you make one cut...

Then a couple more...


and this is what you are left with!

I chose to use the stock (actually 53.75, not my earlier reported 54) axle width. This way i'll just use 3" studs and be able to use spacers as required.

turns out there is about 1.5" of pinion offset on the stock diff too. I've kept this with the new one.

Tomorrow is jigging, welding, and more shenanniganery before my trip back up to fort mac.

so, the housing is welded up, i THINK i kept everything straight despite having some issues with the alignment bar. I guess i'll know when i fit my axles....


axles ended up being 25.675 and 26.5" long... giving me 53.675" mounting to mounting, or 54.175" between mounting surfaces with the discs on. I chose to go a bit narrow and use 3" long studs to make it possible to fit wheels the easiest.

hopefully i'll have my axles ordered up today or tomorrow in time to get them in roughly 2 weeks.

It's looking like salvaging the stock bracketry from the 2.5" volvo axle is going to be tough, so i'm looking at making some jigs to plasma-cut my own I think it would be easier overall (especially when moving to a 3.25" axle tube) we'll see what i come up with this weekend.


Since i failed miserably with the first overly-lofty ambitious goal, the next one is to make it out to desolation sound for some kayaking at the beginning of september!

that means what's left...

Intake.
Alternator.
Exhaust.
Wiring.
Mounting seats.
Finishing axle.
Finishing tranny rebuild.
Driveshaft.
Flywheel machining.
Rad/IC mounting/plumbing

then maybe.....

Paint

Cool - what's it look like welded?

. had to bevel the edge a good amount, and then made 4 passes to get it right. These pics are before the final grind. The beads off to the sides are from where i had nicked the tubing with the grinder and smoothed it back out.

I am surprised I had such a large HAZ while welding (about 1" to each side purpled/blued slightly) and then a lot of grinding ensued. The alignment pucks were slightly stick to get out (Still pulled out by hand with slight resistance) but i think i should be okay. having trouble ordering axles, but that should get sorted out tomorrow.

diff is about 2" taller in height than stock, but i've got plenty of clearance yet.

The other big issue is....... i need to figure out how to attach the driveshaft. I've got a ford mustang with a 2.5" diff flange pattern on, the explorer is 3", changing the pinion flange out on the diff requires a huge setup procedure and more special tools. I've never worked with U joints, or know anything about them before.... BUT it looks as if i may be able to use the end of an explorer driveshaft, and use a hybrid u joint to attach to the mustang driveshaft...... anyone know anything about this? Or know where to get a rundown on doing something like this?

Axles have been ordered! Are getting shipped out friday... should be here in 2 weeks So i'll be able to see if they fit on the weekend of the 20th.

Hi Eric, Looking good...be careful with your weave on the axle tube (practice making the pattern we've discussed with a pen at work when idle), the reason for your HAZ size is the thickness of the tube. It's pretty thin. When welding tube (or anything where you have to go around) start your weld in your previous stop point, ie hit the puddle. This gives a more consistent weld zone and allows you to keep the heat rolling as you go.

On to drive shafts. You've spent the money doing it right so far, so no need to get Ghetto on it at this point. This is where you call in the pro's as far as I'm concerned. You can take the rear flange from your diff to the drive shaft shop and get them to mount it onto your existing drive shaft (they will replace the yoke on the tube). I would go for a larger series u-join and only buy the best u-joints available. I got some kick-ass rock crawler u-joints for the 242 and they have been fine. More torque can turn them to powder pretty quickly, so up-size them and don't worry about them. The standard Volvo drive shaft is not very beefy and if I was ever going to put some serious power to the ground, I'd go up a series or two with a custom shaft. They aren't that expensive.

Part of my Dad's business for 40 years was making drive shafts, I've done a bunch over the years and while not hard, it's not something that I suggest people do in general. They need to be balanced properly and need to have certified welds and have yokes installed exactly parallel. We use to have to fix "farmer" repairs all the time and it's scary what people will drive on...don't even get me started on what happens when you have a stock drive shaft behind several hundred HP and the tires hook up...looks like a steel version of a DQ cone. We did a roaring business with the mullet set fixing this sort of sh!t and they always complained about the price.

Thanks Craig! Looks like I'm gonna have to open up the tranny tunnel a bit more too around the slip yoke damper thing too. I've got 300 budgeted for driveshaft shortening/work. I should be okay.

I also dug out my set of H beams and have a dream of building a 16v motor this winter.... Can't get too far ahead of myself here though

Next weekend I'm going to try and finish my floor pan and tranny tunnel and get the seats mounted/wired and start putting the inside together. That'll motivate me if I can sit in it making vroom vroom sounds. I'm also going to try and plasma cut new axle brackets and get the housing mounted. If I did perchance screw this one up, I'll go pull a mustang or crown vic 8.8, swap the gears and drop a few pounds at the same time.

I'll quit shamelessly bumping my thread now... I swear!

Hey Eric (?),

That is going to be some car when you are done. I am barely able to follow a lot of what is going-on there (and I'm sure I am not alone), but what I can understand is that anything is possible if one really knows the principles behind what one is doing. That part is fun to watch - I don't have the inclination to do it myself, but I appreciate your doing it, and know how rewarding it can be ("I" once built a solar and man-powered car and entered it in a 3,000km race).

Thanks Art!

(It's Erik btw guys for future reference, but that's okay, my extended family still screws it up)



pulled out some of my bench-racing parts to drool over for a little bit.

also picked up a gallon of hitachi loader orange enamel from work (The good stuff) which will probably end up on all the sandblasted suspension bits, lol.

alternators, decided to use a 50a unit out of a late model suzuki swift. gotta find a pulley from a samurai/tracker now to get the V belt on there.

I would recommend the Delphi alternator used on many GM cars, this is the standard unit used in NASCAR, small case, one wire and high amperage output with internal regulator. Also very cheap to replace anywhere

Although I am currently using a 3G Ford unit I will be changing to the Delphi when it needs replacing (I have one sitting on my shelf)

only problem, is that i literally have zero room. This will just barely clear the idler arm at full tension + about 1/2". This is the smallest stock alternator i could find, about 4" in diameter. the delphi one is what, 5"?

Didn't realize you were that tight on space,
Yes the Delphi is about 5", which for 150A output is incredable, but if you don't have the room

yeah, i'm still considering the possibility of lifting the engine a little bit. yeesh these cars are so tight on space with this archaic steering system!

There are also some benefits to the suzuki alt, it only weighs 6lbs.

It'll be neat to see how i run for juice with the e-fan, electric fuel pump and EFI.

so, as i figure, at idle i'll be worst at....

15a from the 255lph walbro
10a from the HIDs
another 15a or so from the fuel injection system
and 20a from the e-fan. It'll be tight on power for sure. But should be okay overall.

update: Busted the plasma cutter, so spent most of the day struggling with cutting out inside corners with an angle grinder. got some more clean-up to do and i'll be able to tack the axle housing in place next weekend. a lot more work than i'd have imagined. the BMW seats seem to be a tad wide for the car, but i'll make it work. Handbrake has to be re-located.

Any ideas for a low-pro exhaust? anything cheap with an oval cross section?

I'm likely going to run a walbro inline fuel pump and plumb a return line back to the tank.

[QUOTE=Rockmonton;1277596]

look what came!



woah! They fit![/QUOTE]

now they slide in/out with minimal resistance, however, i'd still like to re-jig and re-weld the axle.