Skinny Chicken Rebuild

[HillBilt]

My front locker is in bad shape and I need to replace it, but despite that the truck worked well overall

[HillBilt]

When I went to load the truck on the trailer at the end of Maylong, my battery was stone dead. I did notice some volt charge fluctuations over that weekend if I remember right but thought nothing of it until then. I did previously light up my alternator at a race and replaced the damaged wires but something was still going on. So dove into the wiring to find the issue. didnt take long and found the charge wire and trigger wire had melted together. I ordered up a new Powermaster 160 amp alt and new gear reduction starter and swapped those out and rewired both

Erarlier in the thread I had mentioned I had no way to check fuel level. So gave this Holley laser level gizmo a try. I dont have an pics of install but pretty strait forward and easy to use. Can be used on any tank or any gauge. Pretty slick.

I had this old gauge laying on the shelf and its was junk. I could only get it to sweet partially, so I modded it up I will be replacing it.

I then tried to make a MFer range stck that would hold my tcase in 3:1 with a bolt and pin so I could utilize 5:1. It didnt end up working so I have since removed the linkage and have my rail bolted back into 3:1. Oh well, I will start the hunt for a 205 and then pony up for an underdrive unit in time.

[HillBilt]

A few other items I did was upgrade my EFI computer. FAST made an upgrade to programming and a new touch screen user interface with updated software. You can see the new module on the dash in this pic. I also started focusing on creature comforts in the cab, installed some charge ports and a sound bar stereo. Next up will be door skins and some form of door window

I did get the truck out a few times over the winter but like I said, Im terrible for taking pics during a wheel. Unless the wife is with me

This basically brings us up to speed on where the trucks current state is. It needs a new front locker, axles and water pump. I have been finding it hard to get time to work on it. I just recently sold my snowcat, so that will free up much time and money not dealing with that asset anymore, so I have plans to do some work on the chicken. I would like to re-work the back half of the rig to more of a "utility bed" style from what it currently is. I want to be able to pack my spare and have all my crap stored in it for ease of use. The besides are mangled and will probably go away if I go that route. Slowly make it more trail friendly

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I have to say I am still so glad I never bought a STaK tcase after lusting after them for so long.

I do have a NWF Ecobox sitting on the shelf. Old design, since I think they changed the internals a bit for oiling issues. Not sure if you want to go that route though. The one in my XJ vents oil horrifically if you do any sustained high speed, even if it's in high range.

That Holley fuel level thinger looks cool. Do you just calibrate it for empty and full, and then it spits out a reading for everything between? Edit, it looks like it's meant for use with PWM gauges, which might be why it didn't work so well with that Autometer gauge. That's a bit of a WTF, but par for the course with a lot of the newer Holley stuff.

[HillBilt]

Yeah the Stak is a shame. It’s such a good setup and package for what it delivers if it works properly. But it’s a large thorn in my side right now as these things aren’t cheap and it’s basically a throw away at this point.

The fuel gauge is exactly what you said for setup. You can set it up on a bench you just need to calibrate the distance from full to empty and then hook it up to the gauge and set those to the sweep set points. It’s pretty cool, I think so anyway lol.

I have heard a few issues with cooling in the underdrive units black box specifically. They do have upgraded brass washers as one of the problems was the plastic washers would fail under heat and leak. And I did read that they upped the oil capacity to help also.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

The Blackbox/Ecobox basically eggbeaters the oil into a creamy mousse in short order, and either you blow it out your vent or it at least causes the oil to break down badly. I think they really were only tested at low speed. The brass thrust washers help only one of the issues with them, but the lack of any sort of oil sump or recirculation system just doesn't seem to work at speeds above a crawl. Mine will vent even just running up Baldy, where you maybe got up to 40km/h at times. I'm not sure that I could recommend it just because of that, but it does seem to work fine if you add a sump, cooler, and a recirculating pump of some sort.