Rebuilding An Old High School Friend!

I was able to bang out the driverside fender of an evening over the last few days.



I did have to make some relief cuts so I could clearance the steering gear. I'll come back and clean this all up later.







As you can see they are a little saggy... I know it's a common problem, but I was hoping to square them up a little while I was beating on them. The passenger side is a little better but the driver's side didn't want to change. I tried applying pressure from below with my floor jack and a 2x4 while I worked the top a little with a body hammer. In retrospect, I probably should have been working the bottom with the body hammer instead. I may try that next time, unless someone else has a better idea. Most of the problem probably lies in the front of the fender next to the head light. If I work that in a little it should push the rest of it up.

In the end I have to remind myself it is going to be a hunting/farm rig not a beauty queen.

 

Looking good! I'm liking how you're going around the steering box with the fender rather than just cutting it to fit.

I only ask this because I'm planning a similar approach with my steering....

I'm seeing interference issues with the pitman arm vs. tie rod under compression, and springs vs. drag link at droop. Have you given any thought to how to address that?

It looks like a pitman arm with less of a bend would solve the spring clearance, but the tie rod might not be so easy without flipping it back down under the knuckle arm. Just curious.

 

I wouldn't worry. Just find another tree to run into. Wimmen like battle scars. Actually I have never banged a fender into a tree, A load of roof trusses landed on the old Jeep and I was hit by a sliding Blazer once. Both on the LF side. I can admit to backing into a few trees.
As far as the underside, there is a reason for the skidplate and both axles have some, lets say, damage from rocks.
The reason I have both of my Jeeps is to go out and play with them.

 

The clearance is actually not nearly as close as it looks. The pitman arm and tie rod are just barely on just hanging in place. Both nuts are just finger tight and only on a thread or two. When I had steering fully mocked I used a ratchet strap to pull the axles all the way up to where the bump stops will be and I had 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch clearance everywhere but I didn't even think about checking it at full droop.

I will have to wait until final assembly with the actual springs and shackles to check that. I was debating about flipping the tie rod to the top of the pitman arm anyway for just a little bit of added clearance insurance but opted for the time being for the best angle on the drag link I could get, that may force the issue.

 

On The boys I ended up flipping the tie rod at the spindle to the top and the pitman end is under solved the bump steer and added clearance.

 

Been slowly chipping away at the transmission cover of an evening. Slow going, but then I haven't been working very hard at it.

 

Finished the transmission cover and main center floor section.



The upper section still needs some work but I'm pretty happy with the rest of it. I did out think myself a little bit when I extended the shifter linkage and moved the overdrive shifter up even with the transmission lever. I thought this would perhaps be more ergonomic, if you will, but after playing with it a little I think I'm going to shorten the linkage back up and slide the shifter back even with the transfer case levers. So I'll call this one two steps forward and one step back.

 

Figured it was time to at least get the driver's seat mounted so I can fine tune my shift levers. So I notched the drivers side rear fender a little in preparation last night after work.





Although I'm seriously starting to doubt I'm going to meet my goal of having a roller by the time we move in June.... Of course the way our construction project is going we may not have anywhere to move to until August anyway so we'll have to see

 

One seat down, one to go





Seats are from a 80's-ish mustang that my brother donated to the project. It's hard to see from the pictures but I have a little more clearance over my fuel tank than I was aiming for. I think I'll shorten the legs by 3/4 of an inch or so... being 6'4'' every little bit helps.

 

Looks pretty good so far. The transmission cover turned out good.

 

Thanks. I haven't been working on it as diligently as I should but I need to light a fire if I am going to have a roller when we move this summer. Of course the original plan was to have it finished before we moved...

 

Found myself distracted this week, working on a shift knob. I have been looking for a tall thin shift knob for my overdrive lever and after thinking about it I decided to make one. I had a couple of shell casings from a CIWS (Close-in Weapon System) lying around that a friend had given me and I decided to use one of them. They are 20mm and are a nice size for a shift knob. So I stuffed the case with epoxy and then drilled and tapped it after it hardened.



After taking the time to polish it, I think I'm going to paint it black because it is a little too flashy for my taste.

 

Finished the passenger seat mount this week. My nine-year-old approves and is ready to go for a ride NOW! I told him so was I, but we might have to be patient for a while longer.

 

Much too fast indeed. He's already way too smart for his own good. Simple projects on the jeep are quickly turning into physics and electrical engineering lessons

 

Longer days and warmer weather have translated into some steady progress after work the past couple of weeks.

I modified the factory steering column to work with my new steering box... forgot to take any pictures. And then I altered the mounting brackets for the steering column to move it higher up on the firewall and dash in order to have a better angle for the steering shaft. I took some rough measurements off a buddy's intermediate CJ5 and used it as guide for my modifications.

I started by removing the old mounting bracket from the dash.



Then I notched the dash, re-attached and reinforced it.









After relocating the lower hole a little higher as well I got it all mocked up Not a lot higher but just enough to make the angle at the bottom of the steering column a little more manageable.

 

Got the intake plumbed this last night. Used and exhuast hanger to support it.





Trying not to think about the spaghetti maker's nightmare I'm going to have to sort through with the wiring.

 

I really like this build, I myself was thinking of doing a modern v6 swap with either the 3.1 from my brothers car he just totaled, or from a supercharged park Ave 3.8, can't wait to see this finished!

 

You and me both!

 

Buick V6 engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Looking really great.