My '94 Hunter Green “No Compromises" Build

[jeepjoe43]

More Axle Stuff

On the AZ trip, I also met @jeepjoe43 who I sold my old empty Dana 30 to. He had a similar ideal in his mind that he could get my axle built while he drives around on his current one. Then once it's ready, just install right into place. During our exchange, he nicely gifted me a DV8 super swamper tread diff cover. Thanks Joe! I'll get a pic once it's installed. Amazon actually delivered my Lubelocker gaskets a few minutes ago so it'll be soon, hopefully today or tomorrow.

View attachment 117674

After getting home from the trip, I realized I have a hell of a lot of stuff to do! I got the 30 cleaned up some more, put it on some stands, and painted it with rust converter and VHT epoxy black paint. I don't need it to be beautiful, I just wanted it to look black and not rusty under the Jeep. The axle I sold Joe was black as can be, so I at least needed it to look like I wasn't downgrading myself lol.

View attachment 117669

With the help of my brother, I set the 30 up in place on the springs. Yesterday I rented a ball joint press and installed my 2 Spicer Ball Joint Kits. They went in perfectly. The knuckles that came with my front axle also were in pretty poor condition, but I installed them temporarily so I could get the Jeep on it's wheels again. With this recent axle adventure, I am going back to stock brakes and steering. No more WJ swap for me.

To complete the front, I ordered:

Pitman Arm Nut
Two steering knuckles
Two brake shields

Once I receive these I can hook everything up and go for a drive soon.

After getting the Dana 30 in place, I tried my luck with the Dana 44. Lo and behold, it fit the springs freakin' perfectly! I pulled the shims from the springs so I could take some pinion angle measurements. This axle was impossible to weld perfectly without the Jeep present, because the Dana 44 is longer at the pinion, which shortens my driveline, and the JB SYE uses a high clearance yoke, that shortens the driveline a bit. Not wanting to risk it and weld the pinion too high, we guesstimated a bit low on purpose. With no shims, the axle is at 11 degrees and the driveshaft at 24 degrees. According to Tom Wood's pinion angle calculator, with my 17" driveshaft, I need a 5 degree shim. This makes sense because as you rotate the axle, the pinion lifts up the driveshaft u-joint which means 1 degree of shim actually adjusts the angle difference by roughly 2 degrees (the exact amount depends on length of driveshaft). I went ahead and ordered some 5 degree shims from Tom.

View attachment 117667View attachment 117668



Even the shock mounts were 100% perfect. We managed to install them in such a way that the shock never hits the tube, yet is not too far forward to hit the fuel filter skid plate either. Thankfully, the YJ doesn't offer a lot of uptravel so it's not like the shocks have some crazy travel anyways, but it's still easy to be concerned when you can't do the welding in person. This actually worked out better anyways, the OME shocks don't allow much downtravel because they are pretty short. They never bottom out due to the YJ's lack of uptravel. The way we welded the shock mounts a bit higher actually allows the shock to travel all the way down and stops at the same time the suspension does, so no loss of downtravel now! The springs don't flex up enough to bottom out so no issues there regardless.

Once the degree shims arrive, I'll pull the 44, paint it, and take some pictures, especially of the spring perches and shock mounts. I am ecstatic with how well it fit. Patrick (the Arizona friend) is very good at this type of stuff so I wasn't too worried, but there's always that doubt when you don't have the vehicle with you to confirm. I'm very glad it all worked out and certainly glad to have his help and expertise with axle work.

To go with the 44, I ordered:

New Caliper Hoses
New Coated Rotors & Pads
New Parking brake shoes & hardware

The LJ axles use this funky combined hard and soft line hybrid, so I ordered a flaring tool and will cut and flare the line so I can install new hoses myself.

View attachment 117675

After the 44 Axle is done, I will be piecing my Dana 35 back together and hopefully selling it. It is a 4.10 ratio, setup and plumbed for disc brakes, and is overall a nice condition axle. It would make a good axle for someone with a mild build plan that wants disc brakes. I also have the super 35 shafts so it would make a good build for someone wanting to run a locker as well. I only ever changed plans because I decided I wanted a LSD instead of a locker out back.

Interior

Before I left, I ordered Bestop seat covers to go with the ACC carpet kit I had also ordered. Both arrived while I was gone, so those were nice to come home to. Only the rear Bestop seat cover arrived so I went ahead and got it installed. Not the tightest fit ever but seems like nice quality and will do the job. Certainly will clean up my ratty grey cloth seats a decent amount at least.

View attachment 117676

The carpet kit is extremely nice. This carpet is way thick, the mass backing adds a lot of thickness and weight. That will help it hold it's shape and not blow away in the wind. It also comes with jute padding adhered to large areas for extra noise isolation and comfort. It is charcoal color but turned out sort of brown. Not a big deal though, should look good in the Jeep and it certainly doesn't look as brown as the pictures.

View attachment 117671View attachment 117672View attachment 117673View attachment 117677

Glad you enjoyed the Zone, sounds like it was just as well you didn't go to Sedona.

Thanks for the props brother, may it serve you well! That's going to look good on a nice clean axle!
It never even saw mine.
And mad props to you for dragging that axle across the country for me.
I didn't get home in time to order any parts, got caught in holiday traffic, but not too bad.
And I decided to drive straight home and not drop it my buddies shop, it's still in the trunk of my hoopty.
But that's OK, because I love the smell of hypoid in the morning! lol

That is a nice looking carpet kit, BTW.
I'm sure pics don't do it justice.

