Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest banner

Lightweight, Baby!

30K views 141 replies 19 participants last post by  John D 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, after deciding to be done with the XJ and go without a Jeep for the summer.... I held out for three and a half weeks before finding something new.

In my defense, it does align pretty close to what my future goal was:
CJ7, LS base, stock or 1/2 ton axles, 33” tires, clean frame, clean body and able to drive.

As purchased:
5.3L/4L60/300.
Long tube headers with dual 3” Flowmasters.
D30 front and D44 rear with spool.
Fiberglass tub, fenders and hood.
Clean frame.
Gray vinyl wrap.
Newer Bestop seats front and rear.

Issues:
Needs tuning.
Brakes work but pedal goes to the floor.
Steering turns much more right than left.
Wiring is a mess inside and out.

Goals for this one are:
Something my wife can drive.
Dependable daily driver for summer.
More time driving than upgrading.
Fun and fast-ish
Sand will be only off-road.
Maybe 1/2 ton axles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
See less See more
#52 · (Edited)
I guess it has been a bit since I updated... Mostly we just enjoyed it for the summer and drove 2500 miles, it was a blast. I did not have any breakdowns or unexpected repairs to make so that was nice. We went to the dunes three times this summer and had fun but those paddle tires always leave me wanting more HP. They do okay and all but another 100HP would really make them work.

I never could get the brake pedal to come up and due to available time I went ahead and bought a CJ power brake conversion kit. The price was reasonable, the fit was good and I had it installed with brakes bled in less than two hours. I also moved the battery from behind the rear seat to under the hood. I also swapped out the cowl hood for a stock hood.

Beside paint, I have a few things I would like to do this winter if time and money allows... I’m trying to finish my son’s CJ build this winter too, the goal is to have his on the road in the spring.












Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#56 · (Edited)
Working through a few improvements... the previous owner had installed a YJ tank which functioned for the LS swap but had some issues.
1. It was a really tight fit between the CJ frame and didn’t look like it belonged there.
2. The original YJ fill/vent lines (opposite side) were capped and new lines were drilled into the tank... the lines leaked if the tank was over half full.

I picked up all new stock 15 gallon metal CJ tank, skid plate, straps and sending unit then reworked the lines to 3/8 feed and 5/16 return with a new Walbro 255 in the tank. I also installed some bulkhead power connectors to pass thru. The space to use on the sending unit is limited but it all worked out pretty good and I’m happy with it.

Edit: the fuel lines on the last pic are temporary for testing. The lines will all have AN connectors.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#57 ·
Wiring harness... I started out thinking I would make a couple minor improvements including switching the ECM from passenger to driver’s side along with adding a relay center. This project quickly spiraled out of control. It looks like the previous owner purchased the harness somewhere but the quality of workmanship was really poor. I am honestly shocked this thing ran all summer with no issues.

Problems:
1. No regard for circuit design on the pink wires.
2. Deadheaded wires poking out of the harness and covered in tape.
3. Butt spice connectors everywhere that were not properly applied.
4. Wire nuts used as connectors.
5. An excessive number of relays with no regard to design.

I spent a couple weeks off and on with this “quick project” but it turned out really good and will be reliable.

I just need to mount the ECM and tie in the relay box but the relay box is part of an overall wiring upgrade for the entire car.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#61 ·
Lol. I’ve done a couple harnesses and actually find it pretty satisfying. It so different from the work I do everyday it fills a mental void for me. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m no genius. There’s no way I could do this without help from the lt1swap.com website.

Hopefully that pays you back with a summer of no oddball issues that ruin your weekends at the dunes.

I hope so too... As I was working through the harness uncovering each mess it became apparent I would be screwed if it ever had an issue.

I didn't look at it. Pics are way to big for my screen.

Weird, I uploaded the same as always using Tapatalk. Maybe check it out later on another device, it’s pretty spectacular [emoji53]



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#63 ·
I just ordered this transmission cooler and I’m planning to mount it against the firewall below the battery. I’m looking for experienced opinions on whether it would work better in a push or pull configuration. Thanks!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#66 · (Edited)
Finally got some time to get back to the wiring. The original under-dash harness was in really rough shape plus it was the older version fuse panel with glass fuses so I started over with a newer one in good condition. I mapped out all of the engine control wires not needed and used them for the LS control wires (OBDll, CEL, TCC brake relay, ECM on/crank, etc.) so every wire runs through the fuse panel rather than just pulling them through holes in the firewall. It turned out really clean and can’t wait to get the dash put back in. Hoping to get the Jeep and LS harnesses ties together this weekend.

Also, I finally found a decent set of YJ half-doors too. I’m pretty stoked about having these.

Start of under-dash wiring...



Finish



Picked this up on Amazon for less than $400 with a supply of consumables. It cuts 1/4” nice and clean.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#72 ·
Still working on putting this thing back together and making some good progress. The LS harness redo was a success - it starts and runs! I ordered a full set of PRP seats that should be here in another 3 weeks or so and then I need to build a cage. Plenty of little things to do still in the mean time.

I was able to get the fuel gauge working in the big speedo cluster then started messing around with the temp gauge. The temp gauge acted like it would work and I started thinking it would be pretty cool to be able to use the stock gauges to keep the retro CJ look. So I ordered a temp sender, an oil sender, oil gauge and a couple metric/NPT adapters.

Well, the temp gauge/sender is working as expected but I cannot figure out the oil pressure setup.

I have been using the Morris 4x4 tech page on CJ gauges as my reference.

https://www.morris4x4center.com/jeep-knowledge-center/CJ-Gauge-Troubleshooting/#

When I hook up the gauge the needle goes to 80 psi as if the terminal post is grounded.

According to the resistance chart I should see 240-ish ohms between the sender body (ground) at 0 psi (engine off) and the terminal post but I am actually seeing 6 ohms. I tried a second sender and get same results.

I checked the temp sender from the body to the terminal post and it reads 300 ohms cold as expected.

What am I missing here?







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#73 ·
Pics below are temperature sender vs. oil pressure sender. When compared to the charts on the Morris 4x4 page the temp sender is measuring as expected but the oil sender is not. Two different oil pressure senders are showing the same...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#74 ·
Man, this place is active all of a sudden!! Like a lot of others, I miss the old forums. Anyway, some updates... been spending most of my time the last couple years helping @JeepHeap and having a blast building the Taz :)

I gave up on my idea to run the stock CJ gauges. I had the fuel indicator working for a little while but it stopped and I switched to Autometer Classics for the oil and temp.

Found some nice YJ half doors, put it mostly together, bought the Genright cage/dash stantions, built a cage and added some nice PRP seats with harnesses.

The cage needs to be tied into the frame, wiring cleaned up a little and another 100-150 WHP would be nice but it’s a lot of fun and I’m enjoying driving it.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#77 ·
It’s a street and dune toy so cam and converter are on the list for sure but I need to do more research to see what I want/need. That won’t happen before next winter though. I need to focus finishing my son’s Jeep and tying up the loose ends I mentioned. It has plenty of HP for the street, the HP upgrades would be for running paddles on the dunes.... even little paddles like mine are serious HP suckers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#78 ·
The back of a fiberglass CJ tub leaves a lot to be desired... okay,it’s just plain ugly but not a lot can be done. I found a guy selling actual size Jeep letter decals and Amazon had the CJ7 and Jeep badges available so used them fix up the rear some. It’s not awesome but it is better. I also did the side while I was at it :)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#82 ·
How about a mural? Maybe a sunset, or something wicked cool like that. :D :D

Or maybe an aluminum panel with some bead roll to give it some texture?

The back of a fiberglass CJ tub leaves a lot to be desired... okay,it’s just plain ugly but not a lot can be done. I found a guy selling actual size Jeep letter decals and Amazon had the CJ7 and Jeep badges available so used them fix up the rear some. It’s not awesome but it is better. I also did the side while I was at it :)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Top