got the red rail home.

[fabr]

You have some torque/hp numbers for those engines? Be nice to see some dyno charts. what's the reliability of each running higher rpms?

[fabr]

Sounds very soft and deep. Definitely don't want to slow down in it! I have been in that deep soft blow sand and was an interesting experience.  Not sure if its the same as what you just ran through or not.

Taylor is the one that got me thinking about the 5.3 v8. He said the aluminum version was only 400 lbs. My iron turbo 4 cyl with turbo is 400lbs.  Mine is an inline 4 so plenty of room for a v8.with that comparision it would seem like ditching the 4 banger anchor would seem a no brainer I was speaking with a person earlier today that buys the Chevy's to part them out. He has 12 -5.3 like engines currently, no aluminum versions. He thinks those are 2010 ish and up. He suggested the 4.8 v8 as I guess with some head work they can turn 9k rpm? Would need to look into that deeper to verify the other stock components can survive. So the iron 5.3 crate engine supposedly weighs 525 lbs. I say supposedly as thats what the Chevy dealer states the crate motor weighs. I could see an all aluminum saving 125 lbs hell the esslinger aluminum head for the 2.3 shaves 30 lbs off the head itself. Go aluminum,don't compromise. Only reason I went with a cast iron block is for the needed extra strength. Most aluminum blocks aren't rated as high hp capable as the iron versions. In your case you won't be adding much,if any,hp so the weight saving is a great trade off to any possible extra strength the iron block may have. My .02

[dsrace]

You have some torque/hp numbers for those engines? Be nice to see some dyno charts. what's the reliability of each running higher rpms?

Interesting enough there are many videos on YouTube with a base line on the stock engine. With a header, and simpl3 bolt on parts, 303 rwhp and like 325 rwtq.  Not a power house but that tq is there off idle basically. These are just ideas bouncing around in my pinball game thought process    the 5.3s are a dime a dozen but they don't seem to last a long time. The general statement seeks to be 150,000 to 200,000 miles. Sounds like they start using oil at or before 150k. Just what I read, not my statement so all gm lovers don't jump on me  . Upon further reading, the 4.8 is out of the equation. Limited production with a shorter life span then the 5.3. How i would run that 5.3, need to find a 50k mile engine to start 

[fabr]

Ample torque from idle up is a plus,IMO. Pretty much the reason I'm building more inches/longer stroke. The short stroke nascar relic has more than enough tq/hp for hard pack. Usually enough for sand. The extra 3/4 inch stroke should make me happier in the sand.

[dsrace]

makes perfect sense to me!

so first and foremost i am going to set this turbo 2.3's cam timing to the correct point. true the exh manifold one more time and see what it does. if it still doesn't perform stumbles as it has been then it will be up for sale on turbo ford forum and FB.  at that time i will be deciding between the stock 2.7 eco boost or a 3.5 if it can be found for a decent price. if not then then either the 5.3 aluminum or the 6.0 aluminum. it needs to be a common v8 so that it is easily replaceable at the junk yards. i don't mind installing an aftermarket ecu to clean up the tunes and/or a dyno tune to set a base for the ecu but i want pump fuel and a dime a dozen like the 3800 series II and III were or are still. the bottom end of the 5.3 or 6.0 will be plenty at st a or at LS for the way i dune. boosted would be nice to offset the alltitude but honestly a decent tune on 91 octane will still perform well. 

on a diff note, the only diff between my 2.3 and the ford 2.5 is the stroke. its not cheap but i think one can build a 2.8 in this block as well. prob with doing so is that it gets expensive in a hurry! the yellow/purple rail douggy bought from scott smith has/had a stock turbo 2.3 turbo in it. that motor out performed mine in spool time and bottom end, prob a touch more mid range as well. it damn sure didn't make as much power but with the hot pinto cam mine went all on top. with the stock ranger roller cam in it did a lot better but still that turbonetics turbo was a poor choice for dunes. that custom hybrid holset turbo was a bad choice as well and that was with the hot pinto cam. the current bo port stage 3 head with 2.1 cam is a huge step up in all 3 ranges until the manifold warps. that happens on the first run on every trip for 3 years now.  the busa never ran like it should've and i am 99.999999 % sure why , after the fact and now the 2.3 has never run as it should or perfromed as well as douggy's wore out stock 2.3. not speaking about top hp .....i'm speaking up bottom end and mid range spool up and accel.

[dsrace]

i was just surfing again looking for an aftermarket set of trailing arms off the krx1000 and cannot find them. i did run across some interesting pics as i have wondered how long the axles are on the krx1000. so based on a 930 non plunge joint i know that the housing is less then 1.5" thick. if there radius rods pivot at the center of the cv's as they should on non plunge then 25.5" front center of heim to center of heim joint would put that krx axle at 28" imo.

i dont have a non plunge in front of myself at the moment. if i remember correctly, .62" is half the thickness. you still would want atleast .5" sticking out the back side so call it 1.125" per side or 2.25" total. so that 25.5 plus 2.25 founded up is 28". now that cv's they use are a tad bit different so i have no idea how much excess protrudes from each cv. i'm guessing extremely little at the stub axle .

of you look at the pic of the hub/trailing arm with the blue radius rod on it, you'll notice the knuckle slants back from bottom to top. that is because the rear frame does. they seem to have matched the pivot point dead on with that design.

