Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN

[spankrjs]

This is how the bracket was installed on the Grand Cherokee, the fuel lines secured below and under the intake manifold:



I bolted it on my Scrambler, it will not work. More curious then anything else. It will clear the steering shaft, I was wrong about that.



And replaced all my "soft" fuel lines, from the frame mounted hard lines all the way to the fuel rail:



Off the shelf high pressure fuel line and clamps work well, maybe not the "most attractive" method, but easily repaired in the field:



Close up at the fuel rail:



Plenty of clearance, should be no rubbing:



I ended up running my intake mounted fuel rails at an angle, down toward the back. This made the rubber lines only have to bend in one direction, instead of two, like the OEM nylon lines ran. Rear clamp holds them tight, front aftermarket clamp keeps the front of the lines from pivoting too far upward:



Lines secured tight to the frame and the intake. The "soft" lines are clear of all moving parts, and I also "sheathed" them in heater hose to protect against any potential chaffing. Plastic tie clamps are just extra insurance:



On this Scrambler, I ran the frame mounted fuel supply line down the driver side frame rail. So, very busy on this frame rail: fuel supply, fuel return, fuel vent, and rear brake line. But, it all fits, and is secure, and extra anti chaffing rubber hose installed, just in case:



Back to the fuel rail. The fuel rail uses a 3/8" connector on the supply side, a 5/16" on the return side. Both intake mounted stainless steel fuel lines are 5/16".

On the supply side, I used one of these reducers to go down from 3/8" to 5/16":



I bought this at Summit, love these things!!

Supply side, 3/8" at the rail, reduced to 5/16" to the intake line, to 5/16" on the frame mounted line.

Return line, 5/16" at the rail, 5/16" to the intake line, to 1/4" on the frame mounted line. On this one, I was able to jam the 1/4" rubber line on to the 5/16" intake mounted line, no problem or worries.

That's it for the under hood fuel line stuff.

 

[spankrjs]

Time to address the elephant in the room.

I pulled the driver side fender off to make it easier to work on the above mentioned mechanical stuff. I also puled it off so because it is starting to rust. Better to have the "cancer" come back to the Scrambler them me LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back side is 100% perfect:



Outer side started "bubbling" a few years ago. Started off small, pencil tip spots, now they are dime/quarter sized bubbles:





Besides some surface rust here and there, this is the only major rust spot on the entire Scrambler, so happy about that.

I bought these "hood louvers" last year, try to try one out:



Something like this:



Sucks to lose my decals, and I did not necessarily crave the "louvered look", but what the hell.

One important note: there is a ridge/reinforcing piece on the inside/upper portion of the fender you want to avoid:



Lot's of tape, measuring, marking:



The black line on the blue tape represents where that reinforcing part is at.

This is where I mounted it. I took notes in case I decide to install the other louver on the passenger side:



The louvers came with an aluminum mounting template which i taped in place:



I drilled two holes, 3/16", upper left, lower right:

 

[spankrjs]

Used the kit supplied screws to bolt the template down:



All clear on the back side:



Drilled 1/16" pilot holes through the template at all other mounting locations, and traced the cut out spot with permanent marker:



Removed the template



Drilled all the holes out to 1/4":



Looks good back here, cleared the reinforcement piece:



I never realized this until now: the front fenders are two pieces of steel sandwiched together, no wonder they rust out:



Drilled the corners out with a 1" hole saw:



Back side of both pieces is rusty. I used cheap hole saws, two of them, a higher grade hole saw would be best:



Pulled the fender back off, took it to the yard to let the sparks fly:

 

[spankrjs]

I used a cut off wheel on an angle grinder. Made a shallow indention on my lines first:



Then, let it eat. I got a bit off the line up top, but no big deal:



The removed fender portion:



Spread it apart, yep, rusty:







Unfortunately, no way to prevent this, unless your Jeep lives in a bubble?

I bought this stuff at Lowe's. I sprayed it in between the fender's two layers, between the two pieces of metal, the best I could. Better then nothing:



Some rust that fell out when I dropped the cut off piece on the concrete:



The remaining bubbles on the fender that were not removed when I cut a large chunk of it out:



These spots were only on the outer layer. So, I ground them down to clean metal, hit them with some leftover touch up paint:



Ten year old touch up paint LOL!!!!!!!

 

[spankrjs]

Not my prettiest paint work, but it will work. And, the louver flange covers all of these spots up. There was a reason why I mounted the louver where I did LOL:



Rust that fell out the fender when I was cutting on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Louver installed:



And the back side:



I snugged up all 15 nuts with a 1/4" drive ratchet, snug.

All the louver studs/nuts clear everything just fine. The Mopar MPI computer was closest to interfering, but it clears:



All other fender mounted things installed, no problems:



I was thinking maybe all the fender mounted junk would block the louver, but it has a pretty good clear space in front of it. Hell, might gain some under hood cooling after all LOL.

All other under hood stuff hooked up, ready for a test drive:

 

[spankrjs]

In hind sight, I should have left the decals in place. I now have a bare red spot between the back of the louver/front edge of the body tub.

