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TJScrambler - Getting Started

certifiablejeep

Definitley Certifiable
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City
Bedford
State
NH
First, TJ stands for my daughters initials, not a TJ, although I am sure people read it and scratched their heads.

Second, I got around to carving out a space in the workshop, getting the Matkins frame on jackstands and laying out all the boxed up parts for the suspension... I got going on some of the shackle parts installed with poly bushings/lube, etc. It is one of the last RE 4.5 kits that were available before the re-org (although now I understand it is owned by Transamerican Auto Parts/4 Wheel Parts) and finally those axles are out of an 86 CJ7 with a Dana 44 rear. This will eventually sit on 35's and run 4.10 gears with ARB lockers. I have rebuilt a T-18 out of a Ford Bronco and will mate it to a Dana 300 with a 4:1 kit in it. Right now the engine is going to be a 258 with the eventual hopes of finding a decent 401 to stab in there.

So far, not much, but it should continue this weekend. Been a year in the making just to get to this stage... now it is just time and money... and finding a tub, oh yeah, and having another little one running around in September... so I guess that means I need to build ANOTHER scrambler for her as well :)

http://www.certifiablejeep.com/images/TabsScrambler/page4/large/IMG_2955.jpg

cb
 

jak inc

I H8 RUST!
Lifetime Member
City
Merton
State
WI
Looks like a nice start!:thumbsup: Is your daughter working on it with you? My daughter has been working on our Jeeps and other small projects with me since she was two years old... she is four now. It sure is fun watching them learn.
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
She has been out in the garage with me, but she is just under 2.... I have 13 years to get this done ;)

She was "helping" the other day put together the crib for the new little one. I ended up missing a screw driver and 3 bolts... later to be found on her person and in her room! Too funny.... "Did you take any bolts?" No... No... No... what is this? A bolt... LOL.


cb
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
Nice... my girl is 5 and I'm afraid I'm already too late in starting hers :eek:

:popcorn:
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
This is why I started before she could even walk... I am sure that by the time she can drive, she will know all about the rig, and I might even be able to finance all of it ;)

As for the baby girl set to arrive in Septembler... perhaps a CJ6 as the next build. This way we can have a 5, 6, 7, and 8... nice and numerically in a row.

I did very little last night on the Scrambler as I had to work on the 7 to get it ready for wheeling Saturday. I hope to do more work on it on Sunday/Monday with the nice day off.

cb
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
Baby girl #2 is coming at the end of September, so I am trying to get as much as I can done before then as I know I won't have a ton of time after that... little ones take up a ton of time and energy... not to mention the $$ I was going to use on the Scrambler ;)

I have been doing a ton of work on the frame... basically since it is aftermarket, nothing fits quite right and when it does, sometimes you have to re-tap the holes, make them larger if they are pass throughs, or drill and tap new ones. I am NOT COMPLAINING, I love this frame, it is unbelievable, but, when you use beefier steel, you need to drill more.

The drill is getting a workout, as is the tap set, but it is all coming together.

I got the following done over the past few weeks:

1) Rubicon Express 4.5" lift installed with all new greasable shackles and the pontoon floater u-bolts plates. U-bolts had to be cut down to length to fit inside.
2) Billstein Shocks mounted and installed... needed to drill upper mounts (grade 8 hardware)
3) Kilby Gas tank skid plate installed with grade 8 hardware
4) HD Power Steering Bracket and AGR steering box installed - grade 8 hardware
5) HD Steering Brace installed - grade 8 hardware
6) Belly Skid with lowering kit for the eventual T18/D300 combo installed... waiting for engine install to cut and mount up everything... also waiting on torque arm and torque stud bushings for this... they should be here by the weekend.
7) Drop Pitman arm installed, HD drag link and tie rod mocked up.
8) Waiting for poly bushings to start the install of the sway bar.

