'Da Chief . . . So it Begins again

[cu4whln]

I do like the size of the gauges. Mine are too small. Kinda hard driving with reading glasses on. Lol

Truth!

my biggest issue with the original gauges in my Jeep is the lack of lighting in the cluster. I cannot see how fast I am going at night. I tried to fix it a few times to no avail..

[cu4whln]

In Today's News . . .

Busy day of yard work and house chores.. BUT -

I did get a few hours of "Fun Time" with the Jeep

First up, decided to put the new windshield gasket on the body.
Figure it will be a few months before windshield install, why not let it settle in the installed position while it waits.

Now, i thought this would be quick and easy - NOPE

I took me the better part of an hour to get it on. Geez . . . Glad the windshield will be much later.
It was a bit like wrestling a greased pig. You think you have it, then the other side falls off.

Anyway, it's on for now ... Note my "High Tech" driver seat!

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Next up: Bumpers

Step one is get them all out and get the chrome polish.
Apply ample elbow grease.
Then pick the best parts.

Front was easy, NOS parts just needed cleaning up of the sticky stuff from the original packaging had on/in it.
( See the factory wrap with part numbers.. 1976 vintage )

Shiney stuff . . .

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The used parts had a bit of rust on the inside.. so I scrubbed that with a wire brush and added the rust encapsulater paint from Eastwood.

Here's a before pic, forgot to take a post paint pic.. .
It's black and will stop any future rust from propagating.

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3 piece bumpers are like a game of Jengo and Origami at the same time.

Too impatient to wait for any help of course ...

Found I had stashed a NOS rear center bumper section. Great surprise.
Been working on this thing for 7 years now.
Forget what I have gathered up. Not the first part I forgot about btw.

Rear loosely installed for now :

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Front NOS bling... Again, loosely installed for now.

Will have to work on final alignment at some point.
I just wanted to get them off the floor.
Best storage position? On the Jeep!

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Slow progress, but moving along.

EDIT:
STILL have not opened the doors after the door seal install...
Really hoping they are taking a set while closed.

[rang-a-stang]

(Droooooolllll........)

[cu4whln]

In Today's News . . .

A couple of items addressed today.

First up - Getting the Ram driver power seat to work with a straight 12 volts.

It has all kinds of wires, a control module with various features, but it didn't work when we hooked up 12 volts to the large red and black wires... hmmm.

So, we unwrapped the harness a bit, and found the red and black wire splices.

Then, jumped power directly to that, bypassing the module.
Success ! Then wired in a long lead for future install in the Jeep.

Next up - Cowl Vents

So, I am on a mission to truly "seal" up all the water issues.

Considerable effort has been dedicated to tracing all the potential leak points.
Each possible area has been sealed and resealed.

I plan to run water into the cowl and verify water tightness BEFORE the dash goes in. If I find anything, it will be fixed before it goes together.

So, the last item is to install the reworked cowl vents before testing.

I have decided to not make gaskets, but rather use the brushable seam seal to seal the vents to the side cowl. I will add the covers and cables later.

Cowl area has been cleaned and rust proofed - Ready for assembly.

Pass side for clarity:

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Next, brushed on the thick seam sealer ..

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Used the mounting screws to secure the vent assemblies in place...
Then brushed the sealer up on the edges.
It "should" be good.

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The driver side was no fun!
Had to lay on my side/back and work around the column/wires/park brake cable.

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Before you ask ... Yes, these will never come out again easily.
However, I cleaned the inner cowl very well, and am adding a cowl screen to keep any debris from getting down in there again.

Water testing soon !

[cu4whln]

In Today's News . . .

Water Test Day! Everything is installed and ready to test.

Got the hose running in the cowl to test out my water proofing.

Let it run for 15 minutes . . .

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Water exiting as it should out of the cowl, then fender . . .

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After 15 minutes, climbed inside and inspected for water.

It seems the cowl area is watertight. No water.

[cu4whln]

More Details . . .

Added some more sound deader in the low spots on the floor.
Also around the wheel wells...

Not covering the whole floor this time, just enough to deaden the floor.
I am planning on the full jute carpet. that should quiet things down well.
Not done yet, but did this while some paint was drying.

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THEN . .

Did some more rust prevention treatment.

I know, I know.. this thing will probably never rust in my lifetime.
BUT - I want to do what I can for the long term.

