[IronMaiden]

Well, I thought it was about time I started my own build thread.

I've had a couple of Jeeps in the past, but this is my first YJ. I came across it on Craigslist a couple weeks ago for $1000 and thought it was a good start. The PO already put a lot of work into it (shoddy work none the less) but the majority of the components are already there.

Here are the specs of when I got it and what it looked like:

• 89 YJ that originally had a 4 banger in it so it has 4.10 gears.
• 5.0 liter HO motor out of an 80 something Mustang with ~30k miles on it.
• Ford NP435 truck transmission with Advanced Adapters swap kit installed.
• Block hugger headers with Purple Hornies
• 4" Lift kit.
• Transfer case drop.

Some pics that the guy sent me from his cell phone:

[IronMaiden]

The quality of the work on the Jeep is sub-standard at best and the whole thing is being redone the right way.

The motor and tranny are coming out. He used a 6 cylinder flywheel and it's the wrong balance for the 5.0 motor. The correct flywheel was included in the deal along with the correct starter for it.

The bottom of the NP435 hangs down almost 5 inches below the frame rails, so I'm going to cut and re-weld the motor mounts up way higher to give me more ground clearance in anticipation of installing a custom flat belly skid. I'm also ditching the drop transfer case kit and will be installing a custom made rear CV driveshaft.

Long term plans are to ditch the D30/D35 combo in favor of some Waggy D44's along with a Dana 300 transfer case which I already have. I'll have to switch to a passenger side drop front axle or flip the Dana 300 over.

I'll also be doing an SOA with Waggy springs and will be stretching the wheel base at the same time for a better driveshaft angle in the rear.

I've already swapped out the hood and grille from a CJ (my preference - please don't flame me), installled a 1" body lift and started making a front shorty bumper with shackles and a stinger. Today I'll be working on finishing the lower mounting point for the CJ grille and I'll be starting on the tube/pipe fenders using my Harbor Freight kinker. Yes, I know it's not the best but I've already found some good mods online to make it work better. Harbor Freight currently has it on sale for $89.00 and I used a 20% off coupon, so it came to $71.00 out the door.

I grabbed 10 sticks of 1 5/8 pipe (10-12 feet long each) out of the salvage yard last week for $60 and plan on using that for my fenders and rocker guards. I've already used the 1 1/4" die on the HFkinker and was really surprised on how well it worked out of the box. After making some mods to the die, it should be almost as good as a real bender.

Here are some mods that I plan on making to the HF kinker after reading this post TheSamba.com :: View topic - roll cage fab:

[Fernando]

I loved this thread since I read the title!
Huge Iron Maiden fan!!

Please keep us posted about progress, you have a solid foundation for a monster Jeep worthy of the Iron Maiden name!

By the way:

Yeahhh yeaah yeaaahhh!!!
Hallowed be thy Naaameeeee!!!

[JoeR203]

Steve Harris was the reason I bought a bass guitar! I'd play along to Live After Death from beginning to end. oh BTW...nice Jeep. :-)

[Jim1611]

Great buy!! Body looks pretty good. Keeping the 5.0 You going to install fuel injection on it? Good idea on raising the egine and tranny up too. Fabbing your own mounts? No flaming from me on the CJ front end either.

I'll be watching and enjoy the build.

[Louie4]

Can't wait to see some updated pics of it now. Great find. It looks to be in good shape for a project.

[roccomonte]

are you using pipe or tube?

[yjripper]

I checked this out just because of the title. Big Ironmaiden fan. nice build to

[IronMaiden]

Okay, I was finally able to remember to take my camera to the shop today.

I got the CJ grille stripped down and coated with Self Etching Primer and the hood is bolted on and lined up. I had to extend my lower grille support over 2" to accommodate the shorter CJ hood. It ended up being a lot more work than I thought because my original mount was pretty rusted. Before I had the CJ hood/grille, I cut and bent a piece of 1/8" steel plate, chopped out the old rusted metal and welded the new piece in only to find out that the grille need to be moved back and I had to cut it out and do it all over again with a longer piece of plate. Now, it looks like it came that way from the factory. I'll take some pics of the lower mount when I pull it back apart for paint.

I also made some pretty good progress on the front stinger bumper and winch plate. The winch plate will actually be integrated into the front bumper and stinger that I have yet to bend up. I'm going to reinforce the stinger with some tube into the tube bumpers.

Today, I started bending up the tube fenders and tube flares and so far I'm liking the way they are turning out. Notice the cheap harbor freight pipe bender and the notching tool in the one pic. The tube flares will be tied into the sliders and be totally integrated all the way back to the rear tube fenders and flares.

I'm using 1 5/8" pipe packed with sand in the 1 1/4" pipe die and it's not kinking it too bad. It will probably be even cleaner if I were to wet down the sand, but I'm too lazy and don't want the mess all over my shop.

Here are some updated pics of how it sits now:

[8nine-sahara]

looks good. I'll be keeping up woth the build

[JohnFM3]

Great looking rig. I am interested in seeing how the fenders turn out. No Flaming from me ( have a bias ). I did the complete factory CJ front clip conversion as well.

John

[Nucklez]

That Jeep is looking good man! I am kind of partial to the STI in the first pic as well, since I have the same color '04 WRX wagon as my daily driver. 2010+ STI will be my next DD purchase, but that will be a ways down the road.

[sloan74]

The CJ grill and cover make the entire build. That is going to look awesome...

[IronMaiden]

No new pictures of the stinger yet, but I do have a couple of my latest junk yard score.

I don't normally go to this particular place, but I'm glad I did. They have about a couple dozen YJ's and TJ's.

I found these seats hidden under a ripped up pair of Bestop seat covers. I guess nobody bothered with them because the seat covers were hiding the treasure that lies underneath.

Check em' out. A mint pair of 88 spice seats with primo seat tracks out the gate for $40 each. I normally only pay about $18 a piece for a seat every where else I go, but he wanted $75 each and settled for $80 total and I thought that was a smoking deal.

Next week I'm heading back there for a mint spice dash pad and all of the plastic to cover the gages and glove box for $40.

[UltimatE]

I have spice interior pieces I'm trying to get rid of. If there is anything you need, or would like to swap (What color interior are you changing from?) let me know.

Definitely liking your build so far. Keep up the good work.