Sab-a-dab-a-doo! The back-country LJ build has officially started

[FarFire70]

I continued working on tub mods related to the Atlas 4 speed installation all day today, concentrating on the twin stick clearance issues (levers and tower). I really wanted a nice rounded bump-out, but my skills are not even close to being up to that. Instead, I decided to build a very boxy bump-out. I started by using a contour gauge to get a tub profile in the area of the bump-out:
View attachment 569895

Then, I drew an approximation of that profile in Fusion, and then drew up a cross-section of the bump-out needed:
View attachment 569896

It's a two-step bump-out. The one on the left is for the front axle shift lever, and the one on the right is for the shift tower itself. I then went through several iterations, like I did with the transmission mounting bracket - print, cut out, try on the LJ, modify, and print again. Here's one of the final contenders:
View attachment 569897


Next, I marked out the cutout on the underside of the tub with blue Sharpie (the scribbles in black and thicker blue were from when I had the Atlas in place and was marking the areas of interference):
View attachment 569898

And then I cut it out with the pneumatic body saw:
View attachment 569899

Then I cut another profile to stick up through the hole and take a look at the fit:
View attachment 569900

Next, I used the Fusion print-out to make the main piece out of 20g steel:
View attachment 569901

I also cut sides for it:
View attachment 569903

And then I spent about two hours welding, grinding, welding, grinding, modifying, welding, grinding, grinding, and grinding one more time, just for practice, because my welds are horrible (I really do need to practice TIG so I can actually use that welder instead of the MIG.) Here's the piece in place:
View attachment 569908

As you may have noticed in the above picture, I also incorporated some additional twin stick shifter clearance into the design by cutting the 1" wide strip between the stock transmission and transfer case shifter openings and putting a flange on the piece:
View attachment 569911

Tomorrow, I'm going to weld this in. After that, I'll need to paint all these mods before I re-install the transmission and transfer case. Oh, yeah, I also want to replace the input and output seals on the transmission while I have it out. And I still have to make a cover plate for the portion of the stock opening for the transfer-case shifter that isn't covered by the Atlas boot. And then it's on to the next project - the mid-arm!

Sadly, my two-months of playing hooky from the responsibility of a job have dwindled down to just one week. I start my new job the Tuesday after next, and then progress will slow down dramatically again.

Wish you luck on the new job!

We'll deal with slower progress. More job = more Jeep $

 

[mrblaine]

Short update tonight - I welded the cut spot welds. What a joy! The aluminumizing or galvanizing on the body sheet metal is like welding aluminized exhaust pipe. I wore a respirator the entire time because I have a hereditary disposition to lung disease that killed my old man and his brother, so I try not to do anything that might trigger it. The welds are ugly, too. I was hoping to avoid welding and/or grinding inside the cab, but I think I'm going to have to in order to fix some of the ugliness. I'll have to bag the dash and cover everything - fun!

After welding those spot welds, I removed the seat base and reinstalled it on the driver's seat. Then, the last task of the day was to start designing a bumpout for the Atlas twin stick tower. It needs to be rotated more vertical, and in order to do so, the top of it will be about 1/4" into the cab.

Stay tuned!

That layer of corrosion protection may be some sort of aluminized but it pops big holes and has the milky stringers I see when I weld galvanized so I'd lean toward it being a layer of zinc like they do for paint lock. It is also a very dark gray just a shade darker than the base metal so pretty difficult to see when you are sanding away paint and whatnot to get down to bare metal for weld prep.

Covering the dash is good, don't forget the inside of the glass windshield. Nothing irritates me quite as much are weld berries and grinder sparks stuck to automotive glass.

