Awesome Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Other daughter got involved today too. She decided to help her sister. She normally doesn't like using power tools at all, but she was fine with a die grinder with a wire wheel on it. Also got the passenger floor tacked in. Will probably weld most of it out tomorrow after work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Been spending the last couple of weeks getting all the floor welding done. Should be 100% done with that tomorrow. It's almost completely done right now. The passenger side is finished, and I welded some gap-fillers in between the frame lip and the floor pan on the driver's side this afternoon. Hit the motherlode earlier today. Wife and I hit up all the local junkyards for parts over the last couple of days. We came up dry. The only thing we found useful was an '87 Cherokee that was pretty complete and had a TBI four-cylinder, and I could have used the air box from it but I didn't plan on that and hadn't brought the tools to pull it. On the way home wife remembered seeing a yard near where we live with a bunch of junk Cherokees in it. We pulled up and asked the owner about them and he told me I could have whatever I wanted. He just gave me all those parts. The donor Jeep still has a full dash, and had factory air conditioning. I asked if I could maybe pull that too and he said to just come back and ask when I'm ready. The only part I'd be missing would be the condenser, but I think that's something I could easily obtain. Pretty awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 Today, eldest daughter sealed the underside of the truck while I worked on the topside. I had built the new seat mounts yesterday and gotten them welded in, and she'd done the priming after I got the seat mounts done. While she was finishing up the underside of the truck, I installed the passenger-side mirror. I guess we weren't making much noise, since the hammock-dweller didn't move. I went under the truck after the daughter was done and she missed a bunch of spots. I'll have to go back over some stuff tomorrow. We'll give the polyurethane a few days to dry and then we'll hit it with more primer, then spray the underside with undercoating. I think we're going to go ahead and use Raptorliner for the floor on the inside of the truck. Should be done with all of that later this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 I spent some time this afternoon adjusting the hood and the header panel so the hood could close. It closes and opens quite nicely now. You can tell from these two pictures that the drivers side fender is not lined up properly. It's not the original fender and doesn't quite match, so I think we may be able to adjust it and get it to fit. I took a look inside the cowl since the cowl cover is broken anyway. It was installed with wood screws. But... No rust! I was worried about the cowl while I was opening it up, but it's nice and clean. I was doing that while my daughter was tasked with removing the rear differential cover. Turns out that the differential cover was installed with torx bolts and two have stripped heads. I had her try to weld a nut to them but she got frustrated and gave up after a few tries. I'll have to deal with it tomorrow. The good news is the broken D35 I have out back has regular bolts and I think it has a lube locker. Also, I registered and insured it today. The girl at the insurance office said "I know your title says Jeep, but it shows up in our system as an AMC." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 35 minutes ago, Awesome said: was doing that while my daughter was tasked with removing the rear differential cover. Turns out that the differential cover was installed with torx bolts and two have stripped heads. I had her try to weld a nut to them but she got frustrated and gave up after a few tries. Welcome to the 84-86 years.... my D35 on my 84 is the same way with the torx... luckily none are stripped but damn does it terrify me to open it up. Also thats interesting with the registration. I dont think our 84 showed up as an AMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 1 hour ago, eaglescout526 said: does it terrify me to open it up. It's been leaking for a while now. It didn't leak when I first got it, but I guess moving it around a few times flexed the housing just enough to where it started to leak. I'm not sure there's any oil left in the diff anymore. But, as I said... I think the D35 off the TJ had a LubeLocker on it, so it should be cheap and easy to get it to stop leaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 Picked up a new clutch master cylinder today. I have no idea how to bleed the system so I need to look that up. I used a stripped bolt/nut kit to get the Torx bolts off the diff housing and got it opened up. It smelled foul and looked even worse. The axle tag says it has 3.55 gears. I suppose it could have been worse, even though that's disappointing. Oddly enough, the gears look fine. They are worn, but worn very evenly. I also fixed the front fender gap. I need to work on it a tad more to bring it UP to the level of the hood, but it's way better than it was. I noticed I'm missing a bracket that attaches to the bottom of the fender at the front. I think I have some extras, but if I don't, I'll just make one on the plasma table. Tomorrow is paint-and-JBweld the header panel day. It might also turn into swap-the-clutch-master day if everything goes smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 This is a couple days of progress. We got the rear diff drained, lube locker from the other D35 installed and filled. Proper bolts used this time. Checked the transfer case. It was full to the point that it leaked when I pulled the fill plug out. The ATF in there looked and smelled fine, which I'm not happy about. Last time I tried to put this truck into 4WD it made an awful racket. Checked the transmission