Build Project Iron III Oxide: A Snowball Effect

D_JEEPER · May 11, 2026

Well I have so many inbound parts but nothing to finish any one project. So I started laying out some bit and pieces on my center console.

I set up the over drive off switch, trans temp gauge, proform fan controller and plan to install the master bypass rocker switch on the top where the yellow dot is. That just makes it run 100% in case the controller goes tango uniform.

I also fished out the auto shifter gear indicator backlight from the harness. Jeep had it in but tucked it away since it wasnt needed for manuals.

Today I ordered things for the radiator hoses and converters to adapt to the LS swap radiator sizes. Hopefully it is close enough to work.

I also had a forehead slap moment today. Im putting a temp sensor on then output line of the transmission but it is a single wire sensor. This means the circuit expects ground. Hard to ground through rubber and nylon. I figured out the depth-to-center of the an6 temp housing and halved it. I used this measurement to drill and tap a hole for a ground wire. Should help the Bluetooth circuitry become less wireless.

Hopefully more parts will come tomorrow!

D_JEEPER · May 12, 2026

Tonight I had enough time to splice in my trans temp sensor on the output hose from the transmission. I hate multiple connections because of leak risk but at least it is opposite from the exhaust I suppose. Pretty straight forward. I just wanted it far enough away from the driveshaft to never be of concern.

I also was able to get the master cylinder installed with a longer adjustment screw. The new lines required a lot of tweaking to get settled in. The bracket on the prop block no longer fit due to the longer body and, ahem, girth of the master cylinder. I cut the bracket down and left just enough to act as a vibration stop. I ran the lines and bolted them up as they should be. I will still have to do a bleed on it so the main lines will still need to come off.

This leads me to the next hurdle...the charcoal canister. First off, this thing does not have a requirement for the system. It merely scrubs the tank fumes of most of the smell when purging. Well, with the master cylinder more forward I could not find a good solution to meet my desired end product. Also, as you climb the fender, the charcoal canister lays on its side more and the chance of engine charcoal ingestion grows. Anyways, that's all moot because it's gone. I just hooked the dump line from the LDP to the purge valve.

One last thing I did was hose clamp the heater hose over the distributor. Just keeps it from shaking around too much. Of course I ordered hose clamps based on ID vs OD so I get to wait for those to come before I can finish that bit.

Had a small blood sacrifice as well. Double Tiwaz for victory :laughing:

D_JEEPER · May 13, 2026

Got half of the cooling system done. I had to modify the Grand Cherokee upper hose to be shorter by about 4" and will run that into a silicone reducer using a union.

The lower hose was a complete bust. No way to cut and trim it to fit so Im going to have to find something to fit. Maybe the local O'rilleys will let me peruse their hose section.

Aside from that, I was able to get the power steering pressure hose sorted. I had to manually adjust the hard lines which was a lot of fit and adjust and repeat. The hard part is the hose was too long and it wanted to dump by the manifold. Luckily I have the shield but Id still rather those two not get friendly. I put a remaining section of heat shield onto the hose near the manifold as another layer of protection. I just need to run a low pressure return hose and that will be done aside from bleeding.

A small task accomplished tonight was securing the trans temp gauge with the bracket and thumb screws. I didnt have those but had to order them. That was a quick install.

I had to order another radiator hose union as well as some switches to enable or disable the manual override for the fan controller.

Then, come to find out, my wife violated the sanctity of my shop and did a no good horrible misdeed. She took the purity from my jeep. It isnt even on the road yet!! This was something she whipped up as a small anniversary gift :lmao:

. Weaponized crochet. Terrible. I have to keep it though since she made it. Well played

csutton7 · May 14, 2026

At least it isn't a duck!!

D_JEEPER · May 14, 2026

csutton7 said:
At least it isn't a duck!!

Put your readers on... IT IS :laughing:

csutton7 · May 14, 2026

I thought it was a rabbit, but now I see it's duck or a rabbit--call it a rabbit!!

D_JEEPER · May 14, 2026

csutton7 said:
I thought it was a rabbit, but now I see it's duck or a rabbit--call it a rabbit!!

I see what you see and I appreciate your condolences however the tag is deceiving through obscurity. :lmao:

D_JEEPER · May 14, 2026

csutton7 said:
I thought it was a rabbit, but now I see it's duck or a rabbit--call it a rabbit!!

😭

D_JEEPER · May 14, 2026

Tonight I primarily focused on cleaning up some more things. I finished installing the pressure hose on the power steering. I found the return line to be in questionable shape so thats getting refreshed as well. Luckily some 3/8" power steering line hose is all I need bs hard line stuffs.

I also hose clamped the heater core loop and finished that run in so it clears everything it should.

After that I was doing some measurements for the lower radiator hose. Continental makes a 14.5" flex hose that goes from 1-3/4" to 2". That should fit really well without excess tube or oddball bends from piecing together multiple hoses. Should be here Saturday.

I also ordered some led marker lights for the front. One more requirement for passing inspection.

Other than that, just straightened things up for busy work. Tons of micro projects within the major project.

D_JEEPER · May 15, 2026

Once again in parts limbo. Got my switches in for the Proform Fan Controller bypass so I installed that. Then I got the union for the upper radiator hose so I finished that.

Im getting a cluster of parts tomorrow. Should be able to wrap up the radiator hoses if all goes well.

Figured I would give myself an short shop day. Im wiped after this work week, Im old and Im going to bed early :laughing:

D_JEEPER · May 16, 2026

Couple more simple things knocked off the list tonight. Unfortunately I was not able to get any day time in the shop but I spent a couple hours out there this evening.

I was able to get the power steering finalized and buttoned up. Check.

I also was able to use the new flexy conversion radiator hose to finish that up. Check!

After that I started fiddling with the exhaust y pipe. I did not get very far before I ran out of time Unfortunately. While I am doing this I am thinking that maybe I just bolt the y pipe up in place and use that to trailer the jeep to a local exhaust shop to fabricate the front y pipe that wont dangle below the oil pan. How much effort will I be wasting on something I plan to remove anyways? I have all of the components to fab up the exhaust as it is so why mess that up?

Things to contemplate.

D_JEEPER · May 17, 2026

Little bit more engine bay work. Kind of running out of things to do in there.

Ran the spark plug wires to the distributor and cleaned things up along the way

I ran lines for my brake booster and in doing so realized I needed to route my evap purge line to a different port since I accidentally used the booster port. I thought it felt really snug going on....so much so that I had to cut it off :emb:

Aside from that I got my front turn signal LEDs in. Just need to cut and splice the harness. Im coming up on a big wiring and soldering day to knock it all out at once. A big one is the fan. Not terrible, just tedious.

Another big on is trying to figure out the proper connections for my battery terminals. I might need some help from Dan_Goodwin on that one 😓

Anyways, Im going to call a local exhaust shop and see if theyd be willing to burn a new y-pipe for me. Id just bolt the current one on and run it up onto the trailer to haul down there a few miles away.

Dan_Goodwin · May 18, 2026

D_JEEPER said:
Another big on is trying to figure out the proper connections for my battery terminals. I might need some help from Dan_Goodwin on that one 😓

I'm running these on the Jeep (and several other things) with good luck. I made all cables from 4/0 marine wire with crimped lugs on each end finished off with a layer of heat shrink, split loom over the entire wire and heat shrink over those ends as well. I bought the HF hydraulic crimper for the TJ build a while back and have used the crap out of it.

D_JEEPER · May 18, 2026

Dan_Goodwin said:
I'm running these on the Jeep (and several other things) with good luck. I made all cables from 4/0 marine wire with crimped lugs on each end finished off with a layer of heat shrink, split loom over the entire wire and heat shrink over those ends as well. I bought the HF hydraulic crimper for the TJ build a while back and have used the crap out of it.

Oh so I have the cables still... I just cannot for the life of me figure out a clear location where they are supposed to bolt up. I know the positive has a lug that goes to the fuse block right there... and the negative goes to a block on the alternator... but, I'm not able to mentally piece it all together without the fear of a beautiful smoke show.

Dan_Goodwin · May 18, 2026

Check the service manual from the donor rig - it should have info on where everything was run from the factory.

D_JEEPER · May 18, 2026

Started this wiring stuff. My least favorite of all the things.

First I started with the leak detection pump. I had like 10 feet of excess wire coiled up that I was able to remove. Everything is soldered and heat shrinked with the glue seal.

I wanted a back light for my trans temp gauge. I happened to have a led light that I chucked up into the lathe and turned down to a very snug interference fit into the gauge housings. I tapped the light for the gear selector backlight and plugged it into that. Everything is still removable if needed.

I also soldered an extension to the overdrive off switch and ran that across the dash to the center console and pulled it through. Still need to hook that up but need to figure out what all needs to happen to make it not only work but to illuminate the light on the momentary button.

D_JEEPER · May 19, 2026

Kinda short on time this evening. I got the OD off button wired up...Hopefully the right way :lmao:

I was going to try to get the trans temp gauge hooked up but I decided to try to make sense out of my battery cables. I have a mix of the TJ and ZJ cables but not sure where to go from here. I have a negative cable that goes to the voltage regulator of the alternator and has the field wires. Then on that cable is another forked off that I assume finds a bolt on the engine. But then there's a stubby guy that wont reach anything. I assume that is essentially useless.

I have a couple options for the positive lead... but not sure how those will work out. They both have a lead going down to the alternator with a molded connector. One for the power lug and one to then solenoid. The solenoid connection is baked into the HotWire Auto harness so I presume I just need to cut it out from the positive lead and chuck it.
From there I have a lead to the fuse box under the hood. I also need to get a lead from the alternator to the battery... but the cable I have looks to go to the lug on the fuse box. Any reason why that would be an issue?

I know this is kind of confusing in text....

The big accomplishment was I ordered my drive shafts from Tom Woods. Got a 1350 rear double cardan to a flange on the t case and a 1310 front all the way through. With 5.38s and 37s it should keep the fusible link at the driveshaft rather than internal. But it would still take some dumb pedal.

I called the local exhaust shop and they sound enthusiastic about making the high clearance y-pipe too, so that's a plus.

D_JEEPER · May 20, 2026

OK, I think I made sense of this mess.

Positive terminal > Fuse block and starter power lug
Fuse block > GREEN FUSE LINK wire to alternator power lug. I will also use this lug to power the fan.
Negative terminal > Alternator field block/engine ground. I will need to run another ground wire to the chassis/body as well just to bond all of the things together.

I think I will be replacing the battery terminals since they are pretty worn with questionable connections. I will look into a copper crimp fitting for each of the runs and bolt them in, rather than a squish strap type of terminal.

Feel free to check my thinking and analysis here.

D_JEEPER · May 21, 2026

Forgot to post last night/this morning.

Played around with the cables last night. I think I have it set right. I am going to have to build my battery connectors and make it all happy but that's no big deal. I ordered a hydraulic crimping tool and will get things set up right.

I was able to get my main ground lug set up as well. The ground cables come to the firewall and from there I have a braided y cable to go to the engine. I still need to bond the frame to the engine but that will be done with one of the spare battery cables and crimp tool.

My driveshafts should be here within a week.

One of the other things I need to do is set up limit straps but I want to wait for the driveshafts to ensure I dont need to stop much earlier than the shock limit for binding mitigation. I honestly think I am fine but would hate to make an expense mistake

Getting closer!

D_JEEPER · May 21, 2026

Tonight I was able to knock out the front turn signals and sort most of the trans temp gauge and sender.

Nothing amazing to report but with the front turn signals I had to figure out what the wires translated to. That took a bit to confirm. Everything tucks in nice and neat.

For the trans temp gauge, I drilled a hole, used a grommet and ran a sensor wire and ground wire to the fitting. That was buddy taped together and put into split loom, poking through the grommet. I used bullet connectors so I could easily disconnect everything if I had to pull the center console. Makes hook up a breeze as well. I still need to run the switched power from somewhere but that's TBD. Ill need it for the fan controller as well. Pretty sure I know a place in the fuse panel.

This process is so slow and tedious to do cleanly. I hate wiring: emb:

D_JEEPER · May 22, 2026

Got the hydraulic crimper today so I went to work making battery cables. Crazy how long this takes just running a few cables but Im so meticulous about how and where the cables run. Will it scrape over time and short? Will it cook near exhaust? What if it rubs this other cable? Should I modify the starter side to avoid future exhaust run?

Just constantly visualizing and predicting and playing out arbitrary mental scenarios amd what-ifs.

Im mostly satisfied with it as it is but I plan to secure some of the runs by the exhaust. I removed the anemic frame to engine bonding cable since I already had that covered and used that for a beefy ground cable location.

Aside from that I cleaned up the wiring harness I built for under the center console a little bit. Still need to run switched power though.

D_JEEPER · May 23, 2026

Got everything hooked back up and installed for the center console. Need battery power to trace keyed circuits so that will have to wait.

I did some soldering under the hood for the fan hookups. One thing I need to figure out is if I need to run the fan to a relay that is switched on or if the PWM driven computer in the fan doesnt do anything without the driver signal from the controller and there's no parasitic draw in idle state. I do have a 30A fuse inline as it sits but more research, and probably a call to Proform, is in order.

I did drop some coin on parts today. I bought a yellow top and all fluids for the jeep. I also picked up a 6 gang switch box and relay box to allow me to add and control accessories like lights and things. $700 later... oof

D_JEEPER · May 24, 2026

Well my pile of jugs and battery and stuff came in today.

I got to work this evening finishing up a few things like the starter cable and solenoid cable. The solenoid cable had to be extended and rerouted. I think its length would have been perfect for a dodge swap, but the jeep has the starter on the passenger side so it needed to be adjusted and routed around the y pipe. I buddied it with the starter cable and cleaned it up from there.

I checked and rechecked everything before building the courage to drop the battery into place. I adjusted the cables to sit naturally, attached the negative and then tapped the positive on the post a few times. No sparks! Good so far lol.

When I opened the door, the light under the dash was on....for the first time in over 10 years. Dunno. Had a moment I guess.

I did simple things first like headlights and brake lights. Driver rear is not working at all so Ill have to check that.

Anyways, turned the key and was greeted with beeps, my dash, all gauges worked and did their thing.

Tested the Od off button and that didnt do anything from what I can tell. Hmm... might need to redo the connections.

Went to turn the key and had nothing. Stepped on the brake, shifted to neutral, racked through all gears and nothing. I jumped the starter and solenoid and the starter turned. Jumped the relay under the hood and the starter turned. I swapped the relay with a couple good ones just to check and nothing still. Great.

It seems to me like a safety interlock type of deal. Maybe the brake switch isnt detecting or something? I will have to call Hotwire Auto and see what they have to offer as they've been super helpful on other things.

All in all, good so far. Just some quirks to work through I suppose.

D_JEEPER · May 25, 2026

Alright. The NSS on the trans was the culprit. I had no backup lights or anything like that. Went under there and recalled that I needed to shave the side tabs off of the connector since the new plug was slightly different. This kept the plug from clicking into place. Quick work with my benchmade and the connector slid into place with a firm click. Now I had reverse lights and crank :)
Starter sounds good and strong too. So my connections are good.

D_JEEPER · May 26, 2026

Only had about 30 minutes today to do some work so I installed my overflow reservoir for the radiator. I have a similar one on my CJ for the AMC 360 and it does decent for capacity.

After that I filled the engine with oil and gave it a few good cranks. At starter speed the pressure gained to about 40psi or so. Then I saw some drips under the jeep. Here we go... was I supposed to install a rear main? That doesn't make sense on a reman with the caps torqued down. The oil looked like the darker yellow stuff that it came soaking in when strapped to the plastic crate....unlike the clear stuff I had put in.

Turns out I forgot to snug down the bolts after putting the gasket with a smearing of Rtv. Easy enough. I went through the torque sequence a few times and it seemed to stop.
After the starter was cool, I cranked it again to make sure all the things were getting lubed up. Then it popped. I guess one of the cylinders had enough oil vapors from cranking to fire off. Scared me the first time! I thought something broke :laughing:

Anyways, short night unfortunately. I was robbed of night work yesterday when a storm came through and knocked out power around 8:50pm....when I normally go out around 9pm. Luckily I did work earlier in the day so it still counts towards my 6 months straight of daily progress :grinpimp:

Tomorrow I have driveshafts and yokes coming. Thats pretty exciting.

D_JEEPER · May 27, 2026

Got off the phone with Proform...just to check and verify what I have been reading. The fan does indeed get wired directly to the battery, with a 30A fuse in-line. No need to disconnect with relay or anything. The signal wire from the controller is what does the magic. That is super convenient...and simple!

D_JEEPER · May 27, 2026

Not much to report tonight. Still running wires and stuff. Took a stupid amount of time to figure out a good solution for switched power for accessories like the trans temp gauge and the fan controller. Pressing forward... but this might get monotonous for a few days.

I did get some woody action though. Just not ready to install them yet. Id like to get this thing fairly buttoned up with electrical first.

D_JEEPER · May 28, 2026

Got the radiator fan controller lines ran and power lines loomed back to the battery. Still need to crimp and do some zip tie action but it is like 90% done. Blah. Did I mention I hate wiring? :laughing:

D_JEEPER · Friday at 11:21 PM

OK! Got the fan wired, fan controller finished up and power ran to the trans gauge.
Still not getting my momentary button to illuminate for OD Off.... but I need to investigate more because something is getting overlooked I think.
Tomorrow I plan to dive into getting the driveline done an the fluids filled. Hoping to actually get an extended shop time. Been a bit scarce on any extended work time :emb:

D_JEEPER · Saturday at 11:19 PM

Today I was able to get a few hours to play and swap in the driveshafts. The d60 got a new yoke as the old one was busted. Then I installed the flange on the transfer case. 1350s on the rear.

The front is 1310s now. The d44 was one of the 1330 oddball size. I didnt want to try to source that and it is just barely stronger than the 1310s so I unified that end. Plus being the front it will be under a bit less stress in most situations. Also 1310s will be a sacrificial link. Super easy to swap one there than tearing the front end apart for a shaft or worse. We will see how that works out for me...but with an auto, 5.38s, on 37s and this not being a romp buggy, I think its fine.

Was pretty surreal putting the shafts in tonight. It tells me just how close I am to having this done.

Limit straps, brakes, some link hardware, AC, exhaust. Those are the major things left.

Build Project Iron III Oxide: A Snowball Effect

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

RBS

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

RBS

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Red Skull

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Red Skull

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

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