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Hardline Crawlers - Rock Bouncer Builds, Tech & Off-Road Trail Talk

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easleycrawler said:
Any updates on this thing

Maybe...

scooter60 said:
X2

I was expecting to see a few pics of this thing from this past weekend at the Poker Run.

I didn't end up going Scooter. When it came down to it, the distance, cost involved, and the event only being one day I just couldn't make myself do it this year.

That...and I might have had something else on my mind...
 
So this happened...

I found a good deal on this 2000 Chevy Tracker with the 2.0. It's 4wd with auto trans and only has 133k on it. It had been sitting for 3-4 years though so it looked really rough and smells like a wet dog inside.

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I spent some time at the car wash and it cleaned up pretty good. The next step was to get it running. After testing it with some propane to verify it would run I pulled the tank and cleaned it and replaced the fuel filter. She ran good on the few hot laps around the neighborhood.

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The next weekend I went junkyard hopping and picked up another complete engine harness along with all of the sensors and 4 coil packs...$25 :woot: I also picked up another tubular exhaust manifold while I was out since the one on the Tracker had cracked and been booger welded back together.

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The next weekend I spent a few hours yanking the drivetrain out...wasn't too bad. The engine harness on these is very well made and comes out in one package.

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I like to be able to keep an eye on things so I picked up this Autometer 2267 adapter to mount a fuel pressure gauge on the rail.

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This past weekend was awesome. I had already taken Friday off to go to the Poker Run so I got started early pulling the interior harness from the Tracker and a few other misc. parts.

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Fuel pressure gauge, terminals, rear main seal, crimper (new favorite tool), butt splices, and timing chain kit.

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As I was putting it back together after the timing chain I went to install the idler pulley and as soon as the nut snugged up the stud came off. I never like having a steel fastener stuck in an aluminum. :gtfo: It looks like it was bad before I ever touched it judging by the coloring of the material.

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Got it all buttoned up and installed a new belt. I had to build a custom mount for the TC steering pump. Pic for reference on the serpentine belt.

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The ol' 1.6 8v has been laid to rest...

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Finally got the motor set in place yesterday and built the new motor mounts.

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So at this point what's left? I need to relocate the steering orbital because it interfered with the water outlet on this motor. I need to relocate the PSC steering reservoir to the passenger side since the pump is now on that side. That also means I've got to redo the hydraulic lines too. I've ordered a new radiator and inline filler since the 3 row Civic radiator I was running won't fit either. I've also got to redo the front upper link mounts at the axle to space them out so they'll clear the oil pan at full bump. Finally...finish wiring.

I've been asked a few times why I chose to make the swap. Here's my thought process. This motor is rated at just north of 130hp and my 1.6 8v was rated at 80hp or so when it was new then add the turbo pushing 7psi. Guesstimation leaves me with an estimated 120hp at full boost on a really good day. The problem is that all that power is only available at full boost...which I'm rarely hitting. So really and truly I was relying on the base 80hp most of the time. The 2.0 should be a pretty noticeable improvement in just about every aspect and it's only 40lbs heavier than the stock 1.6 8v. It's also quite a bit lighter and smaller than a 2rz/3rz for comparison.
 
WOW :eek: :eek:

Not what I was expecting at all. Gonna be looking forward to see how it does. Do you think you will make the Hardline Ride?
 
scooter60 said:
WOW :eek: :eek:

Not what I was expecting at all. Gonna be looking forward to see how it does. Do you think you will make the Hardline Ride?

Hell yes he's going to Harlan. He's probably going the 22nd to our local park for some testing, I've got to get some run time on my yota as well, before Harlan.
 
Forbanger said:
Awesome! How long before them axles start hating life?

Never...unless you manage to get behind the wheel!

scooter60 said:
WOW :eek: :eek:

Not what I was expecting at all. Gonna be looking forward to see how it does. Do you think you will make the Hardline Ride?

YES I'll be there...and my rig will be to.

easleycrawler said:
Hell yes he's going to Harlan. He's probably going the 22nd to our local park for some testing, I've got to get some run time on my yota as well, before Harlan.

