neohic

Started on the engine cleaning today. I got the 4.0 out of the CJ and on a stand. This thing is filthy! Layer and layers of caked on oil and the only obvious prior leak was the oil pan. Someone stuck it on with silicon and it was a real bear to get off. Otherwise, everything came apart easily. No obvious wear after taking a closer look at everything. Prior to cleaning I set it at top dead center just to have a known starting point. Then lots of degreaser and scrubbing. It’s not completely perfect but I’ll give it one more once over when the engine gets reassembled so I can paint. Had another look at the head I chose and I’m still pleased. No broken bolts… no carbon build up… no fuss to clean. One thing I wanted to do was call Kevin up at Performance Fuel Injection in Michigan. What the current engine has going for it is the injection kit and I wanted to see what Kevin’s thoughts were on running a 4.0 with his computer. He couldn’t think of any reason not to other than a factory multi port setup would probably be more efficient. This isn’t new territory in terms of putting a 4.0 in a CJ though. People have done it and then just plopped a carb back on. I’ll report back to Kevin once it’s all back together and in the Jeep. Probably more tomorrow. I need to get parts coming soon.

8.2L CJ! Twice the engines yet currently twice as slow as it should be.

Big step forward today! I made the drive a half hour up the road to my buddy’s place. I know that doesn’t sound terrible, but it was a big eye opener for just how bad this engine has gotten. Uphill, into the wind, while trying maintain 50 mph feels like the end of the world! My buddy married into a very interesting family that runs deep with AMC goodness. His late father in law had his garage set up pretty well and it’s like a time capsule from when he was building engines and tinkering. He loved that AMX. It’s originally a 290 car but it’s sitting on a cart. The current engine is a 304. Not sure why the original was pulled. There was two 4.0s and most of a 4.2 in the garage too. I think the plan was to build one stroker out of the three for my buddy’s wife’s high school truck. These are good people. Anyhow… my engine. We did some horse trading and settled up today. Two of the engines I’ve already been through. I should’ve taken notes so I ended up going through one prior engine again. The 4.2 was mostly there but it clearly has a ton of miles on it. The first 4.0 was pretty clean, also had a ton of miles on it, but was just a long block. Lastly was the other 4.0 that I hadn’t been in yet. Both of the 4.0s had an AMC stamp on them so they must’ve been from an ‘87 to early ‘89. This one being fully dressed looked pretty good but was also very caked with oil. After digging into it I found a dirty engine that showed signs of lower miles but a lack of proper maintenance. The oil pan had a little more crud in the bottom than what I was hoping to find but the deciding factor was after pulling the bearing caps. There was some wear, but this was clearly the best condition of the three. In the end I made the decision to make a “best of album” out of the three. I’ll be cleaning up and using the dirty but lower mile short block, the head from the clean but higher mile engine, and I grabbed the intake from the 4.2 to port match and clearance to fit a 4.0 head with the 4.0 exhaust manifold. And I know… I know… “4.2 intake on a 4.0 head? Why not run the 4.0 electronics?” I’ll be using the throttle body injection I put on the current engine a while back. I’ll hold on to the 4.0 intake should I want to swap all that on in the future. Technically, the CJ already has its new engine in it!

Picked up an AW4 input seal and outer seals for the 8.25. Not sure when I’ll get to it but they’re on my table to judge me for not taking care of them sooner.

Started on rock sliders and frame tie-ins for the cage today. Not sure when I’ll get back to everything but I like getting all the little fiddly bits done first so I can just crank them out when the time comes. Sliders are 2x2x1/4”… which is way overkill. Frame extensions are 1.5x1.5x3/16”… which feels about right. All of the other swoopy bits to tie the cage into the frame in four spots is 1.25x3/16” tube… which works out nicely for fitting tightly into the rear wheel well. Once again, this is all stuff I’ve had kicking around for a while so it’s all clearly the right material. Don’t think I’ll tie the sliders into the body. Probably just outrigger style extending out from the frame. Truth be told, I've got a bit of a deadline in my head. See... a few weeks ago, one of my old wheeling buddies from Minnesota informed me that the gang was going to be out in Moab during the second week of April. Then the other day, a local friend of mine (who has never been a part of the off-road community) comes up to me and asks, "What's the deal with the first week in April out in Moab? Some EJS thing? Another friend of mine invited me out in his old Jeep. You should come!" So... now I've got it in my head that the universe wants me out in Moab sometime in early April and I've always had a soft spot for a reckless road trip in this little rig. Stay tuned, I guess.

I… LOVE… THIS… TRUCK!!!!

