The Original: Project Phoenix

[OverkillZJ]

Alright, here we go. Many of you saw my insane post at NAGCA of elevinity billion views and such tracking the progress of my Jeeps rebuild. It started in 2003.

I'm pulling all of my old posts from NAGCA over into this thread, and then as the Jeep progresses I'll be adding to both threads

[OverkillZJ]

Many of you know of my plans for rebuilding a lot of my ZJ, making up for the stupid decisions I've made in the past. I'm going to use this thread as my "progress tracker pic posting thread" if nobody objects. :thumbsup:

Lets start with... where this is all being done: My own lil' tent garage. It kinda sucks to work on a wood platform, but it's nice and roomy for what I'm doing.







EDIT: Thought I'd add some picures of my "garage" workspace as well (the garage that came with the house that is, not the tent )

[OverkillZJ]

Day one was getting the rear up on jack stands, that was a project in itself as I was nervous about the stability of my plywood platform on gravel holding up under the weight on a small area. 5 hours of being extremely careful later... it was up.



Day 2 was draining the cooling system to find my coolant leak... turned out to be the stupid radiator drain cock. It had no O-Ring left at all. I decided to replace the whole part all together, since the teeth that hold it in were worn.

Day 3, got new drain cock ($4.30 at Napa) and installed... I was afraid I needed a new radiator for awhile as the hole the "cock" (haha) went into was a bit out of shape. Bent it back with needle nose pliers and I think I can get a few more years out of it... Filled the system, started it, wohoo! no more leaks!!!

Then the fun part. Pulling the rear axle... Only took 2-3 hours with the help of a buddy who was nothing short of amused of my use with the BFH when things wouldn't move the way I wanted them to. He caught on quick. Took the skid plate off to get at the drive shaft, and was pissed to find that the drive shaft as seized itself and will no longer extend or compress. It's a good Tom Woods shaft that the boot ripped off of, so I'm going to need to invest some time rebuilding that... This meant that once the whole driveshaft was unbolted, I couldn't remove it since it was stuck between the yokes. I couldn’t get the springs out either since if I dropped the axle to remove them, the driveshaft would have all that pressure against it since it’s seized. Soooo, we removed all the control arms, and the shocks, and just yanked the jack holding the axle out. It was a very LOUD thump as the driveshaft fell to the floor first, followed by the springs going CLANG CLANG. It was midnight by the way. I’m sure the neighbors will want to have words with me after a few more nights of using my 625 ft lb impact gun at midnight.





I’m not entirely sure how, but I found one of my rear shocks to be quite busted up…. It’s actually got a bent thingy. No, I don’t have 3 hands, that’s my friend holding it for me 




I was a little disappointed to see that the road salt has eaten away at my axle end control arm mounts on my Claytons long arms, and I need to press in new ones. Guess it's time to finally invest in a good press.

[OverkillZJ]

Second "big day" of working on it... Man, I'm tired, and I [img]only worked on it for 5 hours or so :crazy

The first obsitcle was one of the tie rod ends that is completely busted... damn nut just spins along with the whole joint inside the thingy majigger. I began cutting it with the sawzall, but after eating a good blade in 2 seconds flat I decided that the next owner of the zxle can deal with it.

Disassembly continues...

Here you can see the result of a good impact gun on it's lowest setting.. While trying to get off the disconnect bolts, I put in what I thought was a strong piece of metal into the whole to prevent it from spinning. Well, you can see the result for yourselves.


Now THAT's flex... the axles laying on the ground at this point, I wasn't really expecting that to happen so easily.



Oops. That hurt... MFH (medium) on the hub bolts.


I need to pull my Powertrax no-slip before selling the axle so I can use it in the HP30 I'm picking up, so the differential needed to come apart. MAN I forgot how bad gear oil smells...



My dad brought by a valentines day gift from him and my mom, haha, I felt it was appropriate to tie it to my date for the night, the ZJ! :thumbsup:

[OverkillZJ]

Nice little project you got there. You going to GSE?

Nope, GSW this year!

Probably back to GSE next year though, I chose west this year as I have friends getting married out there after the event, figured it works out well.

[OverkillZJ]

I like the tent.
:thumbsup:

Do you own a grand Mark, I DIDN'T THINK SO! :spank:

glad you like the tent, the neighbors don't like your air compressor too much :lol:

Keep up the fire man.

How warm can you get the inside of that thing? How long does it take to set up/teardown?

How much does it cost? Thanks man.

How warm depends on the outside temp... At 28 degrees and above, that 220v heater I have hanging (17,000 BTU) seems to keep it about 55 which is good working temp for me. Costs a fortune to run. As it gets colder (since it's been 5 below here a couple times this year) I start turning on more heaters... have a 16,000 BTU propane heater, two 6,000 BTU electrics, and when all else fails, I have a 30,000 BTU propane heater.

I usually just run the big and a little electric, and only when I'm in there. Costs a small fortune to heat. I think you'd have big problems heating it in alaska when it's mega cold....

Setup takes the better part of a day, it's simple but time consuming. another day for the electrical wiring, and another day for the floor my dad and I built in there.

Tent = 700 + shipping
Parts for electrical = 220
Heater = 200
Flooring = 300
Look on the neighbors faces when the tent went up: Priceless :lol:

It's definately not a portable tent... it was 250 lbs or so shipped :thumbsup:

[OverkillZJ]

I've also had my share of cold wrenching on gravel, got rather sick of it, so I built the tent. :thumbsup:

I'm afraid this weeks attention will be focused on my Audi...old 92 POS with a leaking head gasket and new tranny that I don't trust as far as I can throw it. Spent all day removing the speakers and subwoofers (to be put back in the jeep) - gonna take another few days getting it to a point were I can get a decent trade in value on it, have to replace yet another seized caliper.. I need reliable transportation to pick up Jeep parts! :smile:

[OverkillZJ]

Heck a tent would be a luxury for me right now!

Matt - you just don't know how good you've got it! Useable space

Girl scout cookies taste funny :lol:

I love the tent, it's working out 100 times better than I expected it too. What sucks is my "real" one car garage that has a busted garage door and leaks water allover the floor, and freezes into an ice skating rink. Makes it hard to get to my tools sometimes when I'm busy falling allover the place.

So, you gonna reveal your plans or just keep us guessing?

You're assuming that I have plans

Would of needed a hookup for the floor. My Dad is a maintenance mechanic at one of the mills that makes OSB, which is what you used for the floor.

$13.50 for 1/2" 8'x16' sheets. They cut those sheets into 4 pieces to make the standard 4'x8' sheets you get at the store.

No that's not a typo

You suck. I used 3/4" OSB and had to have it delivered (no truck) - I think I payed something more like $28 a 4x8 plus $35 or so for delivery...

[OverkillZJ]

Well, have some used Borla headers on the way

So what to do with the rest of my exhaust.. 4 linking the rear, so the exhaust has to end in a turn down before the arms start... My first thought was 3" cat and muffler, but I wonder if that's too little backpressure. Maybe... 2.5" cat and muffler?

Wonder how well the magnaflow muffler would sound in this system, I want it to sound pretty damn agressive and throaty. At the moment I'm running stock exhaust with a magnaflow, and its deep, but kinda wimpy.

Turn downs aren't legal here at all, so to pass inspection I'll need to make a temporary side exit pipe, then put the turn down on.

Throughts? Ideas? Thin mints?

[OverkillZJ]

I was looking at running a supertrapp when I 4-link the rear. looks like you can squeeze one in perfect back towards the rear. just another option. I've wondered why more ZJ's haven't looked at this option???

Also, if turn downs are legal are you sure side exit pipes are? I know they aren't here in WI. just thought I would mention it.

