Project CJ7Years

[houstoniancj]

Well, I’m finally at the point of the start of a build. I bought this Jeep a little before our daughter was born with the intention to do a quick fix up, drive it a little, and sell it. My favorite thing to do, but none of that happened.

It had a set of Dana 44’s and an SOA with YJ springs when I trailered it home sitting on 35's. It also had a spool in the rear so not really fun to drive on the street. I had intended to do a full resto and update it to be a little more road friendly so I rebuilt the 4.2, the t176, and the Dana 300.

During the tear down i noticed the rear 44 was leaking from the plug welds, it had probably spun a tube so out it went. I built a Ford super 8.8 and then we decided to move houses. Everything went to storage as a completely torn down Jeep. I took advantage of the ripped up jeep and I had a shop paint it and put the metalcloak full wrap armor and fenders on the tubi bought during a black Friday sale.

Then we moved again not 2 years later so the Jeep remained in storage.

Today marks the first time in 7 years this has been a rolling chassis. I found a Vortec 6.0 from bdturnkey and they were great to work with. Realizing I had an actual V8 that dynoed at more than 3.5x what the 4.2 did after BD was done with it, the Dana 44 and 8.8 went for sale.

I found a builder who had a great price on some Dana 60’s from a 1 ton Chevy. We buit them with 35 spline Chromolys front (both inner and outers) and rears, ARB's, 5.13 gears, and Reid knuckles. All in anticipation for the 37's i had picked up.

My plans (and means to afford those plans) have changed over the years so here is where those plans are at now:

Sitting on 37's, moving larger in the future
SOA with RE 1445 springs
LQ4
4l60e
Built Dana 60's
Hydroboost
PSC Ram assist

This thread will be my way of cataloging the rebuild and holding myself accountable to make sure I turn my pile of jeep parts back into a working Jeep.

 

[houstoniancj]

Here is an update from the log I have been keeping. Im just going to catch up on updates and copy/paste so there may be a bit of repeating.

Aug 3, 2019

Rolling chassis, complete. Kind of. Rolling on 16 wheels at the moment.

The axles are the Dana 60’s I built, the front is a king pin from a Chevy. Both are 35 spline and have chromoly dutchman axles loaded up. The carriers are arb air lockers with 5.13 thick cut yukon gears. All joints are spicer and the hubs are from warn . WFO concepts and Barnes 4wd for the leaf spring perch’s and studs, let’s see how bad axle wrap is in the rear with an "anti wrap" perch. I have already pulled the trigger on an track bar kit in anticipation for axle wrap.

Im still rocking 1 Ton brakes on the front and Cadillac calipers on the rear because parking brakes are apparently important.

I went with Reid front Dana 60 knuckles because they are pure beef and I’m eyeballing a high steer set up with a bronze kingpin bushing later on. Plus the orange powdercoat adds, like, a 1000hp.

I’m running 17” spyderlocks with 37” MTR’s and the wheels look sweet. I will have them on the axles shortly. This chassis is a pig to push around already, highly doubtful a couple hundred pounds more will loosen it up.

I hit up ORD for the spring plates, I underestimated how thick a 3/8” thick plate is... for those who asked earlier, yes it has a shackle reversal kit on it and I’m running rubicon express 1445 leaf packs on all 4 corners. My ride height is a little high with the SOA and the RE 1.5” springs but we will see what the weight of a loaded Jeep will do to level them out. I’m right about 6.5” lift with the springs and SOA.

Next step is looking for some high steer setups and diff covers for these 60’s.

Next stop, getting off my butt and ordering the rest of the adapters from Novak to mate a 4L65e to my Dana 300.

 

[houstoniancj]

Tires mounted on beadlocks with balancing beads, what a pita. Anyways, a friend came over for moral support and we got them mounted and celebrated with a cold beer. Rolling chassis milestone feels damn good.

I also got rid of those harbor freight furniture dolly's for some real car dolly's. what a difference that made.

 

[houstoniancj]

I took the time while waiting on my Novak package and decided to replace the usual suspects while I have my engine out and accessible. I went ahead and pulled front and rear engine covers to check out how it looks and was pretty impressed. It wasn't too bad for 77k miles.

I replaced both front and rear seals, installed a melling oil pump, rollermaster billet timing chain, and a saccity billet barbel kit along with the block offs they have in their LS kit. If you’re this far into your engine I figured i might as well replace all that low tolerance plastic GM stuff with their billet pieces. They are a great group to do business with.

As always, I reassemble with new ARP bolts on everything I removed. cheap insurance for the harmonic balancer bolt, cam shaft timing gear bolts, and flex plate. It buttoned back up beautifully, do your self a favor and get those cover aligners. They made my life easy as far as the alignment.

At this point I also switched to an f body oil pan, windage tray, oil pickup, and dipstick to get as much clearance as possible. Those truck oil pans are deeeeep.

Pro tip: make sure you remember to drain the pan before storage. I didn’t, dropping the pan was...enlightening. 6 quarts all over the place.

Next up, drivetrain gets installed.

 

[houstoniancj]

Major milestone: drive train installed.

After all the engine work the very next day the Novak crate showed up. I ordered the transmission from them along with everything else I need for the swap. More on that later.

I ended up going with a 4l65e built to their level 3 specification because thats what came mated to my engine in the Denali it came from. It comes tricked out, even down to the transmission pan coming notched for that short Dana 300 passenger drop drive shaft. They also had it ship out with their billet tail shaft and Dana 300 mount with clocking ring.

With the drive train in I was able to give Tomwoods a call for the front drive shaft. More on those later because the rear is looking like a double cardan situation. I didn’t realize how long an LS is with that transmission.

i also realize that due to the length of the drivetrain i will likely get the genright transmission crossmember instead of relying on the skidplate transmission mount. I just need to wait for the front driveshaft so i can clock that D300 up as far as possible with the 4l65. Doesn't look like a flat belly is in the cards, clearance is very tight. That is ok, beer belly jeeps are fine with me. We match that way.

Next up is reassembling engine accessories like the sanderson headers, PSC pump, my rebuilt PSC steering box, and the alternator. I knew it would be taller than when i disassembled it in the garage years ago because of all the changes and i have come to the conclusion that there is no way this thing is going into the garage with a windshield and cage. Not unless i get do a SOA for my garage.

 

[houstoniancj]

Steering arms arrived this week from Canada. NWF has some pretty sweet arms, I must say. and i am totally biased because i paid money for them.

After getting the bronze reid bushings in the knuckles, the arms went right on. Now that all this is done I was able to get my measurements for tie rod and drag link. Got those ordered.

In the mean time, I'm still waiting on a call back for the jeep brake lines, i want to do those before i put the tub back on. also e brake lines. also fuel lines. also driveshafts. Damn, i still have a bit to do before the tub goes on.

I went with the original Garnet color, I really like it.

 

[houstoniancj]

I have had some time in between work to get out and work on the Jeep. I have the brake lines done. Inline tube FTW, and ORD for the flex lines.

The LS3 manifolds wont work for me, im going to offload them on ebay. I have the Sanderson shorty headers installed right now, they are block hugger types and point in towards the block. Maybe to far, so I also snagged some Corvette manifolds with center dumps. I like that they have O2 sensor holed on each side already, and I have always preferred factory manifolds because of how well they seal up.

The other big change here is i ditched the Dana 300. Drive shaft clearance was too close for comfort 1/4" maybe from the lip of the trans pan. I ordered an Atlas and the extra ~1.5" is welcomed. Its a much bigger case though.

Working on fuel lines, filters, regulator. I have an in tank pump that's on a modified CJ7 sending unit.

Working on cross members also. Went with the TDK NV4500 crossmember, it worked great.

 

[houstoniancj]

I had to get the transmission and transfer case crossmember done so I can finish fuel lines and get the body on. TDK with their nv4500 skid plate is perfect for an LS swap with a GM auto transmission. It flattened out my belly as much as possible and covers most of the transmission Pan and atlas case. It’s very adjustable in terms of the mount so I played around with it to get it perfect for my Jeep. I then started fuel line routing, I have a return less rail LS so I’m using a corvette regulator and filter in one with the AN6 fittings braised on. This made my life super easy for the hook ups for the EFI fuel line. I found an eBay seller that makes these spin on fuel filter mounts and I thought that would be great for a pre filter before my regulator. The pressure regulator is a 5 micron, and the Napa filter is a 10 micron with a very high flow rate. This way it shouldn’t starve the upstream components and be a great option to keep the regulator/filter from speedway clean longer? At least that’s my thoughts. Emergency brake cables from are next.

 

[houstoniancj]

Had some time to hash out the rest of the fuel system, and start working on some electrical connections. I have been researching priming the oil system since I replaced the oil pan and pump during the build up of the LQ4. I looked at the melling and moroso pressure oiler but couldn't make myself spend over $100 for a single use tool.

I read from forums and came up with the same idea others have used, a pressurized garden sprayer and tome -AN barb to ultimately end up at Metric for the front oil galley. Parts below:

-4 AN Female with barbed end
-4 male to -6 AN female reducer
-6 AN Male to M10-1.5
-Amazon garden sprayer (whatever was cheapest)

Put 2 quarts in and pumped it up after hooking up an oil pressure gauge, and surprisingly it got me to 10psi. I did 2 quarts this way, rotated the engine by hand, and did another 2 quarts. The rest went into the oil filler.

This worked perfectly, and i was into it maybe $30. After priming the fuel system by filling the tank with 2 gallons, then powering the pump with the fuel line disconnected from the engine and pointing back into the fuel can I was ready.

I hooked all lines up, pressure tested for leaks, and hooked the battery up.

Man it felt good to hear an engine run after starting this project almost 7 years ago.

 

[houstoniancj]

Major milestone, this rolling chassis has a body. I’m still in love with this original color. No issues, everything cleared. If anything, I may not need that 1” body lift. The atlas has plenty of breathing room. Starting to look like a Jeep, or a JOOP if you have one of these old tubs.

With the body on, it gives me time to look at clearance of things in the engine bay. I could not move the engine back anymore, I’m barely touching the firewall.

This give me lots of room up front though, about 4 inches between the fan and accessory drive. The shroud work is all done and I’m working on restoring the emergency brake pedal assembly, brake pedal assembly, and figuring out the mounting of the remote reservoir and power steering hoses. I need to get the exhaust done because I see some areas where I need the pipe in there to determine clearance. Coming along though. I had a great conversation with an old friend during the work so it flew by.

 

[houstoniancj]

Sometimes I get a little reminder to take my time as I SLOWLY rebuild this Jeep. I am in the process of putting the tub back together while waiting on some parts to come in. When I started looking at the original fresh air box and heater, I knew they needed to be taken a part and gone through. Everything in this Jeep is original ‘85 so it’s a bit rough. I started with the fresh air box. Drilled out all the rivets, and completely tore down everything to sand, treat the rust, prime and paint. I will get the heater going next but I can’t help but appreciate the all-mechanical linkage of this Jeep. No buttons anywhere.

Heater box hotness on the tail of the fresh air duct. Same process, tear into it and repair and replace anything that needs it. Spoiler, it all needed work. I removed everything, treated the rust that’s worse than surface rust with ospho, sand, prime and then paint. I had to remake all the foam seals so I ordered a few sheets of foam from McMaster Carr. The old heather core was leaking (I had no idea) so I found a new one. All the rubber for the flaps I reconditioned, it was in pretty good shape. I buttoned everything up again after sealing the box. I also did the blazer blower motor to increase the air and opened the firewall up with a 3.5” hole saw. It’s all in and works beautifully. I think this is the last piece of interior work before finishing up the engine bay.

 

[houstoniancj]

Working on mounting coolers before getting fenders 100% bolted on. I was told to run the biggest cooler I could fit for the 4L70, so i have been focusing on that. Looked at remote mount etc, but ultimately decided on a less complicated setup.

I took the time to fab a mount out of aluminum and spent the time to make sure it’s done right. Honestly, you will never see it but I like taking the time on things like this.

The other cooler I got mounted was for the power steering system. PSC recommends it when you are running a hydro assist ram so I wanted to run a heat sink style cooler for space reasons. I initially got the 16” but no way it would fit and not hit something. 10” it is.

I got the fenders on to start looking for clearance issues with the inner fenders and as of right now nothing is an issue. I still have the original overflow talk and windshield washer tank, no idea if they will fit with the LS ECU I am going to mount on the drivers side firewall.

 

[houstoniancj]

Got the steering column rebuilt, and saved the OG Jeep CJ steering wheel. With this piece installed I am now able to get the steering shaft installed. It’s tight but with an LS swap that’s to be expected. I also tightened up every single damn brake fitting and got the brakes bled. Feels good. I will make a post next time about steering and the rabbit hole I went down with crossover and high steer, with hydraulic assist. I learned a huge amount and maybe it helps someone. Probably not, sometimes I feel working on older Jeeps is losing (or has lost) it’s luster. Everything ends up being custom.

 

[houstoniancj]

Steering has been the major slow down due to me having to order a few different combinations for the high pressure line fittings to and from the assist cylinder. While doing this I was looking at the lock to lock steering of my current setup knowing I have not ground down any bump stops on those Reid knuckles yet. Most forums online said to expect about 8” of steering movement from a dana 60. This didn’t seem right for my specific case because I was barely at 4” measuring on my tie rod. This had led me to do a deep dive on researching steering systems including ratio of steering arm to pitman arm rations, and how those relate to turning radius. The NWF arms I have do have Ackerman angle (a whole other topic) in them, so I have been researching how to get the most out of my steering set up I can. I do not want this thing to turn like a school bus.


Skip to the Brakes section if you do not want to go down the rabbit hole: The steering arm length is measured from center of kingpin (in my case) to center of drag link. I am using NWF high steer arms and this measurement is 7.5.” You would ideally want a pitman arm as close to this as possible to maintain a 1:1 ratio and get the most from your steering. I spoke to many vendors and one said there was a “study” done by crawling through junk yards and measuring many trucks, jeeps, etc. to see what manufacturers were designing them with. All the pitman arm to steering arm rations came back between .90 and 1. In my case I am inside this ratio so I am calling it good and moving on, my ratio would be 93%. If your ratio is lower like the 6.5” pitman arm on my jeep set up now you likely won’t be able to get the wheels to turn to the fullest extent. This was the first issue causing my steering box to hit the internal stops before even getting close to the cast stops on the knuckles.


Using a 1:1 ratio of steering arm to pitman arm, I would need a pitman arm that’s 7.5” from center of shaft to shaft. I came up empty for something that would fit this in my internet searching so I am going with a FSJ arm with a 7” measurement. Not perfect but its within 90% of that 7.5” steering arm length. I need one with a bit of drop (1” – 1.5”) to keep the tie rod and drag link close to parallel, this will prevent any potential bump steer. This also is another topic that is pretty debated with leaf springs, I just figured I would do my best to negate it before any funkiness happens while I am driving it.


The other related issue is the ram assist cylinder, I have an 8” stoke so it would theoretically be able to out turn my steering box (in its current state) without an internal limiter. Hydraulics are very powerful and the amount of pressure they exert will have to go somewhere, I don’t want to break something because I didn’t take the time to design a system properly.
Moving the tie rod down from the arms mounted on the knuckle top, to the REID knuckles I was suddenly seeing the 8” (or close) of movement. Then it dawned on me that the further you move the tie rod mounting points form the center of the king pin the larger the leverage and length of movement. Now it made total sense why I was seeing roughly half of the movement I was supposed to. The high steer arm mounting points are 4.5” away from the kingpin center.

Now I bet you wish you had not read this far.

I started grinding down each knuckle steering stop watching the binding situation on either side and ended up with 9” of tie rod movement down on the knuckles, and 4 11/16” movement up on the arms. Side note, I am an engineer and technical, so I love being exact.

I called PSC and made the exchange with the 8” to a 6” that’s internally limited to 4 11/16”. I want as much steering as possible, but I also want to use the cast in bump stops to limit breaking stuff.

I know know way more that I ever thought would be necessary about steering geometry, and I didn’t even go into what I learned about Ackerman geometry.

I just want a beer.

Brakes have been hooked up and bled. I chose a DOT 5.1 fluid with the understanding its compatible with a DOT 3 and 4 fluid system, just with higher boiling points. Sounds good to me, I still have a headache from the steering.

 

[houstoniancj]

Wrapping up today with a filled coolant system. For those who are doing an LS swap in a CJ, my part numbers for the upper and lower radiator hose are belolw. There was a lot of trial and error with getting the correct hoses that made the bends, I did trim a bit off each one to make it work. I used the standard LS heater core cables, remember that one is a bigger diameter than the other.



Upper - Gates 22043
Lower - 22437


Heater core hose #1 - Gates 28480
Heater core hose #2 - Gates 28471

 

[houstoniancj]

I really had to look at the lokar shifters installation before making the decision on how to install the atlas shifter linkage. It’s a universal set up so there are a lot of ways to do it. I ended up using most of what I originally bought, I did upgrade to their HD linkage with heims. I wish i would have done that to begin with, so much better. This really improved the linkage engagement “feel”. I also heated up and bent the handles to fit around the floor. My goal was to not cut anything outside the floor opening and I was successful. I also had to use the tuffy stereo console to look at clearance to the cup holders when I am shifted all the way back on both the transmission and transfer case. Everything worked for me this time.

 

[houstoniancj]

I was not really looking forward to this part of the build. I started with a new painless Jeep CJ harness to make my life as easy as possible. It’s nice, and was worth the spend. The major work was converting the OEM harness and connectors to a set of speedhut gauges. These are their Jeep CJ series. You can see there are a few more than stock Jeeps came with. I like the look, and all the options, the hookup was easy. I’m working on the engine bay portion of the wiring now, which is also a challenge because I have an LS engine and many of the wires aren’t needed. I didn’t want to loop huge amounts of wire up, so I will be removing them from the harness. Nothing has been cleaned up because I need to start the Jeep and make sure all these gauges work.

 

[houstoniancj]

Bumper and winch plate are on. I looked all over for a stubby type bumper, but I enjoyed the look of the original bumper built and put on by the P.O. It turns out the angle had some history behind it and i really wanted to use it. I also think its kind of cool that the foundry (speculating here) has the state on it. The word "Colorado" is in the steel. Maybe by incorporating this on the jeep it will somehow get me back there form Texas... here's to hoping. As i put the bumper on, im starting to realize just how far this Jeep project has come, and how wide it is.

 

[houstoniancj]

All lights are done, and they work great. Cibie lenses with H4 bulbs on a relay system is so great. I finished the charcoal canister purge line. Spoiler: My Engine has no vacuum system access, so I used the air filter to make one. This way, the air is metered by the MAP system and I don’t have to worry about pulling tons of fuel vapors into the engine because the vacuum is low but steady on the purge line. Best part is, no gas smells from the car siting. All dash work is done, all gauge’s work. ARB pump mounted for the lockers and all wired up. I also finished my under hood electrical distribution panel. It only powers the pump, cooling fan, and headlight relays.

Also, grounding is done. Big straps from engine block to frame, engine block to body, and body to frame. I had some left over, so I used them at the rear of the Jeep and under the dash.

 

[houstoniancj]

Dash pad was cleaned up in preparation for the windshield, I love garnet interiors. The back had to be ospho’ed due to some surface rust.

Gas pedal mounted as close as possible to where the original was, pedal control box also mounted.

I found the original Sparton horn so changed the one I bought out for that. I love the sound.

Getting ready for exhaust this week, I’m sending it out so when’s back it should be able to idle properly and won’t be so loud. Getting to my goal of a summer cruise in it.

Also, ospho’ed the seat mounts and got them painted. Went through the slider mechanism and greased it up. I feel pretty fortunate that the Jeep wasn’t a rust bucket when I bought it and I stored it inside so nothing got too nasty.

 

[houstoniancj]

Update from the exhaust shop: we decided on a magnaflow bullet. Its about the only thing that will fit. The passenger side manifold comes around the front of the oil pan and joins up with the drivers side manifold (both 2.5" pipes) into a 3" pipe all the way out the back. The exit will be in the original place, drivers side tub corner. I did ask for a V band to be installed right after the Y so i can remove the front piece if i ever need to drop the oil pan.

With an Atlas case, there is no real way to get a pipe passed it on the passenger side so true duals were out. I dont really mind, considering i need space on the passenger side for a track bar since Im SOA. Over the years I have learned axle wrap is a leaf spring killer, it was bad enough with the 4.2 so i assume it would be much worse with the 450ft/lb of torque my 6.0 dynoed at.

I got the hood on before its tow truck ride. I will ask some questions when its back about alignment of the fenders, hood, and grill. Its close but something is off. More on that when it comes back.

I went ahead and pulled he trigger on PRP seats. I have a few weeks to finalize but i am on the fence on two relatively small choices, the color of the "arms." DISCLAIMER: I prefer the tweed because it gets hot in Texas and the tweed will be the best breathing material. Just say no to swamp crotch, friends. I have a tan bikini top so i figured the tweed matching that to some degree would look good. The crimson color is their vinyl, and its close to the original Garnet color.

 

[houstoniancj]

The post barrage is from me moving thread from Pirate.

 

[buc4x]

Looking good!

 

[Gregj50!!!!!]

Bumper and winch plate are on. I looked all over for a stubby type bumper, but I enjoyed the look of the original bumper built and put on by the P.O. It turns out the angle had some history behind it and i really wanted to use it. I also think its kind of cool that the foundry (speculating here) has the state on it. The word "Colorado" is in the steel. Maybe by incorporating this on the jeep it will somehow get me back there form Texas... here's to hoping. As i put the bumper on, im starting to realize just how far this Jeep project has come, and how wide it is.

Kinda looks like a Warn bumper.... Theirs is more rounded off edges though I think.

 

[1Sinner]

I figured it was build progress transfer. Nice work. I like the seats with the all tweed front. Vinyl is too hot for seating surfaces. Keep up the good work.

 

[houstoniancj]

Kinda looks like a Warn bumper.... Theirs is more rounded off edges though I think.

looks similar, here are more pictures. Its actually 2 pieces.

 

[houstoniancj]

I figured it was build progress transfer. Nice work. I like the seats with the all tweed front. Vinyl is too hot for seating surfaces. Keep up the good work.

they are ordered, all tweed won me over.

 

[gt1guy]

I see you have some helpers That's awesome.

 

[houstoniancj]

I see you have some helpers That's awesome.

Those ducks came with the house apparently. Day after we moved in they walked across the street and into the garage. I got suckered into feeding them so naturally they are a common occurrence. Cleaning up their crap from the driveway gets old, but the kids love em.

 

[csutton7]

nice work....