Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS

So seeing as spring is just around the corner, I thought I'd start a thread on the future undertaking of swapping in the Dana 60.

The axle is from a 1986 "Fawwd" F-threee "fitty", sporting some kingpins and a whole lot of rust. I took this axle apart a few months ago (except stupid me didnt remove the pinion nut before breakdown ) and had it hot tanked. I wanted it sandblasted, but the machine shop owner smirked and said "naaah yo, that junx is too big for my blasting cabinet" .. okay except he didn't really say that cauz he's old and a really cool guy. ANyways *twirls blonde hair*, this is my plaannn:

- WMS-WMS this axle is just a bit over 69" wide so I'm going to cut the passenger's side down a few inches to match 'ye ol General Motors 14-bolt axle. So this is going to require custom axle shafts and I think I'm going to go Chromos and 35-spline outers off the bat from the most awesome guys at Complete Off Road.

- Drive flange or lockouts? They are about the same in price and its a dedicated trail rig so I'm leaning towards the drive flanges. Right now, the cheapest flanges I found are the Teraflexes at $180 for a pair. If anyone knows of a better deal, please let me know !!

- High-steer arms and a double-ended hydroponics goodness ("cylinder").

- Opposite-ended panhard bar! The idea is to mount the chassis end of the panhard on the passenger's side frame rail and the axle end on the driver's side. Doing so should allow a more simple and cleaner design since the axle-mount can be mounted on top of or near the differential housing, instead of a tower on the passenger's side (like in my current D44 setup). I also plan to boost the panhard as far up as possible to increase the roll center of the front suspension. Yeah the concept is a little strange but I'm hoping it'll work and won't have any issues (no drag-link to factor into the design). But if anyone knows of any problem running this config, please chime in!

*EDIT*
- Detoit Locker for the carrier. I'm please with how the Detroit in the 14-bolt has performed so I figured I'd run the same in the front. Of course 5.13s to match the 14-bolt.


So here's the little guy, he's been in this position for the past few months just collecting dust:

 

[jwrezz]

How's that stuff gonna work as far as emissions inspections? I'm looking forward to seeing what goes on during this part of the project!

 

[IZwack]

How's that stuff gonna work as far as emissions inspections? I'm looking forward to seeing what goes on during this part of the project!

This vehicle wont go through emissions cauz its a trail only vehicle (wont be registered or insured). But it will still run catalytic converters and whatever else is possible to help prevent population decrease of the neighborhood squirrel.

EDIT -- but if I have some time and can befriend someone at the inspection station, I'd be more than happy to run it through their treadmill to see what kind of emissions the engine is putting out with a megaSquirt driving it. I'm curious and it would also be a great opportunity to tweak the megaSquirt settings to minimize pollutant output.

 

[jwrezz]

I'm curious and it would also be a great opportunity to tweak the megaSquirt settings to minimize pollutant output.

This will be controlling a 4.0 SOCH motor, right?

 

[IZwack]

Yeah thats right, but its "SOHC" .

 

[seafarer76]

Good luck. If you have ??s, feel free to PM me.

 

[seafarer76]

If you can get some time on a steady state dyno, that's the best way to tune the MS.

 

[jwrezz]

Yeah thats right, but its "SOHC" .

I (should) know better! But yeah, the sock motor!

 

[IZwack]

Rear whatever-you-want-to-call-it welded on with some tube :

Front top tuba:

EDIT -- and for the record, since it came up a few paqes ago, I just switched to another roll of MIG wire so this is the third roll.

 

[91exploreron37]

Its looks like you have to solder all the pieces to the board yourself, Is this true? Its not plug and play?

 

[IZwack]

For the megaSquirt yes. But its also available already assembled as a unit (plus a bit more $$) but its still not a true plug and play in that case because you still have to solder the proper outputs to the correct sensors and stuff -- like injectors, O2, and so on. And per say its sole purpose is to drive fuel delivery, not spark. But it easily interfaced to the Ford EDIS-4 or EDIS-6 ignition module (which your vehicle should already have).

 

[RockRanger]

Could you get some measurements for me? I need the height width and legth of the motor not including the fan but including the intake. I know you have the ohc and I have an ohv but the measurements should be close enough for what I need right now. I also need the length of the m50d from bellhousing to tcase mounting flange. What is the legth of the 1354. from the front mounting surface to the center of the rear output U joint. Need to see what kind of space I have to have for my next project.

 

[jwrezz]

Could you get some measurements for me? I need the height width and legth of the motor not including the fan but including the intake. I know you have the ohc and I have an ohv but the measurements should be close enough for what I need right now. I also need the length of the m50d from bellhousing to tcase mounting flange. What is the legth of the 1354. from the front mounting surface to the center of the rear output U joint. Need to see what kind of space I have to have for my next project.

Like this poor guy has time to take all those measurements?!? He still has another 3 rolls of welding wire to go thru!

 

[IZwack]

Ahah. I'll post em up tomorrow RockRanger.

 

[RockRanger]

Seeing how he has cut most of the front of the body, firewalll and all of the floor out it would be pretty easy to pull the measurments. Plus Izwack never sleeps.

 

[IZwack]

All these measurements of course makes us wonder what this next project of yours is - something two seater I'm thinking.

 

[jwrezz]

Seeing how he has cut most of the front of the body, firewalll and all of the floor out it would be pretty easy to pull the measurments. Plus Izwack never sleeps.

I know, right? It seems like there's a new post every 10 minutes on this thread, and IZ always gets a response up quick! And yeah, if you ever need measurements, this is the time and the person to get them from. Better hope no sheet metal goes on tonite!

 

[IZwack]

New post every 10 mins? Ahaha, I wish. Then I'd be done with this project. I'm now almost 4 months behind schedule -- lacking in the project management skilsl area.

 

[Burns]

New post every 10 mins? Ahaha, I wish. Then I'd be done with this project. I'm now almost 4 months behind schedule -- lacking in the project management skilsl area.

You make up for that in your MAD fab skills.

 

[RockRanger]

All these measurements of course makes us wonder what this next project of yours is - something two seater I'm thinking.

or 4 depends on how the measurements work out.

 

[IZwack]

You make up for that in your MAD fab skills.

Thanks Burns, but its all imitation -- much like imitation cheese.