What the heck is a supertrapp? If I can get a tail pipe out the back, that would be my best option....

The PA inspection rules only state that the exhaust "must exit outside of the the vehicle chassis" - it never states rear, side, or anything of the like. Strange.

[OverkillZJ]

Looks like I'll be putting the headers on, cat and muff and just leaving it until I can see what I can do about PA inspection. Perhaps I could get buddy buddy with someone who runs a station, it's only a sticker after all! :thumbsup:

[OverkillZJ]

I added 3 pics to the first post of my work space... pics of the "real" garage with my small shop.


I need to stop these late night wrenching sessions. I finally took the no slip out of the carrier (to move to the HP30 I'm putting in) - but I killed 2 of the springs in the process. Need to get new ones. Was about to put the spider gears back in, and reassemble that axle, but I realized I'm missing one of the thrust washers... need to find the missing one... grrr...


After that I decided to start rebuilding the rear drive shaft. Boy did it need it... First off let me say "How the hell did I ever do ujoints before getting the ujoint press"? Man does it make it easy. The ujoints themselves were pretty fried. I found a bigger problem though, the rubber boot has been missing on that axle for some time, and I never thought much of it since I don't drive the Jeep. The rear driveshaft is seized at the spines, and I can't for the life of me free it up. It's a Tom Woods shaft, so I'll give them a call to see what they suggest I do. Here you can see I sanded it down to bare metal and its all nice and shiny looking. It was turning into a rust popsicle. I have the urge to repaint it gray or some color other than black... anything, haha.

I called it a night when I finished taking the shaft apart, realizing I need new ujionts as well as help un-seizing the shaft, and a new boot to boot! (yes, pun intended.)
When all was done I cleaned up nicely too!

[OverkillZJ]

Matt

Either a good amount of heat on the small portion of that DS, or soaking the whole section up to the splines in penetrating oil or kerosene should let you break it loose, possibly with the help of a BFH
John

I was hoping for a miracle fix, where I do some strange indian ritual and the driveshaft woule automatically be rebuilt and even repainted! :thumbsup:

U-joint press.......huh, what, where, how much?

Harbor Freight... $39... "3 in one service kit" - it does ball joints rather well too!

[OverkillZJ]

Wohoo! new tools! Stubby wrenches and a decent bench vice. I had ratcheting stubby's, but I'm afraid of breaking them on the stuck stuff.


LOOK! IT ROATES! Me likey...



fun...



Here's the cleaned up armed next to the matching dirty arm. Improvement?


Here you can see my stupidity at its finest... While I was trying to get the splines of the shaft apart, I knocked it off of the workbench onto the concrete floor (before I put the carpet down) and it landed on the yoke ear... Signifigantly bent. This is going to be interesting to fix...

[OverkillZJ]

I'd say today was one long freakin' day of Jeep wrenching. Got a good bit done though! :thumbsup:

Here's a pic of how I extended the steel brake lines to start below the frame rail, don't have to worry about maxing out my brake lines that way... They're rusting though, I HATE PA ROAD SALT!


Here's a pic that shows why I decided to 4link the rear. At one point, before I knew how to change a tire, I had my first lift put on by a craphole called "Pro Trucks." They assured me the clunking noise was just the Johnny Joint in the rear track bar and it would go away over time. Well, it went away over time, but because the diff bolt that was hitting it had worn away enough metal so that it no longer hit... Lying SOB's.... It was then I decided to start learning this crap on my own... So now that I consider this track bar unusable, might as well 4 link the rear, right!?


Front axle out...


Started to chop off the exhaust since I'm redoing it all. Ok, so I just wanted to hear it without a muffler again. MAN does it sound sweet. I wonder if the neighbors thought so...???


Rear axle out of the tent... lawn art.


It’s starting to look kind of naked under there


Hovercraft?


Sparks are fun.


Here I was torquing down the ring gear bolts to spec... Yes, any excuse to use the new vice...


Here's the ring gear and carrier reinstalled to spec, shimmed, and ready for the cover to go back on.


Front axle sanded down and repainted... I think I got rather high on the paint :pant:

Not putting these axles back in, just painting so I can sell the dag nam things.




Rear axle repainted....No more ugly yellow diff cover!!!

[OverkillZJ]

Started off the day by hosing down, lightly sanding, and painting the old axles again... first coat was with black primer, which looks just plain UGLY, so this time I went over it with high gloss black rustoleum... They look so good I don't want to sell them now... Someone buy the darn things





Here you can see I removed the Claytons crossmember. MAN does that thing hold some mud. There's rocks the size of golfballs rolling around in it... I'm seriously done with mud, too hard to work on the rig even a full year later :crazy:



Hmmm, what's missing here?



I decided I wanted to do something more fun, so I started "unbolting" the exhaust from the manifold... Well, bolts wouldn't come off... and this was more fun anyway. Me vs. the bolts.



I won.



Man, PA road salt should be outlawed. Seriously, it's unreal the amount of rust I have on this Jeep.... Loooong way to go...


But something good did come of the day, my new car came in! 2004 Toyota Carolla LE w/ fun options I won't bore you with here. Need a daytime pic, its really pretty... and there's something about driving 80 on back country roads with ease that the Jeep just doesn't do...

I think I'll call it "Jeep parts getter" :thumbsup:

[OverkillZJ]

Looks sweet Matt...keep up the good work!

BTW - That rust is INSANE!

I'm trying to keep up the work, but considering I'm a full time student and run my own little IT company, well, time is scarce

Jeep should come first, though, right!? :thumbsup:

And ya.... the rust sucks.... I think I'm going to do 2 coats of primer, and 2 coats of paint on everything aftermarket, since that's what seems to be rusting most...

Matt, your jeep looks almost as rusty as mine

Not for long if I can help it :jump:

lol @ jeep parts getter

maybe Part wagon.. I wish I could get a car.... I'm buying something new for a dd in aug, but I have to get a truck. I have to be able to tow. Plus then I can tow the zj back from telico too. I'd love to have a little car that'd get good gas.

I actually wanted a truck, since I'm constantly moving large things around... But the cars smarter for me now, since I'm commuting to school an hour a day. The thing gets 39 miles to the gallon, and is still rather peppy! Besides, the ride is just 10,000 times better than any truck I've ever been in. I'm turning into a pussy :pant:

Now I'll borrow my dads WJ constanly to move all the axles and stuff around I'm selling :angel:

Hoi your new car looks really nice and of course a handy partsgetter.
I really enjoy your dairi.
and keep up the good work
greets Wim :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I should start taking bets, will this thing be done and tested before GSW?

I figure I have another full 2 weeks of taking things apart before ANYTHING even starts going back on it...

[OverkillZJ]

My rig was in PA for a while before I bought it but it doesn't have a SPOT of rust on it which pleased me when I finally did the lift last weekend. No major problems with siezed bolts at all!

You're just lucky :lol:

Did you even think about POR for the rusty stuff? I'm considering it for my hitch. It was the only rusty part under my ZJ. I lucked out mine lived it's first 10 years south of the Mason-Dixon line. It was still pretty clean when I put the lift on. I did try to spray the salt off a few times this winter.

This is a neat thread you got going on. You sure have advanced quite a bit from having somebody else put your first lift. You're even tackling a gear setup. :thumbsup:

Most of the rust seems to be on aftermarket components, such as the long arms and bumpers. The axle rust was from where I scraped them on rocks and didn't immediately repaint... and also, the last time I drove it before parking it for 8 months without touching it was a wet-salty-road day... Lets blame it on neglect :crazy:

Anyway, I looked into POR15, but it likes rusty surfaces to bond to, and i like grinding things down to fresh metal to paint from scratch. I think I'll just stay on top of the touch ups this time round to keep it under control.

