Day Five

Finally, some actual progress. Started in on getting the transmission cooling lines plumbed for the radiator-side, and ran into a major snag that had us chasing fittings late Wednesday, yesterday, and early this morning. After no joy actually taking the radiator to O’Reilly’s for some help, Dave noticed something about the fittings just before we left, and wound up going a whole different direction, and put an end of the ATF cooling line slog. Once we got the ATF cooling lines plumbed, jumped over to the oil pump and oil pressure sending unit. As I was getting ready to start in on the shifter cable, I noticed it’s for a GM 700R4/TH400… which is not an AMC TF999, so I ordered a new shifter cable kit from Summit and it’ll be here [hopefully] Monday. Hit some more tomorrow (probably top-end: intake manifold, fuel injection, and roller rockers).

Pic from the other day when Dave got the power steering pump installed… just gotta plumb it back up now.

Here’s the first attempt at adapting the radiator’s cooling line flare fitting using the adapters they sent with the radiator. No Go – this comes up too close to the top of the sway bar.

Here’s the solution to the sway bar interference issue. Little did we know that one of those fittings was correct in its size, but didn’t fit, and the other was ‘smaller’ but did fit. Took us WAY too long to figure that out. Regardless, a 90 degree fitting is needed here to keep the lines off the sway bar.

After 2 days of chasing fittings, we came up with a completely different set of fittings that worked. Dave’s ‘Mark-1 Eyeball’ saw that the ATF Cooler inlets also had female threads, so rather than using the adapters that came with the radiator, we went that route, and now it’s all good.

Dave got the oil pump installed while I worked on coming up with a solution for the oil pressure sensor. The previous owners had a redneck-engineered solution that had both electrical and mechanical oil pressure sending units, but the oil pump line had broken off a LONG time ago (which is likely why the engine and transmission were caked in oil when I got it). Dave’s ‘Mark-1 Eyeball’ saved the day again when he noticed one of the oil pump drive gears had popped out and landed on top of the front axle housing.

Got some new power steering pump hoses at O’Reilly’s, but the pressure line didn’t work. Turns out, the pump has a bolt-on stinger for the old hose that wouldn’t work with the new hose. But, I can remove the stinger if needed, so I’ll keep the new hose as a spare and hope the old hose hangs in there.

“Dave was here – 2022.” Something of a tradition started by my old friend Jim Eimer.

Day Three

No picture updates today, but Dave got the power steering pump installed and plumbed while I farted around trying to organize (read: find) some of the parts I’d ordered awhile back, and the container with all of the fasteners I’d removed while cleaning the engine. That was after chasing down a few parts: hoses, belts, fasteners, and some 5/16″ barbs for the radiator (the Inline Tube transmission cooling lines don’t have flare fittings for the radiator, just bubble flares on the those ends). It was either find some of those for a short run of silicon hose (as Inline Tube suggested), or cut off & flare the ends after chasing down some flare nuts – either way, it was a trip to a local parts store.BTW – I now have 2 complete sets of 304 block Freeze Plugs if anybody needs a set. LOL!

Day Two

Got the condenser and radiator mounted, and rewired the H4 Relay Kit to pop out the driver side (to leave room for the A/C hoses). Meanwhile, Dave got the alternator and A/C compressor mounted up. The Nostalgic AC instructions leave a bit to be desired (compared to the Classic Auto Air system I put in the Mach 1, so it was a bit of a slog). Also made a custom bracket for the dryer, since the fenders open up – the dryer needs to stay put, so it’ll live where it’s supposed to, just not nailed to the inside of the fender. “Swedged” my first A/C hoses today as well, so that was fun. Also drug the Redneck Dual Exhaust out of the overgrown part of the side yard I haven’t been able to get to since the Jeep is jammed up against that side of the carport, so it’s ready to go when it’s time to hang it. Tomorrow, I’m diving under to work on the transmission stuff (shifter cables, cooling lines, etc.) and Dave will probably work on getting the power steering pump back into place – we’ll see.

The front end is done (providing it all works when I plumb and wire everything, that is). Dookie won’t know what to do, as he’s never had a fan shroud since I’ve owned him.

Getting closer – more stuff bolted onto the engine. Dave got the alternator, A/C compressor, and crank pulley back on. It’ll all look better with the new exhaust, valve covers, intake, and the rest of the ‘cleaned up and freshly painted’ parts he took care of yesterday.

JEEP TIME!!!

OK – On Leave… Check. Dave’s Here… Check. The Weather’s AWESOME… Check. It’s JEEP TIME! It might sound trivial, but I got the new headlights installed today, and it turned into an “All Day Sucker” project. It’s all about doing things in order so I don’t have to go back and take something apart to do something I missed, then do the other thing(s) all over again. First things first: headlights… then, the A/C condenser, then the radiator, and finally the fan and fan shroud. Once those are in-place, I won’t have to take them off again to do all the wiring for the headlights. Oh did I forget to mention I’m going with LED Halos and an H4 relay kit? (Had to wire all that up and make it nice).Dave was busy meticulously cleaning all of the engine bracketry, power steering pump, clutch fan, and got ’em all painted as well. Seems oddly fitting, since it all came off of HIS Jeep’s engine. LOL!!

“With One Headlight!” Dang, I liked that song. Here’s one of the new LED Halo H4 lights installed, compared to the old halogen style stock headlight. The old lights were Omega from a VW bus that had H4 bulbs, actually. The H4 relay kit should make things a LOT brighter, though.

Got ’em both in, now just gotta sort out the black spaghetti in front of the grille – that’s the H4 Relay Kit waiting to go in.

OK – we’re buttoned up for the night. Got the headlights, H4 Relay Kit, and LED Halo ballast resistors installed. Had to modify the factory headlight buckets, since the notches for headlamp alignment didn’t quite match the new [plastic] lights from Oracle.

