Well once again I figured it was time for an update on the build up. Everything kinda went on hold for quite some time but I’m back into it now. The only problem is I’m working away so the Jeep is sitting waiting for me having time to work on it and I can only work on it on the weekends which makes it worse.
Since the last update back in November I have finally fitted the Orfab sports cage. What a pain in the arse that was but the end result is good but more importantly late in April I finally received the new 6.4 motor from Burnsville and immediately commenced taking out the old one to swap them over. Once the motor was out I also quickly decided that I should finally get around to installing the front coilovers as it would be much easier to get access to the mounts with the motor out. We got these cut out but I then went away again for work.
Since then I have only had 1 good chance to get stuck into it again and we got the front Evo DTD system installed and while we were there welded on the new tabs for the hydro assist steering. We ran into a clash between the steering shaft and the coilover towers so had to make up a spacer to get the clearance. Its still very tight and I only have about 5mm clearance between the steering shaft and the coilover towers and not much more to the exhaust headers.
The new motor that was sent is essentially a long block so we swapped over all the components from the old motor to the new and mounted it back in the JK but that was the last of the progress for the weekend and once again I’m away for the next 2 weeks so it will have to wait till I’m back.
Hopefully by the time I’m back I should have received the new steering box ported for the hydro assist and believe it or not I’ve been waiting on engine oil as Jeep recommend different oil for the new 6.4 and as they haven’t brought them in yet they didn’t have any in stock. We went as far as checking with the jeep technical department and they advised against using anything else. Might be a sales pitch but best to be safe.
I still have a lot of work to go but for now the priority is getting it back on the road and off-road so there wont be any more goodies for a while. Once this round is done the next major job is to get the 42’s on and clearing. Not sure how much work will be involved but I definitely need to cut into the chassis for steering clearance and will have some fender cutting to be done. I want to keep the COG as low as possible but it’s easier said than done.
Anyway here are some pictures.
I laid out some of the old parts when I was cleaning up the shed. Its all for sale if anyone is interested. I also have a lot more not shown.
Parked at Home
Out Wheeling
That’s a Hemi in a Hemi Powered Jeep.
New and Old
Current Status
Mock Up of The 42’s. They will have to wait a bit longer before being bolted up properly.
