Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

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

And Mr. Blaine for the win. He weighed them for me - 12 lb. He's like rust - he never rests! (that's a weird compliment, I know) :cool:

I think more like this, just missing the bag of easter eggs that get sprinkled here and there. Maybe AI can create that? :unsure:

 
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Next up on the build list is raised Genright body mount brackets, but before I get to that, I bead-blasted the inside and outside parking brake brackets, which had some surface rust starting on them, and primed and painted them:
IMG_7392.JPG

IMG_7393.JPG


Right before breaking for lunch, I cut off the middle, driver-side body mount bracket, ground and weld-repaired the frame, and tacked on the new Genright raised mount. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics, but I'm headed back out to the shop now, and I'll take pics and post when I do the passenger-side bracket next. Stay tuned!
 
After lunch, I continued installing the Genright raised body mounts. With the Savvy mid-arm suspension, the front and rear mounts need modification because they go right where the Savvy control arm mounts are mounted on the frame. That's why I installed the mid-arm brackets first. The middle mounts require no modification, so I started there, as I like to start with easy and work through to the more challenging problems.

As I said in my last post, I worked on the driver-side middle mount before lunch, but didn't take pictures. With the passenger-side middle mount, I took pictures at each step of the process. The first step is to raise the body up off the frame to get enough room to cut the OEM bracket off:
IMG_7394.JPG


Next, I used a death wheel in a right-angle die grinder to cut the bracket off:
IMG_7396.JPG


And once it was cut off, I had some clean up to do:
IMG_7397.JPG


Clean up was done using a 5", 36 grit 3M Cubitron disc on an angle grinder until I just started touching the frame itself:
IMG_7398.JPG


Then, I switched to an 80 grit Cubitron to clean it up down to the frame:
IMG_7399.JPG


As you can see above, there was some undercutting with the factory welding, so I used a ball-head carbide to cut it out before laying a bead in there:
IMG_7400.JPG


And with the bead laid in the groove:
IMG_7401.JPG


After that, I used the 36 grit, and then the 80 grit, Cubitron discs to clean up the surface, followed by a 40 grit disc on the random orbital sander. Then, I bead-blasted the Genright mount and installed it with the rubber mounts. Finally, I lowered the body back down onto the mounts:
IMG_7402.JPG


Next, I tacked the mount in place and removed the rubber mounts:
IMG_7403.JPG


Then, I removed all the other mounting screws and jacked up this side of the body off the frame in order to get enough clearance to finish weld the bracket:
IMG_7404.JPG


After that second mount, I was able to weld the front mounts on both sides, too. The front mounts needed some trimming to clear the Savvy mid-arm control arm brackets, but it was simple work with a cut-off disc. I followed the same process noted above to weld those in place:
IMG_7407.JPG


And, after welding four of the six body mounts in place, I was out of time for the day. I only have the two rear ones left to do, but they require the most modification to clear the rear mid-arm control arm brackets. Stay tuned for that...

See the continuation of the raised body mount project in Post #498.
 
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After lunch, I continued installing the Genright raised body mounts. With the Savvy mid-arm suspension, the front and rear mounts need modification because they go right where the Savvy control arm mounts are mounted on the frame. That's why I installed the mid-arm brackets first. The middle mounts require no modification, so I started there, as I like to start with easy and work through to the more challenging problems.

As I said in my last post, I worked on the driver-side middle mount before lunch, but didn't take pictures. With the passenger-side middle mount, I took pictures at each step of the process. The first step is to raise the body up off the frame to get enough room to cut the OEM bracket off:
View attachment 583980

Next, I used a death wheel in a right-angle die grinder to cut the bracket off:
View attachment 583981

And once it was cut off, I had some clean up to do:
View attachment 583982

Clean up was done using a 5", 36 grit 3M Cubitron disc on an angle grinder until I just started touching the frame itself:
View attachment 583983

Then, I switched to an 80 grit Cubitron to clean it up down to the frame:
View attachment 583984

As you can see above, there was some undercutting with the factory welding, so I used a ball-head carbide to cut it out before laying a bead in there:
View attachment 583985

And with the bead laid in the groove:
View attachment 583986

After that, I used the 36 grit, and then the 80 grit, Cubitron discs to clean up the surface, followed by a 40 grit disc on the random orbital sander. Then, I bead-blasted the Genright mount and installed it with the rubber mounts. Finally, I lowered the body back down onto the mounts:
View attachment 583987

Next, I tacked the mount in place and removed the rubber mounts:
View attachment 583988

Then, I removed all the other mounting screws and jacked up this side of the body off the frame in order to get enough clearance to finish weld the bracket:
View attachment 583989

After that second mount, I was able to weld the front mounts on both sides, too. The front mounts needed some trimming to clear the Savvy mid-arm control arm brackets, but it was simple work with a cut-off disc. I followed the same process noted above to weld those in place:
View attachment 583990

And, after welding four of the six body mounts in place, I was out of time for the day. I only have the two rear ones left to do, but they require the most modification to clear the rear mid-arm control arm brackets. Stay tuned for that...

Very cleanly done and excellent pics. For folks like me that don't have fab skills .. stuff like this is a treat. I have seen Blaine's pics, @jjvw's version, @hosejockey61's video .. and now this one. Never gets boring!

When I was a n00b TJ owner, I had a big distaste for the body lift and I went a long way to avoid one in my older black jeep due improper understanding. Looking back, I am now recalling that seeing this specific mod (ie raised body mounts) from Blaine and reading his explanation about how the factory isolator works in one of the posts was pretty instrumental in making me fully understand the benefit of a body lift. A light bulb turned on that having properly designed body lift pucks (like Blaine's designs) on the factory mounts is mechanically equivalent to what is happening with raised mounts (ie same relative body position with raised mounts vs factory mounts + pucks) and therefore it was nothing to be afraid of or to think of as being ugly. My learning was in reverse but I am very glad that i saw the light. Raised mounts are superior because you get that extra clearance where it matters and with the Savvy style rock sliders, the raised mounts have a lot of protection too. To this day I see this mod as one of the prettiest mods when done properly and that it really enhances what the factory gave us on these TJs.

Keep up the good work sab. Photos like what you are sharing are invaluable for learning.
 
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Very cleanly done and excellent pics. For folks like me that don't have fab skills .. stuff like this is a treat. I have seen Blaine's pics, @jjvw's version, @hosejockey61's video .. and now this one. Never gets boring!

When I was a n00b TJ owner, I had a big distaste for the body lift and I went a long way to avoid one in my older black jeep due improper understanding. Looking back, I am now recalling that seeing this specific mod (ie raised body mounts) from Blaine and reading his explanation about how the factory isolator works in one of the posts was pretty instrumental in making me fully understand the benefit of a body lift. A light bulb turned on that having properly designed body lift pucks (like Blaine's designs) on the factory mounts is mechanically equivalent to what is happening with raised mounts (ie same relative body position with raised mounts vs factory mounts + pucks) and therefore it was nothing to be afraid of or to think of as being ugly. My learning was in reverse but I am very glad that i saw the light. Raised mounts are superior because you get that extra clearance where it matters and with the Savvy style rock sliders, the raised mounts have a lot of protection too. To this day I see this mod as one of the prettiest mods when done properly and that it really enhances what the factory gave us on these TJs.

Keep up the good work sab. Photos like what you are sharing are invaluable for learning.
Thank you for the kind words, psrivats!
 
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...so I started there, as I like to start with easy and work through to the more challenging problems.

I interviewed quite a few folks for jobs in my previous life. My favorite question to ask the interviewee was - "You have two tasks to complete, one hard task and one easy task, which one do you complete first and why?" People gave all kinds of reasons for their choices. Occasionally, I had people ask me what was the right answer. I'd tell them I had no idea, I just want to hear how you think and problem solve.
 
After lunch, I continued installing the Genright raised body mounts. With the Savvy mid-arm suspension, the front and rear mounts need modification because they go right where the Savvy control arm mounts are mounted on the frame. That's why I installed the mid-arm brackets first. The middle mounts require no modification, so I started there, as I like to start with easy and work through to the more challenging problems.

As I said in my last post, I worked on the driver-side middle mount before lunch, but didn't take pictures. With the passenger-side middle mount, I took pictures at each step of the process. The first step is to raise the body up off the frame to get enough room to cut the OEM bracket off:
View attachment 583980

Next, I used a death wheel in a right-angle die grinder to cut the bracket off:
View attachment 583981

And once it was cut off, I had some clean up to do:
View attachment 583982

Clean up was done using a 5", 36 grit 3M Cubitron disc on an angle grinder until I just started touching the frame itself:
View attachment 583983

Then, I switched to an 80 grit Cubitron to clean it up down to the frame:
View attachment 583984

As you can see above, there was some undercutting with the factory welding, so I used a ball-head carbide to cut it out before laying a bead in there:
View attachment 583985

And with the bead laid in the groove:
View attachment 583986

After that, I used the 36 grit, and then the 80 grit, Cubitron discs to clean up the surface, followed by a 40 grit disc on the random orbital sander. Then, I bead-blasted the Genright mount and installed it with the rubber mounts. Finally, I lowered the body back down onto the mounts:
View attachment 583987

Next, I tacked the mount in place and removed the rubber mounts:
View attachment 583988

Then, I removed all the other mounting screws and jacked up this side of the body off the frame in order to get enough clearance to finish weld the bracket:
View attachment 583989

After that second mount, I was able to weld the front mounts on both sides, too. The front mounts needed some trimming to clear the Savvy mid-arm control arm brackets, but it was simple work with a cut-off disc. I followed the same process noted above to weld those in place:
View attachment 583990

And, after welding four of the six body mounts in place, I was out of time for the day. I only have the two rear ones left to do, but they require the most modification to clear the rear mid-arm control arm brackets. Stay tuned for that...

Really nice work, both on the Jeep and the write-up👍
 
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I interviewed quite a few folks for jobs in my previous life. My favorite question to ask the interviewee was - "You have two tasks to complete, one hard task and one easy task, which one do you complete first and why?" People gave all kinds of reasons for their choices. Occasionally, I had people ask me what was the right answer. I'd tell them I had no idea, I just want to hear how you think and problem solve.
Since you're interviewing me :sneaky:, I'll tell you why I like to tackle the easy stuff first, and it's simple - motivation and mood. I'm a task-minded, OCD-afflicted engineer. I usually have a task list with every project, big or small. Sometimes those task lists are on paper (or in this build's case - on the first page), and sometimes those task lists are mental. My brain celebrates every time I tick a checkbox on the list, and there is a cumulative effect that builds as the list is completed. When I see the list of checkboxes get ticked off, I get more and more motivated to finish the project, and that puts me in a much better mood!

I use this personality "feature" to affect progress on a project. If I get to a rough patch, where one box is taking too long to check, I'll go work on a few easy things to tick some boxes. That will put my mind in the right place to go back and tackle the tough task. There was a big example of that in this build during the Atlas/tummy tuck project. After I realized that I'd really screwed up the floor of the tub trying to "massage" the tub for Atlas clearance, I decided to take a break from that before fixing it. That break was me managing my task list!

So there you have a look into the mind of a nerd...

Did I get the job? :)
 
I interviewed quite a few folks for jobs in my previous life. My favorite question to ask the interviewee was - "You have two tasks to complete, one hard task and one easy task, which one do you complete first and why?" People gave all kinds of reasons for their choices. Occasionally, I had people ask me what was the right answer. I'd tell them I had no idea, I just want to hear how you think and problem solve.
Depends on how the 2 are related to each other. If one will impact the other and require me to go backwards, then I do the one with the least impact on forward progress. Somewhat analogous example would be putting tires on is easy, changing ball joints is harder. If I have to pull the tires back off to do the ball joints, then they stay off until they no longer impact further work.

I am constantly evaluating which parts of a build have the least impact. I'm working on interior stuff and interior electrical because each has an external impact in how I lay out and design the underhood electrical center. I've already added far more circuits than my original requirements so I need to final out the internal needs to finish the external design.

