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Varg In Jeep's Clothing

I’ve got the radiator cut and ready to take to work tomorrow to TIG together.

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And I worked on the exhaust. I nabbed a stock downpipe years ago at pull and save, and I’m finally able to use it! I had to cut 5” out of the vertical section, and cut 2” out of the upper section and removed a bend.

I realized after I tacked it in place that I can’t get it out. I’ll need to order a band clamp and cut it where it’ll go.

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I will never claim to be a great TIG welder, and this is proof. The easy spots were easy, filling the gaping hole went ok, but the last section up by the fins was beyond nerve racking. I couldn’t get into where I needed to with a wire brush to clean the material well, so the arc kept wanting to jump all over. I finally bailed while I was ahead, before I blew a hole through a fin, and just coated the area with jb weld after soda blasting it. I’m 96% sure I sealed it with weld, but the epoxy will guarantee it.

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So I started this quest by attempting to make a dimple die. I went into work on Saturday morning and stood behind the lathe for longer than I want to admit. Their supplies are poor, so I had to improvise.

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I found a plate of 1/8” aluminum in cut some 2” holes in it.

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The dimple die worked, but it bent the plate to crap. It took a lot of massaging to get it flat again.

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That plate will get bolted to this plate.

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That plate is the base of the plenum. The box section will be made from tubing and plate. But first the tubing needs a bend.

I made a template out of another piece of tubing to trace a consistent angle for pie cuts.

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The inside half of this tubing will get removed, and the outside half will connect to the 1/4” plate. The throttle body will bolt to the flange on the right.

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First off, is anyone not seeing my pics? I got a pm from a member who isn’t seeing them.


I thought I was done for the evening, but I couldn’t let it rest without doing this.

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Testing fitment of the throttle body.

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This will get fully welded and blended smooth.

It’s hard to tell in the pics, but the tubing is 2 3/4” OD and the bottom plate is 4” at the wide end, so the whole thing is wedge-shaped side-to-side and top-to-bottom.

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OK, now I will be able to sleep.
 
I got it welded and cleaned up today. I’m very pleased. I’ll probably paint it Smoke Gray to match the cage.
If the video doesn’t show and play, click the link.

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360° view video

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The exhaust tubing I used had a part number stamped in it that happened to end up dead center. I decided to leave it. Now this manifold has a part number.

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To make the tubes, I needed to make a dent for the fuel injector to pass.

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After about an hour of cutting, filing, adjusting, and test fitting, I came up with lengths and angles I was happy with.


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I took all the pieces to work today and tacked everything together so I could bring it home to test fit before a full weld.


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Are you making this mod to improve airflow or to lower the height of the intake or both?
 
homersdog said:
Are you making this mod to improve airflow or to lower the height of the intake or both?
Click to expand...
It’s actually substantially raising the height of the intake to the point that it’s opening up a huge tract of real estate under it. I possibly have an interesting plan for that down the road.

The old intake pointed the throttle body down towards the DS fender at a 45° angle. In order to get the piping run all the way from there to the turbo, it would’ve required a ton of unnecessary tubing (adding to turbo lag), and I would’ve had to modify the engine bay cage. Plus, the N/A intake isn’t designed for the amount of air flow that something like this is. If I get power-crazy in the future, this is one less obstacle to tackle.

Plus, I’ve just always wanted to try building an intake. :-P
 
I stayed 4 hours after work and got everything welded.

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And here’s the purpose for the dimple die. I blended the ports for easy air flow.

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I took care to make the top of the plenum level. It was initially off 2°, and that would’ve driven me nuts. I cut the tacks last night and adjusted it.

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I have to attach mounts for the fuel rail, along with a few other things, and I have a little more finishing work to do, but this part is mostly complete.
 
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I realized yesterday that the stock fuel rail will not work with this in any configuration, and it is mostly made from brass, so modifying it is not worth the work. I’ll be making a new one from scratch. Because, at this point, why not. I ordered a 17/32 end mill to make the pockets that the injectors will seal into.

Frustrated with that, I moved onto the charge pipe. This may or may not eventually get rebuilt out of stainless, but for now, it’s steel exhaust tubing because I have lots of it.

I’m as shocked as anyone that all of my pie cuts and angles were right on the first try. The turbo outlet is 2” and the throttle body inlet is 2 3/8”. The majority of the tubing is 2 1/4” and steps up to 2 3/8” above the timing belt cover. I ordered a 2” x 2 1/4” silicone reducer coupling for the turbo connection, and the upper elbow is a section of radiator hose from a school bus.

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All welded up and finished

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