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The_Dealers Build Thread


Well i got tired of hearing alot of valvetrain noise so i adjusted the valves. The previous owner replaced the valve seals and had all of them set the same, and even then they were off.

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Decided to make a light bar out of 3/4" aluminum square tubing. I bought some furniture caps for the ends to keep it clean. Pretty much cut to length and drilled holes to mount the lights, and drilled holes and used longer bolts and washers to mount it. The bolts i got were too short and it sat too close to the roof, so i got some nylon washers and painted them black and raised it up about an inch. The ends that or overhanging im gonna put eye bolts on it, and im planning on putting another one in the back with 2 reverse lights and ditch the pastic bars. Eye bolts will let me keep my spare strapped down.
No pics since i raised it up yet. I just used some cheap Walmart lights to see how i like it before i get some Hella's
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When i make the back im going to mount my high lift on one side and shovel/ax on the other. i dont need a full roof rack so im not worried about fabbing one up at this point.

Thats all the mods for now, ive been working on getting the bugs worked out of the carb, and cleaning up under the hood, and straightening up my wiring. I just got my radius arm drops today(thanks Tony Raine!) and they are going on tomorrow. Gonna be drilling my centercaps for the front hubs so i can put them on, and repainting the wheels with bedliner. Also I have almost all of my FM146 swap parts now, all i need is a trans. Will be doing some engine work soon, and adding my Superlift 4" Xj springs, 2 or 3" body lift and 35" General Grabbers. Also will be cleaning of the paint drip that got on everything when i repainted her, and some new tail lights tomorrow, maybe nightshade em
 
Well i got my radius arm drop's on, made a big difference in flex and overall ride and handleing. no more bumpsteer, and my tires done go through radical camber changes when turning. Now my springs are maxed out on droop, i still have plenty of travel from the radius arms and about 2" more downtravel on the shocks. Glad i got some xj springs thats going in.

heres a before pic
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and heres the after. i couldnt really find anything to flex on without going on the other side of town, so its not maxed. rear sway bar still on front disco'd.

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still need to get some camber bushings, drop pitnan, and f250 towers and longer shocks to put my jeep springs in. might try it with just the bushings and pitman and see how the shocks i have now works out
 
things coming along pretty good. diggin the paint job, but the black roof may work the ac more then needed. looks awesome though.:icon_thumby:

i suggest a 4.0 5 speed setup. :icon_cheers:
 
things coming along pretty good. diggin the paint job, but the black roof may work the ac more then needed. looks awesome though.:icon_thumby:

i suggest a 4.0 5 speed setup. :icon_cheers:

what a/c?? :icon_rofl:

i took the compressor out in NC when my stepdad was helping me do my valves. and i forgot to put it back on, so its sittin in his shop till i go up there again lol

im thinkin i need some poly body mounts look at the bumper in comparison to the hood lol
 
removed the spare from the roof, installed holley #59 jets today(size.58) runs awesome, hooked up roof lights. tomorrow im dropping the upper buckets an inch, and installing drop pitman, superlift 550 xj coils, and f250 shock mounts and rancho's. will have plenty of pics
 
if you still need a D44 TTB i got one sittin in my back yoard loaded with 4.10 gears , came outta a 95 Bronco , complete disc to disc including RA's , Springs and Sway Bar , you can have it for free , just gotta figure out how to get it
 
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Good job, it looks a whole lot better than mine.

Richard
 
Alright for an update, the day after christmas i was cruising down the interstate at about 65, then all of a sudden it started slowing but the revs stayed the same. Did a little wierd shifting and every gear was slipping and i had no o/d and a crappy 2nd. I come to the determination that the a4ld just took a shit on me. I got on the phone and my buddy had a m5od-r1 out of a 97 2wd. Not the ideal trans for me since i would lose my t-case and no 4wd. But christmas got the best of my wallet, so i had to do what i had to do.

My plans for this are to swap in the 2wd trans, and get all of my clutch stuff done, considering i didnt want to put another a4 back in, and i needed to get my junk driving again. So im going to have a 97 ranger d-shaft shortened to get me going. Then around spring right before everyone starts wheeling again im going to get a 4wd m5od and put it in and sell the 2wd one. I also bought some pedals and swap parts from someone awhile back, and never heard anything back about where they are. so off to the junkyard i went to get some pedals.

Heres the free m5od
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And heres the bushing that need to be replaced. the guy i got the trans from mangled it pretty good when he removed the shifter. luckily none of it went inside according to him.
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Was off today so I had a little time to work on the b2. Yesterday was pulling pedal day, and they had the wrong ones, for a 90. as we were walking out i spotted an 86 they forgot was there, so i was in luck...for once lol. Pedals went in easily, took about 15 minutes, had problems with the brake light switch, i wasnt paying attention to the nylon washer that was already on the new pedals, but i figured it out and im done with that
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When i go to the stealership to get some flywheel and flexplate bolts, im going to pick up a bushing kit for the shifter, some pedal pads and a m5 floorplate if they arent too much, if not im gonna mod the a4ld one.