 

[sab]

Today was a downer day for me. Too many days doing bodywork, and I'm using that term very loosely. I am not a body man by anyone's loosest definition, and it shows. These tub mods for the Atlas are really challenging my skillset and patience. Welding that thin, coated steel, even after attempting to grind off the coating, is a disaster for me. I also got the bright idea to plug weld the holes for the OEM transfer case shifter assembly mounting, and that's an exercise in chasing hole after hole. I should have just plugged them with screws or rubber plugs. I quit early today because my patience is completely used up for the day. Anyway, here's the report...

I started the day in a good mood. I decided to wrap the inside of the LJ with plastic, mainly to keep the dust and debris from welding and grinding confined to the floor, rather than as an actual shield from the grinding and welding:

I then made a small cardboard "house" to fit inside the LJ and used it while grinding prior to, and after, welding. For the welding, I threw a 6' x 8' welding blanket over the top of me and welded underneath it to contain the sparks. The blanket did a great job, but it was very hot and confining under there!

As I said, the welding is absolutely horrible (look away!):

Hopefully I can clean this up and fix the old mounting holes to some level of satisfaction. It's good that it'll be hidden by carpet, but I don't like to have half-ass work with my name on it, so this has been a very humbling experience for me. One of the challenges with grinding these is the space available. I found that 3M offers the 36 grit Cubitron fiber discs in a 2" Roloc-compatible configuration, so I ordered 10 of those from Grainger to try with a die grinder. They should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm hoping for better days ahead!

Stay tuned.

 

[sab]

Today, I switched things up a bit, and started on the Savvy mid-arm suspension kit installation. After measuring to locate the control arm mounts on the frame rails and some emails and a phone call with @mrblaine, I re-positioned the rig on the lift, and then had some lunch. After that, I had to run to town for some errands - all of them LJ build-related.

When I returned, I tried two different methods of cutting brackets off - plasma and cut-off wheels. Mr. Blaine warned me that, while it's very quick, the trouble with using plasma is that any gouges in the base metal that need repairing are a lot of work to repair due to the dross left behind by the arc. I've experienced working around plasma dross before, so after hearing his take, I was pretty sure the cut-off wheel would be my choice.

However, some time back, I bought Hypertherm's "FlushCut" kit (Mr. Blaine and I discussed this back in late June here on the forum.) This kit directs the arc at nearly 90° to the cutting surface, so you can cut things off flush. To test it, I started on the rear trackbar frame mounting bracket. I used a die grinder with a cut-off wheel for the bottom welds and the FlushCut system for the side welds. The die grinder took a lot longer, but there was almost no gouging into the frame. In contrast, the FlushCut system was a disaster:

Those plasma gouges are going to take an hour or two to repair. Ouch. Not a good selling point for the FlushCut system. However, while writing this up, I realized (again!) what a buffoon I can be. I was holding the torch perpendicular to the side of the frame rail, thinking that the FlushCut system was designed to work that way. Then I looked at Hypertherm's web site and realized that it actually has a flat side that's meant to be placed against the surface, with the torch at an angle:

I was essentially cutting at an angle into the frame, rather than flush - my comparison test an utter flop. I'll try it again sometime, but not for cutting off the frame's control arm brackets. I'm going to stick to the cut-off wheel for now.

After the cutting test, I cut off both rear upper control arm mounts and the outside of the right spring perch using the die-grinder to end the day:

Stay tuned for more high-level buffoonery!

To see the continuation of the prep for the Savvy mid-arm installation, skip ahead to Post #454.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Today, I switched things up a bit, and started on the Savvy mid-arm suspension kit installation. After measuring to locate the control arm mounts on the frame rails and some emails and a phone call with @mrblaine, I re-positioned the rig on the lift, and then had some lunch. After that, I had to run to town for some errands - all of them LJ build-related.

When I returned, I tried two different methods of cutting brackets off - plasma and cut-off wheels. Mr. Blaine warned me that, while it's very quick, the trouble with using plasma is that any gouges in the base metal that need repairing are a lot of work to repair due to the dross left behind by the arc. I've experienced working around plasma dross before, so after hearing his take, I was pretty sure the cut-off wheel would be my choice.

