Exhaust Part 1

Ebay tubing and muffler for the win! 

Well I guess that remains to be seen but the muffler is pretty nice for $40. I;m not sure what it's packed with but it's stainless and looks just like a Magnaflow. I'll probably put a pair of these on the STI.

Not huge fan of polished tubing but it was cheap... 

Muffler next to the transmission.

Downpipe to turbo connection

10" flex joint was a bit overkill but it's all they had in stock.

Need to order one more 45deg bend to finish it off.

Bulkhead

Finally cut out the bulkhead. Need to design a new bulkhead and seat shelf now.

Preperation-H

Hi tech template for cutting arches to match

Hopefully this will be the final ride height

I'm 95% sure I'll remake the bench and bulkhead from scratch. In order to permanently install the cage the bedsides have to come off individually.

I will start by pulling the tub then cutting off the 2 bolt flanges. Then a ~1" tube stub will be inserted and welded in place. Probably with a few holes for rose welds.

Almost forgot.. Decided to use the original cobra transmission mount. Only down side is the transmission needs to be jacked up a couple of inches to install it. Might make trail side repairs a PITA.. 

Fender trimming

Trimmed up the fenders last night. Working on interior sheet metal design and some other little things right now.

Grill

Got the grill today. It turned out to be easier to make one rather than modify an OE unit.

The problem is headlight clearance. Either need a low profile light or a thick bezel to hold it.

The fender bolts onto the grill

OE mesh works with new grill

Another shot of the poor light clearance

Just checking clearance for the grill and fender..

I installed the doors with the window frames removed to see how they fit up. 

Looks like the rear tub needs to move forward .250"

Loaner series II grill I'm using for mock up. It's sitting 3" in front of the hood. I can move it back 1" and cut the headlight buckets 1". The I'll either need to space the lights out another inch or move the hood forward an inch..... It's never easy that's for sure :)

Hopefully it doesn't look too much like a flat fender jeep when it's done... 

Made a new footwell panel to hold the gas pedal for the 2.8 CRD. It's drive by wire so just need to hook it up to the ECU

Installed the dash loosely to check the alignment. Need to open up the hole for the steering column a bit.

Transmission installed..... again

Installed the transmission again but now with the twin sticks installed.

Shifter in 4th gear

Transmission in 3rd gear

I need to remake the trans mount. I'm thinking something very simple attached to the belly pan. I also need to check the rear driveline angle and make sure I can make something that will work with the flat belly. Should be OK but I want to double check..

Back from vacation

Back from vacation, did a little wheeling in Moab. I was impressed with the trails the Taco got up. Did some wheeling in Ouray, CO too but nothing crazy. The high altitude passes are fun. I think we hit 13000ft on one trail..

Sitting pretty low but not full bump.

Took out the 85lb spring to let it flex with loading up the new mounts too much. Still need to fully weld them in and design a cross brace for it.

Full bump and droop. It's going to require 2" spacers for the wheels.

Fuel cells new home

Plating to reinforce the shock mounts/towers