General Tech What did you work on Today?

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on....

Rather than assume the thickness based on past repairs I like to verify each one to ensure I machine the step to the correct depth per vehicle. Yep, this OEM material is about 10-gauge.


I turned just a few thousands off the OD to remove the chrome plating from the hydraulic rod.


Next I drilled the center to .500" using a drill bit then switched to a boring bar to sneak up on the final dimension. This way I can control the clearance right from the beginning and ensure a proper repair and one without beginning life with clearance.


Landed right on my dimension. I placed a gauge pin into the hole and felt some resistance from compression.


Released the gauge pin and it pushed back out. Not a bid fitment.


I just barely removed the burr to the ID using a deburring tool rather than a chamfer bit. I feel a chamfer bit will remove too much material and the whole point of going through this process is to keep as much material around the bolt as possible.


Next I machined the .130" deep step into the weld washer and turned it down to .750" in diameter which is what I will ream the elongated holes out to. This will provide .250" material thickness for the fastener, double what the OEM was and a much tighter tolerance.


Two weld washers complete and test fit. Nice and snug on the bolt.


Now let's talk fasteners. I just grabbed this off the shelf as it won't be the fastener I use, can't believe I don't have the correct fasteners for this repair. I must have not bought replacements from the last one. I prefer to use fine threaded fasteners for these repairs as I feel the more shallow helical angle of the thread aids in preventing loosening from vibration. Also, I hate having the threads coming in contact with the bracket material. This just acts like a file and eats away at the parent material of the bracket. This is what bothers me about the OEM fasteners that are threaded the majority of the shank. I shoot to have no threads actually come in contact with the brackets and only the full shank engages with the bracket material. I need 2.250" from outside of weld washer to outside of weld washer and I am right there. I will grab a couple of 9/16"-18 Grade 8 fasteners with 2.250" shank and locknuts for this project.


Here is how the shank should properly mate with the weld washer when in its final assembly. I will cut the extra threads off as I only like to have 2-3 threads extend past the nuts.



That's all I have at the moment but will post more of the repair as it progresses.

Thanks for looking.

Mike

 

[zmotorsports]

Picked up a 1999 wj for fun, needs some small work like an injector or two etc. What's some necessary wj 4.7L mods yall have come across?

View attachment 159903

Nice.

We did a few mods to my son's 2004 WJ. These were all necessary.

 

[Hickey]

Picked up a 1999 wj for fun, needs some small work like an injector or two etc. What's some necessary wj 4.7L mods yall have come across?

View attachment 159903

Bleepin Jeep recently did a series of videos on a 4.7 WJ that covered several engine mods. It sounded pretty dang good when they were done with it.

 

[_Auzzy_]

Bleepin Jeep recently did a series of videos on a 4.7 WJ that covered several engine mods. It sounded pretty dang good when they were done with it.

I'll have to go dip in to their channel 👍

 

[kmboren]

Replaced my first clutch today on our YJ. It sucked and doesn't work but I think I need to bleed the system. Also had a flex plate bolt break requiring a new fly wheel with all new hardware. All my help went to bed so I'll finish it in the morning. I also replaced the rear main seal while I was there and it was leaking.

 

[N-Smooth]

I remember changing the clutch in my old 4 cyl XJ. I freaked out when it was all back together and didn’t work but it just needed to be bled.

 

[Gawynz]

I've posted about this project here in the past and with the great weather and full lakes I have to finish it, so I pushed the Comanche to the back and picked up where I left off about a year ago. I bought this used boat a couple years ago, took it out once and it ran great, then I tore it apart. The goal is a budget bass boat, up to this point I completely gutted it (simple seats and stuff), then added the KSL trolling motor after some modification, added the front deck which opens like the hood of a car which stores three group 27 batteries and an on-board charger, fuze box, etc. with lots of room to store tackle and gear.

Got to work building/finishing the back deck. I've put a lot of time into ensuring all the wood pieces are sealed, I use several coats of wood glue around the edges and then at least three coats of two part epoxy.




Bottom deck fit.


For how simple this boat is, there is quite a lot of wiring and I'm really happy with how good the harness routing turned out, trying to do the same with plumbing. I added a bilge pump and got it plumbed. There is another floor that sits overtop the bilge/live-well pumps not shown in this picture, on top of that sits the fuel tank. Also installed a fill and drain for the live-well and cut the lower deck to fit.


Test fit, now time for carpet on the back half and repeat on the lower deck. It's going to be a bad day to be a beer when I get this done haha.


End goal, tow this with this to Sand Hollow.

 

[zmotorsports]

Last night was a bit of a circus around the shop. I got home later than expected then the guy I did the timing chains on with the Buick called to tell me he noticed a drip of coolant on his garage floor so I told him to run it by and let me give it a look. He informed me that he thought it looked like it was coming from the upper radiator hose connection at the radiator.

