Calvin's build up

[cruiserlad]

It's been eleven years since Calvin has been on all four tires. Some back ground... I got him in 1996 and named him after my step son who is the spitting image of Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbs). No engine and looky no bezel. I just got a silver star so I'll try to post the build up. It has been in stages, but I'll try to get it organized so you can see where I have gone. It hasn't been easy and yes... it has been expensive.

 

[cruiserlad]

OOPS! Files too large . Will repost with attachments.

 

[JJS]

Everything looks really nice, but what made you want to paint the axles blue? Could you post some close-up pics of your track bar setup?

 

[cruiserlad]

No Blue.

The axles are grey. Sorry for the color quality. I'll try to post some picts today of the traction bar. I followed Brian Swearingen's write up on this site. He layed it out pretty easy. I had some box tubing laying around that I modified for the axle. I bought DOM as per his instructions and just beat onner until it shaped up. I've got a stroker engine (383 sbc) and I can imagine the torque would tend to wrap the rear axle even under mild acceleration.

The rear axle is a full floater, not my design. Dave Taylor started me on this, but I made some mods. The rear discs are off a '78 Supra with e-brakes and the rotors are off a chevy truck. Not sure what year. The transfer case is from the orginal unit a 72 FJ40 so it's a 3 speed. I need to get a case saver for it. Thank for the comments.

 

[1973Guppie]

looks good man, keep us updated, what are the plans for it other than what the pics show?....

Noah

 

[cruiserlad]

Plans

Are you supposed to do something with it after the build up... Wheel it of course!!! Seriously, I had a '76 with a 350 sbc, and the NV4500 (which is now in this vehicle). Great combo. The over drive is great, but I always wanted a little more gearing on the bottom. I'm planning on 35" BFG MTs and I have 4.88s in the pumpkins and that is an electric locker in the picture. I put manual lockouts on the rear hubs, because I plan on flat towing it (a lot). The SBC is going to be TBI with a MegaSquirt ECM. There are a lot of other things that could be done, but my primary purpose was a reliable, rugged, capable 4x4 that is destined to be my main vehicle.

Here are some picts of my traction bar.