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Meet Red, my 81 Restomod Build

While I’ve got your attention- I’m thinking about seat covers. By covers I mean replacement upholstery. The passenger seat is perfect. The drivers seat is worn, as shown in the pictures. They came out of an 86 CJ-7. I also have a perfect matching rear seat.

So...stick with the factory black denim vinyl, or replace both with leather Laredo style seat covers, black with red purse straps and perforated centers.
 
Randyzzz said:
While I’ve got your attention- I’m thinking about seat covers. By covers I mean replacement upholstery. The passenger seat is perfect. The drivers seat is worn, as shown in the pictures. They came out of an 86 CJ-7. I also have a perfect matching rear seat.

So...stick with the factory black denim vinyl, or replace both with leather Laredo style seat covers, black with red purse straps and perforated centers.
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the Laredo style will look sharp! You’re doing an awesome job by the way!
 
Solved the problem of the loose brake pedal. Turns out all the rod holes were drilled to 10MM and all the pins were 3/8”. The clevis on the booster was 3/8”. The bracket pivot bolt was larger than 10MM, and the hole at the end of the pedal rod was bigger than 5/8”. Whew! What a mess. I opened the booster clevis to 10MM. I replaced the loose pins with shortened 10MM bolts and washers, lubed up with some TW25B grease. It resists grit and has an amazing temp range. B6433ABA-85C6-458E-BECA-9EE0E5BF2A52.jpegNext I had to bush the holes for the upper pivot. I had a piece of stainless tube that was pretty close. Pressed a sleeve on the pivot bolt and turned it down to size-72DEE35C-423D-48C6-8D8A-7F2F2C42D36A.jpegThen made a corresponding bushing which pressed into the opposite bracket. 816FE60A-135F-428D-A3EB-A1BD9822A562.jpegLastly, I opened up the hole in the pedal rod to 3/4” and inserted a nylon bushing with two side washers. Sorry, no pic. I also bent up a new spring. 496B1ABC-B0B4-40A9-8B3F-758828347280.jpegOnce everything was assembled, the free play due to looseness was almost nothing. Smooth operation with no binding and no rattles. I also installed the brake switch while it was easy to access. Column next!
 
Bushing the pins and holes is a good idea. I installed a new bracket yesterday, and it has all kinds of play. I think I'll take it back apart today and do what you did. (y)
 
CJ7Pilot said:
Bushing the pins and holes is a good idea. I installed a new bracket yesterday, and it has all kinds of play. I think I'll take it back apart today and do what you did. (y)
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Have fun! I ended up making a couple of trips to the hardware store, and a few hours work. Making the bushings for the top pivot was the hardest- they are so small.
 
It turns out most of my play is where the rod connects to the brake arm. I'll have to save that for another day. I've spent most of today fishing new brake lines in to place, and my patience is wearing thin.... :banghead:
 
CJ7Pilot said:
It turns out most of my play is where the rod connects to the brake arm. I'll have to save that for another day. I've spent most of today fishing new brake lines in to place, and my patience is wearing thin.... :banghead:
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I had a ton of play there. The pin on the pedal is 1/2”, and the hole in the rod should be 5/8” so a bushing will fit in there. Mine was over 5/8 so I reamed it out to 3/4” and put a nylon bushing in there, with a washer on both sides. You have to leave room for thin washers, as the nub on the pedal pin is also 3/4”. Stainless 7/16” washers were perfect as the hole is 1/2” and they are really thin but strong.F23A3064-CE6E-4221-80F9-9AA30E185ABD.jpeg
 
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Randyzzz said:
Took a week off to finish some home improvement projects- but now I’m back at it. Fitted and finalized the fuel fill and vent lines. 1 3/4” fill and 5/8” vent. Hope that fixed any slow fill issues! It will be interesting to see how much fuel this 25 gallon tank can actually hold!