Made me a Fuel Sump Bracket

Just built a bracket to mount the Edelbrock EFI fuel sump to the firewall. There’s a pinch-weld seam right where I wanted to mount it under the battery tray, so rather than destroy that, I made a ‘spacer’ mount for the sump unit. Turned out OK, it’ll look better once I paint it and mount it all up, and I can’t help thinking about how much nicer it might’ve turned out if I only had a real shop with some actual metal working tools to use (like a brake, big bench vise, etc.). Oh well – it’ll work. Also got the new hatch struts installed. No pics, but if you’ve ever seen a Jeep hatchback open and not falling down, you’ve seen ’em all.

Here’s another piece of the same sheet of perforated sheet metal I used on my rack-mount server fan bulkhead last year. Just 3.75 sheets of the stuff left. LOL!

Fits like a glove. Works like a champ. (Insert victorious old adage here).

It’s not really bent that badly – cell phone camera pic. It’ll look better when it’s painted and mounted up for real.

Steering Column’s DONE!

After chasing down the missing parts, and chasing my tail on a few things, it’s finally done and ready to go back in.

That steering wheel nut (top) acted like it didn’t want to go on, but after chasing down alternatives for the past few weeks, I finally just threaded it on and used a set of Vise Grips to run it down. It resisted (like I was cross threading it) for a few turns, but then ran down smoothly. When I pulled it back off, there was no damage to the threads. That rusty dust on the locking plate must be the stuff that had built-up and fought me through it all. Glad THAT’S done.

Got the wheel on! I had to ‘customize’ the Grant adapter kit to make it all work, but then again that seems to be the norm (I just hope the horn’s not blaring when I connect up the power – LOL!). Also epoxied the shifter knob on and made a new indicator needle. The indicator housing was missing a small plastic bit that locks it into place, but apparently a 3/4″ sheet rock screws works just fine (and will never be seen, anyway).

I made an indicator needle out of a piece of 3Doodler stock. I drilled a hole through the stock needle piece where its needle extension had broken off, and stuffed the 3Doodler stock into it, then cut to length. Hopefully, it’ll last awhile. It’s translucent so it might even light up with the dash lights… we’ll see, I guess.

Dookie gots new shoes!

Discount Tire let me know that my new wheels were in, so I picked ’em up this morning and swapped out the old ones. The Jeep’s only about an inch taller (over all), so it still fits in the garage, but the old ones were 26 years old and I wouldn’t be able to trust them at speed on the highway.

Here we go – 35×12.50 SSRs on 15×10 Pro Comp 69 rims.

Happiness is: a truck bed full of new Jeep wheels! Got all 5 this time.

That sure looks a lot more than just 2″ bigger diameter. Definitely a bit skinnier, though.

Fits like a glove. I will need to boost up the front a little, though. Looks like I finally get to use the 2″ Conn-Ferr shackles my old friend Mr. Murphy gave me back in ’96 to replace these stockers.

Definitely a bit skinnier (left vs. right). Gonna take a little getting used to.

I LOVE these new wheels! They look a little different without the ‘Side Biters’ the TSX’s had, though. Also can’t go wrong with the classics. Not to mention being aluminum, they’re almost 30lbs lighter than the old steelies I just pulled off. Still weigh-in around 100lbs each, though.

I am diggin’ this look. Can’t wait to get him running again.

A little more progress

Despite all the bad news this weekend, I was able to get a few more things done on the steering column. Took it all apart and re-routed the shifter indicator bulb wire, and used the screws I picked up from the hardware store this morning to secure the signal switch (rather than some wood screws I’d found – much better). I was also able to find a good screw to fasten the signal stalk and even mounted up the shifter indicator, and learned that I need a different needle (indicator) since the original was broken off. Unfortunately, the SAE steering wheel nut needs to be ‘the metric one,’ and I’m still missing the tension spring for the locking plate, so I’ll get those ordered to hopefully be here by next weekend.

Almost back together. I’ll need to epoxy the shifter knob on, since it’s loose AF – no biggie, though.

Here are the last bits that need to go in, including the steering wheel and adapter kit. The old indicator needle on the right is too short to be seen, and the one on the left is just the wrong one altogether. Oh well, live and learn.

Steering Column’s almost back together!

Almost got the steering column back together today. It was missing some key pieces when I picked up the Jeep, so I need to track a few more small parts down, and it should be GTG. I love being able to jam with Dennis Allen at KWFR The Fire on these weekdays off… it’s like he’s right there helping me along playing all the best tunes! Thanks again, Brother!

All cleaned up and painted, loaded up with the signal combination switch, ignition switch, and key/lock switch. The surface rust on the shifter stalk came right off, along with the schmootz on the tilt stalk. Just gotta find a shifter knob, signal stalk, hazard switch button, steering wheel nut & spacer, then it should all go back together and will be ready to toss in the Jeep.

Here’s the automatic shifter indicator from the original column, found in a box in the back of the Jeep. The previous owners had broken it off, so it looks like I might need to epoxy it back on, or come up with something else, but it cleaned up really nice (all you could see was dirt in the window. Gotta find a new bulb and clean up the socket for it to work again.

Bench Day – Steering Column Rehab

Had a ‘Bench Work’ day working on the steering column. It’s actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The top bearing plastic cage disintegrated at some point before the Jeep came to me, so the steering wheel was flopping about. The key/lock switch was completely missing, and some of the other parts were in a box where the back seat should’ve been. I ordered everything new that I could and started in on it today. My buddy Dennis Allen at KWFR was rockin’ the jams today, and even hooked me up with Red Barchetta to kick off the 5-O’clock Fast Lane with a shout out. Best DJ EVER! Thanks, Man!