sierra build help

[mrRocky]

going to undertake a sierra buildup to be completed in the next 6 months
just looking for some more ideas or guidance, the list so far
calmini shackle reversal and 5" lift kit, 1600 vitara motor with compression raised 1 point, weber carb, 31x9.5 simexs, front and rear lockrite's.
Anything im missing or need to add? car will be used for mud sand rock and road so sum compramises need 2 be made

[fool_injected]

EFI, If you doing the 1600 might as well go all the way

[nicbeer]

Mick - i am in perth also, check out my build up.

go efi if u can afford it etc, wiring is not that bad a deal.

legal build or offroad only? if legal, just go for 2" bl or suspension and shackles and that will clear the 31s i think

gears may be the other thing u will need depending on diff gears.

[mrRocky]

doesnt have to be legal, just able to swap back well i get a yello sticker.
not sure if the standard computer or injectors can meet the fuel demand of the higher compression. the weber is purley for the simplicity, cost isnt a biggie

[nicbeer]

ok.

i'd go for the 2" sus and 2" BL before going for the 5" kit, even spoa on flat springs. a lot of $$ when u can do very similar for lot less.

u can always up the injectors and better ecu if need be

NT or WT sierra?

Nic

[lay80n]

The calmini kit has the general reputation as being CRAP. Not a lot of travel, terrible ride. Stick with 2 inch springs with RUF and 2 inch BL. Get an injected motor, it will be worth it. Better performance on angles, easier to tune, better eceonomy, and power will probably be pretty simillar. Why all the effort to up the compression, when a few bolt on mods would give the same increase for less effort (note you have not indicated if you will run extractors, etc). Also budget for gearing, the 31 ET measures almost 32, and a standard sierra gearing will have kittens trying to turn them and your crawl ratio will be terrible. As i said in your rocky thread, power will not correct bad gearing.

Layto....

[Gwagensteve]

Wot Layto said.

All up you will be happier with the car as low as possible for the tyre size you want to run - so a 2" BL should get the tyres to clear, then springs etc are up to you.

You can't polish a turd - you can put lots of time and effort into the 8V carby and it will still be detroyed by an EFI 16v.

I would go with a taller gearset (somehting in the 4-5:1) range for what you are planning. You will need gears though if you want to do any rock/steep work.

No amount of power can compensate for the car going too fast

Steve.

[PJ.zook]

As previously mentioned, if you want to do anything remotely offroad other than just driving around dirt tracks, gearing is almost a must in a sierra, the standard gearing is shit with the 26" HT's, letalone 32" MT's.
Mine has the series4 rockhopers in it, and they are the single best mod i have done to the sierra, they are truly a great mod.
You could also get 5.12:1 vitara diff gears, but thats just as expensive and more difficult than rockhoppers in the transfer case.
Actually if you do want 5:12's, a mate may be parting out zook and he may sell em to ya. PM if interested anyway.

Also yeh, dont just go lifted springs, go a 2" bodylift and maybe a 2" springlift from Ironman or another similar supplier. I clear with a little room to spare 31" simex extremes when fully flexed, they do rub on suspension on full lock tho, but not a lot you can do about that.

Also, i wouldnt go the front lockrights either, you would smash CV's pretty easily if not careful. Get one in the rear tho, theyre fantastic, and if you come across something where you need a little more grip to get up and over, sierras work well with the old pumping brake pedal technique to stop the spinning front tyre.

Dont bother about shackle reversal or extended shackles either, i rarely hit anything with my shackles.

The vitara engine conversion is worthwhile, but you will have good power without breaking open the block. The 1.3 is a powerful enough engine offroad, its just onroad at highway speeds is where you have trouble keeping up with mates, of which most have turbo GQ's hehe.

[sierrajim]

No offence intended but a 5" Lift and 31's would suck harder than Monica Lewinski at Bill Clintons Xmas party.

Sierra's fall over often enough, physics dictates that the taller something is the more likely it is to fall over.

31's could easily be made to work with a 2" body lift and 2" spring lift without any cutting/trimming, this might even be engineerable in WA to save the hassle of changing things back if you get pulled up (which is bound to happen weekly in a 5" lifted sierra).

After having had a 1.6 carbied engine, now having a 1.6 EFI. I'd go the EFI any day, they aren't even that much more expensive to buy from the wreckers compared to their older carbied versions.


