[silentknight]

Hi everyone!

been meaning to start an official build thread for my project but never got around to it as i was studying in the UK and progress was slow at best.

I'm back down for a long holiday and things are finally rolling...my cj5 was bought while it was in the middle of a half ***'ed conversion to I-Dont-Know-What sorta configuration...

it had a Isuzu 2.3l Diesel, Trooper box n transfer case, D25 fronts n I-Dunno-What' rears.....oh and the body was hacked as well...not the P/O fault as i understand it,...just the damn garage which sold it thought it looked cooler

anyway, here are sum pics of it as i got it...

[silentknight]

pics of the frame when the body was lifted looked real bad....some idiot had actually cut the front crossmember and welded in a L-bar instead!

[silentknight]

got a new front grill and removed the silly side skirting n now it looks a bit respectable....

got a nifty modified windshield as well...

[silentknight]

added a roll bar to that list! got the frame sandblasted while im at it..

[silentknight]

ime for another update....interesting few days of work so far

the jeep is currently a non runnerboth axle shats hv been dropped and the clutch is seized-up....so i took some pics in and around my mechanics garage before i start on my next bit of the build.

[silentknight]

need a bit of help to identify my rear axle......anyone???

[silentknight]

my current steering wheel is a P.O.S. has a rice racer look and looks tiny want to replace it to a Grant Challenger' steering wheel ever since i saw one...but shipping is a *****, plus Srilanka has some ridiculous custom taxes....ill endup spending more than 250$ if i go that route...
so i figured ...eh..why not make one.....i mean,...how hard can it be right???

so i drew it up in 1:1 scale on a graph paper, and got it plasma cut cut out of stainless steel.. looks sikkkk!!!

i didnt want it to be a completely shameless ripoff of the "Challenger " wheel so i modified its center horn housing and desighned it to be Lathe'd out of aluminium...

checkout the semi finished product...

[silentknight]

pics of the wheel so far..from the start..

[silentknight]

billet Aluminium...only the outer is polished still...

[silentknight]

[jrubin24]

Originally Posted by silentknight

need a bit of help to identify my rear axle......anyone???

hey im pretty sure that thats a dana 44.

[silentknight]

yeah thats what i thought as well/...but turns out its a Mitsubishi axle rip-off of the D44

[jrubin24]

Originally Posted by silentknight

yeah thats what i thought as well/...but turns out its a Mitsubishi axle rip-off of the D44

how the hell did you get a mitsubishi axle under your CJ? haha

[silentknight]

i know,..sounds crazy right?....as it turns out, here in SL the mods are done more according to what the garage/workshop owner feels works best and can be sold afterwords.......spares for Dana/Spicer axlles are rare, but their are hundreds of mitsubishi 4DR5 models about.(their rear axles are D44 rippoffs btw,)...thats how i ended up with my rear axle....we've got an interesting mix n match scene here.

UPDATE: got a widetrak D44 from a scout n a front narrowtrak D44 (disk brake) from a Mahendra Jeep(licence built axles)...gonna put spacers on them to match the width.......
going the whole hog n machining a full float conversion+disc brake assembly to the rear D44

[silentknight]

guys,..need a bit of advice,...widetrack D25 fronts or narrowtrack D44 fronts with spacers to match a D44 widetrack rear?
i will be doing moderate (weekend warrior) wheeling(mostly mud/sand...very few rocky locations to wheel in SL),..5.38/ 4.28 gears are available to me. gonna be on 35'' maxxis ....trussed with 4-link coilovers

any advice is appreciated!