Just Got Myself Into A 6...

Steering column hole cut... Might be on the money, might be a bit too low.. doesn’t seem to be a lot of meat for the firewall bracket to clamp on to..
Might need to make some adjustments..
Just ordered myself a Bergeson steering shaft to mock up... no final assembly as of yet... still need to decide on floor coating or covering...






ARP - great studs about .25" too great..
manifolds wont clear the head bolts blocking the ports on the head.. need to get some stock AMC head bolts in six locations to make room for the manifolds..
did a quick search on this and it seems it’s a known problem among the AMC guys... no real issue for me running close to stock compression..

 

Ended up cutting a larger hold in the floor than I had originally anticipated..
the T18 is a HUGE transmission and I didn’t want to lower the crossmember, so I had to make room up above.
I’m still within the footprint of the stock tunnel cover, but it will need to be modified or a custom one made.

The recipe that worked for my trans mount was the "Z" bracket from a Scout II and a standard Jeep/Chevy transmission mount.
crossmember is in factory location, with factory bracing, no extra holes drilled..
I couldn’t use the Scout mounting pucks due to the fact that the D300 and oil pan is bigger than the stock D20. This is the key reason why the hole in the floor got bigger.





Got the pedal bracket mocked up and holes for the hydraulic systems drilled.
going to have to shorten, bend, or both the pedal arms due to the slope of the tub floor.
Both Masters fit nicely in the engine compartment.. have to bring the hood home to check clearances.

 

Any thoughts or comments on an accelerator pedal?

 

my cable is off a pinto haha
Arie ,I got to say this rig looks top notch ,,,,and I have never seen SO many new parts ,,,this must be costing a fortune

 

A gas pedal and throttle cable from a mid 90's Cherokee might suit your purpose. The pedal is exactly like a CJ pedal and the throttle cable is plenty long enough. Everything bolted up nicely to my CJ.

 

appreciate the kind words... it’s nice to know when the stuff being done meets approval from a discerning community of enthusiasts.
I’ve learned a lot in my years of jeep ownership and wanted this build to be a culmination of things I have learned the hard way and build something correctly the first time.
my kids are still young and napping, so I have time to throw something together... I’m sure in a couple years I won’t have so much freedom.. so I figured now is the time.

I found a fairly nice condition 72-75 gas pedal in my parts pile.. I might try and resurrect it..

I also found a new sandblaster...
Before


After



but more impressive was the 18 hr. turnaround time..

 

Manifolds in... snug as a bug in the engine compartment.
need to find some brass plugs for the air tube ports..
ARP bolts were way to huge.. stock ones worked well.
The Remflex gaskets are awesome and sealed tight.

 

Have been a bit slow on this guy the past 2 weeks...
have a few hold ups and hang ups that caused a few speed bumps.
Had to get a correct pedal assembly in the truck..
the later CJ one would have required too much modification where safety would have been compromised.
Here is a 72-75 assembly modified to a hydraulic clutch, mocked up with a spare steering column.
Needed some more meat on the pedal assembly to fit the larger brake booster bracket... off to powder coat and should be back for this week.






Ran into a little bit of luck finally...
the 76-79 Y Pipe we had in stock fits nicely in the frame..
might have some clearance issues with the front driveshaft, but that can easily be modified.
Its enough to get the motor running and the exhaust going back...




Got to mocking up the radiator and condenser.. Didn’t want to be drilling any holes in fresh paint.
Took some strap steel to make some initial brackets, will be remaking them in 1/8" plate
Radiator fits nicely in stock location and there is a nice air gap between the Radiator/Condenser..
I might try and make an air damn on the top and bottom, or perhaps a rubber seal to direct air flow..





Body fitment has been difficult and easy all at the same time.
once I got the thought out of my head about cutting as little as possible the job got easier ;D
the drive train holes were the trickiest..
A tucked up 4 speed and a twin stick where a twin stick never was.
I have heard stories of a bolt head coming into contact with a tub and making noise like everything was falling apart.. I was making sure that wasn’t going to happen here.
Cut some relief areas to make field adjustments if necessary and make removal easy if need be.
I don’t really have any good pictures but since the D300 is a bit larger than the D20 and my driveline is tucked up into the frame I needed to cut some relief areas in the aluminum floor supports for one area in particular where they were just kissing..
I’m already on 1.25" rubber mounts where .625" is stock.. I wasn’t going any higher...




Starting to button up loose ends on the engine/drivetrain
Mean Green starter installed (I don’t know how the stock one would have fit)
Stock height cast valve covers installed
Dipstick and brackets painted and touched up (installing was a p.i.t.a)
Fuel injection system arrived...

 

went digging into my parts storage today for seat brackets and found a stock column assembly...
going to do some final mock up on the steering / seating situation before I rebuild the column and make any final placements..

Appointment booked for end of next week to have tub bed lined..

 

This is a really cool build! beautiful work by the way and nice write ups. Not sure if you said who was going to line it, but in my experience, Line-X is the best of the professionally sprayed liners.

 

Thanks...
there is a local place that sprays armadillo liner..
it's the only place I have found that can do another color aside from black.

anybody have any experience with this product?

 

got a little work done last night..
drilled and opened up the firewall for the column bracket.
Can start rebuilding the column now.



Stock seat brackets with a Corbeau Moab seat..
comfortable position (without sliders...)
Have a Mastercraft seat coming today to mock up.

 

mocked up the mastercraft seat last night and albeit comfy, it’s a tight job in there...
stock brackets might not cut it, expensive suspension seats might not cut it…
trying not to get hung up on this and deal with it later..

 

Some progress made while the wife was away and over the weekend..
Decided to take the body off, hopefully for the last time and start getting the frame and running gear in order.
Delays with the tub liner application was the primary reason for this, but will also give me some peace of mind that things can be crossed off the list for good.
New AA speedo adapter installed with correct gear and VSS for the Howell


T18 and Dana 300 Shifters installed
Filled with GL4 and ready to go..


Exhaust all sealed up
Copper crush washers and bolts installed in manifold
Heat riser installed

Started buttoning up the gas tank and skid
A bit flimsy compared to my YJ skids, but trying to keep a stock feel to the truck
Fuel pump and filter mounted with a little help from my wife’s old yoga mat.
Filler hose and vent line from MTS installed…

 

Power steering lines run and new Borgeson lower joint installed..
Very tight fit on the steering gear, I guess I’ll appreciate it @70 mph..


Started to plan out a custom bracket for the under dash unit, I wasn’t too thrilled with the “universal” ones supplied by Jeep Air…
Condenser installed in grill with some custom brackets as well, perfect gaping between the condenser and radiator..

 

Steering column being rebuilt..
stripped down the tube and coated in some grease to keep from rust scaling.
New lower and upper bearings installed, all NOS, amazing the quality difference in the upper bearing..
horn contact repaired, sleeved and wired.. soldering iron wasn’t getting as hot as it should so the blob happened.
plastic contact restored, re-drilled and riveted with a new wire terminal attached.
Would have finished, but didn’t have a new horn button handy..

 

So many little projects within the bigger project right now it's almost counterproductive.

 

loaded the body on the trailer last night to head over for some finishing...

 

refinishing
?!!!!
hell work up to 1500 micro paper and some Mothers and call it done

do they make a alum hood?