Finally got it ready for the road

[Tomahawked]

This time last year I picked up a wrecked Cherokee and 2wd Comanchee. The `90 Cherokee was donor for engine tranny and all the 4wd parts. `88 Comanchee Eliminator already had motor and tranny removed and gone. So I had to add engine wire harness and splice in extra wires for the auto replacing that great Peugeot stick pos. I got rid of that large connector for engine harness and went straight to back of fuse block with replacement from donor. Swapped out front axle and changed rear axle gears from the 2wd 3.08 to 3.55. Added full console and newer gauge cluster with newer dash pad, and lower panel from a 96 model that was included with all the parts it had extra. Replaced with newer A/C components. So ended up with the `90 Renix 4.0, auto with 242 x-case. Didnt have a doable driveshaft, so went looking in my scrap pile of extras. What I came up with is what I believe is a driveshaft from a mid 70's F100. All I needed to do was remove about 4.5 inches and weld back together. I used a chopsaw to cut driveshaft tube. Then machined the cast carrier for u-joint on lathe to remove old weld. Tapped into shortened tube. Clamped both ends down on a flat plate with large C-clamps. This aligned everything to both axis. Tacked in a few places, then burned it all the way around. Before I bought these vehicles, somone had planned to swap engine and other parts over. They started but never got anywhere close to seeing the light at end of tunnel. Originally somoene had already bought brand new front/rear tube bumpers, and tube steps. The last guy that had these also bought most of the normal wearing parts for motor. There were boxes of extras like waterpump, serpentine belt, valve cover gasket, alternator, air filter, oil filter, fule filter, and other small items. So it was basically waiting for someone to get grease under their fingernails. One day back in September I pulled the motor and tranny then swapped out front axle. Since then I have been piecing it all back together. 2 weeks ago I inally got it titled and registered. Last week I welded in a very large new take-off muffler and tailpipe from a full size Blazer. This exhaust had 2 smaller 2" pipes in and a larger single 2 3/4" tailpipe. I went to the local muffler shop and grabbed some scrap pieces. Bent two 2" pieces with a 15 degree angle. Cut them and welded together so I had a large single from motor split into the two smaller 2" inlets on muffler. I had to cut the tailpipe and shorten where it connects to back of muffler. It ended up fitting up much higher than stock system. It is routed above rear leaf and dumps down right in front of rear spring mount. I didnt like mig welding on my back, but wasnt as much of pain as expected. I figured it might have some resonance or light rumble from larger pipes and catalytic converter eliminated, but is extremely quite. This afternoon I wrapped up most of the loose ends on interior. I pushed down the E-brake with my hand and broke the front cable. So now its going to get the pull handle from CHerokee swapped over to console. After dark I drove it down to the gas station to fill up. With exception for a couple of squeaks and rattles it drove well and everything is working. Rearend didnt make any howling noises, loaded or unloaded and housing didnt get hot, so should be fine. Truck is still all original and has the usual clear flaking off and base coat faded. There is no rust anywhere, and no body damage. All it needs now is a decent coat of paint. With these tube bumpers there was no place for license plates or lights. So I fab'ed up a piece of sheetmetal that bolts up under tailgate. Then punched out holes and filed to fit the stock license plate lights on each side. The things I still have to address are turn signals that arent working and a bearing on an idler pulley that sounds like is going out. I will follow up with some problems I encountered on the way and what was done to correct them.

[maddzz1]

Sounds like a great build with lots of hours invested. I will be interested in reading the updates.

[TNT]

:needpics:

[Tomahawked]

This is the exhaust and what I did to make fit. The reason for using these parts is simple. I had them. Actually found them ready for the trash truck to pick up in front of someones house one afternoon. I don't even remember what possessed me to turn down this particular street that day. Never went that way before or since then. Anyway the single from where convertor was supposed to be is split and welded. Even kept the factory clamps for that nice original look. Each piece is bent at 15 degrees. I cut the pieces and used the mig welder to connect everything. I swedged the front pipe larger and flattened to get the best fit without restriction at the Y. Was very easy and didnt take about 30 minutes for everything. The hard part was welding to existing system under truck on my back. I would have prefered a lift, but too much to get that up and going right now. More pics and information to follow...eventually.

 

[Tomahawked]

Friday I am making my first distance maiden voyage. Aside from driving down the street to put 5 gallons of gas in, this will be the only run it will have taken since all of the parts swap over. I had, what seems to be a common problem with the e-brake cable and snapped the end off when depressing down by hand. Since it has the Chreokee console now, had to make the hand brake functional. Didnt take too much. I made it more complicated than really needed. Cut the existing cable housing to 16". Used the old cable. Drilled out the busted cable pieces and silver soldered the end back on. Then used the cable swivel off foot brake mechanism. Bent the tab so it would bolt to end of threaded rod from hand brake. The cable was shortened to match the length needed. I slid the old shortened housing back on down to where is was attached under truck. Its only purpose is just to keep from wearing a groove in floorpan. Everything is working and hope to get an inspection sticker in the morning. Loading the chainsaw and 4 wheeler in back of truck and making a day of it cutting down some trees to build a large carport off side of my dads shop. Or to have a way back in case truck breaks down on the way.

[jaekl]

They climb mountains because they are there. Others complete projects because they can.

 

You feel great about your accomplishment and want tell people about it but they don't think much about it. (This is where forums come in to find someone who understands) It made sense to you, you exercised/developed your skills, and you didn't cause anybody any harm. You saved a good item from the trash and may or may not have spent more resources to fabricate your solution,but that doesn't matter. You did it because you wanted to, for your own reasons. The important part is you completed it, it looks good, and you can use it.