Jump to content

spdljohn

Members
  • Posts

    103
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

801 profile views
  1. Moses, The depth of my tank is 12 inches. I could not find a 12-inch fuel level sending unit so I got the one from Summit Racing that is a FIXED 11 inches. I figured by the time the tank got that low I would be needing to stop for gas soon anyway. The sender is not adjustable.....but the aftermarket gauge set from Speedhut has the ability to select from a number of different Ohm ranges for the sending unit to be calibrated. This particular unit is 30-70 Ohms. Works great. As far as the hockey puck lift is concerned my buddy bought this 2000 TJ in 2004 and has been driving it ever since and didn't have a clue the hockey puck lift was on there. It has been working very well.....and the pucks hardly show any wear at all. I've got about 390 miles on my CJ now.....been working out kinks. Nothing really major. Figured it's about time to pull it back into the shop and retorque all the important bolts and nuts down. Believe it or not my wife just went for her first ride in it tonight....took her out to dinner. I noticed a little extra exhaust noise over the last 50 miles or so. Became really pronounced out on our date. And got really loud....almost like side pipes. Then it starting running rich....some backfiring and sputtering at low to mid engine speeds. Then the check engine light came on. I have a u scan OBD reader. Hooked it up and it read "bank one too rich." Turns out where the headers and collectors come together the bolts are coming loose allowing for a gap and disrupting the oxygen sensors readings causing the engine to run rich. I took a video....you can see sparks coming out of the gap. I will get it tightened back down tomorrow....once things cool down....already burned my knuckles a few too many times. David
  2. As I mentioned in an earlier post my fuel gauge wasn't working. I did not test the resistance on the fuel level sender before I put it in the tank and mounted it up so I guess it's partly my fault. So I siphoned the fuel out of the tank, dropped the tank down, and pulled the sending unit. The unit was a new YJ sending unit I bought from Genright when I bought the fuel tank. As you recall from earlier post, I modified it to use in the larger tank. When I tested the resistance at the wires I wasn't getting anything. When I tested the resistance with the probe on the "washboard" (for lack of a better term) of the resistor I did get a reading. My first thought was the needle arm wasn't making good contact but that wasn't the case. After fooling with it for long enough I said to heck with it. I bough a dedicated fuel level sending unit from Summit racing, drilled a new hole in the top of the tank, and mounted that sucker up.....works great. Got the tank remounted and have since put about 50 miles on it. Switching gears.....funny story. My buddy has a 2000 TJ. Him seeing my jeep motivated him to spruce his jeep up a little. He bought new wheels, 33" tires, and 3 inch suspension lift and had it all put on this week. I went over to check it out. While looking around I noticed something beneath the grill that said "Play it Again Sports." I asked him about it and he didn't know what it was. Turns out it was a hockey puck! Turns out the previous owner had performed a body lift using hockey pucks all the way around. Not sure what that equates to but is probably around an inch. Pretty ingenious I thought. David
  3. I had a total lapse. It was from jeep air....not vintage air. And I would endorse jeep air's product. VERY cold. David
  4. I walked the roll cage outside the shop and gave it a good sandblasting. I did this for two reasons. Its amazing how quickly fine dust like rust formed on the surface of the metal in just a few days time. I wanted to remove that obviously. Secondly I wanted to give something for the paint to grip to. As I mentioned I used POR 15 top coat in a can...supposed to be UV resistant. I can tell you it is tough stuff. Ended up getting a very acceptable looking result. Got the roll cage installed with no issues. I installed my winch. I compared warn to smittybuilt...for the money there is no comparison. Not sure what everyone's thoughts are on Smittybuilt winches. Its mainly for looks and occasional use. There may be a difference for hard core trail riders but for me the cost was 50% as much. Got a 10K lb winch with synthetic rope and wireless remote. Hooked it to the back of my truck, put the emergency brake on the jeep and spooled the rope on under tension to "stretch" it out a little per the instructions. I bought some soundproofing and insulation matting from Summit racing to put on the firewall and front floorboards. Sound isn't that big of a concern but wanted to keep the cab from getting too toasty under my feet. Then installed the carpet, center console, front seats and shifter covers. What a difference a little carpet makes. I ended up taking the old jeep body and parts to a local recycling facility. They paid me $72 for the metal. Took the wife out on a nice date with that. David
  5. I bought some fender flares from Bushwhacker. They look great. The front fender flares required some modification or cutting of the front fenders. Broke my heart to cut the new metal but in the end it worked out great and looks fine. I had a can of spray in bedliner that I used to coat the metal where I cut. The wheel wells are covered with line X anyway so it blended fine. Novak conversions offered $350 to buy my old dana 300 transfer case. I took it off of the old powertrain this weekend. It's gonna cost about $100 to have it shipped back.....Im gonna put it on Craigslist for a few weeks first to see if I get any nibbles locally and save shipping costs. Since I'm coming to the end of the project I spent a few hours cleaning the shop and out front of the shop where I had been throwing all the old parts and metal. I loaded up the metal/axles/engine into the trailer. Gonna take it to the scrap yard for recycling. As far as the roll cage, powdercoating was going to cost a couple thousand dollars, painting it at the auto body shop that did the body was $1000. Both those were too expensive. In the end I found out that you can now get POR15 in a spray can. I am very impressed with that on the frame. I am going to paint the roll cage with this stuff and anticipate being very pleased with it. David
  6. Been chipping away.....as I mentioned earlier I wanted more protection for me and my passengers than the OEM roll bar affords. Genright who I bought the new fuel tank from makes a roll cage kit for the cj7. You can buy it from them already assembled, welded, and even powder coated. But I have a new welder I needed to enjoy using. Plus with the body being aftermarket you never know if one already welded would fit just right. So I bought the roll cage kit. I left the front seats in the jeep so I could see how everything would fit together and be sure clearance wouldn't be an issue. When I bought it from Genright they said it would "work" with the Bestop super top. I installed my top last week, intentionally before assembling the roll cage so I could check for fitment issues. When I got the roll cage tacked together, the top wouldn't go down....it didn't clear the C pillar in the back. I called Genright, spoke with the same guy that told me it would work and he said (unbelievably), "the top works but it can't be folded back....it's either on or off." I couldn't believe it. Not a big deal. I cut 1.5" off the length of the horizontal portion of the C pillar assembly effectively bringing the rear C pillar forward 1.5 inches to allow for clearance. It required that some of the diagonal cross braces be welded in slightly different spots than Genright intended but now at least the top will fold down and clear. Took the roll cage out of the jeep and finished welded and grinding all the seams. Now to the paint shop with it. I bought a Rancho steering stabilizer kit. Because the front axle is a dana 44 I bought a kit for full size chevy trucks...that way the ubolts in the kit were big enough to wrap around the axles.....but the ubolts for the tie rod still weren't big enough. I bought some stainless unbolts from Lowes. But now the metal bracket that came in the kit with predrilled holes didn't fit. So I had to modify the bracket. You can see in the pics I used some metal I recycled, drilled new holes, and welded it to the original bracket. I did buy a steering stabilizer kit with two shocks....I understand you don't need two shocks unless you're running 35 inch tires....but I like the way it looks.....you also don't need 360 horsepower for a cj7 but it is what it is! David
  7. After vacation got back to working on the jeep. I put the two front seats in and got it out on the road. Over the last two days I've put 60 miles on it and I am very pleased with how well it rides. Few minor things...... At about mile 40 I pulled up to a stop light and heard an unfamiliar noise......with only 40 miles all noises are unfamiliar. It was a hissing sound accompanied by some smoke/steam. First thought was fuel line had busted and caused a fire. Shut it down, jumped out, threw up the hood. Fortunately no fire. Clear liquid dripping underneath. Put some on my finger....not fuel.....closer examination revealed that I accidentally let an AC hose carrying freon rest against the headers....it had melted through. Ordered new hose set and few cans of freon.....will fix that this week sometime. A bigger deal is the fact that the fuel level indicator is not working. I do have the normal ~5 volts being sent from the gauge tested with voltmeter. My multimeter also tests for resistance....I can't get it to read any resistance.....looks like the problem is with the sending unit. Gonna finish running out the fuel in the tank before I drop it. These hydroboost brakes work great......very confident in the ability to stop these big tires. Engine has plenty of power. Transmission gearing is great with the 33 inch tires.....in fifth gear at 35 miles per hour engine is turning about 1000 RPM. I wanted the same wheel caps on the front wheels that the rear wheel has. Problem is since the front axle has the manual locking hubs the caps wouldn't fit. So I decided to modify them by cutting out the center of the caps. Placed gently in my vice, drilled a hole, and then used my router to cut the center out. Looks pretty good. Also got my soft top installed today. I wanted to do this before I assembled the roll cage just in case it had to be modified to ensure it would fit. David
  8. Glad you made it. I know you're happy to have that dive behind you. My ac system is from vintage air. The compressor is standard gm compressor. Unfortunately the hoses that come with the vintage air system have to be cut to length and the fittings crimped on.....most auto ac repair shops could probably help you with that. I'm very pleased with my system so far.
  9. Still can't figure out the grounding issues with the parking lights and turn signal indicators. Looked everything over....there's an old timer's auto electric shop in my hometown nearby....will probably have to run it by and let them take a look. Had a leak in the ac system....wouldn't hold vacuum overnight. Bought some dye for the system, charged it and ran it. You can see the dye leaking ever so slightly around the end of the low pressure hose especially with the black light shining on it.....bled the system (recapturing freon)...put that fitting back into the clamping system I have hooked it back up and seems to be doing better. Put new shoes and wheels on today. Got the new windshield wiper motor and brackets/wipers put on tonight. Got the side mirrors in place. Coming together. Going on vacation for a week tomorrow so won't be any progress. David
  10. Thanks Moses. Couple of observations....with the parking lights on and the engine not running and the battery supplying ~12 volts of power only the left turn signal indicator light comes on......with the engine running and the voltage up around 14 volts both turn signal indicator lights come on though dimly. It was happening prior to running the tail harness or installing the rear lights....makes me think my front parking lights are not grounded well. The front parking light housing is metal but I did install stainless front grill cover which is not touching the front grill because of double sided tape. Maybe what I need to do is run a dedicated ground wire fron the housings to the frame. Ill let you know. David
  11. She lives! Was on the phone with Novak today figuring things out. Turns out I had incorrectly hooked up some relays on the engine harness that prevented fuel pump and ECM from getting any juice. Quick fix, turned the key, fired right up. It sounds great.....nice low rumble....not too loud even in the workshop. Still having issues with the dash turn signal indicator lights. When I turn the parking lights on the turn signal indicator lights come on and the blinkers don't work. Spoke with painless performance and grounded everything I could find on the lighting harness and still happens. May just try to get to that later....can even drive it to automotive electrical shop if I need to. I understand this is fairly common. Moses.....any suggestions? David
  12. Finished hooking up all the wiring tonight. Only a couple of things need to be fixed inside the jeep. One is when I rotate the headlight switch all the way left the courtesy lights do not come on. Got a new headlight switch to install to see if that will fix the problem. Secondly and I think this is a ground issue, when I turn the parking or headlights on the left turn signal comes on constant and the turn signals don't work. With the parking lights/headlights off it works great. Almost an exciting night......I turned the motor over but didn't get it to fire. Also couldn't get the fuel pump to come on...unless I directly wired it to a battery and even then couldn't get the engine to fire up. Gonna be on the phone with Novak tomorrow to see if we can figure it out. Not even sure right now the PCM has any power. Also, the ac system will not hold a vacuum so I've got a leak in the system somewhere. I have ordered a black light and UV dye to try and find the leak. Have to get the motor running first to disperse the UV dye and pressurize the system fully. Here's a link to the video of the almost first start.. David
  13. Funny thing is I'm learning as I go. Never done this before. Rebuilt my dads antique tractor four years ago from ground up. See pics. I know it's not Exactly what is normally covered on this forum but it's got an engine and it goes and we all like that kind of stuff. By the way, that's my daughter who is ten now. Neat to see pics of my four yr old with the jeep now. My girls love being out in the shop with me. Next project, already got my eye on, is 69 convertible camaro. Wife says take a break! David
  14. I think I'm probably within 7-10 days of turning the motor over. Been a busy couple of days....the wife went out of town this weekend with some girlfriends so it's me and the kiddies.....not planning on getting much done this weekend. I've been putting some of the chrome and stainless trim pieces on which has been neat to see it come together......got the grill support rods and hood prop rod put in place. Got the hood latches and windshield tie down brackets put in place. I purchased an ac system charging kit which comes with the vacuum pump to evacuate the system as well as the manifold gauges. I ran the vacuum pump for an hour per their instructions to remove air and moisture from the ac system. Then I closed the gauges on the manifold, left the shop last night with the pressure at -27 mmhg. This morning went back out to the shop and was very happy to see it held overnight....no leaks!!! So I was able to move on and get the radiator and radiator hoses installed followed by the air intake system. The radiator hoses were from napa but had to be modified a little. Novak's instructions said "they've had good luck" with certain napa hoses they listed. So I knew it wouldn't be an exact fit. Haven't filled the radiator system yet but once I get the overflow reservoir mounted Ill do that. I got the tail harness wiring run as well as the speed sensors from the transfer case to the ECU. My speedometer from speed hut uses GPS to detect speed but the engines ECM needs speed input from the differential to know whether to go from open to closed loop or vice versa....something to do with the cooling system. Also got the power wire run from the ECM harness to the in tank fuel pump. Picked up the windshield from the glass place today....they said it was a tight fit and gave them a little difficult time. Ill get it installed next week. Bought an optima battery but will not hook it up until ready to crank. Installed the quadratec LED rear taillights and to my satisfaction all turn signals, brake lights, lights, and reverse lights work great! They are bright! Bought a CJ7 and Jeep emblem to make it look a little closer to stock. You can see what the dash speedo cluster looks like with just the LED backlights and then with the headlights on and the needle lit up. Got a bunch of stickers for my work bench from all the parts I've ordered! Enjoy the pics. Will post again next week. David
  15. Thanks Moses. I am not buying a hard top.....to much trouble to put on and off for a lazy bum like me. I bought a gen right after market roll cage I will be welding together shortly. They said a bestop supertop fits it well so that is what I got. The roll cage came with a spider web mesh bikini top. I do have hard half doors though.
×
×
  • Create New...