Retitled: 83 Scrambler resto-mod finally gaining momentum

[4miles]

so.. I have my hands on a 22 gallon aftermarket tank (the new one in this pic).. riddle me this, why does it appear to be about 50% smaller than the factory small tank?

I have heard some not so good things about the aftermarket tank. That is the factory 20 gallon tank you have and not the "factory small tank". It would clean up rather easily being plastic and you should be able to get the rollover checks from a seller on ebay.
Rollover checks on ebay

 

[Bushmaster6]

thanks 4miles... feel like a lotter winner today then because I had a local lady bite on my CL ad to sell the urethane tank so, some cash back on that one, and now I don't have to worry about having the "small" tank.. I guess I've driven this thing so little that, every time I put gas in it, it only took a small amount and I ASSumed it was the standard size.. I can tell you I siphoned a fair amount out of it and was thinking "damn, thought this thing was less than half full???"..

thanks for the eBay link.. when I pulled one check valve to inspect it, I dropped part of into the tank so, will be replacing that..

now I'm wondering what farmer Bob had rigged up on those bulkhead bolts....

 

[4miles]

Filler and vent hose

I also saw your other thread in the want section for the filler hoses. You should have the longer filler neck and be able to purchase the hoses you need. The way I understand it, the 81/82 are about impossible to find for the 20 gallon tank with the shorter neck.

 

[Bushmaster6]

I also saw your other thread in the want section for the filler hoses. You should have the longer filler neck and be able to purchase the hoses you need. The way I understand it, the 81/82 are about impossible to find for the 20 gallon tank with the shorter neck.

yeah I figure if I don't re-used the existing (working, but some cracks showing), it won't be too hard to find some similar sized hoses via NAPA, et al

 

[Bushmaster6]

running list of stuff I'm looking for

posted a running "want ad" in that forum here

as ad states, looking to see if some members might have extra stuff kicking around vs me paying full retail.. and some of it is "nice to have" or "hope to have one day" vs more immediate needs.. PM me with sale offers

 

[Bushmaster6]

spent about six hours on (Super Bowl) Sunday pulling more stuff apart.. figure I'm about 90% there getting it ready to separate the tub.. dash, windshield, steering column, pedals, and body mounts to go..

pics:

don't think this was a factory option:

and this is the GOOD side of the duraspark

 

[Bushmaster6]

here are the uglier ends of it:
you may recall that this CJ reportedly had an engine fire before I owned it (lots of evidence to suggest it was true), to include, possibly... the melting of all the protective goo inside this down onto the fender well

and here's the dry rotted and corroded plugs... to its credit, the thing still ran/started EVERY time!

 

[Bushmaster6]

starting a different thread in tailgate-talk to discuss this:

 

[Randyzzz]

I didn't think there was a good side to a Duraspark unit!

Good progress! I remember that stage....

 

[Bushmaster6]

posted an endorsement of forum member Charlie V here

cheers

 

[Bushmaster6]

update for this week (so far)

ended up buying the above YJ and had it delivered (flat bed.. no front axle makes driving hard) to my driveway.. unfortunatley the flatbed crew loaded it ***-end first so, they had to put it nose first into my parking spot.. not a big deal, but going to make pulling the engine/cherry picking a tad more complicated..

pulled a few more things off the CJ.. pics don't show final progress but it's now down to just the tub, sterring column, dash, pedals, and heating assembly (drivetrain still attached to the frame)

the pictures always seem to make this rig look worse than it actually is.. much of what appears to be nasty brown rust in the photos is really just discoloration in the first person.. I've been amazed and fortunate as I've taken this thing apart at how little cancer I've found.. just behind hinges and under the roll bar pads, and even then, it's just flaking.. not swiss cheese at all.. the frame is all solid with a few spots of surface rust

 

[Bushmaster6]

working as fast as I can to get rid of this

my wife's back home for a few weeks.. glad she is because I'd be feeling extra pressure to get this mess out of the driveway:

discussed in another thread, but bought this primarily for the engine, with the hope of picking a few other useable parts off it and re-selling the rest..

compression testing (version 2): ran the engine to operating temperature, did a second set of tests.. good news: compression built quickly and was bang-on consistent across all six cylinders.. not so good news: it was 140 psi across the board.. I have no FSM/Haynes for this, so some internet researching showed me it should be higher, but that I was also "doing it wrong".. I had only allowed each cylinder about 3 strokes to build pressure..

I went back out and tested two cylinders with 5-7 strokes each and both built to 150.. again, compression built fast and was consistent (at least in the two I re-tested). The motor continues to start quickly and run (relatively) smoothly, but it's got a cracked intake tube and a FUBAR header (I can count at least two cracks.. I think the exhaust must have been slammed in the rollover). No blue/black smoke, and nothing leaking so.. I think it's going to be a keeper. It's definitely going to need some cleanup so I"m now shopping CL for a used cherry picker and an engine stand so I can do some pre-install tune up, gaskets, accessory painting, etc..

 

[Bushmaster6]

operation reclamation

paid 1200 for the YJ, pluse 65 for the tow truck delivery.. after I figured out the motor was a keeper, I started my Stacy David impersonation (round 2) and started pulling anything and everythign I think I can part out of this or re-use in the Scramber.. there are some odds and ends that will be nice to just steal over to the CJ8 (ie: little stuff like axle vent tubes, a rear view mirror, etc..)

empty barrow of parts

truck full of crap:

dirty seats (yikes):

end of day 1: barrow full of parts and an empty truck

 

[Bushmaster6]

current assessment of YJ

had a few disappointing finds as I disassembled which may negatively effect how much I can sell/make back on it:

+ tub appears to be in great shape
- tail gate, hood, fenders, front flares, and grill are all damaged
- "family" roll bar is bent down in the front (where the windsheild is caved), probably repairable, but lessens the price
+ half doors look excellent
- upper half doors fabric is good, but internal frames bent in rollover
+ soft top only has two small rip spot and is in generally fair condition
- the internal soft top hardware was damaged in the rollover so, not going to be a "plug and play" for a prospective buyer
+ complete carpet kit in decent condition (black) that needs a power washing
+ has a Bestop fabric spare tire cover
+ four serviceable aluminum wheels
- only one good tire (new/spare)
+ seats only have a few wear spots/rips but they're pretty dirty.. bleached them once already, may do a round 2
+ has an underdash A/C unit that looks complete

 

[Randyzzz]

Ya know, even though the body parts might be damaged, there are some who would be happy to give you a few bucks for them, because theirs are even worse! I sold a pair of cut up somewhat tweaked YJ fenders for $100.00!

 

[Bushmaster6]

Yeah Randy.. didn't take a picture, but these are more CRUMPLED.. I've listed a parting out list on my local CL and by midnight last night (about an hour after I posted it), I had four items "spoken for" for folks that want to come over today and buy.. I'm selling (at what I think is) cheap so (except for big items), trying to move stuff and get some cash back.. I'm hoping that trend of interest in the little things keeps up..

are you working reverse shifts these days? you've been doing alot of night-owl reporting lately

 

[jerseyjeeps]

Not the first time I have seen an International Harvester washer bottle in a Jeep....The mold was exactly the same.

Nice Build! I wish we could start with a CJ8 tub that nice out here in the rust belt.

 

[Randyzzz]

are you working reverse shifts these days? you've been doing alot of night-owl reporting lately

No, just seems the days are so full that the only time I have to reply to posts is late. I've always been a night owl, anyways. I can get on the 'net at work, but I really don't like logging in there.

 

[JeepnBlake]

Snag that YJ floor heater duct too, nice upgrade to the CJ one.

 

[Bushmaster6]

thanks for the tip Blake.. probably a few more things that I"m not aware of to pull..

JerseyJ: I read your post and thought "mold, what mold? the only mold I saw was on the seats! Oh... thaaat mold."