Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

[FarFire70]

I think I'm going to wait until I've got the engine reassembled before I burn the mounts in anyhow so I've got time to mess with it.

Catching up on the forum after being away on work travel. Very glad to see this comment as I was hoping you'd come this conclusion as I was reading your posts for the week.

Based off @NashvilleTJ 's comment on checking clearance at the firewall with the heads & valve cover had me concerned of you burning them in now and needing to remove the mounts or modify the firewall once the heads are on...

I've never done a engine job like this with new mounts but I'm hoping you stay in the 'wait until engine is together' camp so Murphy doesn't get you...

 

[Wildman]

Catching up on the forum after being away on work travel. Very glad to see this comment as I was hoping you'd come this conclusion as I was reading your posts for the week.

Based off @NashvilleTJ 's comment on checking clearance at the firewall with the heads & valve cover had me concerned of you burning them in now and needing to remove the mounts or modify the firewall once the heads are on...

I've never done a engine job like this with new mounts but I'm hoping you stay in the 'wait until engine is together' camp so Murphy doesn't get you...

I'm honestly more worried about accessory drive clearance than I am heads to firewall clearance. With that upper link hitting the motor mount and not allowing me to push the engine back further I'm not real worried about the heads hitting the firewall.
But I can be impatient sometimes and that's bit me in the ass before so I'm trying to learn here.

 

[lowell66dart]

Yeah that measure twice, cut once thing has saved my ass more than once.

 

[Wildman]

Got the new fuel tank gasket installed. Added a T in the vent line for the NVLD. Got the fuel line hooked up and ran the wiring harness for the fuel tank and NVLD.

Then got the hard part out of the way for today. The tank is back up under the Jeep.

I've got a vet appointment this afternoon so will have to stop soon. But this gets things ready for me to get things buttoned up in the rear and concentrate on other things.

Still don't have any shipping notifications on the heads. But I've got some other projects I can get done while I'm waiting.

 

[Wildman]

Picked up a RockAuto warehouse close out starter for $60 shipped to the house.
It's a passenger side starter so now I've got one for either side to try out.

 

[Wildman]

Got a email from FRP saying that the heads should be shipping today and I should be getting the tracking information NLT COB.

I got the NVLD hooked up & temporarily mounted it into my rear wheelwell. I'm keeping my eyes out for the factory mount right now to use. I didn't reinvent the wheel here I just tried to copy what @NashvilleTJ did with his and don't have the charcoal canister hooked up.

Then I worked on the Rock Lights and got them all wired up and will get to test them out once I've got the battery hooked back up. Tomorrow I'll get the air lines to the gauges up on the rollbar replaced and the ARB air line going to the front axle.

 

[Wildman]

I finished up with pulling the fuel tank by getting the fuel inlet and bezel reinstalled.

Then I decided I'd start tackling the shifter setup for the Art Carr shifter and the 545RFE. Since I'm the first one here that I know of to make a shifter cable bracket I was winging it.
I took a piece of flat stock and some washers to make the base. I cut two slots in the flat stock where the washers could sit.

I tacked the flat stock to the washers. Then pulled it off the transmission and welded it up.

I'd put a bend at the top to get it inline with the shifter arm on the transmission. Clamped on a second piece of flat stock inline with the shifter arm.

Welded that piece on then trimmed the extra off the top.

Once I determine where the shifter cable needs to sit on the bracket I'll drill and tap the holes for the strap that holds the cable to the bracket.

 

[Sj's TJ]

I finished up with pulling the fuel tank by getting the fuel inlet and bezel reinstalled.

Then I decided I'd start tackling the shifter setup for the Art Carr shifter and the 545RFE. Since I'm the first one here that I know of to make a shifter cable bracket I was winging it.
I took a piece of flat stock and some washers to make the base. I cut two slots in the flat stock where the washers could sit.

View attachment 538837

View attachment 538838

I tacked the flat stock to the washers. Then pulled it off the transmission and welded it up.

View attachment 538839

View attachment 538840

I'd put a bend at the top to get it inline with the shifter arm on the transmission. Clamped on a second piece of flat stock inline with the shifter arm.

View attachment 538841

Welded that piece on then trimmed the extra off the top.

View attachment 538842

View attachment 538843

View attachment 538845

Once I determine where the shifter cable needs to sit on the bracket I'll drill and tap the holes for the strap that holds the cable to the bracket.

View attachment 538853

View attachment 538854

Very clever Rick. I like how the shift arm is above the pan. On my Turbo 400 it's below and uses 2 pan bolts to attach the bracket. It's a pain to tighten the little bolts with no access from the rear.

 

[Wildman]

Very clever Rick. I like how the shift arm is above the pan. On my Turbo 400 it's below and uses 2 pan bolts to attach the bracket. It's a pain to tighten the little bolts with no access from the rear.

