[Cautrell05]

Once again, way too long between updates. Truck currently has about 3,000 miles on it and is also torn down to the frame. The plan more or less from the beginning was to put it together as a rolling test bed to try a few different things and then once I knew it was going to work like I wanted pulled apart and finish the chassis out properly. I wasn't 100% sure on the rack and pinion working, the hydra boost I figured it probably would but if for some reason I had to change something, I didn't want to have to go in and redo paint on the chassis. There's a place about 30 minutes from my house that quoted me 120 bucks to powder coat the chassis if I take it down there already blasted. I can't hardly buy paint for that. And where we have the equipment at work to sandblasted it's kind of a no-brainer.
Things have figured out so far. Bilstein's are awesome, I already knew that but this just verified it. With new xtreme coils up front with 3/4 of a coil cut out and used xtreme leaves out back the ride is excellent. With the 36 mm bar up front and the factory S10 rear sway bar a corners like a go-kart. The torque arm out back works excellent as well. It will over i
power the tires if I really try, but otherwise it hooks up very well and there is no wheel hop.
The turning radius sucks. It kind of knew that with only having about 6 in of travel in the rack and the stock b-body spindles. The correction for that is going to be a set of fabricated spindles that I can set my steering arm length as well as correct the Ackerman. I looked into a couple different options but didn't really find anything that really matched what I wanted. You can get a GM metric spindle with a bolt-on steering arm which would technically fit. But then I'm down to smaller brakes and smaller wheel bearings which is not something I want. The new spindles are going to use 2008 Jeep front hubs just because they're 5 on 5 to match the rear axle. The stock base model Jeep front rotors are 12 in which is the same as the B-body rotors on the front now. And in the future I have the option if I want to go up a size between the Wrangler and the Durango there is 12 13 14 and 15-in sizes available that will all fit the same hub.

The 700R4 did a good job for the 3 years it was in there. The only time it would protest is 3/4 throttle or more when it's hot in first gear it would start to slip and squeal. Anything less than 3/4 throttle it shifted beautifully. Not really surprising when you put a 450 ish horsepower 406 in front of a V6 transmission. The transmission is for sale if anybody wants to make a drive and get it. I'm pretty sure it would be just fine with a lower horsepower motor or for somebody that just wanted a driver.
Was also pleasantly surprised that my plan of making the transmission mount reversible to fit a 4L80 actually worked. Picked up a used one with a hundred thousand miles on it a while back for 500 bucks. Was very happy to see that it would fit without having to redo the mount or the chassis brace. Or the exhaust for that matter. That officially removes the weak link from the drivetrain.
The engine unfortunately is back over at the machine shop. Found out that steam holes in the cylinder heads are not optional on a 400. Driving around is fine. Pull up anywhere and stop when it's fully warmed up and let it idle and it will just continue to build heat. Somewhere in the process the rings didn't fully seed and it was using a quart of oil every 300 mi. Talking with my friend at the machine shop sounds like just a set of rings and gaskets and will be good to go.

Also picked up an MSD Atomic 2 and was part way through tuning when the truck got tore down. The initial impression was very good. Looking forward to getting it back together and being able to run it hard without ending up with park and 6 neutrals in the transmission.

Things that are gonna get finished this time around -
The budget power windows. Modified square body regulators, just need to finish the wiring.
08 Chevy door latches. Need to finish out the inside handles so the door fits.
2 speed boat wiper motor with the factory delay switch. Need to finish the wiring also.
Full custom ac setup with frame mounted compressor and fresh air heat and AC. Compressor and heater case are done. Need to finish the ductwork and inside ducts.