Buck's random home-made things.

[daniel_buck]

Here's the exhaust! It sounds pretty decent now that it goes all the way to the rear. It's got a bit of growl Still need to make some hangers for it, it's just hung with wire right now, but it all fits nicely.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLi9GtiwLHc


here's the pipes that come after the muffler. Had a little trouble getting a consistant weld, I think because the pipes are "aluminized", maybe I should have ground that off. I didn't realize they were anything other than just steel. Thought I had some funny settings on the welder.

[daniel_buck]

So after driving with the exhaust for a week or so, the exhaust is just to loud. I don't like it. The sound is actually kinda nice when accelerating (until about 2200 RPM, which is right about where I shift), but overall it's just to loud. I kinda like hearing the straight cut gears of the transmission, and I can't hear them anymore!

So, I'm going to yank out the flowmaster (keep it for later, someone always needs a 40 series flowmaster!) and I've got a muffler on order with a more reasonable 1.75" inlet/outlet, and I ordered some 1.75" exhaust piping (since I couldn't find any locally). Gonna take my time with it, and make it good, and tuck it all up nice out of the way. I think this will be fun

But anyway, I want to clamp the muffler on, and the tail section of the pipe so that they can be easilly removed if needed. But I can't find any good lap-joint band clamps in 1.75" size. The one I have in 2.5" size right now works GREAT, absolutely no leaking, and no crushing of the pipe.

Anyone know where I can find something like this in 1.75" size?

[vwtipeii]

I think it sounded good... I may be a little partial... I have a flowmaster too... I can't hear anything after I turn her on

[inVERt'D]

Those clamps are for people who can't weld. Why don't you weld on a couple of 3-bolt flanges? It will be a lot sturdier than the clamp, and seal better too.

[daniel_buck]

I guess flanges would work too, eh?

[inVERt'D]

Clamps suck IMO.

Don't forget to use a gasket.

[daniel_buck]

I guess I was just looking at the factory exhaust, and saw the clamps there on either side of the muffler, so I figured that's the way it should go I'll pick up some flanges.

[inVERt'D]

Wow, finding 2" or 2.25" flanges is a lot easier. I even looked for 45mm flanges without any luck. Maybe you should swap in a bigger engine? :homer:

Here's a guy who has some 1.75" 2-bolt flanges in 5/16" thickness, which should work pretty well.
http://www.headersbyed.com/_tubeflange.htm

Either that or you can make your own. That would be worthy of this thread.

[daniel_buck]

yea a bigger engine is probably in the future for the willys, haha! have been talking with OverlandWillys about possibly putting in a little turbo diesel, they sell adapter kits to use the factory transmission & such. I haven't decided what I want to do yet though, but that looks like a strong possibility. And wouldn't need to swap out alot of other parts to do the swap. We'll see!

[inVERt'D]

What kind of expense, performance, and weight would you expect from that?

[daniel_buck]

Kit is about $700 if I remember correctly, which adapts to the factory transmission and clutch. Then just the cost of the engine. $1000 or so for used, $3000 or so for rebuilt? (haven't looked to much). Weight and engine size is right about the same as the flat head. Horse power is a little lower, Torque is higher, and much broader. It's a Kubota turbocharged engine. We'll see, I'm still kind kind of deciding which direction to take it. I'm pretty sure my engine will need a rebuild sometime soon. Rebuild and try to hotrod it a bit for more power? swap for V6? swap for Diesel?

[inVERt'D]

I think I'd be leaning towards a 4.3 Vortec or SBC V-8 with either an old granny 4spd or a solid 5spd.

[daniel_buck]

I kinda like the T90 3 speed and overdrive, it makes an awesome sound with the straight cut gears

I'm trying NOT to turn this into a huge project, haha! cause I love driving it every day, I don't want to be down for 2 years doing a big project. So far, it seems that the Kubota turbo Diesel would be the easiest swap. can use the same transmission, radiator, pedals and steering. The firewall needs a little bit of pounding, and new motor mounts need to be welded in. But the rest SHOULD be just drop in and bolt on. Would still take a considerable amount of time I think, (considering I work slow!) but so far that looks like the easiest. And a turbo diesel would be cool

[inVERt'D]

Would be cool if you could test drive a Kubota diesel Willy's before you dropped the money and time into it. Would kinda suck if you ended up disliking it as a daily driver after all that. Turbo diesels can be great, but tractor engines aren't necessarily engineered for fahrvergnugen. Kubotas do seem to be pretty good little tractors though.

[daniel_buck]

well, that was my consern as well, how do they do on the street in a road vehicle. most poeple complain about the limited RPM of somewhere around 2800-3000. The gearing in the willys is such that even revving only to 2000 rpm will get me to 45mph, which is all I need really. I just can't maintain that speed if there's an incline.

I rev sometimes all the way up to 2400 before shifting, and I never cruiser passed about 2100rpm in overdrive, because the engine just can't push it with the 31" tires! So if 2800 RPM is the limit, that's perfectly fine with me, it would get me to my desiered cruising speed of around 45-50mph. And those Kubota engines can run for a looong time at or near their RPM limit, so I'm not worried about that. And from what I've heard from folks who have done the swap, a hill isn't going to throw the RPM of very much in a stock-ish jeep like mine. I don't want to go faster, 50mph is scary enough in this thing I just want to be able to maintain my speed better.

My main concern now, is noise. Diesels can be loud, and the engine bay and hood of a Willys doesn't muffle much sound. And I do loove the sound of the transmission/transfer case in there But so far as fitting the engine in there, it seems like it's about the easiest swap to do. We'll see, I'm still talking with the OverlandWillys folks, and a few people who have done the swap.