No Bitchin and Moaning, just some tech

[gripguru]

Well it has been three years since I really did anything to the jeep, but it is time.
The rig works really good, but there is always room for improvement.
Ideally I would sell the jeep and build a buggy, but after 7mos and no bites here on Pirate, I committed myself to working on it.

Plans:
Swap in an Automatic Tranny - done
Custom Motor Mounts - done
Custom Tranny Mount - done
Replace the bashed oilpan - done
Replace/relocate the downtube for the exhaust - done
Skin the grill - integrate with rad hoop - ditched the idea
Tubework - almost done
Cage - almost done
Corner guards - included with tubework
LED tailights (they will finally match each other)

Before:

[gripguru]

Teardown.

Pulled the fenders, grill, motor, tranny, and tcase.

[gripguru]

The main motivation - Automatic Tranny.

I have replaced the clutch twice this past year, so I have decided on the automatic. I guess I will have to learn to drive again, but there are some great reasons for this swap. The AW4 tranny that I decided upon, is a very dependable tranny. It bolts on to my motor and tcase, no adapters needed. It is electronically controlled by a standalone computer, but I found a way to bypass that. BrettM from here on the board has an electronic module that replaces the computer and allows manual control of the gears while in drive. There is a rotary knob that selects drive gears 1 thru 4 and a flip switch to control the torque converter lockup. It is a standalone control box for the electronics of this tranny. AWESOME PRODUCT. Check out his website as I have seen it evolve from scratch over the past year and a half. I will install a floor shifter to select park, reverse, neutral, and drive. Once in drive, i switch gears with the control module and the rotary knob.

So out goes the AX-15 (sold it )

and got my hands on an AW4 out of a 96XJ with 74K mi

[gripguru]

Progress:
Got my rear main seal replaced for the motor


Put the new oil pan on


I also got the auto bolted up to the motor but still need to bolt the torque converter to the flexplate when I can turn the motor.



Created cardboard templates for the driver side motor mount. It will be overkill, but should work great. Dropped the templates off at HBRK to have them plasma the steel out to match my templates.

[gripguru]

got the motor mount and shock tower ground off of the frame:




Began fabricating the new motor mount:

[fubar73cj5]

Jeep tech in the Jeep forum? Hallelfawkinlujah!

Looks good

Seems like Jeep forum is for diagnosing rough idles and locating new soft tops, not everything but a lot of the posts anyways. I may even have to do some write ups this winter on what I've done. Nothing major but would be nice to see some things being BUILT

Keep us posted

[Jam Master Jay]

This looks like a great project. I'm definitely going to keep tuned in. Thanks for sharing with everyone.

[78jeepstang]

Nice looking project, that motor mount looks wicked! Can't wait to see more progress pics of it (well the whole project that is!)

[gripguru]

Originally Posted by 78jeepstang

Nice looking project, that motor mount looks wicked! Can't wait to see more progress pics of it (well the whole project that is!)

well here you go:

got the motor mount completed:



got the tranny controller in the mail:

[gripguru]

I also pulled the steering apart to diagnose the slop. I found the plastic bushing in the column just outside the firewall was shattered, so the shaft was loose in the column. There was no slip allowed in the steering shaft, as it was frozen up, and the pitman arm is still located directly above the diff. I will cut out the round crossmember, tuck the steering box up into the frame, which will flatten the draglink and fix the stuff listed above.

[Tide612]

nice looking truck.

[BamaJeeper]

That oilpan looks like it has a smaller sump than what's on a 4.0L. Is it a 4.2L pan?
Why did you change the mounts?

[2nuts4u]

nice project! i definetly want too here how your tranny works with that manual shift. very nice tech!

[gripguru]

Originally Posted by BamaJeeper

That oilpan looks like it has a smaller sump than what's on a 4.0L. Is it a 4.2L pan?
Why did you change the mounts?

Yes, its an earlier 4.2 pan, smaller sump, with skid plate tacked on. My jeep has the 4.2, as it is a 90. The driver side mount has broken 4 times, mostly the grade 8 bolts snapping in the block. The leverage that these motors have against the mounts is WAY too much. I would have run the MORE mounts, but there is a broken easy out in one of the mount holes, that aint coming out. This design was my best 2nd choice. I plan to have a very similar crossmember for the tranny, a solid mount with sleeved bushings at the frame.

[gripguru]

fun this weekend so far

Mounted the bender to the sidewalk



bent a tranny crossmember:





bent a front hoop:

[sw99]

Looks great! Nice place for the bender

[UglyZJ]

Damn man thats some pretty nice fabwork. I like that crossmember design a lot, man i need a bender

[SpineTx]

Looking good, keep up the good work. How exactly does that tranny controller work. Do they make one for a C-4?

[gripguru]

Originally Posted by SpineTx

Looking good, keep up the good work. How exactly does that tranny controller work. Do they make one for a C-4?

go manual valvebody, there just is not a manual valvebody out for the AW4

[gripguru]

weeknight progress:

WIRED THE TRANNY CONTROLLER. OMG that was easy. 15minutes Cool product BrettM. Very easy and should turn out great. Have not tested it of course, but the wiring part of the install took no time at all. I am constructing a console to mount my new shifter as well as the electronics, and the 4wd selector. I purchased a poly/plastic center console from an MJ at the junkyard this weekend, which even matches the interior color of my jeep (just a lucky coincidence i guess). I dont know if it will work but it gives me some ideas. I also ran the tranny cooler lines to the radiator. Now the motor tranny and tcase are ready to go..... THEN ........

I came across the deal of the century on some TERA 4to1s - so the jeep will have a little better crawl ratio when I am all done.

54.66 with the auto.

[gripguru]

So far I am too tired to go out to the garage, so I will post some pics.

I routed and completed the exhaust yesterday:








Then I fixed my steering column with a new retainer for the lower bearing:



The steering shaft is cut so that I can sleeve it and extend it for the steering box relocation. I rotated the box up flat and used one existing hole for the box. Then I marked the frame for the other lower box hole. Drilled it to 1/2" on the inside and 3/4" on the outside. I used a leafspring sleeve to sleeve the frame, which gave me just enough clearance for a good thread into the box. Tacked the sleeve in place and now I just have to fab an upper mount for the remaining hole.







Of course this meant cutting out the previous stock jeep crossmember:



Then I spent two hours measuring, cutting, and mocking the grill into place over the steering box. Pics of that once I get out there today.

[Sharp]

why not just a single 2x4 for the front cross member? that 2x2 looks kinda thin wall too....thats a huge project tho!! nice work so far.....the paper boy flip his bike on the angle mounted on the sidewalk yet?

[gripguru]

Originally Posted by Sharp

why not just a single 2x4 for the front cross member? that 2x2 looks kinda thin wall too....thats a huge project tho!! nice work so far.....the paper boy flip his bike on the angle mounted on the sidewalk yet?

There is more resistance to bending with the extra/double wall in the middle. It is all in theory, but for some reason there was enough motivation for me to do it that way.

As far as the paperboy, the mounts are flush in the ground



But it still looks like a machine gun mount when I am using it.

[gripguru]

some cut grill pics:








I was not happy with how it turned out, but I am really losing interest in the details. I need this thing done asap.

Here are some pics of the flatter draglink that is out front of the dif now. :lol:

[rckjeep]

Nice work, I love the sidewalk mounted bender. if anyone asks WTF just blame it on the cable company. Thats what i'd do. I ended up pouring a special pad. What a dumbass I am. The side would have been great. Oh Well.