Wende XL Buggy Build

[Boom]

My ol 85 Truggy has served its purpose and it is time for an upgrade on visibility and capability and try not to go broke in the process(unlikely)

Looking for input along the way since this is my first true ground up build..

I'll be starting with a Wende XL Chassis from @Adamwende . .

LetzRoll built the axles (both diffs will be offset to the driver side) and I will pick the chassis up as a roller.

Chassis: Wende XL 115" Wheelbase
Drivetrain: 3RZ, A340, Atlas II 4.3, maybe boost it
Axles: LetzRoll Offroad LM1 Steering 10'" with Super Duty outers, Upper and Lower American Iron Ball Joint Deletes, Branik 32 spline outers and Chromoly 1550 Shafts, Gearworks 10" thirds 6.20 gears, PSC 3"x 9" Steering Rams, Radial Dynamics Steering pump, reservoir and rear steer goodies, ADS 2.5" Air Shocks 14" and 16", 2.25 7075 Lower links and 1.5"DOM Upper links
Wheels: BFG 42s on Raceline Avenger 20s, Branik Brakes all the way around.
Other: PRP seats, Winch, Switch Pros RCR12, Baja Designs Lights, rock lights, a couple fluid coolers, minimal gauges, Trail soda Cooler, Fuel Cell, Second Gen Toy skins

Just picking up the ancillary, lower cost items as I go and working on the 3rz/A340/aw4 hybrid transmission while splitting my time with rewiring the Red truck #1 and building 86/96 Red truck #2 and a car hauler rebuild.

Right now it is at 115"WB, 13.75" Belly at full bump and 81.5" wide with 67" WMS axles.

 

[Boom]

DD lowback seats came in from PRP. Black Friday specials that were 30% off. Dark grey ostrich and Daytona red trim. Added the front goggle pocket to the driver side and the rear map pocket for the passenger side. Both seats got the mesh mud drains. @DirtSquirrel and I made a quick 2500 mile round trip in 3 days to AZ to pick of the chassis from @Adamwende . We had a lot of time to discuss the build. We stopped and picked up a chassis for our buddy at Bent Fab AZ while we were in the Phoenix area. Had to get creative for the trip back home.

 

[Boom]

The Red Truck is jealous seeing his replacement...

BFG 42's on some Raceline 20x10s, Timken UBs redrilled to 8x6.5

LM1 steering arms, 7075 steering links, American Iron Offroad upper and lower BJEs

LM1 Metalworks axle housing beef. Lower Pumpkin is 1/2" thick

Lower link frame mounts, all of the lowers are 2.25" 775 Aluminum with 1.25" heims

Rear LM1 housing, captured ram clamps, steering links, PSC 3x9 ram

Rear housing and links, 2.5" ADS short bodies all around 14" in front and 16" in the rear.

 

[Boom]

I dropped my trans off for the output shaft swap and rebuild today. Once I have it back, I can mock it up and see I i need to adjust the driveline placement. Then, its time to order the Atlas.

And the all important question: to boost or not to boost....the answer is Yesss

Winch Mount

Fill plugs front and rear

Mock up begins

 

[Boom]

After talking with Gabe at SNP, I've decided to Boost the 3rz. Collecting more parts now.

750cc injectors, Pulsar 3067 T3 turbo, GLFab manifold, 44mm WG and all the other stuff will start trickling in.

Pretty sure I'm going the Haltech 750 and full engine harness...

I'm still waiting on my transmission to get back from the rebuild and output shaft/tail housing swap.

I'll get that mocked up and measure my clearances for my Atlas and front driveshaft.

The forward facing intake showed up this past week as a birthday present (to myself) hopefully it all clears the TB.
Also shown is the Bling RZ fuel rail from GLFab.

Installed a Felpro gasket, Felpro plug seals and a Radium 10AN swivel fitting on the valve cover

 

[Boom]

I finally got my A340/AW4 transmission back from the shop. I ended up getting it fully rebuilt along with a new Torque converter.
I started the mock up process last night and am pretty happy where everything is positioned. I have about a 1.5" clearance to the bottom of the subframe and adequate room to fabricate a skid for the rear sump RZ oil pan.

For those who haven't dicked with an 2/3RZ, the valve cover does not sit level in the engine bay. It took a little persuasion to get the engine cocked over about 15 degrees to level out the transmission. The bellhousing is basically even with the front upper link mount locations. I'll need to tweak my motor mount concept a little better.

 

[woody]

Very cool! What's your intended crawl ratio in first? Where does the 3RZ kick in for power?

 

[Boom]

Should be at 86.8 crawl ratio in 1st gear.

The Pulsar 3067 turbo should start spooling at 2K rpm from what I have researched.
-Features:
8 Blade Gen2 Billet Compressor Wheel with Extended Tapered Tip Technology
Inconel 713c 10 Blade Turbine Wheel
Gen2 Cover Integrated with the Speed Sensor Port
V-Band Flange kit(s) for the exhaust housing included
Max Air Flow rate: ~60 lb/min, rated @ 650 FWHP

-Item Details:
Dual Ceramic ball bearing;
Billet Compressor Wheel:50/67 mm, 8+0 Blades;
Compressor Housing: 3'' inlet, 2'' outlet, 0.6 A/R, Anti-surge;
Turbine Wheel: 60/55mm;

 

[Blase]

Any idea what a 3RZ weighs? I love this little power plan but i've never seen what it weighs to compare it to an Ecotec or 22RE (weight wise not power wise LOL).

