they're showing a 9" pressure plate to go with that - makes me wonder about the throwout bearing, is the Mazda a hydraulic?

Part b) that's a pretty small pressure plate, will that work with the Kubota flywheel?

The Mazda is hydraulic. The pressure plate is sized with the flywheel, if the bellhousing fit. It does say 9 to 10.5 though.

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something else came to mind - the .63 number you mentioned is from a Chevy V8 T5, the S10 models had less OD, like a .8 or something... you can swap the tailshafts on them.

I wonder what the stack height would be with the Kubota housing and the Flathead adapter.

Well, this was always going to be a long term project, but it looks like it was just pushed back a bit more. It sounds like there's a tin can full of ball bearings in the bellhousing of my Wrangler. I'm going to start on pulling the engine tonight to figure out if it's just the throwout bearing or something more serious.

Hey Red, Sorry to hear that, Was it a new clutch set when you made the conversion, or old? How much time and miles did it have since the conversion?

good luck, hopefully it is just a throwout bearing

All new, I think it's a bit over 20,000 miles since the swap.

I was going to wait until I had tested the results before posting what I'm doing, but I figure what the hell. This is kind of a hijack (of my own topic), but it is related in a way, because most of these are things that I need to test out for the RX7 build.

My Jeep's problem turned out to be an exhaust bracket hooked to the bellhousing that tore out of the pipe. I had all of the ancillaries removed by the time I discovered that, so I'm taking the time to do some major updates that I have been wanting to do for a while.

So far this is what I'm doing:

• Switching from 2.25" exhaust that crosses under the oil pan to 3" that goes straight back next to the transfer case
• Changing from a Saginaw power steering pump to an electric unit from a Volvo
• Changing to a water to air intercooler
• Moving the alternator from the passenger side to the stock engine bracket on the drivers side
• Replacing the crappy junkyard dipstick with a Kubota dipstick
• Installing a fluid damper
• Replacing the turbo oil return barb in the oil pan with a threaded bung
• Replace angled Astro Van master cylinder with flat mounted one

It will be another week or so before it's back on the road, then I'll probably take it down again at some point to have the exhaust ceramic coated after I'm sure that it works the way I want.

Some custom work was required for the water neck using a Volvo charge tube (a lot of Volvo parts on this) to extend the neck around the intercooler. I'm really happy with how that and the exhaust turned out.

Attachment 32761


Intercooler in final position, but just hanging from the couplings. I still need to build a support bracket.

Attachment 32762

Attachment 32763

Attachment 32764


The biggest heat exchanger that I could find/fit. Some trimming was required.

Attachment 32765


Positioning the power steering pump in it's new home.

Attachment 32766

nice . I am very very interested to know how the Volvo electric power steering works. How much $ did it set you back. There was a Volvo in my local upull it yard. I would really like to use E-power steering as well. I had only known about the Chevy Malibu and the Toyota MR-2 units. I don't think either of those would have worked

I think it was $145 shipped from a wrecker. The MR2 units are commanding a real premium since they're so well known. There are quite a few cars with them out there now, but the trick is to find the ones that don't require the CAN bus. The Volvo unit uses the CAN to vary with speed, etc. Without it the pump just runs at a set speed and freewheels when there is no demand. It pulls around 3 amps at startup, and peaks somewhere around 70 at full lock, but that's generally momentary. I think it's regulated to 1500PSI IIRC. I've heard it works great with a steering box and hydroboost, so I've got my fingers crossed...

I'm pretty sure the Malibu is a straight electric power steering.

yeah the Malibu would not work. $145 sounds good. 70 amps sounds bad. My little NPR alt vac pump I think is 70 amps wide open.
I don't need to put the cart before the horse. I need to get 2nd gen engine mounts and Oil pan sorted
on a side note. how do you get the pictures to show up big like that, all my pics I am using the manage attachments section?