sureshot007

And which exact headers are those? The stock oil pan cleared everything?

What did you end up using for motor mounts?

So I just got a waiver approved to run a different class next season - a class that allows me to run a v8! Well, I have a 5.2 complete motor, wiring harness and ecu in my garage. Has anyone here stuffed one in an MJ/XJ before?

I have a 2.8, and I'm not spending more money on buying another engine for a temporary solution.

I do, and the large crank journal 2.8 is internally balanced. Oh, and if the powerband on the 4 cylinder is so great, why don't you have one? :)

Ok, I'm going to go over this just once, because I have done it too many times today. Class rules limit displacement to 3000cc's, and engine must be available from manufacturer. Now, since I want to keep it rwd (and it must stay 2wd), my only options are the amc 2.5 or gm 2.8v6. Luckily, I don't have to use the same induction method, so I can ditch the carb'd motor for a more modern MPFI setup. This allows me to use the camaro 2.8, which maks 135 hp and 165 ft*lbs, which is better than the 4cyl. This also gets me a motor that enjoys revving a little more, because I have blown up 2 4cyl already. While not a great motor, and not a great power increase, it should be an easy swap, and I can stop using that POS 2.5L. The real benefit is that there are actual performance parts for the v6 available, whereas the 4cyl has nothing useful for me. And don't worry. This setup is short term. I have a 5.2 to drop in the next chassis for the 2012 season :)

I have a camaro MPFI 2.8 to replace the blow 4cyl (don't bother telling me how bad of an idea this is, I already know). It's an 86 2wd with an ax4. I assume the ax4 will mate up no problem since the 2.8 that was available in the MJ used the ax5. My question is about the clutch - can I reuse the 2.5's clutch? Also, will the steering pump on the 2.8 work just fine? Any other detail I should be concerned about? I have the wiring harness and ecu from the camaro already. I'm only worried about it running and not powering the dash or anything.

Here's a little something I threw together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofRB-ozWA6c I'm hoping that Wildman will help me get everything squared away for next season, and maybe we can start winning!

I'm petitioning right now for a waiver to get my open class license so I can drop this 5.2 in that I have in my garage. We'll see what they say. I also have another full 2.5 in the garage as well as enough parts to build a 2.8 v6. I am sitting here eagerly awaiting their reply :)

NOTE - I wrote this writeup for a forum where people are familiar with this event. If you'd like me to explain anything about it, please feel free to ask! My first time to Maine, and I wanted to make it a memorable trip, one way or another. I just didn't think it was going to end the way it did. We left Buffalo Wednesday evening, drove through the night, and arrived at the Sunday River Ski Resort just outside of Bethel, ME at about 6:30am. Recce started at 7am, so we signed the waiver and got in line with the other cars. Drove recce until about 6pm, and at this point, we were all ready to pass out. Got some grub, got some sleep, and then off to Parc Expose in the morning. There were 65 entries for the event, so it was awesome to see a bunch of cars in the lot. A lot of people commented on the truck, and there was even one random guy with a THR shirt on that he bought at STPR! There were the usual suspects - Block, Pastrana, ACP, L'Estage, Bacon (mmm...bacon...), Duplessis, Van Way...and a few guys came out of the woodwork, like O'Sullivan (who kicked some serious @$$ out there). But the highlight for me was finally meeting Mad Mike! Anywho, the event started with 3 super specials - 1 at the ski resort, and 1 run twice at the Mexico Service area (which included the Red Bull jump). It would have been nice to be able to get the speed for that jump, but they didn't have a runway handy for us. I think we may have bent the front axle a little bit again on the jumps though. After a service stop, off to Stages 4 and 5 - 9 miles and 16 miles long. Finally, the event can start! SS4 was more uphill, so our average speed was a bit low and our time suffered. The bridge crossings are interesting, as they only have 2 pieces of board for your wheels and you have to hit it straight or you slide off and nail a decent sized bump (which claimed the tie rod on Jim McLeland's MR2). I found out the hard way that the bump doesn't effect Jeeps the same way :) We get to the end, turn around, and now it's mostly downhill, with and added 7 miles of alternating rights and lefts that are flat out (5+s and 6+s the whole way). I was at redline for a good portion of it...which is probably what lead to the smoke coming from the hood at the finish of that stage. No biggie, we have service next, so we'll just limp it back and see what we can do. A couple miles down the road, we see a car off to the side, so we stop to help. Kristen Przybycz blew a wheels cylinder and rear top hat, so I let her have my bottle of brake fluid, and vice grips to clamp off the brake line. She was able to limp back to service, but when we turned to look at the truck, it was bone dry on coolant. I tried to let it cool and add water, but after 10 minutes, it was boiling right out the side the head. So we wait for a guy that is willing to pull us back, but we are already out of time, so we go straight back to the hotel, and have the crew meet us there with a new head gasket. Spent until 3am swapping the head gasket fixing the exhaust, and water pump. Wanting to give the RTV as much time to cure as possible, we tow it to the start the next morning, and wait until 15 minutes before our out time to fill it with water. Turn the key, and the engine sounds like it is about to explode. Overheated it to the point of toasting the rod bearings. So that's all she wrote. Judging by our previous performances against others in G2, and the times we started running on Friday, it could have been a tight fight for a podium finish for us. I need to thank Jesse for putting up with Lee and I, with all our bad ideas, and breaking $#!& non-stop. I would also like to thank Pat and Christian for their help with service. They really pitched in when push came to shove. Thanks to SwerveMotorsports.com for take care of us and being able to mount rally tires (when most other shops would tell us to leave because they are too difficult to deal with).

