My 1982 Scrambler Project

[Pepper]

It's been a while since I updated.

Working on a few things. The wheeling season last summer / fall destroyed my gas tank skid and my steering box.

I upgraded the steering box with a box from a 1999 Dodge Durango 4wd 8cylinder. $65 from a junkyard (from a car with under 60k on it). It is a bolt up but, true to MY form, it took me forever, lol. Nothing mechanical comes easy to me but I do the best to remain patient with myself.

Got it in and WOW! Great upgrade. Steering is very tight. The Durango box is supposed to provide more steering power. I won't know until I'm on the trails next to a rock.

thought it was time for the steering box skid:





It is also time for my new 14 bolt diff cover. I didn't make this but it is a thing of beauty!! 1/2" stamped plate with 1/2" strap across the middle. The welds are amazing, so much so that the paint will be clear coat and just keep the raw look without rusting, I hope.



The gas tank skid is next, them maybe a steering box brace.

[DC CJ8]

great pics! but....a 1999 Dodge Durango steering box is a direct bolt in replacement? What about the belt driven pump??
Todd

[Randyzzz]

Nice! Is that a Ruff Stuff cover?

Looking forward to hear how the Durango box works.

[Bad Karma]

looks like "Great Lakes Offroad" diff cover. i got those on my 60s... MMMMMMM BEEFY!!

[Pepper]

Originally Posted by DC CJ8

great pics! but....a 1999 Dodge Durango steering box is a direct bolt in replacement? What about the belt driven pump??
Todd

This is the steering box, not the pump. No changes to the pump, it is still a belt driven pump. The supply and return lines to the pump are the same. Actually, they are exactly the same on a '69 Olds 350, too, because that is the engine that is in my rig, lol.


The diff cover is from Great Lakes Offroad, yup! It is awesome. I also have the 14 bolt pinion guard. It is made from 1/2" plate also!

[Pepper]

Update on the steering. Okay the Durango box is NOT a direct bolt up. The box does bolt to the frame but the input shaft on the box has a smaller diameter. It worked for a while then failed under duress, lol. After 5 trail fixes we got it on the trailer.

Solution:

Another Durango Box, then took the lower steering shaft out of a Durango and then cut both the CJ and Durango columns and combined them.

Durango on top, Jeep on bottom:


Durango on bottom:


Drilled for a plug weld, also:


Then welded it:


Tested it out wheeling at Flatnasty last weekend and it worked like a charm. A LOT more steering with the Durango box but not quite enough so . . .

More cool stuff on the way:



It was an extra $16 or so to make sure I would have it by Friday but would like to have on to test out this weekend. I have help on Friday night so wanted to make sure it was here.

Bigger items: Cylinder was only $82 and the hydraulic hoses only $10.50 each. The total, with 2 day shipping was $100 less than the trail-gear kit and about the same savings over the parts from Redneck Ram (West Texas Offroad).

My setup will be a little more booty fab but what the heck, everything else on my rig is, too, lol!

[CJ8LVR]

Originally Posted by Pepper

My setup will be a little more booty fab but what the heck, everything else on my rig is, too, lol!

I'll have to disagree there!

Nice "adaptation". It really does look good.

I'm diggin' that diff cover too a few posts up. Where did it come from?
BTF perhaps?

[Pepper]

Great Lakes Offroad, that diff cover is a beautiful thing, lol:

http://www.greatlakeoffroad.com/diff.html

Oh, and thanks for the comments. I will post up pics and info on the hydro assist. Should have it done by Friday night. Box is already drilled and tapped. A buddy of mine is helping, he has forgotten more than I'll ever know!

[Pepper]

Got my gas tank skid built:

Actually had posted this up in bigred1969's post:

http://www.cj-8.com/forum/showthread...=gas+tank+skid

but wanted to keep my projects together in this thread.


I started by using some steel strap and bending in in under the gas tank and bolting in through the crossmembers to hold the gas tank in place. Sorry no pics, just bent 2" steel strap.

Then I welded an angle iron crossmember in the back of the Jeep, welded in 5 studs that drop down from the top:


As you can see I drilled out another piece of angle and slotted the holes that would mount under the skid crossmember.

Made a "frame" for the gas tank skid with angle iron by cutting and bending it, then welded the end pieces to the cross brace, basically making a skeleton for the skid.

I bolted up the skeleton in place to the frame, then cut plate for the back and bottom and tacked them into place.

With the 14 bolt, I had to notch out quite a bit so it would not have clearance issues. I braced inside the skid with some angle to give it strength. As you can see I simply bolted it into the crossmember above the rear axle.


Actually I welded studs so when I go to install it, I slip the two studs on the front (? or rear depending on your opinion of how to describe it, lol) . . . okay the end over the axle . . . sllip the studs into the hole on the crossmember and that holds that while you simple slip the other side over the studs welded into the angle with the studs, clamp it with some vice grips and its in. Put the nuts on it and it is installed. This is SO much easier to install than the one I made for the TJ!!









