Intermediate Frankenjeep Build

I ended up doing what Kyle suggested and welded them onto the axle.

 

Yes, I’m still working on the project! Much of the recent stuff is piddly little bits; hardly worth mentioning.

But… …today’s delivery was a rear driveshaft from Tom Wood! It’s a beauty. The pinion shaft is pointed at the t-case output so the shaft needed a double cardan joint at the front end. That, of course requires a special yoke for the case. What good is money if you can’t spend it? ;-)

The photo below also shows some of the fuel delivery pieces. There’s a pre-filter, a pump and a regulator/post filter, with AN-6 hose & fittings. Yes, I know the return line is missing; I ran out’a hose.

The brake hose for the rear axle is on back order, allegedly to ship in a few weeks. I don’t need it yet.

The PCM/ECM (whichever you prefer) will go to Brendan Patten for programming. The LS engine I installed had the AFM/DOD that went away with the new cam, lifters and valley cover. The second set of O2 sensors are gone. There are other changes written down but not in my head right now.
New plugs & wires, bits & pieces acquired for pre-oiling before it gets started.

I need a radiator! It needs to fit the Jeep support but have both hose necks on the passenger side. Any ideas???

I gotta haul it to a local shop to have the exhaust pipes & mufflers welded up.

Oh, yeah; pictures!



Rear axle pitch:


Jon B.

 

Still at it…

The fuel lines and brake lines are completed.

An aluminum radiator was ordered this morning from Superior; should ship tomorrow. This one has the shroud and an electric fan (3000 cfm) already assembled.

A local shop owner will make a “house call” to look at building the exhaust system. He has pipe and a bender, so can fab up a custom setup for me. I’ll haul it to his shop but wanted him to look at it first.

The body (tub) came off the ‘74 donor Jeep today. I’m glad I didn’t plan on using that frame! It’s cracked, bent and poorly repaired. The tub needs lotsa work but for a 50-year-old body, it’s not terrible. Here are a couple of pictures:





Jon B.

 

It’s a Jeep!!



I’ve started stripping the ‘72 of usable parts & pieces. The radiator support & grille need some serious cleaning and some minor work but are good enough.

The hood and supports are OK; dash is out and may be salvageable; windshield frame needs some fixing but it should be OK.

The radiator fits the support and will clear the engine. There might be some ‘fabricobbling’ of air induction pieces. (Whoever came up with that word is a true builder!) The intake manifold just might fit under the hood, too.

The ECU/PCU went off to Brendan Patten last week for programming. Exhaust guy hasn’t been out yet to look at that part. A new drag link and power steering hoses should be here tomorrow from Summit.

Now to order body repair panels: floor and rear tail light sections, braces for firewall area and hat channels.

If I decide to junk the old dash, is it easy enough to fab a new one? I can get sheet metal from a shop 30 miles from home… They could even bend up the edges for me, I guess. Or, a duck-bill Vise Grip could do it.

Jon B.

 

Well…

The power steering hoses from Summit (Flaming River) weren’t what the web-site showed and described, so back they went. New parts & pieces are ordered and en route.

The drag link *was* as ordered and expected. It’s from Crown, and labeled “Made in USA”! That’s nice. It’s in place but not adjusted.

An order was placed with Classic Enterprises for body parts -no! Not that kind!! Floors, taillight panels, hat section reinforcing for the floors, and some miscellaneous bits.

The parts Jeep with the tub also donated its hitch, which was in fine shape. The one on the ‘72 was incomplete, missing some important bits.

Front turn signal ‘buckets’ will soon be en route from member @sterlclan but the rear lights are needed. The ‘72 has flush mounted trailer lights and the other donor’s are missing.

And, since everyone likes pictures…



The parking brake cables are in place, courtesy of the donor.


The ‘72 rust bucket was a pretty nice orange color, originally. It doesn’t have a tailgate; maybe it’s a Renegade…?


Jon B.

 

The project is still (slowly) moving along.

I ordered new power steering hoses & fittings from Summit, as well as a couple of stupid-expensive 90 degree fittings from Lee Power Steering. Unfortunately, one of those won’t thread into my Saginaw gearbox. :-( They and I were corresponding ’til quitting time last Friday about it, and will pick up again tomorrow (Monday). The smaller - 16mm - elbow fits OK but not the 18mm one.

I’ve started designing a mount for a clutch slave ( can we still say that?) cylinder, rather than spend huge amounts at Novak. The local steel guys will have 3/8” plate for me, and Summit has bunches of cylinders.

The body panels from Classic Enterprises have arrived, so I’m cutting the tub apart - pics to follow… Two pieces are coming later: the firewall supports were out of stock but being built this week.

Pictures!!







You can see that the tub needs a bit of love. My hat is off to those of you who start with a completely rotted hull and bring it back from the dead with pieces you made yourself!

Jon B.

 

In the 2nd pic I think I see an electric fuel pump? I may be goin that route with my cj5. Can you give any details?

 

It has an in-line pump (Walbro?) that my brother gave me. There’s a pre-filter in front of the pump. Then, the flow goes to a Corvette regulator/filter unit, with a return line to the tank. The regulator is hard set to (I hope!) 58psi for the injection system.

None of it has been tested yet (except to see that the pump will run), so time will tell if it’s a valid setup. I have a fuel pump relay on its way from Summit, and already have other relays for the fan and such.

Jon B.

 

BTW…
The ECU/PCU is back from reprogramming, so I’m getting close to starting the engine. No radiator hoses, so that’s a show-stopper for now. Other than that, it should be about ready to fire. Pre-oiling is figured out. Gotta get a battery and miscellaneous bits, but it’s really close!

No exhaust, so it’ll be earplug or muff time when firing it off.

Oh! I should wire up an OBD2 port, I guess…

Jon B.

 

OBD2 port is ordered. Power steering fittings and hoses are installed!
Regarding the latter: I had a number of calls & emails to/from Lee Power Steering today. The guy on their end was very patient and very helpful. He made a couple of short videos and sent them to me. The fitting finally went in after the check valve was removed from the pressure port. Their fitting has about .003” of clearance in that hole, and will not fit with the valve in place. Their procedure is to remove the check valve from all of their gearboxes and leave them out.

Hoses in!



The pressure side is a PTFE hose; the return is a standard AN-6 fuel line type.

Jon B.

 

I’m doing some temporary electrical stuff in preparation for starting the engine. OBD2 port is in, ECU hooked up, power and ground wiring ready for a battery, etc..

I’ll wire in a fuse or three, an ignition switch and a starter button on some sort of panel.

The oil pressure gauge will be mechanical, and plumbed from near the filter, where there’s a take-off for a cooler or other options. The piece with ports in it will be here Monday. I had planned to delete the electric sender but kept it, in case the ECU needs to see oil pressure before it will deliver fuel & spark. It may not be the case but…

For a cooling fan switch, I thought I’d put that in the radiator, right where the return flow from the engine dumps in. Superior welded in a 1/4” bung for a drain - I presume - but a switch there seems like a splendid idea. See below:



I also got the paint stripped from the grille. Starting from bare steel, it had: OD zinc oxide primer, the original orange, then grey/white primer, metallic blue, black, red, and then flat black. The blue appears to have been professionally done, and lacquer based, as it scoffed at the stripper, and had to be mechanically scraped off. Lots of the zinc oxide primer is left, and I’m fine with that. Gonna pressure wash it, sand, prime & paint. No idea what color, though. I’m open to suggestions!



Jon B.

 

Jeeps look good in just about any color. So your favorite color will look just fine whatever it is.

 

No pics today; I’m sorry about that…

A couple of milestones this week:

The OBD port is operational! It took a call to Brendan Patten, who reprogrammed the ECM. I had to reinstall two wires in one of the ECM harnesses and modify the OBD connector but it’s working! GM vehicles typically use only pin 2 and ground (4 or 5) but this one uses the high-speed GMLAN two-wire comm link. They’re on pins 6 and 14. (www.lt1swap.com)

I also hooked up a mechanical oil pressure gauge and then primed (pre-oiled) the engine with a modified garden sprayer. It got up close to 20psi on the gauge.

Then, I made up a temporary electrical system, with battery, fuse panel, switch and start button. That’s when I was able to test the OBD reader. I cranked the engine, seeing nearly 40psi on the oil gauge. Yay!!

Still awaiting delivery of the fuel pump relay to get fuel to the engine. The radiator will soon be temporarily in place, so I can hook up the hoses (2003 Escalade, trimmed to length) and pour in the coolant.

The local exhaust guy came today. He suggested that we get it in his shop, then he’ll let me bend, fit and weld up the pipes. Woot!! At $94 per hour for him or his son, that should save a pile of cash. He said that if he built it, it’d take a long time, as he couldn’t work on just that, with the urgent repairs coming in. He does all sorts of repair work, not just exhaust.

Jon B.

 

The new fan switch is in. Steam port is connected to the radiator tank. Bypass hose on the heater fittings. Upper & lower radiator hoses are installed. Battery connected. I removed the fuel filler hose from the ‘72 - it’s in really nice shape - and put it on the project Jeep. Fuel pump relay wired in. Five gallons of 91 octane, ethanol free gas in the tank.

I guess it’s time for the moment of truth…

And, it runs!! Had a wiring glitch with the crankshaft position sensor but, fixing that (as Derek, on VGG says) brought the thunder.

I’ll see if Son 1 can put the video on yoo toob and send me a link.

It runs rich, as there aren’t any O2 sensors wired in. No pipes, just open headers . Yes. Yes, it’s loud. The BTR “Truck Norris” cam has a nice lope at idle, but not stupid like a long-duration race cam.

Jon B.

 

Mrs. B. had my camera ready for the second startup. Here’s my confused look when it didn’t fire. Seconds later, I noticed that I had forgotten to flip the ignition switch on.



Jon B.

 

Be sure to use a fuse.

 

Oh. Yes. Everything is fused.

And the starter button is large, red, and labeled “Engine Start”.

Jon B.

 

Will it start?



Jon B.

 

You got the hard part done…slap the body on and take her for a ride.

 

The passenger side floor, hat channel and firewall brace are welded in!



I got the chance to use my new Hobo Freight welder.



It works well. It’s not as nice as the ESAB 250 I was using but…

Jon B.