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My Ongoing YJ Build, D60/14B, LCOG SOA, Doubler, etc. etc.
Time for a new edit to my 1st post. I started this build thread back in 2008. Ever since then it seams I have been following the same path many have done. I started out with outdated tech and am slowly doing things over and over again as the time and money come in. I seam to have a trend fof following the same progression as the technology has over the years. So as of the date of this re-writing, I am still ridding on leaf springs and will one day get on links and coils. I hope... Eventually this thing will either be sold off for parts like so many projects have in the past or it will become a crazy juggy, wheeled a bit, then sold off for parts. At least I am being realistic.
I wetted my Jeep appetite with this Gem. 1983 CJ-7. I paid $500 for her. She was rotted, the brakes were funky and it wouldn't idle. I fixed it up with some sheet metal patches just enough to drive, loosened a stuck check ball in the carb, and put the rear brakes together correctly and drove her with pride for about 5 summers.
What I started with. 1990 YJ, $1000, would not idle, blown trans, NO rot! Well... A little rot. Behind the rear shock towers. But I didn't find that until I cut them off.
I couldn't just tear right into it. I had to see why this thing wouldn't idle and tool around in it a little bit. The Jeep would not idle because the weber carb that was installed needed a ground to activate the anti-dieseling fuel cutoff solenoid. Through the 2 or more adapter plates, gaskets, and RTV the carb never got the necessary ground. One ground strap and the Jeep purred like a kitten. But the damage was already done. After countless times of starting the engine while it was in gear, the trans was toast. The stock D30 did not appreciate those 14" wide tires either and the death wobble was intense.
So I proceeded as planned and tore it the fuck apart.
I had this motor lying around that was going to go in my pickup truck but that never happened. So this was the starting point of my madness. The motor is a 383 stroker that I built up during my short 6 month stint at what is currently UNOH in Lima, Ohio. I only spent about 6 months there before dropping out and going to RIT for Mechanical Engineering. I know... Here we go... Another long winded know-it-all engineer...:shaking: Yup... guilty as charged. I will rant till I am blue in the face and tell you how wrong you are until I am proven to be wrong as well. But I like to think that I will admit it when I am wrong. Sometimes :flipoff2:.
Back to the motor (picture taken in my livingroom in college):
I always wanted a TPI motor when I was in high school so that is what I had to build. The block is a 1-piece rear main seal , 4-bolt main variety out of a late 80's police car. The heads are one of the first versions of SBC heads offered by Air Flow Research. Pistons are hypereutectic, crank is cast, OE rods, roller cam (206I, 212E @.050"). I know now that this cam is just too small. It makes gobs of torque off idle but falls flat on it's face at 2500rpm...
For fueling I chose Accel DFI. I wish these new self tuning options existed back when I made my wish list in 1999... The DFI, TPI manifold, and that tiny cam are all going to tossed aside in favor of more modern tech when I stop spending money on suspension and drivetrain.
So with this motor in the mix I did not trust my original choice of early bronco D44/9" axles combined with my goal of a minimum 36" tire and quickly made the choice to go with a D60/14B combo. I also needed to have a manual trans that could take the abuse so I googled "badass offroad manual transmission" or something like that and picked up an NV4500.
The suspension plan was SOA on stock leaves. After that it was figure it out as I went. I have learned a ton since I started this project. There are a lot of things I should have done differently from the beginning and my fabrication skills and confidence have come a long way.
Here are some shots from the beginning of the first build up. These should fill in the gap I created when I messed with the original post awhile back. Then the chronology of the rest of the thread should make more sense.
Time for a new edit to my 1st post. I started this build thread back in 2008. Ever since then it seams I have been following the same path many have done. I started out with outdated tech and am slowly doing things over and over again as the time and money come in. I seam to have a trend fof following the same progression as the technology has over the years. So as of the date of this re-writing, I am still ridding on leaf springs and will one day get on links and coils. I hope... Eventually this thing will either be sold off for parts like so many projects have in the past or it will become a crazy juggy, wheeled a bit, then sold off for parts. At least I am being realistic.
I wetted my Jeep appetite with this Gem. 1983 CJ-7. I paid $500 for her. She was rotted, the brakes were funky and it wouldn't idle. I fixed it up with some sheet metal patches just enough to drive, loosened a stuck check ball in the carb, and put the rear brakes together correctly and drove her with pride for about 5 summers.

What I started with. 1990 YJ, $1000, would not idle, blown trans, NO rot! Well... A little rot. Behind the rear shock towers. But I didn't find that until I cut them off.

I couldn't just tear right into it. I had to see why this thing wouldn't idle and tool around in it a little bit. The Jeep would not idle because the weber carb that was installed needed a ground to activate the anti-dieseling fuel cutoff solenoid. Through the 2 or more adapter plates, gaskets, and RTV the carb never got the necessary ground. One ground strap and the Jeep purred like a kitten. But the damage was already done. After countless times of starting the engine while it was in gear, the trans was toast. The stock D30 did not appreciate those 14" wide tires either and the death wobble was intense.
So I proceeded as planned and tore it the fuck apart.

I had this motor lying around that was going to go in my pickup truck but that never happened. So this was the starting point of my madness. The motor is a 383 stroker that I built up during my short 6 month stint at what is currently UNOH in Lima, Ohio. I only spent about 6 months there before dropping out and going to RIT for Mechanical Engineering. I know... Here we go... Another long winded know-it-all engineer...:shaking: Yup... guilty as charged. I will rant till I am blue in the face and tell you how wrong you are until I am proven to be wrong as well. But I like to think that I will admit it when I am wrong. Sometimes :flipoff2:.
Back to the motor (picture taken in my livingroom in college):
I always wanted a TPI motor when I was in high school so that is what I had to build. The block is a 1-piece rear main seal , 4-bolt main variety out of a late 80's police car. The heads are one of the first versions of SBC heads offered by Air Flow Research. Pistons are hypereutectic, crank is cast, OE rods, roller cam (206I, 212E @.050"). I know now that this cam is just too small. It makes gobs of torque off idle but falls flat on it's face at 2500rpm...
For fueling I chose Accel DFI. I wish these new self tuning options existed back when I made my wish list in 1999... The DFI, TPI manifold, and that tiny cam are all going to tossed aside in favor of more modern tech when I stop spending money on suspension and drivetrain.
So with this motor in the mix I did not trust my original choice of early bronco D44/9" axles combined with my goal of a minimum 36" tire and quickly made the choice to go with a D60/14B combo. I also needed to have a manual trans that could take the abuse so I googled "badass offroad manual transmission" or something like that and picked up an NV4500.
The suspension plan was SOA on stock leaves. After that it was figure it out as I went. I have learned a ton since I started this project. There are a lot of things I should have done differently from the beginning and my fabrication skills and confidence have come a long way.
Here are some shots from the beginning of the first build up. These should fill in the gap I created when I messed with the original post awhile back. Then the chronology of the rest of the thread should make more sense.

