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71 Wheeling Rig

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by Fireball, Jan 18, 2021.

  1. Apr 19, 2022
    Ol Fogie

    Ol Fogie 74 cj5 304, 1943 mb

    Southern...
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    Nov 24, 2019
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    x2.
     
  2. Apr 20, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    I bought a fire extinguisher last year but couldn't decide on a place to permanently mount it. I decided to cop out and buy a Velcro mount so I can try it in different places. It's on the rollbar behind the driver's seat for now:
    [​IMG]

    Took the Jeep around one of the quad loops on the property to see how I like the gearing. I'm thinking the 58:1 compound low will be nice. My wife thought it was too slow because the dogs were sitting around waiting for us. :rofl: I really liked the new 43:1 gear for going through steep but not too technical stuff (1st gear-low range-overdrive). I was hemming an hawing about doing the overdrive, but I'm really glad I did it. Especially since it's a Warn unit with the bronze shift fork.

    Up at the top of one of the hills:
    [​IMG]

    You can see our fenceline quad trail:
    [​IMG]

    Some good sidehill action on our new trail going down the hill:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Apr 20, 2022
    timsresort

    timsresort Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    South Lake Tahoe CA
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    Jan 22, 2014
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    My choice is 4.88 with an OD, But, I have steep hills, altitude, and not much straight highway or freeway.
     
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  4. Apr 20, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    If I still had a V6, I think that would be pretty ideal. 4.88 with OD is basically 3.66 so almost the same as 3.73 sans overdrive. On the highway the V8 feels strung out for no reason with the 3.73s. If I did go to lower gears, I'd probably do 4.27s for a high of 3.2 and a low of 66.4. I'm not sure it's worth the effort though. Good highway gears are nice around here. All the paved roads have 60-70mph speed limits.

    I probably should have done Tera-lows when I went through it but was getting tired of spending money on it.
     
    Muzikp, wheelie, blalp! and 3 others like this.
  5. Apr 21, 2022
    timsresort

    timsresort Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    South Lake Tahoe CA
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    I know that feeling. And they are expensive, but I am thinking of putting them in my 3B for a little lower crawl ratio next winter when I tear into it. I might also do an overdrive (that I already own), mainly for the 3rd-over when pulling a grade. Before I had 37's, 5.38's on the 9 percent grade were perfect, the tires effectively raised the ratio to 4.88.
     
    Rubicloak likes this.
  6. Apr 22, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Because of the discussion going on in this thread Gear Compounding I went and calculated all 16 forwards speeds with the new setup.

    Low range in bold italic:
    • 1st/low 57.99
    • 1st/low/od 43.49
    • 2nd/low 28.35
    • 1st/hi 23.57
    • 2nd/low/od 21.26
    • 1st/hi/od 17.68
    • 3rd/low 15.51
    • 3rd/low/od 11.63
    • 2nd/hi 11.53
    • 4th/low 9.18
    • 2nd/hi/od 8.64
    • 4th/low/od 6.88
    • 3rd/hi 6.30
    • 3rd/hi/od 4.73
    • 4th/hi 3.73
    • 4th/hi/od 2.80
    Out of the 16 speeds, I suspect I'll use 8 or less with any regularity. There is quite a bit of overlap in the middle of the gearing for options in either high or low range.

    Interesting I guess.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2022
  7. Apr 22, 2022
    blalp!

    blalp! Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Concord, NH
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    Seeing all those options sort of reminds me of a quad-box. (y)
     
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  8. May 1, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Not a lot to update. I've just been driving the thing to shake down the new drivetrain. So far so good. I've had no issues with the new stuff.

    I've been tracking down the coolant leaks around the thermostat housing. It would always happen post cool down and I manged to catch a drip from the radiator hose. The hose clamps seem to have loosened after I installed all new hoses a year ago. I cranked them down and that solved 90% of the problem. But then I saw this:
    [​IMG]

    Coolant was dribbling down from the heater hose. I tightened the snot out of that hose and the leaks seem to have stopped. Bone dry for a few weeks now. It wasn't the thermostat housing that was leaking in the end, just every hose around it.

    Rather than rely on garbage modern rubber for the shift boots, I ordered a nice vinyl set from Stronghold Shift Boots: https://www.strongholdshiftboots.com/. They seem nice. They make a boot for the dual transfercase shifters and the transmission, but not for the Advance Adapters overdrive boot I'm using. They had a Dodge transfercase boot the was the right shape but too big so I ordered one with the intention of modifying it.

    You can see the size difference:
    [​IMG]

    The width was close so I cut it up the sides and added a new seam to shorten it:
    [​IMG]

    Turned out pretty good:
    [​IMG]

    Starting to work on the Buick air cleaner install. It hit the left cowl brace:
    [​IMG]

    So I re-shaped the brace to clear. It also gaind me more clearance to the radiator hose as an added bonus:
    [​IMG]

    Now I have a bunch of sanding to do so I can paint it.

    The next major project is dealing with a fuel leak back at the tank. If you fill it all the way up, gas leaks around somewhere around the sending unit. I have a new MTS sender and gasket ready to go. I just need to burn most of the gas so it's easier to drop the tank.
     
    Muzikp, Rubicloak, Snoops and 8 others like this.
  9. May 1, 2022
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
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    Oct 25, 2006
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    Really like those shifter boots.
     
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  10. May 1, 2022
    Ol Fogie

    Ol Fogie 74 cj5 304, 1943 mb

    Southern...
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    1,765
    Looking good, Sure would be nice if someone would invent/build a 3 speed aux that would bolt in the PTO access on the d-18. Overdrive/directdrive/underdrive. :D
     
  11. May 1, 2022
    Ol Fogie

    Ol Fogie 74 cj5 304, 1943 mb

    Southern...
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    I have looked at 13 speed road rangers, they are short enough but the won't fit between the rails.:rofl:. Besides if they would they would be heavier than all the rest of the jeep combined.:D.
     