However, some time back, I bought Hypertherm's "FlushCut" kit (Mr. Blaine and I discussed this back in late June here on the forum.) This kit directs the arc at nearly 90° to the cutting surface, so you can cut things off flush. To test it, I started on the rear trackbar frame mounting bracket. I used a die grinder with a cut-off wheel for the bottom welds and the FlushCut system for the side welds. The die grinder took a lot longer, but there was almost no gouging into the frame. In contrast, the FlushCut system was a disaster:
View attachment 570467

Those plasma gouges are going to take an hour or two to repair. Ouch. Not a good selling point for the FlushCut system. However, while writing this up, I realized (again!) what a buffoon I can be. I was holding the torch perpendicular to the side of the frame rail, thinking that the FlushCut system was designed to work that way. Then I looked at Hypertherm's web site and realized that it actually has a flat side that's meant to be placed against the surface, with the torch at an angle:
View attachment 570469

I was essentially cutting at an angle into the frame, rather than flush - my comparison test an utter flop. I'll try it again sometime, but not for cutting off the frame's control arm brackets. I'm going to stick to the cut-off wheel for now.

After the cutting test, I cut off both rear upper control arm mounts and the outside of the right spring perch using the die-grinder to end the day:

View attachment 570472

View attachment 570473

Stay tuned for more high-level buffoonery!

Man, that lift must be a god-send for that bracketry work. I did all that lying on my back. ‘Course, I was also just a bit younger then…

Nice work Scott. Aaaahhhhh, except for the part about the flush-cut plasma…

 

[sab]

Man, that lift must be a god-send for that bracketry work. I did all that lying on my back. ‘Course, I was also just a bit younger then…

It definitely is a god-send. I did a lot of work on cars on jackstands over the years (ask me about the time I set my jacket on .) Working on a creeper is definitely a younger-man's game.

Nice work Scott. Aaaahhhhh, except for the part about the flush-cut plasma…

Thanks, and guilty as charged! What a knucklehead I can be...

 

[sab]

Here's the result of today's work:

I used a Dynabrade right-angle die grinder with just two cut-off discs Mr. Blaine sent me to try for all of that work. Wait - that's not true. I also used a long pry bar, a really long pry bar, a mini-sledge, and a chisel. I could have probably done it with just one disc, but once it got down to about 3", I replaced the first one and saved it for close work where a 4" won't fit. Then, I tackled the MOAB (Mother of All Brackets, not the over-populated wheelin' destination, nor the bomb used in Afghanistan):

That was a fun one! I think I spent about 90 minutes on it. Most of that was also done with the cut-off disc, except for the inside of the V that's facing the camera. For that, my trusty ball-end carbide did the job (actually it vastly exceeded my expectations):

I'm cutting that off because Mr. Blaine advised me to move that mount forward about 1" to avoid common interference issues with the mid-arm and long travel shocks. I still have to cut the long weld at the top of it on the inside of the frame, but in order to do that, I have to drain the power steering fluid and radiator to move hoses and make room for the grinder up in there. I don't know if that's on tomorrow's agenda or not.

I knocked off a bit early today because the Mrs. and I are going to relax and have some red wine with dinner tonight to celebrate our nation getting its collective head out of its backside yesterday! It's a brave new world, fellers!

Stay tuned!

Note: See Post #407 for painting of some of the parts for the Savvy Mid-arm project.

 

[sab]

No work on the LJ today. I started the day helping a neighbor with a couple projects, then I had a two hour online meeting for the new job I start Tuesday. After that, I cleaned up the shop a bit. With being able to work on the LJ full-time the last couple months, I had crap sprawled out all over the place, with no open floor space. I needed to make room for a new media blaster arriving soon to help clean stuff up for the build.