From what I can tell the stand-off distance from the shift lever ball to where the cable clamp needs to be is 6". But I want to make sure that the throw of the arm is the correct length. If you remember I had all sorts of problems with the 46RE and getting it setup correctly.

I haven't had to mess with a Turbo 400 in a while. But yes I remember what it was like. I thought about picking up one of the pan bolts but decided it would be too much of a PITA.

 

[Wildman]

I figured since I had the dash removed and the sub-frame area was rusted I'd try to clean it up and paint it.
I wire wheeled it as much as I could then used a wire brush in the areas I couldn't get the drill.

Then I taped up the dash to try and not get too much overspray.

Put down the first coat of paint and will apply another once it dries some.

Looks better already.

 

[Wildman]

While I was waiting for the paint to dry I messed with the shifter. I think I've got it right.
I clamped the cable to the bracket I'd made and figured out where it needs to sit. Then drilled and tapped the mounting holes.

This is in Park

Until I have it installed and running I can't fine tune it. But I'm hitting each gate.

Here's the dash sub-frame painted. There's one spot back in the corner that I missed. But it still looks a lot better than before.

 

[Wildman]

I was planning on tackling the wiring into the PDC today. But this PDC is different than the one that came in my TJ. The empty fuse slots on the old PDC had terminals on the power strip. The one from the Hemi PDC doesn't.

So I can't just add in the circuits like I did before. I'll have to figure something else out for these items.

 

[Wildman]

I got some of the wiring cleaned up better than it was. And I fixed a few things that had bugged me about my previous wiring.

This still looks like a damn mess but it'll get better once I can zip-tie things up. And yes I know where every wire goes and does.

Since I couldn't tap into the PDC with these wires I added a circuit breaker and have the wires connected to it instead. This took care of them for now but I do miss being able to tie into the PDC.

I might look at adding a aux PDC or something to make adding wires into easier. But I'll wait until I have the rig running & driving.

 

[Wildman]

DAMN & Dang Nab It..... Finally got the tracking #'s on the heads..... They didn't get shipped last week like I'd been told & finally got shipped today. So I won't receive them until next week 7/9/24. And I've got an appointment with the Vet again on that day then I am going over to my sisters on 7/10 for 4-8 days to finally do the transmission on my nieces truck. So I won't be able to work on the Jeep until I get back.

This is making me think I should slap the old heads back on the block and get the cam and stuff installed now so I can get things mocked up in the Jeep then when the new heads arrive I can just pull the engine & install them at that point and then I'll be ready to Rock & Roll.

 

[Wildman]

Got the Holley transmission mount in today. Don't know if I'll use it when the time comes but it's what they sell for their TJ Hemi swaps.

 

[Wildman]

Then I decided to start assembling the engine. First was to install the camshaft with lots & lots of assembly lube.

Next were the lifters again with lost & lots of assembly lube.

Timing chain tensioner/cam thrust plate is next.

Then the timing chain

Two marked links in the chain with the dot in-between

And the dot in the crank sprocket lined up with the link on the timing chain

FRP instructions say to install the cam bolt with Blue Loc-Tite

Installed and torqued down to spec

 

[Wildman]

Next up is the oil pump.

Then the timing cover. I did the water pump also while I was at it since a lot of the mounting bolts hold both on.

And next is the harmonic balancer. You need a installation tool to install this correctly. Jeff mentioned this when he was building his Hemi & he is correct that trying to use the bolt that holds it on to press the balancer into place can ruin your crankshaft. Don't ask me how I know this either.....

Then is the oil pump pick up tube plus the oil pan gasket which is also a windage tray.

 

[Wildman]

I'd forgotten to clean the thermostat housing up before this so I spent some time with the blasting cabinet and cleaned it up so I could repaint it. The rust & pitting was terrible.

I got it cleaned up pretty good IMO.

First coat of paint applied.

PSC power steering pump gets installed next. And where a stock pump uses 3 bolts to hold the pump on the PSC pump only uses 2 bolts.

Then I've got the power steering pump pulley to install next. Again you need a special tool to install the pulley.

Front of the engine pretty much done. I'll look at installing the old heads tomorrow for getting the engine/transmission mocked up in the Jeep tomorrow.

I also need to throw a straight edge on the pulley and check alignment tomorrow. But I've got the pulley pressed on as far as it will go.

I put the engine to bed for the night. All wrapped up.

 

[Wildman]

@NashvilleTJ when about did you swap your power steering pump to the PSC pump? I think I remember you getting the wrong pulley the first time around? I'm just trying to double check that I've got the correct pulley.

Thanks.

Hope your vacation is going well.

 

[lowell66dart]

Good work. Can’t wait to see how the tranny mount works out. I actually received my motor/tranny mounts from Holley yesterday also. Their instructions make it seem simple.