RBambler build thread

[bmxarmy]

fuel pressure gauge...check. Now too find some injectors. I like the subaru idea except should i not get the flow matched as 2 of them will be from a different set? I am in the $500 ish price range and just want the best for my buck. Also I will post an update later today, I got a lot of welding on the tubs done yesterday... It is starting to seem like a never ending job though!

[bmxarmy]

small update, Things have been slow around here for a while. I have been waiting for the rims to do the rear still, but I am picking them up tomorrow. I got a bunch of welding done on the floor, One more good push and it should be done. Then I can seam seal and move on to wiring the car up! Also got quite a bit done on my father in laws car. He has been coming out to work on it a lot lately. We got the body back off and are moving on to finishing up the frame and sealing the floor on the body. That is it for now, but with the long weekend coming up I hope to get the floor welding done and behind me.







nolan

[bmxarmy]

more updates!

this weekend is focused mostly on my father in laws car. We got the entire chassis finished up, ran the brake lines and fuel lines, finished up the exhaust and all the mounts. I left a little early for a "date night" with the wife, but when we got home my paps in law got all the s*** off and went home. So I took a few minutes to weld out the remaining bits that needed finishing. As for the rambler I got the the new wheels and tires!!!! JACKPOT. they are pretty big but not ridiculous, I was able to measure up the housing length and weld the axle tubes into the center section. My dad has some millwrights at his work that kick a** at building a 9" center section so hopefully he can get them to put my posi and new gears in the center section and I will order axles this week! I cant wait to get this thing rolling on its wheels again. Also I have a lead on a 100 dollar hx35 so stay tuned for that. Injectors are going to be ordered as soon as I sell one more coil cover here....

custom-rb25-20-coil-covers-t525517.html

Anyway enough shameless plugs for the covers here are the pics.




the '26 chassis will be out for powder coat on tuesday i cant wait to see it back in paint




I got 4 of these rims for 100 bucks





good news! the factory hubcaps fit right on! rhonda rambler will be a sleeper!

here is the start of the fuel pump assembly and level sender.



I got a new tool box this week too!



Oh and I got the hot rod registered and insured for the summer season! I will try to get video this week of what "kind" of horsepower I am used to! never had a turbo before. the hotrod has a blown 383 small block chevy that should be around 450whp. Really and truely it dosent matter though, the formula goes like this......right foot down......smile across face! hahaha god its fun to drive!





thanks for following along!

nolan

[l0nestar]

:yummy:
Keep up the good work, that is all.

[gmac708]

Great job Nolan. Love the updates.
I noticed a few jack stands in a couple of the pictures

They look like the type that are use to jack aircraft. Did you make them??

Gord

[bmxarmy]

No Gord I didn't make them, they are pipe stands from my father in laws welding shop. Super handy in the garage though. they are adjustable aprox. 12" with a screw type thread that is in a sleeved pipe (also adjustable) I think you could buy them from a welding supply store.

[AZhitman]

This is easily my favorite thread on the forum.

OK, RB guys - Buy a coil cover from Nolan so he can get the Rambler finished - That car is gonna be AMAZING!

Nolan, make sure you hit up David from Deatschwerks on the injectors - I bet he has something for you.

[bmxarmy]

Thanks greg, you got contact info for him or is he on the forums? thanks for support!

nolan

[AZhitman]

He's a vendor here.

www.deatschwerks.com

[bmxarmy]

Easter update.

I got the gas tank finished up along with the fuel level sender and walbro pump installed. The level sender came from classic instruments to work with my autometer gauge on a 0-100ohm sender. These senders are pretty sweet I have used them before on other cars with custom tanks. The sender is fully adjustable to allow it to work in a tank as shallow as 4" and up to like 14" or more. I made a plate and cut in the a feed and return line, I welded the bung in so I could put in a hose barb fitting on the inside to hook up to the walbro and a stainless swagelok fitting on the outside. The return line just threads into the top of the plate. Here are the pictures.













I will make a gasket to seal up the sender/pump plate once I paint the tank.

[Madhatter969]

Holy hell this thread is epic. I'm in love with that slammed buick. Great fab work!

[bmxarmy]

Well another weekend came and past! I had to work on Saturday so that tied up a bunch of time and hence less time in the garage. I did get a bit done though. I completed the passenger side disc brake conversion, It consist of 2002 Toyota corolla rotors and calipers of the rear of an 80's something Cadillac! haha its kind of an abortion! but it should work all kinds better than the old drums. I got my holset as well It is in really good shape, it is an hx35w and was on a 2001. It makes the stocker look like a baby! If anyone needs a good stock turbo hit me up. I also ran the new front brake lines and the line over to the passenger side to feed the clutch. I was feeling bad for Rhonda as she was so dirty from all the welding and grinding i have been doing, so I gave her a quick bath. Then removed the grill to aid in installing the motor. I plan to put it back in this week and finish up all the "little" things, once those are done I will pull it one more time to clean up the engine bay and bolt everything up proper. Here is some pics.













Also everybody check out the tech week thread and get an article of your own going so you can be in the running for a new coil cover.

tech-week-may-2011-t531409.html

nolan

[bmxarmy]

Hey I have a couple of quick turbo related questions.

How important is it to keep the manifold divided on the holset? I got the rb back in and there is some clearance issues so it looks like I have to build a custom top mount manifold. Does it matter if I use a non divided flange? Also some info on the oil lines required for an hx35 would be great. whats all this about a restrictor? does the rb have to much oil pressure or something? Thanks in advance everyone, I will have pics of the motor back in soon.

nolan

[ninety1two40]

Technically since I tapped in my log manifold for my wastegate, its not really divided any more. Spools fine for me. You can get divided flanges fairly cheap though. Check out some diesel websites.

I'm actually running the stock RB25 turbo oil hardline, just replaced the banjo bolt with the different thread size. Quick google search should be able to tell you what thread size, I dont remember. I dont see much oil blow by, so I believe my oil pressure is fine. If you are going to run AN lines, I'd look into a restrictor. HX35's want no more than 70psi of oil pressure.

[bmxarmy]

I wondered about that on your mani, otherwise to stay true divided would you only tap into one side of the. Runners like stock? Or is that why you see dual wastegates? One for each side? I will likely go the easy route and run non divided. Thanks for the reply, I will likely run an lines, so what is this restrictor all about?

[ninety1two40]

You would need dual wastegates for a true divided setup.

There is so much info on restrictors about running them and not that I don't really know. lol
do-i-need-a-oil-restrictor-on-a-holset-t328896.html

[bmxarmy]

the old search feature pays off once again, thanks again steve.

p.s I have watched the video of you cruisin in the car at least 5 times now picturing it in the rambler! haha I cant wait to drive her again!

nolan

[bmxarmy]

Quick update.

i got the motor back in and I am glad I did! I had to cutout some more room for the intake mani to clear and found out that the stock exhaust mani wont work with the holset. Now its custom header time! oh well. I got the holset clocked and cleaned up a bit. A friend gave me a vintage hks bov i plan on using! haha And I got the front seat and back seat modified to clear the shifter and the wheel tubs. I will get the seats back to my mom so she can re-stitch them back togeather. Also modded the shifter so its bent forward not back. Side note I built a little panel for a friends skyline, he moved his climate control to the center console and put 3 gauges in their. I will get some pics of it installed later this week.










thats all for now. NOW GET YOUR TECH WEEK THREAD IN ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT!7


nolan

[bmxarmy]

Well it has been a few slow weeks for the rbambler. Work has been busy and life has been busy also. The good news is I got a fair bit of progress done on the car this weekend. It started off slow due to Rammstein playing a set here in Edmonton on Friday night....Awesome show!! we got floor tickets and it was so good. Fire and s*** like you wouldn't believe! Anyway after a slowish start to Saturday I headed to my dads to help out in his garage and use his band saw to cut up some pipe for my 6-1 merge collector. See pics below.



I spot 7 camera phones in the next pic! hahaha not including mine.















Next I headed home and cleaned up the bits to start tacking it all together. For the record I gained a great appreciation for all the mani manufacturers out there, making these pieces is not fun. ( to the mods, I need a smilie that has a face with a gun to its head) haha.