Yeah I did, I didn’t get to see much sadly but it was cool nonetheless. Maybe someday I’ll make it back out that way. It sure is a long drive if you don’t have a reason to go out there though lol.

Looking forward to the cover in place, should look good.

I think that carpet will be really nice when done. It’s going to be a bit of a pain to install but will be worth it. Really will clean up the interior.

At this point I’m just itching for all the parts to ship so I can get done. I enjoy building the Jeep but I’m ready to stop for a while and just drive & enjoy it.

Wish you could have seen more, but a lot of it looks like that.
Can't imagine living anywhere else, though Summers are a bitch which makes Summer wheeling pretty much nocturnal.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished projects, you do indeed have a lot work ahead of you...
Glad we could contribute to one-another's builds, now that's how I define "A Jeep Thing"!

 

[machoheadgames]

Wish you could have seen more, but a lot of it looks like that.
Can't imagine living anywhere else, though Summers are a bitch which makes Summer wheeling pretty much nocturnal.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished projects, you do indeed have a lot work ahead of you...
Glad we could contribute to one-another's builds, now that's how I define "A Jeep Thing"!

Yeah, oh well. I saw a lot at least so that's good. It's starting to get real hot here, not looking forward to it. That's why I'm kind of starting to slow down on the YJ build. I want it done but why? It's going to be too hot to drive it until October anyways, so why rush. The only times to drive it in the next 4-5 months would be after 8 pm anyways.

I have a lot left but most of it will go quick thankfully. Once the brakes and such arrive probably end of the week, I'll get them installed and front axle will be 100% done. Then I can remove the rear, install the shims, paint the rear, reinstall with all the little parts that go with it, and then piece together the 35 so I can sell it. After that I'm basically done with all mechanical stuff so I could tidy up the garage, then tackle the rest of the insulation and carpet project. It's slowly getting there but I predict being able to take it around the block at least in around a week, but we'll see.

Agreed, glad we were able to make something work, that's what the forums are about.

 

[jeepjoe43]

More Axle Stuff

On the AZ trip, I also met @jeepjoe43 who I sold my old empty Dana 30 to. He had a similar ideal in his mind that he could get my axle built while he drives around on his current one. Then once it's ready, just install right into place. During our exchange, he nicely gifted me a DV8 super swamper tread diff cover. Thanks Joe! I'll get a pic once it's installed. Amazon actually delivered my Lubelocker gaskets a few minutes ago so it'll be soon, hopefully today or tomorrow.

View attachment 117674

After getting home from the trip, I realized I have a hell of a lot of stuff to do! I got the 30 cleaned up some more, put it on some stands, and painted it with rust converter and VHT epoxy black paint. I don't need it to be beautiful, I just wanted it to look black and not rusty under the Jeep. The axle I sold Joe was black as can be, so I at least needed it to look like I wasn't downgrading myself lol.

View attachment 117669

With the help of my brother, I set the 30 up in place on the springs. Yesterday I rented a ball joint press and installed my 2 Spicer Ball Joint Kits. They went in perfectly. The knuckles that came with my front axle also were in pretty poor condition, but I installed them temporarily so I could get the Jeep on it's wheels again. With this recent axle adventure, I am going back to stock brakes and steering. No more WJ swap for me.

To complete the front, I ordered:

Pitman Arm Nut
Two steering knuckles
Two brake shields

Once I receive these I can hook everything up and go for a drive soon.

After getting the Dana 30 in place, I tried my luck with the Dana 44. Lo and behold, it fit the springs freakin' perfectly! I pulled the shims from the springs so I could take some pinion angle measurements. This axle was impossible to weld perfectly without the Jeep present, because the Dana 44 is longer at the pinion, which shortens my driveline, and the JB SYE uses a high clearance yoke, that shortens the driveline a bit. Not wanting to risk it and weld the pinion too high, we guesstimated a bit low on purpose. With no shims, the axle is at 11 degrees and the driveshaft at 24 degrees. According to Tom Wood's pinion angle calculator, with my 17" driveshaft, I need a 5 degree shim. This makes sense because as you rotate the axle, the pinion lifts up the driveshaft u-joint which means 1 degree of shim actually adjusts the angle difference by roughly 2 degrees (the exact amount depends on length of driveshaft). I went ahead and ordered some 5 degree shims from Tom.

View attachment 117667View attachment 117668



Even the shock mounts were 100% perfect. We managed to install them in such a way that the shock never hits the tube, yet is not too far forward to hit the fuel filter skid plate either. Thankfully, the YJ doesn't offer a lot of uptravel so it's not like the shocks have some crazy travel anyways, but it's still easy to be concerned when you can't do the welding in person. This actually worked out better anyways, the OME shocks don't allow much downtravel because they are pretty short. They never bottom out due to the YJ's lack of uptravel. The way we welded the shock mounts a bit higher actually allows the shock to travel all the way down and stops at the same time the suspension does, so no loss of downtravel now! The springs don't flex up enough to bottom out so no issues there regardless.