fluid. It was low enough I couldn't tell if there was any in it. Drained it. Came out brown and VERY golden. It was shifting fine so I'm hoping the synchros aren't too far gone. It's getting fresh oil tomorrow after it drains overnight. I grabbed one of the spare lower fender brackets I had and installed it. Fixed the fender flap issue. I may end up using the junkyard fenders I have sitting around, since they are perfect and these ones aren't. I spent the afternoon breaking down the header panel that I had already JB-Welded. I sanded and primed it as well as the headlight buckets. The kids helped with this step. Painted satin black. Reinstalled after a few hours of dry time. Need to pick up some screws, but the truck looks fantastic already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 18 minutes ago, Awesome said: Checked the transfer case. It was full to the point that it leaked when I pulled the fill plug out. The ATF in there looked and smelled fine, which I'm not happy about. Last time I tried to put this truck into 4WD it made an awful racket. Checked the transmission fluid. It was low enough I couldn't tell if there was any in it. Drained it. Came out brown and VERY golden. It was shifting fine so I'm hoping the synchros aren't too far gone. It's getting fresh oil tomorrow after it drains overnight. Couple things to say about these points. Your transfer case linkage could just be out of adjustment. It can be finicky. You might want to double check what fluid your trans needs. These new gear oils will eat the synchros, so a lot of times you need to actually run an engine oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 30 minutes ago, 89 MJ said: Couple things to say about these points. Your transfer case linkage could just be out of adjustment. It can be finicky. You might want to double check what fluid your trans needs. These new gear oils will eat the synchros, so a lot of times you need to actually run an engine oil. Yes, the linkage could be off. One of the things to check. It's an AX-5 so it needs GL4 gear oil like all other AX-series transmissions. Yellow-metal safe. The synchros are already flaking off so I'm putting 10w-30 in it despite my better judgement. Gear oil is far better for a transmission because of how sticky it is (gears and engines have completely different loads), but whatever. GL4 is stupidly expensive and I put a gallon in my AX-15 a few weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 2 minutes ago, Awesome said: Yes, the linkage could be off. One of the things to check. It's an AX-5 so it needs GL4 gear oil like all other AX-series transmissions. Yellow-metal safe. The synchros are already flaking off so I'm putting 10w-30 in it despite my better judgement. Gear oil is far better for a transmission because of how sticky it is (gears and engines have completely different loads), but whatever. GL4 is stupidly expensive and I put a gallon in my AX-15 a few weeks ago. Ok, figured I’d comment and make sure you knew. I bet it is pretty darn expensive, I know it wasn’t cheap when I was looking it up a couple years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 34 minutes ago, Awesome said: Yes, the linkage could be off. One of the things to check. It's an AX-5 so it needs GL4 gear oil like all other AX-series transmissions. Yellow-metal safe. The synchros are already flaking off so I'm putting 10w-30 in it despite my better judgement. Gear oil is far better for a transmission because of how sticky it is (gears and engines have completely different loads), but whatever. GL4 is stupidly expensive and I put a gallon in my AX-15 a few weeks ago. You can use GL5 in the AX 4 and 5 just fine. I run it in both of my 5's. Even the AMC cheat sheet I have calls for GL5 75-90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 18 hours ago, 89 MJ said: Ok, figured I’d comment and make sure you knew. I bet it is pretty darn expensive, I know it wasn’t cheap when I was looking it up a couple years ago. The only stuff I could find locally is $80/gal. Very, very expensive. The guy took pity on me and gave me a discount. Ended up being $60 out the door. Still very expensive. 17 hours ago, eaglescout526 said: You can use GL5 in the AX 4 and 5 just fine. I run it in both of my 5's. Even the AMC cheat sheet I have calls for GL5 75-90. I'd recommend caution. Most GL-5 gear oils contain sulphur, which is highly corrosive to brass. It eats your synchros. I don't doubt there is a yellow-metal-safe GL-5 lube out there, but if you read the bottles almost all of them say "DO NOT USE IN TRANSMISSION WITH BRASS SYNCHROS!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 13 minutes ago, Awesome said: The only stuff I could find locally is $80/gal. Very, very expensive. The guy took pity on me and gave me a discount. Ended up being $60 out the door. Still very expensive. I'd recommend caution. Most GL-5 gear oils contain sulphur, which is highly corrosive to brass. It eats your synchros. I don't doubt there is a yellow-metal-safe GL-5 lube out there, but if you read the bottles almost all of them say "DO NOT USE IN TRANSMISSION WITH BRASS SYNCHROS!" Im pretty sure the 4 and 5 do not have brass synchros. And if they do, well I’ve been running modern GL5 for 5 years now just fine. Now the 15 on the other hand does and somehow this word of caution transferred to the 4 and 5. I did how ever do some digging into this discrepancy and found the TSB but only pertained to the 15. Not the 4 or 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 19 hours ago, Awesome said: I'm putting 10w-30 in it despite my better judgement. Gear oil is far better for a transmission because of how sticky it is If you want to run gear oil, Schaeffer's synthetic gear oil is yellow metal safe. I use it in my AX15. Napa had it in stock. https://schaeffersoilshop.com/products/02937590-012-supreme-gear-lube-75w-90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 1 hour ago, eaglescout526 said: 4 and 5 do not have brass synchros. All the rebuild kits that I searched up do use brass. That's for the AX-5. I don't know about the AX-4. I'd rather err on the side of caution as I really don't want to do a transmission swap on this truck if I don't have to. So far it's been a pretty cheap rebuild project. 