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The Descrambler Project

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Randy: The cowling was bowed down in the center when the body came out of the molds. They put the drill template on it and drilled the holes like it was square. The result was the top edge was bowed down about 1/4"! Obviously the windshield would never seal like that so I jacked it into position with that piece of all thread. Now the top edge of the cowling is flat.

Then I transferred the hole pattern which now are bowed up about 1/4" in the center to the new dash panel which should hold the cowl in position after the all thread is removed.

Randy
 

Polarfire

Jeep Aficionado
Lifetime Member
City
Columbia
State
MO
Looking good Randy! Glad to see an update!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G850A
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Haven't been over here in a while. The DeScrambler is getting closer to being drivable. The wiring of the car has been a complete nightmare. Got 9 months in it already, but am getting down to the short strokes now.

Once I figure out how to wire the Chevy seats so the Airbags don't blow up I'll be able to lay the carpet and install the seats.

The Dash Board is done and ready to install as soon as everything is done behind it. All the instrument panels are done waiting for final hook ups and once complete all that is left is to make a new Pittman Arm and Drag Link or one good Saturday.

IF you go over to here there is over 1000 posts and pictures of this build. Over 229K views over there!

https://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?5310-Here-s-the-Descrambler

So go have a look it's worth the trip.

Randy
 

CJ7Pilot

18436572
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
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City
Yuba City
State
CA
Nice! :thumbsup:

I spent several minutes trying to sign up as a user, before I figured out that I must have signed up already at some point in the past....

I reset my password, and spent a while looking over your thread. That's quite a project, and it looks beautiful!

Interestingly, I bought my Scrambler out of Ojai about three years ago from a guy named Darrell Jones, who was using it as a ranch truck for his orange orchard. It's come a long way since then (condition-wise, not so much distance-wise)!

By the way, are you still producing your portable reloading press? That looks like a fantastic tool for guys like me who don't have room for a dedicated reloading bench! Right now, I use c-clamps to lock down my rock-chucker when I want to use it.

Cheers! :cheers:
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Nice! :thumbsup:


Interestingly, I bought my Scrambler out of Ojai about three years ago from a guy named Darrell Jones, who was using it as a ranch truck for his orange orchard. It's come a long way since then (condition-wise, not so much distance-wise)!

By the way, are you still producing your portable reloading press? That looks like a fantastic tool for guys like me who don't have room for a dedicated reloading bench! Right now, I use c-clamps to lock down my rock-chucker when I want to use it.

Cheers! :cheers:

The Hand Press is going strong, just sold another one today. The Press is the ideal tool for anyone wishing to reload, but short on space. You aren't giving up anything as far a quality or usability.

Don't know Darrel.

Randy
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
OK guys, Haven't been here for a real long time, like last September! The DeScrambler is now Licensed and on the road. Still lots to do.

It came out of the garage under its own power July 3 2019 in the evening.

Now I am fixing stuff that isn't right and pushing on towards fabbing the bumpers, tire carrier, side armor, and then on to mounting the top and doors.

Here's videos on YouTube from last week.



Once again the full build thread is over at www.4BTSWAPS.com. https://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?5310-Here-s-the-Descrambler

Come have a look, it is somewhat different than what you are used to seeing.

Randy
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Been driving it alot the last few weeks, probably got about 300 miles on it now. Still can't get the Speedo and Tach to work there is an electrical malfunction there somewhere.

The major problems I have are the three gauges and the O/D not working. I think it may be stuck in O/D but I can't be sure until I find the gremlin.

The Gauges have me baffled.

The thing drives nice but definitely needs a Steering Damper to calm down those huge tires. I've gotten the Tranny to shift alright when it is up to temp.

Seats were a good investment! They are so comfortable it is criminal. The soft leather combined with the Vibrations of the 4BT yield a nice massaging action while driving. Thinking about charging for it.

Lots left to do,,, I have to build bumpers and a tire carrier as well as a sliders for the sides. then mount the top and doors permanently.

But at lest it is drivable now.

Randy
 

Belizeit

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
City
River Ridge
State
La
I went back over some of your build but missed what seats you went with. Great looking build.
 

ag4ever

Average Nut
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City
Richmond
State
TX
Looks like GM seats. Look similar to the ones in my '04 DeVille. Might be from a Tahoe though.
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
I went back over some of your build but missed what seats you went with. Great looking build.
Seats are 2005 Yukon Denali. All the motors work but the Heaters are very complicated to get to work and they probably won't ever. They need a computer and a control module and some black magic to work. You can't just power them up with a switch like I have installed my my dash. There is so much to it it is not even worth going into it. Some Engineer at GM was looking to justify his position on that one.

Randy1418.JPG1419.JPG
 

Belizeit

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
City
River Ridge
State
La
Thanks for the response. They bolted up to your jeep brackets without much trouble ? Your cabin area really looks nice ! Actually the whole build looking great.
 

ag4ever

Average Nut
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City
Richmond
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TX
I would not trust the stock brackets. Need something substantial as the seat belts are integrated into the seats.
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
Awesome to see this on the road! Sadly, because we moved to the new forum software all the people that I am sure were following this thread didn’t get the notification about the update. Hopefully they’ll visit and find it for themselves soon.

