The Magnum YJ

leakedd

leakedd

Mall Crawlin'
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Location
Charlotte
So I figured I'd start a build thread for my Jeep, mainly because I plan on tearing out the 4cyl this weekend and maybe this will help me keep track of things a bit better! Not too sure if I'll keep up with it or not but we'll see! I've owned this Jeep for almost three years now and have slowly built it up through high school and now college. It started out with a 2" body lift, bald 31s and a ton of electrical problems..



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And this is how it looks today.
Current specs off the top of my head.
-SOA Waggy leafs front and rear
-Ford 8.8 rear 4:10 gears open
-Dana 30 4:10 gears open, plan on getting an aussie locker soon.
-Crossover steering using JB4x4's bracket.
- JB conversions super short sye and running an Oliver's driveshaft in the rear
- Stretched the stock front driveshaft
 

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Plans changing a bit, picked this ZJ up this weekend for $450 has a good trans not sure about the engine but I already have a different rebuilt 318 ready to go. Mainly got this Jeep for the trans, input shaft and a few other things. I'm thinking I'm gonna pull the 4cyl the second weekend of April because I don't want to miss the opening weekend of Uwharrie.
 

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Pulled the trans today, still needs a lot more cleaning.
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Also if anyone is needing any ZJ parts or np242 internals let me know.
 
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Had to rebuild the traction bar due to the fist design not being strong enough and not having bushings. Ordered the bushings from Barnes4wd really good quality stuff! Hopefully I wont break the this traction bar.. It would've been better to use some larger tubing than the 1" I used but I believe it'll be fine. It at least lasted Uwharrie opening weekend.




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adamk said:
That 1" tube isn't going to last long. What does your frame side mount look like? I can't tell from the pics.
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I believe it will, I ran the same size tubing all last year. The only thing that broke last year was the mount to the axle it self, and the reason that broke is due to it being made out of 3/16" I rebuild the mount to the axle with 1/4" plate this time and it's much bigger. The tubing is 1/4" wall as well. I'll post some pictures later of the frame side when I get time.
 
Pulled the 2.5l today and started tearing apart the np231 to swap in a 23 spline input shaft. All was going well until I tried reinstalling the planetary gears and I found out that I need to buy a different input shaft bearing that has a smaller width.




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Going to start cutting off old motor mount brackets and cleaning up the engine bay tomorrow.
 
Went through a lot of trouble but finally got the NP231 put back together I ended up having to buy a new input shaft bearing for the transfercase. The input shaft bearing that was previously in the transfercase was too thick. Here is a picture of them side by side. That one bearing costed me $102 from Napa.. Also if anyone reading this is ever doing this swap and needs the bearing the part number is 6010-NRJ


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Transfercase all put back together, I accidentally ripped the weatherpack connector out when taking the trasnfercase out. Gonna have to rewire a new one.. Oops

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Then I cut off the old motor mounts, still have to grind whats left down. Then I cleaned and prepped the fire wall for paint. The firewall probably hasn't been this clean since 1994!
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Didn't get too much done this week other than getting the engine bay cleaned and painted.
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Then got the engine and trans matted together. The blue fuel rails are nothing special, just some spray paint I had laying around, should've just painted them black..
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Also the 2.5l and AX-5 are still for sale!



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Then we finally got the engine somewhat in place. Hopefully going to get the trans cross member built and the motor mounts welded in. Going to try to get as close to a flat skid as possible without cutting out too much of the tub.

Also going to have to move the radiator a bit. Ran into some clearance issues with the steering box.
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Another v8 YJ. :smokin:
 
Got a little bit of the wiring done this week and cut out a lot of the floor in the tub.

Running into problems with the length of the length of the drivetrain. The 46rh OD unit is really long and pushes the transfercase back really far. Even with a JBconversions super short dye my rear driveshaft is going to be very short and I'll probably have the shim the rear axle to get the pinion angle right again..
 

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Yeah that's the same boat I'm in too. Even with a manual, my rear driveshaft is looking like sub-20" length. :eek:
 
Buddy_Holly said:
That just means its time for a stretch ;)
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Yeah I'm really considering stretching it with XJ leafsprings I'm just not too sure how it'll look with 35s. Also i'd have to get a fuel cell if I did that which means more $$.
XJsavage said:
Yeah that's the same boat I'm in too. Even with a manual, my rear driveshaft is looking like sub-20" length. :eek:
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Yeah its got me in a tough position.. To stretch or not to stretch..
 
Finally got the engine to turn over! The battery is a little dead as you can tell from the video. I believe I may have mixed up one of the wires somewhere. I can get the fuel pump to prime and all but when it does the relay makes really different noises. Not the normal clicking relays typically make, it got late so I stop messing with it. Hopefully I can figure it out tomorrow.

On the list of things to do..
1. finish wiring
2. trans/t-case shifters - thinking about making my own cable shifter for the np231.
3. Build new seat mounts that tie into frame for future cage.
4. Build new trans tunnel and floor pans.
5. Trans cooler lines.
6. Rebuild trans crossmember, makes contact with front drivesahft
7. Get driveshafts built to length
8. possibly stretch rear for longer rear driveshaft??
9. Find a way to get the trans dipstick to fit around tub
10. Exhaust
11. Heater core hoses
probably lots that I'm missing but that's the main stuff I need to get done.. I'm so ready to get this thing back on the trails!
 
Also does anyone have recommendations for a new battery for my Jeep? Not trying to spend too much money on a battery but am definitely wanting something fairly decent.
 
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