Posted 2011-03-08 12:12 PM
So far there is only two bigger issues. One was the driveline, it had a lot of vibration, and jack up and turning it looked quite a bit out of center, so it got taken back. Sounds like a new guy that they thought was capable of building the driveline, appearentlt was not capable, and they were imbarrased to say they touched it. The other was play in the rear output of the transfer case, and the bearinf is too loose of a fit in the rear housing. So hopefully all the parts will get here in time to be able to drive it to the meeting.
Posted 2011-03-08 5:52 PM
This has been a fun build to take on. It is giving me lots of ideas for my sidekick. Today, Drew Talked to Marlin today, and they said they had a bad batch of tail housings, and thought they had caught all of them, so it sounds like we got one of the last bad one's. They are overnighting a new one, so that problem is solved. The driveline came from Dallas custom machine. It was a new guy that still kinda learning. They thought he knew enough to do it on his own, but from the sounds of it, they were wrong, and won't be doing that again.
Drew Posted 2011-03-09 10:23 AM
The beast lives!!!! I still haven't gotten the smile off my face :0) all the little odds and ends are coming together nicely, I'm getting everything just the way I like it. Yesterday I got the overflow tank mounted and plumbed, the third fuel line plumbed, my gauges mounted properly (and yes I changed out the plastic oil pressure hose for a copper on Jared). I have a signal adapter I got off ebay coming that will make my stock tach work and I'm talking to a shop in portland that will help me get the suzuki speedo cable to work in the toyota transfer case. I've still got a few things to do like re-wire my remote winch control and I have a plug that got buried in my dash somewhere that I need to find to make the air compressor work. I don't really have any extra money to spend right now so I'm not going to be doing much to the front suspension, I just ordered a replacement shock for the one that is blown so I can drive it for now. I'm just waiting for the new rear housing to show up then I will be heading over to gregs to install it and hopefully drive it to the meeting!!!
Posted 2011-03-09 3:39 PM
So close, but so far away. Got the new tail housing and driveline, put everything together, and that solved those two problems. Now there is a loud noise coming from the bell housing that keeps getting louder. Soooo, it is not going to make it to the meeting. We will be pulling the transmission tonight after the meeting to see if we can get it on the road tomorrow.
Posted 2011-03-10 1:24 AM
Well, the transmition and tranfercases are pulled, problem is fixed and the transmition and transfercases are back in. Just crossmembers, drivelines, clutch to bleed, and belly pan to put back. Turns out the problem was all of the crankshaft bolts backed off, and the flywheel was starting to chatter and come loose. We caught it before it did any damage, used locktite, and torqued everything down real good. I don't know if they really got torqued the first time, but they are now. It will be back on the road tomorrow, and should finally be all road worthy and ready to be driven.
Drew Posted 2011-03-10 6:58 PM
Well, things are super awesome again :0) It was my fault that the fly wheel didn't get torqued, I took it off and had it machined and then put it back on (at least most of the way) and then got sidetracked by other things and totally forgot that I never torqued them, I think I meant to look up the specs and then just plain forgot... I think that the speed and ease we were able to take it all apart and put it all back together with all the parts and pieces on the car is a real testament to Greg's foresight and ability to fabricate things that work well, are built strong without over kill and can be worked on and added to. In taking everything apart last night I don't think there is one piece or part that I would change, to get that much motor, tranny and 2 t-cases into that little of a pakage and still be able to change the fly wheel in less than 6 hours is nothing short of an engineering marvel!!! And to think that there was no fancy auto cad designed laser cut pieces just makes it that much more impressive. Out of the 3 mistakes that have hindered this project Greg is responsible for none of them but he still fixed them all with a smile and a shrug. Bottom line: GREG IS THE MAN!!!!
Posted 2011-03-10 10:02 PM
Thanks Drew. Here are some pictures of playing around and testing this afternoon.
Drew Posted 2011-03-11 5:19 PM
Well, I want to make sure there are very few surprises left under the hood before I go to far. But I've got the bug BAD!!! I can't wait to get this thing on a trail :0) There has been to much time wrenching and not enough time wheeling!!!
I just got my new front shock and put it on, it helps and makes the ride and handling way better but my drivers side front corner still sits low, I think that I've done some damage to that coil running it so long with a bad shock. I still barely bottom out when going over speed bumps evenly with both front tires at any speed so I ordered some new 16" heaver rate coils my old coils were 14" with a one inch spacer, I'm hoping to loose the spacer and get a little more up travel without lifting the front to much. Right now it feels like when it had the softer springs up front that came with the trail slayer kit, I hope that stiffening them up will get me back to where I was before the engine swap. Brent is now putting 16" coils with all the new trail slayer kits, I think that is a good move on his part and will make the kit work even better than it already does.
Well, I just completed my first kinda long distance drive, ran up to portland today for the 4 wheel drive place thing, that was a waste of time, no ramp, no food, no cool cars, but I did get a free shirt... The way the sidekick drives now is soooooo awesome I can't even explain, it is night and day difference!!!! At highway speeds it is quieter than before, still not silent, but way better, there are almost no vibrations, tons of power, and with the soft springs up front it rides like a cadillac. I finally got my GPS in and was able to do a MPG test, right now I'm only getting 17, not terrible, but not great either. I looked into the stock gearing of the FJ and they ran 3.91 axle gears and I'm still running 5.71's. First gear right now is super low, I can start in second no problem and third ok. I think that when I regear my mpg will go up a bit, I haven't gotten my tach signal converter but I would guess that I'm turning 3.5k - 4k at 65 -70. Just when I think that I couldn't possible like my car any better I find out just how nice it drives on the highway and fall start likeing it even more, when I get the springs set up right, it re-geared, AC blowing and the cruise working this is going to be the ultimate long distance exploration rig, at least in my opinion :0) Greg really is the man, have I mentioned that before?