Topic: The Macheen rebuild

[nwflyoda]

Some day she'll be finished.  haha

[redneckcustoms13]

Bumping along smoothly. When do the other 3 tires arrive?

[nwflyoda [OP]]

They won't be getting ordered for a little while.  At nearly $600 a piece, I'll probably have to order them one at a time till I've got all 4.

[redneckcustoms13]

Shoot, I thought you woke up and went out in the back yard and raked up a pile that fell from your money tree when you wanted parts.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

I wish that was the case!

[300k]

whew....that's a hawt build. Lovin that old transmission tunnel in the first pic, mine looks like garbage.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Small update:

I'm pretty stoked to say that the rear suspension is now done.  I've just got to finish up with capping the factory rear frame section, add the tubing to further brace/tie the factory frame to the new tube frame, and then cut and replace the 2 pieces of tubing that braced the rear hitch.

But the rear strut mounts are fully welded and the tubing has been capped that I cut to clearance for the strut.  I also, welded some sheet metal back into position where the old access door was in the driver side wheel well area.





I ordered a dual pass radiator from Speedway motors and it showed up yesterday.  Its a dual pass unit for a ford/mopar.



Here you can see it mocked in place.  This is roughly where she'll live.  I will be cutting out the sheet metal in front of the radiator and replace it with some expanded metal.  The expanded metal may be a bit over kill since it faces the cab, but I've had branches come up between the cab and the bed and I don't want to risk anything getting to the radiator and damaging it.  The radiator tubing will turn 90 degrees downward to then route under the cab to the back of the motor.



View from above.



Now, we come to my current debate.  I've been planning this entire time on putting the winch out back.  But, now that I've got the suspension finished, I'm starting to realize one of my concerns during the rear suspension build is going to be a big issue.  This may be hard to explain so please bare with me.  When the suspension comes to full stuff, depending on which side of the spool/drum the winch cable is coming from, the cable will interfere with the clearances between the upper links and hydraulic/brake lines as well as the bed floor/frame cross members.  Now, to get around this problem, I could mount the winch parallel in the frame and run the cable to the passenger side to a pulley, which would then send the cable towards the rear snatch block and then to the driver side frame rail and finally towards the front of the truck.  The potential problem with this idea though is that I don't know if I'll have enough distance between the winch and the pulley for the cable to wind correctly on the drum.  From what I've been told, I need 3' for that to work.

So, the debate that I'm currently having is whether or not to put the winch out back and I'm very interested in what everyone has to say on this. 

The pros:
Capability to pull winch cable from the rear or front
A little better weight bias front to rear
Its a unique setup since not a lot of folks go through the ass pain

The cons:
Complicated setup/routing
The fact that a rear winch isn't used as heavily (not by me or any of my buds that I've wheeled with)
Interference issues with the rear suspension
Loss of bed space in a very small bed
Shorter overall distance to pull cable to in the event that there are limit objects to attach cable to

I'll admit, as of right now, I'm leaning towards putting the wince back up front.  As you can see from my list so far, the Cons outweigh the Pros of putting the winch out back.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

For a mini update, I took a few more pictures to see if it'll help show everyone what i'm talking about.

Here, the camera was placed at the same height as the bottom of the frame cross members that i added when i built the new frame section.  The rear axle is at full stuff.  You can see that the upper link tabs are nearly completely above the bottom of the tube.  The only way for the cable to really pass towards the rear, would be to pass along the frame away from the upper links.



Here you can see just how close the upper links come to the actual cross member.  There really isn't a lot of room for activities here.



Granted, this isn't the most accurate straight edge, but this will give you a good idea how close the upper links/heims are to the bed floor.  There is less than 1/2" between them at this point.



From this view, you can see where the cable will have to route from the winch to the rear snatch block.  The 2 pieces of tape on the passenger side represent the allowable space for the cable to come back past the axle and towards the snatch block.  The single piece of tape going to the driver side then forward represents the cable leaving the snatch block and traveling along the inner frame rail to the front of the vehicle.  From this picture, you can also see where the winch would need to be in order to make this work.  Obviously, the winch would be recessed under the bed floor a bit.  The main problem with this is now the winch mount and winch itself will be coming very close to contacting the upper link on the driver side.  The other potential issue is that the winch cable will come very close to contacting the winch itself as it passes from the rear of the truck to the front along the frame rail.  I'm not 100% certain that it would be an issue until i started building the mount.  But at this point, i'm weighting my options to see if thats even a good idea or time wasted.



