XJ Mods VSB 14

[alexbrown64]

Luckily the old Jeep is not my daily driver. But i want it to be, so i am getting stuck back in to finish off some projects.

I got the Moog control arm bushes from Rockauto. Cheap as chips and good quality. Came in a pack of 4, so i have some spares for the future.

As i spoke about before.. my new double adjustable Currie upper control arms came with slightly bigger bolts that dont fit through. Eezzie Peezzie.. just use a dremel on the bench and give each nib in the bush a quick licking. Took 5 minutes and job done. I only took a bit off each nib so that the bolt was a nice snug fit. And, there is still plenty of room for grease.

My C clamp to remove and replace bushes came in the mail too. $50 delivered. Hopefully get some use out of it over the years.. but cheap as chips.

Anyway, i am having lunch now.. report back later when i have changed them out.. Hopefully its not a pig of a job.

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

Back in the house and sucking down a cold Corona....job done. Allow about 4 hours to do the job. The cheap C clamp is invaluable in putting the left upper bush back in. Total cost of job including special tool was about $100 Aud. That's less than 1 hour of shop time.

For the right upper bush, i was able to get a screw driver between the lip of the bush and the diff bracket. I kept working it in and around..and eventually the bush started to prize out. then i was able to use a large screw driver and hammer to belt it out from the other side. I was able to lift my sway bar quick disconnect out of the way which gave me more room.



Putting the new bush back was easy. It went in by hand a bit, then i just started tapping in with a hammer. Got it most of the way like that. Used the C clamp to get that final bit. Just had to play around with the clamp to find the best combination of fittings to make it work. I also used my rattle gun, but you could just use a ratchet drive.



The left side was pretty tight. My ARB locker airline was in the way and also the sway bar mount. Got rid of both of those and i had a clear run at it. The lip on this bush sticks out further as the bush does not go in as far. I could get various punches, screwdrivers and chisels on it to start prizing it out. I had the best luck from the back. Using a long punch and hammer, i could slowly drive it out.

I cleaned up the recess, got the new one ready and set up the C clamp as in the pic below. The hardest part was setting up the C clamp and all the fitting by yourself....wedged under the car in a tight spot etc..
Anyway, got it done and using the rattle gun, it just drove it into position. Its a tight interference fit that one!!



Anyway, job got done.. refitted the control arms and everything and packed it all away.

A few things of note. I have a tall lift, so its not too bad. You may have to put your Jeep on jack stands. I have adjustable control arms, so i just turned them to line up with the new bushes. If you don't have adjustable control arms, you may have to play around with getting the new bolts back into the control arms.. thats no game changer, but could be a hassle.

Next job is returning the cooling system from triple threat electric fans to ZJ mechanical fan upgrade..

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

Time to get stuck back into the cooling system. If you have read the thread, my cooling system is all new. I also have ceramic coated headers, bonnet vents, separate tranny cooler etc..
Anyway, on the beach heading into the wind.. no problem.. heading away from wind... temps shot up. My reasoning is that the triple electrics could not draw enough air in. My solution was to pull the old Dirt Bound Offroad fans back out, and fit a Hayden 737 clutch fan. This was made for the GC. Its a bigger clutch, sounds like a jet plane and draws much more air in, as its spins faster. I have also refitted an aux fan. This comes on with the aircon, unlike the old triple electrics set up.
Another one of my theories is that when peoples cooling systems start playing up, they replace everything and sometimes still have problems. But, they always forget the clutch fan. If its not spinning as fast as what is used to when the engine is hot.. your going to suffer.

To start.. i ripped out the old system. It was all working fine. I have a controller that turns two fans on first, then a third one on when things get really hot. With 3 fans running, its as noisy as hell anyway.



The new larger Hayden clutch fan was not too hard to install. There is room between the after market alloy radiator and the clutch. People have trouble fitting them for two reasons. They use the even bigger Heavy Duty Hayden clutch for the ZJ GC. Just got with the 737 normal duty GC fan. Its still heavier duty than the XJ clutch fan and fits better. I used bolts instead of studs. I could slide the fan into position and then just wiggle the bolts in.



One of the mysteries of life is why my aux fan would not fit properly. The tabs at the bottom of the fan did not line up with the slots in the radiator bracket. One or the other was wrong, but it didn't matter as i just got on with solving the problem. Some 1" galv flat bar was fashioned up to run across the two old radiator slotted bars. I then bolted the bar to these. New slots were made in the galv flat bar to correspond with the aux fan tabs.



Finally i could fit the aux fan back in. I now have a heavy duty clutch fan setup for the XJ and also a working aux fan that comes on with the aircon.

There are a few things to tidy up before a test run. The mechanical fan just touches my Derale tranny cooler and i also have to sort out the old fan wiring and a few other things.. then its some test drives. Will let you know how it all goes cooling and noise wise.



Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

Took me just as long to move the Derale transmission cooler to one side. 3 hours later and i could finally start her up. Runs like a dream. Its actually quieter with the GC upgraded mechanical fan than it was with the electric fans. Once the electric fans came on, they rarely went off and with 3 fans going, plus the Derale fan.. 4 fans going hell for leather.. it sounded like a wind farm.

Temps went up to half way on the gauge. Then the thermostat opened and temps went to about 1/3 of the way and stayed there. Derale kicked in a few times so thats all working perfectly too. The oem aux electric fan worked perfectly and was coming on nicely with the aircon. I could not test the aux fan up to max temps as the engine never got hot enough. Ambient temps outside were about 30C. Tomorrow is supposed to hit 40C so could be a good day to trial it all.

I am happy with it so far.

Next job is the interior. New stereo, vac gauge, CB radio and engine watchdog.

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

I have been organizing a few electronic items for ages now. I decided on a pod, decided on gauges and head units, parts etc.. and today is the day it finaly all starts coming together.

I have a Kenwood double din stereo to fit in. I have an Engine Watchdog, a CB radio and a Motor Minder vacuum gauge.

The plan is to run it all through the firewall next to the large grommet which is next to the steering column on the RHD XJ. I have a special grommet and hole saw to make a 1 1/4" hole. I have 20mm ducting to run through. It will contain vac hoses, sensor wires, antenna leads and power wires.



Should be a fun little project. A lot of work has already gone into building up the pod, creating a large hole for the double din stereo and installing the antenna for FM radio and CB comms.

Cheers,

[LuluBelle]

way cool alex
_____ooooo
/__l_l_,\____\,___
l_---l_l__l---[ ]llllll[ ]
_.(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)

[alexbrown64]

Thanks LuluBelle,

Functional too i hope. I'm not a CB person, but it could be helpful in the bush.
The vacuum gauge can really help as an economy gauge and to check condition of the engine.
The Watchdog i think will be invaluable. Instead of staring at the temp gauge, the alarm will go off if the tranny or engine temps creep up too high.

I got stuck in this arvo. Drilled a big hole next the the steering column. Its a great spot. Comes out right up high under the dash and near the centre console. I then ran 20mm conduit from the engine bay up into behind the stereo. I now had a good way to run all my cables. Using a long length of wire, i began threading through the two antenna cables up into the stereo cavity. Same with the vacuum hose. Then, from the dash, i ran the sensor wires down and out into the engine bay.

One sensor was connected to a bolt on the tranny pan. The other sensor was connected to a bolt on the thermostat housing. I Teed the vacuum hose directly onto the inlet manifold before any check valves and other hoses.

Everything was fitted inside some protective conduit and cable tied and made tidy. The engine bay side of things are now done. Lots of work to finish off the interior, but i have run out of time and have to go back to work for a while.

Pic below showing interior with room created for double din stereo, and pod on dash.



Pic below of new firewall grommet installed. Conduit was then run through and up to the dash. Cables, wire and tubes could then be run both ways for the antenna's, sensors and vac gauge.



Cheers,