EFI on Jeep

Today on trucks,

we'll dump the carburetor and install a throttle body injection on an 81 Jeep Scrambler and bring that old straight six to light

and we'll stand on the gas with a rare 1948 stew to Baker. Show truck

that's been chopped, sliced, diced, scattered, smothered and covered

and last but not least, Stacy's showing you what to look for when you pick out your next project.

That's all today on trucks.

Welcome to trucks. Now, if you're into off roading at all, whether it's rock crawling or hill climbing or running through the mud,

you know that at any given time you're gonna be on a steep incline

in an off camber situation or at a high altitude.

All of which can be a major problem if you're running a carburetor.

And the last place you want your engine to sputter and die is when you're buried up to your eyeballs in mud or going up that steep hill. So converting your four wheeler to fuel injection,

it's definitely worth looking at.

Now, the 2 58 6 cylinder was used by Jeep for a number of years and it's a great engine with just a couple of weak points which we are gonna deal with today.

Now, we're not gonna show you how to Hot Rod. One of these things

we did that before. We're actually gonna show you how to replace the car duration system

and those emissions with a state of the art throttle body injection

without putting ourselves in the poorhouse. Sound good.

Let's go check out some parts.

Now, in the past, if you wanted a fuel injection system, well, you pretty much had to piece it together yourself. Sometimes it worked most of the time it didn't.

So we went to Howell Engine developments, got one of their kits that comes complete with a GM throttle body injection

computer,

the wiring harness,

all the sensors

and electric fuel pump

and of course the adapter to bolt everything right to your stock intake manifold. Now, the best part about this kit is

it's 100% emissions legal in all 50 states. Very important.

Now, I know that fuel injection can be a little intimidating, especially looking at all this stuff, but this kit really takes the guesswork out of it. And we're gonna show you that once we get all the old stuff off the engine,

the first thing we need to do is get rid of all these vacuum lines and this linkage.

Now, since we're only gonna reuse two of these lines

that's really gonna clean it up under here.

Next, we'll pull off the air pump

the hoses,

the check valves, all this stuff that goes on the original emission system,

then we'll unbolt

and remove the carb,

then we'll remove the fuel filter

and the fuel line

followed by the fuel pump,

then install the fuel pump, block off plate that comes with the kit.

Now, if you're just upgrading to fuel injection, well, heck, you're ready to start bolting things back on. However,

two of the most restrictive areas on an engine are in the stock intake manifold and exhaust manifold and now is the perfect time to replace those. So that's exactly what we're gonna do.

Now, a couple of tips here, you're gonna need to get some of these UO

adapters so you can reach inside and get hold of those bolts. Also,

they're gonna be rusty. So you need to break them loose, but be careful because if you break those things, you're gonna have to replace them before you go any further and trust me, you're not gonna wanna do that,

ok. We're ready to start bolting things back together. But before we do, I wanna show you the intake and header that we're gonna use.

Now, both are from Clifford performance and you can see by these long smooth runners, these are gonna way outflow those stock pieces.

Also,

they've got all the holes so you can mount your stock accessories. Now, Clifford also supplies a gasket, but you will have to reuse your mounting hardware. So make sure that's in good shape.

And also remember this intake is aluminum. So if you over tighten it,

you can crack it.

Ok. While we're in here, we're gonna take care of another nagging problem with these engines. And that is this stupid plastic valve cover. I firmly believe that these were actually designed to leak because every one I've ever seen does now you can fix it for a while putting in new gaskets and stuff, but these will come back and torment you by dripping oil all down that nice new header. Now, the only way to fix that right

is to convert to an aluminum valve cover like this one we got from Clifford,

not only does it stop the leak,

they look pretty good too.

Now, using the adhesive supplied in the kit,

glue the gasket to the valve cover.

Now, once the old valve covers out of the way you need to tap these five holes that run down the sides of the head, that's how you bolt on the new valve cover. Now, obviously metal shavings in an engine is not a good thing.