Once the degree shims arrive, I'll pull the 44, paint it, and take some pictures, especially of the spring perches and shock mounts. I am ecstatic with how well it fit. Patrick (the Arizona friend) is very good at this type of stuff so I wasn't too worried, but there's always that doubt when you don't have the vehicle with you to confirm. I'm very glad it all worked out and certainly glad to have his help and expertise with axle work.

To go with the 44, I ordered:

New Caliper Hoses
New Coated Rotors & Pads
New Parking brake shoes & hardware

The LJ axles use this funky combined hard and soft line hybrid, so I ordered a flaring tool and will cut and flare the line so I can install new hoses myself.

View attachment 117675

After the 44 Axle is done, I will be piecing my Dana 35 back together and hopefully selling it. It is a 4.10 ratio, setup and plumbed for disc brakes, and is overall a nice condition axle. It would make a good axle for someone with a mild build plan that wants disc brakes. I also have the super 35 shafts so it would make a good build for someone wanting to run a locker as well. I only ever changed plans because I decided I wanted a LSD instead of a locker out back.

Interior

Before I left, I ordered Bestop seat covers to go with the ACC carpet kit I had also ordered. Both arrived while I was gone, so those were nice to come home to. Only the rear Bestop seat cover arrived so I went ahead and got it installed. Not the tightest fit ever but seems like nice quality and will do the job. Certainly will clean up my ratty grey cloth seats a decent amount at least.

View attachment 117676

The carpet kit is extremely nice. This carpet is way thick, the mass backing adds a lot of thickness and weight. That will help it hold it's shape and not blow away in the wind. It also comes with jute padding adhered to large areas for extra noise isolation and comfort. It is charcoal color but turned out sort of brown. Not a big deal though, should look good in the Jeep and it certainly doesn't look as brown as the pictures.

View attachment 117671View attachment 117672View attachment 117673View attachment 117677

Glad you enjoyed the Zone, sounds like it was just as well you didn't go to Sedona.

Thanks for the props brother, may it serve you well! That's going to look good on a nice clean axle!
It never even saw mine.
And mad props to you for dragging that axle across the country for me.
I didn't get home in time to order any parts, got caught in holiday traffic, but not too bad.
And I decided to drive straight home and not drop it my buddies shop, it's still in the trunk of my hoopty.
But that's OK, because I love the smell of hypoid in the morning! lol

That is a nice looking carpet kit, BTW.
I'm sure pics don't do it justice.

Yeah I did, I didn’t get to see much sadly but it was cool nonetheless. Maybe someday I’ll make it back out that way. It sure is a long drive if you don’t have a reason to go out there though lol.

Looking forward to the cover in place, should look good.

I think that carpet will be really nice when done. It’s going to be a bit of a pain to install but will be worth it. Really will clean up the interior.

At this point I’m just itching for all the parts to ship so I can get done. I enjoy building the Jeep but I’m ready to stop for a while and just drive & enjoy it.

Wish you could have seen more, but a lot of it looks like that.
Can't imagine living anywhere else, though Summers are a bitch which makes Summer wheeling pretty much nocturnal.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished projects, you do indeed have a lot work ahead of you...
Glad we could contribute to one-another's builds, now that's how I define "A Jeep Thing"!

Yeah, oh well. I saw a lot at least so that's good. It's starting to get real hot here, not looking forward to it. That's why I'm kind of starting to slow down on the YJ build. I want it done but why? It's going to be too hot to drive it until October anyways, so why rush. The only times to drive it in the next 4-5 months would be after 8 pm anyways.

I have a lot left but most of it will go quick thankfully. Once the brakes and such arrive probably end of the week, I'll get them installed and front axle will be 100% done. Then I can remove the rear, install the shims, paint the rear, reinstall with all the little parts that go with it, and then piece together the 35 so I can sell it. After that I'm basically done with all mechanical stuff so I could tidy up the garage, then tackle the rest of the insulation and carpet project. It's slowly getting there but I predict being able to take it around the block at least in around a week, but we'll see.

Agreed, glad we were able to make something work, that's what the forums are about.

I got a kick out of @SirDoopYJ's I'm not worthy comment.
But that's what we do here..Even for the newbies.
Especially for the the newbies! lol Me included, being new to the YJ platform.

 

[machoheadgames]

More Axle Work

Not too exciting stuff, still working through small details of the axle swaps. Today I received my 5-degree pinion shims from Tom Wood. They were perfect! My driveshaft is now at 19 degrees and the pinion is at 16 degrees. Usually you want around 3 degrees of difference on leaf springs, maybe 2 on stiff springs. My springs are really damn soft being OME, so worst case if 3 is not enough, I will swap to the 4-degree shims and my difference would then be around 5 degrees from shaft to pinion. I'll know if I'm good or not after some driving, but I do think I'll be good this way. I was running 4 degrees difference on the Dana 35 (stock perch and 8-degree shims is the best I could do) and it was good for the limited driving I did.

Some pics of the shims in place and the new driveline angle:

I decided to order some RockJock leaf spring skid plates. I got one kit of each 9031F (front) and 9031B (rear). They're super beefy and nice to have for protecting the u-bolts, plus they never bend when you torque the u-bolt nuts like many leaf spring plates do. Those should be here in a few days as well as two new u-bolt kits. Once those arrive, I will yank the rear, paint it, put it back in place with the new bolts and skid plates, hook up the shocks, and set it back on the wheels. Only things left from that point will be changing the parking brake shoes, refreshing the pads/rotors/calipers, and installing new brake lines and hoses. When I paint the axle I will freshen up the diff cover and install the 44 Lubelocker gasket.

Now that I'm back to stock style steering, I went ahead and installed my Rubicon Express drop pitman arm. When I went to torque the nut to 185, the threads on the nut gave out. Guess that nut was done for. Ordered a new Lares nut/washer from RockAuto and got it today, torqued just fine thankfully. Glad that old nut didn't mess up the pitman shaft threads; they were still perfect. I'm still running the stock box.

Drag link angle looks okay with the drop pitman arm. It's a little steeper than I like but I'll live with it. Maybe eventually I'll play with a super drop pitman arm from a Grand Cherokee and see if it's even better. For now, this will do. Diff cover is still not on because I need to clean up the vent hole and find a vent to install. Going to try this write-up from the TJ forum and see how it works. Should be better than that plastic piece of junk. After that I'll put Joe's diff cover on.

Now that I'm back to stock steering, I can also hook up the sway bar disconnects, so I got that done this morning. Should handle a lot better now.

Things are moving along! More to come soon.

 

[machoheadgames]

Front Brakes!

Well I received a good bit of stuff today. Steering knuckles came in, as well as my Dana 30 metal breather, some brake line clips, and some rear hoses and rotors/pads. Today I focused on the front.

Thankfully a Jeep's front end is quite easy and quick to disassemble. I had the right front torn down and rebuilt in probably 45 minutes. Teardown was easy, rebuild is as simple as install the knuckle, torque the lower to 80, upper to 75, install cotter pins, hang the brake shield on the unit bearing bolts, install unit bearing/axle shaft, bolt it down & torque the 3 bolts to 75, install the rotors, bolt the caliper and torque caliper bolts to 12 ft lbs, then install the wheels.

A couple pics of the setup:

In the past I had actually reworked the brake lines for the WJ swap. The WJ swap places the brake line hole way at the bottom of the large WJ caliper, as well as an unnatural angle, which means you need a super long hose to make it work. With the upper ball joint sticking up, the shock in the way, etc, it's hard to get a good routing for brake lines. So what I did in the past was use Rubicon Express's hardline coupler extensions, which I routed down and around behind the shock and mounted to a 90-degree tab bracket. I then used a long hose and made a C shape from the bracket, down around the shock and curved down to the caliper.

Since I went back to stock calipers today, I wanted a good brake hose solution. I chose to use the stock-but-longer hoses sold by Raybestos. They are located here, items BH384248 & BJ384249. They are literally exactly like stock (hybrid metal line at the caliper combined with a flex rubber hose), except the rubber portion is 4" longer for lift. Perfect. So I deleted the RE coupler extensions and now I'm mounted back exactly like stock, but longer for the 3" of lift I have.

Clears the shock and ball joints perfectly turned in either direction...

Got a good line routing and plenty of tire clearance as well. I am fully pleased.

I stupidly ordered two right hand brake shields so I'm now waiting to complete the left side until I receive the new shield (and I also need to return the extra right side). I went ahead and installed the new knuckle on the left side and got the cotter pins in and such, so the install will be really quick once I receive the shield. I also got the brake hose changed so it will hook straight up to the caliper once I dig in and do the work all at once.

I also received my metal axle breather, so we are going to try that one out probably tomorrow. I plan to clean up the breather hole with some WD40 and a Q-tip. It's pretty messy still, it was hard to clean when I cleaned the rest of the axle.

After I get the breather and the rest of the front brakes installed, and the u-bolts/skid plates installed, I will officially be done with the front axle. Oh, and I still need to install the diff cover. I will do that after I get the breather installed.

The rear rotors and pads came in today, but I'm not going to mess with them until the axle has been painted and put back in place. The rear axle is going to take some time to complete, because I need to figure out a brake line solution. I think I'm going to have Blaine at Black Magic bend/flare me some stainless lines with gravel guard. It will be easy because he can just bend them to stock specs and ship, then I can install. I received the hoses that mate those to the calipers, so it should be painless. We're getting closer and closer to driving, each painfully slow day at a time.

 

[machoheadgames]

Motor Mount Brackets

I have been freakin' busy with the YJ the last five weeks. The axle swaps took a while to get fully set up especially with waiting on shipping for fluids, parts, etc. I'll update that aspect of this thread soon.

As for today, I installed some 4.0L engine brackets from StinkyFab Racing. These things are some quality beef! Previously I was running the Brown Dog brackets and while I was fine with them, these are better...the fitment was better, gold plate vs paint is better (gold plate doesn't peel off and clump up under bolt heads!), smooth rounded edges vs square corners (looks better, less homemade), and the SFRs allow for factory coil bracket to stay in place. The brown dog's bolt sleeves are too long and go all the way to the engine block. This is not an issue, but it means that you have to move the bracket to the outside of the engine bracket, and then mount the coil differently. Just kind of a pain if you can avoid it. SFR leaves a 1/8" gap between the coil bolt sleeves and the engine block so that this bracket can be sandwiched. Much better.