This time inside the flairs where all the metal work was done.
I used this internal frame treatment from Eastwood.
It sprays out of a flexible extension with a 4 way tip for full coverage.

Put it down inside the blind areas down low in the flairs...
Taped the plastic hose to a coat hanger to guide the spray tip.
It was dripping out the bottom of the flair. I had the metal guy leave a drain so the flairs can be flushed occasionally.

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This stuff is fairly thin, and spreads/drys pretty quickly.

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[cu4whln]

Now that the cowl is all sealed up, I decided to fit the kick panels.

This is MUCH easier with no dash in the jeep!

Marked it up for trimming.

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All trimmed and fit. This will get the same material the door panels will eventually.

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Sometimes, you just have to sit back and take stock of what you are doing...

Starting to look a bit like a Jeep again.

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[Heep-J4000]

Pffffff man your Jeep looks beyond awesome!

I did some small rust removal work on my j4000 cab this afternoon.
It's looking like a sad swiss cheese with the roof chopped of and holes everywhere!
But looking at your work and knowing how my jeep once was we keep working to bring it back as a strong work truck.

Keep up your clean and good work!

[cu4whln]

Pffffff man your Jeep looks beyond awesome!

I did some small rust removal work on my j4000 cab this afternoon.
It's looking like a sad swiss cheese with the roof chopped of and holes everywhere!
But looking at your work and knowing how my jeep once was we keep working to bring it back as a strong work truck.

Keep up your clean and good work!

Thanks Heep! Good to know folks are watching and reading.

Your truck? Just keep plugging away... btw - My next project is a 72 J4000.

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[cu4whln]

In Today's News . . .

Today I have a good sense of accomplishment ....

I was able to fight through getting the tailgate back together!

First off, it helps immensely if you put it in the right way!
ie Upside down and backwards... Ooops! No wonder things would not line up!

Once I figured THAT out, it was time to align things a bit and fight with the spacers under the mounting bolts. A strange design for assembly purposes ?
Damn engineers ! lol

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Then it was time for something I have been dreading... feeding the wires back through the tiny tailgate hole. UGH. NOT fun.

Oh, and followed by trying to feed said wires and protective sleeve through the small body hole to get them under to the chassis harness.
40 year old stiff wires... Fun on top of Fun !

I did get it.. this pic in no way shows what a pita this was !!!

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Sooo - my defroster has never worked. turns out the timer/relay mounted in the tailgate is bad.
These are available nowhere! So I figure - why not take it apart...

Once I got the cover off, it appeared in good shape, but there was a broken solder joint on the ground side. And it seems maybe the ground was missing?
So fixed the solder joint and wired up a ground strap... ie the blue wire.
Not 100% it works, but I will probably never need it anyway as this is a summer Jeep.

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Public Service Edit:
I SHOULD have waited to grease the regulator up until AFTER it was installed.
Spent all day getting grease all over me and the Jeep.

[cu4whln]

Tailgate continued . . .

Once I got the basics together, figured I would test the freshly cleaned and greased power assembly.

Should have mentioned I installed the NOS safety switch.. never had one as the old one was rusted and non functional.

Get all the wires routed and hooked up
( Should have taken a picture when I took it apart !!)
Test time ! NOTHING ?? Uh Oh ...

I thought I had it all hooked up right? climb in and try it from the dash switch.. Nothing again. Hmmm

Get out the multi meter.. and no power in the tailgate.
No power in the main feed line at chassis? Fuse OK ?
What? It was working fine when I took it apart?

Then I get to thinking... I have spent HOURS studying the wire diagrams.
Almost embarrassed to say I have pretty much memorized them for this Jeep.
I know where the rear accessory harness exits the dash.. and go look. Sure enough, both feeds are disconnected for some reason?
Go test again.. and we have movement!

Figure I'll try and install the glass... clean it up and go to put it in...
AND- Another Uh Oh ! Seems I took the window guides out. I was trying to load a window into, well, nothing.
Go find the new guides I bought and forgot about, then install them.

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The screwdriver? I was using it to activate the power switch as the key stuff is not installed.
Also installed a new inner and outer wipe. I thought that would be somewhat easy? Nope. Hard to get them snapped in and not damage paint.

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Glass time !!

Feeding the lower channel through the new wipes was not an easy task, especially by myself.
And then there's the wires at either end for the defroster.. Getting that all under control took several attempts.

