Bill's Build (with comments, questions, and Conundrums)

[ProTouring442]

Jeep progress!!!

Ok, it's only a small thing, but it is still real, actual progress on my Jeep!

I had only a short bit of time today to work on the Jeep, and rather than get everything out and crawl under the dash for wiring, I decided to get my steering wheel together.

The wheel is a recent Ebay purchase. It's not a very expensive steering wheel. Though a real wood wheel, the spokes were a bit scratched up, so I got it at a good price.

But being me, I didn't want it to look like an aftermarket wheel. It had to look like it could have come from Jeep. So...

I rummaged through some boxes in the garage attic and came up with an old Oldsmobile sport wheel horn button. I disassembled the button, discarding everything but the portion that connects the button to the actual electrical portion of the horn button (to be purchased later), and the lower escutcheon. I sanded and painted the lower escutcheon silver, then trimmed the center portion of a Jeep Cherokee horn button to fit.

After gluing these together, and while waiting for the glue to set, I sanded the steering wheel's spokes and taped off the wooden part so the spokes could be painted. In the end, I think it turned out quite nicely. The whole thing will attach to a '68-pre airbag GM sport wheel 6-screw hub, and will use the corresponding horn button (electrical portion) and so should be quite reliable.

[Stuka]

I like that wheel a lot.

[ProTouring442]

We have Jeepness!!

Made a place to hold the Chevy airbox. I cut a 4" hole in the bottom of the airbox, and made a tube to connect behind the front fascia.



Modified the airbox to close off the original air intake and instead use the new 4" intake tube. By the way, the welds are Silicon Bronze. Nice stuff to work with! Not for anything structural of course, but great for working with sheet metal.



A test fit with the lid.



Finished, except for the last flex joint and clamps.



I forgot to take photos of the build process, but here's the battery box (built out of the bed frame mentioned in the other thread).



I also made a bar to hold 3 Maxi Fuse holders and 4 Bosch style relays.



Lastly, I mounted a set of Cadillac 4-note horns (A, C, D, and F) in the old pie plate positions. They're not actually louder than the factory horns, but their tone really gets your attention!





No critters this time, though I wish I'd taken one of the Carolina Wolf Spider I found in the kitchen sink a few weeks ago! Egad that thing was huge!

[jaber]

LOL, last night my youngest boy(14) saw a spider the size of a quarter above the front door. He smacked it with a shoe and when it jumped off the wall, it flew towards him. I thought he was going to crap himself and with his voice changing, he screamed like a little school girl. I laughed so hard I hurt...

[ProTouring442]

LOL, last night my youngest boy(14) saw a spider the size of a quarter above the front door. He smacked it with a shoe and when it jumped off the wall, it flew towards him. I thought he was going to crap himself and with his voice changing, he screamed like a little school girl. I laughed so hard I hurt...

A quarter? Tell him to come on over here! This thing was a good 4" around with it's legs outstretched. Startled the crap out of me! They frequently find their way inside this time of year (it's getting cool), so I just scoop them up and put them outside.

[Mr. Goatman]

I really can't wait to see the completed dash. It all looks so nice.

[jaber]

A quarter? Tell him to come on over here! This thing was a good 4" around with it's legs outstretched. Startled the crap out of me! They frequently find their way inside this time of year (it's getting cool), so I just scoop them up and put them outside.

Thats why I was laughing so hard. We have much bigger ones around and he's freaking out over a baby...

[Jerry Blair]

Thanks for the update and pictures of the y-pipe. I'll need to build my own as well. It looks like I might have a little more room as I am running a 6 inch lift. I'll guess I'll see.

I would think that should leave you with a bit more room!

Since this is to be my daily driver, I don't want to go too crazy. Also, as my wife has Multiple Sclerosis, too much lift would make getting in and out neigh on impossible for her. Once this stage of the build is done though, I may consider a small lift (2"?) just to make it sit "right." The suspension could use a good rebuild anyway, I'm sure.

One step at a time, eh?

Where did you pickup the flanges and y-connector? I haven't had any luck finding what I need.

Thanks,

[ProTouring442]

Where did you pickup the flanges and y-connector? I haven't had any luck finding what I need.

Thanks,

http://www.stainlessworks.net/products/ ... -hole.html

http://www.stainlessworks.net/products/ ... -hole.html

[Road Trip]

When you moved the cross member to the rear holes, how did you hook up the emergency brake? I bought new E-brake cables and they don't hook up through the cross member with it in the rear holes.

[ProTouring442]

When you moved the cross member to the rear holes, how did you hook up the emergency brake? I bought new E-brake cables and they don't hook up through the cross member with it in the rear holes.

Good question!

I will be making mounts for the parking brake cable to put them in their original positions. I'll actually be cutting up an extra crossmember to do this. No pics yet as that's still on the "to do" list.

[Road Trip]

I have an extra cross member and was thinking the same thing. I was going to mount the one with the correct E-brake holes for mounting in the forward position and then use the other for pieces to build a support for the tranny. Then the E-brake would mount correctly, but the support for the tranny would be cantilevered off of the front mounted cross member. I was worried about the torque on the cross member, but I thought I could put some supports to the side rails and take care of the torque on the cross member. However, the front mounted cross member would probably preclude EVER taking the pan off the tranny. So I'm still looking for ideas before I start cutting and welding.

[Jerry Blair]

You could also use e-brake parts from a 6 cylinder equipped wag. My truck was originally a six cylinder so my e-brake will hook up exactly the same as it did pre-swap.

[Jeff from Iowa]

delete please

[ProTouring442]

Is there a way to subscribe to a thread on this forum?

After a 2 years search I finally bought a 90 wag and intend to 5.3 swap it down the road.

At the very bottom left of your screen you should see a button marked "Subscribe Topic."

[Jeff from Iowa]

Thank you I knew there had to be one someplace Ill erase my first post so your thread doesn't have junk in it. Thanks again. Ill come back and edit this one away also.

[jaber]

Thank you I knew there had to be one someplace Ill erase my first post so your thread doesn't have junk in it. Thanks again. Ill come back and edit this one away also.

Leaving a comment will also subscribe you to it automatically.

[davidtwelsh]

subscribed!

[jstev4610]

Any pics of the shift linkage from the turbo 400 connected to your 4l60e? How much fiddling did that take to get solid? Also, did you retrofit a gm van indicator to the column? I'd love to see it.

[jstev4610]

Also, why did you choose to not use the ecm to control the fan?