Greenjeans

It was alot of fun till I started driving it up to 55 😁

It was a very long day, but I have both seat brackets engineered and tack welded together. The driver seat has the pump up and down mechanical function and it works. I’ll pull both seats out, pull the brackets off and burn in all the welds good this week. They are even, level, and no more Adirondack angled chairs 👍

Pass seat bracket tacked on.. too much rake to the back like an arondike chair. It test sits very comfy but I may need to level it just a bit. The drivers seat has totally different brackets so maybe I’ll tack it up and see how it looks tomorrow. These seats have heaters too, I don’t know if I’ll try to get that working on a toggle switch or something.. I’m in the South, so not a big deal on the seat heat… 🤷🏼

You reminded me that I need to fix my head knocker.. early on in my project, I grabbed some Liberty struts from the JY not even researching lengths etc. they are too short…. I did buy some new ones just been lazy.. I like the round fog lights. I was going to get some KC’s until I found out what they cost. I only wanted them for the retro look 😁 my shifter knob is similar, but no button, you just push down on the knob itself. It hasn’t come off but there’s nothing holding it on. I want to put a set screw or something in it.. lookin good, can’t wait to see it with the tires!

To add: the lock up torque converter isn’t connected to 12v yet so it’s running 2500 rpm at 55 mph. About normal before lockup. I downloaded a speedometer app and the speedometer is dead on. I guess I put the correct tooth count gear in the t-case 👍

I’m still doing shakedown runs as I get time and I have got it all the way through fourth gear and up to 60 mph but I was nervous I’m not going to lie. All old jeeps are quirky and I have had every nut and bolt off of this thing….. I was also sitting on a milk crate 😳 I’m going to call that good for now on the transmission and try to get a seat in so I can drive it safely. The fuel pressure problem has completely gone away and I attribute it to the return line that goes back to the tank. So currently I am running a weber with a Carter low pressure fuel pump, and no return line. The pump seems to be doing fine now and holding just under 3 psi, which is perfect. We will continue to monitor the situation as we drive it more. The next problem we need to solve is with the right rear axle. From the first time of driving this thing slowly and then a little faster each time, I have noticed a sound in the right rear . I thought it was probably just a brake pad or some other small part that was installed incorrectly by me or something. Did not sound like major deal, and I was planning just to come back to it which I did. And I have concluded that the right rear axle shaft was slightly bent. It was causing a brake pad noise from the rotor turning in a non-perfect, or non concentric circle , so I went to the junkyard and pulled another rear axle shaft installed it and it looks to be doing the exact same thing. So I have to try and locate my tools to measure the run out on the axle flaming and see what is going on. I don’t know if people just bounce Ford Explorer 8.8 rear ends off of curbs alot or what (pick-n-pull 8.8 rear axle). 🤷🏼 or perhaps there’s an issue with my AutoZone rear wheel bearing and the axles are slightly bent, but still within spec, I don’t know yet. But anyhow, I need to get a seat installed and the rear axle Mystery solved before I put many more miles on it. I am also still waiting on my locksmith to call me about that driver side lock cylinder…. IMG_8282.MOV

👍Amen brother!

A couple shake down run notes…. It runs straight at 35 mph, no wandering in the road. Only a “driveway alignment” so far but it seems ok. However… at 45 mph it wants to cut off like it’s running out of fuel again. The fuel pressure guage (when I got back) is reading 0. It will idle and throttle up fine but I think it’s got a definite fuel pressure issue under load. I have the fuel pump mounted under the hood ( I know it’s supposed to be next to the tank). I’m afraid I’m going to have to move it to the rear. So it will push as it’s designed, not try to pull fuel. More to come … also the 700r4 shifts 1-2 at 15 mph which is fine. The 2-3 shift is coming about 35 mph. I’m not sure if I can live with a shift that late. Vehicle weight, gear ratio etc can affect this. As well as weights and springs in the governor. After more road miles I’ll decide on whether I want to play with the shift speed/rpm. And who knows about 3-4, I haven’t driven it over 45 yet 🤷🏼

Small victories. Driven three miles to the gas station 👍

Tanned neck American hi-lift Jack 😃 Yes the pulleys and angle are all welded together. It has one 3/8 bolt to keep it on the Jack lift pad/surface until the vehicle weight keeps it all secure. This is an old S-10 factory jack, very sturdy. $8 at LKQ! **Edit: I would never get under his vehicle with this jack in use. This will strictly be used for changing a flat tire and nothing else. Back when I was a kid, the only thing that had rear discs was a Corvette or some other car I’d never be able to afford. This is the first project vehicle that I’ve put them on. air cleaner mostly done. I’ll plug all the in necessary holes in it soon. Otherwise it has pcv plumbed and I’m actually using the 2.8 air filter element that was in there when I bought the Jeep. It was pretty fresh looking.. under hood is still in progress..the wiring is spaghetti. It will be finished last in case I need to cut or add something…

Some random RHD XJ…

I worked the modified air cleaner set up today. I cut out the thermal valve (I’m in the south, don’t really need it much. Sit welded and “rtv” welded the hose end back on. Got a piece of 3” flex hose from oreilly’s. I’m using a rubber “snorkel” thing from a F-150 to penetrate the rad support. It should work good. I had to take the grille back out 🙄 to get it in.

Grille back in…. Steering installed for the final time I hope..China winch going on next. I’m unsure about running the power cable for it…

Funny story about the head rests.. they were missing.. I think someone may have stashed them somewhere in the JY hoping that no one would buy the seats.. if I walked the whole place, I’d probably find them but they are still available from Chevy for $18 each brand new…🤔. I spray painted the grille and headlight bezels but didn’t get them back in yet.. maybe Monday..