Once you get it started, the wipes folded under and fought the lower glass channel from going through. I used a screwdriver to fold them back out.
All this while holding the glass.
Much full body pushing while trying to not break the glass.. and it finally went in!
Whew !

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Note in the pic above, the arms are not yet attached to the glass channel.
I got the BJs upgraded clips... HUGE improvement over the stock "Jesus" clips.

All in and working !
Well, after some fiddling around with wire routing and adjusting the regulator to be parallel with the tailgate.

Big step for me - the tailgate is all done and ready to go!

Works great -WOOT !!

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[cu4whln]

In Today's News . . .

Took it a bit easy today..
My back let me know I am NOT 20 years old any more. UGH !

Did some light work later in the afternoon.
Added more Hushmat to doors and rear quarter panels...

I also took a chance and opened the doors.. uh oh! Still don't close well.
However, with a REALLY hard slam, they will close.
So leaving them closed has improved the situation a bit. Need more heat and time I guess.

Then, took a drive to pick up a box of parts....

Some of this is for the truck project, but I found a few gems to use on the Chero -

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My windshield wiper pivot covers are pitted/corroded. The top are mine, the lower ones I found in the surprise box.

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Then there are the roof rack end pcs.. only 2, but I will take them!
After a bit of chrome polish? Like new !
No pitting, chrome is perfect.

My old one is on the far left... also found a prefect antenna cover.

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Old chrome vs New.. Dorky, but I love finding stuff like this!

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And then there's this -

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With the original harness. Hooked it up for testing.. fired right up.
Old school version, clicks [winds] every 45 seconds.

Last up? My overhead light.

Kinda dirty and one lens has come loose...
Chrome polish and elbow grease has started to made it presentable.
Can you tell which side I started on?

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I plan to change to LED lights so it will be brighter and no heat.
Have to do some research on that.

[JPSwapMohn]

For LED lights, something to check: I put LED's throughout my 2500HD. They are great except that the map lights will no longer come on with the switch. They only come on when I use the dash light switch to turn on all the interior lights.


BTW, did WT Cherokees come with plastic fender liners in the rear? I am thinking it would be a good idea for my WT waggy, especially since the flares are now single-walled. Curious if the Cherokees had them. I assume I would have to make some with plastic and a lot of careful heat..


Great to see you back home and on the build! Your attention to detail is inspiring.

[cu4whln]

For LED lights, something to check: I put LED's throughout my 2500HD. They are great except that the map lights will no longer come on with the switch. They only come on when I use the dash light switch to turn on all the interior lights.

Hmm, wonder why that is? I will have 12volts direct in this "Old School" Jeep


BTW, did WT Cherokees come with plastic fender liners in the rear? I am thinking it would be a good idea for my WT waggy, especially since the flares are now single-walled. Curious if the Cherokees had them. I assume I would have to make some with plastic and a lot of careful heat..

No liners... I am adding a LOT of Hushmat though. Will kill the boom and rock strikes from the tires.


Great to see you back home and on the build! Your attention to detail is inspiring.

Thank You! When we gonna see some more progress on your rig?>?

?

[cu4whln]

Roof Rack Day

Today started with intentions to do just the roof rack...

So - dug out all my various parts and picked the best ones.
Some chrome polish to finalize the choices.

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Of course, that led to installing my roof cargo strips...
Possible leak path, every screw... ( 12 total )
Sooo -

I start with each screw and put some mastic material on the thread.
Hope is, it will seal well as it threads into the sheet metal.
I went to the hardware store and bought new stainless screws btw

Mastic on threads:

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Then I put the screws into the rub strips, and redo the mastic a little thicker.

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Then carefully line each one up, and drive the screws home.

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After all were installed, I put silicone on the underside as extra leak insurance.
Probably overkill, but I do not want the new headliner to get wet and ruined like the original one.

Then it was rack time...

Using the new well nuts/screws from BJs, I put some silicone on each opening to insure a good seal.

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Then install the end cap.
Pete and repeat for each of the 12 wellnut mounting holes...

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So, in spite of what the service manual says...
You have to install all the parts loosely, then snug them down.

AND - the cross rails must be installed as the main rails are put in.
Ask me how I know ....

After install, added silicone to each of the installed wellnuts under the roof.

I forgot how much fun this was .... lol
All done:

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