BigMike's Big Project

[BigMike]

Saturday,

Well now that I dont have to worry about smog for a while, I can remove all of the :bull crap:. First thing I did today actually. And I tore down three transfercases, and cleaned the housing and internals and now I am ready to build my Crawler tomorrow morning. Ideally I need to get the Crawler installed and both drive lines on by the end of Monday so I can start on my rear locker, or else I wont be ready for this upcoming weekend at Panamint.

And about this intake, its a nice chrome pipe my buddie gave me that I never used on my MR2. Now its finally got a home. Its huge 3" ID actually matches the stock 3RZ piping. Now I finally have a really nice throaty sound - and it was cold tonight so I will wait until tomorrow to really come to a conclusion, but man it sure feels like its alot faster once in the power band. I really need to race my buddies 86 Marlin-built Turbo truck before I change my gears as he also has 33s on stock gears.

More updates coming tomorrow night, cya
BigMike

[blyota91]

  That is some serious bling under the hood!  Not to mention that massive    transfer case set up. 

[Mike D]

I want one

[toyhatsu]

ifssucks:

How much do you want for the steering column?  I looked at the one in the yard and it was pretty beat up.  Do you need some 3/4" wheel spacers and wheel studs (AP) for that eventual `85 front axle...brand new?

BigMike:

Thanks for explaining the "Jim" thing to me.  When I got the Long's at the  I posted on Pirate to find out what I had.  Someone wrote that Jim's crawler was being parted out by his ex.  The guy at the yard said that he was getting screwed out of his vehicle, business, home and about everything else he owns.  Fianlly put two and two together  I did get his Long's and front drive shaft but the rest was scavenged.  What a biatch...I'll find my parts somewhere else from now on.

[toyhatsu]

I did get the engine bay fuse box..."power distribution box" yesterday and some of the wiring that I was missing.  If you are planning the 3RZ swap make sure that you get this.  Unless you are a genius like Mike    Hopefully I can get going on the wiring again this week.

[Mike D]

looks nice 

[PipeRat]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

[Mike D]

Pretty 

[toyhatsu]

Jo Mama 

[cgbemis]

Hey mikey,
     You are going to go 23 spline in those T-Cases aren't you? You probably mentioned it earlier in the thread, but I aint looking through 28 pages to find out.

Also, what are you going to do concerning birfields? Bells?

[ifssucks]

hey tohatsu, i found out that column came from a 95 but if itll work you can have it. well just have to figure out a way for you to pay the shipping and its all yours. just give me your zip code and ill figure out what it costs.

[toyhatsu]

Geez thanks a lot ifssucks  My zip is 80907.  I can do one of those next day mailers with a money order or bank check...or do you have a PayPal account?

Thanks again!

[Skinny_Pedal]

put 20's on the mercedes

[brainlessfool]

Hey mikey, have you had a chance to chack the MPG with the new eng. yeat? 
would love to know what it's getting! 

[ifssucks]

toyhatsu, if youd like ill post a pic of the column so you can check it out first. if you want it just send me a address and name and ill need like 9 bucks to ship it. all thats and its yours. if you want you can send a check to my shop and ill put it on a p.o and send it out to you. just let me know what you want to do.

[FIREBALL]

Hey mike, here's that thread we talked about. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141739

[toyhatsu]

toyhatsu, if youd like ill post a pic of the column so you can check it out first. if you want it just send me a address and name and ill need like 9 bucks to ship it. all thats and its yours. if you want you can send a check to my shop and ill put it on a p.o and send it out to you. just let me know what you want to do.

ifssucks,

I sent you an email so that you can send me your mailing address.  I'll send some extra to cover your time and effort.

Thank you very much

[ifssucks]

toyhatsu, i sent a reply to your email with the address. if youd like yo see it first ill try to remember my camera tomorrow and post a pic in the evening when i get home. let me know about the wheel. ill see if i can find the center piece that covers the airbag.

[BigMike]

Hey guys, I've havn't been online here since last saturday because I've done some pretty amazing changes to my rig that I will share with you when I come back from my trip tomorrow. Check back Sunday evening if you're courious, that should be good.

Let's just say that I just got home at 4:30am today, and it's been like that for the previous 4 days straight. I am dead beat and I still need to pack when I wake up tomorrow

So I've been pushing as hard as I can to make Panamint valley days, so I will take a generous number of pictures to share with ya, and for 84runner? some flex shots!

G'night

[toyhatsu]

BigMike,

Not ever a teaser pic before you leave? 

[SEAN_at_TLT]

What a biatch...I'll find my parts somewhere else from now on.

None of us know the exact details to their personal life (nor should we), so why pass judgment? Nancy has always been friendly and helpful and that's all we as consumers can ask of a business isn't it?

I don't know Jim, so I can't comment on his character. It sounds like people liked him so I am guessing he is a good guy. But I can't help but think that if the courts gave her EVERYTHING, he must have done something wrong?

I'm not looking to dredge up other peoples (personal) past's, I'm just pointing out that if Nancy has been good to you and provided parts for a reasonable price with good or decent customer service then you might think twice before black listing her because of internet gossip.

Lot's of people bad mouth Geiger and look what good he's done for Marlin, catch my drift?

[FIREBALL]

"BigMike's Big Project", change the station!

[79coyotefrg]

Hey Mike  did you ever check your axle codes

[BigMike]

Glen, I remember you asking me about this, and I searched around for a bit but couldnt find out what codes meant which ratios..

Well here's my axle codes..
VIN: JT4RN38D4B
C: 033
TR: KJ81
A: G072
TM: L52

So what can ya tell meh Glen?

Well guys, we had too many problems at the shop on Friday and later that night we decided to not take the 7hr drive and just stay home. It was pretty sad because Marlin has not missed the annual PVD event since 1992; he's been there every year, and he was a trail leader again this year but we couldnt make it.

Also its sad for me because I pushed like a mo-fo to get my truck ready and then we didnt go, but its ok, I'll have many more times to play, and now Im set it for it

Basically, here's what I've been up to.. I didnt take many pics because I was too busy and I didnt have much time to goof around. I worked hard and fast and got alot done in one week.
Im now a tripple Crawler with 1 set of 4.70:1 = 510:1 low range. NICE
Got new drivelines front and rear with CVs. Front driveline is longer than my rear!
Built and installed a wide rear end with a Tacoma e-locker and 5.29s, also I didnt have time to cut the pirches, so I put some 8 degree shims in the rear so the pinion angle is perfect.
Installed rear u-bolt flip kit.
Installed long rear brake line.
Installed Bilstein 5100s in the rear.
Installed 5.29 in the front, its open for right now.
Ordered the center ring from Front Range Off Roads crossmember, since my t/case is clocked 10-degrees, FROR is making a clocked crossmember but it wont be ready for another 2 weeks or so, so I just got the center piece that bolts to the rear housing of the tcase, and I made my own custom side linkages and got that installed using FROR's new red bushings.
And then I took care of a dozen little things here and there and got the truck going really really nice right now. Everything is working perfectly and its very quiet and very smooth.
At first the Crawler was tight and I could notice a drop in power, but now its broken up a bit and I dont notice it anymore.
Also the 33s & 5.29s is pretty bad, I dont like it at all. Can't wait to get some 36s or 37s now. RPM on the freeway at 70mph is right at 3,200 rpm  and then doing 80 mph its maybe like 3,500 rpm. I hope with 36s I can get it back down to 2700 or 2800 that would be sweet.

So like I said, I didnt really take many pics, so here's what I've got.. enjoy!

[Skinny_Pedal]

WOW . looks good mikey. keep the parts coming

[BigMike]

I've not wired in the e-locker yet, so I'll do that next..

There's the front with 5.29s and open.

There's my nice porportioning valve mod

And there's some weak flex that I've got. Actually, that's open open since my locker's not wired up and didnt want to pull the motor to engage it, and at that time my e-brake wasn't modified to fit the wider rear end, so in order to get out of the truck, it would roll back down the ramp about a foot so it ramps a bit better than that, but thats all I could do by myself getting out of the truck.

Once I get the locker hooked up, I'll ramp it again and show that picture up!
But of course that's gonna make a great comparo shot once I get the new springs installed!!

[BigMike]

I really like this crossmember alot. It made a huge difference in the power transfer from the drivetrain to the axles as the arms are very long on the crossmember which makes for great leverage, and its holds everything VERY solid. I remember when I converted my engine mounts on my MR2 to polyurathane 90A shore and it made a huge difference with power and it was eaiser to slip my plucked clutch.

Well same goes for my truck. Its eaiser to launch it, the shifters dont move around as much, and Im very pleased with it.

Also the best thing about this is that the ground clearance is massively improved. No more stock tcase mounts under there = to about 4" in saved clearance!

It did take me a while to get it built. I think I started it at 8pm and had it built and installed by 1am. I stayed at the shop that night until 4:30am!

Basically, since I've got the clocked adapter and my tcase is clocked, I only ordered the mounts and the center "ring" plate that has the 7-bolt pattern of the rear teardrop cover. Then I took some DOM tubing and built the extentions on each side. I'll have to take some more pics of it next time Im under it so you can see just how hard it was and how little room I had to work with. It came out looking really nice and I am extremely pleased with my job.

So that's it for the pics. I'll have to take some more, especially once I get it out on the trails.. MAAANNNNN I WANT TO WHEEL HER SOO BAD!!! AARRGG I wish I had some huge rocks in my front yard

[BigMike]

Oh crap, I almost forgot to fill you in about the juicy details on the Crawler......

I set it up as the following:

modified 4-speed total-spline 21-spline input > 23-spline coupler > 23-spline Turbo MC Total Spline 2.28:1 input > 23-spline coupler > 23-spline MC Total Spline 4.70:1 Input.

So this is the most bullet proof setup possible with a 21-spline transmission output. Also both adapters are billet, MC08 and then the new MC08-R10 (clocked 10 degrees).

I forgot I got some pics of the Crawler build.. here ya go-

[BigMike]

And here's why I choose to go tripple cases and one 4.70, since Im sure many are wondering why...

Look at this list of available ratios I can demonstrate:
- Stock 2.28:1, 48:1.
- Single 4.70:1, 98:1.
- Stock dual cases (2.28x2.28), 108:1.
- Ultimate dual cases (4.7x2.28), 223:1.
- Crazy tripple (4.7x2.28x2.28), 510:1.

Marlin's rig is 4.7x4.7x2.28 = 1,047:1, but the problem with his is that he can not show what just a stock dual case (2.28x2.28) looks like. Sure he can put it into one single 4.70, but that's not the same as 2.28x2.28 which is 5.19:1.

So I can show my truck to a customer and just work on up the Crawler tree.

Also, I've been in situations where I wished I was lower than an Ultimate (4.7x2.28) which is 223:1. So I could have stayed with just dual cases and I could have done what we call an Ultimate "Overkill" which is 4.7x4.7 and I would be 461:1 which is where I want to be, but then Im screwd if I need to use 4WD lowrange on the highway in nasty snow or what ever.. I would be stuck in super low of 4.7 and my max speed in 5th gear low range would be like 15mph or something, SO I really wanted to maintain the stock 2.28:1 low range for the snow/mud/whatever, but I want to be lower than 223:1. So tripple is the only other option.

I could have gone just plain ol' tripple cases, 2.28x2.28x2.28, but that would only be 247:1 and would be completely pointless. So I needed 1 set of 4.70s and then two stock sets of 2.28.

So now when Im about ready to in my shorts, I can put it in Tripple low and I'm set. Maybe I was spoiled growing up with Marlin's truck. I've used dual 4.7s (461:1) in his rig many times.

[79coyotefrg]

hey mike,  that looks sweeeeeeeet    as for your axle code,  G072,
  G=8"
07=3.90:1
2=2pinion4cyl



man i need me a mco7adapter REALLY BAD,  already have a extra case, and probably will pick up a couple more, that way once i install mine,  i can install fireimp141's ,  swampy's , and  anybody else i can get to buy one