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1980 CJ5 Renegade. 6-258 engine, Howell FI, T-176 four speed, 300 transfer with Terra Low 4:1 gears, Dana 30 front with ARB air locker, AMC 20 rear with one piece axles and welded axle tubes and an ARB air locker. Both differentials running 3.73:1 R&P's. Onboard air, Warn 8,000lb. Winch- - -
2003 Jeep TJ "Rubicon" with all the Rubicon goodies, Terra-Flex 3" lift, adjustable track bar, sway bar disconnects, LED headlight conversion, Quadratec 9000 winch. - - -
1963 Willys CJ5 with a 134 ci F - head, three speed T90 tranny and a Warn overdrive. - - -
1949 CJ-3A. My latest acquisition and favorite plaything.
We have talked about it for several years, and everytime we start having fuel problems at high altitude or going up a steep incline, we swear that by the following year we will have EFI! The plan was to do a junk yard EFI conversion, but we decided that it would be a whole lot quicker and easier to just go with a Holley Sniper. They just recently came out with a 2 barrel model which is much better suited for a AMC 304 .
I won’t go into a whole lot of detail since 007 recently did a great write up on his 4 barrel Sniper install. Pretty much the same thing, but smaller.
With the EFI installed, it was time to set up the fuel supply system. Since the problem that we have been having the past few years while in Colorado were apparently caused by the low atmospheric pressure at high altitude causing the fuel to boil in the fuel lines, we decided to go with an in tank fuel pump. That way the entire fuel supply system will be under high pressure thereby raising the boiling point of the fuel in the line greatly.
The setup that we used is a “Tanks Inc.” PA-4, putting out 67gph and 100psi.
We decided rather than try to purge all the fuel vapors from the old tank to avoid blowing up our shop and myself, (don’t ask how I know this!) we would just start out with a new tank and save the old one for a future project.
I figured out where the fuel sump and fuel gauge sending unit would fit, marked the hole, and had at it with the body saw.
With the hole cut, I clamped the retaining ring to the tank and marked and drilled the bolt holes.
Once all the cutting, drilling, and grinding were done, I put a few cups of laquer thinner into the tank along with a magnet and swished the tank back and forth. I repeated this process several times until there were no metal particles sticking to the magnet.
I tacked welded the ring (after completely drying and purging the tank), and mounted the fuel module.
The fuel pump module will not fit through the access hole we made in the floor, but the fuel lines and the electrical are accessible. In order to avoid a major problem requiring dropping the tank out on some remote trail due to a fuel pump problem, we created a redundant system employing the original fuel line port on the fuel gauge sending unit. The fuel lines from there have rubber fuel line hoses that are capped off. The brackets for a high pressure external pump are ready to accept the external pump, which will be carried in our off road tool box. The bypass line from the internal pump will serve either pump. The wiring is a weather proof quick disconnect that serves either pump. The switch out, if ever necessary, will only take 5min or so.
The steel that I used to make the floor plate was too thick to run through the bead roller to duplicate the ribs in the floor, so I set the steel in a vice with the jaws spread just far enough to allow a piece of pipe to fit through while I pushed down with the shop press.
Several times last year, the clutch bell crank fell off while off camber. We decided to convert to a hydraulic clutch. I used the master/slave cylinder from an early 80's CJ7 .
First thing that I did was to make an adapter plate to mount the slave cylinder to the bell housing.
Next thing was to locate the hole for the master cylinder. From under the dash board, I measured to a point on the clutch pedal arm that allowed for the proper amount of stroke on the master cylinder. I then removed the screws holding the fuse box and moved it slightly to the left in order to remove the pedal. Once this was done, I was able to use a small drill to drill a pilot hole. Then, using a large step bit, I was able to drill the hole from the outside.
I made a rubber gasket to keep any water from entering the cab.
I purchased a shoulder bolt at the local hardware store and drilled and tapped a hole in the clutch pedal swing arm. I then locked it in place with a jam nut.
I initially plumbed the system using a 3-AN braided hose, but the clutch released kind of slow. So, I switched to 4-AN fittings and hose and the clutch engages much more smoothly.
With everything that we have been putting on our Jeep, space is getting tight. The slave cylinder is only a few inches from the left exhaust pipe. I wanted a little more than just exhaust wrap protecting the slave cylinder, so we made a heat shield.
Once the heat shield was in place, I also wrapped the pipe just to make sure.
It all looks great good job. Looking forward to hearing how you like the FI. I'm sure you know this but be sure you change out all the old rubber fuel lines to FI ones.
84 CJ7 4 banger-owned since new in 1984 bought off truck at dealership - rebuilding 258, T176 with Sniper EFI D300 4:1 Lomax gears Twin Sticked 1 piece axels with locker
It all looks great good job. Looking forward to hearing how you like the FI. I'm sure you know this but be sure you change out all the old rubber fuel lines to FI ones.
It all looks great good job. Looking forward to hearing how you like the FI. I'm sure you know this but be sure you change out all the old rubber fuel lines to FI ones.
We haven’t posted much to our build thread lately because we have actually been able to enjoy the Jeep for most of the past year without doing much besides putting gas and oil into it. But a few weeks ago, that all changed. There are some obstacles in Moab that we would like to try, but we need a little more ground clearance. So, after talking with some of our Colorado/Moab partners in crime, we decided to do a 4” YJ spring under conversion to replace the very worn out 2” lift that is on it right now.
Let the fun begin!
Last year, PistolDave showed up in Colorado with some really nice triangle anti kickback shackles on his Jeep. I liked the idea of having some sort of safety device to prevent the shackles from flipping backward and breaking the spring, so that’s the way I wanted to go. Until I saw what they cost! Off to the steel yard to buy some flat stock! PistolDave was kind enough to send me some drawings so that I would not have to design ours from scratch.
I cut the first shackle by printing and cutting out a pattern, then tracing it onto a piece of ¼” steel plate. Once I had the first one made, I drilled 1/8” pilot holes where all the bolts would go.
Once the first shackle was made, I could clamp it to the plate and trace it, use my hand drill to mark the holes, then cut it out with a plasma torch.
After making the rough cut with the torch, I used 3, 1/8” drill bits to align the 2 pieces, clamped the template shackle to it and marked where I had to grind using a white paint pen. It only took about 5 min. on a bench grinder to have a nice looking shackle. Then all that was left was to drill out the holes to the proper size on the drill press and paint them.
I made my own greasable bolts. Couldn’t see paying $15 to $20 each for something made in China. Just picked up some grade 8 bolts at the local farm store, and drilled and tapped them.
I also made some small grooves in the bushings to provide for better grease distribution.
The YJ springs required moving the front shackle hangers about 1 ½” forward. The hangers sold by most of the 4x4 stores were only held on with 2 bolts the same way the original hangers were (unless I went with the billet one$) I liked the idea of 3 bolts on each hanger, so that’s what we now have.
FRONTS
REARS
The old front spring U bolt skid plates would not fit since the CJ front springs are 2” wide and the YJ springs are 2 ½” wide.
I traced the skid plates from the rear since they were the correct size, and transferred the pattern to the plate.
I made some relief cuts in the plate in order to make bending it easier. Once bent, I welded the cuts closed and smoothed out the bottom.
Nice job. I think that you will like the ride that the YJ springs will give you.. Much ean on the back. You did good to make your own greasable shackle bolts. I had some come with a set of shackles that I bought and they were almost as soft as aluminum.
