Chocolate Poptart Ver 2.0

[mlmeyers]

I just joined the forums, but figured I would post up some past progress on my 81 SX/4. A good friend of mine bought it on its way to the scrap yard in hopes of setting it up for TREC racing at The Badlands in Indiana. If you want more info on TREC here is a link: http://trecwithus.com/

He went through the stock 258 with a hotter cam (Crower Baja Beast) and late model 4.0L HO head. Front axle got the vacuum disconnect welded in the locked position and the rear axle got the spiders welded for a locked rear end. Both axles got some very low 5.13 gears. After a couple issues with the stock auto a T-5 manual tranny was thrown in with pretty good luck so far. He ran some bilstein shocks, but overheated them quickly during the race. Considering the races are offroad and through the majority of the park, extra ground clearance was needed. After him fighting several issues when trying to lift the front IFS, he gave up. I then acquired a pretty solid car and a good parts car.

I'll try to add up pictures tonight of the shape the car was in when I got it as well as what I have changed so far.

[vangremlin]

Welcome to the Nest and we can't wait to see some pictures of your Poptart!

[mlmeyers]

This is how the Poptart looked when I took it home.
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I started by putting a 6 point cage in. The rules state that I need 3" clearance between my helmet and the cage. That made quite an issue given the compact size of the SX/4 and being 6' 1". I ended up cutting out most of the floor to incorporate a cage and seat mounts. The floor will be replaced as well as a skid plate with UHMW skin underneath the low point in the cage. I swapped out the tcase for an NP231. I was able to use a grand cherokee rear driveshaft with no issues and had to shorten the front shaft a couple inches. The factory gauges were removed in favor of the important info RPM, OIL, Coolant, Voltage. While working on the cage, the doors were removed for easier entry and exit. I was shocked to see the stock doors weigh in at 92lbs a piece! These will have to be trimmed down into half doors to allow easier entry and exit via the window safety nets. The shocks were replaced with FOA 16" travel 2.5" reservoir shocks. The shocks have made a huge difference in the ride and should be plenty big enough to keep the oil cool. The rear springs were a remade pack using a combo of eagle and XJ leafs.

The next step is to finish the floor. I also have to fab up an exhaust and tcase shifter. I may try to make the stock shifter out of my tj fit. I also have some limit straps to put on for suspension travel.

That's pretty much what I have for now. After I get some more progress I will post up with an update. I'm pushing myself to get all the fab work done before the paint job. I'm really excited to get the rally paint scheme on the car though...

[mlmeyers]

I guess the pics didn't work. I will have to figure out how to do that and post up...