Bloverlanding in a Blazer

[SuperBuickGuy]

axle bracket time... first, conceptualize


explanation

I could have welded the brackets to the tube - not the cast steel of the housing - however, that'd put the arms outside the frame and more in harm's way. Also, with this I can simply use GM shocks that are the right length... and no, I'm not afraid of welding to cast steel - I did on my FJ40 and 8 years later, it's still holding just fine.
then cad


mark

then cut


then fit





so Amazon ... they 'recalled' the first steering box and now it looks like they're going to do it again.... it hasn't been sent .... fme.The problem is I need a box to continue mounting brackets...

 

[bobs77vet]

are you doing anythng special on the cast part like getting it cherry hot or after welding wrapping it in blankets? I welded a cast iron vise once the internal pawl or what ever it is broke. i just kept forcing in more stick rods, 40 yrs later it is still working

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

are you doing anythng special on the cast part like getting it cherry hot or after welding wrapping it in blankets? I welded a cast iron vise once the internal pawl or what ever it is broke. i just kept forcing in more stick rods, 40 yrs later it is still working

it's not cast iron, it's cast steel.

There really isn't a need to pre-warm and preserve heat to slow the cooling... I don't have enough hands to take a picture of the spark test - but with cast anything, the first step to welding is hit the part with something that should make sparks. If you get visible sparks - it's safe to weld like any other steel (within reason - all normal welding rules about heat management still apply). Also, cleanliness needs to be on par with aluminum welding prep.

Cast Iron, on the other hand, requires nickel in the fill material (thus using special arc-welding rod, or stainless steel MIG wire) and cooling. Here's why. Cast iron is so brittle that if you don't heat the entire part to molten, the differing contraction rate will cause cracks. It's why we introduce nickel to the mix* - it is plastic enough that as it cools it keeps the cast iron from pulling apart (much like how glue holds material together). The problem then is cooling rate, if the nickel cools too fast, it'll crack - thus burying it in sand and letting it cool more slowly. it's also why you preheat the entire part to at least 400 degrees

*why we don't use straight nickel - it isn't necessary but also it'd be way too expensive.... thanks to electric car battery production...

 

[bobs77vet]

there is so much about metal I don't know, I saw a guy softening some bead rolling dies so he could work them and he got them glowing to the point they were not magnetic anymore then cooled them did his business, basically reversed the process and got them hard again.

I never knew the magnetic properties of metal changes with heat. I probably should take a basic metallurgy college course

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

there is so much about metal I don't know, I saw a guy softening some bead rolling dies so he could work them and he got them glowing to the point they were not magnetic anymore then cooled them did his business, basically reversed the process and got them hard again.

I never knew the magnetic properties of metal changes with heat. I probably should take a basic metallurgy college course

heating the metal to make it malliable - annealing.
heating metal then quenching it to make it harder - hardening (clever, no?)

repeated hardening - whether it be by heating and cooling with a torch or by working the metal eventually causes the metal to become brittle and then it cracks. it's also not as strong as it was before

strong enough magnets melt ferrous metals..

as far as a class, it's not really that complex - and most of what you need to know you get through observation (or glorious failure - my favorite)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Lots of parts arriving

time to start checking clearances

hmm, think I need to use a different panhard mount

better.. also new steering box is in place

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I love it when my crap actually isn't... that dirty pump on top is a $400 core. yay

for those 2 who wonder at these dimensions... NV4500 4wd depth

dimension for the 208

overall measurement is exactly the same as the 700r4/208 combo

do they call this stack height?

I could go this tall... but no....

steering wouldn't be terrible... hmmm...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

time to glue these on.... first, I got a comment that you can't weld cast steel to DOM... uh, GM did. Look at the ends.... okay, now that that's ended
I spent too much time deciding if I wanted to move the springs out - obviously there is more 'stability' but in the end I decided that the benefits outweighed the positives and kept them closer to centerline

the biggest benefit is it will maintain the stock shock location so I don't spend too much on shocks

lots of welding.... both sides

3.5 positive camber, level spring pads

otherside

panhard mount in place


tomorrow.... we will see but likely starting to design the arms

 

[bobs77vet]

luigi looks nice and comfortable, those brackets are massive i think they are thicker then my 12 ton press. how close does your tolernances have to be 1/16 of an inch?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

ride height.... 8"-9" lift...


hang the axle off the bump stops... fairly easy way of centering everything

time to connect the dots.... again, suspension goes up less than it droops.... to be honest, for what I do, clearance really isn't everything. if I can safely run 37s, there isn't a trail out here that I can't run. If I lived in the mud of the midwest or south... then different story... but even snow, 37s work just fine if the suspension works


brackets are on backwards... ah well, easy fix


Doubt I'll get to this again before Thanksgiving... family and friends coming so this gets to be a paperweight until that's done.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, find people you like and spend time with them.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

well, as I said before Turkey day - I wouldn't do updates... which was true but not for reasons I imagined. Got sick after everyone left on Thursday and spent all Friday and Saturday in bed.
I did get stuff, though

the tires are going on the '40 - but they're the same size (395/70r16 or 38x15.5) as the Toyos so I figured I'd get an idea if I'm thinking right.... I am

again, this is going to be like the '40 - far more down travel then up travel - so it shouldn't require much trimming to keep everything happy

they also came with the same internal bead lock wheels like are on the Suburban and the Colorado... which was a nice bonus. tires are 50%. probably out of date but don't care.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

More front suspension.
but first one must scooch the entertainment committee out

tentative placement for the mounts....

I'm all about the calibrated eyeball at this point. Right now is make sure everything will work where it needs to go. I've already checked the frame for square.
here is a good example of a lot going in a small space

panhard bar, steering, coil spring and a shock...
my beta test.... I like how it works now.

another view of the hard bit - key to making it all fit will be laying the coil spring towards the back just a bit - yes, coil overs would be easier but let me remind - $2000 each....

bushings are in place - and you have no idea the temptation of welding the bars with the poly inside... those are going to be a pain to get out

waiting on a couple parts I didn't order initially but by the time they get here I should be able to weld it all together....

 

[bobs77vet]

very nice what was that pump for with all the hydraulic outlets? (the $400 core) is it a lifting pump? is the body going to go up and down or be at a fixed height? i am sure its something obvious but its eluding me at the moment, thanks bob

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

it's an injection pump for a 6.5 diesel 3/4 ton truck. I'm thankful I saved the parts from the Suburban build. When I did the build I ended up with 4 complete motors. 1 in the Suburban, 1 that came out, 1 that I'm not sure where it came from, and the 1 I bought.... 2 of those 4 motors were 92/93

Before I built my '40, most people were of the opinion that you should have huge upward travel to get good right quality and flexibility. A few racers were doing the opposite - very limited up travel but tremendous down travel. The problem with doing that 2nd is it requires very good shocks (as most manufacturers do the mostly up travel thing) - which makes them expensive. To me, it's worth it because keeping the CG low but still having enough travel to slinky walk over obstacles was the better idea.... this is taking that even further, putting it on a vehicle that tows - thus has to be capable of load-carrying yet still slinky-like travel for going way off the beaten path.... I'm also doing the 'other trick' which is put the sway bar on the rear and none on the front. I'll never autox this so it should be just fine

incremental progress
I guess my calibrated eyeball wasn't wrong (the edge of the pumpkin is center)

key here is similar length of the panhard bar and the steering cross arm

tacked bracket in place then trial eyeball the spring

and trial fit with the TRE in place.


That spring isn't likely going to be enough for what I'm doing.... I don't know whether I got it for the FJ40 or for my wife's Jeep... the '40, maybe because I think they were E350 van springs, but the JK, yeah fat chance.

 

[bobs77vet]

diesel pump. I feel better now since I don't much about diesels.

i like it and those are some beefy rotors.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

bonus on the pump, I got my $400 core deposit back.... I paid less for the entire motor then that core deposit (not the current motor).


absolutely the most frustrating part of a build... spend 'extra' money for a 'complete' kit.... and there's missing parts.
stopped here because there were no tube adapters for the johnny joint end

figure, why not do the cross bars (steering rod, panhard bar, cross steering shaft)... and guess what, missing those adapters too


not naming names but looks like my supplier just changed. I suppose I'd be less annoyed if I knew where my taps went... those and my large x huge drill bits - I could make some in my lathe.... but no, now I get to wait until Monday to get the parts.

thankfully, I have plenty to do but it would be nice to get the Blazer capable of moving off the lift.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

motor... since I'm waiting on other fronts


time to strip off all the 24v stuff..... which should be worth keeping since it's as rare as hen's teeth (H1 Civilian only)

If they could have figured out how to hybrid this motor with the starter motor, it probably would have doubled its hp

thankfully, in that vein, I've kept most of the stuff from the other motors.... though, not driver's side manifolds.. fortunately I have one on the 6.2...

in case you're curious, yes, it's heavy

this is unique to this block - and van blocks - the turbo is in the center so they need to get oil to and from the turbo.... and put oil in the valley of the motor.... this motor has 34k miles on it and was obviously leaking from the factory...

also, it seems the replaced the turbo at least once because there were random bolts near the turbo (random, turbo bolts)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

got a load of parts today... start installing them.
first, the tube inserts

next eyeball the upper control arms

one of the big problems of the Ford control arm system is you cannot get a lot of adjustment of camber. The angle isn't really a problem (the lower arm angle) because there's plenty of caster already (5 degrees at rest) thus when you compress the suspension, it actually puts more caster in the system which tends to make the car want to go even straighter (the more caster, the harder effort it takes to turn the wheel - thus that 'centered' feel people talk about with cars that cruise). Of course, the opposite is that it also makes your turning circle larger the more caster you put into the car at rest


In this case I'm putting enough adjustment in place that I could raise the truck another 4 or so inches and still have plenty of caster adjustment..... but that's what takes so long here, making sure the theory actually happens IRL

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

time to get serious...

not sure why I ordered 3/4" fastener stuff, but it's here and it's easy enough to drill larger holes

tacked

time to change the panhard mount

chop chop

yellow marks are where I'll give it a bit of a bend to clear


TREs are my bane. some of ... no, all of, the TREs are wrong for one reason or another.... so tomorrow I'll go buy more... or drive to Portland to get my forklift...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

how to remove tight-fit bushings

time to weld

one thing that is an absolute must - do not weld the threaded inserts into the tubing with the heim joint still in it. If you do, it'll never come apart again - the heating/cooling of the much thinner adapter will fuse the adapter to the heim.... ask me how I know. The other problem is it cleans the threads of oil - which allows it to flash rust inside...

the other big mistake is to wind it back together while it's still warm.... don't do it. let it cool, lube up the threads, then reassemble.

while I'm waiting for it to cool - time to work some more on the motor
how to remove the fan.... heat and air chisel

then get the valve covers off

which requires pulling the intake and fuel lines off

the plan is to get the heads off, replace the head gaskets with a thicker gasket, get the head resurfaced, and make removing these exhaust manifolds someone else's problem... lordy they are tight

I'm not convinced this motor only has 34k on it... change your oil folks....
tomorrow night I'll pull the heads off