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  12. May 2, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    I've thought about making one from a Corvair transmission. They have concentric input/output on the same end of the transmission. The only problem is the input shaft is really small because it passes all the way through the main shaft to the other end of the transmission. I think if you had a granny gear four speed feeding the Corvair input you would snap it almost immediately.
     
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  13. May 2, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    I figured out why my radiator hose was rubbing the cowl brace even though there was at least 3/8" clearance. I happened to open the hood after a drive and the hose swells a BUNCH at temp with the 13lb cap on the radiator.

    Cold:
    [​IMG]

    Hot:
    [​IMG]

    Thankfully it clears much better now after the cowl brace recontouring.

    Spent and hour and a half sanding the rust off the air cleaner. After cleaning and degreasing:
    [​IMG]

    First coat of the Rustoleum satin black I spray on everything:
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2022
  14. May 3, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Got a small tachometer wired up last night. Mounted it hot-rod style on the steering column:
    [​IMG]

    I don't like radius of the bracket not matching the radius of the column, so I'll probably tear it off and do some fab work to the bracket:
    [​IMG]

    I did get the requisite decal for the new air cleaner. However, it can't go on yet. The lid looked great after one coat, but I just had to add another and it curdled. Bah. I'll let it cure for a week, sand it down and spray it again:
    [​IMG]

    In the meanwhile, I'm trying out the new air cleaner with the lid from the 2bbl core motor:
    [​IMG]

    I need to swap the valve covers side to side so I can hook up the PCV intake to the air cleaner and get rid of the breather. Also need to make a shorter air cleaner screw. A GM style wing nut is on the way.
     
  15. May 3, 2022
    3b a runnin

    3b a runnin Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    virginia
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    Thats always the trouble I have with Rustoleum:banghead:,
    but your jeep is coming together.
     
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  16. May 4, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Took the Jeep for a nice drive last night. With the new tach, I can see it happily cruising along at 1800 rpm at 60 mph.

    It's much quieter at cruise speed with the factory style air cleaner. I like that. Some day I'll get around to inboarding the exhaust with a quieter muffler too. I've outgrown my noisy car days.

    It was loading up a little at idle when hot, so I leaned out the idle jets and now it smoothly idles at 450 rpm.

    Did a boring tedious maintenance job too. I've identified the steering column as a '71 or '72 Chevy C10 truck with tilt. The turn signals weren't cancelling so I ordered a new switch a long time ago but haven't been motivated to tear into the column until last night.

    Whoever installed the column cut the turn signal connector off can spliced the Jeep connectors to it. I didn't like that because Two things may happen in the future:
    1. A Painless or other wiring replacement
    2. A steering column replacement
    They are not likely to happen at the same time, so I wanted a standard GM interface for the turn signals to allow either swap to be easy. I made a small adapter harness to go between the Jeep wiring and the GM column plug:
    [​IMG]

    Now I can swap to a hotrod column and it will plug right in to the existing adapter. I can also switch to a hotrod wiring harness and it will plug right in to the column.

    Here I have the old mess unplugged and the new harness plugged in. I wanted to verify it worked before tearing into the column:
    [​IMG]

    It was a struggle with the horn button and then a struggle getting the old switch out of the column. There are supposed to be cancelling nubs just to the right of the round springs. They are completely worn off:
    [​IMG]

    About three hours after starting the project, the new switch is in and working great. The wiring is much cleaner now too:
    [​IMG]

    I'll really appreciate the blinkers cancelling. I was pretty used to manual cancelling when both Jeeps were that way but after rebuilding a Spartan for the '69 this was my only vehicle without self-cancelling signals. I ended up forgetting to cancel them more often than not looking like an idiot driving down the road with a signal going.

    During all this I noticed my hazard light switch isn't working. I'll have to dig into that. I know the wiring is good to the lights, so it's probably the flasher itself or no power to it. I have the option of wiring up the flasher switch in the steering column, but I kind of like the big red original switch on the dash.
     
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  17. May 4, 2022
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    My uninvited $.02 is to use the column hazard and repurpose the dash switch for an e-locker.
     
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  18. May 5, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    I had to do a bunch of unscheduled repairs on the 21 year old riding mower last night so I didn't have much time for Jeep stuff. Had to clean the deck, change the deck belt, lubricate the linkage for the deck clutch, and this tie rod is supposed to be straight:
    [​IMG]

    The toe-out was a little excessive. Something like an inch and a half:
    [​IMG]

    Did get a couple Jeep things done though.

    You would think this was the problem with the 4-way flashers:
    [​IMG]

    But it wasn't just that. I replaced it with a new fuse of the same length and it rattled around in the inline fuse holder not making contact. Makes you wonder how this one burned out. Did a previous owner steal it for another circuit and put the blown, wrong sized fuse back here?

    A standard length fuse was tight in the holder but wasn't making good contact. A little sand paper on the contacts and we have hazard lights!:
    [​IMG]

    I also made a shorter air cleaner screw and install a proper GM style wingnut with the nub that locks it to the air cleaner lid:
    [​IMG]
     
    47v6, duffer, 3b a runnin and 3 others like this.
  19. May 5, 2022
    cj2atruck

    cj2atruck Member

    Spokane, WA
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    Dec 12, 2020
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    64
    With my sm420 transmission and 5:38 gears, my first gear, low range is 93:1, and I still wish I had a lower gear on some of the trails in Moab...
     
  20. May 5, 2022
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    You just need a 5.13:1 dana 18
     
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