Recent content by Plastic Fury

I never came back to post a final update. This swap went very smoothly. I figured mechanically it would be pretty straight forward and it was. After removing the auto trans and all the related brackets underneath to hold the shifter linkage in place, re-installing the new clutch/flywheel and...

It would definitely work in reverse. Easy to remove the gauge panels and then just tape them out the same way, cut them and peel away the centers. I actually need to do the same on my tach/speedo panel as the tach has an area like that where the black paint is worn away and needs to be sprayed...

lol I wouldn't mind at all, if you were closer. I grabbed the original bezel that came with my Sahara, it was damaged so I used the one from my old Jeep which was black. Just wanted to show you how I taped it out. You could use a burnishing tool but I just use my fingernail and there is a nice...

Thank you!

Oh gotcha. I used blue painters tape and my thumbnail to burnish the edges around the black bezels. Then an x-acto hobby razor to cut around that shape. It worked pretty well. I think my lines are cleaner than they were from Chrysler. I've had a lot of years of painting R/C car bodies, models...

Around the windows?

It was a nice day in Daytona today, a good day to be out in the garage. I wanted to get these vinyls done today. Overall it went pretty smoothly. Trying to get all the segments lined up straight and even with each other was definitely working my OCD lol. I am happy with the outcome and it's...

It's a pretty close match. I'd say like 98% maybe? If you look at the dash picture, the steering wheel, horn button, top dash pad and the metal dash frame are all still original. The two gauge clusters, glove box, door panels and center console are all painted SEM Camel and then Rustoleum matte...

Thank you. The glove box is an aftermarket "vault" style steel glove box that locks. I think it was a Smittybuilt or something. It is powdercoated black and I decided to paint most of it with the Sem Camel to match better with the rest of the dash. The radio I just bought, it's just a JVC...

The door mirrors and wipers were in pretty rough shape as well. Spent some time cleaning them up and removing the corrosion that had them seized up tight. SEM Trim black makes them look like factory new again along with some Rustoleum matte clear. Up next is restoring the Sahara decals...

The interior needed some freshening up as the door panels were bleached quite a bit from the sun. The new rebuilt manual tilt column was black that I pulled from the yard and the center dash bezel was damaged. The center gauge panel was also damaged and none of them worked. I ordered a used...

Yes, the metal rails are a transfer case drop kit, the pucks are the same thing. Probably came with the lift kit when it was installed. You won't need the t-case drop when you are running the SYE, especially with the new Adams driveshaft. You will want to make sure the drive shaft is angled up...

Thankfully the wiring on this Jeep had been basically untouched save for the radio harness. Pretty common of course. My previous YJ had an absolutely butchered harness with wire nuts and whatnot. It was a real mess. This one is the opposite of that one for sure. This jeep came with an old...

Given the condition of the "coolant" that was in this engine and how much sludge and rust I found in the block, I knew the whole coolant system was in need of replacement. The rubber hoses were coated with rust, when you squeezed them, they crunched. I figured the heater core was going to be...

The engine harness is the same for both the automatic and manual YJ's except for a small jumper that is just above the transmission. Thanks to Machoheadgames help, I made a new jumper that allows the manual trans to activate the reverse lights and start the vehicle. I forgot to take a picture of...