Sprinter 4WD Conversion Idea, GMT-800 IFS.

[luthj]

I would want a single piece. If the joint ever let go you're up a creek. Vans have really long dipsticks. Might find one at the junkyard you could repurpose after shortening a bit. I've made a dipstick out of speedometer cable. They're just a long piece of metal, and again, if 2 made into 1 ever became 2 again, bad things.

My bad, I meant dipstick tube. Sprinters never came with a dipstick, so I have an aftermarket one (not the leave-in kind). Which will still work fine.

Assuming I can get the tube tacked up today, I may try to get the trans back in.

 

[Alloy]

Have you considerd printing the parts full size and then buiding it from door skin and hot glue to test fit.

 

[luthj]

Have you considerd printing the parts full size and then buiding it from door skin and hot glue to test fit.

Yes. In fact Jen suggested the same thing a few days ago. The challenge with a mockup, is that most of the parts are to freaking heavy to attach (control arms, 25lbs, diff 95lbs, etc). So I am not sure how much value I could get from one. Second, to fit it to the van, I would have to drop the subframe, brake lines, suspension etc. Which isn't that big a deal (I need to do the work anyways). But I would need to fab something to hold the engine for the weeks it would take me to assemble the final subframe. Plus I am renting, and I don't want to push my luck with the van up on jackstands for a month.

I am still considering it, as I have found a second mistake I made early on (first one was the mount bolt hole offset). This time I miscounted the number of teeth on the sprinters tone rings. I must have counted at least a 6 times on different days! But I still got it wrong. I thought it was 44. Its 54... The GM tone rings are 55. I suspect all that work I did on the FWB won't be needed...



In other news the trans is back in and hooked up.

Remaining trans items:
Dipstick tube (tacked, but needs final welded)
Vent tubes. I added the Jeep style barbed vent fitting, so I will run a vent tube up to the firewall. Same for the Tcase.
Shifter for Tcase: I looked at the positioning, and the shift lever is just behind the driver, so the linkage is going to be very short for a through-floor type. I may go for a cable shifter, and loop forward then back.
Tcase position switch: I need to wire up a harness. Most jeep plugs only have 2 terminals populated, and I don't know which ones do what yet.
Driveshaft, rear: Still hunting for one. None of the local driveshaft shops will return my calls or emails. I suspect its because they can't balance shafts 75" Long
Trans support member: Need to drill 4 access holes for the end nuts. Then paint. I also need to fix some %*^# welds once I get a replacement welder.

 

[Len.Barron]

I got the dipstick figured out. I will just weld the end of the jeep one over top of the sprinter one.

I did the same thing with the Allison install, there was no stock configuration/length that would work so I cut the van/4l85e and truck/allison dipsticks overlapped them a couple inches(mocked up to match the original Allison pan depth) then welded them together, no problems..

 

[Len.Barron]

jump in with both feet...anything that is off you can either modify that piece part or just have a new one cut. If anything it would be nice to find a scrap/mock up engine so that you could set that down on your mock up on the garage floor and solve any clearance issues there where it's easy to get too..

 

[luthj]

Sadly used sprinter engines (scrap or otherwise) are expensive and short supply. I think I am close enough for a first prototype.

 

[luthj]

Got the laser nested DXFs back from my friend. Soon...

 

[shade]

Have you found a welder yet?

 

[luthj]

Have you found a welder yet?

I put an order in for a Harbor freight special, basically a Lincoln clone. With discounts it was about ~$900 delivered. Time will tell if it was a good choice... Its hard for me to spend twice as much on a unit that will spend way to much time in storage, and get lugged around when we move. The good news is it supports spoolgun, TIG, and stick, do if one part breaks, I have some backup ability...

OMNIPRO 220 Industrial Multiprocess Welder with 120/240V Input

Amazing deals on this Omnipro 220 Multiprocess Welder at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[shade]

I put an order in for a Harbor freight special, basically a Lincoln clone. With discounts it was about ~$900 delivered. Time will tell if it was a good choice... Its hard for me to spend twice as much on a unit that will spend way to much time in storage, and get lugged around when we move. The good news is it supports spoolgun, TIG, and stick, do if one part breaks, I have some backup ability...

OMNIPRO 220 Industrial Multiprocess Welder with 120/240V Input

Amazing deals on this Omnipro 220 Multiprocess Welder at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

When I was shopping, those seemed to adhere to the standard HF experience with power tools: either it works fine or fails immediately. Paying a little more for their warranty might be a good idea, too.

I'm not sure how best to store one. I'm guessing it should be cleaned up as best you can, separate the wire & gun, and bag it in a few trash compactor bags with some O2 absorbers sealed inside.

A man of your ingenuity would unplug the kitchen stove or clothes dryer for 240V power. I'm trying to decide if I want to run a cord into the kitchen, or set a box in the garage to make it a little more convenient. I'm not sure there's a way to do that to code, though.

 

[luthj]

I'm practical about it. I will drop a breaker pair in the box, run an armored drop out between the box and face plate, then plug into that. When I leave I can remove easily.

Code allows for some floor boxes as long as the wire is in flex conduit? At least that's my recollection. If you have two outlets on different legs, you can hack two 20a extension cords together to power most medium welders. It's safe, but looks ever so sketchy.

 

[shade]

I'm practical about it. I will drop a breaker pair in the box, run an armored drop out between the box and face plate, then plug into that. When I leave I can remove easily.

Code allows for some floor boxes as long as the wire is in flex conduit? At least that's my recollection. If you have two outlets on different legs, you can hack two 20a extension cords together to power most medium welders. It's safe, but looks ever so sketchy.

I have three separate 20A circuits I ran to my garage. I considered a 50A run for a welder, but that would've bumped the price of the project up considerably, and I didn't have plans for a welder at the time. I hadn't considered Red Greening two 20A circuits, but that's worth a look.

My kitchen stove is on the opposite side of a garage wall, so at least there's wire where I need it. If there's a way to do what I want by code, I'll go that route, but I may do something similar to you that I'll remove when I eventually move. I'm sure we can share the circuit, but I won't leave it behind for someone to get into trouble.

 

[luthj]

Got a few items in the mail today. The carts a bit dinky, but for 28$ I couldn't resist. Fit fine with a bit of light bending and a suitably orange strap. I think I am out about $1350 including the cart, welder, new bottle, and a 10lb spool of wire.

 

[Alloy]

I'm practical about it. I will drop a breaker pair in the box, run an armored drop out between the box and face plate, then plug into that. When I leave I can remove easily.

For what your welding it won't be pushing the duty cycle of the welder. If you already have 20-30A try running it on that.

With hard wire youll need a mixed gas.

 

[luthj]

Yeah, I'll be fine with 20A@220v I think. I'm using C25 mix, which will work great for 1/4 plate.