So you need to take care that that doesn't happen. Putting a little bit of grease in the flutes of the tap will really help. Also, you need to cut off these old mounting studs so the new valve cover will see down.

All right. Now you're ready to bolt this thing on

next bolt on the header

and finally

the intake manifold. Well, as you can see, this engine is taking on an entirely different personality and we don't even have the fuel injection on yet. Well, we're gonna take care of that, but after the break, so stay with us,

we will show you how to tackle that intimidating wiring harness. When we come back

then it's inspection time as Stacy's giving tips on what to look for in a new four by four project.

Welcome back to trucks. All right. Before the break, we pulled off the carburetor swapped out the intake and exhaust manifolds for some performance pieces on the old 81 scrambler.

We also got rid of that whole leaky plastic valve cover put on this finned aluminum one. Now we're ready for the throttle body injection.

Now, this works by injecting fuel here runs down through the butterflies and into the manifold, but it bolts on just like a carburetor.

The next thing that you're gonna wanna do

is route your vacuum lines according to the diagram in the kit. Now, a couple things here, since you're only gonna run a couple of lines, take the time to route your lines

out of the way, so everything stays nice and clean in here.

Second,

I know you're gonna be tempted to reuse these old nasty lines. Uh uh

That is a leak waiting to happen. Vacuum line is cheap, so replace it.

Ok. Now we're ready for the fuel pump and filter and this combination that we got from. How will give us the 15 P si we need to run a throttle body. Remember carburetor only takes six P SI

All right, to mount the fuel pump underneath the vehicle. Here's what we did spliced into the stock fuel line here, mounted a hose.

Then we put on the filter followed by the pump. Now, it's important that you run through the filter first because it will keep junk from getting into the pump and locking it up back up on top. We'll take this red fuel line that comes with the kit run from the pump around the firewall and into the throttle body. Then the fuel return line will take out a throttle body here and it'll go into the stock return line down on the frame

that'll take care of the fuel system. Now, once I get all this hooked up, we'll deal with the electrical.

The first thing you need to do with your wiring harness is pick it up without getting it into a bunch of knots

and then lay it around the engine.

Now, this is important because you need to decide where all your connections are gonna lay

and also that none of them are too short. So you can't make the connections.

Now, I know you're probably looking at this going, uh,

all those connections. Where do they go? Well, you don't really need to worry about that

because as you can see, they're all well marked. All you have to do is plug them in where they say to go. Now, going right hand in hand with laying the wiring harness is you need to decide where you're gonna put your computer because it's the biggest piece. And obviously you don't wanna put it

where you can't reach it with a harness. So I found on these Jeeps

right here on this inner fender where this stock jack is is the best place. So we're gonna pull that off and mount it there.

All right, this is a Jeep.

Jeeps get wet.

Sometimes they get really wet.

Actually been known to completely submerge a vehicle.

So

in a day's work

who

now this is the computer

computer gets wet. Engine stops running.

So what you wanna do is take some silicone, go around each seam, every corner and every hole. So this thing is completely waterproof, especially if you're gonna mount it inside the engine compartment.

Then once you have it sealed up,

just mount it in.

Now, I made the bracket for the computer out of an old battery. Hold down that makes a perfect place to mount this fuse block. After that

come in here, mount this diagnostic port here on the fender for easy access.

Then we'll mount these relays

right here to the firewall.

Finally, we'll hook up our fuel pump,

then we'll plug in all of our sensors and injectors

and that pretty much takes care of the electrical system.

Now, one of the last things that you need to do is weld this flange that comes with the header

onto your stock exhaust pipe provided it's in good shape. Now, remember you've had your fuel lines disconnected, so make sure that you're being careful before you start welding.

Finally, we'll top it all off with A K and N air filter

and we're done

except for the throttle linkage and the heater hoses and things like that.

