Hey all, been awhile since the last update, was in eastern Europe for a few weeks, traveling for work for a few weeks, and have been building for a few weeks. So since last time:
I finished the welding cart
Stripped the interior
Received my roll cage kit
Filled the box of the truck with various planned parts
Welded on the anti-pierce plates. This took a long time, because of the different thickness between the plate and the floor of the truck
Fit up the new seat
Turbos! I disassembled them to an extent to replace some of the fasteners with higher quality pieces. Still waiting on some fasteners to finish the job. Has anyone used Nord-Lock washers before? I got some for this project and man they kick as5!!
here is the block off plate and v-band flange I had made up. I have to convert these turbos from internal to external wastegate, so these plates are needed.
rear hoop tacked in place
these are some footpegs for a buddies V-max that I welded. The TIG skills are getting better through practice.
Engine back from machine shop
getting ready to weld the v-band flanges to the block off plates
clean parts
in the box you can see some hose I got from McMaster Carr for the vacuum system. I am going to try to use the quick push-connect fittings and manifolds that are commonplace in robotics for the vacuum system. The 5.0 Ford has main vacuum takeoff underneath the manifold and it's a huge PITA! So my plan is to route those to a common manifold with the push-lock fittings. Never seen it done on a car before, so should be interesting to see if it holds up to the heat and vibration.
Almost finished block offs. Sent them to my co-workers machine shop to face them, as the welding has a tendency to pull the plate out of shape. I was surprised how much considering the plate is 1/2" and I didn't pour a ton of heat into the weld.
here you can see the compressor side of the turbo with the hole for the internal wastegate.
Block off plates resting on the turbo. I drilled holes to dowel the plate for perfect alignment of the exhaust orifice.
TURBO
I polished the stock valve covers years ago, and now I'm going a different direction with the look. This is a "before" pic...... stay tuned!