This photo is just showing how i capped off the rear frame section.  I cut it at a 40 degree angle to match the steering angle of the mog axle.



I put the rollers on the rear axle last night as well.  Man this pregnant dog looks really wide now.





Since i'm getting close to putting the cab back on, i went ahead and ordered a few things that i'll need inside the cab for mock up.  The first ones to show up where my OX locker levers.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Update:

I finished up a few things out back.  The hitch is now tied into the frame further.  I've also added more bracing between the new frame rails and the factory frame section.  Then i layed down the diamond plate back onto the bed floor and welded it into position.







Its been nice getting to put some things back together on the ole gal.  Makes it seem like the project will actually be finished one day.  haha

Some great new here though.....A big moment has been reached!!!! 

For the first time in almost a year, the truck now sits on her own w/out the help of jackstands!!!!!  Granted, she isn't sitting on her own new shoes, but that'll come in due time.  For now, i get to drool over the sight of her able to be rolled around.







I went back to the radiator mounting.  I cut the hole open in the front of the bed now.  I need to source some expanded metal to cover the opening.  After some brain storming with a buddy, it was suggested to move the radiator farther forward and just weld some -16 AN bungs onto the passenger side so that i can keep the radiator tucked up nicely. 

You can see the new opening in the front end of the bed here.



This is roughly what she'll look like once installed...minus the high dollar bungee mounts.



So now, i will cut the 2 radiator house fittings off and have them capped along with the new AN fittings welded onto the side of the tank.  This will point the AN fittings directly towards the passenger side so that i'll route them along the outside of the passenger side frame rail to the best of a motor.  I'll have to build a sort of trough for the lines to route keeping them protected from anything below.  The trough will also serve as the passage for my battery cables to run since the battery will be out back as well.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

I haven't really gotten much done lately.  I ordered the -16 braided nylon hose...man, that was a bit  more expensive than i had expected.  I was able to cut off the factory hose fittings on the radiator then drilled the radiator for the new -16 an fittings as well as the 3/8 npt fitting for the relay temp sensor.  Once the last few parts arrive, i hope to have the tank mounted and plumbed so that i can start to get the cab back onto the truck.  The fun will really take place as i get to see what the ole good will look like.

Nothing like a brand new aluminum radiator that i cut up.



I've also been trying to figure out the rear steer electric pump situation.  This is roughly where I'll place the pump, but i need to build a reservoir for it.  I'm not really sure how large of a reservoir to build though. 

Does anyone have any suggestions?



The real estate next to the pump will be for the battery.  I'm hoping, that i will still have room for my 2 propane tanks and tool box.

[redneckcustoms13]

I'd go for about 2 gallons or so. Shouldn't have any issues with that.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

I think that'll be way too much.  The front won't have near that much.  The only difference is that its driven off the motor and not an electric pump.

Or are you referring to the total capacity?

[redneckcustoms13]

Yes about 2 gallons in the rear system. You'd be surprised how quickly it gets hot. Need to have that extra for cooling.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

I can see what you're talking about.  FYI, the rear will have a cooler on it just like the front since the radiator will be next to the pump. 

[nwflyoda [OP]]

I contacted PSC to find out from the horses mouth the question about the rear steering reservoir.  They stated that a standard reservoir will be fine and for a cooler, just a heat finned cooler will be sufficient.  So, that answers the questions that i had.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Update:

A box of goodies showed up the other day.  The -16 AN fittings and hose as well as the silicon hose.  Also, the 2" round stock of delrin material showed up as well.



I first started by chucking the delrin in the lathe to cut down to make my new body mounts.



Finished piece (upside down).  The new bushings replace the factory bushings that sit on top of the frame mounts.  There won't be a bushing under neath the mount.  Just a through bolt and washer to secure the cab to the frame more solidly.



Here you can see what i'm referring too.  The new bushings just sit on top of the frame.



Now that i had all of the parts i needed for the radiator, i brought it over to a friend so that he can work his tig trickery on some aluminum.

Here is the what the beauty looks like afterwards.



He also welded a -16 fitting onto the stock water outlet, which turned out great.



I added the expanded metal to the front of the bed for protection of the radiator.  Possibly over kill, but i wanted to ensure that nothing would really be able to contact it.



I was finally able to build the radiator mounts and now she is sitting in her new home.  The radiator sits about 3/8" off of the bed floor to allow space for when i need to wash the bed out.  I've also drilled 2 3/8" holes in the bed floor up front, i may drill them out larger but this way, any dirt or junk can wash out easily.



Here is another view of how its mounted plus, you can see how the radiator is plumbed.



As far as the radiator goes, its pretty much complete.



All that i have left now, is to properly secure the hose as it routes along the frame rail to the motor.  Once that is done, i'll start preparing the cab to go back onto the frame.

[zippo]

Nice job on the rear mount!

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Nice job on the rear mount!

Thanks!

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Mini update:

Since I'm working out of small and packed garage, I wasn't going to have the needed space to pull the engine out of the truck with the truck nose first in the garage.  So, it was time to turn the ole gal around and back her in.  This turned out to be a bit more difficult than I had expected since I have a driveway that slops away from the house (granted, its nice for the rain).  Luckily, my buddy was able to swing over and we drug the truck around using his RZR.

But, it was a pretty exciting moment for me, since the truck now rolls and was able to see the sunlight.  Below are a few pictures of her getting a quick tan in the sun.







She is now back in her home ready for me to start pulling the cage and engine out.



I started to take measurements from the drive train and frame to make the initial marks on the cab floor to cut it out.  It may be hard to see in the below pic, but this is roughly how far over I'm going to have to cut the floor of the cab.

[redneckcustoms13]

Nice progress buddy. I'm glad jon is using the rzr to.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Thanks.  yeah, he loves that thing.  He uses any excuse to drive it around.  luckily, he lives close to he just drove it over to put it to work. 

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Update:

To prepare for the cab going on the truck, i finished routing the coolant lines along the frame rail and cut the hole for the drive train.



My initial plan was to just pull the engine out, then set the cab on the frame and start to work on clearancing the firewall to clear the engine.  Well, things didn't go quite to plan.  Here is the story of my hot 4th of July day in the Florida sun.

It was most certainly a struggle to get the cab on the truck.  The joys of building the cage so tight to the cab showed its ugly face again.  When i first attempted to set the cab on the frame, i discovered that the A frame i borrowed to set the cab wasn't tall enough to pull the cab over the strut towers.  I remedied this by pulling the front tires off the axle and setting the truck down on the front rotors.  The next issue that I ran into was with the tube clamps touching the back glass.  So, i removed the glass to keep from destroying it as i did to the windshield the last trip out.  Then i ran into an issue where the cab wouldn't clear the tub clamps.  Sadly, i had to cut the tack welds and remove them leading me to wonder how I'm going to fully weld them on the cage once the cab is on for good.  At this point, the cab was getting really close to setting on the frame.  But once again, more clearance issues.  This time, it was the clearance between the transmission/tcases and the cab.  Since the clearances are so tight, there isn't enough room to set the cab on the truck with the drive train there.  Which means I'll have to install them separately in the future.  Just wait, there are more issues ahead!!  With the complete drive train now removed, i made some big progress...until the brake master cylinder started to contact the strut mounts!  Ugh, if its not one thing, its another.  haha  With the master cylinder out of the way, i ran into my second from last issue...the power brake booster.  The studs on the front of the booster were hitting the strut tower.  Once the booster was out of the way, i was finally able to get the cab into its resting place.  I just couldn't bolt it down yet due to my final clearance issue...the upper link was hitting the bottom of the cab.  I suspected that was going to be an issue when i finished the front suspension but it won't be a big deal to fix.

This entire time, I've been trying to remove as little as possible in an effort to find out what will be needed in order to install the cab during final assembly.  Here is what the cab looked like back on the frame.  Its been a long time since I've gotten to see this and was really excited!



I filled the front struts with some nitrogen to bolt the cab down and mark where i need to cut.  Here is a little bit of a bro dozer shot for you to get a little laugh.



While the cab was bolted down, i pulled the dash out and then took a look around at the over clearances i have. 



There is a pretty good bit of space between the cab and the front of the bed.  This should allow for plenty of air flow for the radiator.



One thing that I'm pretty pleased with is that the radiator site below the back window.  This way i can still use the rear view mirror without any obstruction.  I know the local police will approve of that since its the only rear facing mirror that i have on the truck.



This brings me to my deli-ma.  To run power brakes or to not.  Previously, i was running a Tacoma booster with a 1" bore master cylinder for the rear disk brakes.  I was never happy with the brakes the truck had since they were spongy.  I believe this was because the master cylinder wasn't large enough.  When she goes back together, that won't be an issue any more.  While i haven't tried a stock power brake booster from a pickup to see if it'll clear, i do wonder if there will be room for one at all.  In this picture, you can see the clutch master cylinder.  There isn't a lot of room.   



I'm all ears for those of you that have used both setups (power vs none power brakes).  While, the one plus of none power is that if the truck were to stall on a nasty ledge or angle, the brake pressure will not change.  The downside is that I'd have to get the pedal length correct for this in order to not have an overly stiff pedal.  The power brakes do make it nice and easy for a long day of wheeling but the clearance issue may be a bit hard to over come.

Now, that the cab is bolted down, i circled back to the last clearance issue.  After some suspension cycles with nitrogen filling/bleeding and more cutting, i was finally able to get everything to clear.

Here is how much the upper link intrudes in the cab space.  While this looks like it may be in the way, it really shouldn't be too bad.  the tunnel I'll build to seal the cab won't be in the way much of my feet and the pedals.  I'll loose about 1 3/4" of clearance.





Next I'll start working on getting the drive train back into the cab.  This is where some more fun should begin.  haha

[redneckcustoms13]

As borat would say. Very nice! Great success! Lol
On the brake issue, have you thought about just a wildwood manual set up? 2 reservoirs and 2 cylinders actuated by 1 pedal? They aren't very hard at all and compact.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

haha.

That is one of the configurations that i'm debating about.  It certainly would be compact but the pedal length would need to be key.  I really need to talk to some folks that deal with brakes to see what i would need to change since the brake system is pretty important.  lol

[H8PVMNT]

Looks totally stock with the cab back on there.  Total sleeper. 

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Mini update on the 20lbs of crap in a 5 lb bag:

Over the past few days, I've been able to get the entire drive train to tuck back into the truck's frame rails as before.  This just required a healthy dosage of the ole cut off wheel.  I ended up having to cut a decent bit of the cab out of the way to make room.  But once its all said and done and put back together, it'll certainly be worth the amount of time spent. 

Below, you can see the picture of the drive train back in its home...just with a little more shelter around it this time.  The coolant lines are just sitting in this position while i cut the firewall more.  As you can see, the engine is tucked back a good bit.  The #4 cylinder is pretty much directly under the cowl.  Its definitely come to my attention that each piece of the drive train (engine, transmission and reduction box, and rear transfer case) will have to go in the truck separately.  This won't be too big of a deal since I'll build the tunnel to offer extra wiggle room/space for the installation and removal of the parts.  Plus, I'm going to also build access panels on top that i can remove when it comes time to work on a drive train component.  The one thing that is becoming more and more clear, is that the factory bucket seats won't be going back in the truck nor will the factory a/c/heater box assembly.  I may have to get a set of seats from a side by side since they are narrower.  I won't know for certainty until the transmission tunnel is finished.



From this view, you can get a rough idea how much the drive train protrudes into the cab space.  Keeping the truck with a flat belly did mean a sacrifice of some interior floor space.



Here is a better view of where the engine sits in relation to the cab.



I started to put the external components back onto the engine to see what items were now in the way of one another.  One of the first things that i noticed was how close the turbo is to the throttle cable exiting the firewall.  Here, you can see that the throttle cable exists the firewall (the 3 holes close to the engine) directly behind the outlet of the turbo.  Luckily, the turbo is pretty small and the main exhaust will only be 2" OD tubing and the wastegate port will be 1.5" OD tubing.  The intent/plan is to have the exhaust bend straight up out to the hood as soon as it exits the turbine housing.  But I'm still concerned that the heat will melt the throttle cable even with the down pipes being wrapped.  So, I will most likely look at either relocating the throttle cable, modify the factory one to exit lower of the firewall, or look at a completely different throttle pedal all together.  Many options to remedy this issue at least.



