Project: Rusty Nail

[Justpunchit]

Jeep looks great.
Was looking at getting either the rusty's or ballistic spring mounts. You strong support of Ballistic's products has pushed to get them. Keep up the good work.
Subscribed.

Thanks! and I think there worth every penny over the Rusty's kits. I'm working out the kinks in my OTK kit tapping my coil captures at full lock but besides that I wouldn't of done it different.

Also while I was working up front I decided to run dual taurus fans so I took the pulley out and made a new belt routing and also took care of some gasket issues such as oil filter, valve cover, and oil pan. While I had the pan down I opted for a Mopar High volume oil pump, even though my engine does have semi low miles I just wanted to be safe than sorry.

Here you can see the new routing better along with my modified XJ rad house that takes a lot less run since there's no more ac in this rig anymore.

Also put in the time to finish weld the other side stiffeners to accept my boat sides. MAN is that alot of welding.

 

[MoparManiac]

I'd be concerned about the amount of wrap you have on the alternator, it doesn't seem like enough. The belt might slip if the alternator is under a decent load.

There was a rule of thumb I'm forgetting...

 

[Justpunchit]

I'd be concerned about the amount of wrap you have on the alternator, it doesn't seem like enough. The belt might slip if the alternator is under a decent load.

There was a rule of thumb I'm forgetting...

You're not forgetting your misremembering hehe isn't that what the pro's say?

But really if you happen to find anything on that let me know.. I thought the same thing at first but I wasn't sure my STi alternator pulley has almost the same amount of contact on it. However I know this is a completely different system here.

 

[Dundy]

I'd be concerned about the amount of wrap you have on the alternator, it doesn't seem like enough. The belt might slip if the alternator is under a decent load.

There was a rule of thumb I'm forgetting...

He's onto something here. An alternator robs around 5-6 horsepower when under a good load and that gives you a pretty good idea as to the load that the alternator encounters. I can almost guarantee that if you run it like that and don't over tighten the belt that it will slip on the alternator. I'd revise the belt setup so you get at least 50% coverage on the alternator pulley.

 

[foxwar71]

I'd revise the belt setup so you get at least 50% coverage on the alternator pulley.

Correct, thats why the stock setup has that idler puller, pulls the belt back up to get sufficent wrap around the pulleys. Now, not only do you not really have enough around the Alt, you also have alot less around the main harmonic balancer which should be somewhere in the area 75%. With all the accessories under load, i highly doubt the belt WONT slip on the balancer.

 

[Justpunchit]

Correct, thats why the stock setup has that idler puller, pulls the belt back up to get sufficent wrap around the pulleys. Now, not only do you not really have enough around the Alt, you also have alot less around the main harmonic balancer which should be somewhere in the area 75%. With all the accessories under load, i highly doubt the belt WONT slip on the balancer.

Thanks for all the good info guys! I grabbed another bracket and pulley so I can swap back to the standard setup. This is where I found the routing I went with.
http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoTaurusFanInstall2.htm

I'll give it a trial run but seems to me this routing isn't going to be my permanent routing after reading the info you guys gave to me.



In other news here's the List as of this moment;

1. Finish tracbar
2. Install all final suspension fasteners
3. Rebuild t-case/ re-install and install and rebuild d shafts
4. Plumb fuel lines and tank
5. Final weld rear floor
6. Complete passenger floor
7. Finish passenger rear lift
8. patch the TWO nails I found in two different tires...
9. Cut and install front fenders, clip, and finish modifying doors.
10. Finish body work
11. Prime wet sand paint
12. Install interior and electronics
13. Bleed Steering and braking systems
14. Then wheel

I can't believe that the list is finally this low. It's seriously such a good feeling.

Yesterday thanks to my wonderful girlfriend she cleaned all that really tacky/shitty tint off the windows and cleaned all the seats and door cards.. doesn't sound like a lot but the seats were TERRIBLE had tons and tons of pet dander and general junk ground into them so kudos

I got the passenger side rocker opening cut out and this afternoon I will be hanging the new rocker and welding in my supports as well as long as it stays dry. If not I'll start tearing down doors I suppose.

 

[Justpunchit]

Just some more pics from the other day

This shows how much of the old rocker is actually cut out and what I have left to work with lol not to much really, and this will actually be cut another inch higher as well. Leaves me with an opening of 39 inches from roof gutter to rocker when everything is done.

And due to rust I could not to a cut and fold so this is my rough cut out for my rear wheel well. still not lift or shackle boxes on this side remember but you get the idea.

Since it is her rig she got the first test fit in the drivers seat. I think she approves

Typical driving style I have while wheeling...

 

[js_customs]

Looks good man, is this xj gonna make it to nacfest this year?

 

[Justpunchit]

I'm really hoping so, it's going to be a close call but either way I'll trailer it down so if Nacfest is her maiden voyage then so be it.

 

[Justpunchit]

While I'm on here anyone know an easy way to pull my side glass out? and not ruin the seals or break the window?

 

[themangeraaad]

I just used screwdrivers. Came out fine. This is essentially what I did:

http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technica...earQuarterWindows/LexanRearQuarterWindows.htm

 

[Flying Jester]

No offense, but looking at the initial post and those rust pictures... [/throws up in corner]
It's actually looking really good, with the rust cut out.

 

[Justpunchit]

haha yea that's how I felt when I initially started the build. but now almost all the rust is gone... some would say it's a clean jeep now..... err or will be I hope?

Ok well here's some pics of stuff I've been working on....


My fender cut nothing special but I think it's just really clean. I also have a solution to mount the fenders to the new rocker with just small tabs and 1/4-20 bolts.

This is the other side I've been working on I had to throw the doors back on to keep it dry for the rain that was coming in but you get the idea. Also the front door looks really odd because I freakin broke the bottom hinge it just shattered.

I just LOVE working on doors.....

The overall look. Came a LONG way form how it was when I started, it's nice to step back and feel the end of this is coming soon.

Next is to address the last leaf pack. Well my bastard back is going to be a little beefier than I originally planned I have some chevy leafs I added to kinda help out these xj leafs, plus with the thick gauge floor, full stiffeners, and other junk in my trunk I figured it SHOULD still ride well.

I also finished up the rest of the stiffeners and shackle box, this is what I ended up with.

A closer look will show you I have 6 leafs total. I gotta drive it and see how she handles might be to stiff if so I'll remove an XJ leaf.

You can see here it's a little taller than my other bastard pack. Remember however that this jeep is still really empty so I imagine it's going to go down quite a bit.

And towards the end of the day I started taking the front end apart to toss this in...

 

[dwchkypmp20]

excuse me i dunno wtf im talking about, which i dont, but how do the shackle relocation boxes help with performance? can someone explain to me? i am having flex problems with my set up in the back and i am assuming this helps?

 

[kastein]

You should probably bevel the ends on those leafs, but that's just my inner perfectionist speaking...

 

[stroked88]

excuse me i dunno wtf im talking about, which i dont, but how do the shackle relocation boxes help with performance? can someone explain to me? i am having flex problems with my set up in the back and i am assuming this helps?

if you search it, you will learn.

 

[Justpunchit]

You should probably bevel the ends on those leafs, but that's just my inner perfectionist speaking...

I still gotta break them down once more, I'm looking to find those 2.5 wide rolls of polyurethane (I think that's what it is) to put in between each leaf I've seen other people use it and yielded great results.

 

[kastein]

You're probably thinking of Delrin or Teflon... those are what most people put between leafs.

 

[Justpunchit]

there we go totally drew a blank for what the material is. Have you see it what I'm talking about though? I can't remember where I've seen it before, it's just a roll of it and you just just cut it to the correct length

 

[kastein]

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253048 is a good thread on the subject.

From what I'm reading, it likes to slip out from between the leafs. Looks like summit sells teflon pads that clip into holes drilled in each leaf though, which would work just as well since most of the slip/wear between the leafs is going to occur near the ends.