And as far as moving up, I couldn't change a tire 3 years ago (no joke )

although it was my second lift I paid someone to put on.. first one was a Pro Comp 3", easy, though it seemed hardcore at the time... the second one that I paid for was adding 2" spacers and adjustible TB's blah blah blah, I couldn't get the arms in and I said "screw it" - I didn't understand the BFH concept just yet...

Biggest mistake I ever made.

:spam:

Headers just arrived, I'll post pics in a few. Tomorrow should be another big wrenching day with a big update (starting after work, blah)

[OverkillZJ]

I lied. I never got to work on the Jeep yesterday, or today. Considering Mid Terms start next week, I don't see any major progress coming up soon either

Why do I have a feeling that nomatter how much time I put into this thing WELL before Moab, I'm still going to be wrenching on it just hours before I leave for the trip?

Oh well. I need to go to bed, I'm getting up at 5am to head to Krash80's to buy his old axles (TJ44 and HP30) that will hopefully suite my wheeling habbits for at least the next few years...

[OverkillZJ]

Hmmmm… What could possibly be in the box?



Oh, that’s right, noisemakers to piss my neighbors off! Picked these up for $150 shipped, couldn’t pass it up. Only thing that worries me, was that in the box they were shipped in, was a receipt from Kolak. The guy replaced them with Mike Leech headers and a full Kolak system. Just wish I knew why for sure, but they appear to be in perfect condition.


They’re Borla, by the way



Here you can see my growing collection of “lawn art” – my old ZJ axles, and the XJ axle I intended to build but never got around to. They’re all for sale! BUY THEM!



So what am I replacing the old axles with? Krash80’s (Ron) old setup. He lives just south of Chicago, and I live in Pittsburgh, 450 or so miles away. Road trip! My dad, being the good guy he is, allowed me to drag him and his company WJ along. This way I got free gas and it only cost me the tolls, which were absurdly high I might add! Left at 6:30 am, and got to Ron’s at.. I don’t remember… 1pm his time? I knew he had a nice area to work on his rig in, but DAYUM! My house would fit in his garage maybe 6- 8 times, easily! My “tent” for that matter, well, it’d fit in there many more times than that



Ron might be the only guy I’ve met yet that has several vehicles just sitting around for parts, sale, fun, whatever. I only have room for my car and my Jeep. It’s depressing I tell you! I think I’m going to go live in his garage. He probably wouldn’t even notice.



Now THAT’S a big@$$ axle… 14 bolt he’s putting in the rear-end of his Jeep. I thought I was moving up to a bigger axle, but he’s just going massive.



Here’s a d30 diff cover sitting on top of (in side of) a 14 bolt cover. Which one do you think has a bigger ring gear?




That’s a big freaking’ truck.




Now I just KNEW that I didn’t own the only ZJ Hovercraft in the US! They’re multiplying!




Yes dad, we’ll pose for the camera.



Here are the axles on my back porch, no room in my garage or tent. I’m running out of room for this project fast, LOL. Front is an HP30 w/ 4.56 that I’ll be putting my no-slip in. Considering upgrading shafts, but I like the fact that standard shafts act like fuses and prevent me from tearing the ring and pinion up. It needs rebuilt due to pinion play, but Ron supplied me with the rebuild kit, project! I have to take the carrier out to put my No Slip locker in it anyway, might as well be redoing the rest!

Rear is a TJ44 w/ 4.56, Mosers, Rubi disc breaks, Detroit locker, and what Ron says is a stock track bar mount but I'm saying no way! If Jeep ever made a track bar mount out of 1/4" steel and reinforced it like this, I'd be rather impressed! Do they...?

I was origionally planning on 4linking it, but seeing as this TJ44 WILL BOLT UP with my long arms with no more modifications whatsoever, I see no need to. That solves my exhaust routing problems as well.

[/img]

[OverkillZJ]

I love this thread! It's like my in-between, and after class Soap Opera that I follow dilligently every day

LOL, Jeep soap opera. I'd like to think my time put into the Jeep has a better outcome than a bunch of bitchy pregnant actors with no talent :lol: :angel: [/quote]

[OverkillZJ]

I love this thread! It's like my in-between, and after class Soap Opera that I follow dilligently every day

LOL, Jeep soap opera. I'd like to think my time put into the Jeep has a better outcome than a bunch of bitchy pregnant actors with no talent :lol: :angel:

Hmm....
Soap opera's and Jeeps....this sounds familiar....
:friday:

Looks good Matt.
[/quote]

[OverkillZJ]

Well, I decided it was time to pull the tcase. I’m going to be installing a “Tera 2 lo” in it, since I’m going to be locked front and rear, I have a feeling I’ll need it on the rocks @ Moab where there’s a lot more traction that I’m used to.

I did two stupid things… when replacing some of the studs when I installed the case over 2 years ago, I didn’t loctite them. So, when trying to unbolt the case from the tranny, I only got my ratcheting stubby wrench stuck there. It stayed there until the case was out. Since it’s ratcheting, I couldn’t just go the other direction… one way only… Derrrrr…..


The second stupid thing was forgetting how much fluid spews when you break the seal between the tcase and the tranny. After seeing how much began to spew, I rushed for my drain pan. Of course, with the jack in the way it did nothing. So out came the peculiarly balanced funnel! That thing ended up being duct taped in place until it stopped dripping allover my wood garage floor.



It’s out, and will sit there until I get the parts I need. It’s a JB conversions 231 HD w/ SYE for those that care.



Next was chopping up the stock exhaust, to make unbolting the stock manifolds easier. I was beginning to think that I’d have to sell my new car just to pay for the amount of blades I was going through. There’s just nothing left on there….


Yet, I’d say the saw won.



I knew I’d get some good use out of this vice! I pulled the O2 sensors, since my budget is carefully planned yet tight, I might need to run these in the new exhaust temporarily until funds recover. We’ll see where I stand next month.



Here I was killing power to the while ZJ for some work I’ll be doing soon… I rewired the Optima’s’ so they’re hard wired in parallel now, as I have them on a good gel cell specific float charger that should keep them at a perfect 13.56 volts while in storage. These will be coming out shortly for some repairs, and since I’m rewiring, well, everything.



Man do I have my work cut out for me…



Door panels would be nice too…



Here’s something I wasn’t even planning on tackling just yet. It’s my Rubbermaid wiring box. Though it was a decent concept, I didn’t organize it as well as I should’ve, and the thing holds more mud and water in than it keeps out. As usual, me rushing into a solution without planning it out well enough first.



Yet I did tackle it… all out… total rewiring time… The new wiring box will be water tight and where the stock air box used to be. Any guesses as to why?



I didn't have as much time to work on the ZJ today as I'd planned. Customers kept breaking things. Oh well, the more they break the more money I have to spend on the project :thumbsup:

Ok. Bed time. Mid terms start tomorrow.

[OverkillZJ]

And Matt you know it first get worse before its gets better.

Oh, it's about to start getting a HELL of a lot worse before it gets better... keep an eye on the updates

[OverkillZJ]

Matt-

When you put the TJ44 in, make sure post pics of how everything lines up and BOLTS IN for all the naysayers that claim TJ rears won't work under a ZJ.

BTW....when did you get carpet in your tent?

=Ron=

Ron, this is me. Do you really think that I'm going to put ANYTHING in that Jeep without taking lots of pics? :lol:

The axle installation might be delayed a little longer than I was expecting, I'm waiting on the 20 ton press I ordered, and still trying to hunt down a good price on a good dial gauge, as well as in. lb. dial type torque wrench.

I've had that carpet for awhile, just finally unrolled it
It was given to me and delivered for free, I had to use it somewhere! Makes it easier to neal than it is on concrete