Just Expect Extra Purchases

Update #41

The side body mounts are done. My annular cutter showed up on Thursday so I was able to put holes in the skid plates. I tried with a hole saw but it didn't work out so good. I'm really digging this leather welding hood. It's so much easier than welding with a mirror.

Earlier I mentioned redesigning the front fender. While I was waiting I cut a huge wedge out of the stock fenders. Managed to get them squeezed in and welded. For anyone working with body panels I highly suggest a pneumatic angle grinder. For me it gives me more control and is able to remove minimal material on sheet metal. Excuse my shitty paint job as it's not a big priority for me.

In other news, Papa Elon came through with a bonus and a raise so hopefully I'll have this thing drivable by the end of the year.

Thanks for checking out my build.
Daniel

NashvilleTJ said:

Dide - you’re killin’ it.

Click to expand...

Thank you sir. That means a lot coming from someone with a rig like yours.

Update #42 (Whew, I thought I was gonna be stuck in the 41 club)

TLDR: I don't recommend this modification

Not a lot of changes to report, but a lot of R & D because I'm trying to relocate my EVAP canister to under the hood. Why? Because when I recessed the taillights I had to move it more into the wheel well & I never liked the way it sat. Also because to my knowledge, no one had done this yet or documented it & now I know why. It's a lot of work that most likely doesn't add any value to the Jeep. The only thing I had to buy were 15' of ¾", 25' of ¼", 25' of ⅜" fuel lines & corresponding SS hose clamps. I bought extra material for other projects & I don't remember the exact amount I used for each line.

First thing I did was label each connection, drop the tank then remove the factory lines. The wiring for the EVAP is only 3 wires, Orange, White/Blue & White/Green. I was able to separate those all the way back to the dash area, route them through the firewall, shorten the wiring & reconnect. That was the end of the easy parts. I mounted the leak detection pump inside the front fender bracket on the drivers side. The LPD gets two ¾" lines, one to the EVAP canister & the other to the LDP filter. It also gets a ¼" line that goes to the forward most tube on the intake.

Next I mocked up the location of the LDP filter just above the driver side air pump tray. The tray was modified to allow two ¾" lines to pass through & then I mounted the LDP filter to the small bump out on the fender.

What ever this is, was in the way so I modified it's bracket to sit a bit lower.

Then I modified the EVAP canister bracket & mounted it onto the inner fender just behind my washer fluid reservoir. The forward ¾" line goes to the LDP & the aft goes to the flow management valve.

The flow management valve is now going to be just to the inside of that fender bracket. It gets the ¾" line from the canister & a ⅜" line from that doodad with the modified bracket under the canister. The bottom 3 nipples get a ¾" going to the passenger side of the tank, a ¼" line going to the fuel filler vent & ⅜" line going to the drivers side of the tank. I didn't pay attention to what size hose I was grabbing & it got real frustrating real fast.

First off, I installed a ½" heater hose instead of the ¾" hose. I didn't pay attention to how it was difficult to slip on & I didn't notice it was the wrong hose until everything was connected & I took this picture. I researched it, turns out heater hose & gas don't mix well.

I also didn't pay attention & tried to put the ¼" line on the wrong nipple. That damn FMV broke on the nipple going to the fuel tank filler vent. I plastic welded it back together & applied some RTV. I'll let it sit until I can get to it next weekend. I was able to get all the other connections made. Most of them probably don't need hose clamps, but I put them on anyway. I broke the retaining clips for the hose that goes from the fuel pump, to the fuel line but I discovered that if you route a medium sized zip tie through the clip channel on the connector then it serves the same purpose.

At this point I got extremely frustrated with myself so I did some arc therapy. I used some 1" sch 40 pipe as a brace for the track bar bracket on the front. I also tested out my new pipe bender to make the front bracket for the soon to be fabricated skid plates. I ended up uses some of those drops I used for the control arm skids. drilled some holes to match the ones on the engine mount brackets with a backing plate with captured nuts. I also managed to install the M.O.R.E. motor mounts. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but I had gotten the unfinished ones incase I decided to mount the skid plate directly to them. They got a coat of cold galv then a couple coats of flat black.




















Thanks for checking out my build
Daniel

Update #43

It's been a busy few weeks but my Atlas showed up in the middle of my fender redesign project. I've done all the assembly of the shifters & put in countersunk bolts. A couple of things I've learned so far with the Atlas:

1. If you get the 4 speed then install the shifters all at the same time.
2. Take your time to adjust the planetary shifter.
3. The threads on the planetary shifter had too much paint/powder coat so I had to run a die over it.

Thanks for checking out my build
Daniel

Update #44

Well it's in....finally. It was a struggle but I managed to get everything done without damaging anything important. Massaged the tub a bit on the driver's side. Fabbed up a little frame to help move it into position & lift it into place.

A couple of things I've learned on the install:

1. Leave the jam nut on the planetary shifter loose so you don't have to fight the cable tension when you bolt it to the tub.
2. Route the twin shifter cables through the tub, then attach them to the shifter itself.
3. Probably obvious to other folks, but if you're having trouble mating it to the transmission output shaft, then you may have to rotate the socket on the Atlas so the splines line up.

Thanks for checking out my build
Daniel