Project Special Reserve

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Did you use the old "jack stands and low range" lathe?

It doesn't spin the wheels and I don't have anything else that's 5x4.5 bolt pattern anymore. So, nope. Honestly I should have taken pictures of what I did. It's not as bad as it sounds, but I opened them up far enough that they're lug-centric instead of hub-centric.

I'm just pissed I didn't check them first because we were so sure they were KJ wheels. It wouldn't have been hard to do it right in the mill.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Also, my MP241 JK tcase doesn't fit worth a shit. Floor surgery it is, I think... Which means I need a seat first so I know I'm not making it impossible from that aspect.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

So the MP241 doesn't fit, even an XJ NP231 doesn't fit. The clocking of the TJ transmission is what's causing the main issue, plus that I installed the transmission pretty high in the tunnel as part of trying to keep the engine high. I think I have four options.

1. Cut the floor (I've already done this, it was rusted anyway), install as is. I don't think I can make any of the seats I have fit right if I do this. I also don't think I can run any type of long arm setup other than radius arms if I do this. It's free, I have to patch the floor either way.

2. Redrill the tail housing on the NV3550 to the lower clocking position that is used in the XJ/MJ (and actually everything else, the YJ/TJ were the weird ones). I've never done this but lots of people do. What I don't know is if the finished result is really great, there isn't a lot of meat left between the sets of holes when you do this. I've never heard of any failures associated with doing this, but I have almost zero experience to this type of tech info now as it is all on FB. You could weld up the old ones, but that's a lot of dicking around. On the plus side this is free.

3. NWF or similar clocking ring. Clock it down to the normal XJ/MJ position, or even a bit lower. Seems easy. $120 shipped, that's not much more than a cup of coffee in this economy.

4. NWF Ecobox/NP205. Clock it where you want. It won't fit worth a shit either, but at least it's cool. Also really heavy. I have both the big parts to do this.

[Scoobienorth]

After running different Jeeps, and being somewhat against long arms, the tj/Cherokee arms Are to short so I’d leave better long arm options open. I’d lean towards the clocking ring as the go to with the eco box second place option. I like the doubler options but I think for most of bc wheeling you don’t need that much gear aside from hardcore snow wheeling.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

After running different Jeeps, and being somewhat against long arms, the tj/Cherokee arms Are to short so I’d leave better long arm options open. I’d lean towards the clocking ring as the go to with the eco box second place option. I like the doubler options but I think for most of bc wheeling you don’t need that much gear aside from hardcore snow wheeling.

Yeah, the XJ suspension has way too short of arms. It was their first crack at that setup, and it worked fine at stock height and for what the figured dweebs who buy station wagons would do with it, but it's not so good beyond that. I think they just hit Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V with it on the TJ to save money on R&D. I left my last MJ on short arms, and even with the 3.5" lift it sucked. My XJ is a weird hybrid so it doesn't really count, but the arms are flat enough it's okay. I don't want to do either of those things on this one, and I know I won't be able to keep it at stock height (and don't want to).

I'm worried about the seat situation too. If I can't keep the seat low enough I will run out of headroom. Which is dangerous, and annoying to drive.

I'm also worried about the overall weight creeping up with what is going to be a lackluster engine in regards to power. Which is definitely an argument against the doubler. The argument for it is that you have lackluster power and a manual transmission, so it might be really nice.

Has anyone heard of any failures of the redrilled tailhousings?

[Scoobienorth]

I haven’t heard of failures and again limited experience with that setup I’d be nervous. That stuff isn’t that heavy and with the flex the older unit body Jeeps have can’t help

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Another video of basically zero technical content, poor editing, and gags that aren't funny:



Takeaway is:

-The JK MP241 transfer case really doesn't fit, but that's a combination of issues. I'm probably going to drill the transmission tail housing to the XJ/MJ clocking, since it's a TJ trans, and then live with however that works out. This will wait until the next time I pull the engine/tranny back out.
-I have to work on the front axle/oil pan/suspension before getting hung up on anything else.
-I don't remember how I was going to make half this project work.

I have decided (after changing my mind about 8 billion times) I will proceed with the Ford HPD44 I have. I am short some brackets and crap, but I ordered some stuff from Ruffstuff. I'm a little disappointed to see TMR now makes all their brackets as "full baller" style with random "bling" holes and "racecar speed" shapes cut out of them everywhere. If you're into that it's cool, I just feel it's a bit much for a 140HP turd. I think I can do a 3 link in the front and put the upper on the passenger side, and still get the exhaust in if I run it straight down (or a S bend basically) from the turbo and under the starter. I don't want to do the stupid setup I did in my XJ with the front axle moved so far forward, so I'll run fairly long links that come off the tranny crossmember.

I should post some pictures but there's honestly nothing really to bother with.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

This is what looks like will fit for front suspension.

I'll play with it a bit more to make sure the numbers are actually right.

Does anyone know if there was ever an updated version of the 3 link calculator? I think the 4 link version wound up living on until V4.0 or something, but it seems the 3 link never got updated. Most of the links to them are dead now, which is unfortunate.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Stupid story.

The rear slider window in this thing is screwed. There's a piece of plexiglass in it instead of one of the panes. I was planning to actually try taking it apart and fixing it, since they're just flat glass and you should be able to get one cut, and failing that look for a replacement. However, all of this was while knowing there is currently a new production replacement available, so if you screw up or it doesn't work you can always just order that.

Well, one of my Comanche friends (they're like real people but I've never met them, and all we ever talk about is how great some obscure Jeep truck from the 80s is) informed me there is only 6 of those windows left in stock anywhere, and the manufacturer had changed the lead time on new ones to infinite. I panicked. $680 later I have a new window on the way.

Since their remaining 6 windows sold out they've now said they're going to do at least one more production run.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I started making a new crossmember for the tranny/suspension.

So obviously I'm not going to attach it with just the two bolts per side as was done in an XJ application. The Comanche is actually a bit different in it has brackets on the inside of the frame that allow for more attachment points. Those brackets won't fit anything I'm going but there is more attachment points.

I plan to use the following locations below:

Conveniently I have a viewing window where the floor was on the driver's side. The three captive nuts on the bottom of the frame rail are stock crossmember mount locations because there is two places it can go. I think I'll drill these out to 7/16 as the threads are pretty bad in them as it is, they're M10x1.5 right now. On the side of the frame there is two pairs of M10x1.5 captive nuts, I think I'll leave them as M10 and pick up on them. The holes through the top flange also had M10x1.5 studs in them originally, they obviously disintegrated with the floor, and I plan to put a strap between these (along with the two layers of metal that make up the floor and the hat channel of the frame) and weld in some 7/16 UNC bolts.

Too me this seems like enough places to attach and spread the load from the tranny/3 link crossmember, but I'm open to input. On this side it's easy to add more captive nuts, I have a lot of access right now. The other side might not need the floor cut open entirely, but it's not in great shape (the hat channel has to come up at least), so it's not the end of the world if I should cut it open and add a few more.

Also, the rust in the frame looks way worse in the pic than it is. Parts of the floor are still stuck to it, and there is rust powder on clean metal. The frame itself is fine, well, it needs a little cleanup, but it is structurally fine.

Thoughts?

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

So I forced myself to make a decision and ordered tires and bought some wheels.

They're 285/75R17 Toyo M/Ts because well, that was what I could get in this size. Was going to go milder but not much stock for anything. I think they'll be fine for what I'm doing. The wheels are some discontinued Ultra Motorsports in 5x5.5 bolt pattern. I think they're kinda neat but I guess people didn't like the colour so they stopped making them? Whatever, got a deal on them because of that, but if I trash one I'm screwed. I'm tempted to track down a 5th since there seems to be some stock in some places, but at the same time I don't think I care, that would be a problem long in the future.

Hopefully I will now actually work on it.

[Snowracer]

i like them wheels and will look great with the patina paint you got going on