View attachment 87305View attachment 87306
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Hey Randy, what filler neck did you go with? I was thinking about modifying the stock one to accept the larger hose, but a new unit might work better. thanks!
 
brentox said:
Hey Randy, what filler neck did you go with? I was thinking about modifying the stock one to accept the larger hose, but a new unit might work better. thanks!
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I purchased a universal full neck that takes a screw in cap. But the angle was wrong, so I ended up grinding off the mount ring and rewelding it. The neck needed a bit of a curve too so I pie cut it and welded that also. Definitely not a bolt-on solution, but it all fit up. I’m thinking it would have been possible to use the stock neck by just welding on an adapter for the larger diameter. Don’t know a way around fabrication on this one. But I think it’s worth it. There’s probably a pre-bent hose that would fit the bill, but I kept it simple.
 
Randyzzz said:
I purchased a universal full neck that takes a screw in cap. But the angle was wrong, so I ended up grinding off the mount ring and rewelding it. The neck needed a bit of a curve too so I pie cut it and welded that also. Definitely not a bolt-on solution, but it all fit up. I’m thinking it would have been possible to use the stock neck by just welding on an adapter for the larger diameter. Don’t know a way around fabrication on this one. But I think it’s worth it. There’s probably a pre-bent hose that would fit the bill, but I kept it simple.
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think I'll mod the factory filler neck. give my son a chance to show off his tig skills
 
Does the 4L60 use the brake light switch to disconnect the torque converter lockup? I had issues with my brake light switch readjusting itself after wheeling trips. I found if you cut a stock axle u bolt nut in half, you can use the thin nuts to bolt the brake light switch in place.
 
l not sure if the 4l60 will but the 700r4 I used in the CJ6 I use the brake light switch at the pedal, BUT I had to wire in a relay as the switch works back wards. When you step on the brake it supplies power, not cutting it off. I wired in a normally closed relay for keeping the power to the lock up and then when I stepped on the brake the power from the switch opened the relay and unlocks it. I also found that the "hot" wire to the brake switch was not "keyed on/off" it was always hot. So I had to find a "keyed" 12v source to power for the normally close relay, and use the brake to open it. How I found this out was the battery kept going dead. When I pulled the fuses to find the circuit that was caucusing the drain it was the brake fuse. Move that wire to a "keyed" circuit and the drain went away.

Just some thing I ran across maybe it will keep you from pulling your hair out like I did for about 3 weeks
 
I’m running a 4L80E but it works the same as a 4L60E. Power on with pedal depressed for the brake lights, and the exact opposite function for converter lockup. I know you can run a relay to activate the converter lockup, but I chose a simpler method. This allows both circuits to be fused and operate independently. The brake switch from an 1984 K1500 has all the electronics built in. This switch fits in as a direct replacement for the factory Jeep switch. And yes, it’s a lot easier to install with the column removed.
2E49C179-D48B-42C5-96A1-E44EB5E9A75C.jpeg
I did end up using 1/2” fine thread nuts to secure the switch- a standard nut for the back and a thin nylock for the front. I ran a tap partially through the nylock nut so the plastic threads on the switch wouldn’t be damaged. For some reason the switch didn’t come with those stamped tin nuts. Here’s an installed pic. E08A22A5-DA38-4422-990D-8E764B7A6858.jpeg
 
Nice, that appears to be identical to the 82 Monte Carlo switch I used. I also had a friend that wired his 700r4 with relays as Don mentioned above. Installation is a job I would only want to do once!
 
The switch you show may work better I used the standard Jeep switch with just the 2 spades. That switch may be made to work that way.

Wish I had known about that switch!
 
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Randyzzz said:
I’m running a 4L80E but it works the same as a 4L60E. Power on with pedal depressed for the brake lights, and the exact opposite function for converter lockup. I know you can run a relay to activate the converter lockup, but I chose a simpler method. This allows both circuits to be fused and operate independently. The brake switch from an 1984 K1500 has all the electronics built in. This switch fits in as a direct replacement for the factory Jeep switch. And yes, it’s a lot easier to install with the column removed.
View attachment 89416
I did end up using 1/2” fine thread nuts to secure the switch- a standard nut for the back and a thin nylock for the front. I ran a tap partially through the nylock nut so the plastic threads on the switch wouldn’t be damaged. For some reason the switch didn’t come with those stamped tin nuts. Here’s an installed pic. View attachment 89417
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I used a similar switch on my now sold Tan Scrambler that had a 700R4.
 
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