[dsrace]

Got one axle ready for install, then align, fill coolant and fire off. 9* today and snow on the ground so no test runs anytime soon.

[dsrace]

Rear coils seem a Bit heavy at 325 primary and 400 secondary. The left rear wheel bearing carrier ( knuckle) was damaged in the accident and no parts available currently to build a new one.  I cut a portion apart and rebuilt what i could to use it for next year. It will be safe but creates a camber glitch that shouldn't effect it too much. I hate cv grease! Just in case no one knew that    I would really like to convert it to micro stub axles. Who knows if those parts are available either. I did repack the wheel bearings while I had both carriers off.

Went from , 1/2" low carbon non lined heims to 5/8" chromoly lined heims .  Scott started to add the for a 4th link so I finished that. Cut the down tubes off the back of the roll cage and moved them to make room for that new aluminum radiator. Pre filter, post filter and fuel pump all in one spot. All an fuel lines and converted to series II coil packs, ign module and wires. Easy bracket to convert that part. Rewired half the harness and pulled the square spot lights and replaced with an led light bar. I have a 20" curved bar for the nose too.

Also added a tube into the roll cage between the seats. Not only adds support but needed a place for tank vent tube. Added a concave rear view mirror and an additional tube in the roof of the roll cage. Added 3 led dome lights as well.

[dsrace]

Axles are in, tq'd to 45 ft lbs. Need to find tq spec for type 1 930 axle nut. Tried to post pics direct but file size is too large.

[fabr]

Looks good as always with you!  I assume you will make it to LS this spring?  BTW,what's the status of your buggy?

[dsrace]

Looks good as always with you!  I assume you will make it to LS this spring?  BTW,what's the status of your buggy?

I have not gone above and beyond with this rail. I have improved upon several parts but there is some damage that I'm not willing to repair. Its not unsafe by any means but nothing i do will ever truly fix it.  I have spent many hrs testing ideas but the ripple effect is just to wide spread. It truly needs a new frame and a new rear cradle with micro stub set up. That type 1 to 930 is limited at 25* on the cv's , remaining narrow enough, on dirt tires, to load in a trailer.  Im not spending $1300  for 4 non plunge cvs on this one. When the back was bottomed out ,multiple times, before the upper motor mounts were added, it ripped 2 trans mounts and lower motor mount. That all got rolled back and welded but it had all moved and stretched. So the trans is rocked 1.5* and all things considered thats not bad......if your just looking at the trans.  The frame is twisted almost 1.5* itself. Again, unto itself thats not bad. With the trans leveled, the left front wheel is 3" off the ground while the rt it touching.  So I could cut the trans mounts out and start over. I would need to cut the lower cradle out and build new. Chassis is still twisted but I could adjust for some in the rear cradle. I don't like the narrow frame for elbow room nor the narrow roll cage for vision either. I could cut the upper cage off and change that. It would be easier to build a new frame altogether and better off imo. I don't want to, this will make a great starter rail for my daughter and won in law.



My rail....... ....... my poor rail hasnt seen direct sunlight since the fall trip of '21. Been in scotts trailer hibernating,  awaiting repairs.  If I can wrap scotts up this weekend, once the snow is gone, it will trad places with mine.

At this point I plan on making the spring trip. I have a site reserved as well.

[fabr]

Sounds like a plan!

 I've decided I will not likely take on any more major projects. Just too much BS with all the delays and such to make it fun anymore. I have several upgrades I will do ans such though. FWIW,I have nothing more to do to prove to myself I can do anything if I want. The challenge is  welllll,gone. Time to just enjoy.

[DeepBusch69]

Making good progress DS, hard to imagine that the frame is twisted that much. 

Sounds like you got the winter blues there fabr.  You will have more big projects someday, you just can't rest THAT much!   

I was lucky again this trip with no big repairs needed besides CV's.  They were really loud the last trip.  But I am really behind on several other big items here, and then I need to take care of my dad's house.  It's going to be a busy spring, I am hoping to make the trip

[dsrace]

Making good progress DS, hard to imagine that the frame is twisted that much. 

Sounds like you got the winter blues there fabr.  You will have more big projects someday, you just can't rest THAT much!   

I was lucky again this trip with no big repairs needed besides CV's.  They were really loud the last trip.  But I am really behind on several other big items here, and then I need to take care of my dad's house.  It's going to be a busy spring, I am hoping to make the trip

truly am sorry to hear you lost your father! that sucks no matter what age!

cv grease sucks especially swepco 101  it's so stringy but that's a good thing too. 

when he lost the heims he waded the left rear corner up and hit the fence post at the dunes. when the heims let go, it rolled the knuckle and bent it a bit. bent the shock shaft, ripped the lower shock head off, actully left dents in the tube frame and wasted a limit strap. that was on his last dune trip.


there was an incident at his grandfathers farm  riding a wheelie across the drive and thought he was going to hit the grain bins so he hit the brakes, slammed the front end into the earth and bottomed the nose out hard. never could get the front end correct after that.

[dsrace]

Sounds like a plan!

 I've decided I will not likely take on any more major projects. Just too much BS with all the delays and such to make it fun anymore. I have several upgrades I will do ans such though. FWIW,I have nothing more to do to prove to myself I can do anything if I want. The challenge is  welllll,gone. Time to just enjoy.

I completely understand!!