Mr T - Lift

So I've lifted Mr T...using a neat technique...I cut out the ball joint pocket and made a new one, approximately 2 inches forward 1.5 inches down, and 1/2 inch out. Then to bring the back up I cut a 3/4" spacer with our laser and added those to the rear coils. The original frame to ground clearance was: 8.5" front, 9.5" rear. After the lift: 10.5" front, 11" rear. Woohoo more clearance for more fun!

Bad Gas

I got the Beast running well one day...the next time I start it, it runs like garbage! So I decided it has to do with the fuel pump. It ran fine at ~30psi fuel pressure, then the day it ran poorly it was at ~15-20psi. Today I dropped the fuel tank. Man this thing is RUSTY EVERYWHERE! Some of the lines returning to the tank were rusted right through. Nothing a little two part plastic weld to heal rust too bad to weld. I'm glad I decided to keep it for offroad only. The prefilter (before the fuel pump) was covered in very fine rusty colored silt. No wonder it couldn't pressure up the system! It needs fuel flow to do that. I cleaned the filter, dumped out the gas:
and cleaned the tank. I regapped the plugs, put $3.40 of gas in it and away she goes! I think I just need to tweak the timing and I'll be ready to move on to other mods...
Evidence of the drive today:

The Beast - Progress

Well, Here are some pics of the progress I've made (mostly today). I put a new bumper on the front, new bumper on the back, relocated the spare tire, and ripped out the carpet.

Below: a little bit of a suprise under the carpet!

The Green Beast Lives!

I've been trying for weeks to get that durn thing running well. The short of it is I checked everything multiple times, I replaced the throttle body, finally I replaced spark plugs and wires. That helped tons. It was still running like garbage so I pulled the fuel injector. As I was about to swap over the injector from the original throttle body I realized I plugged the wrong wires into the wrong connector when I installed the spare TB. DOH! So I reinstalled the injector and voila! It now runs great. Man - I'm kicking myself for messing that up. But really...it's all good now!

Now that I know it runs decent it's time to do a little metal fabrication. I'll keep you posted.

The events of November 11.

Sam picked up a Sidekick. Now the two of us can play!

New site

Today I found a website that has the exact principles of my idea for Mr T but think inverted...Control Arm Modification

New Toy, well...

Not entirely true. Not really new. But I picked it up for $100 at the end of this last winter (2008). A real beast. Someone did a frame drop to it, giving it 6 inches of lift. It easily clears 33" tires. Neat, but not really a mod that I would have done.
As found:

Switched the wheels and tires before I even moved it. I couldn't bring myself to drive it with the stockers and a 6" lift, just silly.

It's a real case for rust. It's from Eastern Canada, what do you expect?