Sonic seats waiting for attention. I’m going to park them out in our brutal sun every day to see if it shrinks some of the wear on the drivers seat. got the bumper back on today. Like granny said, don’t judge me till I got all my teeth back in. I need to make some small brackets to hold the splash shields up under the front bumper. Front winch mount will probably go on this week. And I’m going to start shopping for a windshield. that sway bar may be a little too much, I may black it out. I will maybe do a “final” driveway alignment next weekend and also put all the lug nuts on 😁. I actually have a pack of new lug nuts, just been waiting.

Being an 80’s kid, tan/honey is pretty normal to me and I never even considered the “combo” of colors. Searching for some late model take out bucket seats I can tell you this…. It’s rare today to find anything but black interior out there. Gray being a close second. Even looking at new Hondas and Toyotas for the wife, “tan” is about impossible to get. So I guess there is a retro flavor to the honey and I like it. I have two black buckets out of a Chevy Sonic that are going to get a semi-resto and then installed. They have a white or silver thread (may black that out), no electric controls (prefer), tilt forward (obviously a must in a two door), and they’re vinyl (Jeep friendly). Budget friendly too. They are very comfy at least to me… You can even still get oem covers for them for reasonable. I will get to the seat project in a few weeks hopefully..

Government special! I’m wondering if they even picked an interior color on the contract 😁

Put a new driveshaft in, played around with a few things like a new door check for the left side. Mounted the left speaker even though my stereo still doesnt work right. We will come back to the interior stuff later. At least the door shuts nice now. I had to repair the busted out license plate mount holes in the fiberglass hatch. And today I put a license plate on it for the first time, I felt like I finally accomplished something when I put that license plate on for some reason. I test drove it and got to 45 mph for the first time since I’ve owned it. I thought it rode very good. Which is kind of surprising considering I have a cobbled together lift. The rear springs are from a 2wd Nissan Xterra. The rear shocks were fresh looking Monroes from a 1987 2wd dodge Dakota from the junkyard. The front shocks are new Monroe magnums but are for the rear of a grand Cherokee. I selected them for the end mount types and the length. That was just a shot in the dark but I think they are working fine. The front springs are rustys 305’s also from junkyard. JKS boomerang shackles and Amazon front control arm drop kit. Rough Country adjustable control arms from the JY also (cleaned inspected and lubed). I know someone out there is going to cry or maybe faint, but I am going to trim the lower part of the front fenders so they match my front bumper. Without trimming the fenders, they hang down below the bumper, and it looks weird. The plan is to keep the factory flares and just trim them because I like the way they look. I do own a few rocks, but I am not a rock crawler per se. As much as I like the factory numbers, I also like tasteful aftermarket bumpers too. And this ain’t no show queen. Finally signing off for the night and an interior picture or two of the dash since I have not shown it before. 3 spoke factory steerimg wheel and tilt column coming soon… It’s all still a work in progress. Keep that in mind. And one other picture of a rock I found on my property (in North GA last week). it’s about 30 inches across… I don’t know if it’s quartz or lime stone or granite or what 🤷🏼

Almost forgot the swag that came with it 👍

Drivers door finally done with re-adjusting it again. Turns out that I was moving the striker post inboard to try and bring the rear of the door in. And you actually move it outboard so that the latch will grab it correctly, and then give you a nice fit. It was just giving me a fit until I figured that out. 😁. Humor. Now the fender is back on and I can move forward to the front bumper and get it back on. The locksmith is working on my left lock cylinder, waiting on the call 👍 I also got the new rear driveshaft so hopefully I can get that in this week.

If I remember correctly (it’s been a few months now), the crank position sensor is in the block on the pass side and is not related to the oil pan at all. I could have left both that and the cam position sensor, and even the o2 sensors but had no use for them (carb guy). I removed all of the sensors and plugged all of the holes.

I ordered a Tom Woods rear driveshaft and taking a 7 day Jeep holiday (no Jeep repair!). It should be here about the time I get back so I can drive faster than 30 mph with a clear conscious. my homemade driveshaft is probably not good to be driving at any higher speed with that installed. It was just something to get the jeep moving. Not intended to be long-term use. I’ll keep it on the shelf for an emergency use spare I guess. I put a Sonnax cable corrector spring on the TV cable and it shifts first to second right on time at 18 mph. I can’t test the transmission any further until I get the right driveshaft in. I have not installed front driveshaft yet, just haven’t gotten around to it. It’s a Standard XJ front drive shaft for my swap. The driver door shuts the way it should, mostly. I’m not completely satisfied with the alignment as it is “proud” on the rear edge. But I spent enough hours on it for now, I might come back to that. Important thing is it opens and latches perfectly. I will visit the locksmith with the replacement driver side cylinder and key blanks when I get back. I will also be working on the air cleaner to plug some of the smog equipment holes. The four horns of the apocalypse are also wired with relays and work great. I tested the transfer case and it also seems to work like it should. Shifting in the into 4-lo was a little hairy because I’m using the jeep factory shifter with a 241 transfer case with some mods. It’s essentially a short throw shifter for that transfer case, Chevy used a much longer shift arm , which slows the transition. It took a couple tries to figure it out but then went smoothly. Also all of the short driving I have been doing had some awful rattle in the front end, had me a little worried. But it was just loose sway bar end links. Removed for now and it’s quiet…. And signing off for now !

Three old Chryslers showed up at LKQ. You never know what will get dragged in down there…

Thank you! I feel like it’s never going to be on the road 😁

Hinges attached, door latches (and opens, also important) properly.