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FJ4overland

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
it always makes me laugh at what pictures my camera decides to take

a mock up transmission for the build.... the guy had it rebuilt, 3 months later it died - he put a t350 in its place. When I got it home, I noticed that the torque converter rattles... rattles... while I'm not an expert on torque converters, I do know that rattling is bad. My initial thought was it broke the sunshell hub, now I think that's probably fine but the torque converter sent lots of metal through the motor - so at minimum it will need a complete rebuild.... no biggie, it was really cheap (like cheaper than a core, cheap)


between the 6" of rain we got in an hour (amazing), the power going out and the basement flooding - I did get the washer finished... I'm quite happy with the result

so I made a funnel to drain back into the solvent tank. I plan on a pump as well, but for now, I'm using a siphon system


I left the pipe in the cup to allow sediment to settle and to also get a chance of saving bolts that drop from going into the 5 gallon container





I do need to do a better job of sealing around the top/base... other than that... it's operational
 
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SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
So I was all ready to spend some mindless time putting rings on pistons... oops, I have 1/16" rings not 5/64.... so I'll put it off to the side for a couple days while I wait for rings....
However, I did get the crank in


.0029 for the oil passages, .0002 end play... amazing how a 300,000 mile motor has no appreciable wear on the hard parts. I simply polished the crank, and cleaned everything else up.


anyway, I figure tomorrow I'll do maintenance on my hummer and work on my wife's Heep
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
frickin dagnabit!!!!
this ring compressor, is worthless


I got the right rings today, got the pistons all ready, but nope, no joy in getting the pistons in.....


at least they're ready to go in.... Sunday, after the Hummer.... which means, if you read my H3 blog, is maybe not
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
and I learned something new. 1986-1996 350 Chevy motors use a shallow oil ring. I got the new compressor yesterday, tried it last night and the pistons still wouldn't go in right. I had measured everything and the gaps were fine. I'll have the new rings on Tuesday.... for those who care, the narrow ring set is a Hastings 5615... they are cast iron rings, but I plan on comparing them to the compression rings (I put the pistons in without the oil ring and they went in correctly).... if they are the same, and it's just the oil ring that's the issue, I'll use the molly rings.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
So I was curious.... the issue with the rings that came in the kit was it was too narrow (metric rings vs. 5/64 and 4mm oil rings)... which got me thinking, how much different is the old 3/16 oil ring than the 4mm ring? the answer, for those who want the answer now, is "just right".... there were 2 problems with the oil ring the oil rings were just a touch too thick (it's a measurement, I swear) and they were too wide... so, in my thinking, I thought "why not try just the oil ring (not the spacer) from the Vortec in these pistons?" it was a good guess, it worked.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I can't say I got a lot done today... I did get the pistons in, and they went in correctly with the right oil rings... I also went by a wrecking yard and got the power steering/ac bracket and a power steering pump (which is junk except for the pulley). I'm going to have to compare a few pumps - I'd like to use all SAE connections (since the steering box is SAE), and I may even use hydraulic rather than vacuum for the brakes (mostly because I have a booster) and possibly because I might put a motor in it with no vacuum...


I've also made an executive decision on the transmission/transfer case. I've got an AX15 from a 2005 Colorado, and it basically bolts to a Dana 300 transfer case.... not the most robust, but stout for sure... just not 500 lbs (automatic/NP 205).... automatic is better for off-road, manual can be push started... and since reliability is the key to this build... push starting it is...
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
got a little further today
here's where I started


and where I stopped


I think I'm going to be unhappy with the color - it shows dirt so easily... ah well...

I'm not waiting for a timing chain, then I can bolt the pan on forever, the cam is in... no, I'm not degreeing this one straight up is good enough.

​then start dressing the motor with accessories.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
Today was a Heep day, so no fun stuff.... but I did find out something, the AX 15 spline is the same as a Super T-10. I may totally cheap out and hit the disk and the pressure plate with an abrasive disk (very lightly) and use this... it came off my Corvette... couldn't hold the power.... worst case is I have to swap it later, but best case is no $$ out today.




and knocked some brackets apart so a friend can sand blast them for me :)
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I'm getting there.... I love 4x4s like this because they're so bone simple to build... no a/c, wires are all exposed and easy to run, cable speedo...
onto tonight
where I started tonight



but first, I'm looking for the ring for the bellhousing


this ring


search the shop, the yard, the house (because Bloodhound).. nothing, dammit
oh wait... it's attached to the bearing support... d'oh


to put the adapter on, it requires cutting off the hydraulic throwout support


and cutting down the collar... on a Jeep, this is also part of the bearing support


only requires maybe 1/4" cut off
then I ran into a problem.... the AX15 for a Colorado is different than the one for a Jeep.... it appears it's simply GM cast the housing to mimic the 4L60e 6 bolt design


so I have to either make or find another adapter... not really a big deal, actually.. just annoying it's not easy


so this is it mostly together


One real benefit to using the GM Colorado transmission is warner (as in borg-warner) was involved with Aisin, so the input is 26 spline and the bearing is stock GM ST-10... otherwise, I'd have to buy a custom bearing from Novak.

