Mr T Diaries

October - Zookmeld Part Deux

2010-01-20T15:35:00.005-07:00

This is old news to some, but nevertheless news. Here are some pics from our October Zuk run down by Rocky Mountain House. It was lots of fun, but we ended up getting boo'd out by the weather.

The mostly complete Turbo system...

This Fall

2009-10-26T12:53:00.000-06:00

So I've been spending many hours in the shop getting Mr T. (my Tracker) back on the road. Now it has a different engine, a new turbo setup, an 8000 lb winch, a spool in the rear, and it is pretty sweet! Oh, I also painted the hood camo. A nice touch I think.

Blown up engine! This happened in the end of May at my first Zookmeld out by Rocky Mountain House.

Whew! Lots of Pics...Lots of fun! eheheheh...

Sams Zuk

2009-06-05T09:46:00.001-06:00

Here's a pic of what my bro has been working on...

Zookmeld 2009

2009-06-05T09:20:00.001-06:00

Howdy! I posted this on my other blog, so here it is again. Just to keep up with the consistencies of the blog. All posts Mr T are here!

The beginning of the End

2009-06-04T10:39:00.006-06:00

Mr T blew up... more to come in 5 minutes...

Well,

I can't say it was unexpected. We had a great time out 4 wheelin' by Rocky Mountain House here in Alberta. All kinds of terrain, water crossings, rocks, hills, straddling deep washouts, and muskeg. The Last mudpit of muskeg did Mr T in. We had been riding trails for hours and were deep in the woods when Mr T started making a fuss. A ticking. It was at about this point that we decided to turn back, mostly a coincidence. That and over the next hill the trail faded away. It was more like we decided to turn back, as it was getting late in the day, and the trail faded away over next hill THEN unstuck from the muskeg, Mr T started ticking. Savy?

We had planned on wheeling for a good part of Sunday, but now that the ticking had started, getting home was top priority. As I drove the few hundred kilometers back to Edmonton, the ticking got less intermittant and more obvious. So loud, in fact, that anyone outside their vehicle turned to see what the racket was as I drove by. Even a guy on his horse, off the side of the busy highway was startled by the sound.

I have had this type of an experience before...a few years ago with a 1985 S15 Jimmy. I drove it for two weeks with a very loud ticking before it reached catastrophic failure using a connecting rod as a battering ram with the side of the engine block.

I remembered the sound vividly as it re-occured 15 minutes South of Edmonton by a small manufacturing community known as Nisku. "KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-CLUNK-TA-CLUNK-POP-CUD!" The horrible noise ended, but unlike before I knew it didn't fix itself. I quickly popped it into neutral and coasted off the highway on the exit ramp into Nisku.

Mr T - Lift

2009-05-28T19:09:00.002-06:00

So I've lifted Mr T...using a neat technique...I cut out the ball joint pocket and made a new one, approximately 2 inches forward 1.5 inches down, and 1/2 inch out. Then to bring the back up I cut a 3/4" spacer with our laser and added those to the rear coils. The original frame to ground clearance was: 8.5" front, 9.5" rear. After the lift: 10.5" front, 11" rear. Woohoo more clearance for more fun!

Bad Gas

2008-12-16T23:16:00.004-07:00

I got the Beast running well one day...the next time I start it, it runs like garbage! So I decided it has to do with the fuel pump. It ran fine at ~30psi fuel pressure, then the day it ran poorly it was at ~15-20psi. Today I dropped the fuel tank. Man this thing is RUSTY EVERYWHERE! Some of the lines returning to the tank were rusted right through. Nothing a little two part plastic weld to heal rust too bad to weld. I'm glad I decided to keep it for offroad only. The prefilter (before the fuel pump) was covered in very fine rusty colored silt. No wonder it couldn't pressure up the system! It needs fuel flow to do that. I cleaned the filter, dumped out the gas:
and cleaned the tank. I regapped the plugs, put $3.40 of gas in it and away she goes! I think I just need to tweak the timing and I'll be ready to move on to other mods...
Evidence of the drive today:

The Beast - Progress

2008-11-29T17:42:00.004-07:00

Well, Here are some pics of the progress I've made (mostly today). I put a new bumper on the front, new bumper on the back, relocated the spare tire, and ripped out the carpet.

Below: a little bit of a suprise under the carpet!

The Green Beast Lives!

2008-11-23T16:27:00.003-07:00

I've been trying for weeks to get that durn thing running well. The short of it is I checked everything multiple times, I replaced the throttle body, finally I replaced spark plugs and wires. That helped tons. It was still running like garbage so I pulled the fuel injector. As I was about to swap over the injector from the original throttle body I realized I plugged the wrong wires into the wrong connector when I installed the spare TB. DOH! So I reinstalled the injector and voila! It now runs great. Man - I'm kicking myself for messing that up. But really...it's all good now!

Now that I know it runs decent it's time to do a little metal fabrication. I'll keep you posted.

The events of November 11.

2008-11-17T13:49:00.004-07:00

Sam picked up a Sidekick. Now the two of us can play!

New site

2008-10-19T15:35:00.003-06:00

Today I found a website that has the exact principles of my idea for Mr T but think inverted...Control Arm Modification

New Toy, well...

2008-10-10T11:00:00.007-06:00

Not entirely true. Not really new. But I picked it up for $100 at the end of this last winter (2008). A real beast. Someone did a frame drop to it, giving it 6 inches of lift. It easily clears 33" tires. Neat, but not really a mod that I would have done.
As found:

Switched the wheels and tires before I even moved it. I couldn't bring myself to drive it with the stockers and a 6" lift, just silly.

It's a real case for rust. It's from Eastern Canada, what do you expect?

Broken Seat

2008-10-10T10:31:00.001-06:00

After many miles(396,000kms/247,500miles)of entry and exit, and abuse on the drivers seat, the right side hinge snapped right off.

I unbolted the bracket.

Welded back up.

My Rig

2008-10-10T10:27:00.000-06:00

Well here's a snapshot of my rig. A work in progress like many of yours I'm sure. I added a body lift, deleted the body lift, added a turbo, multiple different styles of bumpers, rebuilt the motor, etc. I've pretty much touched every nut and bolt on this beast!

INTRO

2008-10-10T10:23:00.000-06:00

I've created this blog in hopes that the technical data and ideas I collect from across the web, will help those with the Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara bug who just can't leave well enough alone!

Ben