Here is an inside view of the throttle pedal and where it hooks up to the throttle cable and exits the firewall.



The next big clearance issue is the upper intake plenum.  In this picture, the upper plenum has been placed on the lower plenum, but it is sitting about 3" farther forward that what it will be once bolted on.  This shows how much more I'll need to cut of the factory firewall to make room.  While I do feel that cutting into this part of the cowl will be okay, I still am a little hesitant to do so.  I've thought about building a custom intake plenum that would be closer to the head and lower.  This would keep me from having to cut into the cowl but at the same time, building this custom intake may not be very cheap to do it right.  Also, if I'm correct, having longer intake runners helps the engine make more torque, and since this little hot rod isn't a HP monster, I'll definitely need some torque...don't mind the 177:1 crawl ratio it'll have.  haha  Also, cutting the cowl really won't be that big of a deal since i need to open the cowl any how to access the top far corner of the firewall on the passenger side.  The cab has some cancer there that i need to address to keep water from getting into the cab.  So, it appears that I've answered my own question or inner turmoil about whether to cut the cowl or not. 



For now, while i ponder on the options ahead, here is what the girl looks like.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Small update:

While i haven't been able to make much progress lately.  Before i purchase a master cylinder, I've been trying to research and ensure that I will have a properly setup brake system.  I definitely don't want to have crappy brakes out on the trail.  Since the axles i picked up already had the 8 lug conversion as well as the disk brake brackets, and since the previous owner didn't know who's kit they were; this proved to be a bit difficult to figure out the actual brake caliper part.  But, after a few hours at the parts store with a portal box and hub assembly in tow, I was able to finally figure out what brake calipers that I'll be running.  I now will be running 4 piston corvette calipers.

I did press forward and finish cutting away the cowl/firewall to allow me to completely bolt up the intake manifold.  I also cut an access panel in the top of the cowl.  Man, was there a BUNCH of sand/clay just sitting there in the cowl.





Here, you can really see how far i set the engine back.  Seeing how the #4 cylinder is completely under the cowl.



Currently, I'm about to start working on the "inner frame" for the trans tunnel so that i can start laying some sheet metal down.  But in order to do so, i need to order a drive shaft.  Luckily for me, since i moved the drive train back so far, this actually makes both drive shaft lengths within 1/2" of one another.

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Update:

Well, i haven't posted an update in a little while due to some issues with the site that was hosting the photos for me to upload here.  I had to redo that process but now that I've got that boring stuff out of the way.  Time for some more pics and updates on the build.

First off i want to just say that the folks at Wilwood were EXTREMELY helpful.  I spent the past few weeks e-mailing back and forth with them to come up with the correct master cylinder for my setup.  I was really surprised and very pleased that they were actually so willing to help me out...especially since brakes are a pretty important part of a rig.  With that being said, they pointed me in the direction of a 1" bore master cylinder with 2 remote reservoirs.  I liked this model due to the fact that i can mount the reservoirs anywhere that i want.  After all, I've got limited space to work with here.



With the brake issue taken care of, i was able to shift my focus onto the actual sheet metal work at hand.  While i'm certainly not a sheet metal guy, i figured hey, why not give it a try.  haha

The first order of business was to attach the cowl then work on the firewall behind the turbo.  A buddy gave me a good idea about recessing a piece of exhaust tubing to allow a little extra clearance.  This turned out a little better than i had expected.  Now, with this extra space, I'll easily be able to direct the exhaust out of the turbo and have a decent radius "bend" for the exhaust to flow up to the hood.  I said bend in that manner since the plan is to use stainless tubing and have my buddy work his tig magic with a bunch of pic cut pieces.





I started framing up the transmission tunnel and firewall.  I want to have an access panel for the back side of the engine as well as for the transmission.  This is what i came up with to also be able to accommodate the extra shifts and such that i have.



Before i could really start to build the trans tunnel, i needed to order the drive shafts so that i could ensure i gave plenty of clearance for them.  Since the front and rear drive shaft lengths were so close together, i was able to order basically one drive shaft that fits front and rear.  I ordered the shafts from Tom Woods.  They ended up being a bit smaller in OD than i was expecting at the u joints area so i had plenty of space to work with.



The only real clearance issue that i discovered with the shafts in place was at the back of the cab.  In reality, i knew this was going to be a concern but i had no way to really know until i got the parts on the truck.  I will go ahead and clearance the rear bottom lip of the cab just to give a little more room for the drive shaft with the suspension at full stuff.



Now that all of that is done, its was time to start cutting up some card board thanks to some tasty cereal.  I now have both the drive and passenger sides of the tunnel complete.  Next I'll focus on the firewall but its definitely going to be interesting due to the weird shapes and angles.







In an effort to inflict harm on my hand, i decided to cut out the windshield by myself.  In reality it didn't turn out too bad but i did decide to take of the gloves at one point, and it figures that right after i did that the steel wire would break on the windshield cutting tool and cause me to punch the busted windshield.  This took a little chunk out of my finger but hey, if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough!!  But the end result was that i now have a great view out of the cab.  Side bonus was the added air flow in the cab while i work.



To complete the update for today on the build, i wanted to go ahead and make the bracket to mount the cable shifter for the dana 300.  Now keep in mind, the shifters won't actually lay that far forward once they are actually connected to the cable and the tcase.  Also, I won't know for certainty on how close to center the shifter will be until i make the bracket to hold the OX locker levers that will reside behind the tcase shifter.



One thing to note, i was given a great idea from a buddy that does sheet metal work on air craft.  The access panels, dog box over the dana 300, and the mounts for the shifters/levers will all be secured to the cab via nut plates.  This will be a lot cleaner method than what i had originally planned plus, i won't need to worry about getting a wrench on the backside when unbolting the parts.  Not to mention they'll it'll also look bitchin!

[nwflyoda [OP]]

Small update:

Since the last update, i was nearing the completion of the firewall/trans tunnel.  The first part that i needed to tackle was this strange shaped hole in the firewall.



After scratching my head a bit and trying to visualize the final product, i started cutting more cardboard and metal.  I needed to still have enough access to the intake to easily bolt it together but i didn't want to take up any more needed interior space than i had to.  Here is what all that time and effort accomplished.  It could have been a bit smoother of a transition but i did what i could with my limited sheet metal skilz.  But all in all, I'm happy with how it turned out.  One thing to note is that all i will be grinding down (slightly) all of the welds/seams and then applying seam sealer to keep the seams sealed from anything from outside getting in and vise versa. 



Now that the passenger side was finished, i needed to finalize the driver side.  This wasn't nearly as much of a pain as the other side.



Now the fun part starts of getting to make the access panels for the firewall and transmission tunnel.  While at this time, i have not completed the trans tunnel panels, the firewall panel is done.  I definitely like how this is turning out and how much access it gains me on the back side of the engine.  One thing that i still need to do on the firewall panel, is to put a 90 degree bend on the bottom of the panel at the same plane as the frame for the trans tunnel.  This way the front trans tunnel access panel will bolt down onto the firewall access panel to help hold everything together and keep it from making any noises with the truck running.  Plus, to better seal off the engine compartment.



The UPS man brought me a sweet little package today in the mail.  The heater assembly that the truck will have.  While it would be really nice to have a/c in a trail rig, but lets face it...its just not gonna happen.  But heat is definitely needed if for nothing else, but to be able to defrost the windshield.  I ordered this vintage air setup that allows for both heat and defrost and it is packaged pretty shallow.  I liked this model over some others since i won't have much space behind the dash now due to an engine taking up some of that real estate.  Most of the other units were deeper (but shorter) and that would mean that it would take up more of the dash space.



I also picked up some -8 an bulkhead fittings for the coolant to pass though the firewall.  The plan is to hang the heater at the far passenger side of the firewall with the fittings/lines routing behind it to the side of the firewall bubble.  My hope is to also be able to tie the new heater assembly into the factory defrost duct.  This spanned the entire windshield verse the 2 small defrost ducts that the heater kit came with.  I don't think if I'll use all of the functionality that this unit came with (well, specifically the option to control how much heat is produced by the heater via an electric heater control valve) but i do like having the extra options in case i change my mind between now and final assembly.

[Dingman.]

Can't wait to see this finished and on the trail!