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Merry Christmas peeps, and wish the best for your New Years!

Hello, My name is Johann and here is what I've been up to lately (SAS). I've been collecting parts for the swap for close to two years now. Mostly waiting on good deals on parts and tools. Recently I was gifted a motor picker, and that was one of the last tools I needed to start the swap. So about 4 days ago, it began. A few months ago I bought a 97 pathfinder for 300$US. It had shot wheel bearings up front, and as expected, very worn down suspension components up front. The ad had no pictures so I had no idea what i was going to go look at... As soon as I saw that is had a steel bumper, I knew I was buying it. Its a manual, and runs fine, other than suspension issues up front, which made it the perfect candidate for the SAS I've wanted to do for years. So soon after i acquired a hilux snorkel for free and mounted it to the r50 A few days ago I moved the big pathy (my green one) out of the shed, laid down some wood, and backed up the white one to be stripped down. It took about 5 hours, but I got the car way up on jacks (the jacks are welded to the rims and tires are flat) and removed the entire subframe. That subframe is WAY heavier than I thought! So the subframe is what holds the motor up, so to remove the subframe, I put a thick strap around the motor, and a jack under it (to hold it in place). Next I got the motor mounts I made and temporarily installed them to make sure they fit. I then decided that the frame was going to get reinforced anywhere that something was getting added. so I added a piece of steel behind it. These motor mounts were then welded in. I then did the same exact thing on the other side Once they were welded in, the motor was now being held up with no subframe! This was the hardest part so far because there was barely any space under the car with the jack in the way. Now with the jack out from under the car and with more space, I started cutting and removing all the old steering stuff. everything from the firewall up was removed. there are two little brackets holding the original steering bend box (90*, not sure the specific name for it). I cut those out with a reciprocating saw. once all the old was out of the way, I ground the "frame" down to raw metal (where the new jeep steering box would go) when I went to mom up the steering box, it wouldn't fit because the wheel well was blocking the back end from sitting on the rail, so I eyeballed it and cut a slot into the well to allow the box to sit. Once up, I mocked up some steel reinforcement plates to the frame, drilled them & the frame, and temporarily bolted up the box to make sure everything fit. Tomorrow the box will come back out so I can trim the reinforcement plates up to size better. Once they are trimmed up, the box will be mounted, plates tacked in, box removed and the rest of the plate will be welded in. I started tinkering with the shaft connecting the wheel to the steering box and am debating on how I am going to splice them together. Probably will cut to length, weld, sleeve, then weld the sleeve to both ends. Any better ideas? the left one is the jeep one, the right is the stock one. I need to connect the top piece from the left one (goes onto the steering box) with the bottom of the right one (goes into end of steering on r50)

LBJ-Lower ball joint Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Hmm, never considered that. Not sure why you would want or need performance brakes on a Pathfinder? But that's the great thing about having all the different parts available to do what appeals to you, and it doesn't have to make sense.

So today I did a little more work on the r50. I started off by making the steering link to go from the steering wheel to the Jeep steering box. I sleeved it with some SUPER thick tube, and drilled holes in the tube so I could weld in the holes. Once all welded I Painted it black and installed it. Next I welded up the steering box reinforcement plates I had a custom power steering line made at the "local" hydraulic shop. Runs from the r50 power steering pump to the Jeep steering box. The return line I just used hose clamps for, as that is what the original used on the jeep. I have to make a little retainer bracket to hold the "loop end" of the hose, so its not swinging around or rubbing onto anything. Ill bolt it onto one of the oil pan bolts. I rolled the axle underneath the car for the first time! as it sits, i'm content with how well things are lined up. I make a cardboard template for the trackbar bracket, but forgot to take a picture. More than likely ill get that all welded up and installed tomorrow. https://imgur.com/a/BuJnL26 Things left to do: cut out the trackbar bracket and weld it on, make/buy longer trackbar, weld on 4 link brackets, weld up 4 links, make coil buckets & frame reinforcements in that area, install custom brake lines & purge system. probably missing some stuff here and there, but its been a long week lol ALSO sorry that these pictures have been coming up sideways and upside down.... I haven't any idea how to fix that. Ill try a different website next time to get picture into a URL form. Pictures are too large to use the "drag files here to attach , or choose file" option. Sorry!