The only other thing to know is that these are built to accommodate the XJ alternator bracket, which is 5/8" thick. On a YJ, the lower alternator bracket is sandwiched instead, but it is 3/8" thick, leaving a 1/4" gap on both bolt holes between the alt bracket and the SFR bracket. This can be fixed by purchasing four 1/8" thick 3/8" washers. They are "extra thick" washers sold at Ace. You can see them in the passenger side pics. There are two other locations where thick washers need to be used but the instructions outline those and they are included.

I highly recommend disconnecting the battery, pulling the ignition to distributor wire, and removing the belt/alternator. Some of the bolts are very hard to get to otherwise. Also, I jacked up the engine with a 2x4 standing vertically on the jack, pushing up on the harmonic balancer. Worked perfectly. In the past I have used the oil pan with a block of wood and sometimes it dents it, so I don't recommend that method.

Motor Mounts

For now I mounted these to my old brown dog mounts. I have ordered MORE's bomb proof rubber 1" MML mounts to replace with which should be here in two days. If I'm not happy with MORE's mounts, I will order up the SFR supersoft poly mounts which are supposed to be great too. Only downside to those is they are only standard height which means buying a MML lift block kit. We'll see how these do. I'm glad at least the brackets are installed and done and now I just need to figure out what mounts will be permanent.

The old brackets will be up for sale eventually if anyone is interested. The bolts are old and nasty so I'm thinking they will be sold without hardware, which is easy to obtain.

Driver's Side Brackets:

Passenger's Side Brackets

 

[machoheadgames]

Motor Mounts

Finally got my motor mounts in from MORE! These things are beef....They are for certain a stronger, beefier design than brown dog. Whether either of them would actually ever fail, I highly doubt it. I really like the zinc plating, and also that they use nice thick rubber Clevite brand bushings which should be good quality.

Got them swapped tonight and all torqued down. Since you basically need to remove the alternator for all this work to be much easier, I had removed the alternator previously for the brackets and kept it out of the way for today. After the mounts were done, I got the alternator, coil, etc all back in place and tightened down.


Finished Driver's Side

Finished Passenger Side

I hadn't reinstalled the radiator, fan, fan clutch, belt, etc. ever since I did the big timing cover/oil pan/clutch swap. I wanted to make sure I was done with all the other under hood crap before I reassembled everything. So, after getting the mounts and alternator back in place, I put the fan, radiator and shroud back together. I'll fill and bleed the coolant this weekend.

The tasks left to start driving are really dwindling....

• Change brake booster and master cylinder
• bleed all brakes
• fill coolant
• new belt
• reassemble interior

Then....

• General Grabber X3 33x10.5R15 (Installed onto AR23 Rims)
• JW Speaker 8910
• Possibly Vanco big Brake Kit

It's getting there, in baby steps. I need to get it rolling so I can do the inspection and renew it.

 

[jeepjoe43]

Mikey likey, those are Good looking mounts!
I fabbed something very similar for the old flatty using Chevy spring bushings when I swapped in the 2.0 Ford.
UN-Breakable.
This is the mock-up on the Mk II.

Tall Skinnys too, I like it!
Not a thing wrong with Grabbers, the're good tires.

 

[machoheadgames]

Mikey likey, those are Good looking mounts!
I fabbed something very similar for the old flatty using Chevy spring bushings when I swapped in the 2.0 Ford.
UN-Breakable.
This is the mock-up on the Mk II.
View attachment 117930

Tall Skinnys too, I like it!
Not a thing wrong with Grabbers, the're good tires.

I hope they work as well as they look! Hoping for reduced vibrations (still more than stock I'm sure) but with much more security of the driveline than stock. Brown dog gave me the security but not as much vibe isolation. We'll see. If I can crank it up this weekend then that will give me a decent first impression. I also went back to an OE rubber trans mount which should help too. The aftermarket Anchor brand and all the aftermarket poly's were all too stiff and viby.

Nice work on your custom mounts. That is above my pay grade for sure. I am a pay the piper and bolt on guy as far stuff like that is concerned lol. Mainly because I know options exist. If there weren't good options, I might dabble in crafting up stuff for myself.

I am looking forward to the Grabbers. I got the ATX version on my truck and I really like them so far. The X3 is the only one GG sells in 33x10.5, but since this will be a nice-weather-only driver, I don't think an MT will be a bad choice and they will perform well offroad. If I were still driving it in rain and storms and such, I'd be going with an all terrain hands down.

 

[machoheadgames]

Miscellaneous

Today I made some progress, and unsurprisingly, took a step backwards. I stopped at AutoZone on my way home from work and picked up some good ole Champion copper spark plugs (OEM - RC12LYC - "412"). I was installing them, everything going smoothly, then the last spark plug wire pulled apart. Damn it. I've ordered a new set of plug wires from the Mopar dealer (I prefer OEM for spark plug wires). I was hoping to crank it up this weekend but oh well, I'll wait until tuesday now.

I can't tell if I have a problem here or not. These are roughly 5 year old spark plugs that were in for maybe 20K miles and 5 years. They were only driven the first year and a half. They are Autolite XP985 iridium. They are arranged cylinder 6 to 1 from left to right, and 6 looks worse to me than the others. Wondering if I have a bad injector or something. I plan to change the injectors soon, just not quite sure what I'll change them to yet.

