Balducci Bro's Racing 09 buggy build

[zucruisers]

If you decide to go 2.0 and not use that turbo let me know I got a new toy so we may be able to some horse tradin;)

if i get a 2.0, it'll definitely be getting a turbo, maybe no quite as soon, but it will ...i might be able to get ahold of another turbo though, depending on what your looking for

[4wheeler]

Ever consider the 1.9L TDI? Make bigger numbers with that then the the gasser.

[zucruisers]

Ever consider the 1.9L TDI? Make bigger numbers with that then the the gasser.

yeah, i have a tdi jetta and love it, but weight and where the powerband is just wont work without changing few major things, plus they are hard to find for a good price...i've considered it but its just not what i want for this rig

[zucruisers]

so i've been researching transmission options, and i think i might've figured out what i want to do

i'll be getting either a 2.0 or 2.3, which from what i understand both have the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the 1.6...the 4spd auto that comes behind the 1.6 16v and 2.0 are an aw71le from what i can tell...so i need a bellhousing from a 1.6 or 2.0, a flex plate from a 2.0...from there i'll be getting an aw71 or aw72 from a volvo, they came in a ton of volvo cars in the late 80's-mid 90's, its a very similar version of the tracker trans, but with no computer controls

this week im picking up a trans/tcase from a 96 toyota 4runner, it came from a 3.4 v6 truck, but it should be an a340e i think?...anyways, its a version of the aw71/72's, the trans-tcase adapter from that should bolt on to the volvo trans, the volvo has a 23 spline output, and the toy trans is also 23 spline, if the outputs are the same length, then i can get an adapter from marlin crawler that enables that trans adapter to be bolted on to my gear drive toy tcase, the only other thing i'll need is a 23 spline input for my tcase to match the coupler from marlin, which marlin also has available new

if it all works out, i'll have a 4 spd auto with no computer controls, that is about the same length as my current 3 speed with the kicker 4...allowing me to have a higher top speed for some of the races i'll be running next season...so once i collect a few more parts and see if it'll work, i might be posting up my 3spd/kicker 4 setup for sale if anyone is interested

[Freebird01]

if your already in SH and dont mind going to the yard...that joes ez pull that i normally go to should have the trans you need. the usually have a few volvos in there

[zucruisers]

if your already in SH and dont mind going to the yard...that joes ez pull that i normally go to should have the trans you need. the usually have a few volvos in there

i've been there a few times...im home this week for thanksgiving break so i might go there next week, but i need to find a bellhousing at some point too

[zucruisers]

picked up the 4runner trans last week, its a 30-40le, which is still in the same family of transmissions...now to get a volvo trans in my hands to see what'll work ...or maybe not work

[ghost]

What kind of Volvo are you looking to snag a tranny from?  If its an 850 tranny your looking for, check out Joes on 61.  I can tell you they have a tan 93 with a recently rebuilt trans in it.  I know because it used to be my moms...  lol

Edit:  Upon some Wikipedia searching it would appear that the tranny you're looking for isnt found in the 850 GLT. Was worth a shot though, i know she had a repair bill of something like $1600 for that dang tranny a few months before the timing belt snapped on her.  (Note: NEVER BUY AN 850.  Pieces of crap.)

[zucruisers]

after more research, i dont think the volvo trans will work unless i swap output shafts...and if i have a trans failure, i want to be able to easily grab something from a junkyard without having to do a full teardown, so i think the volvo option isnt going to work

the 30-40le is what the trans i have is called by aisin, in toyota terms its an A340F...almost the same trans as a jeep aw4, and a ton of other toy transmissions, and i think its similar to the volvo/tracker trans

i have to grab a tracker bellhousing, but i think im gonna use the A340F with a combo of a regular shifter and an electronic controller, the 1-4 shifts are controlled by 2 solenoids, so its very simple to make a controller, but there's a few companies that make them for pretty reasonable prices

im also considering using a grand vitara/XL7 2.7 H27A V6 instead of a 2.0/2.3...i want to be close to 200hp...to get that out of a 4 cyl i'll have to turbo it, spend a good amount of time and $ to do so and have it run right all the time

the 2.7 will take a little more work to package, and might be slightly pricier, but its 185hp/184ft-lb in stock form....which means no other work than the normal engine swap stuff, should still be pretty light being all aluminum

[zucruisers]

im hoping that i might have a 2.7 for this by the end of the weekend

[Skyman]

subscribed nice build good clean work, appreciate the time you took to document it.
Thanks,
--Sky

[zucruisers]

sadly i wont have an engine tomorrow...too much snow to pull an engine from the junkyard

subscribed nice build good clean work, appreciate the time you took to document it.
Thanks,
--Sky

im glad you like it...over the next few months i'll be making some changes and upgrades to the rig

[zucruisers]

finally got a chance to get the good pics of the rear axle before paint from timmay

I have to give a huge thanks to tim at liquid iron industries for building all the brackets(cut on the torchmate) and doing all the welding on the rear axle...it turned out pretty clean:smokin:

all the work on this rig is now done at LII, its basically one of the shop trucks:grinpimp:

on to the pics -










front range full float adapter welded on, this wasnt a tight fit so we had to make a kind of spacer to set it up right before it was welded


a better finished picture

[Skyman]

Nice rear axle housing. That thing is apiece of art. The welds look pretty damned sweet too. I love to see build with this type of time effort and quality, threads like this are where people get inspiration and new ideas.


I just can't get over the quality of that rear axle housing.
 

[zucruisers]

thanks, and fyi the truss, upper link mounts and spindle adapters are all tig welded, the lower link mounts, shock mounts, and bumpstop pads are mig'd