dan58

I compete in the Rausch Creek Offroad Park series in PA. It's a combination of fire roads, rock crawling, tree dodging, and general mayhem. It's born out of the Ultra4 series, whose big event is the King of the Hammers.

Last year, I ran an AMC360 on propane with a TF999 and Dana 300 transfer case. While nice, it just didn't put down the power to keep up with everyone with a LSx motor.

My main sponsor is Randy Wood at Adventurous4x4.com in Hagerstown, MD. He's joined forces with Todd Divelbliss at F&S Racing. Todd has a long standing relationship in the LS world, especially with TX Speed. It should come as no surprise that the rig will be getting a full treatment.

In addition to being terribly underpowered last year, the rig leaked oil (a LOT) and was generally unreliable for the beating it takes offroad.
We built the suspension last year in a 13x21 garage.

I'm also a contributor for Crawl Magazine, and this just happened to show up in the current issue:



This is some GoPro Hero footage to give you an idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fehCgFrzw6w

This winter, I've been collecting parts and learning a great deal thanks to this BB. I found a 3K mile (yep, only 3K) 2003 LQ9 and a HD case TH400 and NP205. I need brute strength to withstand everything.

And so it begins:


I've picked up a used Fbody car pan and intake for it. We'll flip the intake to put the filter inside the cab. It will get a cam and PRC heads, but they won't tell me what exactly I'm getting. I still need to get my hands on a harness and ECU.

Side Note: the 317 heads, LQ intake, and stock truck harness are for sale

CTDJeeperman

Nice project. I'm currently building an LY6/NV4500 LJ Rubi.

What axles are you running, they look about stock width. I dont' know how long my stock rubi 44s are going to hold up to 425 HP.

Not sure about your budget but Speartech and Novak are both a sweet source of tuning/harness/ecus for these types of setups. Novak is actually who I'm going through just to keep as many stock functions in my LJ. John at Speartech knows these motors very well, but Novak is more in tune with Jeep specifics.

Also I've got the same GoPro camera. Did you use the suction mount on the windshield for that footage or clamp it to part of your cage. Footage is sweet.

Happy wheeling

Tig

Very cool build, reminds me of this ******. This is going to be pretty insane with that powerplant. Lookin forward to this build.



http://offroad.automotive.com/141811...eep/index.html

dan58

I have a full width D60 up front (Chevy width with a Rock Jock high pinion) and a full width rear. It's about 85" wide to the outside of the tires. IMHO, you'll want to sell those Rubi axles before the engine swap. Get as much for them as you can, then go with a set of 79 Ford kingpin axles.

My friend runs a LS3 427 from Schwanke, and he's been very happy with it. It's a pretty scary motor for a 3800# tube buggy with 39" tires. I don't have a hint of an interior or gauges, so I don't have anything to try to make work together. I literally have shifters and seats. Not much else.

The GoPro has a tube mount right on the cage. I don't think the suction mount would like all the bumps and mud. lol

dan58

Made a little more progress.
The trans has been rebuilt will all sorts of HD goodies. The motor is done too. I'm finishing the transfer case in the next day or two, so we'll have something for the engine bay soon.

seawalkersee

Loooking good. I think the power you are looking for will be there. I also think the LQ is lighter than the AMC.

SWS

bczee

iTrader: (12)

Keep the updates coming !.. I still have interest in 4x4's.. might swap a 6.0L or something into my 4x4 Chevy SWB 1ton Van... but I think I am limited in width.. might not fit..
It is very tight with just the SBC in there now due to the re-enforced framing.. will have to get around to figuring that out later this year...

dan58

Moving along. Install starts this week. PRC heads are purdy.

Schwanke Engines

iTrader: (1)

give us a call for your ECU and Harness. We have been doing Twisted Customs stuff for years, and as was mentioned, we did Miller Motorsports engine for them with plenty more customers.

Schwanke Engines

iTrader: (1)

Nevermind!!! I see you already have an order placed!! Just getting the PCM done right now!!!

Thanks for the order.

dan58

I will probably be seeing your goodies this week. Todd got the motor mounted in the chassis, so we're taking some big steps. I hope we can get it moving under its own power in the next two weeks or so.



What is a stock harness worth? I would like to sell it to recoup a few bucks.

dan58

More progress. Things should be picking up in the next two weeks.

dan58

We're moving along. We had to cut a helluva lot of the floor to clock up the 205. The intake will be on backwards to get the filter inside the cabin.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

What Adapter are you using to attached the TH400 to the NP205..

I've got a NP205 on my 79 G30 SWB-VAN with a SBC 400/TH350. it is a 79 Pathfinder conversion.

I am thinking of swapping in a 6.0L and 4L80E.. if the 6.0L will fit between my re-enforced frame rails, it's already tight with just the SBC. I would need to find a Adapter (Trans-dapt ?) if I do the swap.

dan58

That's a bitchen van!

I'm actually using the factory adapter. The trans and t-case came out of the same truck (similar K30 to a military CUCV). It was a synchronized 205 with a slip yoke. I used a Ford rear output for a fixed yoke and a Ford 32-spline output with the Fork shift fork (synchro cases used much different forks and gears).

If you can't find any factory (those adapters bring good money), I'd look into Advanced Adapters piece. If you hit up Randy Wood at www.adventurous4x4.com, I bet he can do a lot better on price.
http://www.advanceadapters.com/products/pn-50-0410/

Schwanke Engines

iTrader: (1)

You will notice our harness was designed to do this as painfully as possible. Jus take the TPS and IAC, and MAF and they will go to the back when you cut the tape from the harness!! Just take them back to the coil pack connector and recover them and it will be good to go!!!

Looking good.

dan58

Thanks, Schwanke. The harness is perfecto. We need to get together on some more upgrades.

We went with the car intake, even though many stick with the truck. This also gives me the ability to go to a FAST intake down the road without having to switch the wiring harness from truck to car. And hey, I think the truck intake is ugly. Todd estimates the motor should be putting down something just under stupid horsepower for a Jeep. I will run out of driving ability way before I run out of right foot.

We're trying to get the thing running in the next two weeks to take advantage of the practice day at RC.

dan58

We're chugging along. Down to wiring and plumbing and some other odd stuff. Todd is a damned machine.

No dimple dies or pretty stuff. Just a box. 23 gallon cell.




Had to make a bend for the front DS.


The hole for the 205 is slightly big.

dan58

I guess it's been a while since I've updated this. We got to the first race at RC and discovered we had a bad injector. Of course, being awake for 44 hours to finish it didn't really help the situation. The last week was just nuts trying to get this thing together. Todd pulled a lot of long nights to get it even close. Mike put in another 18 hours in the last day...and he was supposed to be just the codriver.

We got a new set of SVO injectors, and Todd did some magic with HPTuners. I finally got to give it a little hell on Saturday after the RCRocs crawling event. I romped on it for a while, and the big Griffin radiator kept temps at 205. I have a bunch of little things to button up before the Line Mountain race in June. She sure doesn't sound too shabby. When we get some hours on the motor, it'll hit they dyno. All in all, I'm just stunned with how well the new motor runs. Acceleration is flat out violent when you get into the cam.

I am still fumbling with the wrong shift plate from Winters. Whoops.
YouTube - Dan Test Run 1

I'll need to go to a heavier rear spring after adding a 23 gallon fuel cell. It's a bit heaver than the two 8 gallon propane tanks. We're also putting a tire carrier on the back.
YouTube - Dan Testing 2

dan58

And finally some racing!

Might as well put up some racin' vids.

500+ horsepower is fun. I can still hear Mike giggling as we dusted this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dan58?fe.../1/mG9rWzI0914

And the start:
http://www.youtube.com/user/dan58?fe.../2/6symmDp4j0U[/QUOTE]