That puts the shocks, suspension and armor on the back burner for a bit but I can do those in my sleep so I'm focusing on the stuff that takes some creativity and problem solving skill.

The fewer steps I take backward, the better forward progress is.

Another example would be if I get into something and then decide that the parts I have are not quite what I'd like to use, then I'll get the right parts on the way and let what I was in the middle of stagnate until the parts arrive. Rather than stand around, I'll move onto something else and hack away at it until the parts arrive.
 
Depends on how the 2 are related to each other. If one will impact the other and require me to go backwards, then I do the one with the least impact on forward progress. Somewhat analogous example would be putting tires on is easy, changing ball joints is harder. If I have to pull the tires back off to do the ball joints, then they stay off until they no longer impact further work.

I am constantly evaluating which parts of a build have the least impact. I'm working on interior stuff and interior electrical because each has an external impact in how I lay out and design the underhood electrical center. I've already added far more circuits than my original requirements so I need to final out the internal needs to finish the external design.

That puts the shocks, suspension and armor on the back burner for a bit but I can do those in my sleep so I'm focusing on the stuff that takes some creativity and problem solving skill.

The fewer steps I take backward, the better forward progress is.

Another example would be if I get into something and then decide that the parts I have are not quite what I'd like to use, then I'll get the right parts on the way and let what I was in the middle of stagnate until the parts arrive. Rather than stand around, I'll move onto something else and hack away at it until the parts arrive.

Well said, Mr. Blaine. Most of that mirrors my methodology. For instance, I was going to do the Genright body mounts some time ago because it was pretty straightforward, and seemed not to be influenced by any other build tasks. However, when I started putting my list together and planning the work, I realized that the mid-arm brackets occupy the same space on the frame. I think I then posted on here confirming that it made sense to do the mid-arm brackets, first...
 
Well said, Mr. Blaine. Most of that mirrors my methodology. For instance, I was going to do the Genright body mounts some time ago because it was pretty straightforward, and seemed not to be influenced by any other build tasks. However, when I started putting my list together and planning the work, I realized that the mid-arm brackets occupy the same space on the frame. I think I then posted on here confirming that it made sense to do the mid-arm brackets, first...

Ditto. Both elevated body mounts and mid-arms are sitting on a shelf waiting for me to figure out where I want my axles to be.
 
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Ditto. Both elevated body mounts and mid-arms are sitting on a shelf waiting for me to figure out where I want my axles to be.
Where the axles need to be doesn't impact the location of the mounts in my world since I don't alter the relationship of either end's relationship to the spring locations and wheel arches. You can't move the front brackets further back unless you want to cut into the firewall or shorten the upper.

If you want to sneak the axle forward a couple of inches, longer arms can do that although there is typically enough thread to get 2-3" more if needs be.

The rear is complicated but the relationship between the mid arm mount and the wheel arch will generally not change when sensible folks do the work.
 
Where the axles need to be doesn't impact the location of the mounts in my world since I don't alter the relationship of either end's relationship to the spring locations and wheel arches. You can't move the front brackets further back unless you want to cut into the firewall or shorten the upper.

If you want to sneak the axle forward a couple of inches, longer arms can do that although there is typically enough thread to get 2-3" more if needs be.

The rear is complicated but the relationship between the mid arm mount and the wheel arch will generally not change when sensible folks do the work.

Originally, I thought moving the front forward would be the hard part. But, other than moving the frame side track bar mount, it doesn't seem so bad to get 2-3" (but I'm surely not thinking of some things). As you said, the rear is more daunting to me at present. I think my tank will allow 4-5" but the body work, filler neck, exhaust, shock towers and other things all have me scratching my head a bit. Right now, I'm too distracted with other things so I just sit and think about it when I have a few minutes. I really do need to start writing my thoughts down though.
 
Since you're interviewing me :sneaky:, I'll tell you why I like to tackle the easy stuff first, and it's simple - motivation and mood. I'm a task-minded, OCD-afflicted engineer. I usually have a task list with every project, big or small. Sometimes those task lists are on paper (or in this build's case - on the first page), and sometimes those task lists are mental. My brain celebrates every time I tick a checkbox on the list, and there is a cumulative effect that builds as the list is completed. When I see the list of checkboxes get ticked off, I get more and more motivated to finish the project, and that puts me in a much better mood!

