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Well this has been a busy week. It started out with the QT giving me a hard time last week jumping chain occassionally and clunking when i put it in gear so i figured a little R&R and sheed be back on the road. well coincidentally i had a nv4500/ d300 with hd output in my garage that came out of my scrambler.
I took my 401 nv4500 d300 out because im planning on selling the scrambler and more people want a chevy 350 under the hood than an amc so i figured i'll just keep the power house then and appease the many. so the nv4500, hydraulic clutch and ev erything sat idle in my garage under my work bench and i had talked about installing it into the cherokee just not so soon. well i got ambitious and since last friday when i get home from work i do an hour or two worth of tinkering.
Im still wrapping up details. buttoning up the carpet, may shorten the shifter some more, might change the angle on the twin sticks. So ill get back to you when shes all done with a few pictures and and thoughts. In the process of installing the hydraulic clutch i made a few bone head mistakes that i knew better but the result was i ended up installing a El dorado hydraboost unit while i was at it.
Swapped out my long tube headers for some edelbrock shorties that i had also. and rewired the under dash to clean up the loose and cobbled wires plus bypassed the amp gauge
So all said and done im in the whole conversion about $400 (not including exhaust work yet) since i had most of the parts and gaskets ect. The hydraboost was as easty as others said it would be. about two housrs of beating my knuckles. the nv4500 was straight forward, like i said im still hashing out details. my setup had the AA bellhousing which uses a chevy input on the nv4500 which is the same as a t-18 so ive got a couple of t-18 clutch kits in my garage.
Next on the project list. BJ's 4" lift **** this one i'll have to buy i dont have any parts laying around but i do have some 33's in a shed, and a new set of floor pans welded in. Previous ower did a nice job of welding in 10 ga steel over the old rusted out floors but didnt cut out the rusted stuff from undernith so its just getting worse under there.
thought i would share since its been down for the last week but shes back up and should be running by sunday. I'll post my thoguhts as i wrap up
I’ll tell you installation of the clutch pedal was a cake walk which many know. As well installing the hydraulic clutch, I got some very helpful pictures from zinertia which helped me confirm where I had made my marks for drilling. There was even a handy little spot weld that served as my centering for my bit. As to the hydra boost I opted to drill 1” lower as all of my hydraulic clutch stuff was already lined up and installed as well the clutch pedal had the right travel and was perfectly aligned, I was going to fix the linkage assembly I bought but then I stumbled across this hydraulic setup I had taken out of one of my cj’s. I will say retro93’s suggestion of moving the assembly up would have worked had I not already done everything for the clutch. Im still hunting around for a non automatic tilt column until then just knocking the pin out of the shifter will look good enough for now.
Everything cleared the floor, the cross member required very little change as well the drivelines were almost perfect. LOL. I’ll finish up with the drivelines on Monday after everything else is buttoned up.
Currently running 3.54’s on 31’s im really torn on the gear ratio to go with I thought I had it all figured out and was going with 4.27’s 33’s and the OD tranny I’ll run the 260 cam’d 401 for now and then here next winter I’ll swap in the 401 with the 274 grind cam, now im starting to ponder possibly running 3.92’s as my cruising rpms would stay lower in OD and I could still use direct. It’s a toss up of about 300 rpm and maybe a mpg or three so I’ll have to debate that one before I take that dive. Might leave the 3.54’s for now see how everything runs, figure out the cruising rpm that she likes then figure out the sweet spot on the motor while in direct and then change the gears at that point so OD takes advantage of the sweet spot at 65/70 mph. I know im still pushing a brick down the highway.
I took my 401 nv4500 d300 out because im planning on selling the scrambler and more people want a chevy 350 under the hood than an amc so i figured i'll just keep the power house then and appease the many. so the nv4500, hydraulic clutch and ev erything sat idle in my garage under my work bench and i had talked about installing it into the cherokee just not so soon. well i got ambitious and since last friday when i get home from work i do an hour or two worth of tinkering.
Im still wrapping up details. buttoning up the carpet, may shorten the shifter some more, might change the angle on the twin sticks. So ill get back to you when shes all done with a few pictures and and thoughts. In the process of installing the hydraulic clutch i made a few bone head mistakes that i knew better but the result was i ended up installing a El dorado hydraboost unit while i was at it.
Swapped out my long tube headers for some edelbrock shorties that i had also. and rewired the under dash to clean up the loose and cobbled wires plus bypassed the amp gauge
So all said and done im in the whole conversion about $400 (not including exhaust work yet) since i had most of the parts and gaskets ect. The hydraboost was as easty as others said it would be. about two housrs of beating my knuckles. the nv4500 was straight forward, like i said im still hashing out details. my setup had the AA bellhousing which uses a chevy input on the nv4500 which is the same as a t-18 so ive got a couple of t-18 clutch kits in my garage.
Next on the project list. BJ's 4" lift **** this one i'll have to buy i dont have any parts laying around but i do have some 33's in a shed, and a new set of floor pans welded in. Previous ower did a nice job of welding in 10 ga steel over the old rusted out floors but didnt cut out the rusted stuff from undernith so its just getting worse under there.
thought i would share since its been down for the last week but shes back up and should be running by sunday. I'll post my thoguhts as i wrap up
I’ll tell you installation of the clutch pedal was a cake walk which many know. As well installing the hydraulic clutch, I got some very helpful pictures from zinertia which helped me confirm where I had made my marks for drilling. There was even a handy little spot weld that served as my centering for my bit. As to the hydra boost I opted to drill 1” lower as all of my hydraulic clutch stuff was already lined up and installed as well the clutch pedal had the right travel and was perfectly aligned, I was going to fix the linkage assembly I bought but then I stumbled across this hydraulic setup I had taken out of one of my cj’s. I will say retro93’s suggestion of moving the assembly up would have worked had I not already done everything for the clutch. Im still hunting around for a non automatic tilt column until then just knocking the pin out of the shifter will look good enough for now.
Everything cleared the floor, the cross member required very little change as well the drivelines were almost perfect. LOL. I’ll finish up with the drivelines on Monday after everything else is buttoned up.
Currently running 3.54’s on 31’s im really torn on the gear ratio to go with I thought I had it all figured out and was going with 4.27’s 33’s and the OD tranny I’ll run the 260 cam’d 401 for now and then here next winter I’ll swap in the 401 with the 274 grind cam, now im starting to ponder possibly running 3.92’s as my cruising rpms would stay lower in OD and I could still use direct. It’s a toss up of about 300 rpm and maybe a mpg or three so I’ll have to debate that one before I take that dive. Might leave the 3.54’s for now see how everything runs, figure out the cruising rpm that she likes then figure out the sweet spot on the motor while in direct and then change the gears at that point so OD takes advantage of the sweet spot at 65/70 mph. I know im still pushing a brick down the highway.
Sold, to a good fsj home)
But..........................
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