neohic

Another day closer. I changed the spark plugs today. They would’ve gone in three years ago when the engine got swapped and I just wanted to see how they were doing. Turns out they looked pretty good! Cylinders 1 and 6 did look a little worse than the rest, but that comes with the territory with that long intake manifold. Tire pressure also got set 28# after being at 35# for flat towing. Haven’t driven it yet but I’m hoping to take it out everyday this week so it can gain some trust. Pics for clicks.

Okay… one week to go before I take off for Moab. Let’s start with getting a different temperature reading. I lucked out and O’Reilly’s and found the same temperature gauge that was already in the dash. That’s great after running the Jeep around today and comparing both the new and old gauge. The old one is definitely going to get the boot. There’s a 180° thermostat in there so that’s very comforting to see after a 30 mile drive. I had to do something about the blinding fuel tank also. Fingers crossed that’ll do something for the better. It was what I had on the shelf that wasn’t black. After a bit more toodling around I stopped at my buddy’s shop to watch them do some Moab prep of their own.

Absolutely! This is the first time in a very long while that I wished I had bigger truck. Looks like I’ll be meeting up with Austin (xjrev10… remember him?!… good dude) in Moab. He suggested I build a J truck with a Cummins.

I went for a little drive today. 70 miles or so around hills and inclines and plenty of curves. Now I’m wondering what a sway bar would do for on road driving. Might be worth trying? Anyhow… this morning I spent some time in the shop doing little things to get ready for EJS. I know that my license plates were low hanging fruit so I made some temporary mounts to get them up and out of harms way. This was all very much scraps I had around the shop. Kind of a “not even measure anything” type project. Couldn’t even bring myself to throw some any paint on the rear mount. It’s crooked too… doesn’t matter. I also have a functioning parking brake! Also another junk around the shop type project. The adjuster was bottomed out so I added some spacers (lug nuts) to make up some additional adjustability. After that I noticed the new auxiliary tank looked a little puffed up just sitting in the sun. There’s no fuel in it yet, but it definitely needed to breathe. Some spare hose later and I’ve got a vent that comes out of the rollover valve. Since I’m trying to talk myself into just driving to Moab, I passed the end cap at the parts store that has all the phone junk on it. I didn’t like any of the phone mounts so I just got the cheapest one to modify. A p-clamp and a bolt later and we’re good to go. Then came the drive. It was mostly awesome!… but the temp gauge had me nervous after I turned around for home. This was after a long(ish) grade but it stayed up when the road leveled out. I pulled over to let the city breathe for a minute and it went back down. For reference, the sensor is right on the side of the block and the gauge usually reads here… … but an inferred temperature gun tells me that it runs right around 210 like a normal 4.0. I don’t think the gauge is right on the money. Thinking about finding a different spot for the sensor? Most 4.0s read from either the thermostat housing or the back of the cylinder head. Also, that fancy new fuel tank caught the sun the whole way on the return leg. Felt like a laser beam at the back of my head. Otherwise, I’d say the practice run went pretty well. I haven’t really driven the Jeep that far in a very long time. On the way back into town I picked up a new radiator cap. Maybe the current cap has a bad seal?… stay tuned. Considering adding a second temp gauge with the sender in the thermostat housing.

More work today. The three point seat belts got installed. These are “Jeep Wrangler” aftermarket but they could really go in just about anything. I had to weld a bung into the main hoop, but otherwise they just bolted in place of where the lap belts were. Then I moved onto the fuel system. There’s really nothing wrong with it, but the pump has been loud since it went in there. I went back to the parts list from when I pieced together a Howell setup for a friend’s YJ a while back and just used that part number. The old pump is now the new transfer pump should I need it. It runs off of a remote starter trigger switch. What I didn’t want to do is plumb in a permanent auxiliary tank. This way I can remove it when I want. Otherwise the punch list is down to trying to get the parking brake working, nut and bolt it, recentering the steering wheel, and check the toe again. This is a huge annoyance. Unfortunately, my potential trailer spot isn’t going to work out. I reserved a U Haul going there and the return trip, but now I’m about 60% leaning towards keeping the return reservation as a plan c… d?… and just driving it out there. Decisions… decisions…

Yup. There’s essentially a tow dolly type surge brake setup that would tie into the front brakes of the CJ. Or the other option is an actuator that pushes the brake pedal. Those are a bit pricey. I briefly looked into them but you said it… time.

Same. But… I’m still going. Stay tuned for more beautiful sights from Moab. RIGHT?! Unfortunately the final straw was the mass of the CJ. Everything was stripped off and out of it but it still wasn’t enough. Failure is always an option.