I use this personality "feature" to affect progress on a project. If I get to a rough patch, where one box is taking too long to check, I'll go work on a few easy things to tick some boxes. That will put my mind in the right place to go back and tackle the tough task. There was a big example of that in this build during the Atlas/tummy tuck project. After I realized that I'd really screwed up the floor of the tub trying to "massage" the tub for Atlas clearance, I decided to take a break from that before fixing it. That break was me managing my task list!

So there you have a look into the mind of a nerd...

Did I get the job? :)
Great answer, Blaine's was too. Listening to how people process obstacles and the actions they take, always is interesting to me.

Back on topic, you have an outstanding build thread.
 
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Short day in the shop today. I had other duties in the morning, but after lunch, I got the fifth raised body mount done, and I just got the sixth, and final, mount cut off before heading in for a shower and date night with Mrs. sab.

To review, I did the front and middle raised mounts last weekend and only had the the rears left to do. I saved the rears for last because they required the most complicated (not terribly, though) modification to clear the rear Savvy control arm mounts. First, I cut the old bracket off, did some weld repair to the undercutting from the OEM welding robot, and sanded it smooth, like the other four (no pictures, but I followed the same method as in Post #484).

Then I set the new mount just ahead of it's proper location so I could transfer the cut line from the Savvy bracket to the body mount with a straight edge and a fine Sharpie. Finally, I used a death wheel to notch the inside top corner like so:
IMG_7417.JPG


So, after that mod, I raised the body off the frame, mounted the modified bracket to the body, and lowered the body onto the frame. I tightened all the other body mounts so that this one was exactly where it needed to be, and I tacked it in place. Finally, I removed all the body mount bolts and lifted the body off the frame to get ready for final welding:
IMG_7418.JPG


And here it is welded in place:
IMG_7421.JPG


As I said at the top of this post, I finished the day by cutting the final body mount off and getting the frame cleaned up and sanded. Tomorrow, I'll modify that final Genright bracket and weld it in place. Then, assuming the Texas weather cooperates, I'll prime and paint the frame around the new mounts to finish them up. Next weekend, I plan to do the final installation of the transmission, transfer case, cross-member, skid plates (transfer case and engine/transmission), and step sliders.

Stay tuned!
 
I finished welding on the last of the Genright raised body mount brackets today, and got a coat of primer and paint on all of them. The only picture I took was one that I wanted to take yesterday, but I couldn't figure out how to get it done with just two hands. Today, I figured out how to do that. This picture shows how I transferred the cut line from the Savvy bracket to the rear Genright body mount bracket using a straight edge:
IMG_7423.JPG


I set the body mount bracket ahead of the Savvy bracket, and then set a straight edge on the angled portion of the Savvy bracket and extended it until it touched the Genright bracket. I then used a fine-point Sharpie on the end of the straight edge to draw the profile on the Genright bracket. Then, it was cut, fit, cut, fit, etc., until it fit well. I kept removing material until there was a visible air gap between the Genright bracket and the frame, so that it wasn't loaded strangely.

The build will continue next weekend, so stay tuned!
 
Note: Earlier this morning, I hit "Post Reply" - accidentally - before I had completely written this post, so I quickly deleted it. For those of you who may have received notification of a new post that wasn't there, I apologize!

I didn't take time to post yesterday, so I'm starting today off with a post on yesterday's activity. Yesterday was one of those days in the shop where I "do a lot of stuff," but at the end of the day, only one checkbox gets checked. However, there was a lot of activity going back over three years to check that box, so it was very satisfying to finally be able to check it! Hang on, 'cuz I'm startin' at the beginning. It was a long process for me, and it's gonna be a long story for y'all to read!

The checkbox I checked yesterday was getting my diff covers completed. Sounds simple. So how did this become a three-year process? Well, I bought my LJ during COVID, and many of the parts were backordered for long periods. I had been reading this forum while looking for an LJ to purchase and putting a build plan together, starting in early 2021. The LJ was purchased in June 2021, and I started acquiring parts at that time. I had discovered the Barnett diff covers through the forum, and as I reported in Mr. Blaine's long Barnett cover thread from that time period, it took four months to get a set of covers, and they were built on old, rusty covers because Dana stopped supplying new covers to T and J for a while. The guys at T and J gave me the option of waiting indefinitely for new covers, but I didn't care if they were used, so I accepted the used ones.

Anyway, I had the covers powder-coated and thought I was done. Then, after they sat on the floor for a good while, I decided to hard surface them - throwing more money out the window (my powder coater does fabulous work, but he's in high demand, and his prices reflect that.) It was my experience in the civil design/construction world since I left motorsports, along with a post from Mr. Blaine in the same Barnett cover thread, that combined to put the hard surface idea in my head.

I knew that laying down a bunch of beads on stamped steel part was going to create a high potential for warping before I started. I set the welder up on the cold side of the settings spectrum, used a rosebud to preheat the cover, and welded and paused frequently to limit heat in the covers. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, the covers warped enough that I wasn't confident I could get them to seal to the housing. So, I put them back on the floor for over a year since I didn't need them, yet.

During that year, I read up on flame straightening. Flame straightening is a black art used to straighten bent steel structures. There's even a manual put out by the Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-HIF-23-003. I was aware of flame straightening due to my civil work these days, but I'd never seen it done. I decided to try it. I tried to use a cutting tip to concentrate the heat energy in areas where I wanted to bend the cover. What I learned was that you can't learn to flame straighten quickly. The guys that do it on large structures do it as apprentices for years before they are allowed to be in charge of the task. I don't have years to practice this, so I decided to try a different technique.

After those efforts failed, I bought a big slab of steel and drilled and tapped to bolt the covers down. Here's that slab:
1737301804781.png


After bolting the cover down, I used a rosebud to get the gap areas red hot and then used a clamp to try to push it flat and hold it there while very slowly cooling it (I piled on a big welding blanket and let it sit.) Those attempts were mostly futile. I started with gaps of 60 to 80 thousandths of an inch (about 1/16"), and I may have reduced them by 10 to 20 thousandths after my efforts. The problem I ran into was that I just couldn't get and keep enough of the cover red hot to use that technique. Again, the covers went back on the floor for months while I pondered my next move in the back of my mind while working on other stuff.

Regular readers of this build thread may recall the issue I had when I paid a local machinist to countersink my transfer case skid's mounting holes for flat head screws. The short version of the much longer story (that started with a tease at the end of this post) is that I specified a 90° countersink angle, but ended up with 82° countersinks. My machinist owed me a favor from this screw-up, so earlier this week, I saw those diff covers on the floor and decided to drop them off with him to see if he could re-surface them for me. At the end of that same day, I got a call from his wife, who runs the office, saying that they were done, and there was no charge. Nice! I picked the covers up Friday.

And that brings the story up to yesterday morning. I needed to prep them for paint because the surface I was dealing with was a combination of rusting steel-in-the-white, burned powder-coating, and intact powder-coating. Prepping them took most of the morning. I used a coarse wire wheel on an angle grinder, a small wire wheel on a Dotco pencil grinder recommended in the New Tool Day thread by @Mike_H (thanks for the tip - it's much better than my M12 rotary tool), followed by over an hour in the bead blaster. Then, I shot them with primer and top coat. Here they are finally done:
IMG_7447.JPG


Wow. This post is a crazy long way to say, "yesterday, I painted my diff covers." :oops:

But those diff covers may never even see use on my LJ. I was able to find two of those high-fill-point, thick Dana covers on eBay a few months ago, and when I get to it, I plan to come up with an AR400 or AR500 skid plate design that will bolt to a Dana cover, similar to the skid on Currie's Dana 60 axle. I had SendCutSend make me a 1/2" thick collar that I can use to fixture the cover to that big slab during welding:
1737303768483.png


That skid design is just an idea for now, so stay tuned to see where it goes (hopefully not in the dumpster).
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator