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My "new" dream Scrambler

Today was my birthday; great reason to take another day off work and spend time on the Jeep. I made an appointment for noon to get the front end aligned, and in the meantime figured out which RS5000 from O'Reily's to use as a steering stabilizer. I had to do more fitting work, but got the driver's seat bolted all the way down and temporarily installed a seat-belt (I needed to pick up new/different hardware later). American Tire was impressed with my castor, which even with the SOA and longer shackles is EXACTLY the same for a stock CJ, and got my toe-in set up. That, with the steering stabilizer, tempted me to the highway: 75 mph with no vibrations and dead-straight steering. Suddenly the pissed-off oxen pulling the covered-wagon regained their vision.

I made an appointment to get tailpipes made up for later in the afternoon, and took the time to flex the suspension (by parking my right front tire on the Skinny Dodge's tire) to measure for shocks, and then headed back to O'Reily's to spend some quality time with the Rancho book. The front flexed out at 16.5" compressed and 27.5 extended, which led me to RS5286, but I had to punch-out the upper steel sleeve. The rears, which I didn't flex as much, measured 19" compressed and 24 extended, so I added/subtracted two inches from each side and went with an RS5126.

When I got home from doing the tailpipes, my roommate was out welding on the Skinny-D, so I quickly cut some shock-tabs for my rear axle from some 3/16 bar stock that I had and got the rear housing prepped for welding. He put them on for me, and after painting, punching out the upper steel sleeve for the front, and bolting everything on, we went for a ride.

PHENOMENAL! The ride with these springs is fantastic; it's at least as good as my fiance's ZJ, and definitely better than my CJ-7 with a 2.5" Softride.

No significant changes, but I'll post up a few pics tomorrow. Just spending the day driving this thing was one of the best birthday presents I've ever given myself. It's suddenly become my Jeep instead of "my project" or "my pile of parts." Everywhere I went people were stopping me to ask questions, compliment it, or just give me a thumb's up. No less than three employees at Fire & Fastener came out to ogle, and then they gave me the 1/2-20 bolts I needed for the seat belt anchors for free! The kid who helped me by fetching shocks at O'Reily's said he'd seen the Aqualu tubs in magazines but never expected to see one in real life. I had exactly ONE Scrambler owner come ask how hard it was to put on the body since he was thinking about doing something else with his. I told him it came with no holes and a NASCAR firewall, and required a LOT of drilling. Of course I recommended that he come to CJ-8.com, and he confessed that he hadn't visited in a couple years. While at the exhaust shop I had a guy in a Mercedes almost drive over me because he was staring at the Jeep. Even one girl at the coffee stand asked, "Aren't Jeeps fun"? ("it's a love-hate relationship) and the other asked, "What kind of paint is that? It's so shiney!"

I'm finally a Scrambler owner!!! AND ON MY BIRTHDAY EVEN!!!!!!!
 
Oh Yeah...that 's what it's all about. Happy Birthday, I can't think of a better birthday present. Great build, and great documentation.:birthday::cheers::birthday:
 
steering-1.jpg

Stabilizer.

flex-1.jpg

Measuring for the shocks. I didn't want to go any higher since I could already feel the suspension starting to unload on the back and it was getting "tippy," but I never lifted a tire!

tailpipe-1.jpg

I decided to have the tailpipes exit in the back behind the tires so they wouldn't get near the auxilliary transfer pump or interfere with whatever bumper/tire-carrier combo I get.

On the way to work this morning I ran the transfer pump for several minutes. It was fun to see that I had more gas in the tank when I got to work than when I left home! :smokin:

lowershock-1.jpg

Rear lower shock mount. This is just 3/16" x 2" flat bar that my roommate welded up for me.
 
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Another all-night wrenching session:
- permanently installed all four seat-belts on appropriate seat-belt anchor-plates
- installed stainless footman loop on windshield frame
- installed stainless door-loop catches
- installed stainless tailgate hardware
- installed Hella horn (not tested yet)
- filled and tested squirters
- fixed ground wire to left back-up light
- diagnosed/fixed right front turn signal issue
- changed light bulb in tach
- re-routed exterior air temp sender (for mirror display)
- re-routed primary fuel pump wire so it doesn't interfere with the fender cover
- made and installed heat-shields where I'm concerned about the new exhaust getting close to the fuel pump and fuel tank
- modified and temporarily mounted the Xenon tube-style rear fender flares (I like the way they came out, but I have more to say on this later)
- installed the Plug-Saver for the trailer wiring

Now to nap for a couple hours before my Friday morning starts.
 
Awesome scrambler. Congrats on getting it done and it's gotta be a great feeling. We are moving to the Palmer area next June, my brother in law works in Anchorage and is currently in the process of towing his Scrambler up from Montana. Again, awesome 8.

Eric
 
aluminum jeep!

AK, i got to see your jeep in person on thursday, on my way to work saw it sittin down in the parking hole, and almost wrecked trying to turn my big chevy left into that westbound entrance. that thing is sick, good job, sir!
 
I spent Thursday night working on it until 5:00ish am, then slept for a couple hours, and worked on it until 6:00 am on Friday. It's now all polished, the rollcage is totally bolted in, the Ricochet Rockers are bolted on, the body mounts are tight, and the fender flares are on. I packed the Jeep and was ready to go out to the Meet & Greet, so I slept a couple hours, showered, grabbed coffee, and made it about 7 miles before my distributor gear shredded my cam gear and I coasted to a stop. Thankfully I was near an exit and was able to get off the highway.

Epic fail. I have a nice picture of it in the sun, behind a strap.

I think my California trip is cancelled. I gotta sleep on it and figure out my next move. I'll post a fresh pic tomorrow after I've had some sleep.
 
GNPSTL said:
AK, i got to see your jeep in person on thursday, on my way to work saw it sittin down in the parking hole, and almost wrecked trying to turn my big chevy left into that westbound entrance. that thing is sick, good job, sir!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Now if I could only keep the engine running more than 85-95 miles on a cam gear.
 
Do you know where that gear came from? Was it a hardened gear from China? It's good to know which ones to avoid.

MSD and DUI have good distributor gears. Bulltear sells a gear set that should be good.

Sorry you're have the issues after so much work and attention to the details.
 
I'm already VERY familiar with the AMC cam/distributor gear issues, and I have the internal valley oil-line for the rear-main. The oiling issue with the cam gear is relatively minor, and if you've got "the problem" more oil won't fix it. When I first built the 401 I spent a LOT of time on the AMC Forum learning from the drag-racing guys how to build a 401. The oiling issue is due to flashing left on a slot in the timing gear; if you file out the flashing you'll solve that minor issue. The external oil line is a waste of time; the AMC forum had a guy that kept going through gears so he added the external line, only to pull out oil-soaked and very broken cam gears.

The issue is cam walk. When I first did the 401, my builder machined a Delron cam-button for me, and I went with a bronze distributor gear in addition to a new Crown timing-chain cover. That got me home and the engine seemed fine, until I had a lifter die on my Summit cam. So when the new cam went in, 90+ miles later, it ate the distributor gear.

I mostly order parts from Randy Guynn at Performance American Style. I called him up for advice, and he said that when Crown first started making the replacement covers, about 50% of them had incorrect specs for the positioning of the distributor. He discussed the issue with Crown and they tightened up their tolerance, and he said he's seen no others come through with the same problems. He said it's possible that I got a bad one (I think I ordered it through 4WDH), and he recommended replacing it.

He also said that the sacraficial distributor gear, while it might save bearings, isn't a long-term solution, and told me about just getting the matched new set of hardened gears each time this happens. He's also heard of guys going through two or three sets of gears before a fresh set finally breaks-in together.

So I ordered a new cam gear and distributor gear, and a new timing chain cover. I ran that for another 90 miles and had another lifter fail. After two lifter bits and a distributor gear went through the engine, I thought it would be worth pulling the rear main cap to look at the bearing. Bad.

So the 401 had a rebuild with a new cam. That set-up lasted for several years, and then suddenly a cam gear went out. 90 miles later, it went out again. This time I added a thrust-plate that sits underneath a specially-machined timing gear to go along with my cam-buttom. 95 miles later, I was sitting on the side of the highway at 9:20 yesterday morning.

I think this time I'm going to tear out the cam and stab a new one in there, in addition to checking out the bottom-end (again) and the journals on the cam. I'm thinking that maybe the lifters have worn with the cam in the wrong spot, and there's only so much anti-thrusting that will keep the cam from walking.

In the meantime, I'm going to evaluate my options for the California fiance & top trip.

Here are some pretty pics of my dead 8:

dead1jpg-1.jpg


dead2jpg-1.jpg


dead3jpg-1.jpg


spyderjpg-1.jpg


Other dumb things to get done:
- fit up the full hard and half doors
- install glove-box door
- put on new steering wheel
- wire and install center console
- wire VHF
- run antenna wires
- diagnose horn

Tonight I'm not doing any of them though. And even if I cancel my trip, I'm taking tomorrow off.
 
Reading this just made me physically ill. So very sorry to hear this man, damn. I'd say do whatever you can to make the best of the trip and try to enjoy it regardless.
 
Glad to hear you have the problem researched and have a handle on it.

I have a 360 timing cover that looks almost new, it was on my Waggy engine, a 60K Chrysler rebuild, when the crank broke. I saved the cover figuring I'd EBay it... If it's something you might need (OEM vs Aftermarket) let me know and we'll figure out a price.
 
Trip is officially cancelled.

At least my 401 has good company with the 390 in this AMX at my buddy's shop:
amx1-1.jpg


I'm waiting for Jerry with Rally Tops to get back to me on my shipping options. The school (thankfully) bought my fiance a return ticket.
 
AK,

I just went through this entire Tread, Read the high lights and of course went half blind on the pictures. I have to say what an EPIC journey.:cheers::bow: I hope the damage isnt to bad and sorry bout you trip. But man that is one HELL of a rig. Well Done, my hat is off to you.
 
T-roy said:
AK,

I just went through this entire Tread, Read the high lights and of course went half blind on the pictures. I have to say what an EPIC journey.:cheers::bow: I hope the damage isnt to bad and sorry bout you trip. But man that is one HELL of a rig. Well Done, my hat is off to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
Minor update: I was able to arrange shipping through Span Alaska for less than what Rally Tops can do with Conway Freight, and Jerry is giving me a deal that brings the top back into an affordable range.

In the meantime, I've been working on my fiance's ZJ for when she returns tomorrow night. In my April 20 update I posted a few pics of the front end with the Iceland Offroad winch bumper and front fender flares. I never bothered painting them and put them on mostly to keep them out of the Scrambler's way since they were the largest parts. The rock-rails I dropped off to get powdercoated with my CJ parts and have been kicking them around the garage for a couple months. I finally got around to painting the front, wiring the lights, painting the rear flares, installing the rock-rails, painting the rear bumper and body cladding to match everything, and last night I started hacking the rear fenders to get the cut-outs allowed by the Iceland stuff. I'll post up a thread in the "other builds" forum once it's done.
 
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