Gordo's X8 Ramblings

[bwcress 0]

don't mean to thread jack but I figured youd be the right guy to ask. As far as running the pcv or crankcase ventilation into the downpipe(exhaust) im getting mixed info on the proper way to weld the tube into the exhaust I got a bs jegs kit. Some are saying weld the tube in on a 45* angle to downpipe some are saying weld the tube in 90* to the downpipe with the 45* slash facing the exit. How did you set yours up and why and have you actually measure the vacuum in the system to see how well it functions? Thanks in advance

[Gordo 0]

90° with 45° cut end facing down stream.

 

I mounted my check valves up away from the exhaust, just to be safe.

But they do have silicone bellows in them, and are supposed to take the heat, so what ever.

 

I've always wanted to put a vacuum gauge on the system to see how well it works, but never had.

You could just run a hose to a gauge before actually attaching to the engine, and rev your engine to see what is happening,

But I've been running the set-up for a lot of years now, and never had an oil leak from the crankcase building pressure.

[bwcress 0]

ok... that's what I thought but just wanted to ne 100% thanks

[Gordo 0]

And I thought my welds looked like shit.......

Maybe these are welded together by someone older than me, will poorer eyesight, and hands that shake more......

Well, at least my bird dropping welds aren't up on a site somewhere, for sale.

 

[Kyle 0]

But they're gold! Cool find on the spare, I bet they have some 17" front drag skinnies that'll fit them. Would be cool.

[Gordo 0]

The only thing I have found are the M&H drag fronts, and they are bias ply.

I had them both in 16 & 17, but they did not impress me.

Looking at different 17" radial bike tires right now.

[Gordo 0]

Started on my front tension rods, that white_raven was so nice to provide.

 

Began with cutting off the front 1/3rd, so that I could chuck them up in the lathe, then turned them down so I can thread them.

They will be much shorter than this, but since this is a prototype ordeal, I left a bunch of extra material.

Only about 2-1/2" of the turned portion will be left when I am done.

Crap, they are HARD shit !

 

At this point, it looks that a 8" x 5/8" long swedged tie rod tube from Speedway will be about right.

They are only about $15 a pop.

I ordered in a pair of high misalignment rod ends, and the front mounts are from Japan, something I had brought in many years ago for the now defunct track car.

 

Not sure if I am going with the cheezy 'Seals-It' rod end boots, or get some out of Japan.

Seals-it are $5 each, D-max are about $15 ea. by the time I get them here.

I still need to check if Cusco sells theirs seperately.

 

I also cut out the bottom plates to box the front arms, but the picture I had evidently was moved to some other folder than I thought I had sent it to.

 

 

 

[Gordo 0]

Found the image of the plates for the front lower arms.

Still have to cut the holes for the tension rod studs, and sway bar mount.

 

[Gordo 0]

Well, I did the final layout on the front tension rods, and ended up ordering 9" tie rods off a race shop on eBay.

They cost a whole wopping $31 to my door.

Went with the swedged steel, instead of the aluminum.

 

Finished the machine work on the first tension rod.

Did I mention this crap is HARD ?

But not too bad.

 

Also finally tried putting on some of the Seals-It rod end boots.

Didn't think they were going to slide over the rod ends, as the holes in the boots are only about 3/8", and the rod end was over an inch at it's largest point.

Looked all over Seals-It's web page for guidence, and e-mailed them, but got ZERO response. (thanks guys......)

Did a google search for instructions, and found one seller who had writen some up.

They start off with a disclaimer about it's not their falt if the boots rip.

Oh crap, that's not a good intro......

 

But I read though them, got a general idea what a pain it was going to be, and went after them.

I made up some probes with rounded ends so as to not tempt piercing the boots, which seemed extremely thin.

The cussing was on high while doing the first one, the second went a lot faster.

 

I'll post the on-line instructions later.

 

So I ordered in another half dozzen of them to do the rest of my rod ends.

 

Here are a couple of pictures........

 

 

[Gordo 0]

And here are the instructions for the Seals-It boots:

 

Initial Preparation:

The natural elasticity of the boots allows stretching during assembly.

Lubrication of the boots is required to perform this operation. There are rubber "lubricants" available, but WD40 or dishwashing liquid are also acceptable.

Never use soap, as it would be impossible to get the shit out of the boot, and it will cause corrosion to the rod end. I wonder what fucking einstien thought that one up ?)

Moderation of the lubricant is critical. Too much creates a mess

and makes the parts hard to handle. Start with a small amount.

Once the boot is installed, be sure to wipe or blow the lubricant off

the boot to avoid eventual breakdown of the rubber compound.

 

Now, for assembly procedures:

When looking at a boot, there are three holes: two for the bolt to pass through,

and one that the threaded "shank" of the rod end will protrude through after installation.

The rod end should be inserted “shank” first through one of the bolt cross-holes,

and then the shank should be fed through the bottom hole, so the rod end is in

a "diagonal" orientation through the two side holes.

Then, the rest of the "head" of the rod end can be inserted and pulled into the boot.

A small, blunt, round dowel can help this process if used like a tire iron to lever the boot over the body gradually.

The reason for inserting the rod end through the side hole is because the neck of the rod end boot is less expandable than the side holes.

If a customer owns a set of "retaining ring pliers" installation can also be greatly assisted. These pliers can be configured so that they contract or expand. Configured in the expanding mode, and with a set of 90 degree external snap ring tips installed (modified by grinding off the sharp “tips” that normally go in the snap ring) the customer can insert these in the side hole of the boot and expand the hole (and with lubrication, of course) be able to more easily slip the rod end into the boot in the manner described.

