My 76 1UZ build (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta due. Reminds me of a favorite quote.

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde

Carry on...
 
I've been slipping on my updates.. been working on a pile of small things, mostly toward selling the house, move date is the end of June. Whitehorse doesn't have a custom exhaust shop and I am also going to have the CV driveshafts built here so I am trying to get that done before I head up which means I had to get her to a roller state - check. Sitting on the original 29" as it wont fit the garage door opening on the 35s.

So here is where I am at
Cables for lockers, twin sticks and doubler routed and connected - if in trouble, pull everything
- used Polaris cables for the lockers, not super beefy, but only thing I could find that was long enough
60 series emergency brake pull installed and MC4 brakes now fully functional
XL transmission tunnel in (hours and hours on this), just clears the bench seat and front fan, while being tall enough for the dana300, rear fan relocating to passenger side.
Speedo sender, ground and seems to fit, routing the actual line in will be tricky though
Fuel lines - just could not get the 3/8 line to plumb into the tank, through the sender was too tight. On the upside, folks at Grassroots motorsports think 5/16 is good to 450hp, so should be fine for a while.
Air - tried to make this van air box work, but I think while I can jam it in there and plumb it, I will be better to get a big flat filter and build a custom box
Cooling - recored the rad with a 4-core, return LS400 hose fit, random off the rack send found and installed
OBA - have a plan for on board air, trying not to open that can of worms while there are other priorities, but having trouble not hitting "buy" on the oiler and filter and just doing it...
Glass - just about to test the rear window, front is a PITA, 4th try in a day or so - last corner continues to be high.
Shocks are on order, here in a few weeks

In hind sight, I may have caused more work in fitting things by not lowering the engine an inch or two, however, I think I can have a belly skid plate that is almost even to the frame this way..

(and no, I still haven't had time to color sand the paint, thinking I may just call her orange peel :) )
20210327_115826.jpg
20210407_142519.jpg
20210314_183847.jpg
 
Last edited:
Having the drivetrain up high is a benefit IMO. As long as nothing is rubbing on the firewall or trans hump or hood. Even if some of that can be worked out, I’d say it’s worth it.
What OBA setup are you thinking of going with? How about ...

 
Everything I have read everywhere on OBA suggests installing a York compressor, mainly because they are tough, have internal oiling and have great CFM. I am not doing that.. I have no need for AC and have no cabin plumbing for it anyway, but have the AC compressor sitting there - so I am going to use that.
The problem with stock AC units is that they use gas that has a lubricant in it within a closed system, if you are pumping air out, you loose and lubricant and if you just pre-oil, you oil the insides of your tires. So you need both a pre-oiler, a filter and a pressure switch. For added fun, I am also going to follow what a guy on pirate did and connect the oil dump from the filter to the fill on the oiler - flip valve, refill as needed.

Something like this shopping list (the VIAIR Tank should fit between the rail and the rocker on the PS side - prices CAD):

1617917640212.png


Plus a couple of fittings from AP Air Inc (451-1112, 451-1113) to route the Compressor output up instead of right into the power steering.


By the way, my $200 Smittybilt 12v compressor has been just great to date easily do 2-3 sets of 35s without overheating, but its not as cool as OBA :)
 
Last edited:
Solution for the air filter (just need a 3" coupler and a bit of butyl around the snorkle intake and between the box and the fender to avoid a rust rub to complete). Started with an old ammo box we had, went to K&N and searched by size filter, then got one suited to a V8 (a Dodge Charger in this case) and presto:
20210417_114347.jpg


20210417_114331.jpg
 
Not much done this past weekend, eldest came home with a request for a new front bumper, so that knocked out a couple of days. Managed to collect the pig on Friday with the new driveshafts though - hefty CVs, probably going to have to go back and modify the tunnel... again. Can't take it in for the exhaust as planned until the shocks come in, was transporting on a tow dolly and it was whipping pretty severely on the way home, so that has to wait a few weeks. Probably work on fuel next. In other news, the saga of the electrical harness continues, apparently there was a challenge with the idle control on the Spitronics ecu my guy was working on, so its been upgraded to a Link Monsoon - hopefully that will be in the mail this week.
20210425_102040.jpg


20210425_124102.jpg
 
The wiring harness is in the mail! If you have been following this thread, you know that that is a significant milestone I have been waiting months and months for. In the meantime, been building a rear swing for that 60 lately (trying to get that done before the kid heads off to work Friday). When not doing that, I have been looking at exhaust options though.
This is an interesting site, How To Calculate Muffler Size and Exhaust Pipe Diameter | Exhaust Videos - https://www.exhaustvideos.com/faq/how-to-calculate-muffler-size-pipe-diameter/

Budget constrained and a time push to get the exhaust in within the next 6 weeks, I have been debating options to enlarge slightly the exhaust in case I ever upgrade the headers, like adding an extra 1/4 inch. However, in looking at the table, another option I overlooked is to run dual pipes of same size to achieve same flow... dual pipe fj55 hotrod 🤔 Most sites focus on peak, 4000+ rpm, but seems like its fairly easy to get an extra 15-20% out of this engine with just air and exhaust management at 2000-3000 rpm.
I will likely dyno the truck at some point anyway with the new ecu, so improving flow now makes some sense. Of course the first thing the dyno guys (or j mac) will ask is why the hell you are trying to get more hp when you are running a restrictive snorkel. Random Wednesday thoughts...
 
I used a DIY kit from Speedway. It was $180 but I also added an H-pipe. Dual 2.5 all the way to the back and had some pieces left over. Looks like they have a kit now that has an H pipe and 2 mufflers for $250. I think it's a great value and a weekend to play around with it.
 
Long story, but still haven't got to the exhaust, but I have been tinkering elsewhere and installing the harness

Remember, I hate doing electrical, so be gentle,

My 1UZ alternator is 80AMP, internally regulated and has three inputs, ignition (IG), sensor (S) and a lamp(L).
IG to +12V ignition wire so 0V when engine is off
S to 7.5A fuse to batt +ve

Questions:
Do the pigs have an alternator warning light and if not does anyone know if not connecting this wire will affect the alternator?
How does the dash ammeter work? I have a couple of different wiring diagrams for the 76, one has it inline on the white/blue another has it around the starter as BW, black white i presume. Anyway, is it reasonable to assume that if I light up the chassis circuit it will work?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom