Building Homer (2005 TJ Build Thread)

[FarFire70]

Confirmed the steering wheel isn't installed where it should be on the column.

I turned the wheel all the way Left & Right and marked those on the wheel. Then figured out Center of the wheel half way between the two (about a turn and a half).

This put the wheels slight off to the left - which was perfect as there wasn't any more thread in the drag link to shorten it.

So with the tires pulling left and wheel centered, I could extend the drag link to straighten the wheels.

Went from this:

To this:

I'll pull the steering wheel and re-position it relative to the column this weekend.

 

[FarFire70]

Installed a pair of @Claytone's LED Reverse Lights. I had picked up a pair of bulbs from Super Bright LEDs when I started stockpiling parts for this build but these are way brighter!

I plan to grab a pair of LED bulbs for the brake/turn signals too.

 

[FarFire70]

I had pulled the column cover to inspect the clockspring while figuring out the steering wheel mis-alignment.

I plan to try the heat gun approach to getting the black back. I also have the shifter boot cover out so I'll hit that too.

Since I'll by trying it out recovering black parts, I wanted to also try it on the dash speaker covers because it drives me nuts when I'm doors off to see the streaking on it on both sides.

Haven't done this before so I'll be trying it this weekend and going slow.

Cleaned these parts really good along with the tail light lenses. Feels good starting to (slowly) get the Jeep cleaned.

I threw in a Febreeze vent clip to help clean out the stale smell in the cab from it sitting for a couple years... It's over powering but better than the stale smell. I don't plan to replace them after I use the double pack so it's just to knock the edge off.

 

[FarFire70]

Got the steering wheel figured out. Why did Jeep have 2 indexing splines on the wheel & column that are the same size and 180* opposite each other...

The mark at about 10 o'clock is where the wheel was to drive straight after re-installing it. I'll likely adjust it again after a few drives to see where the wheel really is at when straight now that it's install correctly.

Drag link threads remaining:

 

[FarFire70]

Tried the heat gun approach to revitalize plastics. Started with the lower steering column covers, since it isn't a high-visibility area if I screwed it up.

Before:

After:

Looks like new! I didn't get a pic of it but I was able to remove/recover all the scratches that occur around the ignition. Looks smooth and like new black plastic.

 

[CMBD]

View attachment 469644

 

[FarFire70]

View attachment 471182

100% stole your design. It's a great design. If you have an STL, I'd greatly appreciate you sharing.

I'm building this one in CAD now and testing out some approaches to bending in the garage without a break to figure out how much relieve to give myself in the flat model.

 

[FarFire70]

Spent a portion of the knocking on projects with Homer.

First I went to try to bleed & replace the clutch fluid. I saw a post 'how to' about it earlier and figured it was easy enough effort. I'm using a master/slave system a buddy got me off a used Jeep of unknown mileage when mine started leaking.

Well - No good wrenching goes unearned...

Bleed went well enough. Fluid looks pretty good but a not completely clear.

Bleed went fine. Upon install, upper slave bolt just spun when it bottomed out. Clearly the E-torx was previously snapped off on the stud (could have been me or the garage that serviced the trans a while back). Well, it seems the nut could get the stud on today and then stripped and just spun on the stud...

I was worried the transmission may have been stripped (What a headache that would be!!) but I removed the slave and confirmed the lower stud would thread in nicely using the e-torx to drive it.

Good one (for my reference looking for alternatives - couldn't find any):

Apparently all the OEM suppliers have these on backorder (OE 6505668AA) so not looking likely until the end of the month.

Omix did offer one (16909.15) but is since discontinued. Ordered from a supplier who says they have them in stock.

So the Jeep's parked for at least a week, likely more...

 

[FarFire70]

Worked with the heat gun again.

Column cover top:

Some finger printing and I still plan to apply some Mothers Back-to-Black but very happy with the results!

Speaker covers -

Before:

Vents have been heated and not yet the side:

After:

Driver side treated with the heat gun vs the untreated passenger:

Hit the shifter boot bracket cover too but that wasn't exciting for a pic. Just tried to keep the heat to the minimum needed for effect to avoid warping it as it's a thin part.

Next up to heat gun treat:

 

[FarFire70]

Started working on the Windstar airbox modifications. Used a lot of references here on WTJF.

Box modification:

Used a Dremel to make the cuts.

Didn't get pics but used a sawzall on the intake pipe and them a utility knife to cut the end of the stock intake as an adapter (per advice here on the forum).

Clamp was in good shape but some surface rust (especially on the moving parts) so it's getting a fresh coat).

I'll try to grab pictures of the final components as reference for future Jeepers who want to do the same modification. I appreciated the great insight here on the forum.

 

[Rickyd]

Spent a portion of the knocking on projects with Homer.

First I went to try to bleed & replace the clutch fluid. I saw a post 'how to' about it earlier and figured it was easy enough effort. I'm using a master/slave system a buddy got me off a used Jeep of unknown mileage when mine started leaking.

Well - No good wrenching goes unearned...

Bleed went well enough. Fluid looks pretty good but a not completely clear.

View attachment 471367

Bleed went fine. Upon install, upper slave bolt just spun when it bottomed out. Clearly the E-torx was previously snapped off on the stud (could have been me or the garage that serviced the trans a while back). Well, it seems the nut could get the stud on today and then stripped and just spun on the stud...

I was worried the transmission may have been stripped (What a headache that would be!!) but I removed the slave and confirmed the lower stud would thread in nicely using the e-torx to drive it.

View attachment 471368

Good one (for my reference looking for alternatives - couldn't find any):
View attachment 471369

Apparently all the OEM suppliers have these on backorder (OE 6505668AA) so not looking likely until the end of the month.

Omix did offer one (16909.15) but is since discontinued. Ordered from a supplier who says they have them in stock.

So the Jeep's parked for at least a week, likely more...

do you have a bolt that will thread in for now?

 

[FarFire70]

do you have a bolt that will thread in for now?

I'll likely go that route if it doesn't ship this week. I've got some projects to work on it in the short term. Need to see if it's a blind hole or through so I can use a longer bolt to help pull the clutch in when re-installing.

 

[FarFire70]

Had a little time this morning to work on a few things.

After seeing them installed on @AndyG's Jeep, I decided to give the Genright Stealth side-facing turn signals a try.

It's angle at about 4 and 8 o'clock on each side to be more side-rear facing (plus that's what the existing holes in the Genright bracket allowed and I wasn't in the mood to modify them.

Turned off the lights in the garage (other than the light from the garage door opener):

Side from approximately sedan height:

—-

Washed the firewall and taped it off for the Windstar intake 'funnel' tube.

Ordered a 3-1/8" hole saw that should be here this week to make the cut.

—-

Started getting a few parts ready for paint. I wasn't dressed to make too much of a mess so I didn't get into the rest that will need a the wire wheel.

Horn and its bracket are rusty and piss me off on the new aluminum fenders every time I open the hood...

Got some Metal Cloak rear bumper reinforcement brackets. Hit them with a green Scotch Brite pad to knock off the finish to take paint.

 

[FarFire70]

I was trying to make a flat pattern of a phone mount to use a RAM Mount, copying @CMBD's design.

But my trials to bend successfully bend at the location I wanted were unsuccessful. I used MAPP gas to heat the bend area to 500* and made the bend with a mallet, using a vise as the 'break' to hold the part and keep the bend location.

You can see the line I tried to keep as the top of the bracket and it pulled more than expected in the bend. The line was parallel to the bottom of the gap before the bend.

The mount design would take 3 bend and I just did not see me getting all of them correct to make the part marry up perfectly....

So I've decided to try a multi-part design and weld them together.

I put in locating tabs on each part.

I found a new way to level my recent Ender 3D printer with a feeler gauge to be much more successful truing the bed. So I figured — Why not:

All my measurements on this part are by eye with a dial vernier caliper so I figured best to check if I had the dimensions correct. Why not try out using the 3D printer.

Fit like a glove!

The arm did hit the center bezel just enough that I added a small relieve in the design to avoid it rubbing.

The RAM Mount is right where I want it from a view angle:

But I needed to add about a 0.25" relive in the design so to give the RAM arms enough room:

With that, and a spacer I designed for the right side of the handle bar to form fit, the design was complete:

This and the previously shown shifter boot bracket went in to Send-Cut-Send for order:

My first try at using CAD to design a Jeep part and first time using Send-Cut-Send. So looking forward to seeing how this project comes together.

 

[CMBD]

So great to be able to prototype yourself with the 3D printer. That's perfect. 10ga. is the material I ended up with for the final versions.

The not perforated bend I did on mine was with a pressbrake. The perforated bends I did by hand and didn't weld up after.

 

[FarFire70]

Spent a portion of the knocking on projects with Homer.

