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Dust Buggy

I don’t know the brand of mine but it is the splined version which is tighter than the hex version. If you get it too good it might lock up with dirt and mud.

Mine is splined also, but it doesn't look as big as yours. I think I got mine from PSC. (Along with the rest of my steering stuff)
 
Decided to move the air compressor elsewhere so the air filter could be out of the way. Originally it was going between the front seats, which made for shifter issues.

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Maybe I missed it but what oil pan are you planning on using?
 
Maybe I missed it but what oil pan are you planning on using?

https://www.cfrperformance.com/STEEL_CHEVY_GM_LS_ENGINES_OIL_PAN_7_QT_90_DEGREE_F_p/hz-9734-r.htm

I have this pan on the shelf. 6" deep sump with 90* AN fittings which makes for good line layout to a remote filter.
I got the pan unpainted as I figured it might need some finish work. The welds are actually better than most of the other steel pans I have seen others running. The tube fittings needed to be sanded on the inside to remove the splatter from being welded otherwise it could shed off and end up in the pump or bearings. The plug and seal is junk but that is a simple part to replace. As of now I don't plan to add any gates in the sump. I am planning to shorten my stock pickup tube roughly 2".

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I like the 90s thanks for the link. Im trying to figure out if the trap doors are a must or not. Just picked up my donor truck and kinda making a parts list now.
 
I like the 90s thanks for the link. Im trying to figure out if the trap doors are a must or not. Just picked up my donor truck and kinda making a parts list now.

Rule of thumb is an LS can drink about one beer per second or 12 oz per second or around 5.5 gpm when its in the higher rpm range.
Some of the small areas created by the trap doors around the pickup can be dry in maybe two seconds. Then its about getting more oil to the pickup. If its a high G turn or on its side, some of the oil will be stuck in the valve area and on the side of the block and working its way to the pickup. If a trap door tray is covering the area it could possibly reduce the flow to the pickup even if the gates are open. To be clear, gates and baffles might not be bad depending on design, but they are not going to offer the same benefits as an oil accumulator. Accumulators will raise the oil level to feed the pickup if oil is stuck somewhere and when things are back to normal the oil is pumped out of the block to eliminate extra windage. The Accumulator also has more oil around 10 seconds before the pump has to take over again. An instant G out in any direction can cavitate the pump for a couple seconds where as an accumulator is already charged and will instantly flow oil out.
 
Is there anything special about the adobe-colored exhaust hangers you're using? I'd like to find something better than the generic black 'rubber' ones that seem to melt the way I'm using them... Or, ideally just truly hardmount everything so there's no or very little movement to the exhaust. If what you're using is less flexible and higher temp, might be an easier solution:smokin:

Thanks for posting all the updates btw...
 
Rule of thumb is an LS can drink about one beer per second or 12 oz per second or around 5.5 gpm when its in the higher rpm range.
Some of the small areas created by the trap doors around the pickup can be dry in maybe two seconds. Then its about getting more oil to the pickup. If its a high G turn or on its side, some of the oil will be stuck in the valve area and on the side of the block and working its way to the pickup. If a trap door tray is covering the area it could possibly reduce the flow to the pickup even if the gates are open. To be clear, gates and baffles might not be bad depending on design, but they are not going to offer the same benefits as an oil accumulator. Accumulators will raise the oil level to feed the pickup if oil is stuck somewhere and when things are back to normal the oil is pumped out of the block to eliminate extra windage. The Accumulator also has more oil around 10 seconds before the pump has to take over again. An instant G out in any direction can cavitate the pump for a couple seconds where as an accumulator is already charged and will instantly flow oil out.

Thanks for the info. I was planning on running a accumulator, I just thought most people were running a trap door pan also. Glad to hear i don't need one. And I'm enjoying your build keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing
 
Is there anything special about the adobe-colored exhaust hangers you're using? I'd like to find something better than the generic black 'rubber' ones that seem to melt the way I'm using them... Or, ideally just truly hardmount everything so there's no or very little movement to the exhaust. If what you're using is less flexible and higher temp, might be an easier solution:smokin:

Thanks for posting all the updates btw...

As far as I know the hangers are high temp silicone. Stock F150 hangers from around 2000. They have a metal loop or band around the inner flexible part so they don’t fall apart. They have a 3/8” hole.
 
Mounted the brake pedal and corvette gas pedal. The corvette pedal has a smaller electrical module and metal arm that I smashed in the vise to get an almost straight layout compared to the offset truck pedal. Research shows that two wires get switched on the harness for Gen4 engines and it good to go. I mashed the pedals back and forth to see how the clearance was and was making engine sounds as my 4 year old was grinning ear to ear wanting a turn to drive.

