BlackSheep II

The original BlackSheep was my dream ride. Foolishly I sold her. About 3 years ago. This was the day the new owner was coming to pick her up:
Most of what I learned about wheeling came from the folks on this forum while I was building BlackSheep.
That was then and I regret selling BlackSheep. Earlier this year I opted to buy another TJ and came upon this 2004 Rubicon:

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so the build has begun...

 

[BlackSheep]

Look awesome! Was that an Arlo Guthrie reference a couple posts back?

if you're talking about the use of the phrase 'implements of destruction', I'm sure I was channeling Arlo when I wrote it. I like to sing along when it comes around on the playlist...

 

[BlackSheep]

BIG DAY today!!


Had to finish up the relocation of the diff locker compressors - they are now up under the hood instead of down attached to the skid plate. With the after market belly-up skid it was a necessity.


I drove BlackSheep II around the block, pulled her back into the driveway and crawled under her. Unfortunately, what I found:


Rear diff is nearly spewing gear oil from the pinion. Not a favorable situation. I've pinged the shop that did the work. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say.

I installed new rivet nuts in place of the crap hardware that is used for bolting the fender flares in place. I need to go pick up bolts and washers, then clean up the flares before I bolt them in place.

I'm pretty stoked! Now just to deal with that rear diff!

 

[I Lean]

Luckily a new pinion seal is a quick/easy swap. Hopefully they don't give you any hassle. Worst case, the yoke is grooved and a new one will be needed.

 

[mbryson]

Looking great!

 

[BlackSheep]

Before and after:


Of course it's actually not done yet.

Since the last post, I got it down to the shop and they fixed the pinion seal no problem. While it was there I had them order me a Warn Zeon 8S winch. It's in the garage waiting for the battery terminal adaptors that I need to order up to make for a clean install. It was about an hour drive home from the shop and along the way I stopped and noticed aleak on the passenger side axle end.

In talking to the shop, they didn't replace the bearings and seals on the axle shafts. Long story that didn't leave me very happy, but the new seals are on the way. They're actually attached to a set of new axle shafts, so I'll pretty much have completely new axles except for the housings. I'll install them when I get a chance, they should be at my house on Tuesday.

So, stuff left to do:
* Install winch (need battery terminal adapters)
* Straighten the steering wheel - the wheels are aligned well but the steering wheel needs to be adjusted to 'go straight'.
* Adjust the SAVVY t-case shifter cable - when I test drove it I couldn't shift it into 4 low.
* Troubleshoot or confirm that the locker compressors are working correctly.
* Determine what I'm going to do for a rear bumper. I don't have one at all right now and the one I ordered is on back-order since October last year.
* Replace the throw-out bearing (NOISY!!)
* Install the new rear axle shafts
* Decide on top configuration. I want to go back to a half cab config like I used to have on the original BlackSheep, but the actual BesTop Half Cab won't work with the sport cage I have and the BesTop wrap-around windjammer's window doesn't zip out. Anyway, I'll be ordering the Bikini top and tonneau cover soon.

There's likely more stuff, but those are some of the bigger ones. Oh yeah, GO WHEELING!!!

 

[Herzog]

Reminds me of your old TJ! Looking great!

 

[BlackSheep]

I've been driving BlackSheep II occasionally. Thankfully I don't have to worry about it as a Daily. So, good weather mostly. Since my last post, I have changed direction for my bumpers. Olympic 4x4 went out of business so I couldn't get the matching rear bumper to the one I had. Plus, I had decided that I needed to be able to flat tow my Jeep. So, I went looking for a new set of bumpers. Decided on the Bestop Hi Access HighRock front bumper with the satin black grill guard and the matching rear bumper.



I also ordered, got powdercoated and installed the SAVVY rock sliders.

I really like those rock sliders.

I did make a decision on the configuration of the cab. I ordered a Bestop Bikini, Wrap around windjammer and a duster deck cover:

I will be putting my rack back behind the cab - I need to make some cuts in the windjammer before I can mount it back up. This is before I decided I needed to cut the windjammer:

As you can see, the windjammer is kind of jammed up there at the bottom and it makes a problem for attaching the duster to the windjammer. I Want to cut some pvc and make some bows to keep the duster from being a water catcher. Right now it's mostly in my garage so it's not an issue.

The most important thing - I actually took BlackSheep for a trail ride.



It was pretty fun. About 2 hours on the freeway to get to the trail. Some good people I rode with. BlackSheep performed excellent!

The only issue I have is with the front locker. Where the air line enters the diff is a small tube. That tube should have been replaced when the axles were re-done. Unfortunately, the shop didn't even question whether I wanted it replaced and now it leaks, thus my front locker won't engage. The t-case shifts fine after I adjusted it and the rear locker works fine. Only the front is the issue.

I also did purchase a set of replacement fenders - my passenger fender had a rust hole that wasn't worth trying to fix when I could get a complete set of OE fenders relatively cheap. Thus, I replaced the passenger side but have yet to replace the driver side.

As you can see, I also picked up a set of half doors and uppers. They are in good shape. Unfortunately the interior panel color doesn't match my dash nor do the upper windows. However, I don't much care about that. Especially since my windsheild frame doesn't match either!!





Next on the list (not in any particular order):
1. Replace the driver front fender
2. Fit my rack in place by modifying the windjammer. That's going to require some sewing, so that should be fun!
3. Swap the door lock cores from my hard doors to my half doors.
4. Sell my hard top, factory soft top and hard doors.
5. Fix the air tube on the front diff. I have a feeling I get to pull the diff apart. FUN!
6. Replace the throwout bearing!
7. Diagnose and fix the engine oil leak - valve cover or rear main?

I think that's the update.

 

[BlackSheep]

I've not been working on BlackSheep much since I got Galahad (my van - yes I changed the name...). However, when the temp tag for Galahad expired, I needed to get BlackSheep back on the road. The thing I needed to do was re-install the front driver fender. I'd removed it a few months (!!) ago and just got lazy. So, marathon session to clean up and paint and re-install those things that needed to be finished up for the fender and it was done just in time.

The other thing I needed to do was to replace the riv-nuts that I had installed in the rock sliders. I installed them in 1/4" aluminum and I knew they wouldn't hold up to any kind of abuse. So, while I had the driver side fender off I knocked those riv-nuts out and used the nuts and bolts supplied. I did the passenger side the other night since I'm trying to be good and stay home and practice good social distancing.

Today I decided it was time to cut into my windjammer and the tonneau cover so I could re-install the rack behind the cab. A little nerve wracking to cut into it, but once I made the first cut all the rest came much easier. I'm happy with the finished product, I think it will be better for shedding water as I also put a plastic conduit pipe under the tonneau cover.

This is the way it looked before I cut into the windjammer and tonneau cover:


Notice how sloppy the windjammer is - it didn't quite fit right with the rack mount in place. So, I removed it and it looked and fit so much better:


Notice how the tonneau cover isn't correctly attached to the rearmost pillar of the roll bar. Partly because I removed the roll bar padding it didn't grip the roll bar the way it is supposed to so I just tucked it under.

Here's how it looks after I cut into the parts - note that I did NOT do any sewing. We'll see how that turns out:





While the use of the zip tie on the rear most pillar of the roll bar isn't ideal, wrapping it up that way actually helps in the ability of the tonneau cover to shed water. The other piece of the water-shedding is the piece of PVC / conduit that I wedged under the cover:


it lifts the tonneau cover just enough to give it some tension all across. I cut the PVC at a length so the arch doesn't go above the level of the rack:



Another little thing I added was this Tuffy security box under the driver seat:


It's kind of a tight fit under there and the seat doesn't slide forward as nice as it should. I'm thinking about raising the seat a bit with some aluminum stock. I think raising the seat about an inch would improve my driving position quite a bit. If I get some 1/2" aluminum bar stock, about 1.5" wide I think I can put one piece under the security box mount and one piece between the it and the seat. That would get me the rise I want and I think it would also make the seat move better as it would have more clearance from the box.


Heres how my to do list is playing out:
1. Replace the driver front fender
2. Fit my rack in place by modifying the windjammer. That's going to require some sewing, so that should be fun!
3. Swap the door lock cores from my hard doors to my half doors.
4. Sell my hard top, factory soft top and hard doors. (sold the hard top)
5. Fix the air tube on the front diff. I have a feeling I get to pull the diff apart. FUN!
6. Replace the throwout bearing!
7. Diagnose and fix the engine oil leak - valve cover or rear main?
8. Install a security system / hidden kill switch
9. Install blocks to raise the driver seat

 

[BlackSheep]

From the last post, these were my action items:

Heres how my to do list is playing out:
1. Replace the driver front fender
2. Fit my rack in place by modifying the windjammer. That's going to require some sewing, so that should be fun!
3. Swap the door lock cores from my hard doors to my half doors.
4. Sell my hard top, factory soft top and hard doors. (sold the hard top)
5. Fix the air tube on the front diff. I have a feeling I get to pull the diff apart. FUN!
6. Replace the throwout bearing!
7. Diagnose and fix the engine oil leak - valve cover or rear main?
8. Install a security system / hidden kill switch
9. Install blocks to raise the driver seat

Lock cores were easy, although I actually had to disassemble the cores and move the little lock plates between the cores - the full door and half doors don't use the same cores. Anyway, I can now lock / unlock the half doors with the same key as the ignition.

I did install some risers for my driver seat. It really did make a huge difference. However, those factory seats are a little sacked out and I have a set of seats from a 2011 Mustang. I've decided to go ahead and adapt those seats for BlackSheep II. I have the driver seat fitted now:


As you can see, I do have a few thick washers under the factory mount. This was necessary to lift the mounts enough so the adapter plates will clear the Tuffy storage box. The nice thing about these seats is that forward lever is a seat height adjustment. It has enough adjustment to get me in a great position to see over the dash bar (from the sport bar that I installed). No further height spacers will be needed. I was able to re-use the factory mounting bolts even with that additional height from the washers.

Now that everything is fitted, I have to pull it back out and paint all of the pieces.

I still have several items to do from my list, and I have to add a line item to finish up the seats.


Heres how my to do list is playing out:
1. Finish install of the Mustang seats
2. Sell my factory soft top and hard doors.
3. Fix the air tube on the front diff. I have a feeling I get to pull the diff apart. FUN!
4. Replace the throwout bearing!
5. Diagnose and fix the engine oil leak - valve cover or rear main?
6. Install a security system / hidden kill switch

I've given my notice of retirement from my corporate America job, and my house is under contract. Thus, I have a lot of work to do also in getting my stuff organized / sold / in storage. I also have a few to-do items on my van. Time is passing quickly and my last day of work is November 2, with my house closing on Nov 12. I better get to work!

 

[Hickey]

Those Mustang seats look right at home in Blacksheep II. They look a lot like the 2013-2018 JK seats.

 

[BlackSheep]

Those Mustang seats look right at home in Blacksheep II. They look a lot like the 2013-2018 JK seats.

and they are much more comfortable than the factory TJ seats.

 

[Hickey]

and they are much more comfortable than the factory TJ seats.

And more comfortable than the 2011-2012 seats.

 

[rholbrook]

I keep thinking I want another TJ and this doesnt help. Nice TJ

 

[BlackSheep]

I keep thinking I want another TJ and this doesnt help. Nice TJ

Thanks. Still work to be done but I like where it's going.