Now, doing all this picked us up about 20 to 30 horsepower and that's nice,

but that's not really the reason we did it. What we're after was the throttle response and the performance on steep angles. Now, if you really wanna get crazy with one of these,

Clifford's got a hot cam that you can put in

and Howell's got a hot chip for the computer that will give you a whole another respect for these old six cylinders. But for us,

this is gonna do just fine

next. It's a beauty and a beast. Stacy legs out this awesome 1948 Studebaker pickup.

Just can't get enough of trucks. Check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

Welcome back. All right, pop quiz. What is this big fat purple thing sitting here?

Come on, give up. Well, if you said Ford Chevy or Dodge, forget it. You're not even in the ballpark if you said 1948 Studebaker. Well, you'd be right on the money now. That's impressive because Studebakers are not only rare,

this is one of the most modified studs on the planet. Let me show you what I'm talking about.

David Webb started out with a $500 junk stew to Baker pickup and the desire to build a lead sled style truck.

So the first thing he did was start cutting on the body and cutting and cutting

and cutting.

And when the dust finally settled, the truck had a 4.5 inch chop and shaved drip rails and trim to make it ultra smooth.

The front fenders were welded on and smoothed out as was the front grill. Now, I know you're wondering about those headlights. Well, they once belonged to a 53 buick and they're molded and frenched in just like a classic fifties lead sled

under the hood. Lurks a nasty 454 big block Chevy with an awesome custom made air cleaner. Everything surrounded by a very clean, very smooth engine compartment

inside. The cab is a very comfortable bench seat with Tweed upholstery carrying into the door panels and the roof.

The stock due to Baker dash

is filled with trick gauges and a billet wheel gives you something to hold on to when you mash the loud pep.

Now the bed is a work of art. All the seams welded and smoothed out and custom made bedsides follow the lines of the original fenders perfectly. Now, a handmade tunnel cover rises from the side to reveal a super clean bed stuffed with a kicking

rail system to try to drown out that 454.

Of course, the tailgates all welded up smooth like everything else and it's got tiny handmade tail lights peeking out underneath

right below that, the exhaust bellows out of one huge outlet.

The stance of this truck is insanely low and wicked and that's achieved by a complete custom built chassis

that allows a scant three inches of daylight to show underneath the front cross member.

The wheel base has been short and 12 inches and that can make the truck a whole lot of fun under full throttle.

The rolling stock is right on with twenties in the rear and sixteens in the front and the 12 inch wide dunlop's in the rear hopelessly search for traction. I gotta test these things.

Now, the magic of this truck is, it's not only a show winner, it's also a driver. As a matter of fact, David told us when he dropped it off, he'll drive anywhere any place any time.

He also said,

hey, if you can't drive him, what the heck good are they? And that

is what

after the break, Stacy pokes around and shows you how to find the good, the bad and the ugly before you buy that next project.

And now truck gear, parts, tools and equipment for pickups and sport utilities

in the past one of the nastiest jobs that you had to do to your truck was bleed the brakes.

It usually meant that you had to get somebody inside the cab to push on the pedal while you crawled underneath and opened up the bleeders. Messy, messy, messy.

Well, Russell performance decided to do something about that

with the speed bleeder. This allows one person to bleed the brakes. And how does it work? Well, simple. Let me show you

with the bleeder open.

The little ball moves up and allows fluid to flow through.

When you let up on the brake, the little ball closes

and that doesn't let air in simple, ingenious. And I wish I'd have thought of it because I'd be very rich right now. The speed bleed is available for almost every application and you can get them at your local parts store. If you're working on an old classic truck, you're gonna find there is one area that's always a problem and that's in the door jams, especially around this door stop. After years of abuse, these doorstops will get destroyed and that will allow the door to open too far and you'll put a nice big crease out on the cow.

Now, the way to fix that

is with these little guys called cowl savers from bitching products.

These include a nice aluminum exterior piece, but they've also got these backing plates to keep everything from pulling out

and this whole kit is about 45 bucks. So

you don't have any reason not to be using these.

