Project: The '81 "Yoter"

[toyodaaddict]

What's up with the brake line tool, is that what you used to adapt the lines to the wilwood proportioning valve? I need to install one and I'm not looking forward to dealing with the lines

[a1gemmel]

What's up with the brake line tool, is that what you used to adapt the lines to the wilwood proportioning valve? I need to install one and I'm not looking forward to dealing with the lines

The valve I used was a Wilwood 260-12627. No adapting required, that unit takes the same 10mm X 1.0 brake fittings you'll find on the rest of the truck.

The tool is a Mastercool 72475-PRC flaring tool. Pretty expensive, but it does perfect flares every time and you could teach a 6 year old to use it. Worth the price if you're doing multiple vehicles or can split it with some buddies.

[a1gemmel]

Last post to get us up to date - The e-locker linkage, dual cases, and a transmission swap.

Having wheeled the truck a bit with the stock transfer case and the 5.29s, I still felt like it wasn't enough gearing for obstacles. I found myself doing the old CVT clutch routine for steep steps and tight sections. For this reason, I consider dual cases to be a reliability and durability upgrade. Go slow, don't break parts, don't get stranded.

The old transmission and transfer case came out pretty quick. The L52 I nabbed to replace the L45 is identical, save for the overdrive gear.



I did the quick interlock pin removal to set the rear case up for twin sticks, and bolted on the new crawl box. I know I know, I'm posting on the Marlin forum and I'm not using the Marlin adapter. They were out of stock at the time I did this, or I would have definitely preferred to use the MC08.



Assembly is the opposite of removal.



The budbuilt crossmember is now retained by 4 u-bolts around the frame.



Hacked out the tunnel a bit and installed these twin sticks. Unfortunately didn't mask very well and I burnt the passenger seat with the grinder.




Whilst bench testing my e-locker motor, it let the smoke out. Not sure if I wired it wrong or it was just on its last legs. Either way, a new electric motor was looking a little too expensive for my tastes. I elected to do a homebrew conversion to cable locking.

A little bracket on the axle end:



A bracket that bolts to the transmission:



A little cutty-bendy-weldy action on a piece of cold-rolled:



If you want to copy this at home, the parts list is cheap and simple:

• 6' Marine Control cable (Dometic SeaStar CCx63306)
• 3/16 x 10-32 heim joints (ebay)

Everything else was just scrap steel and a welder.

A bit of trail and error went into making the cable shifter mount. It bolts to the crawl box and sits outside of the "reverse" position of the gear shift. Pull back to lock. I removed the clockspring mechanism in the locker actuator, so I just hold it with slight pressure until the splines line up and then it pops right in. Unlocking it is firm pressure forwards and working the steering wheel to find the spot of least binding pressure.



Now with shift boots and all the right knobs:



The boot I used for the cable locker is a Crown Automotive J5752010.

Will I need 4.7s for the rear case? Probably not. Do I want them anyways? Of course! When the Marlin XD gears come back in stock I'll probably snag a set to install at the end of the season.


There you have it, that brings us up to date. I have a few trips out on the truck in this configuration and it's feeling pretty great. The build is far from done, but the thread updates will now progress at a much more relaxed rate. Summer's here, the snow on the passes is all melting, and it's time to get out and explore.

[a1gemmel]

How it started vs how it's going

[emsvitil]

A car thief will see all those sticks and run away...........

[a1gemmel]

A car thief will see all those sticks and run away...........

Heh, I really want to take it to a place that valets, put it in 2 neutral neutral front lock trans brake, come out a few hours later and find a teenager sobbing in the driver's seat with the truck right where I left it. 

[toyodaaddict]

Looking good 

[CB.TypeG]

Great thread and solid work. Your ability to adapt and overcome all that old rusty stuff is inspiring! Look forward to following your progress in the future. Also sounds like I need to get my ass on Craigslist for some deals.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[a1gemmel]

Hey, long time no see. As I said above, build is mostly shelved while it's wheeling season since it's done enough to be using. Went up to Argentine Pass a few weeks ago - truck did pretty well, except for the carb having real trouble up at 13000 feet. Oddly enough it was still running like crap when I got down to 10k, but was fine the next time I drove it up to 11k. Carb will need a rebuild soon, can't hurt. Seems the accelerator pump is intermittent after the truck has run for 8+ hours in a day. I did do a 700 mile touring trip to NW Colorado last weekend and it ran like a top the whole time. The old girl is getting plenty of miles.

The Jeep club I was with loved to see it



I'm also moving to a place with an actual shop I can work in instead of bumming my friend's driveways for the major modifications, and the little yoter is an absolute workhorse for the move. Built up this harbor freight trailer and wired the truck for it, she tows like a dream. As long as you're not in a hurry



Anyone know a source for the 1st gen floor-mount gas pedals? The lack of pedal pad has worn a hole in my shoe and I'm getting cranky.

[toyodaaddict]

I don't have a pedal on mine either. I keep thinking I'll shape a piece metal an tack it on there, similar to a second gen pedal. Hasn't happened yet though

[a1gemmel]

I was picking over a second gen at the u-pull a while ago, I should have just taken the whole gas pedal assembly to see if it would bolt up. Dunno if the bolt pattern and the cable throw are the same...

[Bananaclip]

Love the truck. Build to!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[a1gemmel]

No more build updates to date, but I had to share these photos of using the truck today to haul about 1000lbs of steel I bought from a local fab shop. It makes me glad I went with the pro comp rear springs that folks complain are too stiff. They work great for a rig like mine that sees as much work as play.





Lots of time has been going into getting my new shop set up. I have a load of parts stockpiled that are going to be going into the truck soon...

[a1gemmel]

Finally got annoyed enough to do it...



Of course I had to colour match it

[a1gemmel]

Keeping a 40 year old truck on the road isn't all cocaine and sock hops... all the rivets in the topper hatch started failing at the same time so I invested in a rivet gun. The ones I could reach from both sides I used nuts and bolts with loctite.





Those struts are actually super trick - they're springs, not gas. Should never wear out!

[a1gemmel]

Next order of business - the exhaust cracked at the resonator. I'm honestly not surprised, it wasn't my best work. I think the drivetrain is moving too much as well, I'll need to address that with new motor mounts and maybe a stiffer trans mount.

For now a flange and flex-pipe for the exhaust, and a new tailpipe section because I found a quarter sized hole in the original.



While I had it out on the bench, I added a hater pipe to open in case of emergencies

[a1gemmel]

This next bit - I definitely screwed up. I wanted to try out the trail gear creeper joints, and I figured I'd move the shackle mount forward a bit to improve the angle while I was at it. Turns out, I made too drastic of an adjustment. More on that in the next post, for now just the install:

Beefy parts...



Welded in - 1.5" forward of the original.



It was about this time I realized I ordered 4 of the shackle spacers, when really I needed 8. Time to break out the harbor freight mini lathe.



I definitely won't accuse that mini lathe of being quick, but it gets me out of binds.



Done.

[a1gemmel]

First test - loading 300lbs of concrete bags over the axle and measuring the difference in ride height (spring rate).

Before: 400lbs/inch (0.75" travel)
After:  266lbs/inch (1.125" travel)

This was admittedly hard to measure, and probably not the most consistent... let's just conclude that it is softer now. Better for trails, worse for hauling. That's fine, I plan on adding load assist air shocks at some point.

Next test: full droop. Jackstands under the frame, take the wheels off, let it droop out. I realized afterwards that this isn't a true test without the weight of the wheels and tires, but at least it's consistent.

Before: 3 1/4" droop
after 3 1/2" droop

A quarter inch gain isn't really significant. Though looking at shackle angles, more weight would likely magnify the difference: (all side by sides before/after)



Ok, here's where it gets bad, on the flex test.



Before: tire 15.5" off the ground when other rear tire is barely touching

After: 13.5" off the ground, other rear tire complete off the ground.

It got worse 

The stuffed shackle angle is not looking good:



And the creeper joints? Well, they aren't really doing anything.




(d'oh, just touches the new exhaust. Should have considered the shackles while I was fitting that up)


What do you guys think?

Could I save it with longer shackles? I'm running 5" shackles right now, I lost 1/2" of rear ride height with this change so I could go to a 6 or 7" shackle without gaining much rake.

[a1gemmel]

Well, results are in. 7" shackles were just what the doctor ordered! Got up to 17" off the ground (up from 15.5" stock) and a whopping 20" with the front swaybar disconnected. It would go higher but the sketch factor was rapidly increasing. I'll need to break out the flex ramp soon. The function of the creeper joints is also much more apparent with the correct shackles.









I ordered straight shackles, ballistic sent me offset. I actually like them better so it's a happy little accident, but I do need to swap to the shorter bolts as they're just running out of thread when compressing the bushings, and besides they look ridiculous.

[a1gemmel]

I also got new motor mounts in today... I pulled the old ones out and realized they're stiffer than the replacements
Oh well, I swapped them anyways and I'll see if it makes anything worse. Keeping the originals around as spares or to put back in.

[a1gemmel]

Oh, I found an old photo of testing flex with the old double-overload springs. It's come a long way!

[a1gemmel]

Went out to a local trail called 68J today, nothing too crazy but shot a bit of video. Unfortunately most stuff higher in the mountains is snowed over by now.

[toyodaaddict]

Nice job on the video.

[a1gemmel]

Curse you Marlin, this winter was supposed to be for working on my el camino! 

I pulled the trigger on some competition 4.7 gears... couldn't say no to that 10% sale 

I also want to pull my transfer case out to inspect it - I've been having an odd grinding noise on the highway. Like, when I modulate the gas so there's zero load on the driveline (not accelerating nor engine braking) it sounds like a loud angry rock tumbler. It gets worse with road speed and when the gear oils come up to temperature.
I tried 5th gear low-low and then high-low replicating the noise and nothing, so I feel like it must be in the rear transfer case. I'm thinking output bearing?
It's not the rear diff, I swapped a different one in just to test that because I thought I had royally miffed up my gear install.
I know it's more or less impossible to troubleshoot sounds over the internet, I tried taking a video but you can't hear much over the engine/wind/tires/steely dan.
Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

[toyodaaddict]

Curse you Marlin, this winter was supposed to be for working on my el camino! 

I pulled the trigger on some competition 4.7 gears... couldn't say no to that 10% sale 

I also want to pull my transfer case out to inspect it - I've been having an odd grinding noise on the highway. Like, when I modulate the gas so there's zero load on the driveline (not accelerating nor engine braking) it sounds like a loud angry rock tumbler. It gets worse with road speed and when the gear oils come up to temperature.
I tried 5th gear low-low and then high-low replicating the noise and nothing, so I feel like it must be in the rear transfer case. I'm thinking output bearing?
It's not the rear diff, I swapped a different one in just to test that because I thought I had royally miffed up my gear install.
I know it's more or less impossible to troubleshoot sounds over the internet, I tried taking a video but you can't hear much over the engine/wind/tires/steely dan.
Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

Are you running a CV rear driveline?  The noise you are describing sounds like what you get when you lift these trucks and don't add a CV to the rear driveline.

[a1gemmel]

No CV in the rear - it's a heck of a long driveshaft being a long bed so the total angle doesn't look too awful to me. Maybe I can strap a go-pro under the truck to film and see how the pinion angle is looking under changing load. Thanks for the advice.

[a1gemmel]

In the meantime - clips from wheeling after saturday's snowfall. I took some bed damage sliding into a tree and broke the side marker light, always more opportunities to practice body work!

[a1gemmel]

Well, the truck has made a few decisions on my behalf - I started looking at the body damage from the other day and I realized that there really wasn't much left of these rear quarters on the bed.



Off it comes - it was mostly held on by the fender flare. 30 seconds with the grinder.



Repaired this bed corner like I did on the other side - much faster now that I've had some practice. Still 10 foot body work, but who's watching?



Yeah, I see a bed swap in this truck's future. Until then, time to get weird with it. I'm going to sandblast and patch that panel I took off, then put it back on with the bottom edge becoming a rock slider tied into the frame. The rear panel under the tailgate will get removed, and the bumper moved upwards to gain some departure angle.

[a1gemmel]

Decided to keep the high cut look, made some progress tonight:





Will be adding a third bracket on the bench, it'll be a compound miter and will take my small brain time to fit up.
I may "boat side" the underside of the slider, if I can I get my hands on some cheap plate. Frickin steel is through the roof expensive these days...

[a1gemmel]

Slow progress - had a minor house fire (started at the neighbor's). Bumper coming along.



... And I bought an '86 4runner whilst out on a weekend vacation. Funny how that happens. 35s, big lift, automatic, spool rear diff. Absolute turd with the stock 4.10s. Not going to make a build thread for this one since right now I'm just planning on getting it passing emissions (bad AFM, cat, at least) and getting it up to snuff for weekend wheeling. Needs recovery points and the front hubs rebuilt too.