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It looks like the steering hoses come out the top in one pic and out the side in the other. I assume the side pic is the correct orientation? I found those hoses hard to route because their not very flexible. Interested to see how you do it. Things are getting tight in there now. As always, great work!
 
The steering is all plumbed. I originally planned to run all PSC parts. Upon further research of the non regulated CBR pump, I decided that the flow was too high to use with the PSC filter/reservoir. If I was running the more common regulated CBR pump with lower flow, the reservoir would have been a good match. I found that the HOWE trophy truck filter reservoir is nearly identical in design and function to the PSC with the addition of a pressure building cap and larger filter, internal porting, and reservoir.
To continue increasing flow I bumped up from -12 to -16 suction lines and fittings and ported the fittings for more flow since they were not being used for high pressure and do not need the thick walls. The return lines got bumped from -8 or -10 up to -12 for more flow as well. The pressure lines are all -8 3000+PSI. There is a HYDRAFORCE 30GPM RV10-26 relief valve after the pump and a 1/2" high pressure check valve before the orbital to protect the pump from back feeding if the steering takes a hard hit or if the engine dies.

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Full hydraulic steering is all plumbed.
PSC 2.5" x 8" XR cylinder
PSC XR CBR 11.3CC non regulated pump
PSC Eaton 160 CM3/REV orbital
HYDRAFORCE 10-26 relief valve
Howe 4" x 6" filter/reservoir
-16 suction
-12 returns
-8 pressure

With the external relief, all the hot bypassed oil will go through the cooler and filter before re entering the pump. This should greatly improve the life of the pump by keeping it clean and cool.

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Looking at your filter/reservoir, it looks very similar to mine. (Howe) But I notice yours is mounted by two bolts to a cast or billet section that appears to be welded to the reservoir. Mine has a steel strap clamp that I don't like very much. I went to the Howe site to look for yours and I didn't see any like it. Did you machine up and modify that part?
 
There is a HYDRAFORCE 30GPM RV10-26 relief valve after the pump and a 1/2" high pressure check valve before the orbital to protect the pump from back feeding if the steering takes a hard hit or if the engine dies.

The "steering hit" makes sense. Please explain what is the fear of the engine dying in this scenario.
 
Looking at your filter/reservoir, it looks very similar to mine. (Howe) But I notice yours is mounted by two bolts to a cast or billet section that appears to be welded to the reservoir. Mine has a steel strap clamp that I don't like very much. I went to the Howe site to look for yours and I didn't see any like it. Did you machine up and modify that part?

Howe makes a bunch of different models. Mine is the current gen. 4" dia. x 6" tall res. with the billet radiator cap top. Kartek makes the sheet metal res to tube bracket.
 
Howe makes a bunch of different models. Mine is the current gen. 4" dia. x 6" tall res. with the billet radiator cap top. Kartek makes the sheet metal res to tube bracket.

I did buy mine a few years ago. It does have the billet cap. I looked through all the differnt models on their site. None had the mount like yours. I guess they just haven't up dated the pics.
 
It looks like the seats are mounted in single shear vs. the typical double shear, no concerns there?
 
It looks like the seats are mounted in single shear vs. the typical double shear, no concerns there?

This is the second time someone has mentioned the seats are single shear. Good that people are thinking about it, but bad in that it is far as the train of thought goes. The tube frames inside of the the seats are thin and light and the tabs are barely welded on. The slider assembly is a solid welded fixture so it can not roll over the tabs side to side. With .1875" tabs fully welded to the round tube chassis and for the most part only seeing tension and compression, the real concern is the four 3/8" bolts all shearing at the same time. Using a 3/8" grade 8 bolt = 9,935 LBS to single shear one bolt or 39,740 LBS for all four. If I and the seat weight 230 LBS, then 172G is needed to break loose. “Formula One racing car driver David Purley survived an estimated 179.8 g in 1977 when he decelerated from 173 km/h (108 mph) to rest over a distance of 66 cm (26 inches) after his throttle got stuck wide open and he hit a wall.” If I somehow manage to get to up to around 100 MPH and run straight into a solid rock wall and the tube chassis collapses around 26" to cushion the impact. The seat might stay bolted in. Good thing that the shoulder straps connect to the chassis directly so I know my upper body is going to stay put. This will assure my 11 LB head with 1,892 LBS of force will depart from my body and smash into the rock since there is not a windshield to stop it. If my whole body including the chair is smashed into the rock then I shall become a legend as the new case example of why everything needs to be double shear.
 