Now protecting your hands when you're working. A wrenching is very important. And people are always asking, hey, what kind of gloves do you use on the show?

Well, the, the ringer split fit, but, uh,

I'm not gonna use these gloves anymore. There's something better

and that is the Ringer Split Fit air. Now, these have all the features of the original split fit like the padded palm, extra protection across the fingers for cuts and abrasions.

But what is new is this,

it

style backing that gives you better comfort and better breathability

seams that are hidden. So they won't snag on you. And the best part is that you can throw these in the washer when they get dirty

and it won't hurt them.

You can check out your own set of ringers split Fit Air for 30 bucks.

Uh

You know, one question I get asked a lot is how do I plan a four by four project? What do I look for? What do I avoid?

Well, those are good questions because planning for a four wheel drive project is a little different than a two wheel drive Street project

mostly because

they're pretty well thrashed by the time you get to them. So I'm gonna show you some tips on what to look for

and what to look out for.

Now, first and foremost,

just like any project you need to write down what you want

and what you plan to do with it.

That way you don't buy something that you're not gonna use. For example,

I have every intention of putting a Hot V8 in this old Bronco. So the fact that it has a six cylinder and

it obviously doesn't run is a good thing

because that drives the price down

and I don't buy an engine I'm not gonna use. Now, one of the first things you need to look at

is the steering, especially if you got big tires on it. Check this out. It looks like somebody stripped this shaft that comes out of the steering box. So they drilled a hole down through it and put a bolt in it.

Now, wait a minute time out. If you're doing this kind of stuff, stop it. This will get you killed. Obviously, we need a new steering box. All right,

let's check out these springs.

All right. Here's another thing. Notice we have spacers in these front springs. That's a no, no for a four wheel drive because it messes up the spring rate and also usually means that the springs are sagging and are shot and

probably need to be replaced.

Now,

the bumper,

this thing had a bumper on it.

That was about 250 pounds. It looked like it came off a big old tow truck

and the worst thing was it was welded to the front frame rails and I had to take a torch to cut it off.

Now, fortunately, they didn't mess up these front frame rails. I can go in here with a grinder and torch and cut this off and make that as good as new. Now, the reason that this is important is that any aftermarket bumper or winch that you're gonna use,

it's gonna bolt right to those frame rails. So if those are messed up, you probably need to look at another truck if you're gonna run a bumper.

One of the cool things about the early Bronco is that all the panels, the doors, the fenders, all that stuff is available from the aftermarket. So replacing them

is pretty much as easy as just bolt on a new piece.

I believe that that is a uh plexiglass window.

Now, you wanna make sure

to check your rocker panels and your floor pans. Now, look at this, see that rust hole there, a lot of deep Bondo.

That's what happens when you put Bondo over rust that needs to be replaced.

Look at this floor pan,

somebody has riveted in a piece but they didn't treat it right. So, obviously that all needs to be done correctly.

Now, if you laughed at the bolt through the steering box and got a kick out of the welded on bumper.

Well, you're gonna love this roll bar. Now, from first glance, it looks like a strong roll bar

but pull some of this foam out of the way

you can see it's made out of plastic PV C pipe.

I,

I don't know what to say.

J

All right. You're probably thinking what a piece of junk.

But wait a minute, everything that I wanted in this build up is right here. We have a rare 66 half cab Bronco.

That's solid. Every place it needs to be. That makes it the perfect foundation for a killer build up. Of course, not next week. Here's what we got for you. Then

it's a red, white and blue special as the army takes us for a wild ride in their awesome Bradley fighting vehicle.

Then in the shop, Stacy shows us how to smooth those bumpers on sport and street trucks.

And finally your questions get answered as we pick from the viewer mail pile.

That's all next week on trucks

for a VHS copy of today's show call Toll Free 1877853 7260. Show videos are just 1295 plus shipping and handling

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