Monkey On My Back - Round 3

I have owned a 1974 for about 2 years and I figured it was finally time to start digging into it and start building again. I have my daughter during the summer so at the moment I am just dissembling and ordering parts but what better time than now to start documenting the progress. I have also found this forum to be a huge source of knowledge that I will inevitably need.




And fits into the tiny workshop....


I live in Vegas and have wonderful country around me that I want to be able to drive 8 hour past cell coverage but still be able to rock crawl decently. I an not knew to off roading or fabrication but I am growing up and would rather go camping with my kid than tow a rig everywhere.
So far my only game plan is: Slightly wider axles, 35-37in tires (I want to drive this on the road every where), YJ springs as low as I can go, and as light as I can keep it.

 

A little back ground:
I started off roading while stationed in England, after a couple years of Imports I had gotten bored and it looked fun.... Insert the bright idea to take a brand new 2006 Tacoma through the woods. Worked great and a made many friends, British and American. One British friend pulled me into you winch challenge events and it was all over - The TJ was never the same afterwards.











40in swampers, Unimog 404 axles, blah blah blah blah

 

And some more photos for your viewing pleasure....









Now there is a lot of things wrong in these photos but for what I paid for the jeep, and the amount of new parts that came with it. I was happy with the deal.
Wiring is hysterical, how that heater is a "good idea" beats me, under body has some rust but top of the body looked pretty good.
She has been used: the front fenders are both sagging, front of the frame has been chopped and crushed, some dumb redneck butchered the frame trying to repair a crack...... blah blah blah
Nothing that scares me to fix, rebuild, redo.

I also figured ya'll would also like this sexy heep..... This is a mates wheeler that he is still building.










More to come later! Thanks for reading!

 

As you well know it is really easy to experience project "creep" once you start changing parts. If not careful, you can end up with linked 60s, 44" boggers, LS sbc with a atlas behind it. An intermediate 5 can be made very capable with a couple lockers and some new horses under the hood. It is all about whether you want to keep it street drive able or not without the local LEO's pulling you over every other day.

 

What are you trying to hide? (sorry, couldn't resist the grammar Nazi joke ).

Looks like you got some work in front of you, but also looks like a good, usable base to start from. I'll be following along...

 

Thanks - Yes I am extremely bad at spelling to the point spell check doesn't even understand me.... southern public schools at it best. But I make up for it in driving and fab skills. Well I tell myself that anyway.

Local law is not an issue here in Vegas, but I have already done huge tires.... It was great fun, if I was going to KOH then I would do it again - but not the plan here.

I have a 79 Cherokee Chief front axle waiting for me to find it a rear(I really wanted portals again but Volvos seem to be made of fairy dust and always hiding). I need to check my math as to if this is too wide in stock form for my ideas. If so I can shorten it and still be better than a waggy axle.
I have half of everything ordered to rewire the rig from scratch, once the fuse box gets here I can sort out what plugs I will need as some of the stock ones are toast and the little things bother me.

More photos coming this weekend, week days are packed while I have my daughter but no complaints there.
Thanks for reading guys!

 

I didn't get a lot done over the last month my daughter was here, an hour here and there. But I did learn the little kid has a huge want to learn and help.... So we started stripping...
The Good.

Even sorted my toolbox out finally...



The Bad.


What looks like JB Weld over the oil pressure port.


The Questions....
Any ideas what this is - was attached to the underside of the front crossmember.

I am guessing these holes are for mounting power steering pump - But I cant find a bracket that looks like it will fit - Any one have a part number or link?


I have ordered almost everything to wire the jeep from scratch and I have started laying it out on the computer. I'll post the layouts up when I am finished. Slowly starting a ToDo list for the winter, don't see axle swaps this time round but I am fine with that. slow and steady...

 

This looks like a TEE for an air line, When I had air shocks on the front of mine that's what I used.

Jay

 

Keeping it simpler brings back the fun. I like your plan.

 

But what the heck would it have been used for on an old stock jeep? I think this thing has had 2 owners and not a lot modified, just repairs and screw-ups.

 

Proportioning valve for the brakes?

Looks like a cool idea, similar to mine. How wide do you want to go with the width?

 

is that a hole repair in the side of the block? yikes!

 

I have the stock drum brakes - What on them would take air? I figured it's an airline fitting.
As wide as I can without it looking stupid....
I have a 79 Cherokee Chief front axle for swap (much better than other Dana44 fronts due to the short side being longer and helping with steering to spring under issues) which is 65.4in wide. I need to redo the math on it vs the stock axle/rim BS'ing and get everyone thoughts on weather it will need to be cut down 4in on the long side or not. I think as long as a couple inches of the tires stay under the stock fender flares then it will look the way I want. Biggest issue here is I can not find used rims and tires for it(6 on 5.5), so I cant just mock it up in front of the CJ and wrap my brain around it.

I am not sure if it is a hole repair or what - I spent an hour digging through google photos and have come to believe it is the Oil pressure transmitter spot. So either it snapped off or stripped out and some stupid person covered it with JB weld..... It will get fixed at some point as I am to picky to use this jeep how I want knowing its there.

