Varg In Jeep's Clothing

[ITLKSEZ]

And just when I thought I was all done with pie cuts on this thing…

There’s a local online auction site that has the most random crap. This unopened Thrush muffler was going to sell for $10, so I put a $15 bid on it, thinking I’d throw it up on marketplace and triple my money. I never got around to selling it.

Meanwhile, since the turbo swap, all of the little annoyances of my homemade muffler got magnified. The heat on my back floor is unbearable, the rubber mounts were showing wear and starting to occasionally allow rattles, cracks around the inlet are getting harder to chase, it cooks my fuel line, and I’m starting to wonder if my RPMs are being somewhat limited by the poor flow rate.

I’m not thrilled about how much louder it will be, but the benefits should highly outweigh the noise. I should be done with this today after work. We’re going camping again this weekend, so it sorta needs to be done by tonight!

 

[colojeepguy]

Going through a turbo, it should be plenty quiet.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

Going through a turbo, it should be plenty quiet.

And a cat!
Hopefully…

 

[ITLKSEZ]

I didn’t have time to post an update last night between getting this done, figuring out my high-idle issue (TPS was unplugged ), loading the motorhome, and writing a letter of recommendation for a coworker; it was a late night.

I finished this up, and I’m happy to report that the volume is only a hair louder, but the tone is much deeper and throaty. More pleasant actually. It’s just enough to drown out the sewing machine noise that these Volvos are known for. Very pleased I did this.

It’s hard to get a picture of the whole thing, so here’s the half that’s photogenic again.

The old one was so cumbersome, removing it really opened up the underside, and it probably dropped 30# of dead weight.

The engine did seem to pull a little harder and longer when wide open, but my TPS was still unplugged at that point. I’ll know better after this weekend.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

Another great weekend is in the books!

There’s still a surprising amount of snow up high, considering how lame our winter was. We just haven’t had any hot streaks like we normally have had by this time of year, so what little snow we had is lingering.

The muffler is fantastic. The sound is a low hum, power is great, and any/all rattles are gone. The homemade one did well and got this project rolling until I could see what I could get to fit. It was a fun experiment.

At one point on Saturday I needed to use the winch, and I got annoyed that the controller was at the bottom of my freshly organized console. It is no longer organized. This made me look for another home for the controller. I threw together a little bag with a Velcro flap and grommets to screw through…

and I mounted it to the front of my speaker box behind my feet.

I also got annoyed that the only charger in the jeep is a usb cable from my radio that takes a solid 12 hours to charge my phone. So I added a port under the dash.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

I just did one of those mods that nobody may ever figure out what it’s for, but it’ll make certain tasks a lot easier.

I took a stainless nut off the back of the winch (+) power feed and tig welded a piece of left over fuel rail tubing to it.

I tightened it back into place…

I drilled a hole in the back of the cover for it to stick out. This will be a (+) terminal that will be hot whenever the main kill switch is turned on. Jump starts, hot water shower pump, etc,… can now be accessed easily. With the battery as buried as it is on this, finding access to a high-amp terminal was difficult.

I found a perfect-fitting cap in my stash-o-caps to protect it when not in use.

 

[neohic]

I just did one of those mods that nobody may ever figure out what it’s for, but it’ll make certain tasks a lot easier.

I took a stainless nut off the back of the winch (+) power feed and tig welded a piece of left over fuel rail tubing to it.

I tightened it back into place…

I drilled a hole in the back of the cover for it to stick out. This will be a (+) terminal that will be hot whenever the main kill switch is turned on. Jump starts, hot water shower pump, etc,… can now be accessed easily. With the battery as buried as it is on this, finding access to a high-amp terminal was difficult.

I found a perfect-fitting cap in my stash-o-caps to protect it when not in use.

Neato!

 

[SoCalNickG]

I just did one of those mods that nobody may ever figure out what it’s for, but it’ll make certain tasks a lot easier.

I took a stainless nut off the back of the winch (+) power feed and tig welded a piece of left over fuel rail tubing to it.

I tightened it back into place…

I drilled a hole in the back of the cover for it to stick out. This will be a (+) terminal that will be hot whenever the main kill switch is turned on. Jump starts, hot water shower pump, etc,… can now be accessed easily. With the battery as buried as it is on this, finding access to a high-amp terminal was difficult.

I found a perfect-fitting cap in my stash-o-caps to protect it when not in use.

I love the cap. How loose fitting is the cap?
Maybe pack an extra cap or two in case of loss on the trail?

 

[ITLKSEZ]

I love the cap. How loose fitting is the cap?
Maybe pack an extra cap or two in case of loss on the trail?

It’s a tight fit. It collapses when pulled off from the vacuum.
I always have electrical tape with me if needed.

 

[Fireball]

Do you have a clean ground nearby too?

 

[duffer]

I sort of did something similar on my B except it's under the hood and uses Miller welding cable jacks-the receptacles to the left of the welder.

The TJ is likely going to get the same treatment.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

I sort of did something similar on my B except it's under the hood and uses Miller welding cable jacks-the receptacles to the left of the welder.

The TJ is likely going to get the same treatment.

Blessed are those with a high hood.
Look at all that room!

Do you have a clean ground nearby too?

In a word, yes. I might still make a dedicated ground post eventually.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

One mod I’ve wanted to make to this jeep from back when it was still a scribble on a notepad was to be able to weld from it. A Premier unit is not only FAR out of my budget, but with the alternator setup I have, it would require me to completely reconfigure the mount and wiring. So I needed to come up with a different solution.

I have a 120v ESAB MIG welder on my work van that I run off of a 5000w inverter without issue. Which got me thinking… why not get the smallest (quality) welder possible and run it off the biggest inverter I could get to fit in this jeep that’s already utilizing every cubic inch of space?

Here’s what I ended up with for just over $400 total.

For the welder, I found an ESAB stick welder for $200 shipped that is the size of an old-school metal lunchbox, and weighs a whopping 6 pounds. It runs on 120v or 240v. It flat rips on 240v! I was welding 1/4” plate with 7018 1/8” rod and had to turn it down to about 3/4 power as to not obliterate the plate.

Dollar bill for reference. I shortened the welder’s cord and repurposed the extension cord to work as the 240/120 converter. (I’ve since shortened this to 12’)

The biggest inverter I could fit in the limited space I had is a 2000w Harbor Freight unit for $150. Admittedly, it’s a bit underpowered for what I’m trying to do, but it gets the job done without taking up any additional space. The 3000w unit was nearly twice the size and was exactly twice the price.

I found a set of 20’ long 2g jumper cables at HF for $40 for the inverter wiring. Way cheaper than buying bulk cable.

I picked up a 12g extension cord at Ace with my school district employee discount for $18.



First order of business was to find a spot to put the inverter. Since I hardly ever use the radio, I thought it wouldn’t be a great loss to take one of the speakers out. So I chose the one with more room, under the driver’s seat.

The biggest obstacle I faced with this project was how to keep the inverter dry in an open-topped vehicle. I decided to build a box that had a labyrinth system to keep water out and airflow moving. In theory, water would have to get 3 inches deep in my floor to get in the box past the inner walls, and road spray is blocked by the outer walls. It took an hour and a half to make the box and 16 hours to mount and wire it.

I ordered a 250A fuse and tucked it behind the cage at the passenger’s feet. The hot wire goes through a grommet into the battery cover.

I ran the main cables through the box’s back panel with tight-fitting grommets. I took the front cover off of the inverter and ran the main wires to a single 15A “appliance” outlet that snapped in place. I rewired the power switch to a waterproof toggle, and fed the status LED to a hole under the switch.

With the cover on…

Once it’s all assembled, it’s very unassuming.

Next up, I need to figure out a way to mount a throttle cable. While in use, the alternator (engine) likes to run at around 2500 RPM. I think, in part, my battery is not up to par/designed for this. I feel like it’s relying too much on the alternator because the battery doesn’t have the required capacity. But a yellow top Optima in this series is $370, and that is not in the budget anytime soon.

All in all, I’m very pleased with this. Not only can I run a welder, I can basically run any tool or appliance.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

I’ve got lots to report!

First off, I’ve determined that running this welder off of this inverter being charged by this alternator just puts too much stress on everything. I don’t want to wreck stuff. I have a backup plan that, if I can pull it off, will be fairly epic. But that’s for another day. In the meantime, I’ll keep the inverter in place and hooked up for grinding duties, and for running a hairdryer of course. Why the hairdryer? Because…

Next up, we had a chance to use the shower last weekend, and it was AWESOME! We were camping next to this stream that was the perfect test bed. This is snow runoff, so the temp is maybe in the 40s.

Pump hooked up and strainer in the drink

On the first test day (Saturday), we’d just gotten back from a long dusty day on the trail and were looking forward to this. The engine temp was at around 185, and at first the shower was unbearably hot. I closed the valve on the exchanger a little to get a nice comfortable temp. It took about 5 minutes for the engine to cool enough to open the valve all the way. I was loving it! Hot water limited only by how much fuel is in your tank.

And the step makes a wonderful soap shelf. My GF was next up (sorry, no pics for you ), and she was in absolute heaven. Her showers are typically 20° hotter than mine, so I held the rpm at around 1500 for her, and the water was almost too hot, even for her. That’s impressive, for this little engine to heat 40-something degree river water to around 110°. The engine temperature never went below 160°.

The second night we decided to shower after dinner, and by that time it was pitch dark. The experience was just as fun, but lighting was an issue. Anywhere we put our lights, they were in our eyes and shining on body parts we didn’t need lit up.

Through questionable means, I managed to aquire a NIB Boss Acoustics light bar.

I mounted this up under the drivers side floor. It should shine light in just the right place and intensity for a semi-private shower. It will also double as a rock light and under-jeep work light. It connects to my phone through Bluetooth, will shine any color combination imaginable, and even strobes to music.

I put the power switch in a semi hidden spot that is still accessible with the hood closed.

And lastly, I’ve been sitting on the materials to build a wind jammer, and finally got around to doing it this weekend.

Template…

Sewing…

Window placement…

Test fit…
Not my finest work, but it’ll do the job. I have a limited amount of time I can mentally work with this stuff before I stop caring and just want it done. That point was reached.

With the top on.. Hopefully it will cut down on the wind gusts on the freeway, and the backwards road mist in the rain.

 

[Framer Mike P]

And there it is. We have gone from the varg in jeeps clothing to Ryan in no clothing...

 

[Boyink]

"When patience meets acceptibility." I know that moment well.

 

[47v6]

Every time I see some part of this jeep, I wonder what I haven't done that whatever thing that I could gusset like that or radius like this or refine that part...Or wonder what my jeep won't shower a grown man with hot water instead of mud..

 

[ITLKSEZ]

Well, the wind jammer is a total bust.

I think it might’ve actually made the gusts worse.

 

[Fireball]

Well, the wind jammer is a total bust.

I think it might’ve actually made the gusts worse.

Maybe move it to the back?

 

[ITLKSEZ]

It does cut down on the constant wind up by my face, but the random “smacked upside the head” gusts are still there and more evident because the constant wind is less. The wind coming up from my legs is way worse. The lady wants to try half doors to have the illusion of safety on the freeway, so maybe that will help, but heat is a concern.

I think there’s just no way around the fact that these things are less aerodynamic than an outhouse. Cj5s are noticeably much less windy.

Ideally, I built this to throw in the back for driving in rain to cut down on road mist, and I’m sure that will work as planned. I was just hoping for more benefits.