75 CJ6 Not Really A "Build"

Those wheels, tires and hubcap assemblies look awesome together, very nice.

 

Thanks. I am likely going to end up with a spare Dana 30 housing. Should know more tomorrow. I will let you know.

 

very much appreciated...

 

I'm a big fan of rejeep's cj6 as well...

 

The parts for the spring swap/lift from Rocky Road Outfitters came in last week. Overall wait time was not bad at all. Here is what you get...




While the cost pretty much whipped out my toy money stash, they do seem to be of good quality. The instructions could use clearer pictures and maybe a parts list/diagram so you can easily lay out the parts to see what you have and where they go. I started on the back brackets last night.
The forward, rear spring hangers need to be cut down and the sides need to be worked a bit with the grinder so that the new hangar brackets can slide over them.

Here is the stock bracket with one ear cut off. You can see an X where a pilot hole is drilled that will later be enlarged so that a 1/2inch bolt will pass through the new bracket and this hole in the old bracket. One problem I found is that this pilot hole location is established by measuring down (or up if your frame is right side up) from the tip of the curved part of the hanger and centered on the old hole (which gets cut off before the new bracket can be installed. This new hole is how RRO establishes how far forward or rearward the new bracket goes on the frame rail. The problem is that my factory brackets weren't exactly square to the frame or exactly level either. This becomes more obvious when the new bracket slides over the old one and the pilot holes are not both exactly centered in the bracket holes. The difference is probably too small to worry about, but I would rather have had a reference point to measure from (a hole in the frame, or the end of the frame rail for instance) to establish where the new bracket will mount. For now I am going to refrain from drilling any holes in the frame until I can install the rear shackles and do some mocking up with the springs in place.
Here is what it looks like looking through the new brackets. If you look closely you can see where the outside of the old brackets need to be ground down to allow the welded bungs on the new bracket to slide over the sides.

Getting closer after a bit of flapper wheel work...


I also have been working on stripping down the front axle. I am hoping to get it to my mechanic to get the gears and power lok installed while I am working on the suspension. I am trying to get it as clean as possible before I send it out since they are hard to paint with everything on them.

Oven cleaner clean, but not paint ready.

Can someone tell me what this big, reinforced ear is for? It looks really strong. Maybe for some kind of pinion snubber?


It came out of a 79 CJ5. I plan to look at the Jeep to see if the answer is obvious but I can't get to it right now.

 

Ok

That white deep wheel with the nice custom made dog dish looks incredible.

 

pinon snubber

 

Thanks. They are not perfect but the rest of the jeep won’t be either.

Good to know. Would it only come into play in reverse? When I get a chance I need to go out to the donor rig and see what it contacted. Likely won’t matter though since there will be a separation due to the lift.
Speaking of the donor (79 cj5) I wonder if I should consider snagging the sway bar too.

 

More for hard braking, actually. Suspension compresses while the axle is wanting to rotate forward.

 

Okay. That makes sense. More sense than needing it for reverse. Thanks.

 

No picture update on the YJ spring kit.
Spent quite a bit of time messing with the springs for the rear yesterday. I could go into a lot of detail but Zila already did starting in his post #43.
Well I Went & Did It.. Rocky Road Conversion On The Way.
I had the exact same problems on the smaller bushings. Zila didn't mention the larger bushings on his, but mine are an even bigger PITA. The bushings are larger than the holes in the spring to the point that I could not even start them without chamfering the front edge of the bushing. I could then press and beat them into the hole, but forget getting the steel sleeve to pass through. Apparently compressing them to get them into the spring makes the inner sleeve hole smaller. The front of the steel sleeve starts binding/cutting with the inside of the bushing and eventually won't budge, pushes out the other bushing half, or springs back when pressure is removed. I may have to round the edges of the steel sleeve, and/or try freezing it to see if I can get even a hair of a size difference. I had to quit working on it last night because I felt myself getting to the point where I was going to do something stupid instead of thinking it through.
I am not ragging on RRO. I like the concept of the kit and as I mentioned it appears to be very good quality. But... maybe someone at their shop could try to put one of these bushings in once in awhile just too see if tolerances or products changed.
Going out to go look at it now in the rosy light of a brand new day. Thinking happy thoughts only.

 

Since installation of this kit isn't anything new, I am going to fast forward to where I am today with the project. I will say this, however, Zila is my hero for installing this kit in a complete Jeep, right side up. I have been working on an upside down, bare frame and it hasn't been a piece of cake. So, progress... I had a mechanic friend (still charges me but he is a friend) swap my 3.73's into a disc brake Dana 30 with new bearings, ball joints, and a Powr-Lok with all new clutches for the front. I also had him install a Trac-Lok in the Dana 44. I went with the Trac-Lok because it was the cheapest option that I had available. I am way over budget on what my original plans for this Jeep were and I figured any limited slip was better than none. My youngest came home for the holiday break and helped me get the springs on the frame,

and flip it over.

rolled the rear axle into place and bolted it up. I cut off the U-bolts near the skid plates but still have to do some work to make them flush. Couldn't go in for dinner until I at least bolted on the rear wheels.

