Tony's buggy build

I've been wheeling and building my XJ now for about 10 years, but have lately had the urge to build a buggy. It was something that I wanted to do, but I didn't think it was in the near future... until I found this guy

A couple of text's and a trip with the trailer and it followed me home. I did a little trading, so its a cheap base to build off of.

Got it home and started looking, was surprised to see how well it was set up
Chevy TBI 4.3. Was running when the buggy was parted out, so hopefully wont be too bad to get running again.

Set up for full hydro. Has the orbital valve, remote filter and cooler installed already.

Ac compressor is converted for OBA. All the solenoids and valves seem to be there, its just a mater of cleaning everything up and making sure its GTG

Set up as a 4 seater. I'm going to try and run a XJ rear folding seat in the back so I can fold it out of the way when I don't need it. I think I can make it work.

The chassis was built off of a Yota frame so the wiring is there for a Yota pickup dash, probably pick one up from the JY for now. Later I'll do a custom dash

It was set up for a 3 link with panhard in the front and a triangulated 4 link in the rear. I got some PVC to mock up some links, and the set up looks pretty promising. I'll probably add some gussets to the link tabs and run them as they are.

Plans:

Chevy 60/14 bolt
14-18 inch air shocks on all corners
Fuel cell
Turbo 350 and twin sticked 205


It will be a slow going project until I get the XJ sold or parted out, but at least its a start!

 

[RockChucker]

Maybe it was having ptsd from your Pritchett nightmare last year? But seriously that is frustrating. Probably not a bad idea to check grounds and such too. Faulty grounds can cause all sorts of weird gremlins.

 

[xjtony]

Lol. It may identify as a passenger car now. I actually went through the grounds this winter. The OBD1 mopars are very particular about grounds. When I bought the buggy I found 16 grounds because the guy didn't wire it properly. It has been frustrating for sure, but when you buy something that has been neglected it's kind of par for the course. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment with the old abandon trucks, beat up old buggy, and I may have a dodge magnum that needs it hemi rebuilt sitting in the driveway.

 

[xjtony]

Looks like my issue is the fuel pump. I ran it today with a fuel pressure gauge hooked up. When I turn the ignition on, the pump pressurised the rail like it's supposed to, but it cant keep up while driving. Pressure dropped below 20 today while the pump was running real choppy.

 

[xjtony]

So I've got the buggy running good (knock on wood) and everything broken buttoned up, but I have one issue to throw out there and get opinions. I'm giving up a ton of down travel in the front due to a few factors.
1. my steering hoses need to be lengthened
2. I'm sitting about 2 inches high in the front. This will be corrected when I pull the C/Os to swap springs
3. This is where I need some real world knowledge. The axle side u joint yoke binds up with any real down travel. I've clearanced the yoke on both the DS and axle as much as I feel like I can without removing too much. Has anybody ran the Super Joint High Clearance 1350 U joints before? If I ran one on just that axle side I feel like it would free up the down travel I'm looking for, but I've never ran this joint before. I know they say they can cause vibration at high speeds, but I'm about as slow as a snail so I don't think that would be an issue. Thoughts?

 

[Mouse]

Can you rotate the pinion up to reduce the angle?

 

[Hickey]

Can you rotate the pinion up to reduce the angle?

I like this idea since you're not really street driven. I have no experience with that joint.

 

[xjtony]

The pinion angle is pretty good the way it sits. My biggest issue with this is that the guy who built the axle didn't rotate the C's and the axle is fully welded from C to C. To get the pinion where I have it I'm running 10 degrees negative caster. I'll snap a pic when I get home.

 

[N-Smooth]

are you talking like the Tom Woods joint with the offset cross? @skippy runs one on his billion dollar rear steer moon buggy. I wouldn't hesitate to run one if I were you

 

[xjtony]

are you talking like the Tom Woods joint with the offset cross? @skippy runs one on his billion dollar rear steer moon buggy. I wouldn't hesitate to run one if I were you

That's the one I was looking at. It seems to be a cheap easy way to fix the problem.

 

[Gravy]

Run the Sooper joint. It will vib but not an issue under 20mph.
also Yukon makes a high angle d60 yoke that's longer so it can have bigger "dips" in it.

 

[xjtony]

Didn't do much to my rig this weekend other than drive it around some (knock on wood, it's running good) but we did get my buddies XJ in the shop for some much needed TLC.



Basically we are staring at the rear and working forward. The back will get dovetailed a little and boxed in like a small bed. We will the cage into the frame in a few more spots at well. After that will be rectangle tube rocker panels to replace the beat up sliders and sheet metal. The final part will be a 3 link in the front with a 3 inch stretch, full hydro and a 60 swap.
When we get a little further than "hack it up with a sawzall" I'll start a thread

 

[xjtony]

Hopefully the fix for my fuel issues.

 

[OCNORB]

Looks familiar.... Impressed me how well made these are.

 

[xjtony]

Just in first inspection it looks very well made. Good welds, decent aluminum.

 

[xjtony]

New fuel cell is installed. Its a 15 gallon. I removed the old cell and rear seat and now I have a ton if room. I still neet to clean up the wiring on the pump and ill probably make a removable bulkhead. Its mounted fairly close to the seats but I wanted to maximize storage area.