So very cool and such amazing work you put in :bow:

(All that’s to say don’t be discouraged about a lack of replies)
 

ag4ever

Average Nut
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Silver Member
Lifetime Member
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City
Richmond
State
TX
I forgot to add, great build and looks like a real fun driver. Bet that thing would climb a mountain with the 4bt.
 

Kim Dawson

CJ-8 Member
Member
City
Molalla
State
Or
Seats are 2005 Yukon Denali. All the motors work but the Heaters are very complicated to get to work and they probably won't ever. They need a computer and a control module and some black magic to work. You can't just power them up with a switch like I have installed my my dash. There is so much to it it is not even worth going into it. Some Engineer at GM was looking to justify his position on that one.

RandyView attachment 74843View attachment 74844
Any problems mounting the seat to the floor? No problems with seat to wheel clearance? I've got seats from a 2002 Tahoe I'm planning on using but wasn't sure how they would fit. Good to see it done. Now I know why the seat wiring went back up under the dash. Guess I can forget about that seat warmer, too. Seats look great in your CJ.
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
No the seats were not a bolt up easy job!!! They were a complete PITB! I had to modify the floor to install them. The seat bases are integral to the seats so you have to use the GM bases or none of the motors would be there,,, each seat is a complete unit. I was only able to use one existing original Hold Down, the other three on each seat were fabbed by me. Here's a pic of the Drivers Seat.
1337.JPG

Here's a pic of the Passenger Seat.
1338.JPG

You can see the mounts I made, and here's a pic of the floor Modification I made to allow them to sit flat.

696.JPG
The seats are physically bolted to the top of the body mount plate on the Left and Right Rear drilled and tapped 1/2-13 as these are the seat belt anchors, on the Front Outside of both seats there is a 1/2" Tee Nut fiberglassed under the floor as well as on the Inside Rear of both seats. The front inside of both seats have a 3/8-16 Tee Nut from the underside. So there is three 1/2" Grade 8 bolts and one 3/8" G8 bolt holding these in place.

Please note: The floor was very close to the floor of a Steel Body. I had to make the mods shown to accommodate the seats which were a somewhat tight fit. The Drivers seat is right up against the inside of the door Jam, and there is about 1.5" on the right side from the Passenger Seat, don't ask me why? The Floor was then closed up and all fiberglassed over for reinforcement. The final touch was a Layer of Dynamat covering the whole Floor and Firewall. This all took weeks to months to complete.

I ran a hot wire to each seat from Switches on the Instrument Panel thinking I could figure out which pin in the plug energized the Seat Heaters. Short Version is none of them energize the seat heaters. The Computer under the drivers seat controls the Seat Heaters by way of 2 smaller door mounted Control Panels, and there is also alot of smaller mysterious things involved. Airbags, seat occupied, key on or off, size of your bum, how you're holding your mouth, and the list goes on.

There is alot of videos on Youtube about how to hook these up and none of them know what they are talking about! If it was that easy they would have been hooked up. The schematics that are available are completely useless.

In the big plug for the seats only two wires have to be hooked up for all the motors and Lumbar Support Pump to operate. The large Black Wire is the ground and the big Red Wire is the power. They are located diagonally from each other on opposite ends of the plug and I used 1/8" Female Spade Connectors to connect to the pins in the plug. The heater power wires were heat shrinked to terminate and are just floating.

Then the last thing was laying the carpet which was designed to fit a CJ 7/8 it was not even close and required a bunch of hacking and cussing to get to fit,,, OK,,,. I stuck it down in Strategic Places with 3M Double Stick Tape in case it ever has to come out..

It doesn't look too bad, but I have to say Carpet Installing is not my Strong Suit.

Randy
 
Last edited:

Kim Dawson

CJ-8 Member
Member
City
Molalla
State
Or
Glad you took pictures. Would be a good how-to since so many of us picked up donor cars with the LS engine and have these seats. Do you have a body lift for some extra clearance or stock body height? Are you happy with the seat to steering wheel clearance? Thanks for sharing this.
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Kim: This Jeep is completely built from scratch. The only Jeep part on it is the Grill. Nothing about this car is Stock or even very close to Stock it is pretty much 100% custom designed and built by Me..

The body is held on in it's position by 7 mounts which are Attached to the frame and have 1.5" diameter polyurethane bushings like the ends of Leaf Springs. They were designed to isolate the body from the Engines Vibration, and they leave a little to be desired in that department.

605.JPG

There is three of these down both sides of the frame and one in the center of the Cargo Compartment to support it.

The Frame was designed and built by me also and bears little resemblance to a stock Scrambler frame beyond the overall dimensions.

The body is mounted so that there is clearance above all the machinery so technically it is not "Lifted."

The seat to steering wheel clearance is fine, and there is plenty of room to get around it while in the seat and the Steering Column also has a tilt feature. It is from Flaming River. The seats also have all the motorized adjustment functions so you can put them pretty much anyway you want. however they are all the way down and all the way back right now. They fit me perfectly and that's about all I cared about.

If you follow the link in post #186 it will take you to the whole build thread at 4BTSWAPS.com there are hundreds of pictures and complete dissertations on how and why I did virtually everything I did on this build. It has over 250,000 views and climbing. Lots of people watching this build.

Randy
 
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