All in all, I'm happy with the finished product. Some of the welds got ugly 'cause there was so much to weld I know I kept bumping into the duty cycle of the welder.

[Pepper]

Time to update, wow, it has been a while.

I never liked the full cage that came with my Scrambler so it is gone now. I have had a LOT of people climbing in and out of the back of the Jeep and the cage made it nearly impossible plus I bought a Scrambler because I like how a Scrambler looked and wanted to resemble one so . . .

Got to meet Scott Anderson down in Arkansas, great guy and we swapped some parts. I now have the full hard doors, half cab, bulk head and stock roll bar.

It made for a 3 color Jeep:



It is my intent to keep the stock roll bar, even with the wheeling I do. I turn around the back seat with the back to the bulkhead so the passengers are protected. Then I tied all four mounts to the frame. Once again, looked around the shop for what materials were laying around then figured out how to make them work:



Welded the bracket into the frame and also to the bottom of the rockrails. (That will be easy to cut if I need to remove the rockrails) and bolted it through the plates on the stock roll bar:



I also added a cross member (2x2x1/4) from one frame tie in to the other and welded it bolted the back bolts of the seat to it so the rear seat is tied in to the frame as well.

I already had frame tie-ins for the previous cage. Those were used for the back plates for the stock roll bar:



That does hard mount the tub to the frame as well. I have to say, though, with the Bilstein shocks and the 40" tires, I really do not notice much road vibration surprisingly but, over the years, I've lost site of what a smooth riding Jeep would be like, lol.

Of course, it needed some paint as well:

Sanded it:




and shot some Case Orange enamel "implement" paint from the farm store.

$23 gallon plus $10 for hardener and $11 for reducer.





The next project is to paint another hood and windshield since 5 minutes after putting this one back together I got all excited to drive and get home to see a buddy waiting for my at the house, I forgot to latch the hood. No one was hurt and I am grateful for that but, damitol!! I picked up another hood, windshield and windshield frame for $160 so, all in all, not an expensive mistake except to my pride.

After that, it is time for the front portion of the cage. I am going to build it so that I can remove the top crossmembers, etc. It will be bolted in using the billet roll bar brackets that can be found using 6 bolts. Will be plenty solid enough for my purposes.

Then it can be removed in the fall when I put the half cab hardtop back on.

The windshield hoop will remain in the cab with some other bracing and perhaps mount the seats to the tubing so front seats are tied into the frame as well.

Project after that will be freshening up the other Olds Rocket 350 I have on an engine stand. It is out of a '69 Olds Cutlass. I found out the one Rocket 350 I have in it now is from the early 70's and has the emissions head on it and it is more restrictive, etc. The good news (I talked to an Olds specialists . . . his nickname is actually Dr. Olds . . . awesome!) I have a very good performance manifold on it so that is good.

The engine in it is very tired, using oil and has a knock at highway speeds. I am pretty sure I can get through another wheeling season with it though since I am not getting out too much this year.

[Pepper]

I also addressed a couple problems others may have:

1) The previous owner cut the heck out of the rear fender wells so there was a gap between the fenderwell and the side of the tub, looking like crap and weakening the fenderwell if someone stepped on it, etc.

So, I just took some 3/4x3/4 angle and welded it in to the side of the tub and the top of the fenderwell. It is a little booty fab but it strengthened it big time. All painted black, it is hardly noticeable. (Again, my project isn't a resto AT ALL, just want it to stay solid and still look like a Scrambler).



Then I bought some 1x1 rubber angle molding (from Home Depot) and epoxied it into the the seam around the outside of the fenderwell. Bought some serious epoxy and used some self tappers to hold that all together. The space is gone and I am thrilled with the result. When someone looks closely it will look a little odd but it solves the problem and looks great from 10 feet.

2) Floppy bulkhead. All the flexing and twisting on the trails over time had caused the edges of the bulkhead to pull apart causing the side panel of the Scrambler to pull apart. I took a piece of 3/4x3/4 box tubing, welded some nuts on each end. The I countersunk the holes on the PS trailsides and bolted through the tub and with the nuts on the end, it is adjustable. If I pulled the tub in too tight when I put the hard top back on, I can just turn the bolts and space it out a little. The bolt heads are flush with the sides of the Jeep and look the same as all the other bolts holding on the sides.

Lousy picture but you get the idea . . . the crossmember is behind the seats:


It also made for a great place to mount my 10lb CO2 tank. I made a bracket (picture later) that welds on to the crossmember and the tank/bracket bolts to it. Was very solid on the first wheeling trip out last weekend.
Enough for now! Happy Jeeping.

[Randyzzz]

Paint looks great. I like the simplicity of the frame tie ins.