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The Descrambler Project

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Redmond
State
OR
Wow! Missed your updates! So awesome to see this on the road! Your work is amazing, as I’ve said before.
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
After a little more than a month driving it, it is starting to be a pretty decent driving car.

I have rebuilt the Power Steering Gear, installed a Vibration Damper, and took care of some little issues that arose as a result of driving it.

Working with Isspro to get the Tach to work, hopefully the fix they gave me yesterday will make that happen. All the rest of the gauges work great.

I've gotten the Tranny to shift in a usable manner. TH 400's are known for being slow to shift when cold and this one is too. I hold the trans in 2nd gear until I get above the RPM's needed to shift it then shift it manually. It works.

Once the entire car is warmed to operating temp the trans shifts normally. Remember this trans doesn't have a Vacuum Modulator. It has a Mechanical Modulator Stop (no vacuum) so it shifts based solely on RPM's.

A/C is charged and will freeze you even in the direct sun with the open top. That system worked perfectly as soon as it was charged, thanks Vintage Air.

I have about 400 miles on this car now. It is pretty decent to drive, a bit bouncy but my wife didn't complain so it can't be too bad. The ride will smooth out even more after the top is on and the bumpers and other armor are installed.

Things are going well and the car is starting to live up to my expectations, which is a good thing considering the amount of work I've put into this project.

Randy
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Well the DeScrambler now has 1000 miles on it. Still some minor issues to resolve but it runs great and goes down the road nicely.

Got the O/D to work but then found out the gearbox was already in O/D so I am stuck with 2100 rpms at 65 MPH which doesn't do much for the Fuel Mileage. I just filled it up last week and it was 18.78 MPG which was up from 17.5 mpg on the previous tank. I am finding that the engine likes to be pushed harder which gets it up on the boost a little faster, and thus better mileage. Will need to change the gearing eventually, but that is down the road a ways.

It is starting to cool off around here and so installing the top is looking like the next project. It should go pretty fast, however getting the fibreglass doors to fit right will be a long winded project. They have got a long ways to go before they are done.

More coming.

RandyIMG_1375.JPGIMG_1376.JPGIMG_1377.JPGIMG_1378.JPGIMG_1379.JPG
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
You'll notice all the pics above were taken on a nice warm sunny day about a week ago.

It ain't nice and warm and sunny now and it is time to move on to the Hard Top Install.

the other day I got the top down from it's hanging roof storage place where it has been for the last few years. I lost track.?

I realized along time ago it was going to be a project to install it in a professional manner so it didn't leak or move around.

I had originally had it attached to the body with 8 "Draw Latches" 6 bigger ones holding it to the body and 2 smaller ones holding it to the Windshield. I had also figured out that it wasn't going to work like that so I have been cogitating on how to best attach this thing.

On a steel body there are 8 bolts that attach the top to the body. There is threaded holes in the body to accept the bolts which go thru the flange on the bottom of the top.

Problem is that drilling and tapping the fiberglass body is not exactly what I want to do as it is very easy to screw up and not easy to fix. I also don't know how solid that scenario would be as the thickness of the top rail of the fiberglass body varies. I have also considered using "Thread Inserts" but need to look deeper in the McMaster-Carr book to see what would work right. I don't have access to the underside of the top edge of the body as it is enclosed by the inner tub of the body.

The idea that came to me in the shower this morning was to fab some metal strips out of 1/4 thick Aluminum, similar to the Best Top Belt Rail Soft Top Mounts that would be attached to the body and then threaded to accept the hold down bolts thru the top. I could use a 1/4-20 flathead screw every 6" or so to anchor the rail to the body and spread the load of the top out over the entire length of the top of the body @ 60"

More thought on this project is in order.

I might add that the main reason this build has taken so long is that it usually takes longer to figure out what to do than it takes to actually do it.

Here's some pics of the top just sitting on the Jeep.1478.JPG1479.JPG1480.JPG1481.JPG

Randy
 

jammer1

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
Maple Hts.
State
Oh
Looks good. Like the grey windshield frame/hard top with the white body. Aluminum strip mounted inside sounds like a good idea to spread the load (inside wall doesn't seem as strong as the outside wall).
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
LOVE the color combo you have working on this thing!

Yeah; all the outside armour will be PC'd Hammertone Gray lik the roll bar.

I will try to advance this project a little more today but my shop went from a pleasant 80 F, to a Tomb in like 3 days. Makes my bones ache!

Note how the current pics look like the original concept. Part of the reason why I have been able to keep this project going for so long is that I had this picture on the wall of my shop and was always working towards that end. Albeit "Slowly!"

Randy

Scrambler 085.jpg
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
Yeah; all the outside armour will be PC'd Hammertone Gray lik the roll bar.

I will try to advance this project a little more today but my shop went from a pleasant 80 F, to a Tomb in like 3 days. Makes my bones ache!

Note how the current pics look like the original concept. Part of the reason why I have been able to keep this project going for so long is that I had this picture on the wall of my shop and was always working towards that end. Albeit "Slowly!"

Randy

View attachment 77680

You could print and sell that as art. Love it!
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Well I've got the doors mounted. I have a small hiccup with the strikers on the latches but have the fix figured out and will be ready for paint on them soon. Must figure out the paint for the top as well.

moving right along now that the weather has warmed up a little.

Randy1536.JPG
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
I have driven this Jeep alot now (@1200 miles) and have figured out how to drive it on the street. Like many diesel cars it takes a lot more throttle than you would have thought. As long as you don't baby it, it warms up relatively quick,,, 15-20 minutes! after it is warmed up thoroughly the tranny shifts like it is supposed to and the engine pulls the car along just fine. It is NOT a Hot Rod!, but it will keep up with traffic, as long as you are not shy with the gas pedal. It rides nice and the seats are absolutely heaven. Once the doors are finalized and the cab is closed to the outside it should be pretty comfortable to go places in. The A/C and Heater work great. Still alot of vibration I have to deal with more effectively, but as soon as I find a larger Vibrodamper that will fit it will be fine.

Still haven't taken it offroad yet as it needs to be totally reliable on the street first.

Making good headway, and will get back in a while with another update.

Randy
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
OK, sorry I haven't been around lately but the doors are finally painted and installed. The thing has 1650 miles on it now and runs down the freeway at 65 mph just fine. Engine running at 2100 rpms will do 70 but that is the top end for sure. Pretty comfortable inside with the doors on and closed in. still have to make Weather Stripping for the doors and that should quiet it down even more.

Here's some current pictures.

1567.JPG1568.JPG1569.JPG
 

designerRob

CJ-8 Member
Silver Member
City
Allen Park
State
MI
I think those doors with the 2 sets of glass are so cool.

I always thought it would be a great design feature for those fiberglass doors to allow the top part of the door to fold over to allow for easier storage in the back of a CJ.
 

W.R.Buchanan

Legacy Registered User
City
Ojai
State
CA
Here's some more pics of other stuff today.1572.JPG1580.JPG
Incliniometer so you can tell when you are going to Roll. Eliminates much anxiety. It's a tilt meter from a Sailboat.

Temporary Carpet in the cargo area so my guns and other stuff don't slide around.
1577.JPG

Randy
 
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