‘94 4x4 Swap/Build

[Northidahotrailblazer]

I never thought about building my own core support..... Thats badass. I should of built my own.... lol How much of a stick did it take? what did you build it out of 1/8 2 inch?

 

[Northidahotrailblazer]

Yeah I'm really thinking about this.... I really need to see what my radiator is going to be to build. I'm doing a diesel swap in my 89 BII and the OM617 Mercedes is long. I bought a couple radiators and i'm kinda worried the V8 swap one which fits inside the core support will be enough.... But doing this I could make any radiator I want fit in it.... I just already have the new core support in.... dam, I just dropped the radiator off to have the ports changed around too.... Why couldn't you of posted this like two months ago? lol haha jk

 

[DRanger024]

I never thought about building my own core support..... Thats badass. I should of built my own.... lol How much of a stick did it take? what did you build it out of 1/8 2 inch?

I can’t take credit for the idea. PlumCrazy did it first, I just copied the idea because I’m cheap and like building stuff

I’d have to measure to figure out how much material it took. Rough estimate is right around 180”. I used 1-1/2” 1/8” wall square tube. I got the material free from work in the form of some old mezzanine railing.

There wasn’t enough room with the 4.0 and a dual core radiator to fit a Volvo electric fan. This gave me approximately an inch of extra room without measuring and I can literally put the radiator just about anywhere. The center uprights could have (should have) been made wider creating an even larger opening. If you found the right radiator, you could put it inside the core support making it flush with the front. That would probably net you quite a bit of room.

 

[DRanger024]

The Radio in my truck died a couple weeks ago. I had gotten a factory head unit with a cassette deck and added Bluetooth to it. It lasted a little while until the left channel went silent.

These cheap Chinese Apple car play single DIN units on Amazon have gotten quite popular amongst the XJ crowd so I figured I’d give it a shot. Better pics tomorrow if I remember.

Bench testing Gaia

It just BARELY fit in the factory opening. The older bezel from the gen 2 trucks has a slightly larger opening that allowed it to be firmly pushed in. I’m not sure how well it would fit the later bezel from ‘93 on.

 

[willindsay]

Link to the radio? It looks nice

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm so not a techy kind of guy...

But I dig that radio...

I'd like a link for that also.

 

[DRanger024]

You can find them all over Amazon and eBay in different variations. They have double DIN versions too that are lower in price also. This is the one I bought;

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0C85YZY4W?tag=959media-20

 

[Angry Possum]

Hey man great job on the Ranger, and thread. It's gonna take me awhile to get thru all the posts.

 

[DRanger024]

Thanks. Good toilet material.

 

[DRanger024]

Started cleaning up the lower mile 4.0 I picked up. I pressure washed it a while back to paint it and abruptly turned it upside down full of oil . Ive been spraying it down with brake clean every couple days since then and finally got it dry.

color is “Patriotic Blue” Krylon fusion 5x

Found some goo when I pulled the water pump. Looks like stop leak to me so I ordered freeze plugs. It’ll get a thorough wash before I put it back together.

Water pump has seen better days. I have one on the shelf.

that’s all for today.

 

[DRanger024]

Reassembled the engine enough to wash the block out. Water pump was there just for the pic.

got lots of rust colored water out and some gross sediment.

and bolted up the manifolds because why not. Then decided I didn’t feel like dealing with the broken studs or the EGR tube and ordered a set of headers.

I’ll clean the over spray off the front cover tomorrow.

 

[DRanger024]

Well the NOS oil pump drive I ordered is lost in the mail so I haven’t pulled it off the stand to do the rear main and put oil in it yet. BUT, headers are torqued down.

I’d like to weld a bung into an extra thermostat housing I have for the Volkswagen electric fan sensor. That is an M22 x 1.5 bung. I’ll probably weld it in closer to the upper radiator hose.

EGR plug from Amazon. M22 x 1.5 with a copper washer.

Header just clears the oil filter adapter.

I’ll be using the plenum and valve covers (the ones my girls painted) from the engine that’s in the truck now. I’d like to have everything I can do done so I can tape up the intake runners and push it in the corner for winter. It’ll be easily accessible to turn it over by hand once a week that way. I’ll make an oil pump primer from an old cam sensor I have as well so I can get oil in through all of the galleys before it goes to bed.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Looking good, I really dig the blue paint. I think I have those same headers, I got mine from EBay, was the only thing available when I was looking last year and they fit great. The stainless wasn’t so, so I had mine coated when I had the trans out a few months back. Not sure if it helps with power any but they sure look good peaking through the fender liners.

 

[DRanger024]

Looking good, I really dig the blue paint. I think I have those same headers, I got mine from EBay, was the only thing available when I was looking last year and they fit great. The stainless wasn’t so, so I had mine coated when I had the trans out a few months back. Not sure if it helps with power any but they sure look good peaking through the fender liners.

I only paid $200 for them so I won’t be too disappointed if they get rusty. Judging by the welds and some of the defects in the welds, they are in fact stainless. Probably a low grade like 304L.

 

[DRanger024]

Pushed a couple inches of snow this morning. Truck works great with a plow