the bellhousing is 90s Chevy truck... should be easy enough to find a clutch arm for it... I'll go with a hydraulic slave cylinder like is on my Corvette, or get a Jeep hydraulic cylinder (the chevy truck one is that cute all-in-one master cylinder/slave cylinder design)

put that didn't prevent putting the flywheel on


and putting the power steering pump together



so the intake is painted, and put on.... along with a test-fit Qjet


I also cured the EGR vacuum leaks
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
time to get to the nuts n bolts... the motor should be completely assembled tomorrow, I should have the transfer case, and I can get started on the adapter... then the suspension... to do that, I need a hole.... a big hole


and the brackets for the endeavor




in looking at it tonight, there's a lot of stuff to go in the itty-bitty hole.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
it arrived... woohoo.


however, I need an adapter for this end too... tomorrow I'll know whether or not the transmission has a powerglide bolt pattern (yeah, powerglide)... but the input on the 300 is 23 spline, whereas the output on the AR6 is 27 spline.... ah well, there are good reasons to use this transmission (such as the input/output of the AX15 is 10/23) so I get more strength... and I'm using my general rule of thumb on GM validation. You can safely double the hp rating of the transmission (granted, the stupid have to divide by two), and it will live just fine.... thus, the 380ish torque rating should be fine with the 450 (on its best day) torque of the 350... fingers crossed, but since no one loves these transmissions, they're still about the cheapest 5 speed/highest torque spec out there (they also come in a 2 wd flavor behind the Solstice, Sky, Cadillac cts, and several toyota cars).
Of course, the honey-do list on the Heep came first (seat heaters)

but I quickly got that POS out of my shop and got to work again on the motor


I didn't adjust the valves since it may not be fired until spring... though, the evil part of me wants to hoon this thing sooner than that - we'll see, I'm still without the axles I want...

this ring will likely be modified to work
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
more trail fitting




17" driveshaft if I leave the axle where it is... uh, no, I'm moving the rear axle back 3 1/2" and the front ~2" forward to give the tires clearance (so they center in the opening)... the big thing is the suspension will be 4" or so upward travel and 12" or so down travel in an effort to maintain a reasonable CG. Also, the rear of the transmission is going down at least 2"

but here's where it all is now - the end of the tape is approximately the closest the output shaft will be to the transmission... with the adapter, I expect it to move back about 1" more


'



 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
Axle change... I'm going a bit stronger than I originally planned... I just traded my old car trailer for a set of ford axles. Front is a high pinion 44, rear is a dana 60 - all 8 lug (which is fine since I have 8 lug wheels)... yes, I know, the pinion is on the wrong side, it won't be when I'm done since I will narrow them to '40 width plus 2"... they're also 4.56 gearing - which was kind of the bit that got me interested...

now, to build the new trailer that I've been postponing building :)
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
the last time I hauled my bobcat, I was (not kidding) afraid the trailer was going to tear itself apart.... so in the interest of public safety, I've sold the trailer and made sure another Ford never goes back on the road... win win in my book
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I've got a SAR meeting tonight, so not much work outside that going on... however, may I present axles


and as a bonus I got arms from the Ford donor... don't know what I'm going to do with them, but I figure lift arms have some value (maybe only scrap, but value, I guess)


this is wasted money, but sellable...




the front/rear axles didn't (obviously) come from the same rig... so the front gear ratio is 3.07 (or something equally worthless), but a 4.56 high pinion gear set came with it - to which I'll add some loc rite lockers (or cheaper)... as you can see, the rear diff came from a pre-71 truck, but, the rumor is 14 bolt axles can be made to work (35 spline).

maybe I should rename this to FJ40reliable... as the entire point of this build is to make the most reliable 4x4 I can build... good mpg, zombie proof, lockers... ah well, overland it is (though, ironically, I can't post this build on expedition forum because it's neither a FJ40 nor a Domestic)
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
today I called a shop about cutting the axles down - I figure if I get them to do the realignment I'll be money ahead since I won't have to buy or build bearing spacers to make sure it's straight... but to save money, I've been stripping the axles apart... the rear went easy, the front... 3 hours



this thing doesn't look like it was ever used... 45 11 (4.09) gears, so they're coming out for the 4:56s







now I simply need to decide how wide.. the rear axle is 62" wms to wms, the front is 67"... I'm thinking 58/59ish, but maybe I'll go as wide as 60" - stock is 56" the only reason to make it wider is a better turning circle
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
so I got a bit to carry on





replace the shaft inside the t-case with the one sitting on it


27 spline


and I'll have plenty of room to adapt from one to the other... back to your regularly scheduled programming
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
lol... there really is method to my madness, I don't know where the front driveshaft is going to land - so I may have to shift the motor....

So I finished blowing them apart tonight - off to the shop for narrowing.


and now I have an extra dana 44 4.09 gearset
 
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