Hybrid Theory, 93 powertrain to 92

[PHAEDRUS]

Hey all,
Well I am still in the preparation stages on this one but had a few questions for the masses. As many of you might have heard Dan Kliers rolled over his 93 for the second time a few weeks ago and I find myself in the posession of the remnants of a 93 with e lockers. ( Thanks again Dan). My initial thought was to use the e locked axles and brake parts in their entirety and mount them under the truck, Iknow this would entail a lot of re wiring but with the ewd and some time this summer to htink really hard I am pretty sure I could pull it off. I have read through Manglers post (thanks for the info and a great resource) and think I have traced the wires I will need to pull this off.
The secondary thought behind this is that my mighty 3FE (3FE POWA !!!!!) has 209k on the clock and here I have a 1fze with 160something k. My other thought was to see how ambitius I would feel after playing with the lockers and change out the head gasket and top end rebuild on the 1fze and throw the whole drivetrain (engine, trans and transfer) under my 92 body and frame, I have a complete 93 with no sheet metal left sitting in a yard at a buddys shop and am just looking for advice at this point.

Would it be easier to just do the axles and drive train at the same time?? or will it be ok to just get the axles done this spring and build up the motor as I have time and money in the "Toy" budget.

Just looking for thoughts on how much of this I will be reworking if I seperate into two parts.

Dave,
Just a teeny tiny bit scared to start this process.

 

[cruiserdan]

The 1FZ and 3FE mountings are different. I think I would swap your body on to that frame. I bet it would be easier.

 

[PHAEDRUS]

The motor mounts are different ? I was talking to will carroll and he was under the impression the motor mounts are the same its the tranny crossmember that was different. Ihave thought about jsut swapping the body off complete but I would need to get the old frame on a frame rack and measure it to see if it is twisted or otherwixe out of spec.
Dave

 

[cruiserdan]

That's backwards. The transfer cross member is the same. I would put it on the rack and measure it. If it's on or close and can be pulled easily I'd swap the bodies before I'd swap out the axles and cut the mounts out of both frames and re-weld and so-on.

 

[landtank]

Man, that is a whole lot of work. Part out the 93, sell the 92 and buy a 97.

 

[tucker74]

If you like the 3FE just swap the axles and be done with it - lockers aren't that bad if you have the harnesses. If you want the whole drivetrain than moving the body to the new frame is the way to go. Lots of work there.

Tucker

 

[PHAEDRUS]

I love the 3FE, but realistically it could use some work here in hte next 20-50k, the thought was to do all the pm on the 1fze on the bench not in the vehicle to try and make it a bit easier.
Looks like I need to pull the rear axle out of the 93 and see what it will take to get it road worthy again, hopefully just a caliper, rotor and some studs, will have to see and measure it and make sure its not bent before I get too far into this.
Dave

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

BTT for Phaedrus. I am surprized that there is so little response for this... I might be helping phaedrus out and I think the engine swap would be easier don't you think? I know there are some electronics but we are not scared of the fab involved... Any ideas or comments again?