PBM vs. Stock parts:



After angle pics:






Rear suspension bits:





Picked up an 03' explorer Diff/axles/driveshaft for $175 locally, and ordered the Ronin Speedworks mount kit about 2 weeks ago, just waiting for it to arrive.



After all parts installed, and alignment completed:



Bought some cheap wheels, here is a teaser of them. Tires should be here tomorrow, and hopefully sometime this week/weekend I'll have enough time to get them put on the wheels, and throw the wheels on the car. Definitely going to need some wide body for these wheels, possibly spacers up front for clearance with the amount of angle... XXR 968 17x9f 17x10r Ordered 235/40/17f and 255/40/17r Federal ss595:

 

Ronin 8.8 parts arrived. Hoping to get started on the diff conversion in the next few weeks.

A few more random pics of the car, and a pic of the 8.8 parts.

 

Diff parts are all here finally.

 

Didn't see it posted, but what were your dyno numbers?
Great build!!!

 

291rwhp 305rwtq running a bit rich do to the zo6 injectors.

 

Very nice!
Thanks for sharing your build with us.

 

So what did you do with the other rear end?

 

Thanks for the kind words!

 

I actually have 2 t2 rear ends, the one currently in the car (with axles), and the other is a spare just t2 diff.

I have a buyer lined up for the diff/axles currently in the car, and have the other for sale.

 

Oh I meant the original GTUs rear.

 

The guy I bought the car from kept the original GTUs diff, gave me a stock non-turbo diff with the car. I gave that diff away, and acquired these t2 diffs.

 

Rad!

Just checking. Awesome build son.

 

dude nice!!! Gotta meet up soon & drive it!

 

OK, so it's been a while, figure I'd give an update to what I've done over the past couple months.

So I went ahead and started the 8.8 explorer diff swap with the Ronin Speedworks kit in hand.

First was to grind down the diff for fitment.




Test fitting the Ronin cradle.




New 3.73 ring/pinion, Clutch type LSD, bearings(full rebuild) of the diff.





Removal of the current diff setup(solid mounts all around, including custom made solid front mount).

 

Once the old stuff was removed, swapped over the solid mounts to the new mount kit and set it up in place.




So after fitting the diff and subframe back into place with the solid mounts, it just did not line up when putting the new ronin diff mount in place.

So after doing some research on the forums, it was suggested to ream out the mount to allow for some angle adjustment, however being that my subframe and diff mounts were both solid, I decided to just order the more commonly used mounts that most of the others had gone with(mazda comp diff mounts), and less commonly used PBM sub frame mounts.

Now with the PBM mounts, it was suggested to use a spacer to keep the sub frame near stock height, so I made some 5/8" spacers to stack.

Ground off all the stock diff mount material, installed PBM mounts, and the new comp diff mounts.




So after test fitting everything with the new mounts and spacers.... everything lined up perfectly.

So went ahead and welded it up, and hit it with some temporary paint.

 

 

Hoping to order the new driveshaft to be made today after work.

Will update soon... Hopefully.

this update makes it seem like it didn't take long, or shouldn't have, but a lot of frustration has happened with this over the past 2 months, but the end is near, getting excited again!

 

Been driving the car around for a bit now, here is another small update.

Aluminum driveshaft made.

 

Once the new driveshaft was installed, had to test it out a little bit. Felt good, very predictable, seems to be spinning both tires with no problem. I'll try to hunt down the video of this, but it's nothing special, just a little donut session in the shop parking lot haha.


Ordered up the basic RX-7 flamboyant starter kit, with widebody option. Widebody is 50mm front and rear, front fenders are kinda cool cause they are stock(ish) looking with no vents. Body kit is the typical BN sports wannabe.

 

Made a little progress on the rear overfenders last weekend. Cut out to make some room, got the fenders temp mounted until I weld the quarters back closed. Once that is done they will be riveted until just before paint.

Here are some pics of it:











Quarters installed with 1.25" wheel spacers:

 

Few more things done:

Swapped out the stock fenders and installed the 50mm

 

Then fitted up the bumpers using Dzues clips for easy on and off for future trailer loading and such:







While the tail lights were off, figured I'd do the updated tail light mod.

 

All my beauties:

 

Then brake stuff came in:

ASD Hydro e-brake lever
Z32 300zx brake calipers for the dual caliper setup
Stu Kelly Motorsports mounting plates for the z32 calipers
Stoptech drilled/slotted rotors
Stainless steel braided brake lines
Had custom stainless steel braided lines made for the e-brake
Hawk HP+ pads for the rotors
Cheap parts store pads for the e-brake