Also do a search for webber carbies on here, or any other off road forum, they're not the most suitable for offorad conditions.

[mrRocky]

cheers guys, i know the calmini kit is gay but would like to buy a complete kit and theres not many decent ones in w.a.
i would like to extract as much reliable power as possible it would appear the car already has carby 1600 in it, my mates 1.3 has comp raised 1 point and it has made a massive difference sitting on 110 with 31's on in 5th.
iam not against efi but would like to be able to submerge my 4x4 with minimal wiring issues i intend to keep it as simple as possible, at least until i have big probs, if i was going to go efi i would super/turbo charge as opposed to higher comp.
any other carby suggestions? corolla, datsun maybe

[NIK]

Like the others said only go as high enough to clear the tyres at full compression. As for webers I perservered with them for years. GREAT on road power but no matter what I tried it sucked off road. It would stutter just when you needed that little bit more to climb a ledge and stall down hill. I tried all the TRICKS ran it backwards and forwards tried lots of jets etc but couldnt get it right. Sure it was easy to rebuild but now I run a standard carby 1600 and it goes much better. If you cant afford/get a efi try the standard carb before you replace it you,ll be suprised.
Nik

[just cruizin']

A 5" spring lift won't flex the springs will have far too much curve. If you are dropping in a 1600 a bodylift will clear the engine as they are taller then the 1300. By the way did I mention I sell Body lifts for Sierras that don't require any cutting or drilling for $200 complete, everything you need including postage(blatent plug for myself).

[Gwagensteve]

Ahh the old EFI "wiring" myth. I have built a few efi cars, and we have had a bunch of efi cars in the club and have NEVER seen a wiring related efi problem, even on cars with insanely bad wiring jobs, oh, I lie, one car with a stoner wiring job - the computer used to fall down and dangle under the accelerator. This car also had a funny earth.

We have had an efi car swamp its computer- took it out, dried it, put it back in, ran fine.

I have seen, oh, every carb car on the bush running badly due to some sort of carb problem that eveyone thinks they know how to fix but isn't really sure because their one didn't look like this and ohh hang on you've got that carby on it and you have to put another filter here and I did a rebuild on mine and it took all day etcetcetcetcetc, and you will always, always always have "crap in the jets"

Carbies just plain suck. Just do youself a favour and efi it, you will never look back. I would put money on you never coming across anyone who has regretted going efi.

If you are not worried about legality, spool the rear and airlock the front. cost will be about the same as the two craprights and the car will always have cosistent behaviour. Mini spool is USD$109 from trail tough. not ideal in sand, but the crapright will be not ideal anywhere.

Oh, and I don't think you are listening about how bad the calmini 5" kit is. Really dude, these are embarassingly bad. 2" BL will fit your tyres with no other changes then worry about springing it the way you want. I saw one car in canberra with one of these on and I laughed out loud when I saw it - so high and hard it was insane. Just because you can buy it and it somes fromt he US doesn't make it right.

Steve.

[lay80n]

cheers guys, i know the calmini kit is . but would like to buy a complete kit and theres not many decent ones in w.a.
i would like to extract as much reliable power as possible it would appear the car already has carby 1600 in it, my mates 1.3 has comp raised 1 point and it has made a massive difference sitting on 110 with 31's on in 5th.
iam not against efi but would like to be able to submerge my 4x4 with minimal wiring issues i intend to keep it as simple as possible, at least until i have big probs, if i was going to go efi i would super/turbo charge as opposed to higher comp.
any other carby suggestions? corolla, datsun maybe

You need 4 springs, 4 shocks and the bush's for the springs. I know WA is backwards but not that bad that you cant get these. OME make good springs and shocks, im sure you can get them over there. As for EFI wiring, if you do it right, you will be fine. Honestly, there isnt much that can go wrong. Carbys will sh*t you for the rest of your life, no matter what carby you use. Why worry bout upping the compression, when with EFI you will get more benefits and just as easy install etc. Supercharger with EFI would be excellent option IMHO

As Steve said, the calmini kit is plain terrible, waste of money.

Layto.....

[mrRocky]

cheers guys will take it all on board , appreciate the imput will post some action pics once i take delivery of the car