1988 samurai LWB build

[kris97ranger]

well just got back in from the garage i ran outta zip disks and welding rods so im done untll i go pick up my gf from town at 3. pics to follow once i upload them

 

[kris97ranger]

alright so heres the pics

i was trying to decide if i wanted to cut the whole perch off and restart or if i wanted to make the ones that were here work. like i aid they are just about the right width problem is they arnt flat they were grooved to hold the u bolts in place.

i decided to try and make what was there work instead.

WARNING YOUR ABOUT TO SEE HAGGARD WELDS

( i will come back in and cut a groove into these and redo it all i just dont have the proper sized rods right now)

my welder is super picky and a pain to use but its all i have for now. dad got it like 20 years ago when someone threw it in the dumpster behind the shop he was working in at the time

ok so on to the perches because they were originally made to hold the b bolt in place they 2 dips in them so i just decided to cut the hump out between them and weld a flat plate in

i ended up just using the piece i cut off after i trimmed it down. went a little crazy on the trmming for the sides though.... which i think was half my problem with the welds

heres the bad bad welds in all the stages...

i ran a bead along the edges to try and close the gap up some. but with such a thin rod and they fact that my welder is half broke so all i have for heat setting is the hotter half it didnt work so well

after all the slag is cleaned off

and here it is all nice and flat. im also going to fill in the little dips at the edge when i come back and re do my welds

then i made a template of the stock perches and moved the hole over so if it looks like its off center thats because it is lol

then i got out the flap wheel again and started making the front axle all shiny to match the rear, turns out i grabbed too high of a grit so its much smoother then the rear. i used 60 grit on the rear and 180 on the front lol

and last but not least i figured while i had the camera out id grab a pic of the difference between the diameter of the 22 spline samurai front axles and the toyota 30 spline front axles
obviously the toyota is on the left and the samurais on the right.

and as for the diff protection ill probally end up doing it.. and no i dont have any extra $ laying around... which sucks cause i did want to get a selectable locker in the front

 

[BONES]

Right on.

So how do you plan on dealing with the wider perches and narrower springs?

I wonder if there's enough meat to just drill holes for the ubolt to go through the perch on 1 side of the spring? Or maybe notch both sides for u-bolt clearance?

 

[kris97ranger]

well because the springs are off center theres about an inch on the outside of the perch that i think i may just notch out and cut some extra tubing lengthwise and lay it in so it looks cleaner. of course i shoulda though about that b4 i did all my welding yesterday acause its gonna be a pain to notch them out now haha

 

[kris97ranger]

ok so i got a bit more work done today but not alot because it was just waaaay too nice out to be stuck in a a garage! +15 and sunny alllll day it was awsome.

but b4 i slacked off sat on the deck and drank beer all afternoon i got the perches done.

i just cut out the area where the u bolts will be comming up and took some angle iron and boxed it all back in.
i still need to grind down all the welds buti forgot to get a new disk for it when i picked up the cut off wheels yesterday

i already filled in the area i had to cut out so when i sliced it apart it was kinda cool to get a profile of how my welds were theyre ugly but seem to penetrated pretty good

after getting that done i decided to start on my diff armor its all 1/4" plate if i bend it i think im gonna have bigger things to worry about haha

i started witha paper template (actually about 8 pieces all together to make the cover)

then i transfered itto my steel. i tried to get as little waste as possible when laying it out. you know making it so one cut works out for 2 pieces

then cut it all out. 3 zip disks and about an hour an a half later lol

i really really.... REALLY have to invest in some torches...

so then i decided to weld all these pieces on and the welds still look like shit and scince your actually gonna see this i decided to hold off and wait till i can borrow my buddys mig to finish up.




So there i am sitting on my front porch enjoying the sun and said screw it im cleaning my truck im tired of a dirty ass plane jane run of the mill f150 i think it turned out ok haha still have to buff it wax it and polish the exhaust rims and running boards.


before:

after:

i went and threw my summers back on... guess what they were forcasting for between +10 and +15 all week now... snow tommorow

 

[BONES]

LOL this is why my winters are still on the dd, lol. never fails. It's like washing it too, says sun all week and you wash it then it rains the next day for sure, lol.

 

[kris97ranger]

Ha! I win it didn't snow!!! Didn't get anything done today the gf had the day off school so I was distracted lol

 

[kris97ranger]

alright progress! kinda lol finally got my diff prtection all buttoned up. also found out the brand new fuel pump that i got for this thing isnt the right psi. i shoulda followed common scense but i didnt and now i lost the recipt and am 130 bucks in the hole with a fuel pump thats usless.

but anyways here the finished pics of the diff

 

[kris97ranger]

alright i had a list that was a full 8x11 sheet of paper of things that need to be done most of it is checked off. as far as i can tell all i have left is make it run (parts store is hunting down a fuel pump)

go through and make sure my axles are all sealed up, and check the fluids in everything.
then take it out and wait till somthing goes boom. then ill remember whatever it was that i missed lol

 

[Bennybooster]

haha awesome, make sure to take pics

 

[kris97ranger]

thats the nice part about it not being the dd. i can beat on it and blow it up and not really care. lol. i thought the head gasket was gone last fall and if it was the motor was getting all forged internals and nos.

but scince i dont think it is. it wont get the nos.... yet. plans other then the new axles going under and the tires are just a cage.

and there will definetly be pics

im hoping to get on a may 24 trip with MUDDING B-3000 from here. we'll see though..

 

[BONES]

Right on man! Lovin the progress reports!

I have lost my steam lately, no motivation at all, it's good to see someone actually getting at their rigs and accomplishing something.

 

[kris97ranger]

doesnt feel like im accomplishing that much lol. its cold today and cloudy so im not doing anything.

for a while id fix one part to find out another part was broke and so on and so on... it got annoying real quick but i think i got most of it delt with now.

also figured out why the truck was constantly dying once i shut it off. the battery doesnt hold a charge which is strange because that one has been in my ranger forever. i guess it didnt like being upside down.... so ill have to steal the battry outta the sj then eventually buy a new one to put in the sj when it becomes a dd

 

[kris97ranger]

ok so i toughed it out and went to tighten the bolts on my front driveshaft cause i knew i was going to forget about them. and started fooling around with the exhaust.

i HAVE to get a muffler on this thing this year a straight piped 4 cyl is damn loud epspecially with the hedder. i had some extra tips laying around. that i was trying to find a use for they are 2.5" in and 3" out and they are 22" long

turns out they are the perfect hieght for stacks

but then i wouldnt be able to run either roof out back... plus ive always said gas trucks with stacks are gay. so i duno if ill do that, on the other hand though if i shut it off in deep water i dont have to worry about it going up the exhaust

and then i realized that i dont have a profile pic of the truck scince ive done the lift (matco truck was in the way)
so heres one

 

[kris97ranger]

got a call back from the parts store. they got my old fuel pump returned and the $ back onto my visa so i ordered a universal fuel pump from lowrangeoffroad.com that you would use for a 1.6 litre swap into a samurai, the stock pressure on a 1.6 is 35-42 psi

and the toyota calls for 43psi at WOT i figure its close enough.

like i said we used to stock samurai fuel pump up untill now and its the same one as what you would use for a 1.6 so it all should work out.
while i was surfin the site i got myself some external hood latches, i had to remove mine to get the rad where i wanted it.

i better get some damn stickers this time, i got some when i orderd my spool from there but then none when i got my suspension lift