Just Got Myself Into A 6...

Things are pulling together nicely..
to do list is shrinking, yet growing with minor detail items..

Awaiting some fittings and misc. items to cross of big ticket items..
Should be ready for short road test this week.

 

I was there and I didn't pull the trigger..
It was the pitman arm nut that was just hand tight that made me reconsider the maiden voyage..
Didn't want to end up like the Titanic.

Small but growing list of odds and ends that I want to check, and double check before road testing.

-ARB Air line securing
-ARB front diff fittings
-Ground issue with Tach
-engine bay organization (ARB wire loom, Engine harness trim & extend wires)
-Oil Pressure line placement
-Distributer cap / Spark plug wire organization
-Plumb Washer pump to nozzle
-Hazards
-CEL and Ignition on lights would be nice...
-Hood Prop Rod and Windshield tie down hardware
-coating of various steel parts
-Painting of various parts
-Nut and Bolt car


Some project updates:


Tailgate chains and latches mounted..
Latches are nut and bolt since welding wasn't an option..

Hood secured with some kinda cool turnbuckle/pin style catches..

ARB stuff tucked in with plenty of room for air circulation
Switch pod wired up and weather packed for (3) ARB switches and (1) AUX (LED light bar eventually)

Made up a CAI style intake for the motor.. Going to possibly work on a splash shield for the open element or just use a pre filter when needed.

Started cleaning up the engine bay this morning.
Need to dress up the harness and actually start putting things in "final locations"

 

-ARB Air line securing
-ARB front diff fittings
-Ground issue with Tach
-engine bay organization (ARB wire loom, Engine harness trim & extend wires)
-Oil Pressure line placement
-Distributer cap / Spark plug wire organization
-Plumb Washer pump to nozzle
-Swap PS pulley
-Hazards
-CEL and Ignition on lights would be nice...
-Hood Prop Rod and Windshield tie down hardware
-coating of various steel parts
-Painting of various parts
-Nut and Bolt car (Half Done)

other odds and ends

-Soft top install
-rear bench (purchase)
-cage modification
-front seats and restraints


Took the car out for the first time on Saturday....
had most of my family over for my birthday (shameless plug) and I needed a few min away.
Ran it up and down the block a few times...
gingerly, then outright full throttle rowing the T18 like something it wasn't.
My brother in law snapped this of me as I pulled in... everybody in my house heard the jeep start and I guess ran to the window to see WTF was going on..
Spend Sunday going through the suspension and body mounts.. nothing was more than wrench snug : including my seat held in by 1 bolt...
Its a machine!!! plenty of power, friggin deep gears and at least went in a strait line well....

 

Congrads................Very Nice! More Pictures!

 

Well done and beautiful Jeep!

 

Very nice !! Well done.

 

Nice. real nice.

 

I would love to do the A/C and heat the way you did yours! Thats sweet.

 

thanks for the words of encouragement...
still far from done.. but the light at the end of the tunnel is visible..

i'll have some more pictures and updates this weekend hopfully

 

This is one of my favorite projects on here, keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to seeing more pics as you get it on the road.

 

Great looking Jeep! you have done an amazing job with lots of attention to detail. I'm not a blue guy, but i love that color of blue you used.

 

Engine compartment all tidied up..
not saying its final, but its perfect for now.
AC system not wired (Evap and Comp.) to prevent damage before filling the system.. I have kids
I think the coolant bottle and washer bottle need another couple bolts.. but they're on
Powder coat came back..
need to do hood latch (inner) and hood prop rod..
correct PS pulley swapped on.. have an extra to add to the hoard.. at least when I was looking that was a S.O.B to find..
Alignment, sticker, and possibly an AC fill Friday...






Soft top arrived last week.. Started putting the rather chintzy thing together...
going to be coating the brackets in one way or another.. much more rickety than a Supertop...
Top confirmed headroom measurements as being spot on...
width of the cage can be increased and back will need to be adjusted down a couple inches..
Im assuming the hard top offers more headroom in the back that the soft top.
I've come to the conclusion that my biggest mistake thus far has been doing the cage without both tops..
lesson learned I guess... its been my first non factory or bolt in unit...
I guess well figure out next week what we need to do here to make this work and match the rest of the truck :-\

 

Sorry to hear you are having issues installing the top on your beautiful Jeep. Your workmanship is superb. Sense you are going to be reworking your cage, I thought I might ask about a couple of things that I don't quite understand. What are the purpose of the J shaped components that interfere with the top? I don't see the structural gain in having them. You have added X bracing to the cage in both the top and behind the seats. This of course adds the necessary strength needed to prevent collapse side to side or racking of the cage. I don't see any triangulation in the cage to prevent a fore to aft collapse. Shouldn't there be diagonal braces added from the base of rear supports to the top of center supports? Again, you did a nice job.

 

the "J" shaped bits are just grab handles.. they don't interfere at all and in fact are positioned very well for getting in and out...
the cage was built from a kit.. DOM tube, bent and notched at one end.. I only had hard top measurements at the time to mock and was anxious to just get it done... I often times learn mistakes the hard way...
The cage was never "done" since there are no provisions for harness or lateral support (fore and aft) and lets not forget paint...

Two issues I have to address...
Issue with the soft top is the rear hoop is higher than the rear of the soft top when installed.. I don't mind fiddling with the top frame for up and down, but I need it to fit when everything is "up".. hardtops generally provide more height in the rear than soft tops..

The "noggin knocker" is the bar directly above my head.. again.. my fault for not having my true seating position determined before assembling the cage...

both are fixable.. and since cage is removable isn't the end of the world.. just not what I would have wanted..

 

Very impressive project.

 

Very timely lessons, as I consider trying to bend & build my cage before I buy a new soft top because I don't want to wait. So I will work hard to be patient and get a top first… Being patient is SO hard!!!

 

like I said big mistake.
Best lesson I have learned doing this whole build for anything in the future... don't put the cart before the horse...
or in this case, the cage before the top jeep toss
might be the bBut I haven't gone this far to shrug shoulders....

as I see it I have a few options...
option 1: start fresh, do it right the second time around...
option 2: hack and burn
option 3: tweak if tweak able...

new rear section either the purple or yellow style.. save rear hoop for another project.. (my orange CJ5 or ? ? ? )
raise the roof.. seems I might have more headroom that thought.. can a couple inches at the foot plate be added?
might be enough to live with.. I am strapped in/down
my buddy has been helping me with the cage since he has all the proper equipment at his shop...
I think there will be an "engineering" meeting one night this week...

 

Alignment and NYS inspection sticker obtained yesterday...
this thing is road legal!

only thing holding me back from some road miles is cage and harness...

on another note... these crappy OMIX/Crown gauge clusters are garbage out of the box...
my speedo isn't working.. and I'm 90 percent positive from looking through my build thread that there is a speedo gear in the T-case...
going to do some simple troubleshooting on this before I go nuts looking for a suitable replacement..
Needle doesn't move.. temp gauge reads "H" all the time and the fuel gauge stays on "E"

anybody have a NOS unit squirreled away they want to sell....
between birthday money and tax refund check I should be able to afford hens teeth

 

that was exactly what I was going to do....
and yes.. gauges are hooked up exactly like stock configuration...

to make sure I have everything for physical cage measurements..... rear seats purchased today..


narrowest car seats I can find that still satisfy my safety requirements...
17" wide x 2 for 36" between the fenders !!