Hijacker's Money-Ain't-No-Thing Build

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
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2_Liter_Turbo
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'96 S14 Coupe: SR20VET
'90 R32 TH1 GTR: RB26DETT
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'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
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Location: DFW, Texas
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Ahh, I didn't see the raised part, ha ha.

The GKTech arms (I bought the non adjustable arms, because that's all there was available at the time) are just cheaply made. Bearings are QA1 which is good, but the welds look "meh" and the lame thin zinc coating they do doesn't actually go everywhere so they start to rust, and where it does hit, it's so thinly applied that it scratches off very easily. It's very apparent that they are made in China, lol. They have solid designs for the most part, but the place that manufactures them in China just does a poor job at it. I have their V2 knuckles as well, and I had to modify them just to fit right, because their jig for welding it all together was off.

Honestly, I may be designing lower control arms soon if you aren't in a hurry, but they probably won't be ready for productions for a few months. I'm already working on modular knuckles that will work for both drifting and road racing guys!


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Hijacker
Posts: 15759
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
Location: Fredericksburg, VA

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No hurry on the arms at all. I'm doing SPL links all around, I've just been shopping ideas around for LCAs on both ends. I did design some ball joint inserts in AutoCAD to fit in QA1 bearings, just never got around to pricing out the machining on them. And honestly, between drift and grip, the fronts are the only arms I see people coming up with radically different approaches. The rears are pretty much going to be a one size fits all approach since there isn't much latitude on changing geometry within the multilink with only the one arm. I think it really boils down to quality manufacture and retention of factory placement for the ICs.

I love their V1 knuckles. Very solid, well made pieces, and it definitely irked me that the design was jettisoned for a sheet metal V2 design. Thankfully, no welding jigs needed when the whole piece is machined billet. About the only complaint I have is that I didn't realize the necessity of running coilovers, and that delayed their install. Then I was assured the geometry distance between the coilover mount and spindle placement wasn't different, but it was. My car sits with a 1.5" drop, and without adjusting ride height, the V1 knuckles lowered it another inch easily. I had to revert back because one of the ride height adjusters was seized beyond belief and I had to order new parts from BC Racing. Now, I'm just gonna say f*** it, and wait till I do the full rebuild to install the knuckles.

If you need help designed some arms, let me know as I've done some of the leg work, and it honestly wouldn't take much to finish the early design process.

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2_Liter_Turbo
Posts: 2980
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2004 10:41 am
Car: _________________
'96 S14 Coupe: SR20VET
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'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
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Yeah I was super bummed I missed out on the v1 knuckles. The v2's looked decent on paper, but horrible when I actually got them. I can't even use my wilwood brake kit with them, which really irritates me. I'll be selling them as soon as I get some billet ones made. Going to send you a PM about design stuff :D

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m tr4nch
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Car: RS13, Z31, P11
Location: Eatontown, NJ

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looking good man, i was wondering what happened with this thing. glad to see it's still in effect. i'm in the same boat, new job = no time :frown: but i have some more things in the works too. keep it up!

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Hijacker
Posts: 15759
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
Location: Fredericksburg, VA

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Here's a rear subframe update!

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-GKTech offset bushings and differential bushings. I'm not too keen on the offset bushings. I thought they were the old school type with the shims to change the height. I contacted GKTech and the response was that they stopped offering shimming to cut down on costs. I may sell these and go to Voodoo13 bushings. I kind of want to run the numbers for AS and RC to see what the impact will be.

Now for the big portion of this update. I had my rear subframe media blasted and powder coated in silver metallic. I really like this look, and I think it will stand out nicely against the black SPL arms. I'm definitely going to do the same for my front subframe and have it match once the time comes.

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All the surface rust is gone. Yay! And they did a great job making sure to cover all the nooks and crannies. I'll press the diff bushings in soon and decide if I'm going to swap to shimmed offset bushings.

I'm also debating RLCAs right now. I'm trying to decide between Parts Shop Max or Nagisa Auto.

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-The Nagisa arms. The pros: the ball joint isn't a rod end. Solid structure. SPL used to carry them. The cons: Chrome finish. Would prefer black.

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-PSM RLCAs. The pros: Spherical inner pivots and not rod ends. PSM quality is usually pretty good. The cons: I really really dislike rod ends used for the ball joint. One good curb smack while they're loaded with the vehicle's weight, I'm afraid they'll bend. I also showed the design to some mechanical engineers at work, and the first comment was they feared the rod end would bend once loaded.

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2_Liter_Turbo
Posts: 2980
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Car: _________________
'96 S14 Coupe: SR20VET
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'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
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Looks good man! I am also not a fan of rod ends at the ball joint location of lower control arms. I've been trying to spend time on designing lower arms for the S-Chassis, but other projects keep getting in the way unfortunately :tisk:

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Hijacker
Posts: 15759
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
Location: Fredericksburg, VA

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Got around to pressing in the diff bushings. The subframe was too awkward for my press, so I had to figure an alternative method.

