GM 5.3/4L60E/Klune/Stak 300

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I worked on the window thing a bit but recently switched to the front grill/radiator. Here is the radiator sitting basically in place. It is not held in right now as I haven't exactly decided how I'm going to do that, but it is basically where it needs to be.

I had to cut into the light sockets a little to get it to sit tight to the backs of the sockets. I'm not sure if the sockets will even stay, but with a little work and luck perhaps they can.

I have the top plate narrowed and bolted in place where it will be when the thing is done and have the radiator pushed up almost tight to it.

There is 4 3/4" between the core and the water pump.

The bottom of the radiator ended up sitting 1 3/4" below the frame rail. I have a temporary plate in there right now and the final method won't be a whole lot different.

I had to cut the radiator fill piece off! That hurt! It will get relocated via an elbow similar to a stock XJ fill piece.

Jeff

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Now for a cooling fan and shroud. My research turned up two very popular options. Lincoln Mark VIII and Taurus. I ended up at a crushing yard yesterday were I was able to salvage a Taurus fan for nothing, so I brought it home to size up how it would fit. As suspected, it was a bit tight and the shroud would not cover very well. The Lincoln fan is better but thicker too, so I think the Taurus fan will fit better. So, I began disassembling and cutting!

Here is the fan/shroud with the fan blade removed:

Here is the fan/shroud cut down to just a 16" ring:

Here is the mounting ring with the motor and fan blade together:

The distance from the face of the fan blade to the inner edge of the mounting ring is about 1 5/8". So, if I build a shroud that sits off the radiator core by 1 7/8", there should be 1/4" gap between the fan and the core.

Notice how the fan blade actually has a larger diameter than the mounting ring:

Here's approximately how it will fit in the rig. Offset to the drivers side and low seems to fit the best and give the best clearance.

Now, I guess I have to build an aluminum shroud to mount this fan to! Jeff

 

[beakie]

glad to see some forward motion on this project, easily the cleanest build I've seen.
I can't even take my time deciding what upgrade is next... let alone collecting, assembling and building something like this... wow.

 

[cracker]

Bad ass Jeff!

Keep it coming!

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

At some point I began looking at how to get a remote power steering pump reservoir connected to my power steering pump since I plan to run hydro assist and the things that I've read talk about having a large reservoir and a cooler. However, with the Vette bracket, the input to the power steering pump was pointing at the middle of the engine...not an easy spot to run a large diameter gravity feed to if the reservoir is to be mounted on the inner fender. I also noticed that the Kwik bracket as well as many other power steering pump mounts place the pump input facing either straight up or off to the drivers side. I also saw a number of posts on Pirate about mounting TWO power steering pumps for more volume using stock pumps instead of expensive modified pumps that tend to burn out. After thinking about it a bit I decided to toss the Vette bracket and build my own. I thought I could design it to have the capability to mount two TC style power steering pumps with their inputs facing the fender as well as mount the alternator wherever I wanted it. I also thought I could probably get it designed such that I could skip running the second pump by removing it and one idler pulley and putting a shorter belt in place. Keep in mind that I am running a Corvette balancer, so the belt runs as close to the block as possible compared to the Camaro and Truck setups. So, copying the Kwik setup, the plan was to mount one plate tight to the head and engine block, then mount a second plate 2" out (the thickness of the alternator mounting bosses) with spacers between the plates. I started with cardboard and began designing the outer plate first.
I determined I would need two small diameter idler pulleys and that I would place the top power steering pump so that it bolted to the head through one of it's mounting holes utilizing an appropriate spacer. The second power steering pump would mount in the pocket created by the block shape down low providing access to the two mounting bolts as they pass through pump.

I first whittled the outer 1/4" aluminum plate to shape using a jig saw and loosely bolted it in place. I also loosely wrapped a belt over things to show how it will run:

Here's how the lower TC pump will fit from behind:

Comparing my plate to the Corvette bracket I snapped three pictures:

You can see how the upper pump sits higher up and is rotated as well as how the alternator sits a bit higher and is also rotated. The plate wraps around the pump and then goes up to the second alternator mounting boss in order to provide room for an output hose to fit into the pump. The plate would pass directly over the middle of the output if I didn't wrap it around. The inner plate won't have to do this.

Speaking of the alternator, I decided to move the one coil pack over approximatey a half an inch to provide adaquete clearance between it and the alternator.

Here is the inner plate whittled out and bolted in place.

