Gracie II the D21

[DRIVEN]

...into the crusher.

[HRH]

Alright, passenger side cups welded in, eating lunch waiting for paint to dry, then I'll go put the tension rod back in and this project will be complete! I'm also going to dig out the new window frame seals I got a while back and see if they fit today. I also have the glass molding along the sill, it will be sooo nice if they fit like they're supposed to. I have a horrid screech when rolling down the window when it's hot because the rubber squeegee on that piece is so old and hard.

[HRH]

So I got the position of the second cup on the passenger side just to smidge off which meant it was a little bit tighter than the driver side. So I ended up cutting a 16 mm washer and sliding it in after fiddling with this stupid tension rod again. I'm really coming up with reasons why I need a solid axle swap. Anyway it was still pulling a little to the left on breaking so I ended up spacing out the front of the tension rod so it's tighter on the passenger side now which kicks the arm further forward increasing positive caster.

Then I welded it to the washer that was already there. Got it a little hot sand just a smidge of melt out of the poly bushings but not enough to kill anything. Going to go drive it in second see if it brakes straight and does what it's supposed to. And if it does then yeah I'll leave it alone until I do a solid axle swap with the new motor.

And I was just wondering why my welds are so shitty on that washer and realized I hadn't turned on the gas. Sigh. I think I'm about done today. I'm cussing at the truck too much.

[HRH]

Okay so I bought this set of rubber from an Indian pillow off of eBay or something a while back and I haven't even looked at it yet but these look super sweet! I thought I only got the outer for the door but apparently it comes with the inner one that goes on the door panel too! Also got a big box of the shrunken weather strip for the window channel as well.

[HRH]

Oooo, this is so nice Nissan part number made in Thailand. Who cares as long as it fits! I was going to put this outer strip on right now but I realize I'm probably going to want to do this all at one time otherwise it's going to be a little harder to get pieces in so that might be a wait till tomorrow kind of thing.

[Taterhead]

I’ve found that things don’t typically go well until I do start cussing. So I usually just start right out the gate.

[HRH]

So I've discovered a problem with the fix. On the forward side, the extra washer on the cup makes it too close to the control arm and there's not enough deflection for the bushing. Basically it's squished too hard and letting the nut off only relieves the back side. It also squeaks like a banshee. So I'll need to remove the forward bearing cup and washer and weld on just the bearing cup and reassemble. That should solve it up.

Also, I ordered gears. It's getting a Jeep Cherokee Dana 30 up front with a chromoly kit and 33-34" tires. 5.13 gears. Keeping the H233b in the back, though I may redrill the hubs for 5 bolt Jeep pattern as there are a ton more wheel choices that the Nissan/chevy 6 bolt.

[DRIVEN]

High pinion?

It wants an Explorer 8.8 in the back.

[HRH]

Yep, high pinion without the vacuum actuated disconnect. Ford 8.8 is overkill, the H233b is plenty strong enough, especially since I'm still going to build the KA and non-turbo. H233b handles diesel torque, I won't make that much, even putting it over rocks. Plus I already ordered gears.

[HRH]

The cherry picker just barely gets this thing out of the box van. Finally getting the ka out so I can start tearing it apart for inspection.

[HRH]

At the shop, preparing to install all the new window channel/door rubbers I hadn't gotten to.

And weasel came with. He loves to walk between legs, lol. If I walk slightly larger he'll do it for 20 feet.

[HRH]

Weasel says I'm already bored dad.

[HRH]

Original shrinkage.

[HRH]

Post image seems to be having difficulties today, but Weasel is sniffing the rubber for freshness. He says it's good.

[HRH]

I was debating sliding the new rubber in past the window, but I'm pretty sure since it's nice and fresh it's not going to slide as easily as the old hard rubber. I'm going to do the proper thing and remove the glass.

I can't believe I was thinking I was going to be so lazy to not remove the glass because that literally took about 30 seconds to remove LOL.

[HRH]

[HRH]

So I also got both the rubber scrubbies for the glass. The one fits on the door panel and has a bunch of little metal tabs that get pushed down so basically you pry them back up, pull it off stick it through and then fold over the tabs. I'm trying to figure out on this outside molding if I want to pull it off first or do the other rubber inside piece first.

And for the outside rubber glass edge molding it gets pulled straight up from the inside of the door channel don't try and get it from the outside because you'll ruin it. The metal the rubber is formed around deforms quite easily.

[HRH]

Even trying to be careful it's hard to get these off without bending that strip. There are six little cutouts that anchor it in to the door edge. I'm thinking inside rubber goes first, then outside so it lines up correctly.

[HRH]

[HRH]

One other thing is when you pull off the interior track rubber it has a bunch of cutouts in the upper door frame that go inward towards the rubber. When you're pulling it out instead of pulling just straight down kind of rock it back and forth as you pull it and that will pull it around those little cutouts to make it come out easier.