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Project Jevy - A sequence of events

the_midwesterner

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Evansville, IN
Hello folks,

So i figured it was about time to begin a build thread for my pile since its going to undergo yet another revision. I don't post much, but I wanted to keep track of this build somewhere. I frequent pirate more, but my rig isnt hardcore enough for a build thread there, so figured NAXJA would be best.

Anyway, technically this is my first jeep. I graduated from and work in the automotive industry, so this isn't my first vehicle. As my good buddy will point out, white98xj on here, this thing was intended to be something to put around town with, sitting on 33s and doing mild wheeling. Welll..... things escalated rather quickly...! The guys I wheel with had much larger rigs than I did, so it was just a matter of time before they convinced me to spend the cash and upgrade.

With the above statement in mind, I purchased this jeep for $700 from a guy in burbank, CA. When i test drove it, it was in the evening and I only drove it around the block a handful of times. Boy.... was that a poor life choice!! After cash changed hands and I took off on this thing, I realized none of the gauges worked. Great.... From there, I realized the jeep wouldn't go faster than 35mph on the entry ramp to the highway.. We eventually took a trip down city streets in literally the worst possible neighborhoods in Los Angeles, in a broken jeep that couldn't get out of its own way to get home.

And so the sequence of events began!

A pic the day after I bought it and successfully did not die while driving through the ghettos of LA.

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As is sits now, pics were taken on the lakebed KOH2016:

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More to continue below...
 
So after nearly dying, I pulled this thing into the garage and the work began.

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Unfortunately, this thing came with the 2.8L. Since none of the gauges worked and I smelled coolant on the whole way home, I was pretty convinced that either head gaskets were gone or some other nightmare was present. So out it came in under 3hrs. As you can tell, there was a ton of vacuum lines and some that just looped around back to themselves... wtf?!

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I started tearing down the engine and after popping the pan, I found a lot of debris and some decent gunk. I decided to go further and strip it just in case.

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Then I found this. 4 of the 6 pistons had rings that were broken into 3 pieces. To be honest, I am not really sure how this thing kept running..

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So then poor life choices were made and I decided to rebuild the 2.8, punch it out, cam it and slap a carb on it to get rid of the feedback carb crap that was on there.

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Then the modifications began:

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I rebuilt and fully intended on running the LP D30.

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Eventually it ended up like this:

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I never actually wheeled it like this, which is something I regret. At this point, I was pretty burnt out on working on it and I actually hadn't started the engine yet. So I started working on finalizing re-wiring the jeep with the replacement painless performance harness and getting the engine fired up, breaking-in the cam and enjoying the noise I was hoping this would make.

Here is a video of the engine running after cam break-in and wiring was sorted.

Engine Running Vid
 
After the jeep was running and the drivetrain was solid(ish), it was time to move onto the interior and make it comfortable.

My jeep had the porno red interior when I got it and the more panels I took off, the more nasty/disgusting stuff I found. This led me to want to just strip the interior and so I did. Once that was finished, I realized that I needed an actual dash. Since I stripped everything out, minus the HVAC box, the building began.

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So after the interior was done(ish), it was time to drive it and see what I could climb. In case you were wondering, yes, my neighbor hates me!

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Then drove it to my buddy's house to win a bet as to who would have their project done first. Decided to park on his lawn, since it only seemed fitting.

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Then realized the hood wouldn't close due to the new air filter, so I cut a hole.

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Then i FINALLY was able to actually wheel this thing. It only took 1.5yrs to get it to this point! A couple of buddies and I went to Big Bear, CA and we wheeled dish pan springs. During this trip, I didn't break anything but towed the jeep up anyway just in case. We came down the waterfall, instead of going up, and my buddy's manual swapped 4th gen 4runner made the trip no problem. I don't have video of me wheeling, but my buddy's 4runner made it down with no damage.

4th Gen 4runner making it down Dishpan Springs

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I forgot to mention that sometime between the first wheeling trip and me getting the engine fired up and running, I purchased a built TJ axle from my buddy. That thing had 4.56 gears, ARB, 35 spline chromoly axles, had a full rebuild done on it, fresh gaskets, lubelocker, and SOLID diff cover. I then cut all the TJ tabs off and welded on some TNT u-bolt eliminators. Then in it went...

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While I was in there, I also decided that it was time relocate my shocks. I cut holes through the floor and built hoops off the unibody rail, that the hoops could tie off on. This netted me some decent flex!