The external type snap ring pliers are available at most auto parts stores (a common brand is "KD Tools"), or as a reference, the current McMaster Carr lists a suitable set with 90 degree tips for (part number 5449A87).

Note, I did not use any type of snap ring pliers, just an 1/8" rod with the end ground round, a scribe, just to lift up the edge of the boot to get the other tools into, and a 'J' shapped hook, also with the end rounded off.

 

The cautionary note here is that this is not an exact science, and some dexterity and determination is a prerequisite. The upside to the exercise is that once the boots are installed, the benefits are obvious.

[Gordo 0]

While I was jacking up the newbie last night (xB.A.Gx), I finished the second tension rod.

 

Now I have a new quest, the Driveshaft Shop now does carbon fiber driveshafts, but they are a grand.

Reason I want one ?

Because they absorb more shock than either a steel, or aluminum shaft, and that may help my W58 live longer.

There is a thread over on SupraForums, and they (Driveshaft Shop) give torsional flex of all three.

The steel was 5-7°, aluminum was 20°, and the CF is 30°.

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?695699-Driveshaft-Shop-Carbon-Driveshaft

 

Anyway, here is the final butchery to the tension rods I got from white-raven.

 

[Mitto 0]

Fuck those boots look like a tight fit?! I'm not one to complain about a tight fit but damn...

 

I'm still waiting for my boots to arrive...

[Gordo 0]

When the others come in, I will take pictures of the installation, and of the tools I use.

One of the tricks I found was to not only use lube, but also to have some clean dry rags handy, because at some points durring the ordeal, it's good to be able to grab some parts of the boot, to pull it over the rod end.

And the only way to do that is grab it with the rag, so that it doesn't slip out of your fingers because of the lube.

Cloth shop gloves would work too.

[Gordo 0]

In the wee hours of the morning (somewhere around 0-dark-thirty), I finished welding up the front lower control arms.

I just need to drill the 3 access holes in the bottom for the tension rod nuts, and the sway bar mount.

 

Like the subframe strengthening plate, any one who wants a tracing of the pattern I used, just let me know.

 

 

[Gordo 0]

Arms done, just need paint, and the new ball joints, when ever the fuck they get here,

 

[Tyler 0]

Looks very nice, but I'm still unsure why you would extend the control arm before the tension rod. That will be a huge limitation, won't it?

[Gordo 0]

I'm probably not going to extend them very much, if any at all, as I don't need huge angle on the front wheels.

I was after the heim joint piviot more than anything, to get rid of the rubber joint, and it's movement when a 3400 pound car with sticky tires leans into a corner.

And besides, my tension rods are also adjustable.

 

At this point, all but the upper rear arms are on spherical bushings, and I have urethane bushings for them.

But I have found that the Supra spherical bushings fit the upper arms, and so it's only another $150 to get rid of all rubber suspension joints in the whole car.

And what is $150 to this bottomless hole anyway.......

 

At this point, I will probably have more unibody flex, than unwanted movement in the suspension.

[Gordo 0]

9" tie rods hit the door today.

Everything I've made is painted, just have to install the boots, and new ball joints when they come in next week.

 

Considering painting the JIC rear tension, and toe rods to loose the chrome.

 

Now I think I've found a way to do the upper rear arms with off the shelf circle track parts, but I have to check dimensions.

 

[DM-Slider 0]

gordo-

when are you going to pickup that driveshaft?

also... what Flywheel are you using?

 

DM

[Gordo 0]

LoL, when I can come up with a spare grand.

I need tires first, and cash for a paint job after I get my kit mounted.

Maybe I should sell some kart engines, guns, or cats.

 

Wait, there is no money in cats......

 

Flywheel:

7 pounds, with twin 7.25" disks

 

[Gordo 0]

Here is what I am looking at for RUCA.

Everything is off the shelf, and should fit.

These take a standard MOOG screw-in ball joint.

And the tubes will need to be 6" front, and rear, along with high misalignment rod ends.

 

Edit: Just finished drawing everything up, and it will work.

 

These will be fully adjustable without removing any mount bolts.

There are even aluminum housing ball joints that fit, but they cost about 3 times what a plain ball joint would.

 

With the cheapest components, it looks like $250 will build a pair of arms.

 

 

[DiscoShit 0]

That sounds awesome gordo. Please post more info when you get a chance to work on it.

[Kyle 0]

Where'd you get those tension rod brackets? I'm tired of the bushing slop

[Gordo 0]

I have all the part numbers pulled up, except for a few spacers & shit.

Just waiting for answers back from other people before I pull the trigger on everything.

Speedway has all of the shit, but I hate fucking cad plated tubes, and looking at some that are black coated, or bare, so they can be painted.

 

Right now, before spacers, the cheapest is from Speedway Motors, for $190-ish.

Since we are dealing with 14mm mount bolts in the subframe, and 5/8" heims, I have grabbed a chunk of 5/8" x .035 wall tube off eBay to cut sleeves from, and will use all 5/8 spacers.

 

Kyle, found them in Japan under miscellaneous suspension many years ago.

But I think some of the circle track suppliers, like Speedway, made for shock mounting may be adaptable.

This is just the type of thing that is right up XM's alley,

but they seem to fail to realize it, hence their answer to the front tension rod, more rubber crap.

[Mo 0]

The main reason I mostly get on JZXP anymore is to see the innovative shit Gordon does. This is more interesting than seeing people adapt BMW mirrors to their cars..