Boomtacoma's other build.... Little Red 85

After all the work you've done you still had the EGR system intact?

 

I have had the block off plates for a loong time. I wanted to remove my fuel pressure regulator and the EGR piping was in the way. That led to pulling the charcoal canister since I have a fuel cell and it's not being used anymore. No time like the present.

 

I've been out of town since getting back from K2. It is truly an awesome park to wheel and is definitely hard on your rig. I think once the tire break in they will be awesome. Issues that I found: I need to clearance both front fenders, cut off about 2 inches of slider in the front and rework my winch situation. My tires eat into the sliders and fenders when stuffed and my approach angle is horrible.
On to the pics..

King of the Hill

https://youtu.be/7Z_p4CR1XMQ




My tires hit the leaves a little.



Daniel losing his idler and steering pump pulleys on Smoking butthole.



Alex on Crazy Wabbit



Ron doing his thing on Dolphin



Guy named Rob with a sweet fj55 buggy and a hot 5.0 under the hood



Ryan's Twisted Customs buggy on Kiss My Grits



Ron on Hanibal Lecter







Exit on King of the Hill



Weather was perfect for wheeling.

 

I have been putting in a bit of work lately since getting back from Superlift ORV in Hot Springs.

I cut the outer rail and Kickouts off of my sliders. They stuck out way too far and were more of a hindrance than a blessing on my past few trips. I will refit the Kickouts to reweld to the rear of the sliders. I also trimmed another 2 inches off of the front of each slider. The 40's kept digging into them at full stuff and on hard turns.

I stripped down the interior of the truck in preparation for the Auto Swap.

I have pulled the Duals and am in the process of pulling the transmission. I have them sold and should have enough to drop on an Atlas II 4.3. I removed the clutch peddle, slave cylinder reservoir, hard line and starter.

I found an A340F at a local yard for a decent deal of $300. I ordered the Advanced Adapter 50-5710 adapter to fit the A340 to the Atlas. I also replaced the 3 solenoids in the Transmisson pan and need to install the Transgo 340 HD2 shift kit after the new valve body gaskets come in.

I also ordered some miscellaneous brackets and tabs to make the transmission crossmember. Dave @ Brave Motorsports is going to Fab up one of his tail housing supports for the Atlas.

Since my truck was a manual and will be keeping the stock wiring harness, I went with the RADesigns Baja Shifter to manually control the transmission and the Rock shifter for the trans gear selection. Iwill have to fab a mount for the 2 shifters and adjust my transmission tunnel cover accordingly.

I will be adding an external TransCooler (Derale 13950) and ordered all of the -6 fittings and hose to plumb it in.

Parts buying should just about be done besides ordering the Atlas..

Damn I'm broke..Time to get to work.

A340 with the R series bellhousing


Swapped out the solenoids



Trimmed down the sliders





Cab cleaned out



Down to 2 peddles from 3.



Ready to drop the transmission.

 

Almost have my winch mount wrapped up





It's tucked in a lot better than before.

 

Here are my pics from Superlift

Alex and I hit up Superlift ORV in Hot Springs this past weekend. This park is awesome! There was some rain and it was slick.

Horsepower Hill wrapped out at 5500 rpm!!



Alex took a harder line and was a little more impressive than mine



Daniel warming up his tires



Got 2 tires off of the ground on Schaffers



Hills galore



Our group for most of the weekend


Alex on Pinion Hill



Red doing work







RTI still had a little to go





headed home

 

I finished up my front winch mount. I used a piece of 4" channel iron for the winch base instead of the 2" square tubing like i originally planned. I had to use 4 socket head grade 8 bolts instead of the regular ones due to space constraints. I also trimmed the front grille to fit around the winch. I still need to fab up a mount for my steering cooler and run the wording for the winch but other than that it's done.







I also finish welded the trimmed down kickouts on my sliders and capped off the front of them where I trimmed them back.

Plan for tomorrow is to fire up my new to me smoker and drop the transmission.

 

Through some paint on my modified sliders.





Started tearing down the front end.

 

I have been working on stripping down the front end in preparation for the 3 link. The D60 is sitting on jack stands waiting for the old brackets to be cut off. The Plasma list is pretty long...



The transmission is ready to install. The RAD Designs bracket, lever and shift cable are installed. The Flexplate and dust cover are installed and torqued down. I picked up some DEX 3 fluid. Transmission cross member is mocked up and needs to be cut, fit and welded up.

3 Link parts are piling up around the garage.

• TG 7.3 orbital,mount and steering shaft adapter
• PSC XR 2.5 DE ram, clamps and clevis kit
• Artec upper and lower link brackets/tie rod links
• Artec adjustable upper axle link
• Rockwell Offroad 1.25 heims, misalignment spacers and tube adapters
• RuffStuff Panhard brackets, 7/8 heims and 4 ft of 1.5 .25 DOM
• 24' of 2" .25 WT DOM for the links

I drilled out all of the holes on the brackets to 3/4" That was fun. NOT!

Then I welded them all up.

I should be torching off the brackets on the 60, trimming the from leaf spring hanger and removing the shock hoops soon.

 

Well, I bit the bullet and bought some beadlocks. Hopefully they will cure my tire problems on future wheeling trips.

They are fairly new on the market and are a joint venture between TrailReady and American Eagle Alloys.

TR Hardrock - Series 025 - TRUE BEAD-LOCK (Single Wheel)

Hopefully they cure my tire debeading problems.

 

You could at least embed one of the pictures Chris.

 

That would be too easy

 

1 down 3 to go...



This wheel and tire combo is growing on me. I hope they work as well as they look.
I finally have my own plasma cutter so things should be moving along a little faster pace.
Found and older Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 50 for a really good price. Lucky me.

 

I got the second tire mounted up on Wednesday substantially faster than the first one. I brought the other 2 to Discount Tire to get dismounted today. I had the chance to use my Thermal Dynamics plasma last night. Besides being an older model, this unit blasts through steel with ease. I trimmed the front leaf spring hanger, driver side body mount, ifs steering box mount and some inner frame brackets. I also cut the front fenders a little higher, deleted the parking/turn signal lights and reinstalled the fender molding. Plan for this evening and weekend is to burn off the D60 leaf perch, hydro steering bracket and shock mounts. I also mocked up my orbital steering valve and made a nice place for it to mount where the IFS steering box was located.



Mounted the tires on the 14b. I had to order some small diameter lugs which should be here on Tuesday.

 

Working on a few thing as of late. My Atlas should be here in Tuesday.
Had to fab up a new subframe for my driver side seat



Orbital mocked up





Old brackets went away



Axle in place mocking up bracket placement.

 

A little more progress.

Cleaned up the frame and body mount. I'm running the upper link frame mount here.



Looks like I will have a 32-33" upper link and approximately 40" lower link in this configuration.

Orbital mount finished up.



Atlas mocked up on the A340F.



Initially fit into place



Big hole in the floor. I have to relocate the fuel return lines here. I also need to figure out some sort of skid plate for the transmission pan. A little too exposed for my liking.



Frame mount upper link bracket with panhard mount tied in. Panhard will be 32-33" as it sits



I need to get my full hydro mocked up an coilovers ordered to check all clearances before deciding on the final placement of all the link mount locations.

 

Worked a little more in the interior this weekend. I cut a new plate for my transmission tunnel cover and got my shifters mocked up.



Since my radio fried at Hot Springs during the monsoon, I decided to make the radio area a spot for some switches. They will control various lights, the trans cooler and some other things. The trans temp gauge may go in there as well since I have the room. I need a few more rocker switches to finish it up. The plate is a piece of stainless sheet metal that I had laying around and I have about 10 bucks in switches invested.

 

A little more progress...

Blue Torch Fab full hydro mount and PSC XR 2.5x8 DE Ram



Mocked up





PVC mock up links in place on the Driver side. Ended up with a 32 in uper and 39" lower.





Threw a tire on to see what it is going to look like. Tire is 5 inches off the ground in the picture.



I started on my transmission X-member and skid plate. Its has been a challenge to say the least. I have to work round the exhaust and driveshaft and a few other things. I almost have a complete flat belly right now. The Atlas is hanging down about 1.5-2 inches below the frame. It will be mounted with 6 bushings to the frame rail. I should have it mostly done tomorrow hopefully.

Then, I need to drop the trans and TC to get them bolted together completely and install the Torque Converter and reinstall.

 

I had some fitment issues with my hydro mount. I had to trim about 3 inches out of the mount to get my steering linkage at a better angle and buy me some room by the lower radiator hose. I also added 2 more clamp mounts for the ram.



I also got my 2" .25 DOM links and the 1.5" DOM panhard cut. I extended my frame side panhard mount to add some length. Killed my HF Sawzall. Had to order up a quality Milwaukee one to replace it.





I got my transmission and Atlas dropped for final assembly and trimmed the hole a little more. I will have to put my sheet metal skills to work to patch this hole and get my passenger seat mounted.





I hope to have it back in place this weekend after I get my crossmember mounts burnt in and do some more finish grinding on the inner frame.

I finally got the A340 and Atlas together and sealed up. I burned in the crossmember mounts and skinned the transmission/ transfer case skid with a piece of AR500 plate.









I will be adding another crossmember for a tail support for the Atlas.

I ordered some more parts from Barnes4WD to finish up some small things and will be fabbing up a cover for that gaping hole in the floor.

I should be ordering up my Fox 14"coilovers from Ryan at Accutune after KOH.

Then I need to cut out my old shock hoops and fit my 4WheelUnderground shock towers on the frame rail.

There is still a lot to do.

 

I fabbed up a cover for my floor pan. Front cover will be removable to access the front driveshaft.







I got my Derale trans cooler mounted.





I got my transmission flexplate and TC bolted up and my starter re-installed.
I need to reinstall my header and muffler, fill the trans and Atlas, plumb the cooler lines to the transmission and proceed with a test fire on the engine.