Back to school build

[cmelo]

Originally Posted by lobie

Got gears????? Bunch of gears laying around!

Nice build. I like them sliders. Be interested in how well they work.

I went to school similar to how you are. The only thing I suggest is to make sure the engineering classes transfer. Mine would not transfer to an ABET credited school so I took all the bs classes at the jr college and engineering classes at the ABET credited school. Just an FYI, my brother just had to take courses over due to this. Best of luck.

That's pretty much what the school i'm trying to get into told me. They basically said the only thing I can be confident will transfer is math. Which is fine because that's most of what i've taken so far. I only wish I had done this sooner out of high school.

[lobie]

Originally Posted by cmelo

That's pretty much what the school i'm trying to get into told me. They basically said the only thing I can be confident will transfer is math. Which is fine because that's most of what i've taken so far. I only wish I had done this sooner out of high school.

Yup. I transferred all my calculus, physics, history, and English classes. Enjoy it while it lasts!

[cmelo]

Funds are extremely low but I managed to get my very small argon tank refilled. Got all my suspension mounts fully welded in. Ended up moving the rear most sliders forward 1.5" and had to grind one mount off and reposition it before welding it. With the last of my argon I got one piece of the bed welded back on. This side will be the harder one since it's dented up.

[cmelo]

Other bedside/wheelwell portion welded on. The back portion will have 12.5" taken from it which will cut it off right before the blinker, perfect. Hopefully next weekend I'll have time to get the bed all sorted out and move on to rear driveshaft and shocks.



Welding went pretty smooth on this side. It's actually hard to tell from the picture but they don't look half bad, to me at least.

[cmelo]

Bed has been done for some time now. Been jumping back and forth doing little things here and there. Almost done with my TBI swap.

Working on the harness


Made an adapter for the throttle body out of 1/4" aluminum


Got a little carried away welding the distributor


Got a stock tbi in tank pump on my shortened fuel sending unit. Drilled a hole in the top and ran it through a vacuum line(pulled it from my distributor since I dont need it anymore ) and I'll use black rtv to seal it up but it's a perfect fit.


And the O2 bung welded in


I dropped the reluctor roll pin when I pulled it out and it fell in the grass. Can't find it so there's nothing I can do about starting it until I figure out where to get one. But the harness is in and all the hard work is done so hopefully I can start it this week. Hopefully the pictures help some.

[cmelo]

Frame plates added to rear where I cut most of the frame away to box it in.


Top is a bit boogery but will hold


This is a front xj driveshaft sleeved with the tube from a trailer axle.



TBI runs fantastic, it cuts off seemingly randomly though. Just dies, it starts right back up perfectly and I think it only does it at idle. Haven't driven it more than in and out of the shop though.



A bit more to go but getting closer.

[j20owner]

Little Honcho looks great! I'd love to hear what you think about the slider boxes on and off the road.

[ktmracer419]

our trucks are gonna be twins.

[wbarnhill]

Looking really good!

[cmelo]

$20 rear bumper



Cheap U-joint steering shaft


The start of my rear slider bracing



I'll be adding 3/8" rod to the underside of the slide to keep it from getting bent and to stiffen it up. I had a buddy bend these so I'm a bit paranoid.

I'm also keeping an eye out for a new tank. I'm thinking something like an astrovan tank from a tbi era one. The sending unit on my tank isn't working and the stock J10 tanks are just silly small. So I'll just need to get a new tank and an aftermarket gauge.

[j20brett]

Where did you come across the cheap u-joint steering shaft? Like those sliders also.

[cmelo]

I just checked online and I got a sweet deal on mine. They're actually around $100, it's a crown replacement CJ manual steering shaft.

[cmelo]

Small update, in addition to going over the truck and making sure everything is tight, putting in new U-bolts and other things. I added 3/8" bar to the bottoms of my slider boxes. I had a buddy bend his up so that is why I'm going to through all this to beef them up. He bent the actually slides themselves so this will make the bottoms more rigid and keep rocks from bending the slides upwards. Simple, cheap and should be effective.



The tops are stitch welded and the bottoms will be fully welded.

This in addition to the bracing in the back should keep them from ever getting bent. I welded them with the UHMW pucks still installed, they melted a LITTLE. Some guys were complaining that these things will melt so easily if anyone tried to do any serious driving on them. I'm sure I got them up to well over 200f and they are still useable. I'll buy an extra set and swap them out when I get around to it. I see these being a pretty tough set up.

[cmelo]

Front slider bracing, not pretty by any means.

Also welded 3/8" rod to the bottom of these as well.

No money to build a nice crossmember but had some 1/4" scrap that I bought when I got the 3/8" rod. So I plated the stock one. Would have been easier if I didn't have to make this boxed section so a socket could fit in there.

Access holes


Bolted in

[cmelo]

Got to take the truck out on the road.


Runs great except the brakes are grabbing with the truck on. Thought it was from the brake switch riding the pedal so I installed a brake switch that works off of line pressure. Much nicer than the stock switch but didn't fix the issue. I'm 90% sure it's either the T fitting or my power steering cooler causing too much backpressure for my hydroboost. I'm going to mess with it tomorrow but I'm hoping I can find a 3/8" steel barb to weld to my power steering reservoir unless someone else has a better alternative.

[j20owner]

Find a pump off a early-mid 00's GM with hydraboost. The can should be switchable, unless I'm off my rocker.

[ktmracer419]

Originally Posted by cmelo

Runs great except the brakes are grabbing with the truck on. Thought it was from the brake switch riding the pedal so I installed a brake switch that works off of line pressure. Much nicer than the stock switch but didn't fix the issue. I'm 90% sure it's either the T fitting or my power steering cooler causing too much backpressure for my hydroboost. I'm going to mess with it tomorrow but I'm hoping I can find a 3/8" steel barb to weld to my power steering reservoir unless someone else has a better alternative.

I had an issue with my metering valve right after my swap. kinda the opposite issue, couldnt get the brakes to bleed anywhere remotely close to decent. I just whipped it out and ran a t-fitting to the front and straight line to the rear. stops mint with the 1978 antique vac booster and $17 1979 chevy one ton master.

[cmelo]

Originally Posted by j20owner

Find a pump off a early-mid 00's GM with hydraboost. The can should be switchable, unless I'm off my rocker.

That's what my pump is out of. The reservoir around that pump does have a second return port but it would interfere with our pump brackets. So it's the chevy pump in the jeep reservoir.

[cmelo]

Originally Posted by ktmracer419

I had an issue with my metering valve right after my swap. kinda the opposite issue, couldnt get the brakes to bleed anywhere remotely close to decent. I just whipped it out and ran a t-fitting to the front and straight line to the rear. stops mint with the 1978 antique vac booster and $17 1979 chevy one ton master.

Mine isn't with anything after the master, it's the booster. Loosening the master and turning the car on releases brakes.

[j20owner]

Originally Posted by cmelo

That's what my pump is out of. The reservoir around that pump does have a second return port but it would interfere with our pump brackets. So it's the chevy pump in the jeep reservoir.

Ok, didn't realize the chevy can interferes with the brackets.