Well I spent the last couple days cutting off the remaining IFS brackets and cleaning up the frame rails. It was time consuming since I only had a grinder. I had to be extra careful not to cut too deep going threw the brackets and gouging the frame. I went through 11 skinny cutoff wheels, 2 thicker grinding wheels, and 1 flap grinding/polishing wheel.





My brother law got me a driverside exhaust manifold free from a friend, so now I can replace the one I have that is cracked all the way around.





Tomorrow I will probably tack weld my front spring hanger together, hopefully I'll get my frame tubes/jigs by the end of the week so I can get my springs mocked up.

 

Well I didn'g get a whole lot done this weekend. I ran out of welding wire, so I picked up some more today & started welding up my front spring hanger. I should get it finished tomorrow. I got my frame tube jigs on Friday, but when I ordered them, I thought I was getting the frame jigs and the frame tubes... at least when I read the description on TG's site it sounded like they were included together as a package. So now I either need to order the tubes, or go down to my local metalshop and see if I can get the right diameter tubing.

I'm still undecided on what to do for my front leaf springs. I originaly was just going to reuse the front springs off the 85' parts truck,(mainly because of my non-existing budget) but they are so flat, and with the extra weight of the 302 and the winch, they ride pretty rough. Also the passenger side the springs actually look like they are bending down against the spring perch. Here is a pic:


It's kind of hard to tell in the pic, but you can see how flat the spring pack is, even with the added leaves. Also I'm concerned if my hi-steer would even clear these??? I figure I should gain an inch of lift from my hanger I'm building... I was thinking of maybe combining 2 sets of toyota rears to make one RUF pack. What do you guys think? Do you think it will be stiff enough to hold up to the extra weight of the 302, but still allow some flex? Any suggestions or comments are welcome, I need some opinions, this is my first SAS!

 

I finally got my front spring hanger welded up today. The welds aren't pretty, thats for sure, but I think they will hold up. I thought about grinding them down and making them all pretty before paint, but I figure I'd be better off leaving them, I can use all the strength in that area that I can get! The only welds I ground down a little bit was on the end of the hanger where I boxed in the end to keep out the elements. Here are a few pics.

 

Small update, yesterday I got my tranny & t-case pulled out. I won't be able to pull the 302 out for awhile because my friend needed his engine hoist back. So the tranny bellhousing adapter was about an inch away from the firewall, making it difficult to get to the 2 of the 6 bolts. I was finally able to get the last 2 out, but because of the overall size of the bellhousing, I couldn't seperate the tranny far enough from the motor to drop the tranny & t-case down. Lucky for me the PO had used these motor mounts:


which allowed about 2" inches of adjustability. I was able to move the engine forward (after removing the electric fans and radiator) enough to finally drop the tranny. Here is a couple pics of the NWOR bellhousing adapter:



I have to give props to the guys that detail your parts and get them looking all new again, after an hour this is how far I got
cleaning mine, I think I'm going to go for the "mostly clean" look, lol.

 

After I got the tranny out I notice that the throwout bearing was toast. Driving the truck home 4 hours, the clutch felt good, so sense I'm low on funds I am planning to just replace the TOB, instead of doing the whole clutch. After googling the Part # I'm having a hard time finding a replacement. It's a ford bearing here is a pic of the size difference comparing it to a toyota TOB:




If there are any Ford guys out there, any help would be appreciated... Its a BCA bearing P# 1625-11. The PO did the engine swap on the 85' about 15 years ago, so maybe it's a discountinued bearing. I might just have to contact NWOR to see what they recommend.

 

HEY, I'm doing a V6 4.3 swap and going to use the same mount from NewWestOffRoad, let me how it works out..........Thanks and great work......... Bill

 

Today I pulled the front axel out of the parts truck, which got me wondering, has anyone ever done a SAS and reused the old push-pull steering?I know it's not the ideal thing to do, the only reason I'm even contemplating this is because I have no $$$ and I need to get this rig on the road! I figured if I just drilled and tapped some holes for the older style steering box it should be fairly easy. Then later when I get the funds, I'll do hi-steer. I pulled the axel leaving all the steering componets attached:


What do you guys think? I would prefer to do the hi-steer at the same time, but it's a money thing, it's been causing me to make alot of compromises during this build, lol.

 

Thanks Bill, yeah those mounts look really stout, they are 1/4" thick plate, and having the bushing in there gives alot of adjustability, and like I said you can slide them forward/backwards aprox 2" ... The only problem I had was that the PO bolted and welded them to the factory mounts on the frame (total overkill). Luckly he only laid down 1 bead, and I was able to get in there with a grinder and cut the weld without doing any damage to the NWOR mount, lol.........Ed

 

Well, I haven't made a whole lot of progress as of late. I sold some parts and was able to buy some springs from OneIwilly last weekend. I had a good time visiting him and checking out his projects. The willy's is just plain cool! And his 91' toyota is turning out bad@$$! Thanks again man for the good deal on the springs!
So today the mailman left me a little gift:




I got the frame tubes that I ordered... TG really hook me up with the stickers! Today I was getting the rearend ready to pull out of the 85' parts truck. Basically I want the springs to combined with the ones I got from Willy to make a RUF pack for the front. So tomorrow I will finish pulling the rearend. And start cleaning up all the leafs for my ruf pack. I still need to clean up the front axel and cut off some of the tabs that I'm not going to use. I'll probably weld up the steering stops and give them a little more beef while I'm at it. Hopefully if everything goes as planned this weekend and I get all the parts sold that I'm supposed to, I'll have enough to get my Hi-steer!!!

 

i love the wheel tire combo!

 

Thanks man, yeah I charged them at my local Les Schwab tire store. They were quite a bit less than the Toyo Open Country MT's. I would have liked to gone to a 35", but can't afford to regear at the moment!

 

Your welcome again.Today my best friend called me and says” got any springs” So now im hunting for a set of rears to build him packs before tuesday.Hes coming to visit for a week,to help me on my truck.Or if anybody around Tacoma has some hit me up.

 

Sorry man wish I could help you out, this guy had 2 sets of rear springs for $30 each on CL (i was going to buy 1 set) but he had already sold them. That's cool that your buddy is coming down to help you out! You guys will probably get your yota knocked out pretty quick!

 

Yea,we may have it semi driveable.I dont have any shifter or front driveline.Lucky for me that van I parted out monday had brand new flowmaster dual exhaust.So except for the crossover I have most of what I need for that.Derek is a wiring master and hes going through yak,if you have any issues there.

 

Thanks man, but I think I'm good there. The wiring is going to be pretty basic on mine, lol.

 

Well i got the rearend pulled out of my 85' today. Been pulling parts off it the last few days,(which has been miserable working out in the rain)... hopefully get a bunch of parts sold to a couple guys this weekend. I got the rear springs off it for my ruf pack. Basically I used the ones I got from Brian, (which I think are rear lift springs because they are almost identical to the rears off my 85' just more arch to them) then I'm using the 85' rears and I'm also using the rears off a chevy Luv, which are really close to the same as the 85' rears. So I have 9 leaves in the pack altogether. Here is a pic compared to the ones off the front of the 85' that the PO was using.


I cut the springs so they are staggered about 1-3/4"
pushing down on them they aren't as stiff as I would have thought. I figure if they are to stiff or to much lift I can always pull some leaves out. At this point it's all guess work to me. I have never done a SAS before, let alone doing a V8 swap at the same time, lol, I'm just learning as I go! What do you guys think? Do you forsee any problems? As always comments are always welcome!

 

Those look pretty damn good man.I think you will pull some leafs for sure.

 

Thanks man, yeah, i figured I might have to pull some...I just hope I don't have to add any, lol! I still have to pull them back apart and get them cleaned up and painted. Hey do you know aprox how much the RUF will move the front axel forward?

 

I dont know.When I was looking at suspension, everyone told me you want the axle as far forward as possible.If you want a guess,those look like the pins are orientated almost exactly the same as my front springs on my truck.Ill look to see if I have a pic.

 

Cool, thanks. I went and measured the stock front 85' springs and they are about 22-1/2" from the center of the rear spring eye to the center pin. My RUF pack measures about 26-1/2" from the center of the rear spring eye to the center pin. So I hope that doesn't mean my axel is going to be 4" forward! I wouldn't mind about 2" max.