's a pic of the final assembly


Now!!! On to the headers! 2" primaries with 3 1/2" collectors. 3/8" flange... no warping here


Nice clearance on all straight plug wires.... no 90* plugs needed



Frame clearance. After all was said and done, only the #1 tube is close, it's got a bit over 1/4" of clearance. Need to get in there and weld some patches back onto the top frame rail.



The money shots.... clearing the shackles and shackle bolts. AND CLEARING THE FRONT DRIVESHAFT OF THE CLOCKED UP 241!!!! They also don't hang below the frame.




Stabbed in the distributor.



That's all the excitement for now...

[vtblazer]

Nice pair!!

Looks like a freakin' race engine now with the tube size.

Great fit, excellent days work AJ.

...I don't remember, have you fired this motor yet?