Test tow day! … it didn’t go well… but that’s okay! I had high hopes but, in the back of my head, I quietly had my doubts. Around town, things went great! I took it for a drive up to 55mph that went around a bunch of curves and hills. 55-60 felt just about right. The truck did okay as far as temperatures and even power. A little more oomph would be nice. Unfortunately where things just didn’t feel right was in the brakes. We all saw that coming!… again, that’s okay. After a couple practice emergency stops and then one final hard stop going downhill I lost faith in the brakes. They got hot and smelly. I’m sure I could get some brakes figured, but realistically I’m running out of time. Maybe U Haul is the next move? Next, I’m looking at storage for important stuff. I’d like to carry some extra fuel, but I’d like to keep everything contained in the Jeep. I’ve got a (probably too big) fuel tank that’s been kicking around the shop for a while. What I like about it is that it fits well and it’s low profile. I welded on a couple tabs at each end and bolted it in after drill yet more holes on the tub… because old Jeep. Next to that is the all important cooler and I snuck a 10# CO2 tank in there too. There’s more stuff to do yet. The major one is finally adding three point seat belts. I suppose tomorrow I’ll start getting serious about renting a truck to get out there and back.

PM sent. If something can be modified or fixed, let me know.

Heck yeah!… I know your rig! You just had it at my buddy Ian’s shop where I got to see it first hand. Very nice!

More Moab prep today. I was hoping to tug it around with the Eliminator but I ran out of time before the weather started to turn and the power went out. In preparation to match up with the tow bar, I’m trying to get rid of as much wiggle and rattles as possible. That started on the truck side. I added a big set screw on the bottom corner of the receiver to keep the draw bar from knocking around. It’s just a 1/2” bolt and nut. There’s another nut welded to the receiver. Then the top came off the CJ because it’s always easier to get motivated on CJ projects after the top comes off. Along the way, as things came off that are in the way of getting the top off, they just went in the bed of the truck. Ballast! The steering got all new tie rod ends and the radiator got new hoses. What I found when I was crawling around under the Jeep was a big ol’ crack in the frame behind the front crossmember and the steering box had just a little play at full lock. The play turned out to be the left side frame rail twisting. I didn’t have making a steering box on my bingo card for the day. I might readdress this in the future (which means I’ll probably never do anything else with it). It’s made of junk that I had around and I’m not super crazy about the 1/2” heim but it made a huge difference! There’s just a plate on the right frame rail under the winch plate tying it all together. Then the power went out! The CJ went out and the old rain cover went on. It still needs to be remade since it got hailed on early last year. We might be getting some snow tomorrow so I guess it’s better than nothing. Maybe I’ll find time for a test tow this coming week.

Looks great!

Pretty much any time I see a factory weld.

Yours might be the longest build thread on the site!

In my experience, having the tow bar pointing down slightly helps in an emergency stop. When the tow bar is level or tilted up towards the hitch ball, that’s what adds to lifting the rear of the tow vehicle. While I still haven’t attempted this combination yet, I’m curious how it’ll pull. The times I’ve flat towed vehicles in the past have been lighter vehicles, and so much of a good or bad experience comes down to looking ahead at the trip, knowing your vehicle’s limits, and plain being smart about everything.

Moving forward on the CJ to Moab list. Would you believe that all of the tie rod ends are shot?… yup, I wasn’t surprised either. Parts are on order, but I wanted to give it some caster in the front axle also. I added a 4° shim to the leaf pack because that’s what I had on hand. Ideally, I should be cutting the inner C’s and rotating them back to gain caster and I usually shoot for 6-8°. It’ll be way better than it was on the road. SOMETHING had to be better than the .5° of caster it did have. The tow bar got a coat of paint too. I started going through the Jeep and all the stuff that just lives in it. A bunch of it got paired down but I also added some tools for Moab. I’ll get more into creating additional storage for certain things once the top comes off and it’s easier to work in. Probably next weekend? I feel like Moab is creeping up quickly.

I’ve been thinking about towing the CJ because I apparently like making questionable decisions. The cooler is from the ZJ I pulled the axles from along with the bracket. This was a no-drill install which was nice. I tapped into the cool line coming out of the radiator. Quick touch up with a little black and it disappears behind the grill. I’ve never had any transmission cooling issues, but I’ve also never really pulled anything with this truck over a long distance. Figured it couldn’t hurt and I had everything on hand.

HELL YES!!! Great looking structure! Good luck with the build. It's looking like an awesome space!

It's easy for those of us who have been here for nearly the entire history of the forum!

This thread got my falling down the rabbit hole pretty hard! I've said it before, but I'd invite everyone to start at the end of the Project section and work your way forward. In the old days, there was a bunch of build threads that jumped around not necessarily from start to finish. Why?... no idea. Maybe it was a left over from the Yahoo Group days? There's so many thread titles like "Installing my new bumper" or "the $300 MJ" or "Finally getting around to that lift". This was also before the Epic and Other Project sections so this list has some honorable mentions and double posts from my Epic list. At the time, the real cutting edge stuff was '97+ swaps and big build thread consisted of a drivetrain swap or long arms. What these are for me are some core staple threads that I remember starting in 2006. I apologize for adding some threads that the pictures are all completely or partially dead, but it is what it is. Some are defining threads from members still around and long gone while others are real stinkers that I've held on to for whatever reason. Warning... the list is LONG and probably nowhere near complete! These are builds that have given me much inspiration. Please enjoy and also please take a step into the way-back machine. Also, always keep in mind that "Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me! I want people to know why I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved."