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82 4bt build

Hey gaducker,

I went wheelin sunday and did notice that I have more turning one way than the other. I haven't inspected to find the problem, but I'll let you know if it's the new gear box or not as soon as I find out.
 
Took the jeep out to Harrah OK, because we were told by the local Red Dirt Jeeps club that it was an awesome spot. Huge let down. The river level was higher than normal, but I don't see how it being lower would have made it any more fun. There were some trails in the woods with a couple mud puddles which leaded to a dead end. I hate going through mud for nothing. Then we went along the river and crossed it in some spots, but it was just cruising around with nothing neat to see or fun to do. My buddy took his crawler and while searching around found a group of RDJ members at a mud hole and kept telling him to go through it. He wanted no part of it because of the clean up not because his high horsepower big tired rig couldn't handle it. They tried coercing him to do it like 12 year olds. It was pretty annoying to hear about. We finally met up by the river and decided to head to an offroad park.


As we were heading to the next place I noticed my buddy was not behind me anymore. I turned around and saw him on the side of the road, but blocking an entrance to a senior living housing edition. He couldn't get his truck to start and we needed to move it soon since he was blocking a lane of traffic plus entry and exit of the housing edition. I hooked up my jeep to his truck and as I got in to pull him about 150 yards to a long driveway I was curious if my jeep was even capable of pulling his rig. I kept it in 2wd and just started off like normal and to my surprise that engine pulled his setup like nothing at all. If felt like the engine didn't even know it was back there. Bummer for my buddy, but best part of my day.



So that killed our day and after trying a few things we found out his spark plug had backed out, breaking the coil pack, and arching off to fry his PCM.

So I have dealt with brake issues for a while now and I had planned on replacing the MC or the calipers soon. Well I almost lost the jeep when driving my buddy to the parts store. We were heading down hill and the lights turned yellow at that point where you don't know whether to brake or go for it. Well I decided to brake and I couldn't slow down enough. I locked up my back tires and we slid in to the intersection. Luckily no cars decided to go since my jeep was coming in hot. I just down shifted, laughed, and kept going. We were both having a good laugh about it, but I knew that could have been way worse. I did some research and picked up a new master cylinder and when I put it in I'll give an update on that.
 
I forgot to mention to you guys that I went to my assessment course for Combat Controller (CCT). It's basically a week long "interview" where they beat you down physically and mentally and see if you really want it. Not many people know about Air Force special tactics (special forces) like CCT, SOWT, TACP, or PJ, but it was an intense week. We did a lot of ruck marches, running, swimming, team events, individual events, and a bunch of calisthenics. 24 guys showed up, 13 made it to the end and 7 were picked. I was one of the 7 and the oldest guy that made it at 29. Now for the next year I'll be here in Oklahoma waiting to go to each of my courses. I have a selection course in Nov, then I'll have air traffic control school, jump school, survival school, and then Combat Control school before finally getting stationed in Florida. It will be nice to come back home between all my courses to see my wife and work on the jeep. The attrition rate for the entire training is 80% usually. Tough stuff and I'm going for broke!

The most intense training we did was called "drown proofing". You had your feet tied together and hands tied behind your back and then you entered the pool. For 1 minute straight you have to "bob" which is sinking to the bottom of the 10 ft pool and then jumping back to the top. Then you float for 1 minute face down and you time your boyancy bounce to take a breath. After that you have to travel 50 yards. It's pretty tough tied up. Once that is done you have to do 10 bobs, then you have 5 attempts to do a front flip at the bottom of the pool, 5 attempts to do a backflip at the bottom, and finally 5 more bobs and your finished. There is no practicing the event. They teach you the basics and throw you in pretty much. It was more mental to stay calm and deal with being uncomfortable, but I made it through with minimal issues. Looking forward to more training and seeing what I am made of.
 
Changed out the 78 Corvette master cylinder for the 86 K30 MC. If you ever use the 86 K30 MC make sure you check to see which one it is. There were two to choose from and one needs a long push rod and the other needs a shorter one. I got the wrong one the first time. It has a deep hole instead of a very shallow detent. The new MC works a lot better for stopping the Jeep and those 37's, but I need to bleed the lines again, because it's still not where I think it should be. Sometimes it has pull pressure and feels great and most times it's lacking.


I've decided to build a center console. I haven't seen anyone that built a center console around a standard shifter. I mocked it up with cardboard and I'm positive that it can be done. It will just look a bit goofy as if it had one of those tuner cars short shifters. The plan is to weld in 1x1" square tubing structures and use aluminum to make cover plates. That way I will have easy access to everything underneath it if I ever need to open it up. I could also make a couple different top designs and replace them easily if I don't like how it is. I just want to install speakers in the forward area and the marine audio deck in the middle. I will probably add cup holders too.


I mess around with painting the hood with hammered black rattle can. I like the look and might just spray the rest of the jeep because the red is damaged and has surface rust starting on it. The plan is to drive up to my dads in Illinois to show him the jeep which he has never seen in person and to have him spray it for me. We have a paint booth setup in his garage.


I ordered my roll cage dash tie in mounts and intercooler. I hope to feel a difference in performance with the intercooler.
 
I like the idea of a custom console. :thumbsup:

The black hood adds character to the red. :wave:
 
Not really a full console, but this is a riser I built for the shifter in my CJ-7. I started with a cardboard mock-up like you're doing. I built it out of 16 gage sheet metal.

 
John N said:
Not really a full console, but this is a riser I built for the shifter in my CJ-7. I started with a cardboard mock-up like you're doing. I built it out of 16 gage sheet metal.

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That looks nice! I just got my metal in today so after I get back from Vegas (olympia expo) then I'll start working on the console. I'm excited to have cup holders! ha Never know how valuable they are until you are without.
 
Been MIA for a bit. Just been messing with the jeep here and there. It's a daily affair with that thing. There is always something to do it seems. Now my goal is to create a tolerable in cab noise level for highway driving. It seems that when I out the hardtop on I created a speaker box for the engine so now it's louder. I've looked up all the main things about sound deadening and researched every single product mentioned. I feel as though no single product will do enough so I'll be throwing more than one at it, but keeping it in budget. I bought some foil backed jute from an upholstery shop. Cost $50 for two rolls of 50"x6ft. I'm also going to buy an outdoor rug from lowes/home depot to lay over the jute. I want to get the jute and carpet all the way up the firewall and I might even go in to the cowl area. I'll see how this does for noise. Once I decided to bedline the jeep I'm going to use some Al's Heat and noise reducer. People seem to like it and say it's a knock off of lizard skin. The only bad reviews I've read say it goes on too thin. Well maybe that it so but it also says to layer it a few times. I plan on mainly applying it to the front passenger area. Then I'll add a bedliner over that. I'll do each thing individually and give you guys a decibel reading to compare. Was going to drive the jeep to illinois this weekend for a family benefit (uncle has cancer), but I'm not sure the wife will stay married to me if she has to deal with a 12 hour drive in the jeep. So we will probably take the subaru. I'll get to the carpet stuff when I can and update you guys as soon as I figure it all out.
 
I measured the Db at idle in neutral and I'm at 77Db. I took a reading at highway speed and it was 90-92 where I sit, but at full throttle against the windshielf it got to 97. I checked OSHA standards and here is what they have for exposure time per Db. 8 hours for 90Db, 6 hours for 92Db, 4 hours for 95Db, 3 hours for 97Db, and 2 hours for 100Db. My goal will be 80Db at highway speed.
 
AllxHeart said:
I measured the Db at idle in neutral and I'm at 77Db. I took a reading at highway speed and it was 90-92 where I sit, but at full throttle against the windshielf it got to 97. I checked OSHA standards and here is what they have for exposure time per Db. 8 hours for 90Db, 6 hours for 92Db, 4 hours for 95Db, 3 hours for 97Db, and 2 hours for 100Db. My goal will be 80Db at highway speed.
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Getting my hood to stop ratteling like a chipper shreder made alot of noise go away. I cut 3/8 fuel line and glues two pieces at the radius on the hood so when it closed it pinched it and glued two pieces where the hold downs are located Stope the continuious vibes in the center of the hood right away.
 
gaducker said:
Getting my hood to stop ratteling like a chipper shreder made alot of noise go away. I cut 3/8 fuel line and glues two pieces at the radius on the hood so when it closed it pinched it and glued two pieces where the hold downs are located Stope the continuious vibes in the center of the hood right away.
Click to expand...

Nice I'll have to give that a try. I won't be making any major trips with the wife if I don't cut down this noise. Driving it daily gets annoying as well at times. I'm looking to buy a Dodge 2500 6bt Cummins now. Might as well stick with the same engine company since I like it so much.
 
So the expensive sway away shocks can't hold up to the weight of the front end so I'm just going to go back to basics and put some leaf springs in the front again. I'd honestly like to go back to stock axles and smaller tires, but with training and not having an extra vehicle to drive I'll just outboard the springs for now and maybe get waggys axles when I get a chance to throw under the jeep. If anyone wants to trade some 44 front and rear for some 3/4 ton axles I would be very interested. Sucks spending all that time building the 4 link only to have the shocks not be strong enough and I don't want to spend a lot more money for coil overs. So leaf springs and sell the old setup and I should be good to go. I leave for training in 2 weeks so I won't be doing much to the jeep I imagine.
 
You have already invested so much time into the 4 link, and as you said, will be leaving for training soon, so not going to be driving to jeep...

Maybe let it sit for a bit. Maybe price out some FOA coilovers. You should be able to find a coilover that will bolt-in in place of the air shock.
 
Was it you that had this jeep listed on Craigslist? We spoke through text about, glad to see it on here! Nice jeep!
 
Roman said:
You have already invested so much time into the 4 link, and as you said, will be leaving for training soon, so not going to be driving to jeep...

Maybe let it sit for a bit. Maybe price out some FOA coilovers. You should be able to find a coilover that will bolt-in in place of the air shock.
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Yea I drive it daily have bigger axles and tires do not make it a great DD. Sometimes you gotta go big before you go home. ha. I already traded my axles (plus money and wheels and tires) for a 86' CJ7 Dana 44 rear and Dana 30 front. Both axles are the best of the CJ era. I didn't pay for my axles so I didn't take a loss there. I still have my shocks and wheel/tires to sell. So I should actually end up on top as long as I sell them for what I want. Plus getting better MPG again ill be nice.
 
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