First I went to try to bleed & replace the clutch fluid. I saw a post 'how to' about it earlier and figured it was easy enough effort. I'm using a master/slave system a buddy got me off a used Jeep of unknown mileage when mine started leaking.

Well - No good wrenching goes unearned...

Bleed went well enough. Fluid looks pretty good but a not completely clear.

View attachment 471367

Bleed went fine. Upon install, upper slave bolt just spun when it bottomed out. Clearly the E-torx was previously snapped off on the stud (could have been me or the garage that serviced the trans a while back). Well, it seems the nut could get the stud on today and then stripped and just spun on the stud...

I was worried the transmission may have been stripped (What a headache that would be!!) but I removed the slave and confirmed the lower stud would thread in nicely using the e-torx to drive it.

View attachment 471368

Good one (for my reference looking for alternatives - couldn't find any):
View attachment 471369

Apparently all the OEM suppliers have these on backorder (OE 6505668AA) so not looking likely until the end of the month.

Omix did offer one (16909.15) but is since discontinued. Ordered from a supplier who says they have them in stock.

So the Jeep's parked for at least a week, likely more...

Local stealership says they can have them in 3-5 days. Ordered 3x of them since the E-torx either break or round off with rust so figure I'll have spares for the rare time I'm in there (and will probably forget I have the spares...) $14.31 in total damage.

The site that said they had the OMIX cancelled the order as it wasn't in stock. eBay seller is quoting a couple weeks before it'll get to me... So went local

Plus there are a couple restaurants my wife likes near them, so I can grab dinner on the way home after collecting the parts

 

[FarFire70]

So great to be able to prototype yourself with the 3D printer. That's perfect. 10ga. is the material I ended up with for the final versions.

The not perforated bend I did on mine was with a pressbrake. The perforated bends I did by hand and didn't weld up after.

I figured you used a brake for at least some of those bends. Like I said - it's a great design Went 10ga too.

Now that I have a better bed leveling technique, I've got the 3D printing bug again. Need to get better so I can move up to PETG that can withstand the Jeep environmentals. It's supposed to be a little more sensitivity to printing conditions than PLA so more printing is an excuse to practice.

 

[FarFire70]

Broke the TPS connector when I replaced the exhaust manifolds, so I had to go with the good-old ziptie retainer.

Connector clip was gone.

Wanted to get an actual connector on it so I picked up the Standard Motor Products S-1905. It's a dead ringer for the OEM connector:

Picked up a set of de-pinning keys. I've never done it before so learned a new skill. The female pin didn't have barb on it, rather the connector had a plastic retainer that had to be pushed down.

Remove the blue cover and I could get the extractors in there (likely could have used a small jeweler-sized screwdriver to the same effect - But then I wouldn't have a new tool...

Just like new

——

I had rolled back the washer fluid wiring to here when I installed the fenders.

I've got to do some research to see if I can find a decent washer fluid container (with dual outlets to account for the hardtop) or decided if I just stick the OEM container here.

I'd rather save this spot as it's a good location for other potential upgrades (electric air compressor, fuse panel, etc.).

 

[FarFire70]

Been looking at a windshield washer reservoir option. I see most go with one of three options:

1) Put the OEM reservoir in the tray opposite the battery, on the driver side.

2) Put a Dorman Coolant reservoir

3) Got with a universal windshield washer reservoir (There are a ton of options all out there - all likely from China and all seem to use the same reservoir).

So I mocked up a quick box and tried it in a couple orientations:

It's big enough and I'm under the Jeep's hood often enough that I'll notice if it's getting low.

I'm going option #3. I'm going to plan to swap the OEM pumps for the one that comes with this reservoir (so long as the new pump isn't too large for the OEM to fit). I'll drill a second hole for the hard top pump.

I'll likely need to move the cruise control diaphragm toward the firewall to make room for this reservoir.

This leaves me tray area for future projects.

 

[FarFire70]

No Jeep work today - Planning for some tomorrow.

Had a few moments while my wife fed the boys dinner so I replaced the ballasts in a couple of the garage light that have been burnt out since around when the Jeep parked in 2021 for the upgrade (couldn't get to the one over the engine bay).

Before:

After:

So much better lighting! These were placed to run in opposite directions to help get light into the engine bay on any vehicle better. It'll be so nice having these both working again.

—-

Been working on a small printing project now that I have the bug with the bed leveling technique figured out.

I have a metric and SAE nut driver set and planned to build a mount out of angle iron. This seemed easier, cleaner, and fun.

More pictures to come.

Printing SAE version now...