Also, I could have not cut the fender out, and repaired the bubbles. BUT, I would have still lost the decals, AND the bubbles would have come back somewhere else on the fender in short order.

Not crazy about the "louvered look", but figured it was the best option.

Maybe it will reduce under hood temperatures, who knows

It really sucks how AMC/Jeep made these fenders: sandwich together two pieces of bare steel.

I guess, like people, all Jeep CJ front fenders are slowly rotting away inside over time

Better the fender then me

 

[CHIEFWAHO]

Off the shelf high pressure fuel line and clamps work well, maybe not the "most attractive" method, but easily repaired in the field:

View attachment 81831

Have you ever tried GATES® POWERGRIP SB CLAMPS?

They are a heat shrink type hose clamp. I have used them on radiator hoses with good luck and really look slick.
I assume they'd work on fuel hose as well.

https://www.wirecare.com/category/h...6-ZTKrlu0rhlQ7Pv3aOxuUrqZk2ApDtBoC0f0QAvD_BwE

 

[spankrjs]

Have you ever tried GATES® POWERGRIP SB CLAMPS?

They are a heat shrink type hose clamp. I have used them on radiator hoses with good luck and really look slick.
I assume they'd work on fuel hose as well.

https://www.wirecare.com/category/h...6-ZTKrlu0rhlQ7Pv3aOxuUrqZk2ApDtBoC0f0QAvD_BwE

They look interesting, might be worth looking into

 

[mhinchliffe]

Spray some "Ospho" in between the layers of the fender to stave off the rust. You need to convert it to something other than iron oxide. Thx for the testament on the Mastercool flaring tool. Glad it was the fender and not you! Be well.

 

[FLCJ8]

I used this when I butchered my fenders years ago:
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-internal-frame-coating-14oz-aerosol.html

 

[designerRob]

In hind sight, I should have left the decals in place. I now have a bare red spot between the back of the louver/front edge of the body tub.

First off, sorry to see the rust develop on such a beautiful restomod. But, for the lost decals maybe you could tape off and hand paint the missing decals in. You'd have to find matching paint. But I think that's what I'd do if the Phoenix Graphics guy wouldn't send you some scrap pieces to cut and fit up.

 

[spankrjs]

Spray some "Ospho" in between the layers of the fender to stave off the rust. You need to convert it to something other than iron oxide. Thx for the testament on the Mastercool flaring tool. Glad it was the fender and not you! Be well.

Thanks

Didn't think about the "Ospho". The "Fluid Film" foamed up and pretty much coated the entire inside of the gap. I kept spraying until the "Fluid Film" was dripping out everywhere. The "Fluid Film" can says it coats/prevents existing rust from continuing, we will see

Love the Mastercool, thanks Chiefwahoo

 

[spankrjs]

I used this when I butchered my fenders years ago:
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-internal-frame-coating-14oz-aerosol.html

View attachment 81902

That would probably work great, too

 

[spankrjs]

First off, sorry to see the rust develop on such a beautiful restomod. But, for the lost decals maybe you could tape off and hand paint the missing decals in. You'd have to find matching paint. But I think that's what I'd do if the Phoenix Graphics guy wouldn't send you some scrap pieces to cut and fit up.

I thought about decals over the louver, BUT the uneven surface/cut outs would make it a pain, probably would not come out right

Painting it would be the best option, BUT that would mean trying to get four colors to match: Red, Yellow, Orange, and Brown. That would be tough, and if the colors do not match well, may look worse

Still thinking about paint, though

 

[spankrjs]

Quick 30 minute test drive yesterday was successful, I didn't burst into flames, and the engine is much quieter

I forgot how quiet the engine is supposed to be while it is running with the hood up, wow

Engine seems a bit peppier, which kind of makes since, since all the exhaust leaks would sometimes trip an "O2 sensor not responsive" check engine code. Yeah, the exhaust leaks had gotten that bad

Picture of the whole Scrambler back outside:



Like I said, not super psyched about the louver, but "form over function", i.e. had to cut the "cancer" out

I think I will investigate trying to find some matching paint colors, all four, and masking off/paint the damn thing. I know it will keep bugging me

That's it for now

 

[Randyzzz]

If I was in your situation I think I'd paint the whole thing to match. Red with the tri-color decal colors. Yes, it would be a pain, but I seem to be great at finding the most difficult way to accomplish something.

 

[Craner8]

I agree with Randyzzz. Contact phoenix graphics see if they can provide you with samples of three colors. Any competent autobody paint supply store should be able to color match exactly, in spray cans. Get can of clear. Hopefully paint doesn’t lift black paint or affect powder coating, if it is. Cover side in plastic, Mask it, paint louver red to match, then mask stripes, clean with paint prep, and then paint the three colors. Cool project.

 

[barrys]

Gotta paint it. The picture looks like somebody made a black spot on their phone with a photo editor.

 

[John N]

Paint and decals....get to work Raymond.

 

[Belizeit]

Maybe something like this to fill that gap.