1 hour ago, Eagle_SX4 said: If you want to run gear oil, Schaeffer's synthetic gear oil is yellow metal safe. I use it in my AX15. Napa had it in stock. https://schaeffersoilshop.com/products/02937590-012-supreme-gear-lube-75w-90 I ended up using STA-LUBE GL4 for my AX-15. It was the only thing at my local Napa that was yellow-metal safe. Thanks for the tip though. I'll look out for that stuff. Today my daughter got the bottom side coated with another layer of primer over the sealant. The top side on the passenger side got the same treatment. We are currently in the middle of installing the new clutch master. My clutch slave is external, thankfully, but a friend told me of a way to bleed the system that shouldn't require removing the slave. Once the rust under the master cylinder is wire brushed and primed/painted over, we will continue with the swap, bleed the system, then prime the driver's side floor again. Tomorrow morning the Herculiner goes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Id like to rescind my comment about the brass synchros. I tokk apart a spare AX4 I had and sure as rain, theyre brass...Im a little stunned actually. Not sure what the whole issue is with GL5 oils other than clearly being acidic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 5 hours ago, eaglescout526 said: Id like to rescind my comment about the brass synchros. I tokk apart a spare AX4 I had and sure as rain, theyre brass...I'm a little stunned actually. Not sure what the whole issue is with GL5 oils other than clearly being acidic. GL-5 gear oils use sulphur as a lubricity enhancer. Sulphur is incompatible with brass and eats it. We got everything put together today and drove the Commanche about 50 miles. Ran some errands, picked up some feed. The seat is really stiff and doesn't move easily. Need to fix that. It might be binding. My mounts on one side ended up being slightly off, even after I had checked them. It's totally gutless. I got it up to 75mph but I had it floored in fourth gear and we were on level ground. It runs 60-65 pretty good. It is decent while running around town. It needs lower gears. It shifts really good. Nothing wrong with the transmission I don't think. It does make an odd noise when decelerating, but that might be the remnants of the catalytic converter rattling around. The fuel gauge isn't working. The speedometer wasn't working but randomly started working toward the end of the drive. Then when I slowed to enter my driveway it quit again. I didn't take pictures because we were too busy having fun. I'll have more later this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 56 minutes ago, Awesome said: GL-5 gear oils use sulphur as a lubricity enhancer. Sulphur is incompatible with brass and eats it I actually did some digging on this. I looked at the stuff I have been using. It’s valvoline high performance 75-90. Which matches both GL4 and 5 specs but doesn’t have the acid and sulfur that the synthetic oil has. Which makes sense why my transmissions are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 I wouldn't use it, but that's just me. I had to put synchros in my AX-15 years ago and haven't had to do it since I started paying attention to what I put in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 A few things happened today. I took the MJ to work and had them align it. Caster and camber are off by two degrees, toe was off by about half a degree. They adjusted the toe. I had them check the vacuum system for leaks. My friend immediately noticed that I'm missing a PCV valve because the TJ valve cover doesn't have one. So that was a leak and was the cause of my high idle. They also found this INSIDE the throttle body. Huh, wonder why it wouldn't rev very high. I put that inside the intake hose six months ago to keep wasps out while we were working on the throttle body. Guess I forgot it. I also went to the glass shop and they took the rear window out for me. Now I need to clean up the corners and prep them for welding. The lube locker didn't like being reused and leaked really badly. I trashed it and reinstalled the diff cover with gasket maker. The truck drives great. Still very slow. Idles fine now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 Not enough time to post pictures right now, but I got the corner cracks welded up this evening and hit them with primer. Started to wet sand and made a mess as the primer wasn't quite dry enough yet. Wait for it to dry and I'll sand it properly tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 I won't post all the pictures as they are boring, but here's an example of the progress. One corner wasn't cracked on the inside, but all the others were cracked both inside and outside. I sanded the paint off, cut a slit in the cracks then welded them out. Sanded them back down, then hit them with primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Might be a good idea to drill a hole at the end of the crack to terminate it and prevent it from reappearing. But I'm not a body guy and can't say for sure your repair isnt just as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 Spent all evening installing new door and window seals, repairing the seat slider mechanism and painting the cab corners. They don't match but it's good enough until we can repaint the truck. The new seals fit great. Also installed some speakers I already had since I was in the doors anyway. Found a build sheet taped to the inside of one of the door skins. That was interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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