I'm looking forward to driving mine...but to be honest I really can't wait to see what you think about yours. It's been too long buddy!
 
easleycrawler said:
Hell yes he's going to Harlan. He's probably going the 22nd to our local park for some testing, I've got to get some run time on my yota as well, before Harlan.

clemsonjeep said:
Never...unless you manage to get behind the wheel!

YES I'll be there...and my rig will be to.

I'm looking forward to driving mine...but to be honest I really can't wait to see what you think about yours. It's been too long buddy!
GREAT! Can't wait. Goona be good to wheel with ya again Travis and I always like watching that Spider Zuk show me up. Now its gonna have even more WeePow booyang
 
scooter60 said:
GREAT! Can't wait. Goona be good to wheel with ya again Travis and I always like watching that Spider Zuk show me up. Now its gonna have even more WeePow booyang

BUT with no PSSSHHHH sounds...


Oh yeah for reference we have a buddy in NC with a Toyota axled buggy running the same 2.0 with a turbo on Megasquirt. I'd say he's easily at 200hp and drives it like it owes him money every time he fires it up. I've seen him break a few parts, but they're usually associated with him making friends with trees and such at high speed. :driving:
 
scooter60 said:
GREAT! Can't wait. Goona be good to wheel with ya again Travis and I always like watching that Spider Zuk show me up. Now its gonna have even more WeePow booyang

When are you and the wife planning on getting there? I'll be up sometime on that Thursday.
 
We were just talking about that a couple days ago. Right now I am thinking we should arrive Thursday evening. So Once I get my tent set up, we can start :drinkers:.


Who am I kidding, we will start :drinkers: as soon as the ignition on my tow rig shuts down. :woot: :woot:
 
scooter60 said:
We were just talking about that a couple days ago. Right now I am thinking we should arrive Thursday evening. So Once I get my tent set up, we can start :drinkers:.


Who am I kidding, we will start :drinkers: as soon as the ignition on my tow rig shuts down. :woot: :woot:

Hell yes. I'll probably be there around 4.
 
easleycrawler said:
Hell yes. I'll probably be there around 4.

I wish I could get there that early. We wont roll in till late. Hope to be there around 11. I cant be on the road till around 7 and its 4 hours for me.
 
sleepsontoilet said:
Still boosted?

I wanted one, but the JY quoted me $1800 for just the motor.

Gotta buy the whole rig...lots of good deals out there!

Boosted...hmmmm...probably not. If I were to go that route eventually there's a few options...obviously an FMU could be used, then something like an AEM piggyback ignition/fuel control would make be a step up, and finally a standalone setup like Megasquirt.

Going back to how I use my rig...boosted just doesn't fit in very well. What I mean is most of the time I'm pretty low in the RPM's so boost doesn't really start to make a difference. I'll admit that it is a ton of fun on the access roads. I've been having a lot of fun at Harlan bombing down the gravel roads since I swapped to coilovers and then to the 4spd auto. :****:
 
clemsonjeep said:
Gotta buy the whole rig...lots of good deals out there!

Boosted...hmmmm...probably not. If I were to go that route eventually there's a few options...obviously an FMU could be used, then something like an AEM piggyback ignition/fuel control would make be a step up, and finally a standalone setup like Megasquirt.

Going back to how I use my rig...boosted just doesn't fit in very well. What I mean is most of the time I'm pretty low in the RPM's so boost doesn't really start to make a difference. I'll admit that it is a ton of fun on the access roads. I've been having a lot of fun at Harlan bombing down the gravel roads since I swapped to coilovers and then to the 4spd auto. :****:

There were none local, I scoured the web for a while before settling on the 16V. I'd really have liked to find a 2.3 Aerio, but you need certain 2.0 parts for the swap. My area seemed dry for the most part when I looked.
 
sleepsontoilet said:
There were none local, I scoured the web for a while before settling on the 16V. I'd really have liked to find a 2.3 Aerio, but you need certain 2.0 parts for the swap. My area seemed dry for the most part when I looked.

I was looking for an Aerio when I found the Tracker I bought. I spoke to Brent at Trail Tough about his feelings on between the two motors related to my uses. He said I'd notice the power difference without a doubt but he said I probably wouldn't miss it on the lower end. Best I could tell he was indicating that the 2.3 loves to scream...and that's just not my style so I turned my focus to finding a good donor.

He said that later on down the road if I came across a good 2.3 in a junk car it'd be easy enough to swap it in place of the 2.0. To do that he said to go ahead and swap the intake too and that way everything runs just like it was before. and the 2.0 computer would accommodate it just fine.
 
More parts showed up today...just in time for some progress this weekend. Fingers crossed I get to start it before the weekend is over...

I'd originially thought I'd just reuse the factory fuse panel from the Tracker. After getting it out of the Tracker and looking at it I realized they've gotten away from simply running wires to each fuse and have gone with plugs that have all the wires mixed in and grouped together by system. So I abandoned that idea and chose to get one of these Blue Sea panels. This one has a negative bus bar at the top then it has a split system for the fuses. Sections A and B are separate from each other so that I can run switched power to one half and constant power to the other. That'll make things easy when I go to hook up th ECU.

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The radiator and filler neck were the other parts that showed up today. The radiator will fit great. I'll be running it "upside down" from the way it's intended, but since it doesn't have a cap built in it won't matter. That's where the filler neck comes in. I'd hoped there would be room to put it between the coolant tube and the inlet on the radiator, but it doesn't look like that will be possible. So...what I'm probably going to do is what I've pictured below...I'll cut the coolant tube and use sections of hose to splice the filler inline with the tube.

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Tonight I spent some time working on cleaning up the wiring in the engine bay. I did decide to keep the stock harness and fuse box that hooks to the battery, alternator, and starter. It's just too easy the way they made it...AND...the fuse block also has 4 smaller fuses built into it. So I'll keep those available for anything I add in the future that needs constant power. I was also able to cut down on the few wires that I had running to the battery post clamps and redirect them to the fuse box. This included the power supply for my electric fan relay as a relay I have installed for headlights. I thought about eliminating this relay since I originally installed it way back when I was still running Hella lights with halogen bulbs, but figured it wasn't worth the work...and it works just fine.

Tomorrow's plan of attack is to get the radiator in and plumbed. Once I get that knocked out I will move on to the steering lines, reservoir, and orbital.
 
Well I started off strong on the radiator but then got distracted. I got all the old mounts cut off and cleaned up and started mocking up the lower mounts but I'm not convinced on them yet. So I moved on to mounting the mass air sensor and the steering reservoir. I also got the TV cable hooked up to the throttle linkage then started fiddling with the gas pedal trying to decide how to go about adapting things

Doesn't look like much...buy things are coming together and looking cleaner than before.
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Be sure to keep detailed notes on the wiring, when I get to that point on my build I'll just bring it down to your place.

Looking great so far. Ready to see it at Harlan in October.
 
Today was a busy day in the shop. Well after 12pm anyway. Damn I hate when stores don't keep accurate inventory. Went to Tractor Supply to pick up some 3/4" angle and some sheet metal to build a fan shroud. Local store didn't have any sheet I wanted. Next closest store was 38mins away. I was driving the '71 F100 so although it was an enjoyable ride it wasn't the cheapest.

Next store was supposed to have 6 of the type I wanted...did they...nope. I went with the 16ga they had instead of the 22 I wanted...I think it worked out just fine though.


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I like how you did the schroud with angle instead of using a brake. How do you plan to fasten it ?
 
Thanks. The radiator already has 4 mounting bosses for a shroud so I'll space the shroud away from the radiator an 1/8" or so then weld some tabs in the right places. I've already got some "top bulb" weatherstripping that I'll be sticking to the underside of the angle all the way around the inside of the shroud that will provide the seal. The 1/8" space is to keep the shroud from rubbing the aluminum radiator.
 
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