Topic: BigMike's Big Project

[ifssucks]

ive check out the flex a lites but even my cost on them is outraegeous. im going go huntin in the junk yards, im sure ill find somethin

[brainlessfool]

did you try summit?

[BigMike [OP]]

oh boy now the page alerts have cursed my project

 


So I went to Costco after classes today, parked and pulled out some tools and crawled under the rig and pulled the battery out. Then I walked into the service counter and along with the reciept, I just simply told the guy that the battery was bought in August and that it's leaking. He promptly printed out a "Non-sealed" label and slapped it on the battery, and then gave me a Costco "Cash Card" worth the value of the receipt. So I walked into the store, grabbed a new Red Optima, bought it, then went back out and crawled under and installed it. My volt gauge was around 11volts when I first put the key in, and now after driving around for a while its above 12 Must have been sitting in there for a while as the previous Optima (that went bad) had 12.2 volts the first time I checked it.

Anyways all is good and I am really glad that I decided to replace it now instead of later. Corrosion was already forming on the negative terminal and my ground wire but now its under control.

Also, because they gave me a cash card, I could have gotten anything I wanted. But unfortunately they didnt have any Yellow tops or I would have considered one. They have the blue marine ones for $35 more, but I just decided to go with the red as the blue one was a bit taller and I would have to modify my nice battery mount which I didnt want to do..

Anyways, so if you ever have to return something at Costco, they are nice about it


Hey ifssucks, I had more luck while browsing the imports rather than the american models. I wasted alot of time on the american side of the yard and then within 10mins on the import side I had what I wanted. Good luck

[BigMike [OP]]

OOOO, OOOOOO, let me paint it. I'll fix it just right.

yeah I could do that

but then I would look like you with those tacky blue pants you've got on:


Hard to believe you're only 12.

[Mike D]

hey fireball i love your paint job.

And bibmike where did you mount you battery at.

[BigMike [OP]]

And bibmike where did you mount you battery at.

Go back to page 13......

[SWAMPER]

Mike Im guessing you wont be doing alot of mud ey

[CruzrDave]

Boy Mikey you batterty will be right on top of our rear spring mount. Are you planning on using a frenched rear hanger?

[LCOwner]

I read all 23 pages and now my neck hurts from sitting in front of the computer so long.  Mike the swap is very impressive.  Your a chip off the block for sure.  In regards to you electric fan take a look at this http://www.dccontrol.com/.  I'm going to run this with a Taurus fan on my Cruiser.  Keep the pics coming. 

[BigMike [OP]]

Mike Im guessing you wont be doing alot of mud ey

Nope

Boy Mikey you batterty will be right on top of our rear spring mount. Are you planning on using a frenched rear hanger?

No one makes Frenched hangers for Orbit Eyes. I thought about cutting and adding metal to ours to make it wider, but then I just thought ahhhh who cares

I read all 23 pages and now my neck hurts from sitting in front of the computer so long.  Mike the swap is very impressive.  Your a chip off the block for sure.  In regards to you electric fan take a look at this http://www.dccontrol.com/.  I'm going to run this with a Taurus fan on my Cruiser.  Keep the pics coming. 

Wow, thanks for reading it all. Must have taken ya awhile
I checked out that fan controller AND THIS IS EXACTLY what I've been looking for. The electric water pump on my MR2 came with a variable temperature computer that runs the pump at different speeds according to temp, and also has closed loop modes.

One thing I really hate about the electric fan I've got is that each time it turns on its max speed which puts a huge amperage draw on my system like 50 times a day and also must be harder on the motor and it won't last as long.
I am going to save some $$ for that controller, I think it's a wise investment at $80.

Thanks
BigMike

[Mike D]

I like where you mounted your battery except i do a lot of mud so I'll just put it behind the rear seats.

[Brandon]

you better build a guard, I should show you a pic of my underside in that area, it meets a lot of rocks..

[BigMike [OP]]

I already have plans for one. Rocky and I were looking at it and I am going to build a plate that protects it from rocks and also from what ever heat is left from the exhaust in that area....

....I wanted it as low as possible to help with the center of gravity. Not only is the stock mounting location in front of the wheels which puts a higher weight % over the front end, but its also like the highest thing in the engine compartment you know? All that weight up high and out in front cant be good. So I wanted it opposed to the gas tank in the rear and down low. I left about 1.5" room for mounting shackles once I get my 56" rear springs from AOR.

BigMike

[Brandon]

another thing, resistance increases with cable length. I have had some issues with my rear mounted battery - you look to have a good ground but check that ground wire for heat after you have been running it for a while and just make sure you have a good clean ground there. I use a hella engine kill switch for my battery cable, figured if it was a kit it must be good enough but I wish the cable was larger..

Looks like you could have just made a tab and bolted the battery to the bracket instead of using a cable

[BigMike [OP]]

Looks like you could have just made a tab and bolted the battery to the bracket instead of using a cable

Dang that's a great idea man, I might just do that !!!! Actually yes I think I will. I will put a "Design by Brandon" label on the negitave terminal bolt

Yeah I'm using 2/0 AWG welding wire in effort to keep the current loss down to a min.
I've got a short 6" or so ground wire attached to the engine block on the passengers side...I've never posted a pic of that, so here you go..

Man digging around through all of my old pics is actually depressing. I can't believe I've come this far, I dont remember doing all of this work, and it doesnt seem like it has been almost 4 months since I started this project

[TrackVino]

I know this isnt the place to post this, but it kind of goes with your project, I still want to help with the idea

I tried to upload a flash file, do they not work?

[ifssucks]

mike, when i look at the pics on page 22 theres a shot of your engine from the front and it looks like the motor sits a little sideways to the left, going off the valve cover. i just got my motor narrow enough tofit on the chassis mounts so its secure but mine tips to the side also. do you think this could harm anything. i notice that the intake looks planed out though. is it supposed to sit that way? obviously your truck seems to be running good so i dont expect to have problems with oil pressure or anyhting. let me know what you think.

[79coyotefrg]

I know this isnt the place to post this, but it kind of goes with your project, I still want to help with the idea

I tried to upload a flash file, do they not work?

[ifssucks]

today went well. i worked from about 11 to 4 and i fabricated a new motor mount bracket, got the motor secured and finished the body lift on the cab. not to mention i got my first real experiance with welding and learned how to use a plasma cutter. probably not a good idea to practice welding on a part as important as the motor mounts. oh well, i think i did pretty good for a motorcycle mechanic, who works in a 4x4 shop, doing his first engine swap. ill post some pics of my booger welds next week.

[Shamb]

keep up the work BigMike.   

[FIREBALL]

Hey Mike,
No prob on the paint, I wasn't gonna paint it like mine (your not that cool) anyway, I was gonna come up with somethin special for you.

[LCOwner]

Have you gon the the Smog Ref yet?

[BigMike [OP]]

I tried to upload a flash file, do they not work?

I've never tried to upload one. There is an option for it, but I've never used it...
Man you are either good at photoshop or you have alot of free time

mike, when i look at the pics on page 22 theres a shot of your engine from the front and it looks like the motor sits a little sideways to the left, going off the valve cover. i just got my motor narrow enough tofit on the chassis mounts so its secure but mine tips to the side also. do you think this could harm anything. i notice that the intake looks planed out though. is it supposed to sit that way?..............

I think we already talked about this? Maybe not? Well if you've ever seen a Tacoma or T100, your notice that both the 2RZ and the 3RZ sit tilted a bit off center, yet the throttle body is horizontal, the powersteering is horizontal, and the bottom of the oil pan is horizontal. All I did when I was building my engine mounts, was that since I kept the stock T100 mounts on the engine side, I positioned the engine so that both mounts were the same distance off the ground, ie level, and then made the marks for the frame. However when we repositioned the engine time and time again during the welding and fab processes of the mounts, I think the passengers side mount sits a bit lower than the drivers, but the 3 horizontal indicators mentioned above were all level. So we went with it.

Toyota obviously designed the engine to sit a bit sideways. The engine is much taller than the 20/22R/22RE/22RTE, even when tilted.

today went well. i worked from about 11 to 4................ill post some pics of my booger welds next week.

Sounds' great man!! Glad to see it coming along! Please attach some pics if you got em!!!!!

Hey Mike,
No prob on the paint, I wasn't gonna paint it like mine (your not that cool) anyway, I was gonna come up with somethin special for you.

I'm still not sure I even want you to touch my truck in fear it'll get the "Paradice fever"

Please let me know what you think.

Hey Toyhatsu, what's up with that guy? 1st he told you it would be done on the following monday and then the next thing I know hes got a broken leg and now your truck is just parked in the corner

Your clutch drawing looks great, but it might be wise to make the leverage arm that the cable attaches to adjustable in case your pedal doesnt move far enough or its too stiff.

Man I hope that guy only charges you half price. What a joke

[BigMike [OP]]

Have you gon the the Smog Ref yet?

I was going to go on Friday, but a couple of things made me decide to wait until this week:

- My Optima battery kind'a died so I wanted to replace it, and that would cause the copmputer to clear out, and I need to have it set before going in, so I figured I would replace the battery before the weekend, and then use this time to drive it around and get the computer back to normal.

-I was supposed to get my Nology plug wires in last week, but they have not showed up yet, so I want to wait for them. Also, my cylinder #3 plug wire has a tear in it, and that might cause it to fail the visual.. so I just figured to wait for the new wires; it will smog cleaner with 'em anyways..

- I still have the clutch start wires dangling around in the interior that I need to clean up before I let him inspect my wiring..

I think everything else is good to go, so tomorrow night I will try to take care of these last things, and then once I get the new wires, I'll be off to get it done.

You can be sure I will let you guys know once I take it down there!

[ifssucks]

i thought they tipped a little, but my oil pan is definately not level. ill have to take some closer looks. this week i plan to bolt up my tranny and see how that lines up with the holes in the floor and see what ill need for a crossmember/ tranny mount. after thats done im going to start running the 3rz/tacoma harness. i think this is going to spawn a whole new world of trouble. the harness is in good condition but i think itll take quite sometime staring at wiring diagrams before ill have it all worked out. i think ill be getting my moneys worth out of my meter!

[BigMike [OP]]

i think ill be getting my moneys worth out of my meter!

I actually killed the battery on my cheap $9 meter from harbor freight. Replaced the battery and now it doesnt work quite as good. That's what I get for $9

Hey so do you have the interior wiring from the Taco that goes from the computer up to the dash and the instrument cluster and then down to the fuse box, aka the "Intergration Harness"?

If you do then the wiring really isnt so bad, but if you dont, then

[ifssucks]

yes i have the complete interior harness also. im not to worried, it should be ok. today as i l;ooked at my motor, i was going off the gasket surface on the oilpan and not the sump. now that i look at it, the oil sump is perfectly level. so my braket fabrication went well. what i had to do was take the driver side motor mount bracket off the block and used the plasma cutter to remove about 1 inch out(shorter). then for the pass side i took the bracket off and drilled out the bottom hole where the little locater pin on the actual mount is to the larger diameter of the bolt that hold the mount to the bracket. then flipped the mount around. this narrowed up the mounts and gave me the proper angle i needed. ill post some pics tomoprrow to give you a better idea.

[BigMike [OP]]

Wow sounds great man. Yeah I thought about modifing the Taco engine mounts to preserve the frame mounts, but Im glad I torched the frame because now if a mount goes bad, I'll I've gotta do is order another one from the dealer or from a yard and just replace it.

But Andy and Chris were thinking about building some prototype engine mounts that will be a direct bolt to the 3RZ block and for the Hilux frame. Then we could start selling 2RZ/3RZ engine conversion engine mount kits..

[BigMike [OP]]

Well guys my darn gas level sending unit has pissed me off for the last time.

When I first started driving it, the gas gauge stayed pegged at maximum full for 3 days. I was thinking, geeze for an 18gal tank this is going to be some sweet mileage. The needle had started coming down and was directly over the Full line when I was at 140 miles on the trip odo. At that rate it seemed I would hit over 400 miles per tank and I couldnt believe it. Then within ONE single day, the needle went from on top the full line to on top the empty line.

From the start I wanted to see just how low the gas gauge gets before running out of gas (very important thing to know about a vehicle) so I was carrying around a 5gal gas tank with me and I was planning on running out of gas..

Well, for the next 3 days, the needle was still over the empty line and had not moved. Then around 320 miles, it pooped out on me while just getting off the freeway. And this was on the small 27" treads including a trip up the mountains, many burn outs, and idling for hours while diagnosing everything all on the same 1st tank of gas..........

...........so I figured that now with the 30" tires on, I would baby get a bit more, and I wanted to see if I could hit 350 miles on a single tank. Well tonight it was at 290 miles and I ran out of gas while dropping my girlfriend off at her house. I was pretty pissed. This time the gas gauge only stayed on full for 1 day and then dropped below the empty line for the remaining 4 days.

I figured that until I get the sending unit fixed, I would just play it safe and refill at 300miles as I thought I could maybe hit 350. But I ran out of gas and this time without any gas on hand. And the funny thing is that it was on the same off ramp right near my girlfriends house I think my truck is trying to tell me something

So I called my buddie but he was busy, so the last resort, my ol' man. But it was cool because you aren't embarrased when your ol' man is none other than the Man himself. Thanks Marlin for the bailout!

Tomorrow I will take a trip up to Oakhurst to pick up some Chevy rims to go along with my 33s. Then I will start building my Crawler and I will regear the '81 to 4.11:1s (temporary) and slap an electric locker in the rear. nice

Then after the tires + Crawler + rear locker, I should be ready to hit the white cold stuff!

19th ANNUAL PANAMINT VALLEY DAYS
Also If anyone is going to the Annual Panamint Valley Days, I will be there with my truck! I will be following Marlin up the Defense Mine Run on Saturday the 13th of Nov, so my truck's gotta be trail worthy by then!

More info on Panamint Valley Days can be found here: http://www.cal4wheel.com/pvd/index.html

[iNfErNaL]

What kind of tires are you gonna wear?.