To start things off lets do a little back story. Bought the jeep back when I was 16 when it was more or less stock other than a tired small block Chev. Over the past 7 1/2 years I slowly built it into a more capable PNW style trail jeep. The last year of jeepin it started to become a bit of a hassle with tons of little things breaking/wearing out and I started to worry almost everytime I was gonna be "that guy". Never in its life having a full tear down, it was starting to show its age and I did my best to keep it together by strapping the frame after it broke, tied cage into frame, redid the suspension, etc. Anyways, here's the old girl.
TBI 350
Dana 44's F/R
t18
4.27's w/lunchbox lockers
Dana 20
Spring under rear with yj's
Spring over front front with toyota rears
Chromoly shafts
Redhead steering box
36 tsl's
Quick update before Mothers Day brunch. God damn some projects take forever!!
Finally bit the bullet and ordered my Fitech kit and that showed up last week. Beyond stoked to get the motor all torn apart and getting to hear this thing live.
I upped the thickness on the pad to 5/8" so I had more threads grabbing when bolting on the aluminum pad. Definitely not a necessity, but the thicker pad I think looks better as well.
Heims are ordered and just waiting on mis-alignments to move forward. End link will mount to the top of KP since space is so tight. I'm sure a lot of you are gonna shake your head at that decision, but a buddy's rig has been running it that way for years on his buggy with no issues.
Started making another tcase mount for a little extra support, added some fill panels for the center section, worked on floor boards, and reworked dash.
Pretty much to the point where I can start tearing down for final welding and paint! Battery mount and Harness mounts were the last things to get done and knocked those out Friday. Spent yesterday working on little panels and and buttoning up loose ends.
Thanks guys. So the plan is to have it done by August so needing to get rolling on parts to have everything ready for reassembly. Starting to think of shafts and was wondering what you guys recommend? Leaning towards Branik for 4340 everything, but can get a little bit of a deal on Strange stuff through work. That being said, I would go with their Hy-tuf material full float shafts. I know their stuff is primarily designed for a drag race application and just unsure if I'd be shooting myself in the foot or not. Anyways, just trying to get some feedback before pulling the trigger.
Right on Jay :smokin: Absolutely haha well see how much time I'm working with first... I figure I can work on that once its done worst case scenario. I just want it done by August!
Talk about a dead spot in the thread! Been busy with both life and this pile of garbage :flipoff2: Ended up ordering Branik f/r and been busy with tearing shit down, painting an reassembly. I'll let the pics do the talking!
Then off came the tub to roll chassis back in and finish weld everything. I'm so glad I welded as much as I did as I went along... I probably spent a good 14 hrs solid of climbing around the jungle gym finish welding, adding tabs, and a few misc. supports here and there.
Rolled chassis over and the real fun began. Added all the mounting tabs for the boat sides and belly skid, slapped in remaining supports and finish welded everything. Of course the weekend I did this it was probably one of the warmest weekends we've had all Summer.
I'll be honest, painting was a complete disaster. Originally was gonna do Rustoleum satin black and it turned out like dog shit. I prepped the best I could, but my biggest demise was dust in the air and not being able to keep a wet edge. Long story short I scuffed the entire thing back down and sprayed with the Rustoleum Bed liner. I've used this stuff a bunch in the past and have been very happy with the results. Yes, it is textured slightly so cleaning may be a little more difficult but it lays down even and thick. Easy touch up and a satin finish.
For the housing and links I stuck to my original plan and shot them with a few heavy coats of clear gloss.
It sucks to hear the Rustoleum satin black didn't work out. I have plans to roll that all over my Jeep when the time comes. I'll have to keep a good eye on it.
Looks fantastic and you should be feeling like you're getting close.
I just used the Aerosal cans. My compressor situation is less than sufficient so running a gun was out of the question. I've tried the Duplicolor and other bedliner in a can and have not been impressed to say the least, came out more like undercoating. The Rustoleum has definitely been my favorite. They do sell it in a can so I'm sure you can use it in a gun, but I don't know the details.
Next question that arises for me in wiring harness. I'm not a wiring guru so making one from scratch is not really what I want to do. Very basic harness is what Im after with provisions from headlights, brake lights, hi/low beam, wipers, and possibly blinkers. 15 Circuit would be a bout perfect I'm thinking. What is everyone running in their buggyish rigs? Obviously don't what to spend a fortune. Thanks in advance.
I looked around quite a bit to replace the entire harness in my TJ. After a LS swap I’m only using 8-10 circuits and I bet your situation is similar. I am removing extra harness wires at this point but if I was starting from scratch I’d look at the Switch Pros modules and then picking up a couple spools of good wire and Deutsch connectors. No fuses or crazy relay systems, you can manage the system from your phone if you want to, and it’s all circuit breakers and nice simple panel mounts. Lots of buggy guys going to this setup. It’s my backup plan if I don’t like the current harness and it can do momentary, flashing, or constant switching for turn signals and horns. :smokin:
I ended up with a 21 circuit EZ wiring harness that has been in a box for ten years. Column is a typical Saginaw Jeep model. I am not a wiring expert at all.
Young people-inexperienced people- with a little help from me, wired the whole vehicle and with very few issues everything worked the first time. My build is more street-based than yours, but I still only used about half the circuits.
I used what I had, but I'd want less rather than more circuits. Also, every single wire is labeled clearly and labeled quite often actually.
It wasn't hard at all. Honestly, no offense to Painless or whatever, but my kit was pretty cheap and I found no issues with it at all. I'd buy it again in a second.
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