So i also got the trans out today as well, and was greeted with a mangled flexplate spacer
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I guess thats what made all that noise in the bellhousing seeing as how the flexplate was off center when i pulled it. but at least the flexplate is still good so mabye i can sell it. only has about 1500 miles on it if anyone is interested

Now the real problem. When I pulled the trans my torque converter was resting on the bellhousing, and i was leaking alot of trans fluid out of the front pump
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its a 91 4.0 low stall with about 1500 miles if anyone wants it.

heres the ranger shaft iim gonna shorten. anyone know if this is the 8.8 flange? also can i just put my 7.5 flange on it?
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Here is the finished product of todays work
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Anyone need a good boat anchor? Sorry t-case not included.

So tomorrows list includes spending about 400 bucks at Advance

clutch kit, flywheel, and a prebled master/hose/slave for a 91 4.0

Hopefully i can have the new trans in by tomorrow night so i can measure how much my driveshaft needs cut down. The driveshaft guy is only there on tuesdays and thursdays
 
that sucks you wont have 4wd, but 2 is better than nothing...

I think the 7.5 and 8.8 flange is the same size.
 
ive heard alot about 2 different 7.5 sizes and one being the same as the 8.8, guess ill take my old shaft to the shop with my new one thats getting shortend and see what they got. i dont have a measuring caliper so ill make them check it.

well went and got the rest of my parts today. $377 at advance and $160 at the dealership. i keep them guys in business.

so i got my clutch, flywheel, and prebled slave cyl, line, and master cyl. i went ahead and got a new rear main. even though i just did it about 8k miles ago. i picked up some synthetic fluid for the trans, and from the stealership i got the block plate and shifter bushing kit, and some flywheel and pressure plate bolts. they could not find a floor plate and said they were discontinued, so i got some sheet metal like they use to go around the vents on a heat pump. i already got my template cut out and was gonna cut it out today but couldnt find my dam tin snips. also the previous owner never had a block plate on it, he just cut the starter mounting part off and ditched the rest, wtf.

i didnt really want to buy the floor plate anyways because im putting a 4wd m5 in around april. anyways im waiting 5-7 working days to get my block plate before i can do anything, which sucks i wanted to get this thing together. i cant get the shaft made without the trans in to measure. anyone know how long of a shaft ill need on a 88+ 2wd b2 with fm146 or a4ld with the slip yoke??

gonna put the flywheel , rear main, slave, master, bushings, pilot and clutch in tomorrow and make my floor plate. might go ahead and lift the trans up and get it ready for the block plate so i can get er done.

like you said escort_gts 2wd is gonna suck, luckily this trans is just a placehold till i get a 4wd trans. might end up making some money. a buddy wants to buy the 2wd one for 500, and i can get a 4wd one for 300. problem is he needs a couple of months to make the money and im sick of driving my grandpas chevy. if i woulda already have been a 5spd i could bought 2 trans for what ive had to spend lol. might call some junkyards and see about a trade plus a few bucks for a 4wd trans
 
Nice lookin' rig... too bad about the trans though. I had TWO A4's crap out on me in my Ranger in the period of three months. Too bad about the 2WD tranny, but it's the right price!
 
well i was thinking i was going to have to pay 50 bucks to get the ranger shaft cut down to work for me. so i was thinking what if i can talk the j/y into trading me an older m50d 4wd for my 2wd plus give them 50 bucks. then i got thinking, i have a spare 1350 and i can offer them that and my ranger shaft and 2wd trans for one of their 4wd one. seems like they'd do it to me. well im gonna call first thing in the morning and fine out. im gonna keep my fingers crossed!!! ive gotten alot of parts from him and he is definately a wheeler and dealer. he hooked me up on my pedals because i had to go out there and take em out they were busy as hell
 
well no pics today, i ended up finding an fm146 from a member on here, going to meet him in the morning and pick it up, then ill be waiting on the block plate to come in...unless i can find one.
 
Aight heres a little update of what i got done today...i met up with Paul(greasemonkey6886) today and got my fm146 4wd, shifter, boot, and floorplate. Thanks Paul!! So anyways im about to go out and put my new slave on the trans, and tighten the bellhousing up some. Cant really work on the b2 much today, and im still waiting on my block plate to come in from the stealership. I guess tomorrow im going to go out and put the floorplate on and put the master, line, and flywheel and clutch in, that way ill be ready to shove the trans in there when my block plate comes in. Paul is a really cool guy and we talked for an hour or two. So heres the trans and shifter

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Im pretty excited, I wont have to lose my 4wd, man I was really dreading that, i use it alot around our property
 
Aight i got my new slave on, and got the bellhousing bolts tightened. Will be doing the rest tomorrow

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