That’s an absolutely handsome gang you’ve got! I’m a huge fan of the feel of the Aerodyne basses. As for my rig, the pedal board got finalized today with adding a chorus, and locking down locations of the rest with the addition of on board power. A couple of them kept eating through batteries with the input cord being mostly pulled out but just enough to engage the 9v. The tuner got kicked off but I think it makes sense for it to live on its own.

Ah… the white whale emerges again.

Looks like a good start. I’m a sucker for a cheap XJ wheeler.

Trying to get another project scratched off today. The giant square hole in the dash had to go. Then just my luck I remember why these switches have been sitting around forever. One of the blue switches plain doesn’t work and the orange one has to be just in the right spot. The plan was a switch for a USB port (empty hole) and a separate switch for interior lights and a rear light. Guess they’re just place holders.

Agreed.

… continued from yesterday. The material is leftover 1.25” pipe size tube from handrails a very long time ago. Wall thickness is about 3/16”. Everything used for the entire project was junk I’ve been holding onto for years. I really dig how compact the whole package is. Admittedly, the spare is smaller than the 33x10.50 Grabbers. It’s a 32x10.50 old style Wrangler MTR on a factory wheel that features poorly applied black paint that’s all falling off. For a spare, it’ll get me off the trail. As for the interior, there’s so much room in there!

Up to ‘75, these bodies had an additional brace in the back corner on the passenger side. Originally, it would’ve been an option for a side mounted tire carrier. I’m not too concerned with visibility for how many windows are on this thing. The spare has always been on that side too. I’m used to it being over there.

On to the next side. Come to think of it, this is the first automotive fabrication project I’ve done in this shop! I didn’t do a very good job of showing how the first corner guard was done. Call it a proof of concept. This time around I wanted to show how to do something like this without any fancy tools. Make a template… a previously scribbled over page works fine. Use that to figure where the bend needs to start. I like to make a mark at least every inch where the bend will end up. Here’s where things get time consuming. I used a bunch of clamps and a couple long pieces of steel tube as leverage. (These will probably end up being rock sliders in the springtime.) Line up the first set of marks at the edge of the table. Clamp, bend, check… clamp, bend, check… Work it slow and don’t get too far ahead. Then comes the fine tuning and artsy stuff. The whole point of this project was to make a tire carrier. Sure, the driver side is mostly a garnish to match the passenger side, but I guess it also buys me some time to figure out what to do for a tub. As for the carrier, I’ve got a bunch of odds and ends kicking around that I’m using up. The basic frame for the carrier is as far as I got today. I think I’ll offset the tire to the passenger side. Sure, having the spare centered looks fine but it also stirs up the OCD in me that I notice every little thing that isn’t symmetrical. I’ve always put my spares offset on past rigs so why not keep the tradition going? Doing that also leaves more useable space for all the other stuff we love hanging off spare tire carriers too. Fuel… shovel… jack… I’m not planning on anything more than the tire for now. Probably more tomorrow.

I think it’s time to embrace what it is. A tub swap isn’t out of the picture but for now some decisions need to be made. That’s how the cool kids do body work on their CJs, right? The whole body is rough. The amount of bondo and chicken wire just in this corner is unreal! I found more chicken wire poking out on the surface under the paint. Same goes on the interior over the fender wells. I never noticed the GIANT radius of filler until a 1” long bolt wasn’t long enough to get all the way through! Anyhow, the corner guard is 1/8” steel diamond plate that I’ve had kicking around for a very long time. It’s definitely thicker than it needs to be but it’s for sure a “corner guard”. I’ve got the other side to do and I’ll do a better job of showing how I bent the corner without a proper press or bender. The non functional reverse lights are going away as are the square trailer lights. I think I’ll mount an auxiliary light in their place. The passenger side guard will also be where I’ll hang a spare tire carrier. Keeping it inside has been fine but it definitely takes up a fair amount of space. Next!

Beautiful Tele! Extra badass points for letting your string tails run wild.

Had a quick look around Stratosphere. That’s a rad site! Thanks for the heads up on that one.

I’d love a Rickenbacker!… but you saw how I roll. I’m cheap! Maybe one day when I grow up and get a job again.

It couldn't have gone to a better home! Looking forward for updates in the future.

Back up to three functional basses. This one turned out to be a real screamer! Feels great and it’s super light weight but still balanced. Maybe I’ll try flat wounds on it once these strings wear out.

I've wanted to try a kit for a while now. There's a few manufacturers that I've heard really good things about that are a decent quality. Nothing fancy... but quality. I briefly looked into just trying to source a neck from one of them but I got the cold shoulder with an "all or nothing" type response. I ended up recycling (again) a Mexican Fender Jazz neck. Finishing got wrapped up yesterday. I should be able to assemble everything today. Very excited to see how that mostly plywood body sounds!

… moved to the pub for a bit more traffic exposure.