I like the new rubber but I am still a little worried by the shackles leaning in toward the axle. I know from reading other builds that they should eventually lean the opposite direction once a load is on them but for now it is still worrying me.

 

Yeah. Too bad I didn’t think about disc brake clearance. My brain stopped at thinking 15” rims cleared the discs on the 79 so 15 was okay. Didn’t think about depth and backspacing. My painted fronts don’t clear the caliper and might not clear the knuckle arm. I called it a day once I found the fitment problem and came inside in a foul mood. Then I recalled that I have a couple of 3/4 spacers on a shelf somewhere. Anyone want to venture a guess as to whether that might let me keep my rims and the discs? I am hopeful but I didn’t spend much time looking at how much room I needed.

 

Turns out they were one inch spacers. They allow the wheel to clear, just barely. I would guess about 1/16" from the corner of the caliper mount to the nearest portion of the rim. I think I will use the spacers for now, just to get it rolling and to keep from holding up the rest of the project. My plan right now is to see if Stockton wheel can make a wheel with the centers like mine on an 8" rim that clears discs. I have a couple of 8" chrome spokes that clear with ease. It looks like where the centers mount is the same diameter as my other wheels because the step in the rim happens closer to the center where mine step up close to the outer edge of the wheel. On a positive note, the spacers pulled the hubs back in an inch (viewed from the outside) which made the wheel covers almost flush with the selector knob. I like it better this way.

 

Well, it has been a long time since I updated this. Much has been done, and then undone, and then done again. Long story short, I decided to go with the 304/T19/Dana 300... and then I decided not to. I won't bore you with the pictures, but the 350/700r4 and t-case came out, the AMC/T19/D300 went back in, weeks and weeks went by, and I decided to go back to SBC with an auto. This time its a TH400/D20. I decided to try to get this rig running by winter's end (I know I probably won't make it). Since things were exposed, I thought I would try my hand at making my own exhaust system. I want this one to be quiet, and am going to run the cast manifolds and a single muffler. This is what it looks like now, waiting for more 90 degree pieces from Summit. The idea is to have the passenger side cross over between the trans and T-case. then dump into a single.

Since I didn't order enough 90's, I got back to work on the tub. You wouldn't know, but last week I had the cage bolted to the tub, and the tub sitting on the frame. Since then, I put the body back on the rotisserie (thanks Haighfam, sorry about your loss to the Camp Fire), pulled the roll cage off the body, and started working on odds and ends leftover from the floor replacement. Not super happy that most of my time is being spent on rust removal. The rust wasn't there when I stopped working on this way back when.

This is going to be my fix for the rot at the end of the cowl brace...

Had to stop and ponder how I ever got lazy enough to use a 40 Ford coupe as a table...

and then I had to run inside to fill my ears with bleach and peroxide after the satellite radio decided I needed to hear this

...and, I swear, I am not making this up, my Amplifier got X's for eyeballs less than an hour after that atrocity played. I am now listening to music on my satellite boom box. Not as good of sound, but it beats no music.
That's it for now. Sorry about the lack of anything cool, but I needed to bump this thread to help keep me focused.

 

Spent most of the day grinding and sanding, with a little bit of welding. I still have a bit more to do tomorrow before epoxy priming it, at least the inside.


Thought I would throw in a couple of pictures of the twin stick set-up for the Dana 20. Made by JB Fabrication. Installation was a piece of cake. Had a tiny problem with the wrong heim joints. Left a phone message after hours. Got a reply first thing in the morning and the right joints showed up in 48 hours along with a nice little bottle opener key chain thing. I was very happy with the service Jon provided.


The jam nuts are not tightened in the picture because I have to pull the shifter to put the tub back on.

My original plan was to leave the t-case internally stock which would not give me the option of front low and rear neutral at the same time. As it turns out, my t-case has apparently been modified already because I am able to get all combinations, including front low with rear high which would obviously be a bad thing. I am hoping the shifter knobs will make it clear enough to avoid having it put into a bad combination by someone who is not familiar with the twin stick.

 

Very Nice

 

Looks good! What are the switches over the shift rails for indicator lights on the dash?

 

I like that...
always wanted to put indicator lights for the various 4wd lever positions...

 

Funny you should ask. I don't know yet. This transfer case had two threaded holes there. I have a AMC TH400 bolted up to a D20 out back. I went out there looking for plugs and saw the two switches. I cleaned them up and finger tightened them in the holes for now. Going to check that they still work, and then see what position the shift rods are in when they push in the buttons. I will post on here when I think I have it figured out. I would guess "In" and "Low" but that is just my guess.