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(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
Well I figure I'll cut and paste my Scrambler Build thread from another forum. Here goes… Its long and seems to keep going for ever… (The build and the Jeep!!)
keep in mind this is cut and pasted so the dates are a little off…
First a little history lesson..
I've been into Jeeps since before I can remember (and I remember stuff from when I was 4 or 5 years old.)
Got my first Jeep (which was my first "car") when I was 16. 1980 CJ-7 on 35" swampers. Not bad for a high school kid. Sold it after having it for 6 months, horrible on gas (even for a Jeep). I think is used more gas per mile than a 747.
then I got an 82 Camaro. No I didnt have a mullet. (most of the time) Had that for a couple years, then sold it and got the 83 CJ-7 that I have now. That was 11 years ago. (holy crap) Had lots of other Jeeps (about 9 others )along the way but thats not really important.
I built my 83 CJ-7 up from stock. eventually ending up with a pretty good rock crawler, HPD60s front and rear, detroit fron, welded rear, 4.2L/4.0L MPFI, T-18 with 6.35:1 1st, full roll cage/air tank, real fire truck air horn… and a ton of other stuff.
Then I had a kid. My little guy is going to be 3 in a couple days. What a life changer… He loves Jeep as much as me, in fact one of his first words was Jeep. I've created a monster, I know.. Anyways, as soon as I had the little guy, I knew my 2 seater CJ-7 (gas tank raised, no room for back seat) was no longer good enough for me and the little guy. I immediately started hunting for a Scrambler.
First I got a Scrambler tub from a guy a couple hours away from me… $300. needed ALOT of work. but it was a start. I started making my own replacement panels. They were no where near stock looking but they were heavier gauge steal and I tried to give them the stock lines.
Second, I got a TDK frame. I had the suspension mounts made to match my HPD60s and a couple other things done to it.
Then life threw me another curve ball. Long story short, I was single again.
Moved in with my buddy and his wife. The scrambler was at their shop, so in my free time (which I had alot) I worked on the tub.
Then another curve ball…. Long story short, met my beautiful unofficial wife, bought a house together, started renovating, yada yada yada… Scrambler is now in our own garage.
Story is almost over bare with me…
Then one day, I was surfing on here when the add for a California Scrambler came up for sale. Showed my wife and said, "look a this, this is awesome!! Too bad its in Cali." Her reply, "is it a good deal and will it speed up the original Scrambler build?" my reply, "yes and yes"
So next thing I know we're flying to San Fransisco to buy a Scrambler and drive it across the country….
Fast forward to today.. heres the project so far.added a receiver hitch and tow points to the rear bumper of the frame. (tow points go right through bumper and are welded on the back side as well) You can see my little guy in the pic…
Front bumper built. used a TMR Customs 8274 winch mount
Got frame and front bumper galvanized!!! 😀
Frame painted semi-gloss black. HPD60s bolted in.
disassembled the Scrambler… Tub in the garage, rolling chassis in the driveway. You can see the CJ-7 sitting there too.
Its a good thing my neighbors like me. (or at least i think they do)
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
as of right now, I've been swapping the drivetrain out of the CJ-8 into my CJ-7 so I can sell it and recoup some of the CJ-8 purchase price. So I havent got much done on the CJ-8. But I've tinkered on it when the weather is bad outside.
Installed the sleeve for the Comp4x4 heavy duty tire carrier hinge into the bumper. Did this after I got the frame galvanized because the spindle that goes into the sleeve is a "machined" fit. the galvanizing would have screwed that up… then i threw a coat of paint on the bumper, sleeve doesnt fit now :banghead: will sand the paint out eventually…
what I was tinkering on Today… test fit the Kilby gas tank skid. The AMC 20 rear rubbed the skid, just enough to rub the paint off. But with the Dana 60 and the diff cover I have (Great Lake Off Road 3/8" cover with 1/2" ring gear protector) I knew It wasnt going to "slightly rub"
did some searching and found some people have sucessfully heated up the poly gas tank with a heat gun and re molded it to clear a modified skid plate. (i know about heat and gas, so dont bother saying anything about it, i get it… ) Anyways, today I measured up what clearance I needed to do to clear the D60. here are the cuts I did…
It looks off, but i wasnt standing over it perfectly straight.
Next thing I will do is fill in the hole with 3/16" Plate… (didnt get that far yet.. )
But I did put a little something on the back bumper.
I will post more and the build progresses. But its going to be slowish..
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
time for a small update. Been busy putting the CJ-7 back together so the Scrambler has been put on the back burner for a bit. Well the past little bit I've been plugging away at little things on the Scrambler.
I've never been happy with how stock brake lines or the mounting clamps look. always look half a$$ed to me. so heres is my solution. Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) plastic, drilled out to hold multiple lines (fuel, brake and air). Got the lines run for the rear of the Jeep.
-fuel feed
-fuel return
-brake left rear (planning on running cutting brakes)
-brake right rear
-ARB air line
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
Been busy on the Jeep lately. ordered a bunch of brake stuff and started fabbing the t-case cross member / skid plate mount.
heres the brake stuff I did. got "thru-bolts" for the brake lines. looks better and provides a hard mounting point for the lines on both sides of the frame. easier to plumb too. Got new brake lines to, but not going to install them till I'm ready. (after body is on)
made a new lower profile t-case mount. the factory style one hangs down WAY too much and allowed the drivetrain to flop around more than I liked (even with the poly mount)
Here is the start of my t-case cross member. I'm going to a completely modular setup. I want to be able to remove the skid plate and most cross members so I can safely work on the drivetrain without the need for jack stands.
bending tubing in a 2 car garage with 1.5 Jeeps in it is fun… have to be a little creative. especially when its mid 20s outside and I want to be able to keep the door closed so the heat stays inside.
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
been busy over the holidays…
after bending up all kinds of tube. here is the completed (minus paint) engine and transmission skid plate. notice there is not even an inch of tubing on it? I didnt like my first design so I scraped it, 3 days work and almost 15' of tube (lots of trial and error, more error than anything).
overall i'm happy with the outcome. should be stupid strong. Its WAY beefier than the Warn engine skid that I bent to sh!t on my old TJ.
I havent fabbed up the t-case skid, but its sorta fabbed in card board.
I spent alot of time fabbing up this cross member. made it a little bling by adding speed holes!!! should add a few HP… :fingerscrossed:
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
a bit of oil pan protection… could have put a square, but I'm hoping the shape should improve aerodynamic efficiency ALOT!!
next finish fabbing t-case skid. then gas tank, then exhaust, then torque arm, then, then…. once thats all done, i think the body will be ready to be put on!
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
gas tank is in. used a heat gun I got at Harbor Freight. Heated the tank for a couple minutes, till the plastic was soft. Then pushed the tank into the skid plate. Threw a couple ratchet straps on it to get it to the bottom and installed the strap! took about 5 minutes to do.
fabbed up a torque arm brackets and spring mounts. (I love my band saw.)
and here is the torque arm. 1.5" 0.25"wall DOM tube. mmmm beefy.
running fuel line to tank, then I will be installing the tub. maybe today. 😀
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
Tub is back on the frame!! YIPPEEE!!!
heres how you do it when you're working alone. Wifey was gonna help but she had a doctor's appointment. She was going to help when she got back, but i couldnt wait! anyways… this is how you do it.
engine hoist… and AOT of ratchet straps. takes a long time to get tub balanced so it picks up straight and level.
tub on. not bolted down or squared up on the frame yet. (its pretty close though)
body mount in front of tank… looks like the cross member is a little low. good thing i have a set of 1" body mounts. cut them do to fit properly.
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
As she sits right now…
here you can see where the top bolts for the steering box were before I dropped it. pretty much right at the top of the frame. (hoses are pointer forward just to make it easier for me to work on it. will be routed differently when finally installed)
after the box drop, the lines still come very close to the rad and bottom of the grill.
side shot. oooooo exciting!
front shot.
didnt take any pics of the cougar fan, I'll have to take the grill off again, so I'll take a pic then.
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
been doing alot of little things on the Jeep, lately.
Got the steering box mount done
wilwood adjustable combination valve mount and some blinging braided stainless line and AN fittings. (wiring is a mess, dont mind it)
Dual electric fans out of a 99 Mercury Cougar (same as contour fan). Its a TIGHT fit. about 3/8" clearance. using Flex-a-lite varible fan controller.
power steering cooler mounted.
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
Power steering hose clearence problem solved… Had to make a custom hose. Used a new hose from a 88 GMC 1 ton and mated it to my existing hose. Its a tight fit but i will work!
modified the existing battery holder to accept my relays and big *** fuse for the electric fans. Also mounted the balllest resistor on the fire wall… (its amazing how long it takes to drill 6 holes)
Installed (but havent wired yet) 2 of the 4 new guages… Autometer ES guages. Had to pull the dash out to get the factory AM/FM/CB radio out so i could even get to the guages. That was fun. Having a rust free tub is awesome.
Started building my exhaust. 2 1/4" tube. mandrel bends. This is as far as i got.
There is so much stuff to do on the Jeep, that I am jumping around alot. If i get bored or tired of doing one thing, I jump on to another job for a bit. Not very efficient but it maintains my sanity.
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
slight rise needed to clear cross member…
another shot
exhaust almost at the muffler now… gonna mount the muffler above the axle. then exhaust will exit out the rear corner. some how… dont mind my u-bolts, there are temporary, HONEST!!!
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
teaser pics…
and how I got 4 of them home… 😀 there are 3 tires in the car. 37×12.5r17s!!!!
(– by Bad Karma #5647 –)
here are a couple crappy iphone pics…
Have to paint the hubs too.
gonna have to trim the tub. kinda scared to…
They are quite a bit taller than my old 36" Swampers… old pic for comparison…
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