Out with the old, in with the new..

[tdavis]

Sweet Tom! I really hope you're keeping the same exhaust pipes.

Nope.

Unlike the 1.3, this engine makes more torque and horsepower that I am not worried about. The soda straws was to keep backpressure up at low RPMs, there creating more torque. I didn't want to always have to rev to 5k to get in the power band..

The exhaust is going to be at 2.25". Maybe I should put a ricer coffee can tip on it?

 

[FROADER]

Indeed! Should get a whole Mugen or HKS cat back system... lol

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Maybe I should put a ricer coffee can tip on it?

What about a rear wing

 

[RockRanger]

updates?

 

[tdavis]

Why would I want to work on it? The weather is great here, and I'm out enjoying it working in the yard...

Ok, so I got the majority of parts now, just need to get in there and put it all together.

edit - what I really should say, is I'm already doing logistics planning for Thaven 2007. yup, I've been collecting firewood.

 

[RockRanger]

I might be around sunday with nothing to do. Need a hand getting some motivation?

 

[tdavis]

Yea, I need a yard sale.. just kidding.

If your in the SFBay area, come on over.

 

[410Fortune]

Tom last time you had a yard sale I ended up with some PIAA fog lights via RangerX hahaha, almost got a hi lift and some Winter built coil buckets ....was all this your stuff? spread the love!

 

[RangerX]

Wrong Tom, Jamie! It was FAKRWEE.

 

[RockRanger]

Got to go to fresno this weekend to pick up some materials. If i get a cance to come by I will give you a call. I have your # from the rubicon last year.

 

[410Fortune]

hahaha oh man you say Tom I think Tdavis, so my parts came from the navajo man not the ex ex man turned Zuki! Thanks for the clarification Mr Bill!

 

[tdavis]

hahaha oh man you say Tom I think Tdavis, so my parts came from the navajo man not the ex ex man turned Zuki! Thanks for the clarification Mr Bill!

Still wrong.

I had a Navajo, not a ex.. so I'm a ex-Navajo man.

 

[410Fortune]

<--------------------------------------loser






(can't win)

 

[tdavis]

Well, you know the saying.. "The best laid plans of mice and men come to naught.".

yup.

They sure do.

Saturday, I finally bolted the finished engine mounts in, and set the engine down.. Works great. No body lift needed, engine sits level in compartment, hood closes with space to spare.

Started on the radiator, yup, that's going to fit really nice, down below all of the tube work, so it's protected in a hard roll.

Pulled out the taurus fan I was planning on using, and started chopping, hacking, and cussing. Yup, the taurus fan is just too big (both depth, and height). Luckily, Summit Racing carries a fan just for this radiator - dual 10", scirroco style. This is for a scirroco cross flow drag radiator, 3" thick, and 18.5" high, and 22" wide. Looks like that will fit perfectly. Will not get it till Tuesday, so any more work in that direction came to screeching halt.

I've decided to hold off on the electrical work, until I get everything situated - that means I have to finish all of the new tube work, place the battery, place the head lights, and place the winch.

So I decided to cut off my butt ugly bump stops, and make new ones. I also decided to move the shock mounts back to the frame from the tube, and also clean up some welds in the area. In cleaning up the bump stops, I found the drivers side leaf spring had sheared off the center pin, so I had to pull the spring and replace the center pin. That only took a few more hours..

So, one step forward, and then two steps back.

Maybe by end of July I'll have this thing working.. July 4th is a Tuesday, I may take off that Monday and enjoy a 4day weekend, plus get some work done on the Zuk.

 

[tdavis]

I placed the last order for parts today. Figured out what I need for the power steering, and all that is left is exhaust, which will be dealt with once it's running.

Planning on taking a 4 day weekend, so hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready for the first startup with the new engine.

 

[410Fortune]

Seems this is a popular weekend for making progress on projects! I should fire up my 96 truck this weekend for sure!!

Cant wait to see your progress/rebuild

 

[tdavis]

Dog days of summer have hit around here..

Part of the problem of this whole engine replacement, is the radiator. you can't use the stock zuk radiator - it's too small, you will overheat. So to make room for the the new radiator, I've had to cut apart the old tube front end, and make a new one. In the process I have found a few other problems, so I decided to fix them too.

One thing I always wanted was to get both sets of lights down - the PIAA's was just too vulnerable I felt. So, the new front end. I am going to use the small 5"/55 watt driving lights as low beams, and wire in the the PIAA 80xt's as high beams. The PIAA's are way to bright to run as low beams.

I also have figured out how to bolt the tube clip in. The old way was a set of welds and bolts - now it will be just bolts. This will make service later easier to perform.

Last, I am moving the shocks back to hoops, and limiting the up travel to 3.5". Not a whole lot, but if I do not do that the axle will smack into the oil pan, and that is a bad thing. In doing this, I also have decided to re-work the bump stops, and planning on switching to compressable bump stops (instead of the non-compressable type). The reason for the switch is due to the small up travel; I want to start slowing everything down earlier.

 

[tdavis]

Slow, but sure progress.

I have figured out the power steering hoses, tacked together the radiator mounts (need to pull apart, finish weld and paint), installed the radiator hoses, re-mounted the power steering cooler, mounted the radiator fan, mounted 5 relays (EFI power, fuel pump, starter, low beams, high beams), mounted the Vitara fuse box, done some basic cabling (I am not happy with it, I am going to change it).

Aggravation of the week: No off-the-shelf part fits the exhaust manifold, I have to make my own.

2nd arg of the week - my Exide XCD battery died, and I replaced it with a new one today. 5+ years old.

List before startup:

1) wiring
2) fill tranny and transfercases with gear oil
3) make/fix accelerator cable
4) tighten down the bolts
5) fill radiator, look for leaks.
6) finish battery mount
7) change engine oil and filter
8) mount fan controller.
9) put clamps on radiator and heater hoses.
10) flush power steering system, make high pressure hose.

I played with some Weatherpack connectors from summit racing today. Nice! I am using them on the headlights - the old headlights used a plug type connector, that still got all grungy, and didn't want to pull apart. The weatherpack connectors come apart really nice, and are dust, water, mud, oil proof. It's too bad the cost for the crimper, stripper and tools makes it expensive to use.

 

[tdavis]

Wooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooo!

I fixed my wiring/relay problems today, pulled the fuel line clamps, and turned over the engine.

The engine fired off and started running! I quickly turned it off (missing lots of fluids - transmission, power steering, radiator coolant).

But this means I've got the easy part done, now it's down to the details!

:smoke:

 

[Stic-o]

Congrats Tom