Oil pan is installed. It is the unpainted Ebay pan, robot welded, with one baffle and trap door. Took some cutting of the baffles to clear the truck pickup tube. It also required moving over the pickup tube towards the center about 1/4" with a hammer to bend the tube and the tab. The new pan is 6" deep so cut down and rewelded the stock pickup tube -1.25". The 90* -10 oil ports needed to be deburred from weld splatter otherwise the construction is very good. Installed with a new oil pan seal and RTV at the four corners. I copied the stock distance from the bottom of the pan to the pick up tube and it was what looked like 1/8" which appeared too close so I pulled the pan once again and pushed up the screen cup another 1/8" with the mallet. The screen cup is super thin so it dished on the top and moved really easy without damage. Good to know if the bottom of the pan gets smashed and hits the screen cup, it has some give to it. Planning on plating around the pan so it shouldn't matter unless a rock gets between the skids and the pan which has taken out others stock cast pans. I painted it with Steelit since I got the raw steel pan thought I would be doing mods and welding on it, but they do have a plated pan which would be a better. The top flange is flat all across didn't notice any issue like other pans have had.

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This is the second time someone has mentioned the seats are single shear. Good that people are thinking about it, but bad in that it is far as the train of thought goes. The tube frames inside of the the seats are thin and light and the tabs are barely welded on. The slider assembly is a solid welded fixture so it can not roll over the tabs side to side. With .1875" tabs fully welded to the round tube chassis and for the most part only seeing tension and compression, the real concern is the four 3/8" bolts all shearing at the same time. Using a 3/8" grade 8 bolt = 9,935 LBS to single shear one bolt or 39,740 LBS for all four. If I and the seat weight 230 LBS, then 172G is needed to break loose. “Formula One racing car driver David Purley survived an estimated 179.8 g in 1977 when he decelerated from 173 km/h (108 mph) to rest over a distance of 66 cm (26 inches) after his throttle got stuck wide open and he hit a wall.” If I somehow manage to get to up to around 100 MPH and run straight into a solid rock wall and the tube chassis collapses around 26" to cushion the impact. The seat might stay bolted in. Good thing that the shoulder straps connect to the chassis directly so I know my upper body is going to stay put. This will assure my 11 LB head with 1,892 LBS of force will depart from my body and smash into the rock since there is not a windshield to stop it. If my whole body including the chair is smashed into the rock then I shall become a legend as the new case example of why everything needs to be double shear.

That's probably the most comprehensive "no I don't believe I will" post maybe ever. :lmao:
Dig the actual math's, probably wont be as concerned about double vs single shear anymore.
 
That's probably the most comprehensive "no I don't believe I will" post maybe ever. :lmao:
Dig the actual math's, probably wont be as concerned about double vs single shear anymore.

Calculating the distance to deplete the energy is a tough one and can really throw off the numbers. Getting the actual G force from a test dummy would be a better way.
EDIT: Sounds like 70-80G is an acceptable force on the head to survive. 60G for the chest. Extremities can go up to 150G. Just need to make sure my kids juice box doesn't hit me in the back of the head otherwise I am dead.
 
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Calculating the distance to deplete the energy is a tough one and can really throw off the numbers. Getting the actual G force from a test dummy would be a better way.
EDIT: Sounds like 70-80G is an acceptable force on the head to survive. 60G for the chest. Extremities can go up to 150G. Just need to make sure my kids juice box doesn't hit me in the back of the head otherwise I am dead.

And that'd have to be your kid's incompressible, metal juice box :lmao:
 
Had someone ask:
What do you do when building link mounts to ensure that the joints go back in easily after welding, paint or powder coating?

In the past i've ended up with link mounts that once welded and coated the joints no longer fit into easily. So i've had to lightly grind the coating off or reduce the joint width slightly.

So on my current build I was thinking i'd install a .010 shim. Weld everything up. Remove the shim, paint and then reinstall the joints without the shims during assembly. My though is that any extra space in the mount would very easily be sucked up my tightening the bolt.

Am I on the right track? is there a better way?



I am dealing with this right now on the IBEX subframe. I welded out with a spare set of link balls in place and it got hammer tight to remove some of them. The link pockets are so strong that they will not deform and open up. Some I cold get a porta power expanding jaw to open them up some. Other would not move or spring right back. In the past I have also used a short bolt and fine thread nut as a jack in the pocket to push them open. I will probably need to do the same again, with a bigger bolt and some anti seize to get some more force. Adding a shim would have been a good idea and prevented this hassle. A thin washer around .03 would have been good. Even a .6 would have been good as it would shrink down .03 and leave .03 gap that the bolt would pinch down with no issue.
 
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