I also picked up a Continental brand belt (derived from the old Goodyear Gatorback belts) while I was at AutoZone. The belt is a belt, I'm not going to say it's amazing as it will do what it needs to do. However, it has a nice touch, a very grippy backside for extra grip on the smooth pulleys like the fan/water pump pulley. Never seen that before, I bet it works well.

I was looking at my radiator (6 years old, Canadian built rebranded Spectra marketed as "Napa" at Napa) and noticed this crap in the top. Not sure what to do. I'm tempted to fill the system with a cleaner like thermocure. Then after running that stuff, drain it, change the radiator and water pump, and refill with fresh coolant. I don't want to install a nice new radiator with the engine not being flushed first. I'll probably do the first option, just tired of buying parts and don't really want to buy a radiator, especially the Mopar TJ radiator I would like to buy.

Overall, semi successful day. Got the new spark plugs all in, just need to get my wire set on Tuesday. After that I can hook up the hoses, fill up the coolant (and probably thermocure), give it a quick crank to see how it runs, and maybe take it for a drive. The spark plug wires bring me to sort of a standstill, but I can at least hook up the hoses and fluids and stuff this weekend so it won't be a complete waste. I can also get a new air filter and upper radiator, as well as bleed the brakes I 'spose.

 

[jeepjoe43]

Interesting, I noticed that too on the new belt I installed a year ago, though I didn't pay much mind to it.
Just figured a belt is a belt...Mine works well.

 

[machoheadgames]

Interesting, I noticed that too on the new belt I installed a year ago, though I didn't pay much mind to it.
Just figured a belt is a belt...Mine works well.

Yeah at the end of the day it’s a belt lol. Just thought it was an interesting improvement compared to my old belt that was completely smooth backed. Never had trouble with that one so I certainly don’t expect any issues here either.

 

[machoheadgames]

Axle Project & Miscellaneous Recap

Alright, well here is a catchup on the axle project. After my journey to Arizona, I came back and got the axles installed and the transfer case. It was a lot of work, I had to measure the pinion angle, pull the axles back out to paint, reinstall to do the brakes, etc. Lots of back and forth, slow progress.

I shipped my driveshaft off to Adams for them to tell me my length was actually fine and that due to the length it was, it would actually cost money to modify to the proper length, and that I can actually live just fine with the length that it is, especially since YJs aren't stuffing the axle super tight up into the Jeep. I still have 1.5" compression which would be nuts to accomplish that much on a YJ, especially since it takes way more than that in the suspension travel to compress the driveshaft that amount.

The brakes were an interesting struggle. Everything went together fine but the parking brake cables for the disc setup were a bitch. In the past, I've used Teraflex cables when I did the D35 disc brake swap. They worked perfectly. This time around, they wouldn't clip to my axle backing plates. so I ordered cables from MORE, which fit ok but one was too long and the MOREs don't come with return springs, so they like to sag when the parking brake is not set. Not ideal. I returned both MORE and Tera. I ordered up some rough trail (basically crown brand) which is pretty much against my Crown stance, but they looked to be quality in the pics and they were actually decent. They clipped into place, had very beefy retainer clips so they will never come out of place, and they were almost the right lengths. One is a bit longer than the other but I can make it work. I just need to adjust one parking brake side tighter than the other and it'll live that way just fine.

I decided to go with brand new Spicer diff covers for both the 44 and the 30. The 44 was nicer, it came with a really beefy cube style plug that you can use a crescent wrench on. the D30 uses the factory style 3/8" drive, which is not as handy, but it'll do. I painted them with VHT epoxy paint which just does an absolutely fabulous job. It comes out very smooth and glossy, looks very sharp.

The Detroit TrueTracs prefer conventional gear oil, with NO limited slip additive (sounds backwards because they are limited slip differentials). Since they are gear driven and not clutch driven, the limited slip additive can actually hinder their ability to bias and differentiate properly, which can make them less affective. I decided to get Currie's GL6 (GL5 backwards compatible) 85W-140 fluid. My Revolution gears prefer 85W-140 conventional, Currie confirmed this fluid is perfect for TrueTracs (they use it specifically on them), and so I ordered up 8 quarts (I have some spares now). Got the axles filled up with my fluid pump and called it good.

I reinstalled the transfer case and filled it up with some ATF as that's what the factory calls for. I've heard motor oil also works but since ATF is what I know, it's what I use. I filled up the trans with about 3.5 quarts out of my gallon of Redline MT90.

After my engine oopsie, I got the oil pan back on and the system filled. The engine runs great. I filled the cooling system with a bottle of thermocure and water to clean out the block once I start running it. Sadly I noticed an oil leak at the bellhousing, so I will probably be draining the pan once again so I can remove it and inspect.....I think the oil pan gasket got out of line in the rear, but I'm really not sure. So hard to see up there when everything is in place.

I got the MORE rubber motor mounts in (shown a few posts up), they seem really nice. I really like the StinkyFab brackets too, very beefy. The engine idles nicely and doesn't seem to pass too many vibes. More than stock which is expected, but I'm okay with that given how secure they hold the driveline. Running an OEM mopar trans mount helps with the vibes too.

Did a quick tuneup with new Champion 412 coppers and new Mopar ignition wiring. I only changed the 5 year old, low mile wires because one of them broke. I kept the others as spares. They are all in good condition except the broken one, which I tossed.

