Closing the books on 2011

Since I haven't updated blog, I figured summarizing the last 8-10 months would better than nothing.


Brakes: After bleeding the brakes 3 different ways, I was ready to rebuild or replace the master cylinder. On a hunch I putting a stopper on the brake pedal; re-bled the brakes and WA-la, working brakes. Now I need to take a look at a 97 YJ's brakes and to find out the "why".


Windshield upgrade: when I left off in April I had just finished dry fit of the windshield. It took me a week of "after work" garage sessions, but I finished all the body work and paint on my cheap Chinese windshield. All that was left was the glass so I did a little bit of research and ordered the glass(Jeep Glass)and gave it a try. Now from what I read you put the seal on the glass; work twine around the outside the seal, set the glass on the frame and pull the seal through the frame. what I did was put the seal in the frame and worked the glass in with body filler spreaders... not the best technique, but it worked.


New carburetor/intake manifold: So for the last year I've been looking for a better fuel delivery system for my Jeep. Now the two barrel Rochester has worked OK, but I need a new intake manifold and a new carburetor/rebuilt. I have a brand new four barrel intake, but no Carb. Now most everyone will tell you fuel injection is the way to go, but to do it cheap would be well above my skill level so for now I'm going with a Carb. I looked over may options and Holley seemed the best choice for me and after a few months of Ebay searches I found a cheap used Holley 390CFM 4160. After tearing down the carb I found the base plate had been MacGyvered(welded broken tab) so I ended up calling Holley and ordered a replacement. So a new Holley 4160 with off-road seats would have put me back around 400 bucks, my used Holley ($50), New Base Plate ($90)Off-road and rebuild kit ($30). So now I'm gathering a new gas pedal/linkage cables and mounts. 


Coming Sooncurrently I'm working on putting liner down in the tub, beefing up the roll cage and installing a hood lock.

Working on brakes, breaking only to start on windshield upgrade

So 6 months have passed and the brakes are still not finished... oh I completely put it together, but I couldn't bleed the brake system.

Here's how things have unfolded:

October/November were spent searching for a "good" priced master cylinder/brake booster combination while I prepped the firewall and researched possible options others have used.
December/January I found the Master/booster/proportioning valve (97' wrangler), modified the mounting bracket, cleaned everything up then painted.



February I plumbed the brake lines (using the Napa's polly coated lines) and attempted to bleed the brakes. At first I would just open the speed bleeder valves and pump a few dozen times (topping off every 12 pumps) working my way to my to the shortest length of brake line. At the end I just rigged a really long tube from the bleeder to the master so I wouldn't have to buy any more brake fluid. So not knowing what to try next I figured the old proportion valve was junk and I would replace it with a new Willwood model and since the brake line wouldn't fit this new configuration I would just scrap them and start again.

Now don't think I was just working on just brakes all that time, oh no my A.D.D brain doesn't work that way. I used a few computer tools to scan Ebay and Craigslist, one popped up a result in November for a reproduction of a 68-73 style windshield for $60 bucks. Now I had read that Chinese parts... need to be modified to fit like the original did, but for $60 I could afford to tweak the part to fit.

So March and some of April were spent working on the new windshield frame.



More to come

Next Thing

So here I am; I've just finished the tire carrier and it's time to take my bi-weekly trip around the neighborhood In the Jeep. I like to do this to; charge the batteries, knock the dust off and boost my moral. I noticed after going around the first corner that the brakes feel... a little spongy. So I turn my Jeep around to go back to the garage for a quick adjust and bleed.

While dialing the brakes in, I flashed-back to last year where I had replaced the: rear drums with 11" brakes, put all new hardware in the front brakes(for now) and replaced all the brake lines and realizing the only real weak link is the master cylinder (it's a single chamber).

After the adjustments I took the Jeep back out, slammed on the brakes a few times and they lock up every time (my neighbors love me). So feeling confident that I'm going to be able to stop if a kid jumps out in front of me, I continued on my weekly trip.

When I was finished and was pulling into the garage I started to list the "PROs and CONs" of changing/upgrading the master cylinder.

Here's what I came up with:

Keep or upgrade the frame mounted Master Cylinder

PROs
No body cutting/fabricating and is the easiest... I think.

CONs
I'll always doubt em' unless I go with Herm's Solution, but I'd still have to hear the sound of the pedals scraping the side of the floor board hole when I hit the brakes

Upgrade to Firewall mounted Manual or power brake Master Cylinder

PROs
Peace of mind when I take this thing down Lions Back.

CONs
There goes my stock heater/ stock location.

So at this point I'm thinking... "what are the parts going to cost me?" If I go with Herm's solution it's 150 bucks(new) and lose my body lift to make it work.

I looked to see if anyone else sold a Early CJ5 hanging pedal conversion kit... nope.

So I started researching on to the forums... yep tons of people have done it, but everyone has a different solution. Some use brakes off later CJs, some use YJ parts and others scavenge from TJs.

Really for me the decider will be what I'll find the parts on ebay, or at a junkyard for. Curiously I pop my phone out and launch the ebay application, I put in "jeep pedals" and get about 240 search results. To my surprise I find a 03' TJ brake/ clutch pedal set that has two days left, it has no bids and the starting price is .01(+15 bucks shipping). I hit the "bid now" button and hope for the best. A couple of days later I am notified that I have won and so here we are on to the next misadventure in Jeep fabrication. Awesome!

So much for posting a week later...

Well I guess the blog got put on the side burner for a bit. Hmmm... So where did I leave off, that's right I had finished the tire carrier structure and was running into some new issues.

First issue, poor tail light placement.

Awhile back I bought some newer style tail lights so I would have a backup light and just installed them where the old stock lights went. So I primed and installed the tire carrier then I put the lights in and... yep they would hit when opened. So I opted to go with LED type tail lights, I really couldn't get into an Early CJ with square tail lights.

Second issue, poor placement of the Gas Filler.

When I installed my rear gas tank, I just placed the filler out the back over the tail lights... Now this would have still worked, but it looked funky. So I visited Ebay, purchased a new filler (my old one was chrome plated plastic)and moved the filler over to the passenger side of the Jeep. After all that I took it all apart cleaned up the body work and primed it. It was a ton of work but I'm happy with the end product.