Stuff I'm working on that has nothing to do with a samurai.

Fabbing parts on the 70 again. New shock mounts top and bottom for the new shock location, plumbed the brakes and got the cross member built and holding up the trans properly. Way better then the ratchet strap I was using. Hopefully have enough room for the 4" exhaust i plan to run.View attachment IMG_20221211_111851.webpView attachment IMG_20221211_111859.webpView attachment IMG_20221211_122852.webpView attachment IMG_20221211_162314.webpView attachment IMG_20221211_162318.webpView attachment IMG_20221217_142445.webpView attachment IMG_20221217_142454.webpView attachment IMG_20221217_142504.webpView attachment IMG_20221217_144258.webpView attachment IMG_20221217_144301.webpView attachment IMG_20221217_145227.webpView attachment IMG_20221218_140123.webpView attachment IMG_20221218_140131.webpView attachment IMG_20221219_173555.webpView attachment IMG_20221219_173621.webpView attachment IMG_20221219_173635.webp

The brake line flaring tool is a must have if you do this stuff regularly. Only bitch i have is the amount of line behind the fitting that needs to be strait so it will actually go in the tool. Makes planning a bit more important.
 

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This stuff is amazing.   You've hit most of the vehicles I've lusted after in my life.  I'm hoping for a Land Cruiser FJ60/62 and Datsun 510 wagon next.
 
Had a bit of time to fuss with the 51. I raised the front of it about 2 inches. This fixed all the rubbing issues the truck had in the front suspension. Leveled the truck out some and made driving it better. Also I have to peer out from under the visor less at stoplights, which is nice. Next was the atrocious exhaust setup. It weighs a hundred pounds and looks terrible. It sounds fine, just what a mess. I cut it off the truck and made the side pipes functional. Now it has 2 flow masters and two side pipes. Sounds about the same amazingly but it looks sooooo much better in my opinion.

Last is the heater core was leaking. You'd get a faint mist of antifreeze and drip out of the heater box now and then. I pulled the core out and am going to see if I can solder up the issue or maybe cork off a tube or two. The heater worked fine, I'm not after nuclear heat after all. 


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Still going to be a few things to do, I need to get the stereo, stereoing and then put a bit of time into the wipers. From there I think it will be ready to sell. See if i can turn a decent profit on this one. Could end up with a cool trade also on this one. Often i end up trading for something that is easier to sell.
 
Fairlane.
Building/working on the hot side of the engine to fit the chassis, Plumbing some brake lines and a new dual piston master cylinder.
The master is apparently from a dodge Dakota according to the spec books I found on line. It gives me the cylinder/piston size i'll need for the metric front brake calipers and still designed for rear drums. This will still require a prop valve, but should be easily tunable. I'm not running any type of booster this time. If my math is correct this will still stop just fine with the pedal ratio I'll have and the volume per piston stroke. We will see. I also like how the reservoir is designed, it puts the cap out from under the firewall pinch for easy filling and I don't have to chop up the top of the firewall. 
I got the ignition system I plan to use. It is laptop programmable, has logging, will retard for boost and advance for vacuum. I've used them a bunch and aside from having to think in terms of timing retard instead of advance, are really easy to setup and run.


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Weather finally cleared up enough i can no longer use it as an excuse to not do yard work. So out came the tractor, its a 1972 John Deere 140H3. It turns 51 this month. Runs like a champ. I have had to do a surprisingly low amount of work to this thing over the years. Its been block of wood reliable. I bought/traded for it from a good friend of mine who's grand father bought it new in 72. I have had a few other riders over the years and they all pale in comparison. I have a blade and a tiller for it as well as the deck.

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After getting the 2 acres mowed, i had time to open the pool for the year. Got the cover off it, vacuumed out the little stuff that makes it in anyway, and then got the water treated. Will give it a couple days to acclimate then test again. I'm hoping for a good pool weather summer.
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After all that was done, I ran the tow truck up to a buddies place of work where they were throwing away about 1100 pounds of 1/8 scrap aluminum. I'll probably spread it around through my buddies, set aside some foe a few projects and recycle the rest. I think its like 70 some odd cents a pound right now.

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2018 mustang 5.0 came in for some dyno time. Had long tubes, CAI, and a cat back.
Optimizing the cam timing, spark timing and fueling. These cars have some really good feedback programming for spark and fuel, so your just trying to get the tables as close as possible so the feedback loops have less work to do. The part that gets the most return is cam timing.

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White turbo truck started running a touch leaner on me the other day under boost. I figured it was time to spend a few minutes figuring that out. Turns out the water methanol was not working consistently. Jumping the pressure switch showed no pump activation. Some diag work lead me to a bad 30 amp relay. New relay fixed it up, back to 11.5-1nd working as intended.


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This is what happens when you try to get too aggressive on stock bottom ends in the 2v and 3v ford engines. Usually the rod doesn't break, just gets short and looses compression in that cylinder. This car came in with a positive displacement blower and a really aggressive tune for it. Commanding right around 18* of timing while the blower was pullied for about 14PSI. If the timing would have been softer through to about 4000 rpm, then ramp to that, it probably would be fine for many miles while still making the same peak power. Anyway, not a big deal, crank is fine, rest of the engine is fine, I pulled it out and blew it apart today, new rods and pistons with some ring gap and it will be back together in a few days. Funny thing is, the tune in the car will probably be perfect for the forged H beam rods once its back together. 

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Rest of the parts all blown apart and cleaned up. now just a wait game for eagle to send us the parts.
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Also this jeep came in running really bad. Smoke test found the broken manifold, and of course the carb was full of not gas. 

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melbakid said:
Bee you shouldn't be disparaging our down under mates just because the engine has Aussie rods! [lol]
Click to expand...

I don't hate Busch for their recent publicity stunt.



I hate them for their beer! 😂


Here's where one could make some quip about getting bent, but it seems someone covered that already. 🤣

Alas, you're right. Can't hate on our Down Under brethren.
 
I've been Down Under 4 times & it was GREAT! Maybe one day I'll be able to go again   [thumbsup]
Good Beer, Good Scenery & Bunch of Friendly people...
Just Sayin'   ;D
 
Engine together!!!!
Measured back for pan clearance and pump clearance in the pan. 
I want the engine to fit under the factory hood, and push it back far as possible for intercooler/radiator and plumbing room.

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Also looks like I may have to lower the rack and the tire rods, we will see.
 
Whos says the trunk in a C8 is worthless? It holds a Miata trans perfectly.


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This miata came in with ITB's a speedy efi ecu and a dry nitrous kit.
For some reason, the cold start is still kind of a struggle. Going to have to figure that out, but other than that, its pretty good. 203HP at the tire. Not bad.

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Fairlane.
Set engine in car for the first time, Did some test fitting on the hood to make sure it clears the air box. The stock hood is a hill I'll die on for this car. I know there is a huge love for the thunderbolt hoods, but i just don't like it for what I'm trying to do with this car. I'm after a street car, mild restomod look with decent power all very subtle. I feel that goes out the window with a fiberglass hood and a huge bulge sticking out of it.

I cut the turbo compressor and welded a 90 on it to go strait to the IC.
Looks like I will have to lower the rack for clearence. Bummer but kinda saw it coming.

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Quick break in working on my stuff to get some production work done. This kinda thing lets me pay for all the other projects  work on.
This is a side project I was commissioned to do for someone. Its a run of fuel rails and some turbo manifolds for a nissan sentra. These cars are B13 chassis cars with SR20's in a FWD layout. I have built a bunch of these things in years past, these cars have gotten older and more scarce as time goes on, so even though I've done a few runs of these parts, I suspect this will be the last one. Kinda like the ITB GSX carb manifolds I built for the samurai engines. You do a run, sell them, then do another run. As the years go by, the time between runs starts to get longer and longer as interest and availability starts to fall. 

These cars make around 350FWHP when done. Turns these cars into rockets. 

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Like always, this is amazing.   I couldn't help but notice one of the Sentras looks a little squished/ burned.   Track accident?
 
Bad goat said:
Like always, this is amazing.  I couldn't help but notice one of the Sentras looks a little squished/ burned.  Track accident?
Click to expand...
Yeah, Hit the wall with the left front, it pushed the IC pipe back through the fuel filter then burned down. Fire got HOT. master cylinder completely evaporated, valve cover melted into the valve train. Was basically a total loss. All the sag was due to the heat. The hit itself wasn't that bad. Would have took a hood a fender some core support work and probably a rad and IC. but without the fire, the car would have been an easy fix. 
 

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