I'll be back at it tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Man, I hate when work takes away from a great Jeep build…

 

[sab]

Today's progress was more maintenance than build. Specifically, getting the NSG-370 ready to be re-installed. I started by using an OTC blind bearing puller kit to remove the old pilot bearing from the crank. It was done in two steps. First, the needle bearing itself was removed, and then the steel spacer was removed:

Then, a new Mopar pilot bearing (seen in the lower right of the photo above), which comes installed in the spacer, was installed:

Note: The aluminum foil is there because I'm still working on the tub mods, and the aluminum foil is there to re-direct grinding and welding debris.

I wasn't sure if I was going to replace the original clutch now or not. It's only got about 55k miles on it, and it didn't look worn enough to replace. Oddly, I could find no specs in the FSM regarding minimum thickness of the friction plates. Also, both the flywheel surface and the pressure plate surface looked very good. Since I like to keep spares on a shelf anyway, I ordered a replacement clutch kit (Mopar #52104732AC) to compare to the OEM clutch that was removed. The replacement Mopar clutch kit includes the pressure plate and the friction plate. The part numbers for those two components were 52104643AA and 52104733AC.

Side note: I've read many forum posts regarding which brand of clutch to purchase, and one common, oft-repeated recommendation was to buy a Luk clutch kit "because Luk made the OEM clutches for Mopar." I can report that this is definitely not true for my 2005 LJ. Both the pressure plate and friction plate that I removed (which was the original OEM clutch), along with the Mopar replacement parts, were made by Sachs, not Luk:

Also, note that "Valeo" is printed on the friction plate above. So, if you're replacing your NSG-370 clutch, Sachs may be a better choice than Lux, if you either don't want to pay the Mopar premium, or the Mopar clutch is no longer available when you read this.

Since the FSM has no guidance on how to judge clutch wear, I had to come up with a way to judge on my own. I know of two ways that friction plate wear is typically evaluated: 1) total thickness, and 2) depth to the rivet heads. I measured both, and here are the results;

Used Clutch: .050-.060" depth to rivets, .305-.315" total thickness
New Clutch: .060-.070" depth to rivets, .325-.335" total thickness

Based on these measurements, it looks like this friction plate has .010" to .020" of wear, with about .050" left, so I've decided to shelve the new clutch and re-install the old clutch. With 55k miles on this one, I should have over 100k more miles out of this clutch. Since this is just a fun vehicle, not a daily driver, it's likely that the clutch outlives me! However, if it doesn't, I have one on the shelf now.

After that, I set about changing the input and output shaft seals, since these are almost two decades old. I started with the output shaft seal. To remove the old seal, I drilled a self-tapping screw into the old one:

I then tried several pry bars on it, but the screw pulled out. I then screwed a bigger screw in, and using a pry bar, popped the seal out:

I then used Mopar special tool #9638 to press the new seal in:

Then, I moved on to the input end of the transmission. I started with the countershaft plug first. Looking at the back side of the replacement plug, I noticed that the center section was just rubber (not rubber over steel):

So, to remove this one, I simply punctured the center section and used the same pry bar to pop it out:

I then used Mopar special tools (C-4171A and 7829) to drive the new plug in:

Finally, I tackled the mainshaft input seal above that countershaft plug. I tried using the same screw as the output seal, but it just pulled out. I just opened the hole up larger and stuck a needle-nose Vice-Grips pliers in the hole to pop the seal out:

And then, I used Mopar special tool #9635, along with a piece of Schedule 40 steel pipe, to install the new seal:

After replacing the seals, I cleaned up the input and output sides of the transmission (very greasy!), along with the aluminum spacer plate:

About that time, the FedEx man showed up with a new throwout bearing, so after cleaning up the clutch fork, I installed the fork with that new bearing and a new pivot ball spring and bagged the transmission for storage. I need to finish the tub mods now before I can reinstall the transmission. That's on the agenda for tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

 

[sab]

By the way, if anyone reading this is going to be rebuilding their NSG-370, I'll make you a great deal on some of the Mopar special tools you'll need to do it. In order to get all the tools I need to rebuild mine (in the distant future, I hope), I've ended up with duplicates of several of them because I ended up buying them in kits because it was cheaper. PM me if you have an interest in them.