The next day I started to fab the main pipes, trying to make it as "equal length" as possible. Once again a pain in my a**. I did manage to get it all fit up though and all I have left is to make a pipe for the external wastegate.













the next step will be to finish fabbing the wastegate port and disassemble and finish welding all the joints. then sandblast and ceramic coat....(if funds allow) On a side note I should see my father in laws frame back from powder coat this week :dblthumb: And I took a small vid of cruising in the hotrod....didnt turn out good and I will try to get something better soon.

thanks all

nolan

[robbie2883]

dude...that's some fantastic work with the transmission tunnel and seat notch for the shifter. not to mention everything else. i dig it!

[Madhatter969]

Love the manifold nolan!

[Coolwhip]

i'm loving this build

So many hand made goodies

[RBfever26]

This is my first post EVER. I made an account just to comment on this thread. It's absolutely rediculous how much fab work you've done on this yourself... I know I couldn't do half as good a job as you. Your work is awesome, keep it up. Can't wait for more updates.

[TimTurboZ]

I think this will be so sweet shifting like this. gives it that ratrod type feel being down low at your side.

I feel you could fab up quite a nice looking custom shifter for different placement if it suits you better.

Love the car keep us up to date! oh and Rammstein

[bmxarmy]

Yea man that is with the seat slid ahead all the way for the wife to drive. It wont be the most comfortable but she wont be ripping on it....I think With the seat slid back all the way it is in a nice comfy spot for me.

I have been super busy at work the last few weeks and that has slowed production a lot! I got the exhaust mani finished fit and I cut it all apart to make welding easier. About 1/3 of the welding is done. I will post pics once it is complete.

nolan

[nissangirl74]

Glad to see you are still going. I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to check on your progress. :-)

[meet07]

that manifold is pretty sick! Cant beleive how much work your putting into this thing. good thing you have the tools and knowledge!!

[bmxarmy]

Long time over due update.

I have been super busy this month with work, yard work, some garage stuff, and some planning for a friends stag/wedding. I have managed to get some stuff done lately though. I got the water neck installed on the intake manifold and also modded the fuel rail again. I cut off the stock fpr and welded a bung on there, pressure tested it again at 130psi and installed the new injectors. I pulled the motor again as I need to finish running the lines for brakes and fuel and I could not get the intake off once it was in the car due to the studs. I cut a bigger hole in the firewall and now I will need to fill it. I just want to be sure if I need to take the intake off I wont have to pull the motor!





I also finished the new exhaust manifold. It took waaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!to long to make! I wish there was one already made for rambler swaps! hahaha Anyway it is done and should work good, Only one runner is a lil short but I dont think it will mater that much.





Before I pulled the motor I also cut the holes and test fit the inter-cooler piping. It is super simple piping. When the motor was out I pulled the oil pan and checked out the bottom end, it is like new!! i turned it over manually and checked all the cylinder walls and they all look good. Also cleaned and painted the pan and trans support brackets.



I disassembled the turbo and grinded all the ugly stuff off and got my father-in-law to glass bead it. Once again lucky the turbo is like new, with practically no shaft play.



I also finally got my axles in. I ordered a set off strange engineering pro race axles. they are super sexy and came with new bearings and retainer plates. Yesterday I threw the axles in and started fabbing rear ladder bar brackets. The rear is centered now and ready for the ladder bars to be welded on, I hope to get to this during this week. I cant wait to make her roll again and clean the garage floor!







Also with the turbo I made a new back plate to weld the exhaust to. I am thinking of running straight 4" Any thoughts on this. Will it be way to loud? or sound stupid?



I made a little bracket to hold the fuse panel, megasquirt and relay board and welded it to the firewall. I think it will be nice and hidden but still fairly accessible.





A friend gave me a s14 greddy strut tower brace he wasnt using so I think I may make some brackets and use it in the rambler. I think it will be funny to have in the rambler haha



That is all for now.

robbie and hxc.....Thanks for your posts in the tech week thread. I will try to get after a cover for robbie and something for hxc. As i stated I have been super busy and when I do have time I try to enjoy it on my project. The goal to get the rambler running is August 1 but we will see what happens.

nolan

[HxC_Nismo]

thats cool man just keep me updated

[robbie2883]

^^ditto! and she's looking good man!