vroom vroom

 

The fresh build engine starts .... what fun times. Butterflies from excitement and nerves haha.

Once you hear it fire up I'm sure your motivation level will skyrocket! Always has for me.

Is your Dana 300 flipped? I ran one and outside of it always leaking, it worked well for me.

 

The fresh build engine starts .... what fun times. Butterflies from excitement and nerves haha.

Once you hear it fire up I'm sure your motivation level will skyrocket! Always has for me.

Is your Dana 300 flipped? I ran one and outside of it always leaking, it worked well for me.

Well so far the engine start is no bueno can't get it to fire. Working through everything, doing my best to diagnosis. Fingers crossed I'm not wiping out the cam/lifters. I'll get it figured out eventually.

300 is flipped. While I had it apart I put in new stainless steel shift rails and the upgraded seals. Hopefully she's not a leaker.

Motivation isn't lacking...lately its just time to wrench. But still getting after the best I can.

 

Stock harness that I cut down. I had it running before the stroker build. I tried to not mess with anything but did replace all the ignition parts and switched to a newer returnless fuel system with an aftermarket fuel pressure regulator. I verified that I have spark and certain it's timed right. Plugs are wet so it's getting fuel. Going to swap back to my original fuel system and give that a try.

 

Its alive! Turns out I had the timing chain 90deg out. Opps. This morning was my first shot at starting it after fixing the timing. Fired right up and did the break in run this morning for 25min. Couple concerns with it...surging slightly and little vibration...but it ran good. Now figure out what's the next on the to do list.

 

CVongrats!!! That is a great feeling to get it fired up for the first time.

 

Long overdue update. Lots been going on. Nothing to crazy, just keep plugging away at small projects. Like I keep telling myself, big or small, its all gotta get done eventually. Still motivated, still putting in all the time and effort I can.

Once I got the motor running I spent a good amount of time getting temp sensors and my fan trigger right. Then cleaning up the engine bay wiring wiring from those changes. Cleaned up my coolant tubing, fixed some leaks, and put a drain on the lower radiator hose.

After finally getting around to installing the upgraded Dodge master cylinder I realized I had to redo/relocate my booster/mc/orbital mount. That lead to me also realizing that in my original design I hadn't factored in pedal ratios. So also designed and fabricated my own brake pedal (not 100% done yet). Once I got all that roughed in I started plumbing the brakes. Running a single line up front, two lines out back (one to each wheel). Shut off valve on each circuit in case of a leak. Hoping that I can use the ones for the rear as cutting brakes and/or temp parking brakes. We'll see how that plays out.

The most exciting news is that I got the coilovers on order, should be here in a few weeks. Went with 2.5" Fox's from Accutune. Can't wait for those to show up and start to work on mounting them and bump cans.

Still lots to go but feel like I'm nearing the end.

 

Looking good!! Gonna be awesome to see this get out in the sun.

 

Thanks 😁 Pretty sure I'll cry (tears of joy) the day it rolls out of the garage.

 

Long overdue update. Spent most of my free time this summer fixing vehicles so progress on the buggy has been an hour or so at a time. Not sure what all I’ve gotten done since the last post but for sure its been: finished brake plumbing, coilovers and reservoirs mounted. Lots of other little things here and there. Project this week is going to be bracing the rear upper coilover mount. Once that’s done the next project will be mounting the bump cans.

Bracing the uppers with some angle and then going to plate it to the outer chassis tube. Also gives me a nice box shape in the chassis to build an open basket or weather-proof enclosed box.

 

I like the plywood inner tire sidewall simulator.

 

It comes in really handy to check clearances. Clamps right on the rim.

 

No...still not done yet still plugging away a few hours at time.

Bought a new welder...Everlast MIG/TIG/Stick machine. Really happy with my purchase...not really good with the TIG yet but really nice to be able to tack things with TIG and then final weld with MIG
Coilover mounts are done.
Driveshafts are done.
Limit strap mounts are done.

Latest project...wanted a way to support the rear of the D300. Came up with a design that uses a 3/8" thick cover (to replace the OE stamped steel) that doubles as a rear mount. Still need to weld up a little cover for the front output gear set. Sad part is that the 300 needs to come back out. When I rebuilt it I up'd the spring pressure in the shift rail detents...well it was to much cause I cant shift it with the cable shifters. Oh well.

 

Sad part is that the 300 needs to come back out. When I rebuilt it I up'd the spring pressure in the shift rail detents...well it was to much cause I cant shift it with the cable shifters. Oh well.

Got the 300 apart. Yesterday I really wanted to just throw down the money for the Behemoth flip kit and even maybe one of their aluminum cases. But figured I'm this far into what I have I might as well just get it running as is and make sure the 300 works for me. So I threw the old (OEM?) springs back in and shifts fine. I have some thin shims that fit in the spring pockets so may throw one in each hole just for a little extra pressure and see how that feels. Hoping by the end of the weekend I can get the 300 all done and back in the buggy.

 

When i ran a dana 300, I drilled a hole above where the detents went, welded a nut and just used a bolt to set the tension against the spring. It was flipped, so always fought it popping out of rear gear.

 

I like that idea of being able to adjust the spring pressure. That that was all aluminum housing. I'm not good at aluminum welding but guys at work are halfway decent. I'll look into that.

 

I haven't had problems with mine popping out of gear flipped, but I have yet to find a vent method that acually works to keep from pushing fluid past the shifter seals. Sitting it's fine, driving is a whole different problem. The last iteration I welded a little deflector to keep the gear set from slinging oil toward the vent hole and I think that somehow made it even worse than it was before. I went to new rails and new double lipped seals, and used 2 per rail. Still a fire hazard after every drive. It's the part of the vehicle where having a bunch of extra dirt in the area serves a purpose.

 

Where's your vent at? I've got the JB Conversions 32spl rear and I put the vent on the top of the rear output housing. That's where it came from them...just had to relocate it to the top side due to the flip. I've got aftermarket stainless shift rails and new seals...fingers crossed. Not sure if the $1000 Behemoth Flip Kit is worth it. But might solve all these issues.

 

Working on two projects at the moment....cause why not.

Trying to finalize my belly skid design. Think I'm going with 1/2" UHMW backed by 3/16" steel. Split it into two pieces so its not quite such a PITA to mount.

Second project is redoing my exhaust. Currently the muffler is under the passenger seat and dumps at the B pillar. Going to move the exhaust to after the B pillar and dump straight out the back. Hopefully help with noise, heat, and fumes while stopped (idling).

 

Working on two projects at the moment....cause why not.

Trying to finalize my belly skid design. Think I'm going with 1/2" UHMW backed by 3/16" steel. Split it into two pieces so its not quite such a PITA to mount.

Second project is redoing my exhaust. Currently the muffler is under the passenger seat and dumps at the B pillar. Going to move the exhaust to after the B pillar and dump straight out the back. Hopefully help with noise, heat, and fumes while stopped (idling).

Have you considered 3/16 AR500 plate?

I wish I could extend my exhaust out from being just dumped....but no clean super way of doing it Rugged radio headsets are nice to suppress the noise haha.

 

Don't buy AR500 from Alro, get it from literally anywhere else. Get the AR500 and skip the UHMWPE because it's not worth the maintenance unless you get free cutting boards or something. Depending on the span, you can probably get away with 1/8" AR500. It's about as strong as 5/16" aluminum in my limited experience.

 

I guess I'll shop around a little and see what prices I can find. Whatever I get I'm getting through my work (accounts with Alro and Phoenix Metals). We buy steel by the semi truck load so I think (I hope) my pricing is a little better than public pricing.

 

What was the sheet from them? $1200 or so?

 

I can check Alro prices online but we just use that for rough estimating. Its normally a little high so I have to email them for a quote. But right now online a full sheet (3/16 X 60 X 96) is $872.34. Flame cut piece 30 x 36 is $368.61. I can get 1/2" UHMW for half that.

 

Last time I asked for a 5x10 sheet of 1/4 was $1200, sounds like it's still about the same price (IIRC, it was around $3.50/lb including tax).

How much of a 5x8 sheet do you need? Maybe you can go in on a piece with someone?

 

I picked up 3/16 AR plate 40" x 51" for $379 at Alro when I did my skid.

It was a remnant, so I did not have to pay prime pricing.

 

I would do a thin aluminum and thicker uhmw plate if I had it to do over again. SOOOOO fucking heavy....

 

Anyone have thoughts...know anything...about fire suppression systems? Been considering adding something like a Safecraft system with a few nozzles. One or two in the engine bay, one on the trans, one each for driver and passenger.