BleepinJeep's Project Scorpion Crawler Build Thread

[ROKRWLR]

Cool, thanks for the tips and pics! I dont have A/C but I did keep the heater core and made a burrito cooker out of it. I am also putting holes in the top of the dash to keep the defrost available. And maybe some holes on the front to direct warm air at my face.

Here is a video of that Car-B-Que: https://youtu.be/oBPV4VwBfVg

I keep finding this that I missed in my original list like 9V charger and USB ports that need to be added... good news is the dash is still very empty!

Problem now is the throw for the shifter and 4x4 selector are on different planes so that will make the console more complicated... any ideas there? looks like you have custom cable shifters?

I still have the original trans shifter (I really wanted to do an Art Carr but ran out of budget), but I moved it up and mounted it to the center console. I did not reuse the indicator that says what gear you are in, and I just made a few indicator lines that line up with the back of the shifter. For emissions testing, I put a post it on with P,R,N,&D labeled for them. I did cut down the height of the shifter and shorten the plastic push rod inside. I removed the t-bar and used a Sick Speed brand adapter knob that is just push down to shift.

For the x-fer case, I made a cable shifter so I could put the shifter where I wanted it instead of trying to modify and lengthen the shifter on the factory linkage one. It works much better than the old shifter and allowed me to put the throw exactly where I wanted it. It was a pretty simple change overall.

Here's how I modified the bracket at the case. I can't remember if I flipped the t-case shift tab or not??? I trimmed the factory bracket and welded on a flat bar for holding the cable:


The shifter itself is a solid bar welded to a piece of tube with a bronze shoulder bushings in it. There's a tab under the pivot tube for the cable to attach. I welded a bolt to the top to hold the knob since I don't have access to a lathe.



I bought my cable from Midwest Control www.midwestcontrol.com . You can design custom cables on their website reasonably. in 2015 it was $45. I think I used a 2" throw with bulkhead ends. I'll try to dig up the info if you need it. The ball ends came from Ace hardware.

I've seen lots of creative ways to do the cable shifter, but this was a simple straight forward way that worked with my tube center console.

 

[ROKRWLR]

Cool, thanks for the tips and pics! I dont have A/C but I did keep the heater core and made a burrito cooker out of it. I am also putting holes in the top of the dash to keep the defrost available. And maybe some holes on the front to direct warm air at my face.

Here is a video of that Car-B-Que: https://youtu.be/oBPV4VwBfVg

I keep finding this that I missed in my original list like 9V charger and USB ports that need to be added... good news is the dash is still very empty!

Problem now is the throw for the shifter and 4x4 selector are on different planes so that will make the console more complicated... any ideas there? looks like you have custom cable shifters?

That's funny. I hadn't seen that video of yours yet. Your set up is definitely better than the aluminum foil wrapped brats sitting on the intake manifold I've seen people do!

 

[ROKRWLR]

I still have the original trans shifter (I really wanted to do an Art Carr but ran out of budget), but I moved it up and mounted it to the center console. I did not reuse the indicator that says what gear you are in, and I just made a few indicator lines that line up with the back of the shifter. For emissions testing, I put a post it on with P,R,N,&D labeled for them. I did cut down the height of the shifter and shorten the plastic push rod inside. I removed the t-bar and used a Sick Speed brand adapter knob that is just push down to shift.

For the x-fer case, I made a cable shifter so I could put the shifter where I wanted it instead of trying to modify and lengthen the shifter on the factory linkage one. It works much better than the old shifter and allowed me to put the throw exactly where I wanted it. It was a pretty simple change overall.

Here's how I modified the bracket at the case. I can't remember if I flipped the t-case shift tab or not??? I trimmed the factory bracket and welded on a flat bar for holding the cable:


The shifter itself is a solid bar welded to a piece of tube with a bronze shoulder bushings in it. There's a tab under the pivot tube for the cable to attach. I welded a bolt to the top to hold the knob since I don't have access to a lathe.



I bought my cable from Midwest Control www.midwestcontrol.com . You can design custom cables on their website reasonably. in 2015 it was $45. I think I used a 2" throw with bulkhead ends. I'll try to dig up the info if you need it. The ball ends came from Ace hardware.

I've seen lots of creative ways to do the cable shifter, but this was a simple straight forward way that worked with my tube center console.

I couldn't edit to add this to the previous post, but I found the details of my cable order. For anyone searching cable shifters......

The cable was a Series 40 standard (armor) conduit and core, 1/4"-28 thread, bulkhead fittings at both ends, 36" long, 2" throw

 

[Lowrange2]

ROKRWLR, what removable wheel kit did you use? Is that splined part welded to the OEM shaft?

 

[ROKRWLR]

I used a weld on spud. I was never quite sure what bolt one was was correct. It is the factory tilt column still. I did remove the clock ring, horn and airbag parts.

For the weld on, it just slips over the shaft and weld to fill in the gaps between the shaft and end, then a couple small tacks on the back side. If I remember correctly, I ended up sliding the spud down slightly further than a bolt on one would have been to get the correct wheel placement with the hub and wheel dish that I bought. Then cut off the end of the shaft and ground it all smooth.


The spud and hub I used are Joes Racing. I think from JEGS. The wheel is a 13" diameter with a 3.5" dish. There are tons of wheel and hub options. You just need to come up with the end dimension for your set up.

I like the spline spud instead of the hex since I have full hydro and you never know where "up" will be on the wheel, so there's more rotation option when putting the wheel on. I've also heard the wheel wobbles less, too.

 

[Lowrange2]

Thanks.

 

[BleepinJeep]

I bought my cable from Midwest Control www.midwestcontrol.com . You can design custom cables on their website reasonably. in 2015 it was $45. I think I used a 2" throw with bulkhead ends. I'll try to dig up the info if you need it. The ball ends came from Ace hardware.

I've seen lots of creative ways to do the cable shifter, but this was a simple straight forward way that worked with my tube center console.

Cool, thanks for the info. I actually have a cable shifter but its attached to the stock shifter from underneath... but this gives me the idea that maybe I can just move it up and patch the hole somehow. I'll just have to see if the cable is long enough.

That sickspeed adapter is awesome! I've been making my own custom toppers but never really had a way to lock them down (meaning they would just fall off in a rollover): https://youtu.be/PfQ-yJAB0Lo I'll definitely check them out.

 

[BleepinJeep]

Made some headway on the dash:

And one fender... those panels are harder than they look to make:

Pulled the front axle for final welding and paint:

Started on the console, made a video of the center part:

Made a hole in the firewall for wires and such:

I made a box for storage under the rear seat. I also had to put the battery down there as it wouldnt fit under the hood:

The seat folds forward for storage:

The amp I bought was bigger than I thought and the only place it would fit was attached to the underside of the seat... gotta have them tunes!:

 

[BleepinJeep]

Time for a lunch break:

That cheap sickspeed shifter has been chinafied and I felt like it was going to break any second so I made these up from a transfer case shaft, made a video on it if anyone is interested:

The top part pushes down for the auto shifter:

Matching T-case shifter:

My welds were starting to look poor then I realized I couldnt even see what I was doing:

Started making some cutouts for the dash:

Yeehaw!

And there is a blurry pic of what it looks like now:

 

[trippled]

I like those knobs. Fenders really brought the front end together.

 

[ftwelder]

tons of good work there man.. keep it up.

 

[1-tonxj]

It's refreshing to see someone do a build and actually purchase new tires for it vs using some 20 year old, toasted tires they bought off craigslist with 1/64" tread left on them.

Great work man!


david

But those fresh 40s are mounted to a set of d44s...kind of takes the shine off the new rubber ?

 

[Luke95]

But those fresh 40s are mounted to a set of d44s...kind of takes the shine off the new rubber ?

This.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

 

[BleepinJeep]

The build is finished, I havent had time for photos but here is the walkaround: https://youtu.be/kxNuJvDeCAs

 

[Nimrod]

Congratulations on a job well done. It looks and sounds awesome!

 

[hjeepxj]

SICK build!

 

[trippled]

We need trail pics! Looks good

 

[Duga324]

Wow amazing work. You should be proud.!

 

[BleepinJeep]

lets try a photo direct to pirate:

So I didnt want to mess with the look by cutting a hole in the hood for the steering, so I went out of the way to drill and tap a new hole and mount the reservoir directly to the pump:

Of course you have to have tunes while wheeling!

But dont get a flame near expadning foam or this will happen:

 

[BleepinJeep]

Another picture of how I did the pump... its also held in place with this bracket... seems to be doing very well so far, I'm not sure why this isnt an option for XJ owners.

I also bought a newer truck that can actually haul this thing around without issue... well I was wrong about that too because its already in limp mode because of some stupid EPA injection pump crap!

The ORI's fit nicely up through these holes!

The tank hold less than I thought but its somewhere between 13-15 galloons:

The steering and trans each have a cooler: