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Alright guys, i have been working on this gem for a while now. It does run and has drove several hundred miles, it is stupid. But i figured i may as well post it up.
Heres a few pics of her sitting behind my mothers house. The story here is it belonged to my little brother, 4 cyl auto, it started running hot he said iirc. I always wanted the truck, i love little trucks with v8s, i know i just cant help it. But he basically gave me this truck and in return i fixed the front end of a civic for him. DEAL!
So here i was investigating and to my surprise found this 4cyl auto ranger has an 8.8 rear? Door placard says 7.5 3.73 non posi but it has 8.8 3.73 non posi. Either way its a better start than the 7.5.
Here is part 2 of the story. We pulled this 6.0 out of an 04 express van that rattled and had no oil pressure hot. After accessing the situation we found the customer could get another used engine cheaper than what it would cost for us to build this 1. So the van got a used engine and i got this 1 with no core charge. Tore this thing apart and found a ton of metal in the pan. Figured it was trash, but found the bottom end to be perfect. Pulled heads, cam and lifters and found this-
So continuing on, i picked up a bunch of stuff used. Virginia speed vct3 cam, on3 7875, china 44mm wg, innovate scg1 and prob other stuff. Then got btr dual springs, ls9 head gaskets, picked up a th350 for $50. Got a shifter, universal radiator and all kinds of other crap. More pics anyone?
Also freshened up the th350 and made some homemade diy shift improvements
Then i mocked the engine up, i used some universal lsx weld in mounts off ebay. This looks close! But theres a good 1/4 inch
I left out some info on the engine. I tore it completely down, measured all the clearances and found everything acceptable. The ring gaps were already at 28 top and 30 bottom, so i ran a hone through them and slammed it together.
Next up was the harness, this is a super budget build if you havent figured that out, so i modded the harness my self with the help from lt1swap website. Anybody know where these wires go?
so the motor goes in for good along with a freakshow 3000 stall converter. Next i started on the hotside. This is all reclaimed pipe of varying sizes connected to a wyntonm t4 flange. Vbanded stock manifolds etc etc Heres a look at it wrapped up and the downpipe starter piece
Next i needed a driveshaft, 50.5 inches, i had 1 that measured 56.5 of unknown orgin. So i took this shaft to a local machine shop, after a month of it sitting there and he never moved it i just went and got it and cut it down myself. I have hammered this thing hard and its been fine so far. No high speed vibrations either. However i do have an aluminum shaft thats 1 inch too long im gonna have professionally cut and use this 1 for a spare
So at this point ive drove it a few hundred miles, dialing in the tun with hptuners. Its on a 0411 running 93 octane, started out on 6 psi and 8 degrees. Then i decided the stock brakes will not cut it. So i swapped the 94 single piston calipers to a 95-97 dual piston and also stuck an exploder 8.8 with discs under the back. I also used the exploder springs and left it spring under which netted a 3 or so inch drop. And that is where it sits now, the axle swap has turned my pinion up 11 degrees so now im gonna pull the rear back out and move the spring perches accordingly.
Thanks for looking guys and please leave all you questions, comments, or smart *** remarks. Once i get the rear end straightened back out and the tune dialed in some more i plan to make a trip to the 1/8th mile.
Im sure its easy to see i am a sloppy mechanics fan, thanks denmah. Its definitely sloppy inspired and i used 1 of his base tunes, then went back and used his decapped injector data from project dont bs me and retuned everything again.
OP, did you do any frame mods to reinforce since not boxed?
tblentrprz not sure if you were asking me but I didnt box the frame i just reinforced were I trimmed it to fit the exhaust,comparing this frame to the 72 c-10 I built a couple of years ago I thought it looked equally as strong, my truck has an 8.8 with 410s so it dosnt hook hard enough to twist things up guess time will tell
OP, did you do any frame mods to reinforce since not boxed?
I havent yet. I did add some plate at the very back to keep both shocks behind the axle like an exploder. Idk why but it seems in my head it would work better? I have a drive shaft loop and some more plate to go in. Picked up some mickey pros today and been trying to get it tuned. It runs hard on 3 psi and 15 degrees. Im gonna respring the gate soon for 7-8 psi then i can turn it up with my EBC. Ive got some pics of the exploder rear install im gonna stick in here tomorrow, but so far so good. Looking to get to a 1/8 track before they shut down for winter
How long do you think the TH350 will survive and what power level?
Are you running stock springs and shocks? Are you going to install a caltracs setup?
I have a like new 2001 that is waiting for the knife and 800whp. No room in the shop and customer cars have to come first. Not to mention, I can't work 20hrs a day anymore to do these fun projects.
tblentrprz not sure if you were asking me but I didnt box the frame i just reinforced were I trimmed it to fit the exhaust,comparing this frame to the 72 c-10 I built a couple of years ago I thought it looked equally as strong, my truck has an 8.8 with 410s so it dosnt hook hard enough to twist things up guess time will tell
How long do you think the TH350 will survive and what power level?
Are you running stock springs and shocks? Are you going to install a caltracs setup?
I have a like new 2001 that is waiting for the knife and 800whp. No room in the shop and customer cars have to come first. Not to mention, I can't work 20hrs a day anymore to do these fun projects.
Stock springs and shocks from an exploder. Hopefully the th350 will last forever at 600 hp, but idk. If i scatter it i plan to go powerglide, but id like overdrive. Ill do some caltrac style bars and good shocks if i must, we shall see how it does now and reevaluate
Unrealistically 1.5 or lower lol but first time out im looking for low 2s and 7s in the 1/8th. Looking for 2 wheels now, picked up some take off 2756015 mickey pros last weekend. That and tune it up to 6ish psi and im ready to try to break something lol
Well im pretty bummed out today, something bad every time i turn around.
Sunday before last i was doing some logging and tuning. Flashed a new tune, started it back up, hit the scanner and it wouldnt connect. Checked the connections and my fuse all looks good. Next day tried my buddies cables, same song. Tried his mpvi unit and it works perfectly. My power light on the unit barely glows when i plug it in. Hptuners support was great! He emailed me back with in 20 minutes every time. However my unit is out of warranty but they will exchange with me for a fee ofcourse.
Fast foward to today, ive been driving the truck everyday to work about 50 miles. Decided ill drive my other truck tonight. Pulled my ranger in the shop and it died. No fuel pressure, pump sounds dry. Still can see fuel in the tank, loosen the inlet to the pump and theres gas there. Took the outlet line off, turn pump on and nothing. I bought the pump in Feb 17 and have ran atleast 10 tanks through it.
So to say the least im disappointed with the truck, it has been perfect until that Sunday. When it rains it pours right? Lol my tank is low so im gonna add a few gallons and see if it may be air locked but i doubt it, hopefully it has warranty left but some times getting things like this warranted is like pulling teeth. And hopefully i can scrape the $ up to replace my hptuners unit soon, but its a bad time of year for surprises like that.
Sorry for rambling, had to get it out i guess. And if anyone has an idea on the fuel pump let me know, again. Its an AEM 380 inline and has 12 volts going to it
Sucks on the pump, and more so on the HPT! HPT may be able to fix it though?
I have not heard much on AEM pumps failing, but I am sure it happens. I know it does a lot on the Walbros.
Hptuners will exchange my pro unit for $289 iirc plus shipping both ways. So prob $320ish i guess, only having 5 licenses on mine its nearly worth just getting a new 1 from summit, and have it next day. But im having to save up to get the exchange lol.
Yes the pump is bad, i added 3 gallons to the tank, no dice. Took the inlet off and it seems to be plenty of supply, 12+ volts to the pump. I also removed the check valve to make sure it wasnt it. Right now im believe im gonna go with the aem clone on ebay from mostplus or something. Its like $65 and has inlet and outlet fittings, prob built in the same factory. I also noticed Summit has the same pump with their name etched on it. Im also gonna move the pump closer to the cell and run a 10an feed to it, and add a 0-100 pressure sensor so i can log fuel pressure.
That all adds up to $$$ i dont have right here around Christmas, but ill get it eventually. Or wait for taxes and replace all of with some high dollar ****.
09-28-2017, 01:23 PM
Turbo LQ4 Mazda/Ranger build thread 