 

[sab]

I started the day on other things, but after lunch, I got back to the build. I was waiting for a plastic clutch alignment tool from RockAuto, and the postman brought it today, so I aligned the friction plate to the crank and then tightened the pressure plate down. Then I got back to the bodywork mess I have for the tunnel mods. I tried welding the holes up again, but I'm just chasing holes, so I decided to cut patches and weld them in. It took all afternoon.

My MIG machine was bird-nesting on me (happened a half-dozen times over 3 hours). Mr. Blaine encouraged me to switch to .023" wire for the bodywork, which did help a lot, but I have a problem that I don't have with the larger wire sizes. I may have cut the liner too much when I replaced it a few years ago. It's never been a problem with .030" or .035" wire, but the gap between the drive roller pinch point and the end of the liner might be just enough that when the .023" wire hits an obstruction, the drive rollers push it sideways, and then it's bird nest time:

I guess I just have to be more careful with letting the wire dead-end on something.

Anyway, here's where I ended the day:

I can now weld-repair some of the holes from the inside for aesthetics, and then I'll clean it all up and paint it. I may get that done before going back to work on Tuesday. We'll see. I may have to pick up the blast cabinet at the freight terminal on Monday, which will kill the day.

Stay tuned!

 

[sab]

Today, I sanded the tub and shot it with primer, inside and out:

Pretty ugly stuff there! The inside will eventually get painted with color-matched rattle can and clear, and then covered with carpet, but the outside will just stay primered since it's a pretty close match for whatever the OEM tub bottom color is and nobody will see it anyway.

Tomorrow is my last day of nearly eight weeks of vacation , and I don't know if I'll be working on the LJ or not. It depends upon the freight company that's delivering the media blast cabinet I ordered. It made it to the local terminal, so I may go pick it up tomorrow if they don't plan on delivering it until later in the week. Once I start the new job, it'll be hard to take a day off for the delivery.

Stay tuned!

 

[sab]

Yesterday was my last day off until starting the new job. I didn't work on the LJ. Instead, I worked on something that will help me work on the LJ. I went to the freight terminal and picked up the media blaster, and then came home, unloaded it, uncrated it, and assembled it. Wow - it took all day because it wasn't assembled much at all. I didn't even complete it because one of the final steps is to lift the 200 lb cabinet on top the support structure. I couldn't do it myself, and my engine hoist won't lift that high (and it's legs won't fit underneath). I asked a neighbor for help, and he's going to help me, but had commitments yesterday. I'll post a photo once it's all together. I'm about to head out the door to start my new adventure!

Stay tuned!

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I asked a neighbor for help, and he's going to help me, but had commitments yesterday.

Hopefully not the 85 yo you built the stair rail for!

 

[sab]

Hopefully not the 85 yo you built the stair rail for!

No, but Johnny did stop by yesterday while I was putting the blaster together. He's best for simply "supervising" these days...

 

[sab]

Finally got the neighbor over to help put the blast cabinet together:

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Finally got the neighbor over to help put the blast cabinet together:
View attachment 572680

Nice looking unit.

 

[sab]

Nice looking unit.

Thank you. I wanted one with a pressure pot because they’re considerably more efficient. I’m sure it’ll be much more useful than the 25-year-old, very leaky benchtop Harbor Freight unit I had. That one is horrible!

 

[FarFire70]

Finally got the neighbor over to help put the blast cabinet together:
View attachment 572680

[Insert something clever yet snarky better than I can think of now] — I tried to come up with something to say that any time I come off 'negative' (intending to be funny) it is entirely because of jealousy of your garage and skills!

And now you add another ringer unit... Whatever!

—-

Seriously - congrats. Can't wait to see this booth put to work!