 

So here is my wiring layouts - I broke it down into 4 pages and tried to keep it as simple as possible Vs how the stock layout was. And for those that will wonder: why do it from scratch vs buying a harness.... Everything I looked at seemed to cost twice what I figured it should, wasn't water proof in any way, and was not a direct bolt in. I already had over half the needed wire on spools and actually enjoy this kind of thing.
To the details....

I am using a small Bussmann fuse box and hope to use to cannon plugs at the wire wall. This should make for a very clean install. Everything will be 12,16,18 Ga wire except 2 or 3 wires I would like to run 10 Ga - I know all this is over kill but it gives peace of mind.
I found 10 different wiring layouts for the turn signal switch, so that will need a test light put on it once I get some wire back in the jeep - easy enough.
Bare min - Things needed to Run.

Gauges

Lights


Extra toys such as aux lighting, winch, power outlet as all planned for and space is available as I get to them. I need to redo the math but I am still under the price of a Painless kit - WINNING!

As always Thanks for reading!

 

No idea, I couldn't tell for sure from the picture (too small). If you're sure it's air definitely not brakes.

I have the same exact axle. If you plan on keeping the same spring perch width you need to take 4" out regardless otherwise you'll have the driver side way out one side. Otherwise you'd have to outboard your springs. So with the 4" out, you'll be around 60.5"-61" which is good. Plus with the centered drop in the rear, you have a bunch of options for rear axles. I like the Isuzu Dana 44 due to having disc brakes already with integrated park brake and 4.10 gears. Or you could go later waggy Dana44 as well.

 

Did you use paint to draw that harness (it looks really nice) also instead of painless, alot of guys use Centech or EZ wiring

 

No idea why I did not think of that, local Pick A Part even has all 3 models listed. Might drive over this weekend and see if they still have axles.
Out boarding the springs doesn't bother me, I am swapping to YJ springs so wider mounting is only going to add to the stability of the rig. I will also stretch the front and rear to the limit of looks, but I will not be doing a comp cut.
As low as possible, wide as possible, and long as possible ..... how it should have been from the factory. lol

I actually drew it in PowerPoint - Hate the program with a passion but it was quick and easy to get the job done. Thanks!
I looked at every harness I could find and still figured they were over priced, especially knowing I could wire it myself and end up cleaner and stronger.

 

If you stay at the stock Cherokee Chief width for the front, you'll want 2nd gen Rodeo axles, they're in the 63-64" WMS. Only problem is these have coil and link brackets welded on and limited carrier options (i think).

Looking at my front axle yesterday, unless I change my tie-rod location, it's limited to 3.75-4" of backspacing on the wheels. Any more than that and it's going to rub. Unless I change completely and go with 20" wheels (NEVER)

 

Yeah I found all the different model specs last night - Thanks again for the idea. The news that model seem best internal wise(as long as aftermarket shafts don't neck down like stockers) I just need to look at aftermarket support and options.
I want to say our front axles were 3.75 BS stock and with offroad tires anything over stock has rubbing issues in one spot or another. But I'd have to go double check my research to be sure.
I figure if I'm lucky I can find some stock junkyard rims to atleast get me a starting point.

 

OK - Finally some photos of things worth posting and progress of some slow sort...
Rule number 1 - Keep things light.
Rule number 2 - Lowest COG possible.

I never liked the battery mounted to the firewall - Its a lot of weight up high and causes wasted space. A flat fender buddy gave me the great idea of mounting it on the frame.
Take one stock tray and add some mounting studs.

Make a H mount out of flat bar; holes for studs from the tray, 2 studs for grounding wires, and 3 holes down the center for rosette welds.

Pick a good spot of unused space - Look at that it will act like frame strapping also.
Rule number 3 - Make everything serve 2 purposes.


I am going to add a small amount of strapping to the front and rear and couple gussets down the frame. If it ever seems the battery is able to get beat by rocks or such I can always add a aluminum shield or make the stock tray deeper. Whichever is lighter. lol

Next on the list is a mount for the fuse box. I knew I wanted to start playing with aluminum more, always loved my dimple dies, and needed to figure out how to use my cheap plate bender like a finger brake.
I've never attempted a folded box - so this layout took me a few hours. lol

Note to self - Drill bits this big walk all over aluminum. Found my step drills after the fact and hoping they do better.

Dimple dimple dimple, and I made them with a rubber mallet. I'm liking ally more and more. My plate bender just uses a large heavy bar C-Clamped down and I needed to make some pieces more like a finger brake but able to be C-Clamped down. Simple small flat bar from Lowes and some Tig practice.


1st photo No filler - My lines are slightly off but not bad. When I added filler I started to feel like I'm twitching. Need more practice, I use to be way better at this.



And back on track - One practice piece finished and quite a bit learned.

The box is way deeper than it needs to be and I think I could make it cleaner and lighter, but the process itself is sound.

With lid.

With some added items for packaging - Flasher relay (sealed motorcycle unit, will need another if I want Hazards), two sealed relays, and two inline fuses.

Passenger side footwell.


With that I spent an hour or two moving it around the firewall - The passenger side as pictured above is possible to be kick. The stock location adds wire distance to harnesses. More playing to be had and I'll sort it out.