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Since he was upgrading to Dynatrac tons and 40s, he also sold me his Raceline Monster beadlocks that were 5X5.5 for a hell of a deal. Since 33s weren't gonna cut it, I picked up a set of 315/70R17 Pro-comp tires to mount onto those wheels. This is how it sat:

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From there, the original LP30 had 4.11 gears in it and since the "new to me" D44 had 4.56s, something had to be done. Instead of dumping money into a LP housing, I decided it was time to build a HP30. Against some better judgement and advice from others, I decided to do a full build on the D30. Gears, air locker, truss, c gussets, LCA gussets, alloy ball joints, tube seals, u-bolt yoke, etc. After much money was spent, I ended up with this.

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Then it was ready-ish...
 
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From there, I wheeled it quite a bit and kept working on the interior to make it more comfortable.

Went to big bear and did John Bull. This pic is of me waiting while a JKU with 35s and no lift was pulled off the trail after breaking a diff yoke.

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Then did Holcomb Valley

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From there we went back up to Big Bear and did John Bull one way during the day and in reverse at night. This was a pretty EPIC trip!!

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It was on that last trip, on the rock that the JK is flexed on that "technically" caused the 2nd to last revision. That rock is one of the biggest obstacles on the gate keeper to John Bull. During that previous trip we did John Bull backwards, at night. Since I was the last guy in line(due to having the smallest tires), I got caught on that rock while taking an "adventurous" line and my rocker was stuck and hi-centered me. In order to get me off, my buddy hooked me up on his winch and gave me a tug. Once I got traction, I pushed that rock down about 6-7 feet with me, all while basically destroying my passenger side rocker.

I had already wanted to replace my rockers with 2x6 tube anyway, just never had the motivation to do so. Considering my passenger front door would not close very well anymore, it was time. I tossed the idea around my head for a while and consulted my XJ bible, whitexj98 on here, and we came to the somewhat reluctant conclusion that the rockers and bottoms of the doors needed to go.

After a handful of beers and much self encouragement, this happened:

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So my original thought process was to do the passenger side first so i wouldn't have to look at it every time I got into the jeep if I messed something up. Fortunately, the passenger side came out freaking awesome! Unfortunately, I got cocky on the driver side and my gaps were not as uniform when compared to the pass side. I am still very happy with it, but I am a bit of stickler on dumb things like this.
 
great photos. you got a nice looking rig

Appreciate the compliments.

Looks good! Did you ever finish the dash?

Not yet. I have plans to make a finish plate for the center of the dash out of steel to locate everything and I want to fill in the rest with some 1/8" plastic sheets that I picked up a long ass time ago. I need to finish deciding on what all will go into the center, draw up the plate and send it off to have it cut.

Anyway, onto the rest of the build...

So I was browsing the SoCal classifieds one day and there was a guy who was looking for a "built" HP D30. Just on a whim, I sent the guy a PM and his buddy made me a deal on my built axle that I absolutely could not resist.

So out came the D30

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I also threw in every single D30 part I could find in my garage.

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From there, I found a HP Ford 3/4ton D44 that was full width WMS off pirate and got it for a hell of a deal with ARB and what was supposed to be CTMs. I never took the axle apart when I picked it up because I figured that the offroad community guys would be honest people, but boy was I wrong! The ARB was corroded to crap, the 4.56 gears were cracked and semi chipped, and no CTMs that's for sure. Worst of all, this fool decided to to bird poop weld an axle shaft together and throw it into the housing.

So, i had to change out basically everything in the axle minus the housing and diff cover. While doing a gear swap, I decided to go with another ARB, 5.38 gears and a full rebuild.

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From there, my "budget" front axle build escalated exceptionally quickly, as with this whole jeep! I ordered up the T&T truss system, but quickly realized that this truss required cutting the cast off on the driver side. I wasn't comfortable doing this, so I decided to trim the truss and then slightly trimmed the casting on the axle so that the truss would slide over the housing. I wish I would of taken more pictures during this process, but apparently I didn't. Anyway, it was kind of a pain of the ass, but I am super glad I did it this way. Additionally, this axle has 1/2" tubes, so I welded really hot beads on the truss and tubes.

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Once it was placed under the jeep and since I was in need of axles anyway, I decided to spend the money on REID knuckles, RCV shafts with 9.94 GM stubs in order to keep the 5X5.5, went with the Artec Hi-steer arm setup that matches the REID bolt pattern and also included their knuckle to hi-steer arm tie-in brackets.

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Once it was all buttoned up and everything had some paint on it, I put the jeep back onto its tires and decided it was finally "DONE".

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I was planning on re-gearing the built TJ D44 to match the 5.38s that I had up front and figured I would add a truss system while it was out. But then I noticed that the full width front looked REALLY stupid with the 63" wms-to-wms I was able to squeeze out of the rear axle with wheel spacers.

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This led me to basically convince myself that if I was going to spend the money on re-gearing an axle, why would I tear apart a good axle to spend the money on gears and setup twice? I would probably be better off pulling the axle that is in there, selling it and spending basically the same money doing it to a 1 ton axle...
 
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So, on started the journey on trying to find a reasonable 14bolt Full Float axle. I eventually found one on pirate and I was able to do a package deal for it, a winch, gears and other things. I picked it up and brought it home. I had never previously lifted or really thought about lifting one of these axles, but god damn are these ****ers heavy!!

I ended up ordering an ARB, 5.38 gears, SOLID 5x5.5 conversion hubs, replaced every seal and bearing inside the axle, and pulled the trigger on a TMR 15 bolt shave kit for it.

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So i had never shaved an axle, nor actually welded on a cast section before. However, i looked at the instructions and thought "how hard can this be?!!"...
So. Much. Harder. Than. Pirate. Makes. It. Seem...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ended up cutting the axle all cattywompus, due to a slight misalignment on my measuring.

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I didnt think much of it and decided to weld it per the instructions and fill in the holes. It actually wasn't as large as it looks and it didn't take a whole lot of filling up with weld. So I followed the instructions, had the pinion bearing carrier out and made 3 passes on the axle. Then I wrapped it and set a heater on it over night.

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Apparently, there is such a thing as too much heat on one of these axles. I say this because the next day, when I tried to put the pinion carrier back in, it just simply would not go. Mind you, I never in my wildest imagination thought that I could put so much heat into this axle that I could potentially warp the openings. Apparently, this is very possible and I did it. Eventually this led to me basically trashing the original 14 bolt axle, trashing half of a 15 bolt shave kit, but I chalked this up to a very expensive lesson learned. The worst part, I could get the pinion bearing carrier super close, but it just would not seat all the way.

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That put me back to square 1 and I had to find another 14 bolt. At this point I had already committed and had all the rest of the parts sitting in my living room. Luckily, I was driving home to Kansas for Christmas Break and I was able to pick up a 2nd axle for only $40. I LOVE my home state!!

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Then I tried this again:

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Then i decided to truss it in case I ever get the urge to link the rear, it would be ready for link brackets.

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Then added hubs, rotors, brakes, diff cover and setup the gears internally.

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Pulled out the D44 and in went the 14 bolt:

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Looks good. And by the way your old 30 is doing well in my buddies TJ.

He text me a while ago since he said another buddy of his with an XJ wanted to buy my rear axle. He said when he saw my pics on the ad, he recognized that it was my garage right off the bat.

Very good to hear that it's working for him though. He said he'd been wheeling it and loves the air locker!

whats a jevy?

lastara

You would.... I also can't tell if that's sarcasm or not, ha!

In case anybody else is wondering, Jevy is a jeep with a full GM power train. Can't even take credit for the name. Stole it off pirate somewhere.
 
He text me a while ago since he said another buddy of his with an XJ wanted to buy my rear axle. He said when he saw my pics on the ad, he recognized that it was my garage right off the bat.

Very good to hear that it's working for him though. He said he'd been wheeling it and loves the air locker!



You would.... I also can't tell if that's sarcasm or not, ha!

In case anybody else is wondering, Jevy is a jeep with a full GM power train. Can't even take credit for the name. Stole it off pirate somewhere.

Wait, thought you said it had a ford front but chevy stubs ????
 
long story short... a lot of people opt to use the chevy knuckles because of the availability of factory flat tops that can be machined and tapped.

so you use the chevy knuckle, small bearing spindle, and stub shaft. the ford and chevy wheel bearings use the same OD. so you can slap a ford 5on5.5 hub and rotor on there with chevy calipers (which i prefer over the ford stuff). i have this setup on my axle as well.
 
Tell me about these hubs please....I am interested in what you did to keep the bolt pattern

long story short... a lot of people opt to use the chevy knuckles because of the availability of factory flat tops that can be machined and tapped.

so you use the chevy knuckle, small bearing spindle, and stub shaft. the ford and chevy wheel bearings use the same OD. so you can slap a ford 5on5.5 hub and rotor on there with chevy calipers (which i prefer over the ford stuff). i have this setup on my axle as well.


Yep, what he said.

Here is a link for reference. Ford D44 5 lug conversion with GM knuckles and brake calipers

About the only downfall, if you can even call it that, about using the GM knuckles is that the RCVs don't just slide in. The diameter on the bell of the CV joint is just too large for the GM knuckles. You have to install the shaft in first and then the knuckle. Kind of a pain in the ass, but I don't expect these things to break. If they do end up breaking, I have disconnect hubs to drive home. If you run a standard joint shaft, then you are good to go. I am told Ford knuckles don't have this problem, but I don't know first hand.
 
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