So, the state of this is that it is sitting on 31" tires currently with the 1986 CJ-7 axles (D30/D44 combo)... 35" tires on 15x8 chrome Laredos are waiting in the wings, but the smaller tires on the rollers are easier to move and work on height wise. Also, this thing is definitely growing in weight... pushing it around requires a bit of oomph compared with stock framed CJ7's I have done in the past.

I found a set of Garnet Seats to go with the build up as well as receiving the wood side boards from WalkerHound (they came out amazing).

This is all just the mock up stage... eventually it will all be blown apart, cleaned, fixed, painted, etc. and put back together.

Here are some pics of what has gone on since the middle of May when I last reported inl.

THEN:
http://certifiablejeep.com/images/TabsScrambler/page4/large/IMG_2855.jpg

NOW:
http://certifiablejeep.com/images/TabsScrambler/page4/large/IMG_3034.jpg

The whole buildup thread is here
http://certifiablejeep.com/TJScrambler/tabscrambler4.php

That is it for the last 6 weeks or so, I hope to get a bunch more done in the coming weeks, but we will see how it all unfolds... everyone seems to be coming out of the woodwork to want to come and see the baby belly and we have been having to go out to visit people... and the festivities continue this weekend!.

cb
 

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
BENEFACTOR
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City
Redmond
State
OR
Looking great! Congrats on the Little ones!
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
Wow, it has been 2 months since I updated the thread.
Sad to say, not a ton was done to the Scrambler as my wife had a rough go with this pregnancy.
Tomorrow is the big due date... it has been a long time coming and we are excited for baby girl #2 to come along... can't wait.

I am sure my wife will be happy to "not be like a fat guy's beer belly" anymore. She says she feels sorry for bigger guys and is not sure how they deal with moving around with it all day... she keeps looking at me when she says that too... is she trying to tell me something? LOL.

Anyway, I hope to be back over the winter with some progress.. for all of you know, with a newborn, it will be a couple months before the energy and desire comes back!!!!

I will be around, just not a whole lot... too much do to with a newborn and a 2 year old.

Take care for now.
Craig
 

bobbysjeep

Legacy Registered User
City
Charlotte
State
NC
Congratulations! You have a good excuse to be slacking, but we expect some major progress this winter.:thumbsup:
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
Baby girl #2 came in on 09.21.11 and she is doing great... 8 lbs. 1 oz. Mom and baby are doing great... now I need to find her at CJ8... or CJ6 even!!!!

More to come, just need some sleep now!

cb
 

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
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Redmond
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OR
Baby girl #2 came in on 09.21.11 and she is doing great... 8 lbs. 1 oz. Mom and baby are doing great... now I need to find her at CJ8... or CJ6 even!!!!

More to come, just need some sleep now!

cb

Congratulations!
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
OK, been a couple months, not a whole lot of Jeep progress, but a lot of other stuff.

OK, baby girl is 10 weeks old today, she had her 2 month checkup and all is well.
She is growing well with height and weight, just like her older sister.

I spent the Thanksgiving week time off fixing up the garage with some unfinished issues that have been lingering for years... also had to clean up from the last storm, so there was a cord of wood to cut/split/stack and get the limbs/branches cleaned up and do the dump.

So, here are the garage "upgrades"

1) Compressor is relocated and air is piped into various areas so I can now use it a lot better.
I have a switch inline as well so I can turn the compressor on/off from downstairs, the compressor is up in the loft... very sweet.

2) Insulation and Sheetrock mostly finished for the work area... this has been held off until more wiring was done and now I have 3 way switches for lights and other work that I have been meaning to get to... VERY HAPPY with the additional switches. NOT VERY HAPPY with the insulation LUNG I got from being in the attic. The cough was bad for a couple days and I was wearing a mask! But it is all done, no more crawling around up there!

3) Garage rearranged and geared up for winter AND tractor converted over to "winter mode" so the plow/snow blower are all set to go and the mowing and leaf collection are stored away until next year.

So, I have a few more hours of garage work to finish up, get things tucked away and winterized for winter and then back on the Scrambler.

It is much easier with the little one sleeping in her own room and getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a clip... can't wait for a few more weeks so she is consistently sleeping through the night (fingers crossed)... this will get my strength back up to get out there and work, probably bring the 2.5 year old "helper" out as well.

Lastly, I am picking up a set of 1978 CJ-5 Narrow Trac axles this weekend so I can use the front Dana 30 assemblies to go from 5 bolt to 6 bolt setups on the Wide Tracs I have. The front Dana 30 I have on there is a wreck and all rusted together, so this is a good option. So, front axle is first to swap out and get working and then I will move onto the 4:1 kit for the Dana 300.. I will do a write up of that as well and f hopefully over the winter get the Engine stabbed in with the T18 mated to the Dana 300 4:1... can't wait!

The NT assemblies are probably nothing that anyone wants, but if you are looking for the rear brake assemblies or depending on the gear ratio of the thing when I get it, the gear setups, we can talk about that.

More info when I get it.

Craig
 

NHScrambler

Legacy Registered User
City
Chester
State
NH
I am glad to hear the new little one is doing well and that you are still finding some "Quality Jeep Time" as well.
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
Quality Jeep time this weekend was actually quality insulate and sheetrock time... my Father in law gave a hand and we got a lot of the higher up stuff done... so I can do the lower stuff on my own when there is no one around to help.... getting there and looking good!

cb
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
Garage work is mostly done until it gets warmer... sheetrock and insulation sucks when your hands are cold. All the walls are done, and the ceiling is 1/3 insulated... I will do more when I have some more cash too... kind of running low on that at the moment.

As for the Jeep...

I have the knuckles out swapped on the 1986 axles with the 1978 CJ-5 knuckles out... now I have bigger brakes, 6 bolt calipers, and 6 bolt hubs (those need to be replaced still, but they are there)

The TRE flip has been completed as well.

http://www.certifiablejeep.com/TJScrambler/tabscrambler5.php

The dashes turned out to be both sprayed, which blows for the fact I thought they were NOT sprayed, but I will end up using one and selling the other.

Aside from that, I am looking to order up some more parts next week when I get paid... I plan on doing some work on the silver rigs front steering/axle to get the locker in, TRE flip and some new hubs as well.

After that, the engine and transmission is going into the Scrambler.

Things are starting to pickup now that the little one is 5 months old. She eats more and sleeps more... thank god for small favors!

cb
 

Polarfire

Jeep Aficionado
Lifetime Member
City
Columbia
State
MO
I was just looking at my front end today and thinking of doing a Tie Rod Flip. I have a stock D30 setup. Did you order the one-ton inserts from Go-Fer-It as well as the beefy tie rod? Are you using the stock drag link?
 

certifiablejeep

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City
Bedford
State
NH
They are actually not true one tons.. but they look like it.

I had these from a while ago.

http://baseline4x4.com/p-552-180508...ends-82-86-jeep-cj-with-wide-track-axles.aspx

So, I got the normal inserts and did it that way.
I have like 4 pairs of rods/links from previous builds that could be used as trail spares in case these go belly up, so I didn't go for the larger ends.

We will see how that logic plays out, but all in all, i am happy with the beefiness of it, the space savings height wise, and the ease of installation with the whole setup.

I am going to order up a new set of everything this weekend for my sliver rig so when I do the locker install, I will do a few minor upgrades there as well.

Just need the time!

cb
 

certifiablejeep

Definitley Certifiable
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City
Bedford
State
NH
Engine is mocked up and stabbed in... hopefully picking up something cool tomorrow... more on that if all goes well and I have a new toy in tow... literally.

http://www.certifiablejeep.com/TJScrambler/tabscrambler6.php

Also, I have some new goodies for the silver rig that I have to put on the front end so I can go wheeling in a couple months... locker, new HD TRE, TRE flip kit, and hubs... that will make it a lot better on the front end of that thing... one of the old hubs won't stay locked, so I would have some difficulties when out wheeling through water or mud, it would unlock itself and cause issues.

cb
 
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