history
I had purchased the vehicle about 2 years ago from a guy in georgia, I bought it off ebay motors which was a big mistake. I took it back up to my former home in Pennsylvania and did a major tune up, I ran paragon for a little then got sick of the old F trying to keep up so i ended up purchasing a 86 chevy suburban (350 normally aspirated) and took the engine from it.the whole renewing process took exactly one year but i'm still working out kinks hear and there which is expected.
engine (1986 chevy 350)
- 4 barrel rochester quadrajet from a 1968 chevy malibu (brand new/rebuilt) from the manufacturer
- edelbrock performer intake
- rams horn exhaust manifolds
- new water pump,85 amp alternator,power steering pump and cooler,180 degree thermostat.
- HEI distributor running a hotter coil, autolite platinum +2 sparkplugs, autolite wires, braided spark plug heat shields on most of the wires.
- cooling: new stock radiator with a ford taurus electric fan hooked up only on high comes on around 190 i believe and works great now that i got the wiring all figured out, i have 130 amp water proof relay that i bought from a local marine supply warehouse that has worked flawlessly so far. the thermostat for the radiator is from advanced auto and it is a controllable thermostat.
- chose the quad. carb because of the small primaries for in town driving and the enormous secondaries for romping on the pedal, as well as the centered float for off road driving.
- I originally had hugger headers from summit which leaked like a sieve even under double gaskets running to a single 3 inch out the back. wasn't to loud but didn't give me enough back pressure for the low end torque that i needed. went to rams horn exhaust manifolds, walker cross over, dynomax muffler (2.5")
- SM465 out of a blazer
- 3 speed transfer case with new OEM parking brake pads
- AA adapter in between the two
- twin stick
notes on trans:
Really impressive crawl ratio, its a very tough transmission but it has its negative aspects of it being a tough/rough shifting transmission. I haven't had a problem with the transfer case yet, i was and still am alittle worried about all that power/gear reduction in front of the case but we'll see out it holds up.
electrical
- entirely new harness (EZwiring harness)
- next inline is APC conversion lights to put the newer style bulbs in my truck for better vision
- gauges are all mechanical except the voltmeter and tach. all of which are SunPro
- rear of the vehicle i have LED 3157 type lights that are stop turn and tail, they are susceptible to being hit but at 4 bucks per light I'm not worried.
- Ez wiring harness was awesome worth just as much as painless but half the cost.
- everything went well with the wiring first try, I just followed a cross of the EZwiring harness and the factory wiring.
- doors from a '72
- hard top from a '73
- body from a '71
- chassis from a '72 ( completly boxed in) with new rear cross member for shock mounts and extra protection.
- I painted the vehicle a stock color dune beige which was a single stage acrylic enamal that i bought from an IH8muder,its held up pretty good for the most part but the body got dinged and scratched from moving it around so much. I used an HVLP spray gun and it was painted in a garage up north.
- bumpers are standard 2"x3" which i would like to upgrade to something alittle more "cool"
- the rear fender wells are almost completly cut, I cut them down on a curve and welded 7/16" round bar, i think it really looks cool.
- whole body has almost no bondo everything that i found that had rust (just about everything) i cut out and/or replaced with new metal.
- sprung over Front and rear
- front has cruiser springs with about 4-5 leaves
- rear has 4 whole sets of heep springs ( i believe they came stock with 3 leaves in a pack but not sure) i have 6 leaves in each pack and it rides better the cruiser springs, softer springs are longer and the ride height is perfect
- 4.10's ring and pinion
- front and rear disc brakes
- front has oem rotors, wearever Gold pads
- rear has posers rear disc kit and rotors that i purchased from him to. works perfect
- uses summit racing proportion valve at around 45% reduction of the full 57% that is capable of
- rear has an aussie locker
- front is welded spider gears
- warn hubs (came with cruiser)
- front and rear shocks are both the adjustable rancho 9000's
- front shock towers are ford shock towers (bolt on)
- tires: are 37" wrangler MTR's (best tire in the world)
- front/rear custom driveshafts
- 1" over shackles.
notes on suspension/axles:
the low gearing of the sm465 lets me get by without regearing of the differentials and the extra power of the 350 gives me what i need to get through the wide gears of the sm465. I love 4wheel disc brakes and it works great for me so far (no complaints.) just got the brand new aussie locker in the rear so i have yet to test it. the heep spring packs in the rear not only sits better but rides better then me OEM springs in the front ( i think the springs haven't settled yet although there not even full spring packs.)
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