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-1/4" steel plate cut down to act as an anchor point for a bolt and nut. This was placed on the inside of the subframe and acts as a stop to make sure the bushing is pulled flush.

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-I started with some 3" 1/4 stainless bolts. However, they kept stripping threads. I ended up finding that the factory diff bolt for the front ears works perfectly. I used the flat spacers from the bushing as well to give the bolt head something to pull against instead of tearing up the aluminum of the bushing. Because of the length of the bolt, I ended up needing to stack washers and spacers to keep the nut from bottoming.

With some help from my air impact, I began pressing the bushings in. I froze them overnight to shrink them, and also put some bearing grease on them as well to help aid them sliding in. The grease should also help prevent any rust on metal that may have had the powdercoat scraped off during installation.

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Nice and flush! I'm kind of digging the black bushings with the silver subframe.

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breadbox
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Car: Red 89 240sx,Black 89 Koop, White 84 720 4x4KC
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Looks like its coming together nice. I need to take time and do something like this. Who coated the subframe for you? what was the ballpark for the subframe?

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Hijacker
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
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Local shop here in Fredericksburg. $300 for media blast and powdercoat. I can probably find you a handful of shops in VA Beach.

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Hijacker
Posts: 15759
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
Location: Fredericksburg, VA

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After 10 years of searching, money and availability finally lined up and I am the proud new owner of an S15 HLSD.

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-The previous owner had purchased the diff and output shafts and tossed them into an S13 non-ABS pumpkin.

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-4.08 final drive. The previous owner mentioned he didn't use the Nismo adapter bolts for the slightly larger shank of the S15 flange. I'll have to source some.

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-Driver side on the left, passenger side on the right.

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-In case anyone ever needs the measurements of the output shaft lengths. Not the clearest photos. Might retake them with my micrometer next time I pop them out.

So, the plan here will be to pull the diff and pinion, have the whole carrier cleaned and powdercoated to chassis black and replace all the oil seals. I may replace the bearings, but I haven't made up my mind on that yet. The bearings on the diff should be fairly low mileage, but the pinion gear bearings are probably due for replacement sooner than later.

I'll also need to swap out the rear cover for an S14 cover. I have my eye on a high capacity Greddy units.

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2_Liter_Turbo
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'96 S14 Coupe: SR20VET
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'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
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Very Nice! I'm about to start putting together my rear diff as well, lol.

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Hijacker
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
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A word to the wise, buy all the replaceable items you think you'll need soon. Courtesy is showing that things like bearings and seals are starting to become unavailable. I'll be calling my local dealership today and see if they're still available for purchase. It's an R200, so I can't imagine Nissan has ran out of all the consumables on it.

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2_Liter_Turbo
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Definitely! I'll probably buy a couple of everything, ha ha

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centralcoaster33
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Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Congrats on the helical diff! I'm taking note of the drying supply chain. I did recently find out the 240sx driveshaft is no longer an option. I should get OEM seals while I can I suppose, whatever I can think of or afford. I guess our cars are becoming classics. BTW, you can get timken carrier bearings for your differential without the Nissan dealership.

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centralcoaster33
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You're gonna rock the ABS?

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Hijacker
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
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'94 F-150
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No ABS for me. The diff is already installed in a non-ABS carrier, and I snagged a non-ABS steel driveshaft with my new motor. I've already priced out powder coat and fresh bearings/seals for the diff. The only thing I'm debating right now is doing a WPC treatment to the ring and pinion. I'm only planning on 400-450 rwhp, so I think WPC may not be necessary. I'm definitely considering WPC treating the gearbox though.

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2_Liter_Turbo
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'96 S14 Coupe: SR20VET
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'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
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I'll be doing WPC for sure. If you plan on hitting the track on a regular basis, it will help with diff oil cooling by reducing friction.

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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I'm pretty sure while it might help lower the temp a degree or two, a larger capacity Greddy pan will do more for oil temps back there.

The more I've slept on it, I think it might not be necessary for me to WPC treat the ring and pinion.

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2_Liter_Turbo
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'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
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True, the extra capacity will definitely outperform just WPC. I'm planning on both, especially since I am changing out to 4.35 gears for my 1.5 way OSGiken. I have a feeling with heavy track use here in the Desert, I'll need every cooling capability I can get. Thinking of even getting a cooler and small pump for the diff cover.

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centralcoaster33
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Ya know, I saw those gear teeth looking things on the output shafts and thought ABS. I don't know why, since I'm aware the ABS is on the input shaft of the differential. I must have been a bit tired. I have a helical and got the shafts of different length, but mine do not have such teeth. Furthermore, I did not have to get different bolts for a different type of flange thickness.

I read up on WPC. Neat stuff, my understanding is it is like micro shot peening. Money ain't no thing!

My subframe is out right now. Bushings are put in for the sway and sub-frame, not arms. I contemplated cleaning and painting, but my ride isn't ready for cosmetics yet, so back in it goes soon. You're gonna get the pumpkin powedercoated right? It sure is nice to look at your pretty pictures.

Has anyone ever bothered with a temp sensor bung in the diff? I'd be curious about the actual temperatures before I thought to add a pump and cooler. How do you know when you need one? Or, what temperatures are you hitting and how did you measure them?

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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Those are ABS rings, but I don't know why these particular output shafts have them. The S15 FSM makes no mention of them, but I have seen them on R230 LSDs. I'm pretty sure I've seen other S15s use them as well.

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2_Liter_Turbo
Posts: 2980
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Car: _________________
'96 S14 Coupe: SR20VET
'90 R32 TH1 GTR: RB26DETT
'92 S13 Fastback: SR20DET
'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
Contact:

Post

centralcoaster33 wrote:Ya know, I saw those gear teeth looking things on the output shafts and thought ABS. I don't know why, since I'm aware the ABS is on the input shaft of the differential. I must have been a bit tired. I have a helical and got the shafts of different length, but mine do not have such teeth. Furthermore, I did not have to get different bolts for a different type of flange thickness.

I read up on WPC. Neat stuff, my understanding is it is like micro shot peening. Money ain't no thing!

My subframe is out right now. Bushings are put in for the sway and sub-frame, not arms. I contemplated cleaning and painting, but my ride isn't ready for cosmetics yet, so back in it goes soon. You're gonna get the pumpkin powedercoated right? It sure is nice to look at your pretty pictures.

Has anyone ever bothered with a temp sensor bung in the diff? I'd be curious about the actual temperatures before I thought to add a pump and cooler. How do you know when you need one? Or, what temperatures are you hitting and how did you measure them?
Everything in the desert gets way too hot! Racing when it's 117° out really wears out your car. The greddy rear cover has a port for a temp sensor, so I will put one in there before actually going to a cooler setup to check temps. I'm just thinking I'll have to, but I won't buy it unless I need it.

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Hijacker
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Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
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I got some updates coming very soon, but in the meantime, I've finally gotten around to getting the differential ready for powder coat.

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-So, I pulled it apart and inspected the bearings. The main bearings for the diff look to be in good shape, so I'm going to consider reusing them. The ring gear bolts are 12mm shanked bolts typical to standard R200 diffs, so I need to pick up a set of the 13mm shouldered bolts for securing the standard ring gear to the HLSD.

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-Before pressing the pinion gear out, I made a makeshift pinion height tool. This way I can shoot a reference height to the pinion gear and make sure it's set accordingly on reassembly.

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-I marked up where I took the measurements, and made some install markings to make the tool more reliable for shooting measurements.

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-The pinion gave up a bit of a fight in my press, but once it started, it popped out with relative ease.

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-The same can't be said about the outer races. Getting them out was a pain the a**. After a few failed attempts with a set of drifts, I took a piece of steel tube, set the diff on the ground, and whacked the ever loving s*** of the races. They came out, even though they managed to completely deform the end of the tube.

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-Now I remember why I hate working on pinions.

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-But it's good I popped them out. The smaller race had deformations from the roller bearings. I'll replace both while I have them out.

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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The last set of SPL links I need arrived today.

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-I love the quality of SPL's stuff. Just about everything is assembled for the rear suspension. I've got another order on the way with some GKTech stuff.

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-I couldn't help myself and had to do a mock up.

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2_Liter_Turbo
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Car: _________________
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'11 V36 Sedan: VQ25HR
'06 GMT800 2500HD: LBZ Duramax
Location: DFW, Texas
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Nice! Our cars match more and more... ha ha!

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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That ain't a bad thing :D

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2_Liter_Turbo
Posts: 2980
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Location: DFW, Texas
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Never said it was! Ha ha

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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I dropped off the diff case at the powder coater's yesterday. Before that, I cleaned the piss out of the case.

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-I picked up a 5 gallon bucket from Lowes and dumped 2 gallons of simple green in. I then mixed in 2 more gallons of water to get the solution up and over the diff. I probably could have gone with straight concentrate, but I decided to do a 50/50 mix and let it soak for 24 hours to save some money. I ended up on using simple green due to its ability to pull oil out of the metal. Gun armorers hate using simple green for cleaning because of this.

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I did pull the diff out once and used an old tooth brush to scrub the surface of the interior. Part of that was to get the gunk that was stubbornly clinging to the surface, and the other part was to agitate the solution a bit. In the after pictures, you can see how clean it managed to get the interior of the diff. As a bit of added rust protection, I gave the inside a light coat of oil so the powder coater would only need to give it a wipe down and mild clean before outgassing.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Damn dude, looks good.
What's the anticipated finish date/first drive date?

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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It's probably a couple years off at this point :(


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