I slipped the alternator in place and took a shot:

Here it is with the hood in place:

Here are a couple shots of the two plates out of the rig:

I'll continue in the next post. Jeff

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

At this point I needed to set the offset for the pumps. Measuring the Corvette bracket, it showed that the back of the pump should sit 3/32 off the head. The TC pumps are 2.25" deep, so one could place it tight to the inside of the outer plate and have it fit tight to the block like Kwik does, but I decided to hold the offset to spec since the deep offset power steering pulley from a Caddilac CTS-V I was using already places the end of the pump shaft 3/16" or so inside the pulley hub. I wanted to maintain as much pulley hub to pump shaft contact as I could. So, I had a friend mill the inside plate down to 3/32" around the pump mounting bolts and mill 3/32" off the outer plate around where the pumps bolt. It looks a little thin, but i hope it will hold up.

You can see the lower pump area has spacers in place of the pump.

Since I couldn't find any idler pulleys with a small enough diameter I made my own! I took a piece of aluminum plate and turned two donuts out of it. I pressed four standard idler bearing in the two donuts and made spacers to place the idlers in line with the belt. This is almost exactly the same as the Corvette idler but with a smaller diameter.

Here's the whole thing setup for one power steering pump:

This shows the clearance between the pulley and the steering gear. It is more than with the Corvette bracket, but the actual aluminum plate sits closer to the steering gear. I think it is sufficient though.

Here's the whole bracket with one pump from the front:

Now comes the tough part...finding a belt to fit the dual PS pump setup! I did some investigation and determined that although they do make a 6 groove belt long enough, it is too long! It looks like my best bet is to use a 8 groove belt and cut it down to six grooves with a utility knife. I found one for a Ford F350 Diesel Van that is reasonable in price and readily available that should work. I need to get a second pump, a second pulley and the belt to be sure though. If it doesn't fit perfectly, I can adjust the height of the York a touch to fine tune the thing. Once that is done I think I can get a shorter belt that will work when only running one power steering pump as there are many in that range with slightly different lengths readily available.

I also purchased a 90 degree 4" rubber elbow, a 4" to 3.5" adapter and a K&N filter. The elbow fits directly on the throttle body, the elbow and adapter fit snugly on the Mass Airflow Sensor and the filter fits snuggly on the other side of the Mass Airflow Sensor. With a tiny modification of my header panel thingy(which has been cut down for the narrowed front end as well), the whole assembly fits nicely between the serpentine system and the radiator. The wire for the Mass Airflow Sensor will clear the belt and come into the harness right by the wire going to the throttle body. It looks like it's going to be a problem building a shroud for the radiator in the region of the intake tube, but it does look like I can still fit what's left of the taurus fan into the area below and to the drivers side of the intake elbow. In addition, I fabricated a radiator fill spigot that can sort of be seen in one of the pictures. I need to find a guy good at aluminum TIG work before that is completed though! Jeff

 

[cracker]

Holy crap Jeff

That is a TON of work.

Good job :thumbup:

 

[John D]

Those brackets are awesome, nice work.

What is the filter number you ended up going with?

Also, any concern about IAT (intake air temp)? I noticed mine was going into the red a lot, especially at idle and slow speeds. I extended my air tube and placed the filter behind the D-side headlamp. Then I cut some of the header panel out and made a 3 sided box for the filter. Much better on the IAT now. Its got some room for improvement, but here's what I did in a hurry.

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I used the same stuff I mentioned in Franks thread. I found a really good deal on the filter so I bought it.

Throttle body is 4" OD. I used 90HL4SR $17.88 short radius elbow: http://intakehoses.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=90HL4SR&Category_Code=9DEH I have 6" or so between the throttle body and the top of the radiator and did cut the elbow down some.

The elbow is followed by 40R375 $8.59 reducing insert from 4" ID to 3.75" ID to fit the 4" elbow onto the Mass Air Flow Sensor which measures 3.75" OD on the input and output. http://intakehoses.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=40R375&Category_Code=RIS

On the input to the Mass air flow sensor I am directly clamping an RU3530 K&N filter. This filter has a 3.75" ID flange and is 7" long. The RD6000 that John used does have a smaller diameter base at 4.25" compared to the RU3530 at 5.375". The top diameters are about the same at 4.00" for the RD6000 and 4.375" for the RU3530. http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=RU-3530

I am NOT very excited about the air temp thing you mentioned as the way it is sitting now, it certainly will be drawing hot air off the radiator. Since my front is narrowed, I don't have the real estate to the extent that you do. Maybe I need to do more pondering on this? Oh well. Jeff
Jeff

 

[John D]

Not trying to ruin your day Jeff... and I don't know how much effect the high IAT would have. Its just that you always hear colder is better.

Hard to tell in the pics, but is there enough room to go around the P-side upper idler and over the AC compressor to punch into the cowl. Someone makes a cowl adapter airfilter thingy that sets the filter inside the cowl for fresh air. I don't know who it is, maybe someone will speak up and you can look to copy it. If I can figure out a path I am thinking of this route too.

 

[cracker]

You'll get it figured dude. You've made it pretty darn well this thus far

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

No, there's no way to snake the intake back over the engine without doing something with the hood. The engine takes up the complete front end from side to side! Also, there are supposed to be a couple coilover shocks coming up just behind the York and Alternator, so nothing doing there. Although it would require a cowl induction hood and make most of the work to keep this thing under the hood meaningless, the best idea I've seen so far is the guy on Pirate with the Porsche thing.

The intake would be back away from the radiator and drawing air from the low pressure area of the cowl induction. Jeff

 

[John D]

Yeah, that's cool. But like you said, all the work to keep it under the hood would be wasted. I spent a lot of time and effort to keep mine under the stock hood too, so I totally understand.

Besides, you're in Wisconsin. Do you get more than 4 days a year where its above 70 degrees

 

[cracker]

Jeff,

Any updates?

How are you doing?

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Well, no, there aren't much for updates on the Jeep. I can't believe it's been five months already since the last reply to this thread!

As for my domestic life, it's been a roller coaster. Sometime around Easter Mary decided she wanted to try living at home again, so she started coming over and staying the weekend but going back across town to her apartment during the week. She worked out of her apartment because she was set up to do her medical transcription work from there. After awhile of this I was going nuts! I finally told her that if she couldn't stay home, to just stay away. So, she began staying at home. She would leave to work at her apartment in the morning but she would come home every night. Of course she lived out of a suitcase that she kept in the spare bedroom when she was at home and didn't want any physical attention. Touches and kisses and back rubs were just not welcome by her and she never initiated anything like that although she would occasionally rub my back. I just tried to accept her behavior hoping things would improve with time. Well, they didn't and the frustration level was pretty high. The first week of November we took a trip to Carson City, NV to visit our son and his wife. I thought the trip went pretty well and we had fun doing a variety of activities. Hiking to Sierra Buttes lookout tower after spending a night in the Calpine lookout tower was the highlight of the trip! Anyway, a week after getting home from that trip she didn't come home one night. The next day I got an email saying she wasn't coming home and that the marriage was destroying both of us. I would be better without her and given time I would be ok. That was last weekend. I'm back to coming home to a cold dark house and trying to fill my time with TV or whatever else I can come up with. Oh yeah, this is all happening as the cloudy cold winter rolls in. So the last 14 months have just been a big waste of time and mental energy!!!!!!!! I guess I can focus on divorce papers now though.

As for the Jeep, I did recently order a set of 40" MTR's with Kevlar! So, there goes the pot of cash I slowly built up with my side job. I wonder how tough it's going to be to make them fit at full compression!? I also purchased the CV end of a High Angle Driveline driveshaft so I could figure out where to mount a rear crossmember to allow full droop of the driveshaft and access to the driveshaft mounting bolts, the caliper and all the other stuff in there. I've got the crossmember partially built and am thinking about how to mount upper control arms. The lowers will mount to the crossmember. So, I'm still pecking away at things a little. Jeff

 

[GSequoia]

Sombody go buy Jeff a drink or twelve, he needs it!

 

[Team Willys]

Damn dude, Im really sorry to hear that. Keep your head held high man. Saying its not going to be tough would be complete bull hockey, but sometimes life doesn't give you much to work with. You just have to accept that and make to most of what you do have. When I went through a similar experience I had just bought a truck, and while there was nothing really wrong with it, I would spend time working on it to keep my mind busy and off of the separation. My best advice is to try and not think about it, work on the jeep or something else to keep you mind off of it.

 

[cracker]

Thanks for checking in Jeff.

Sounds like you are riding one hell of a roller coaster but as Willy's said, keep you head high.

I really want to see you get through this project of yours. I am almost done with my MJ project and am about to start re-assembling my buggy with a 5.3/460LE/Altas 4.3 so I understand the workload and it is a time taker.

Good luck and keep us up to speed :thumbup:

 

[Goatman]

Jeff, sorry to hear how it's going. Looks like you made every effort to give the relationship a chance to work, so no guilt. You'll be fine in time, probably happier.

Some really nice work on this project, looking forward to seeing it in person one day.

 

[GSequoia]

What if you moved that filter up a bit higher and made a sheet metal/alum box for it tucked in the area. Put some thick door weatherstripping on the top to seal with a bracket on the hood with a scoop? That won't be perfect but it ought to get the IAT cooler than straight off the radiator, you'd probably want to insulate the new airbox too...