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60Bubba

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About 60Bubba

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    Memphis, TN

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  1. Moses, Seems like sage advice as always! It sounds like I'm well setup if I decide to go the stroker route. My current engine is out of a 1995 Cherokee. It has the 7120 head that is the best of breed from what I've read. I haven't ever been inside of it, so I don't know what the condition is. It still makes good oil pressure, so I suspect it will be a decent canvas to work from. That said, last night I plunged into an engine purchase on Rockcrawling Classifieds. A gentleman in Colorado that races prerunners in the 2.3L class had considered stepping up to the V8 class. He rebuilt a 1994 Bronco 302 (he's an engine mechanic) and then realized he couldn't afford to be competitive with the V8 crowd. It's a complete motor (minus exhaust manifolds and oil pan) with ECM and harness. I paid $250 for all and will pick it up when I go out to Moab in May. It may be a total scam, as it sounds too good to be true. I can afford to lose $250 if so, but on the off chance that it's legit, I decided not to pass it up. For that money, I can sell the harness, ECM and some other parts even if there's a hole in the side of the block and not lose much! I think the truck 302s didn't make as much HP, but I do believe they made more torque down low. Does that sound correct? With such a small investment in my V8, I'm willing to change my mind based on the easiest/most cost effective swap.
  2. Moses, I have watched your videos regarding how to approach a stroker motor. I have read tons of info on the internet, and I've seen many calculators for quench height, combustion cylinder volume, etc. It really is baffling to me, and I've begun to realize I could invest a lot of money and end up with an engine that doesn't work. Is there any identifying info on the block that would allow you (or someone) to write me a "recipe" for what parts I need to build up a stroker? I'm realizing that the added weight of the full size truck axles and 38" tires are going to necessitate more power. I've been thinking about Ford 302 power, as I have secured a 1993 EEC IV harness and computer, but that swap has its own challenges. I always thought a stroker was the best way to spice up my powertrain, and I still like the idea if I can be relatively certain if what parts I need to buy to get it right the first time. Please let me know what you think.
  3. Moses, It's been a while since I was on the site. Things have been very busy for us. We finally sold our home in San Diego, and we moved my mom to Memphis, as Uncle Sam has decided to keep me here for another three years. Lots of good wheeling this summer and fall with my local club. The itch to do more challenging trails has set in, and I feel like I'm about at the limit of my stock axles. I have sourced a full width Dana 60 rear with 4.10 and a disc brake conversion complete. The same stalled project yielded a 70's vintage Dana 44 from a Chevy truck. It's a 4.10 with lunch box locker. I have a M.O.R.E. full width axle shackle reversal kit that I scored NIB for 75% off! This will mount up the front. I finally decided to mount Genright rear armor and trim the wheel openings. Turns out there was a fair amount of bondo on one side, so the body wasn't as pristine as originally thought anyway. I also have matching front tube fenders waiting to go on. In addition to the body armor, I got a set of DOM tubing rock sliders from White Knuckle Off-road. Awesome pieces! Beefy and a great fit. The axle swap is in the planning stages and I'm sure I'll have more questions, but my immediate conundrum is planning steering upgrades. I already have a frame to gearbox cross brace and I will install the M.O.R.E. HD four bolt mount--the model that moves steering gear forward one inch to help clear the HD axle tie rod and drag link. I was looking at options like the Hummer H1 box, but it is near impossible to find reman right now. I also have looked at building a hydro assist mechanism using a standard gear box ported and tapped to supply it. My initial research indicates this can be very successful, especially with a slow ratio where the pitman arm isn't likely to "outrun" the hydraulic ram. I would also install an inline cooler for the power steering fluid. This will all be to help move 37X12.5X17 rubber--probably beadlocks. Do you have any thoughts or initial impressions? I feel like this is pretty ambitious, but heck, I disassembled it piece by piece once already, and I have solid support from a mechanic friend. He has 220V welding capability and access to hydraulic line fabricating equipment. I included a couple recent shots to show where she sits today, as compared to when I finished the restomod with your help.
  4. Don't worry if yours looks different than these. This was before the countershaft went back in!
  5. On my D300, I think there were two studs with nuts and the rest were bolts. Also, if you find any gear issues when you're in there, let me know. I have a set of factory D300 gears sitting on the bench, as I just put in a 4:1 gear kit. If you think there is any chance you might want to have the low range gears in the future, now is the time to do it! These new gears are monsters!
  6. First shakedown of the new transmission, transfer case gears, winch and rock sliders. All were thoroughly abused--I mean tested this weekend. Everything seems to have come back in one piece. I may drain the transmission and transfer case just to check for metal particles to make sure nothing is going wrong in there. Here are a few shortened clips from the trails at Hawk Pride Off Road in Tuscumbia, Alabama. I think this one was listed as a Level 3. We finished up on a Level 4 called Diamondback, but I was somewhat busy for that one, so not many videos! HPO2017_1.M4V HPO2017_2.M4V
  7. Moses, Since I decided to remove the bellhousing to check conditions in there, I had the perfect tool for marking the sleeve. After I measured how much I wanted to remove, I slid the throwout bearing over the sleeve and used it as a guide and used a sharp piece of wire to scribe the retainer sleeve. I made a rough cut with the angle grinder and a cutoff wheel. I then slid the retainer over the dummy countershaft I used for the transmission reassembly. I used the counter shaft as a spindle so I could turn the retainer against my bench grinder and slowly work down to the mark I scribed. I finished up with a file and used a small stone on my dremel to chamfer the fresh cut. I smoothed everything out with some 400 grit. It was nice and smooth and I think fine since this is not a rotating component where perfect balance is essential. Necessity is the mother of invention. I used first to start out the few times I drove it. I think that's mostly habit, but it certainly isn't too low to be useful. I started in second in the driveway one time. I'd say it's between the T5 with 3.31 gears and the T5 with 4.10 for ease of starting. It's definitely going to be roaring at highway speeds, but then I knew that was the trade off. Given the cost and complexity of an AX-15 swap (and lack of a low first gear) I still think this was the right choice. Looking forward to the first off road run next weekend!
  8. Moses, I managed to squeeze in some work last night and this morning. Pulled everything last night. I did end up with one big 'ole unit. I think overall that was the best method. My transmission jack is junk, so if I ever have to do this again, I need to get a heavier duty model. Wish I could rent that sort of thing locally. Today I measured from the bell housing mount surface down to the clutch fingers. Using the roughly .5" throw I measured before, I worked out how long the retainer sleeve needed to be to support the bearing throughout the throw. Being conservative, I was able to remove 1cm of sleeve. That left some extra length in case my measurements were off, but left plenty of clearance for the clutch hub. I ultimately didn't trust my memory about the direction of the clutch, so I pulled the bell housing in an abundance of caution. It was definitely facing the right way. Reinstalling the transmission and transfer case as one unit was a challenge. I had to be very slow and methodical. The only hang up I had was that the tranny was in 4th gear when I pulled the shifter, so the input wouldn't rotate and let the splines lines up. Once I discovered that, everything went together smoothly. After double checking all the connections, I fired it up. Shifts smooth as butter! Actually, it shifts like a dump truck, but the clutch is great! I still need to get a new straight shifter cane and custom bend it as well as cutting and installing the new transmission tunnel cover. Driving with the tunnel cover off, I noticed some gear whine in 4th gear. Could be the different transmission, lack of the sound attenuation from the tunnel cover, or a hidden gremlin. I'm sure I'll be paranoid about every new sound for the next 10,000 miles, but it seems like I'm back in business. Thanks again for your knowledge and more importantly for your encouragement. Not sure I would have been confident enough of my diagnoses to move forward. Case
  9. Now we're getting somewhere! Turns out you would be surprised how little additional noise a clutch hub makes as it eats a bearing retainer. I couldn't actually see anything very useful even after I pulled the starter and the inspection cover off the flywheel dust shield, so I went ahead and dropped the skid plate, transmission and transfer case. I could smell carnage as soon as the transmission started to pull away from the bell housing. The clutch hub is rubbing on the bearing retainer sleeve. As you can see in the pictures, the chamfered lip of the hub actually wore a corresponding groove in the circumference of the bearing retainer sleeve, and turned the metal blue (about 640 F, I believe?). I haven't pulled the bell housing, but after looking very carefully at the face of the clutch that faces aft, I don't see the stamped in "THIS SIDE TOWARD FLYWHEEL" message that I know is on the clutch. I'm fairly confident I have the correct side facing out. Is there anything else I would be able to see from the stage of disassembly that would confirm conclusively that the friction disk is facing the right way? Other than a little grease on the hub from the retainer sleeve, everything looks good in there and I'd rather not pull the rest of it apart. Tomorrow or Friday I'm going to take some careful measurements to figure out exactly how much of the sleeve to trim off. Glad I didn't run it much longer or I might have been buying a new bearing retainer.
  10. I went out after the little guy went to bed and stuck my inspection camera through the clutch fork opening. It seems that the friction disk hub is touching the end of the front bearing retainer tube. Not sure if that's an issue. I noticed that it was going to be close when I pulled the transmission this weekend. I put a straight edge across the bell housing opening and measured down to the clutch hub and into the pilot bore to verify there was enough depth to accommodate the entire input shaft length without bottoming. From those measurements, it looked like the retainer tube was going to be very close to the clutch hub. Looks like it actually touches, but no way to tell if it's just contact or something squeezed. I'll use that camera tomorrow and run the test you mentioned above. In preparation for possibly pulling the whole shebang back out, I'm contemplating a way to bolt the skid plate directly to the transmission jack I have and pull the tranny, case and skid plate out as one unit. Neither the transmission nor tcase are very stable on the lift by themselves, especially with that handy 23 degree clocking of the D300. If I can bolt the whole mess to the lift, I think it will be safer to handle, even if the combined weight is more. Just thinking ahead.
  11. There are several 1970's vintage Corvette master cylinders that are disc/disc and will bolt up to a stock CJ booster. Measure the outlet sizes of your current MC to find one that matches a Corvette option, or be prepared to replace the fittings on your brake lines with ones that match the new MC.
  12. Moses, I just got done trying out the start in gear trick. No luck. That new crawl ratio with the 5.1:1 1st gear and 4:1 transfer case ratio is pretty great, I just wish I could shift! It started right up and crawled forward, but pushing the clutch in had no effect. I could pull it out of gear, but had to shut down to put it back into 1st. No combination of throttle or clutch pedal seemed to change anything. The pilot bushing is an Oilite bushing that I soaked for about a week before installation. I did not add any grease. The bushing came from Novak and was recommended for the 4.0/T-19 combination.
  13. Copy all Moses. I'll be very careful with the start. I guess those new 4:1 gears will at least keep the speed of the Jeep under control! As for the flywheel, it was resurfaced back when I did the T5 rebuild. It was smooth and still had the diamond hone finish on it. I doubt the new clutch had 250 miles on it. Pressure plate also still looked brand new. Case
  14. So the better half and I spent a couple minutes in the garage early this morning while the room mate was still asleep. I watched the release fingers and bearing while she operated the clutch. To answer some of your questions: 1. I adjusted out essentially all the free play in the linkage. Obviously I can't drive it with the bearing basically resting on the release fingers, but I was trying to eliminate lack of travel as a cause. That was done before my last post with no results. 2. With Lesley moving the clutch pedal through it's full travel, my guestimate is the release bearing is moving about 1/2" fore and aft on the bearing retainer tube. The release fingers I can see on this side of the clutch are moving smoothly inwards. No odd noises or any indication of binding. 3. You asked about friction disk size. This IS NOT a matched friction disk/pressure plate set anymore. When I rebuilt the T5, I installed a LuK friction disk and pressure plate that were a matched set. I couldn't reuse that friction disk with the T19 because the input shafts are 1/16" different in diameter. This friction disk came from Novak per their recommendation knowing what transmission and engine combination I had. Before I installed it, I laid the friction disk against the flywheel. It pretty much lined up with the marks left by the previous disk. I also set it onto the pressure plate. I think it was a tiny bit larger in diameter than the friction surface of the pressure plate, but it wasn't going to interfere with any bolts or other parts of the cover that I could see. I didn't have any difficulty installing the friction disk and pressure plate. Not a problem I think, but not one I could 100% rule out either. If I get home from work at a reasonable time today, I may try to get the Jeep out in the driveway to try the bump start method.
  15. So I've done some more reading and found another couple things that might cause the symptoms I'm seeing. Essentially, it looks like there are a couple of reasons why the input shaft might be binding in the crankshaft pilot. 1. Pilot bushing is too small for the input shaft: I'm 99.9% sure I test fit the new bushing, especially since it looked so different because it was designed to fit in the outer, larger diameter bore in the crankshaft. Also, the clutch alignment tool went easily through the clutch and into the pilot, so I don't think that's it. 2. Misalignment of the transmission to the crankshaft. Some of what I've read indicates that if it was necessary to use the transmission mount bolts to "pull" the transmission into the bell housing, that's a symptom if misalignment which can cause the input shaft to bind in the pilot bushing, preventing the input shaft from matching speeds with the transmission gears and causing the symptoms I'm experiencing. It WAS necessary to pull the transmission into the bell housing, but ONLY the last 1/4" or so. The front bearing retainer outer diameter was a pretty tight fit into the bellhousing, so I assumed that's what I was feeling. As for the initial "push" of the transmission into the bellhousing, it went easily once the splines and angles were lined up. What I had to do was "wiggle, wiggle, twist" and it slid right up to the bellhousing. Doesn't seem like much of a potential for binding there. One thing I DIDN'T do was mess with the bellhousing alignment dowels. Was that a mistake? I don't really understand how to check all those measurements...
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