Ascinder's 1-Ton VX... Cont'd

[pbkid]

justin- you know that a 350 will drop right into those SCEV's or whatever their called (if your talking about the military blazer/1.5 ton trucks)

my dad just got done getting a 350 into ours.... runs like a champ now

[Ascinder]

Plastic tube for the inserts came back from the plastics place and other than trying to charge me an outrageous amount and failing(I had a friendly "chat"), the quality was fantastic. They cut a 30 degree bevel into the edges to help form the tire bead into the rim lip.



I spent the better part of that morning looking for the 50 year old jigsaw my dad brought over on the Ark, only to not find it(probably crumbled into dust) and having to go get a new one. The beadlock inserts I had made needed to be cut so that they locked together like puzzle pieces, but could be broken down to be able to fit inside the tire(inserts=18" diameter vs. 16" tires). Following pics are an example. Mine are black and don't show up nearly as well.





So, that's when I spent the better part of an afternoon/evening cutting out one(1)-yes one insert and getting it completely installed in the wheel/tire combo. I had to do five passes of the 16 nuts that hold the rim halves together followed by two torque passes. Thats tightening down 112 times for, again, one wheel. Not fun. To my credit, when aired up, the only thing that leaked air was the valve core that wasn't all the way seated in. Couple twists, now we're good. Only four more wheels to go



Also, the Longevity plasma cutter/TIG welder showed up. I haven't cut anything yet-been busy playing catch up with everything else going lately.



I did go out and grab 20 ft. of seamless stainless tubing for the fuel system since the coil of stainless I had on hand kinked like a cheap coat hanger. After struggling with some of the first flares I attempted, I got some help from the pros over at the Ridgid pipefitting forums. Everything's looking smooth now. I also picked up a 32 gallon oilless compressor for running the plasma cutter. I rigged up an oil/water separator to an industrial air filter which goes to another oil/water separator which feeds into a dessicant based air dryer and then into the plasma cutter/Tig unit.



Yes, I like overkill. What I don't like is having to replace expensive plasma consumables, which are consumed much quicker if moisture is present in the air supply. They way the plasma/tig is set up, the compressed air supply and the Argon/helium supply share a common connection to the unit and you just switch over to whichever system you are using at the time. Kind of a PITA, but it is what it is. I also picked up a 50-50 mix of argon and helium and a ton of welding paraphernalia to get used to the TIG side of the system and practice on some of the unlimited supply of scrap aluminum I have access to(thank you aviation sheetmetal shop). Aluminum is great to learn on because it requires little to no prep between each weld unlike steel. I also got some 2% lanthanated tungsten electrodes since they are the non equivalent to the 2% thoriated electrodes. They also work really well on both aluminum and steel. But with quality TIG, you have to use a dedicated grinding wheel so you don't contaminate your tungstens so I grabbed an 8" wet/6" dry grinder specifically for that purpose. I also picked up a little wheel type attachment that lets you do perfect straight plasma cuts by keeping your torch from touching the metal and guiding it along rollers along the line. Somehow that last weekend, I also ended up with a hydraulic press whose ram can only be described as: "ridiculously huge" (See the tape measure in the following pic for size reference)I really want to turn it into a plate bender to make brackets and tabs with.


Aside from buying a bunch of shop toys, I was able to source a complete A/C setup including the corvette compressor, lines, fitting, air dryer, bracket, hardware, and some idlers and tensioners. Got that all installed save for the upper tensioner which was missing two bolts to mounts it. GM doesn't have them in stock, so there's one more loose end for me to chase-good thing, I was running out of important stuff to do .




Also got the new smaller, more powerful starter installed along with 95% of the convoluted tubing for the wiring harness. Also got the huge 90mm MAF sensor. All in all the engine is starting to be a done deal. I have very few things still to get to complete it.





I began the mod of grinding down the shift rail on the NP205 transfer case to allow separate shifting of the front and rear axles. So now I should be able to run 4HI, 4LO, 2HI, 2LO or Neutral in any combination front and rear. Normally it is only possible to disconnect the front(2 wheel drive).



Disconnecting the rear allows you to run a FWD vehicle which is good in some circumstances. When used in conjunction with cutting brakes(individual wheel brakes) you can pivot around corners unlike anything else. So yes, I'm totally doing that. Here's a LINK that explains them a little better.

I also grabbed these cool little black chrome LED lights to run as rock lights on the bottom of the rig.




But enough for now, time to get back to work. This thing's not going to build itself.


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