Bob - I was out of town this past weekend, and will be busy with events for the next couple of weeks. Is it alright if I get a hold of you when this hurricane of racing blows over?

If I am going to do this much fabrication, I'm going 4 link in the rear anyway, so any of the problems associated with spring location is moot.

Narrowing the rear track width helps with turning radius. Not going to happen. I'm worried enough about a roll over, I don't need to tempt fate at all. Re-drill the spring perches on your axle to move the axle forward & reduce wheelbase. Seems like a lot of work for little payoff. I need more than an inch or two to make a difference You could swap in shorter leaf springs + the above to take 4-5", or more out of the wheelbase. If I do this, then my tires will hit the front of the wheel wells. This is an interesting idea, but then I'd have to cut the bed to make it work, and I'm pretty much back at just cutting the whole thing shorter. Modify your knuckles for more steering angle at the wheel, like dasbulliwagen already said. I have enough steering angle to cord the front tires. More isn't going to help any. And as for how my competition does it - simple, more power and smaller cars. I still have the crappy 2.5L. And a Ford 8.8 with trac lock. In order for me to get the whole thing to rotate, I have to come into the turn super hot, and then I lose all the momentum in the slide, and then I don't have the power to take off. It's very painful all around. The moral of the story is that I need a shorter wheelbase. It's something I had suspected, but after talking to those with far more experience than me in my type of racing (remember, this isn't SCORE, desert racing, rock crawling, or mudding), I feel that the wheelbase will always hurt me. Especially when event organizers are warning me that I might have a hard time maneuvering between some of the trees on a particular section. I am very, very tempted to pick up an S10, which already has a 108" wheelbase, which has been suggested to me on more than one occasion...

If wheelbase isn't the answer - what do you propose?

The steering is already 18 turns lock-to-lock. I don't need more turn in, I need a smaller turn radius. Just about every single vehicle I compete against is less than 110" wheelbase, with 98" being very, very common. I have 21" more than that, not to mention that part that hangs off after the axle. I've messed around with different ideas, but after talking with a guy that has rallied both LWB and SWB pickups in the past, he says that shorter is always better. With his level of success, I'm going to believe him.

I'm looking for it to be more nimble between the trees and around the hairpins. I can't currently drive around the hairpins, which isn't a big deal if I can slide around them like I'm supposed to. Except that I suck at it right now, and manage to botch up about 50% of the time. Leading me to have to do a 3 point turn sometimes.

It's the length of the wheelbase, and overall length that I am concerned with.

I'm racing on a limited budget, so anywhere I can replace cash with time, I'm all about it. The finished product doesn't have to be pretty, just work. I could even go so far as cut the entire back end off and tube frame it, according to the rules. The only thing stopping that is the cost of the materials.

My searches for a cheap, clean short bed shell that is close enough for me to pickup up for less than $500 in gas has been constantly coming up short. So, why not cut a long bed frame down? Has anyone tried this? I'm allowed to cut it as short as I want, as long as it still "appears" stock. So I figured I should be able to get the wheelbase down to around 110", and I'll probably end up just using the skin from the bed anyway, so shaving that down shouldn't be an issue. I'm in the idea phase right now, researching it trying to figure out the pros and cons, and trying to see if anyone has had success with it.

The research has been done. External balance was on the truck motors...not the camaro motors. And the "bad" design was with the small crank journals, so the blocks with the large crank journals solved those issues. I'm not going to bother with the crank swapping hybrid 3.1/2.8 because I'm not going to be a guinea pig with my race car. It costs a lot to run these events and it means more to me to finish than to win. Besides, this motor is only a stop gap solution until I find the donor shortbed MJ...and then the v8 magic will happen.

Racing is expensive. If you aren't already poor, you will be. And as such, I can't afford any fancy "race" motors. If I could, I'd have a Super Duty aluminum motor put together by KRP. There are people making tons of power in race applications - but I don't have $10k for a motor. So what's the next best alternative? Find a motor that has the largest displacement that you can have, and the most aftermarket parts support, and preferably plentiful in junkyards.... Enter the GM 2.8L v6 And that's all I going to say until I'm ready to unveil it ;)

We haven't done much to it other than the usual intake/exhaust. There isn't much out there for 2.5 in the ways of performance. That's why we have a sneaky new motor in the works. Even if cam it, bore it out to take bigger pistons, raise the compression - you *might* be close to 200hp at the crank...maybe. But you still have the general downfall of these motors - they weigh a ton! Plus, the flywheel is 30+ lbs with no way to make it lighter (thanks to the crank sensor trigger ring). With all the rotational mass, the engine will never be revv happy, and it's 5500 rpm redline is a killer too. So in the end, you will have spend $1500+ on trying to make your comanche have a 15lb/hp ratio, when you can start with a different motor and have much better odds. However, if you are stuck like we are (our class displacement max is 3L), then you have to get creative. What are your class rules? Maybe I can share some of our sneaky plans with you :)

We are certainly trying...one corner at a time :) EDIT: video was removed :(

It's ok - thanks for trying to help me out! :)

I need a new shell for the rally truck. Needs to be short bed and 5 speed. Also, must be mostly clean, relatively rust free. It doesn't have to be a show car, but can't look like it was rolled over. Also, it doesn't need any running gear or interior. Cheap is the key here, as racing is expensive enough! :) I'm located in Buffalo, NY - but I have a trailer so I can pick it up as long as it doesn't require a cross country trip.