BUILD THREAD: Project "Ghetto Fabulous" - Page 4

motiv8ya · 05-11-2009, 02:32 PM

I haven't worked on the jeep in a while due to other projects that I finally completed. I'm still stripping the frame and I'm just about done. The spot sand blaster that I have makes a huge mess so I my try the aircraft stripper to get the remaining hard to reach areas.

I decided against the chevy drivetrain and have listed it for sale on CL. I bought a second set of Narrow Track axles and also decided against them so both sets of Narrow Track Axles are also listed on CL. The Currie axles are out also, too much $$$$. I've been selling off the parts I'm not gonna use to free up some more space.

I found a J20 that may satisfy my entire drivetrain wants. 401/th400/qt/dana44/FFdana60. So it'll either be a 304/th400/dana20 with narrow tracks or the J20 drivetrain that goes in this build. Completely opposite ends of the spectrum so we'll see how it goes. Who knows, I may get this J20 home and decide to keep it intact and hold onto it to build it up, I never owned a pickup so building an old Jeep truck would be cool and a nice break from CJ's. If I go with the J20 driveline I'll be parting out the remainder of the vehicle for the Full Size Jeepers on here.

I'll post more when I actually do some work on it...

motiv8ya · 06-15-2009, 03:55 PM

I came to the conclusion that it's going to be a more straight forward build and less expensive if I drop in the 350 because it's already set up for it ...so.....the drivetrain will be Chevy 350/Muncie/Dana 20 with narrow tracks. I know it's not what I initially planned but what the hell, I gotta stick with the Ghetto budget. My ideas were bigger than my wallet and alot of the parts I had for sale are still sitting around so I'm gonna use them.

I've been busy sand blasting to strip down all of my hinges, brackets and small parts that I'm going to reuse to save $$$$ so I can get the body professionally blasted. This little blast cabinet is great, parts go in looking like crap and come out nice and clean. I just got a welder and some other needed tools for the build. Now that I have a final plan I'll start making some progress. First I gotta build a stand for my blast cabinet and a welding cart.

As far as chassis paint goes, I'm gonna use hammerite hammered finish on the frame and cage. The site says you don't have to prime before applying, has anyone done it this way before? If so what were the results.

My springs are in good shape and I was thinking of doing an add-a-leaf because the RE 4.5 kit is too expensive. Any input or experiences with add a leafs?

motiv8ya · 07-22-2009, 07:14 PM

I missed out on buying the J20

.... finished the frame cleanup, realized that it was probably coated with POR15, hence the difficulty getting it all clean. Gotta weld up a small crack and prep for paint.

motiv8ya · 08-06-2009, 04:59 PM

Sorry for the lack of updates, Just finished painting the frame yesterday, it didn't come out as "hammered" as I thought it would. This is two coats of the Rustoleum "Hammered" black. I used Rustoleum because I couldn't find the Hammerite brand locally and I'm not too worried about rust in the desert like I was when I was in NY. Not sure how I feel about it yet...

IdahoJeeper · 08-06-2009, 07:21 PM

Great thread!!

I had an '85 CJ7 when I lived in LV about 20 years ago. I lived over at DI and Sandhill. What part of the ghetto are you in?

Used to do a lot of wheeling out around Potosi and out to Sandy Valley, Marsh wetlands, Xmass tree pass down by Laughlin and Terroweep Overlook on the North Rim.

Keep banging away on the project and post pix!!

motiv8ya · 08-06-2009, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TX93Cherokee

Great thread!!

I had an '85 CJ7 when I lived in LV about 20 years ago. I lived over at DI and Sandhill. What part of the ghetto are you in?

Used to do a lot of wheeling out around Potosi and out to Sandy Valley, Marsh wetlands, Xmass tree pass down by Laughlin and Terroweep Overlook on the North Rim.

Keep banging away on the project and post pix!!

Thanx, I found the Jeep around the block from the Al Landsman Gardens
(the projects) otherwise known as the G's in old Henderson.

motiv8ya · 08-12-2009, 07:21 PM

Ok so now that the frame is painted I'm going to move onto the suspension and axles. I have two sets of narrow tracks (dana30/amc20) sitting on my garage floor. The first set came with the project and have mismatched gears (3.54 up front and 2.7x out back) with open carriers and 11 inch drums all around (this dana 30 has 6 bolt hubs and warn locking hubs). The other set has 3.31 gears with trac lock, discs up front (5 bolt hubs and new superwinch locking hubs) and smaller 10 inch drums out back with two piece axles.

Because the Currie 9 inchers are out ($$$$$$$) and I missed buying the J20 (Damn) I'm gonna mix and match what I have and make it work.

For the front I'm going to use the Dana 30 with the discs and aside from a possible regear and replacement of what ever is worn the only other mod I'd like to make is to put the stronger 6 bolt hubs from the other (11 drum dana 30) in place of the 5 bolt hubs. Would they just bolt onto the other axle?

Out back I'll use the nodular AMC 20 housing with matching gears and swap in one piece axles and the 11 inch drums from the other AMC 20.....

motiv8ya · 08-30-2009, 07:02 PM

Huge CL find this week

, I picked up a new(uninstalled) 4 inch lift kit complete with urethane bushings, new shackles and a transfercase drop kit along with a set of widetrack's. The widetracks have a lincoln locker up front with disc brakes and warn locking hubs and the rear is a fully welded/trussed AMC 20 with and ARB airlocker and a Warn Full Floater kit installed. The axles are already setup for SOA so I'm gonna use my stock CJ springs with them and save the 4 inch kit for my 79CJ (rear springs are sagging). Big thanks to a fellow Forum member who sold me the parts

. If anyone needs some narrow tracks let me know I have two sets I need gone....if they don't sell I'm gonna strip off the useable brake parts etc....and scrap the housings.

I sold the Muncie trans and scrapped the idea of a chevy drivetrain, I will be putting the AMC 304 that I aready have in this build so I'll be looking for a 4 or 5 speed manual Jeep trans. Anyone looking for the adapter for a Muncie to a dana20 let me know I'll be selling that too. The axles came with a set of brand new tires that I'm gonna throw on my cherokee because my pirelli's are worn out.

Here's some pics:
Springs

Rear Axle with full floater

Front axle

motiv8ya · 09-13-2009, 10:58 AM

I started the disassembly of the stock CJ leaf spring packs so I can strip them down and paint them for the SOA. Removing the metal sleeves from the main eyes was interesting. After trying to knock them out with a large deep socket failed I resorted to this method....I slipped a hacksaw in the gap between the end of the main eye and the body of the leaf and cut through the sleeve to relieve the pressure, then the sleeves pushed right out with minimal effort.

I also started painting the small suspension parts and shock mounts so I can begin bolting stuff back onto the frame. Once that's done it's onto the axles so I can get it off of the stands..

1sik78cj7 · 09-18-2009, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Modfather

Money becomes less of an issue when the stupid idea in your head just keeps growing. I started out with a 2wd ranger then bought a 4wd ranger to off road. Then a tow rig and trailer, then another trail rig, then another, then this and that, and tools, and more stuff.

Sometimes I wish I had got into something cheaper or smaller. I have no money and no room left. haha

Aint that the truth I have four "project cars" now. The 78 CJ-7, an 82 GMC shortbed, a 38 chevy coupe and a 50 chevy coupe. And I don't have room or money to do anything to any of them!!!!

motiv8ya · 09-26-2009, 06:01 PM

Just got rid of the Chevy 307 today, damn I tried selling that thing on CL for $200, $100, $50 and finally wound up donating it to a local highschool autoshop who is working on a early 70's Chevy project. Damn, people avoided that motor like it was the plague....

I've been making small progress on the CJ7 and began bolting some stuff back onto the frame so I can hang my springs. I used a grinder and flap disc to clean one of the spring packs prior to reassembly and painting (HUGE DUSTY MESS IN THE GARAGE) so I got some Klean Strip Prep and Etch solution and the rest of the leaf spring packs are currently taking a bath.

I got new teflon spring pads from Alcan Spring ($.65 Each as opposed to $4.99 each for skyjackers) and reassembled/painted one spring pack. It came out great so I installed new urethane bushings and hung it on the frame. 1 down 3 to go.

I redrilled the stock spring plates and cut off the shock mount bolts so I can flip them and reuse them for the SOA. My axles have shock mount tabs on them for the SOA.

I bought and installed a Rugged Ridge HD Power Steering Bracket Kit..very impressive piece with a great powdercoat finish and even better price $65. It's alot beefier than the HD Bracket Kit I have on my 79 CJ7. I like the finish so much that I wish I would have waited to do the frame and powedercoated it the same as the bracket.

Progress is slow because I haven't had much time lately.

motiv8ya · 10-04-2009, 01:13 PM

I wound up stripping down each leaf from the pack with the flap wheel and making another mess anyway because I didn't like the Phospho Etch results. I wasted about two days on that stuff. I painted and reassembled the springs with new teflon pads and hardware and flipped the pins for the spring over. They got installed with all new grade 8 hardware. Now the suspension is done, time for the Axles...

green89yj · 10-04-2009, 01:35 PM

Soundin awesome man. can't wait to see it.

motiv8ya · 10-08-2009, 07:58 PM

Tore down the rear axle today, everything looks good including the bearings (except some worn o-rings, a stripped bolt hole and crack in a retainer plate and three missing set screws) so here's the plan:

Blast and paint the backing plates and dif cover, strip and paint the housing, clean and repack the bearings, install new o-rings and fix/replace the minor stuff listed above and install new brake shoes. I got a quote for over $1200 to change to 4.10's so I'll stick with the 3.31's for now.

motiv8ya · 11-01-2009, 07:39 PM

Nearly finished with the rear axle, I'm just waiting for new e-brake cables and speed bleeders to be delivered before I install the brake new shoes and drums.

I ran into some trouble locating the proper size Orings for the rear of spindle-axle tube and the drive flange - hub seals locally and I couldn't find any info on the web to figure out their measurements. I measured them out and ordered these from SmallParts.com: The Hardware Store for Researchers and Developers. They are direct replacements... for any of you guys out there running the Warn Full Floater Kit and can't find them.

Rear Spindle to Axle tube Oring - 2 3/8" ID x 2 1/2" OD x 1/16" W
part# ORB-036-25

Drive flange - hub Oring - 2 3/4" ID x 2 7/8" OD x 1/16" W
part# ORB-039-C

I also used 8-32 5/16" Socket Head Set Screws inplace of the missing set screws from the retainer between the spindle nuts. There should be three per side.

I welded the crack in the retainer plate, drilled and tapped the holes for new 1/4 - 20 x 3/4" socket head cap screws so all the hardware matched.

.

The bearings were good so I repacked them and replaced everything with grade 8 hardware.

Moving along, slowly but surely..