datsunfreak Posted July 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 Shocks mounts are done-ish... Nervous about getting the curve right but got lucky nailed it first try... Going down here soon... You may be able to see that they are slightly angled to the outside, and that was by design. It gets the point where the shock attaches farther towards the wheel than where the mount gets welded on. It'll make sense later... 😄 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 And yes, I will reroute that brake line... 😁 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2020 Shape of lower control arm mount laid out... Drilled and rough cut... Gonna clean them up a bit, then they get welded on like so... I was originally going to cut the leaf spring pads off and make LCA mounts that would be welded onto the axle tube. It was a very happy accident that the leaf spring pads on the Explorer diff are within 1/8" of being the same width as the spacing between the stock axle's lower control arm mounts. So it seemed more prudent to just weld the LCA mounts to the spring pads. And since we will be using adjustable heim-jointed rods instead of the stock LCAs, they can easily be shimmed to take up that 1/16" difference per side. 👍 6 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted July 16, 2020 Report Share Posted July 16, 2020 On 7/11/2020 at 3:32 PM, datsunfreak said: Nervous about getting the curve right but got lucky nailed it first try... I have a couple of these, and they are inexpensive and work really well. https://www.amazon.com/profile-gauge/s?k=profile+gauge Fast, easy, and cheap. My kinda tool.. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2020 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Duncan said: I have a couple of these, and they are inexpensive and work really well. https://www.amazon.com/profile-gauge/s?k=profile+gauge Fast, easy, and cheap. My kinda tool.. Yeah, I was about to buy one of those to use for guitar neck building anyway... 😁 On those I used a hole saw that was within 1/8" on the diff tube size and got lucky. Edited July 16, 2020 by datsunfreak 2 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 17, 2020 Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 This build is coming along nicely. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 12 hours ago, EDM620 said: This build is coming along nicely. Thanks! I feel like I learned a lot of lessons on my 1200 build, namely that I should really try harder to keep things simple. It keeps me motivated, makes things move along quicker, and ends up being a lot less expensive in the long run (in both time and money). The only two big (in my mind) projects I have planned for this are the rear axle swap (which is going fairly well so far, jinx!), and converting it to a manual transmission (which will also require a fair bit of fab). Once those two are done, it's a fairly fast downhill slide. Redo the brake lines and master, rewire the whole car (less scary than it sounds), and try to spiff up the interior a bit. My goal is to be driving it by December of 2021 (jinx again!), so we'll see how that goes... 😁 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 Also, spiff up the engine bay, make a custom driveshaft, make a custom gauge cluster... Shit, I better pick up the pace! 😅 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 17, 2020 Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 1 hour ago, datsunfreak said: The only two big (in my mind) projects I have planned... I learned to make a to-do list on my phone that helps keep me on track - easy to add stuff as I discover/think about it, and tracks my progress as I check off each task. Like you said, doing the rewire isn't quite so terrifying as those old vehicles simply didn't have a whole lot of circuits in them, and you can eliminate many potential issues in the long run. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) On 7/17/2020 at 2:07 PM, EDM620 said: I learned to make a to-do list on my phone that helps keep me on track - easy to add stuff as I discover/think about it, and tracks my progress as I check off each task. That's a good idea. 👍 I normally use a paint marker and write different tasks on the windshield with it, then just scrape them off with a razor blade when they are done. That won't work here because this fat bitch has to live outside. 😁 On 7/17/2020 at 2:07 PM, EDM620 said: Like you said, doing the rewire isn't quite so terrifying as those old vehicles simply didn't have a whole lot of circuits in them, and you can eliminate many potential issues in the long run. I was pretty nervous the first time. But me and Tim have done enough of them that by now it doesn't seem like a hassle at all. And as you said, it saves me countless hours down the road chasing electrical gremlins due to old wiring. This will have the bare minimum of circuits as well. Just lights, ignition, horn, and gauges. Maybe, maybe, wipers. 😁 Also, these make it easy. All the wires are labeled every five inches, so it's basically just a matter of running looms where they need to go, and then installing connectors. If you pay close attention, you can bang it out in a day. Edited July 21, 2020 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
Aibast Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 11 hours ago, datsunfreak said: Also, these make it easy. All the wires are labeled every five inches, so it's basically just a matter of running looms where they need to go, and then installing connectors. If you pay close attention, you can bang it out in a day. If you can use cable tubes and but the wires in a box/frame, rubber seals to places where needed to keep them from rubbing. I think you know the basics. This keeps things out of elements and they last a long time. Use hollow section wax on the inside of the body structure to keep the metal from rusting insideout. The corrosion is a huge issue here in our climate, do not know what it is like for you guys in there. Most cars rust from the inside to the outside, because of condensation and humid climate, add salt on the winter roads to that. A perfect place to return your metal to nature as rust. Hope to see an update on this build soon. 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 On 7/17/2020 at 1:52 PM, datsunfreak said: All the wires are labeled every five inches, Curious, what are the wires marked as? Are they supplied in rolls? Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 On 7/19/2020 at 10:41 AM, EDM620 said: Curious, what are the wires marked as? Are they supplied in rolls? I'm feeling like you didn't click the link... 😁 https://www.ezwiring.com/product-page/ez-wiring-12-standard-wiring-harness Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 On 7/18/2020 at 2:21 AM, Aibast said: The corrosion is a huge issue here in our climate, do not know what it is like for you guys in there. Most cars rust from the inside to the outside, because of condensation and humid climate, add salt on the winter roads to that. We don't salt the roads here in Texas as we see very little snow/ice. Oddly, here in Texas, this would be considered a "very rusty" car. In the Northeast it would probably be considered almost rust free. 😄 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 5 hours ago, datsunfreak said: I'm feeling like you didn't click the link... 😁 LOL totally got me on that, no I didn't immediately but later. While the kit would be good, I'd prefer to get the wires on separate spools to build my own harnesses. Kit = buying what you don't need or not enough of what you do. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, EDM620 said: I'd prefer to get the wires on separate spools to build my own harnesses. That is what we are doing on the 1200 monster truck. Quote Kit = buying what you don't need or not enough of what you do. I just don't like building/assembling my own fuse boxes. This kit is ideal for what I need/want on most of my builds. 👍 Edited July 21, 2020 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 18 hours ago, EDM620 said: Kit = buying what you don't need or not enough of what you do. This is a valid point. On every one of those kits I have installed, circuits have been re-purposed and/or stripped right out of the harness. 8 hours ago, datsunfreak said: I just don't like building/assembling my own fuse boxes. This is also a valid point. I know it has John scratching his head over why I'm going that route on the Baja 1200. Well, the short answer is, "I dunno." and the long answer is, "IIIIIIIIIII doooooooooonnnnnnnnn't knoooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww." 2 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 22, 2020 Report Share Posted July 22, 2020 OK now I gotta ask - since the EZ wiring website doesn't show that you can buy bulk wire, are those spools from them ( & therefore labeled) or a different source? Just curious because I appreciate the complexity of building your own harnesses. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, EDM620 said: OK now I gotta ask - since the EZ wiring website doesn't show that you can buy bulk wire, are those spools from them ( & therefore labeled) or a different source? Just curious because I appreciate the complexity of building your own harnesses. No, those spools came straight from Satan himself... oops! I mean Amazon! They came from Amazon (All Hail Our Dark Lord, Bezos-abub). They are not labeled in any way. Edited July 23, 2020 by dimlight65 Spelling "came" correctly Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 HA! Bezosabub. Horrible and also horribly entertaining! Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Tim did me solid and did some welding yesterday... So the lower control arm mounts and shock mounts are all done... Next step is to see if I can remove the spring pads from the original axle and weld them to this one, if not we will have to make our own. Then it's on to making the upper control arm/panhard rod mount. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
Aibast Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt's_linkage ?? Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 14 hours ago, Aibast said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt's_linkage ?? We have considered it. I think the need for welding another pickup point to the frame is what put the kibosh on the idea... but I could be wrong there. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) On 7/23/2020 at 6:15 PM, datsunfreak said: Next step is to see if I can remove the spring pads from the original axle And somehow, inexplicably, I did. With zero damage to them. 😄 And as you can see, they were not very rusty, thankfully. 👍 Got the diff level, and got the pads propped up on there in a level position... Tim did some zookage for me... And all sorted... Now on to the last step, making the upper control arm/panhard mount. Unfortunately, the pieces I have (2x4 box) were deemed to be not "big" enough. For safety and strength, we have decided we need 2x6 (or 2x7 if they have it) box so that it wraps around the diff tube more (this will make sense later). I will pick that up on Monday and hopefully I can make what I need for the mount on Wednesday. 👍 Edited July 25, 2020 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) On 7/24/2020 at 12:09 AM, Aibast said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt's_linkage ?? On 7/24/2020 at 3:11 PM, dimlight65 said: We have considered it. I think the need for welding another pickup point to the frame is what put the kibosh on the idea... but I could be wrong there. It has been, and most will likely continue to be, a source of much debate. 😁 I like it, but not sure the added work/complexity of it justifies the benefits. I think a better cost/benefit could be to either build a much longer panhard rod, or possibly switch to a "j bar" panhard rod? What I want to try first is a stock length panhard bar, run the axle through it's effective range, and then we can see how much side-to-side deflection we get. It's possible we are trying to fix a problem that isn't really a problem. And I do that a lot. 😄 Edited July 25, 2020 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
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