Bruno's Lapis Blue build

[brunosplace]

I am in the process of doing a tummy-tuck / high clearance skid on the Jeep now. I have to give a big shout-out and thank you to my brother for all of his help on this, and for letting me take over his shop for a week, as this is being done on evenings after work. He has been doing all of the heavy lifting since I tore up my shoulder and am awaiting surgery to repair the damage, so we are trying to get this done before I am completely unable to work on it for awhile.

I hate the look of a body lift, so this is being done without one. The skid I will be using will end up about 1.25 inches total below the frame rail. There are several mods to be made to accomplish this project without a body lift. I will be using a modified low profile mounting system for the trans mount, and be making exhaust mods to make it fit.

So, here are a couple of before pics.







As part of planning this I discovered that 3 of the nut-serts (part # 06035739) were spinning in the frame, so I bought them ahead of time from the dealer, and replaced all six of them. Here are the new inserts in place. (still need to tack weld them.) For removing the old ones, we found that using an air hammer with a sharp chisel was the best, just chisel off the flange, then use a punch to knock the sleeve up into the frame rail. After that grind the old tack welds off smooth. Takes about 60 seconds apiece to remove them this way.

[brunosplace]

I also decided this would be a great time to relocate the vent on the 32RH auto trans. Since the trans is already out we took the opportunity to replace the front and rear seals in it (the rear was already leaking) also did the engine rear main seal along with the oil pan gasket (and a new oil pump since I was already in there, it was cheap insurance). (the Jeep won't be marking it's territory anymore. LOL!!)

plug in original vent:





Point of NO Return: (drilling into the case) I decided on this location for the vent after looking at several write-ups. First I tried to put an elbow in the original vent to then drill through the bell housing for the hose, but there is not enough clearance behind the torque converter. The elbow would now allow the torque converter to fully seat. Another write up showed placing the new vent directly above the old vent in the ridge area right behind bell housing (the farthest forward cleaned area in the first pic.). I ruled it out due to it being above the front pump seal, and the possibility of ruining the pump by drilling into it.

When I drilled the hole, I had my brother using the shop-vac to suck up the chips along with stopping frequently. When the hole showed to be starting to break through we coated the bit in bearing grease so that it collected the chips. Once drilled, I moved onto tapping the hole, using the bearing grease on the tap to prevent the chips from falling in. We stopped frequently and cleaned off the tap of the chips and grease, giving a new coating before starting again.

[vincec]

I want more

[brunosplace]

More of the vent.





New fittings: (the hose will sweep forward, and be brought into engine compartment.)

[brunosplace]

Onto the transfer-case:

Went with a TeraFlex Extreme Short Shaft SYE kit: (man does this shorten things up.) I also put in a Dakota Digital SGI-5c to recalibrate the speedometer, since I no longer have the option of changing speedo gears. (For the 97-98 TJ's you will need to cut off and replace the harness plug for the speed sensor on the Jeep with part # 5014007AA)






I previously had made a t-case shifter bracket similar to the A.A. one, it will be modified as part of this to get the necessary body clearance. (pics later)

[brunosplace]

The trans is also getting a deep pan kit, with a temp sender mounted into it, and the pressure line to the trans cooler has a sensor in it so I can see the temp as the fluid leaves and the temp of the oil returned to the pan. I previously had the sending units up by the radiator, but I noticed that they were very affected by the passing airflow and were not reading accurately.

That is all I have for this morning, more pics to come as the are a few things that are done, but I didn't take pics yet. I am taking today off from it so that the kids remember who daddy is. LOL!

[jrb470]

Great Write-Up So Far!!
Nice Job!!

[brunosplace]

Originally Posted by jrb470

Great Write-Up So Far!!
Nice Job!!

Thanks.

[Mainejeepin]

Very nice!

And I'm happy to see someone else with a lapis blue wrangler on here!

[JeepRocks86]

looking good.

[brunosplace]

Originally Posted by Mainejeepin

Very nice!

And I'm happy to see someone else with a lapis blue wrangler on here!

Thanks, they are a rare critter aren't they? I have only seen one other in person.

Originally Posted by JeepRocks86

looking good.

A little update: (no more pics yet though )

My brother and I got everything stuffed up there for test fitting, and found what I expected. The t-case shifter is hitting the body, but we now have measurements to work with to modify it. And the bad.... the catalytic converter is about a 3/4 inch too thick to fit properly, we got the skid up there, but the cat is pressed into the heat shield above it so I will probably get this one from Magnaflow as it is much thinner and will fit in there with room to spare. I knew going into this that there would be little surprises to deal with, but the minister of finance isn't necessarily happy about it

[brunosplace]

Pic of the cat pressed between skid and heat shield, some how I didn't get any after pics yet:



Shifter bracket hitting:



A little more room after some cutting and welding:





New rear pinion seal installed:

[brunosplace]

For the High Clearance Trans mount I am using what is called the Tab Kit for AEV/Nth degree Mobility's Tummy Tucker system. We modified it slightly to clear the strengthening rib on the Skyjacker High Clearance Skid that I am using for this build.

The lower pipe for the exhaust hanger was cut from below the mount and rolled inward and up into the formed V on the bracket:





The skid was drilled and countersunk to accept the AEV/Nth mount:

[brunosplace]

Test fitting for clearances t-case to skid & mount system:

[brunosplace]

Added the Currie lower shock mounts:





Rubicon Express rear upper adjustable control arms:



Moved one of the trans temp sensor's to the line and pointed it in towards the trans to prevent it from being broke off: