Project Green Hornet '01 Sport SAS

I have been at this for a little while now. I haven't really taken any pictures of the steps leading up until now. I am bad about blogging as I do things, so I will take pictures when I think to and if any of you guys have questions or input I will snap pictures along the way. I fabbed the outriggers from scratch. I used the boomerang shackles to give me more clearance around the body mount and give me a littler better ride. The front cross member was made from a 2"x3" rectangle tubing with hangers from ruffstuffspecialties.com. I then bolted it to the frame in a few places as well as used it as a back mounting support for the winch. I made a dimple die to press the clearance holes and add some more strength and make them look better. I opted to use heims instead of using tie rods. I got the teflon lined 5/8 holes with 3/4" shank both for the tie rod as well as the drag link. I plan to use a pitman arm from either an astro van or a jeep wagoneer. The gear box is from a jeep cherokee which is what I got the Dana 30 from. I bought a crossover steering bracket from bluetorchfab.com made specifically for the jeep dana 30/44 axles. This is a great setup which I will transfer over when I find myself a good dana 44 to swap for the dana 30 I got now. The steering shaft is a hybrid of the stock explorer shaft and cherokee shaft. It had to be shortened by about 13-1/2 inches and reinforced for peace of mind. The gear box will be drilled and tapped later for hydro assist when I find a new 44. I am still in the process of re-plumbing the box, but all my fittings should be here this week. When I do the setup for the hydro-assist I will be adding an adjustable relief valve to upgrade the steering pump pressure that I read about somewhere on this site recently. The pitman arm right now is facing to the back and is looking all kinds of hell, but don't worry I plan to flip it to the front. You can see it's got a little of that explorer detroit lean to the driver side that I will have to address at some point. I'm sure there is more to cover that I haven't covered, so just let me know what you think. Be gentle this is my first major project like this. I’m all for constructive criticism, but don’t be a dick. I will grab a bunch more pictures tomorrow in the daylight, but here is a couple teaser pics.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Are those rough country boomerang lift shackles and if so do you remember which ones they are? I'm gonna be ordering alot of parts for my SAS and just trying to make sure I get the correct parts. Thanks.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

I don't remember exactly what brand they are. I bought them off eBay. I'll measure them for you tomorrow and hopefully you can match the right part number.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Thanks man, they look like rough country shackles but they have different lift heights. I appreciate it. Trying to move up my build date, just need the rest of the parts and I can start.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Here are the dimensions for the ones on my truck now.

Hope this helps.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Thanks again.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Any updates on this build? How are the 37's working out with the drivetrain?

 

[1-MEAN-X]

I haven't really gotten much done on this lately. I drive it to work from time to time and the 37's feel good. I plan on regearing to something like 4.88 or 5.13 which would help I think. I still have more planned like a doubler and possibly a banchee supercharger kit. But that all has to wait for now. I will be sure to update you guys as I get stuff done.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Glad to hear this is still a work in progress and it's driven. A lot of SAS builds have been lost in the wind in the last two years and no updates from the builders. What gears are you running for now? It's gotta chug like a long freight train trying to get started off the line if you still have the 4.10's. I have recentered H1's with 37's and plan on running 5.13's but I also have it planned to do a V8/C6/ doubler swap in mine since my drivetrain is pretty toasted.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Yea I've still got the factory 4.10's right now. I keep bouncing back and forth about a 302 swap or the supercharger. The supercharger seems easier with the computer system etc. but I used to have a '92 f150 with the 302 and loved it, so that part of the build is still up for discussion.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Here is a little teaser update:

These are going to be joined by a shaft I bought from Behemothdrivetrain.com. It should be here in about 2 weeks and then I can get going on cutting and fabricating the joining plates.

 

[OffTrac]

I missed the last update. How's it going?

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Well, it took a little longer than I expected to get my intermediate shaft, but it is finally here and it looks pretty good.

The guy I bought the NP205 from told me that it was twin sticked. It turns out what he meant was he cut the shift connector off and had 2 rails. Anyway, I ordered a new set of shift rails from Northwestfab.com which will allow for FWD-RWD-4WD without being worried about the gears slipping and having the front in low and rear in high and vica versa. I know a lot of guys have ground the proper grooves themselves to make their rails work, but I don't mind paying for peace of mind in certain instances.


Front shift rails are basically the same.

Rear shift rails show the areas that needed to be altered for real twin stick ability.

Here is the new intermediate shaft from behemothdrivetrain.com.

My intention is to add a rotational bearing on the surface circled to add stability and location while it is turning. I am still designing the adapter plates that will join the 2 cases.

Shaft in NP205.

Shaft in BW1350.

Now that I have the shaft and stuff, I can start working on making templates and getting this fabbed up. One tricky area is the rear shift rail will get into the back of the BW1350 adapter plate. My initial plan is to cut out a small area in the plate and case housing and add some kind of piece to close it back up.

Excuse the pictures being sideways. Photobucket wasn't cooperating today.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Here are some snap shots of what I have in mind for my design.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Got started on cutting up the 1350 case today and got a first hand look at what its going to take to make these 2 cases play nice with each other.

I had to make a notch for the shift rail which is in the low position which is all the way out:

I cleaned up the edges with a dremel to make it more appealing after this photo.

I will be adding a block behind it and cut a groove for the shifter.

Here are some more pictures. It gives you an idea of the final product. In order to get the shift rail in a position to make a cut I had to clock the NP205 up about 10*.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Here are a few progress pictures.

I machined the block meant to fill the hole made for the shift rail. It took a little massaging, but it turned out pretty well.

My plan is to mount it, then machine the extra flat for a flush surface.

My initial plan is to use a chemical resistant JB weld to mount it and prevent leaks. I am also going to drill and tap in a few places just as a precaution in case the JB weld fails.

Some more:

 

[1-MEAN-X]

I got the inserts mounted and took it to work to machine the surface flat again. Here are a couple progress pictures:

Work has been really busy, so progress is slow, but steady. I still have to machine the main plate, then make the adapter plate for the 205.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Well, as work started getting busier and the small issues of mating the transfer cases kept popping up, I decided to just go ahead and buy the rest of the BehemothDrivetrain Strongbox since I already had the intermediate shaft. It took a little longer than expected to receive, but Jacob was very responsive and when it finally showed up it was really awesome. Check it out:

I still need to rebuild the transmission and then start getting it lined up and clocked so I can fab up the shifters.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

I got to work on removing the transmission this weekend. Really didn't have any problems. The toughest part was getting to the very top bolt of the bell housing without making a mess. What I did since I already had the center console removed was take that cover off and cut through the insulation to gain access.

From there I connected about 2' of extensions with a swivel joint and wiggled it in there and it worked like a charm.

So now I have the transmission tucked away still sitting on the jack ready to be torn into hopefully this weekend some time.

Now here is where I need a little education. I did some measuring while I was under the truck and the gas tank is going to be in the way big time. So I went ahead and pulled the trigger and bought a RCI 2162A fuel cell off eBay last night for a great price. I am working on getting my hands on an Artec Industries fuel cell mount to stick it in the back of the cargo area. That is about as far as I feel comfortable making purchases. I am not real familiar with the routing of the fuel system. I do know that I want to upgrade the fuel pump while I have the opportunity and get something with more flow in case I ever get around the adding induction. I have seen schematics that use external inline pumps that have a pre & post filter and a regulator on the return line coming back to the cell. Is there an easier in tank option that would eliminate the need for a return regulator and make this all a little cleaner? I have heard and am leaning towards 255lph fuel pump. Any thoughts?

 

[1-MEAN-X]

Well, I got the transmission tore down and put back together last weekend. I wanted to rebuild the clutches and stuff while I was in there, but the main reason was to get to this guy:

I swapped it out with a 4x4 output shaft and swapped the tail housings. I also installed the remaining springs etc from the transgo kit I put in the valve body a couple years ago:

Here it is all back together:

I had to remove the stock gas tank in order to get everything in:

After a couple hours of wiggling and cussing I finally got everything in. It is very tight, but it's in!

I got a couple quotes for driveshafts, so once I get back from vacation I will put those on order and then all I have left to do is figure out transmission cross member and transfer case mount. I swear the transfer case setup weighs more than the transmission itself. After that I will work on getting the new fuel cell installed and plumbed. The idea there is to try and use as many stock components as possible.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

I got to work a little bit on the cross member the past few days. It's not finished yet, but here is a sneak peak:

There is still a lot of cleaning up to do. I am also going to cut out a skid plate for the bottom of the cross member.