 

[Boom]

Every number I have seen is 360-400lbs fully dressed. If I had a scale, I could weigh mine when I pull it out to fully weld all the tabs and brackets on the front end.

 

[Ghetto Fab]

Should be at 86.8 crawl ratio in 1st gear.

How you gettin 86-1? AW4 is a 2.7 first or am I missing something? 2.7x4.3x6.20 only gets me to 72-1. Still not bad though.

 

[Boom]

should have corrected my first post. going with a 5.0 in the Atlas2. 2.8 x 5 x 6.20 = 86.8

 

[Boom]

Borrowed a mock up Atlas from a buddy. Drivetrain is offset to make a little room for the Atlas.
All my Haltech goodies came in this week. I bought it second hand off a twin coil setup out of AZ.
IC-7 display, Elite 750, SNP standalone Harness, GPS speed module. Going to go with Five-O motorsports 850cc injectors instead of the ones from SNP. They come flow tested and grouped along with all the info I need to plug into the Haltech 750.

I need to pull everything and do a few things to the engine (install dipstick for the rear sump pan) and Trans (install the TV cable that I had to repair) before the Atlas gets here.

I'll start working on the skid next while I'm waiting on parts. Got a sheet of AR500 last week to work with. should have plenty left over.
Got my Atlas ordered on Monday... So spending is shot for the week..

Atlas II Trail series, 5.0, Driver drop, 1410s front and rear. Was told about a month on production time.

Just killing time on small things till that gets here.

• I cut out the AR500 skid last night 28.5x26.5 still working on the mounting solution. Going to try to integrate the mounting tabs to the transmission crossmember if possible..
• Started mocking up some seat mounts, a little tall right now but purposely done so I can cut them down after the Atlas gets here. Hopefully nice and low.

Fabbed up my Trans support. 2x3 x 0.25wt, slugged the holes and 1/4" mounting tabs sitting flush-ish to the lower 2x4 frame.
Not tacked yet but it fits.

 

[Boom]

The GLFab Exhaust manifold came in last week. He really does a great job on these. Naturally I had to throw the Turbo on for good measure..

Pulsar 3071 Gen 2 - Seems these are the ones getting popular with the guys boosting 2/3RZs
For the price I gave it a shot..

I found a Turbosmart Hypergate45 and a eBay special 44mm exhaust pipe to use.. Not in its final orientation yet.

Considering a 3 port boost controller but need to look into that some more and how it integrates on the Haltech 750, If not, I'll use the manual Turbosmart on I have on the shelf that I never used for my other truck.

The T3 Spacer is on for now to buy some needed clearance for the coil packs in front of the Air filter. Those may get relocated. The spacer does buy me some room for the Turbo oil drain though. The air filter may need to be extended and routed differently, but that is where it will live for now. Now that I have a reference; I can pull the pan, install the 10AN bung for the turbo drain and plumb that up.
I also got the 4AN oil feed plumbed up from the oil filter to the turbo with a few fittings.

Air charge from the turbo is 2" moving to 2.75" at the throttle body. I hope it is able to clear the accessory drive and fan on the radiator. I still need some more parts to check that. May get my buddy to tig me up a shiny piece when its in its final configuration.

Exhaust will be 3in all the way out through a Flowmaster Flow FX muffler. It should be nice and ricey..

I may put the 2wd A340 pan back on to relocate the Trans dipstick to the other side even though I may lose a little capacity.
I over fill the trans anyways and will have a trans cooler plumbed in too.

750 cc injectors from FiveO in and installed

I splurged on some Radium goodies for the Fuel System
Direct fit FPR to the Fuel rail and 100 micron Fuel filter for upstream of the fuel pump.

Haltech Goodies... Elite 750 And Wideband

IC-7 Dash for all my digital gauge needs

SNP standalone Harness

 

[woody]

External fuel pump?

If yes, be SURE the pump and filter are located well below the bottom of the fuel cell. My fuel filter/pump are inline below the passenger seat, and 23" off the ground (skid is 18"). The bottom of the fuel cell is 34". That 10" of elevation difference/drop is important for fuel pump life, since pumps are awesome pushers and terrible suckers, need to rely on the siphon action of the fuel in the line. Most think closer is better....vertical separation is far more critical. (BTW: I can pull the line off the pump and drain my cell down to a pint....)

 

[Boom]

Yes, I will be going with an external pump. I have Walbro 340 and E2000 on the shelf. Current rig is set up with an external pump well below the cell and never has caused any issues. I have a Jaz 8 gallon poly cell with a sump and plan to plumb/mount the filter/pump as far below the sump vertically as reasonably achievable. I'm thinking of putting in a valve to isolate the fuel flow as well.

 

[woody]

Install the shutoff as close to the tank as you can, makes servicing super easy. I found one on Amazon for $15ish that worked perfectly.

 

[Dave22]

Ive seen these chassis in person on AZ trails man ... just beautiful design with that shallow belly looks so low. They work!

 

[whiterhino]

My fuel pump is below and close to my cell. I've burned through 2 in the last 5 years and the current one is starting to whine. Not sure why other than I think with so much idling (crawling) the pump is always pushing a lot of fuel back to tank. I also have a shutoff at my tank and can drain it dry. The shutoff is especially nice for doing a fuel pump swap without the hassle of draining or trying to cap a spewing fuel tank.