I'm still in the middle of dealing with the interior. I haven't finished the sound deadening mat, mainly because of laziness and I got busy with all the other projects after the Arizona trip. I've finally re cleaned up most of the interior so I can resume laying mat and taping all the joints. then I can try to figure out the carpet situation. The carpet will not be a fun install, lots of custom holes I have to make and it is hot outside, so won't be enjoyable. Anyways, I need to finish the sound mat, install the carpet, reinstall the new seats (they have seat covers on them now), put back my dash wiring, reinstall the new console, and reassembly the dash panels. Here are the seat covers. They are baggy, but they will at least preserve the stock stuff while I figure out a more long term solution (probably reupholstering the stock seats eventually).

The general checklist to get moving:

-Reattach steering damper and tighten all front steering components
-change booster/master & bleed brakes
-reassemble interior and install carpet
-figure out oil leak
-get an inspection
-renew registration

Technically it's now drivable, just need to tighten up the few steering nuts and bolts from when I adjusted the drag link. It probably needs to get an alignment and definitely needs new steering components but it will work for now. The only reason I'm not driving it is the torn apart interior and the oil leak. When I pulled the distributor, I forgot to change that gasket so I need to do that, and also check out the oil pan gasket again. I don't think it's the RMS, seems to leak too fast and too much for that.

On the plus side, with the new wide timing chain and other components, it idles better than it has in a long time. We'll see if the wonky low idle is gone soon or not. I sure hope so. The clutch pedal feels like a million bucks, it is a dream. the transfer case is shifting good as well which is nice since I did the rebuild.

Overall progress is happening and it is only a small matter of time before I am finally whipping this thing around town! I'm ready to pop some wheelies with the 4.88's and temporary 31's.

Here's a video of her purring after I got oil pumping through it again.

Just chilling, waiting on me to finish up my work!

 

[jeepjoe43]

Nice to hear it running Brother!!!
Man you have been into Everything, I can relate to that with the flatty, but at about a 1/3rd of scale.
And I thought I was a perfectionist..
Granted, a flatty and a YJ correlate about like a mini-bike to a Gold Wing!
The sad thing is, no one but you, me and anyone following this post will have a clue as to the work you've done.
But that's OK, like I've said, if you're building a Jeep to impress someone else, you're building it for the Wrong reason.
Yours is clearly a passion for the machine, as is mine.
Keep up the Good fight!
I learn something new from you on every post.

 

[machoheadgames]

Nice to hear it running Brother!!!
Man you have been into Everything, I can relate to that with the flatty, but at about a 1/3rd of scale.
And I thought I was a perfectionist..
Granted, a flatty and a YJ correlate about like a mini-bike to a Gold Wing!
The sad thing is, no one but you, me and anyone following this post will have a clue as to the work you've done.
But that's OK, like I've said, if you're building a Jeep to impress someone else, you're building it for the Wrong reason.
Yours is clearly a passion for the machine, as is mine.
Keep up the Good fight!
I learn something new from you on every post.

Thanks! At this point, yeah I basically have altered every single area in some way. Really my “keep it simple” name is pretty much a farce, but it stemmed from when I bought the Jeep. When I bought the Jeep, I wanted to keep it somewhat OEM+. Keep the stock design as much as possible, just improve and upgrade where I see fit. I mostly did that; but it seemed like everything I touched made the Jeep worse in some way. Especially when it was a daily and I truly just didn’t have time to dig into every system. Everything was a time crunch so I was fighting the clock and if the results were worse afterwards, I was stuck until the next time I could mess with it. So that is why I’m such a picky bastard now as I go through it. But that is where the keep it simple thing comes from, and for the most part, it is still OEM+. I try to make everything look like it could have maybe come from the factory a certain way. Doesn’t always work out but that’s the goal. Some things on the other hand are not stock looking at all and are way over complicated. It is what it is.

I’m just tired of the years of driving it with imperfections so I’m trying to finally nip those all in the bud lol. I am looking forward to when this forum grows, not so much so people can look at my build but I like to look at others for ideas of things I haven’t thought of. And of course, it’s fun to have others appreciate your own stuff too so that is cool even if it isn’t the goal.

I think I’m going to finish up the interior tomorrow if I can (minus carpet) tape all the butyl joints and reinstall the seats. I might be able to take it for a drive. I want to see how it does now. The only thing bugging me about buttoning up thf interior is I still haven’t received my damn tuffy radio delete panel, so whatever I button back up, I’m going to have to take right back apart later when that panel comes.

i also still need to terminate my extended radio wiring that I ran to the console so I can plug it into my radio. I also need a longer antenna cable and figure out a routing for it.

 

[jeepjoe43]

Thanks! At this point, yeah I basically have altered every single area in some way. Really my “keep it simple” name is pretty much a farce, but it stemmed from when I bought the Jeep. When I bought the Jeep, I wanted to keep it somewhat OEM+. Keep the stock design as much impossible, just improve and upgrade where I see fit. I mostly did that; but it seemed like everything I touched made the Jeep worse in some way. Especially when it was a daily and I truly just didn’t have time to dig into every system. Everything was a time crunch so I was fighting the clock and if the results were worse afterwards, I was stuck until the next time I could mess with it. So that is why I’m such a picky bastard now as I go through it. But that is where the keep it simple thing comes from, and for the most part, it is still OEM+. I try to make everything look like it could have maybe come from the factory a certain way. Doesn’t always work out but that’s the goal. Some things on the other hand are not stock looking at all and are way over complicated. It is what it is.

I’m just tired of the years of driving it with imperfections so I’m trying to finally nip those all in the bud lol. I am looking forward to when this forum grows, not so much so people can look at my build but I like to look at others for ideas of things I haven’t thought of. And of course, it’s fun to have others appreciate your own stuff too so that is cool even if it isn’t the goal.

I think I’m going to finish up the interior tomorrow if I can (minus carpet) tape all the butyl joints and reinstall the seats. I might be able to take it for a drive. I want to see how it does now. The only thing bugging me about buttoning up thf interior is I still haven’t received my damn tuffy radio delete panel, so whatever I button back up, I’m going to have to take right back apart later when that panel comes.

i also still need to terminate my extended radio wiring that I ran to the console so I can plug it into my radio. I also need a longer antenna cable and figure out a routing for it.

Can I relate to that!

 

[machoheadgames]

Decided to start digging into this damn oil leak. If you all recall, I changed the RMS, clutch, timing chain/cover, buttoned it back up, had no oil pressure, fixed that, oil pan back on, leaked. So this will be the third time dropping the oil pan. Luckily it is quite easy, I just hate doing it because it's 1) more work that Iv'e already done which I hate redoing shit...2) I have to pay for new gaskets and oil every time and 3) I want to focus on other stuff.

So anyways, I want to get this done and fixed for good, or at least until the RMS requires I drop the pan in the future hopefully not less than 5 years from now. We'll see.

I drained the oil pan, yanked the starter, and then dropped the pan. Takes about 30 minutes so not too bad. I'm seeing lots of wetness where the gasket was touching the block. I'm thinking I either didn't get the gasket perfectly lined up, or I forgot to clean the wet surface of the block before I put the pan up last time. Not sure, but I ordered another Victor Reinz (Dana) gasket, and will make sure I get that surface dry as the desert before I go to install this time. gasket should be here in two days so hopefully more progress then. The oil leak is really the only thing keeping me from putting gas in it and going for a spin. I don't want leaky oil to get picked up by the back of the flywheel and slung around until it drips onto my very expensive clutch and flywheel. So I'll update after I get the pan back on, filled, and tested.

 

[machoheadgames]

Oil Leak

Well, finally received the new oil pan gasket yesterday. Got it installed and cranked the Jeep up. I actually went ahead and backed it into the driveway. That was the first time it has moved under it's own power in probably a year. Kind of exciting.

It looked purty out there.

I let it idle for probably 15 minutes. It didn't overheat, so I guess I did a good job of filling the cooling system properly. It was leaking at the radiator cap so I guess the 7 year old cap is finally dying. Either that or the radiator is going bad. That cap is pretty nasty so I'm going to guess it's the cap.

I did notice a light burning smell but I'm thinking it's probably grease and stuff from my hands handling the exhaust. Nothing is melting or smoking and it smells like when new exhaust parts get used for the first time. I'll monitor it but I don't think I have any real problems. Probably just need to go for a few drives to get the smell and whatever residue, burned away.

After letting it idle a while I pulled it back in the garage and shut it off to let it sit. 30 minutes later I checked the bellhousing to see if any more oil was collecting, and there was a tiny amount but I'm thinking it was residual from the previous leak. I wiped it clean and it never built back up, even after starting the engine again for a minute or two last night, as well as a minute or two today with revving the engine some. Really hoping this is the last of oil issues.

Small bit of residue (I had touched it some so it isn't as visible as it was)

No oil residue today

A few things I noticed when moving it, I got the parking brake WAY too tight. I have to gas the hell out of it to get it moving, so I need to back those parking shoes off. I also need to buy a new steering stabilizer for the hardware. Still need to tighten a few steering link bolts and nuts, and officially go for a drive. I think we're getting closer.

I have to say I really like the feel of the Jeep idling with the MORE motor mounts. They are stiffer than stock due to less rubber, but definitely better than the Brown Dogs. They're prettier too (not that it matters) with their zinc plate coating that matches the SFR brackets. I can handle the slightly extra vibes for MUCH more firm drivetrain placement than stock. And still better than the brown dogs I was used to so win win all around.

 

[jeepjoe43]

Nice, like to hear progress being made!
Especially after so much dedication and hard work.
As I know you are all too well aware of, Jeeps are a 2 step forward 1 step back affair and sometimes you just break even.
At least that's been my experience.
But when you DO get there, it's all worth it!

 

[machoheadgames]

Nice, like to hear progress being made!
Especially after so much dedication and hard work.
As I know you are all too well aware of, Jeeps are a 2 step forward 1 step back affair and sometimes you just break even.
At least that's been my experience.
But when you DO get there, it's all worth it!

Lol for sure it is nice to have progress. Surely hope it’s not fake progress and that I find the leak again after running it more we’ll see. I’m just glad it starts up after all this time, good oil pressure with the new pump, and it sounds just like it always did. Revved it up and it sounded exactly as I remember from all the years of driving it.

Crazy how loud that 4.0 can be when reviving it in the garage.