On my way home I tried to catch my local Bolt & Nut Supply before they closed to pick up fasteners but missed them by minutes of closing.

Once I arrived home I went straight to work trying to "true-up" the elongated holes in the frame and axle brackets. I started by scribing a circle around the holes and then used a fine toothed rotary bit to "sneak up" and bring the holes back to round. I then used a Unibit or step drill to bring the holes out to 11/16, then a drill bit to 23/32" and finished with a 3/4" reamer for final sizing.



Holes reading for reaming.




This is where it pays off to keep short pieces of Tungsten and not throw them away prematurely. I dug through my assortment and found the shortest pieces and installed my short back cap.


Unfortunately, access was not good. This is the backside of the frame mounted bracket. I am left handed so I used the torch in my left hand reaching up between the coil spring and suspension control arm and my right hand around the differential to add the filler rod. Not ideal by a long shot but thankful I had a lift and not doing this on my back.


Access to the front of the bracket was a bit better but still not ideal. My out of position TIG welds need some improvement as I am out of practice. But they are solid welds and weld washers now provide .250" per side of support. Double what the OEM provided.






I was just finishing up with the rear weld washer on the frame mount when the Buick LaCrosse came into the shop for inspection. The owner informed me that he thought it was coming from the upper radiator hose clamp but I reused the OEM constant tension clamps on the radiator hoses and I can't tell you the last time I had one of those leak, they simply don't leak for the most part. I thought to myself before he got there that I was due for a leaky clamp but going over it in my head I knew I pulled a vacuum on this thing and it held for well over a half hour without bleeding off so I figured it had to be a heat/cool cycle issue with the hose after the last week and a half of driving.

After removing some covers and investigating it did appear to be coming around or near the upper radiator hose. I released the tension on the clamp and moved the hose a bit to try and reseal the connection before releasing the tension back onto the hose. I used some brake wash and compressed air to clean the area of a bit of coolant and it appeared to not be leaking.

Next to be sure it was sealed I grabbed my pressure tester and applied 10 PSI of pressure to the cooling system and it stayed dry. I felt around it and watched carefully for a couple of minutes with no coolant leaking. I commented that must have been the issue and then thought I'd pump it up a few more pounds. I stopped at 15 PSI and sure enough, just a little drop of coolant formed. DAMNIT. Another clean and adjust process and repeat of pressure. Sure enough, at 15 PSI a small droplet formed just above the upper radiator hose. Better lighting and moving some wiring out of the way revealed that it was in fact a crack in the radiator tank.

Well that's not what he wanted to hear. I was happy it wasn't anything I did but at the same time, hated to be the bearer of bad news that he now needs a new radiator. I really don't have the time for this as I have a full schedule and other things to work on but I feel obligated to replace the radiator. I'm still awaiting the approval to order parts. Stay tuned.....

Plans for tonight include purchasing fasteners, then machining the last two weld washer and getting them welded into place, then paint and final assembly and back to the owner so he can enjoy it this weekend.

I also have a friend of my son's coming by to have me listen to an engine noise in his GM truck. I'm told it isn't good.

Sometime in the near future I need to take a step back from side work and get some personal projects done as well as finish up my grandson's wagon. I don't necessarily want to be quite this busy the entire summer.

 

[Herzog]

It's going to be a bad day to be a beer when I get this done haha.

 

[Hickey]

I've posted about this project here in the past and with the great weather and full lakes I have to finish it, so I pushed the Comanche to the back and picked up where I left off about a year ago. I bought this used boat a couple years ago, took it out once and it ran great, then I tore it apart. The goal is a budget bass boat, up to this point I completely gutted it (simple seats and stuff), then added the KSL trolling motor after some modification, added the front deck which opens like the hood of a car which stores three group 27 batteries and an on-board charger, fuze box, etc. with lots of room to store tackle and gear.

Got to work building/finishing the back deck. I've put a lot of time into ensuring all the wood pieces are sealed, I use several coats of wood glue around the edges and then at least three coats of two part epoxy.
View attachment 159947

View attachment 159948

Bottom deck fit.
View attachment 159949

For how simple this boat is, there is quite a lot of wiring and I'm really happy with how good the harness routing turned out, trying to do the same with plumbing. I added a bilge pump and got it plumbed. There is another floor that sits overtop the bilge/live-well pumps not shown in this picture, on top of that sits the fuel tank. Also installed a fill and drain for the live-well and cut the lower deck to fit.
View attachment 159950

Test fit, now time for carpet on the back half and repeat on the lower deck. It's going to be a bad day to be a beer when I get this done haha.
View attachment 159951

End goal, tow this with this to Sand Hollow.
View attachment 159952

That will be a hoot at Sand Hollow! 😎

 

[N-Smooth]

I love seeing the fishing boat stuff. I’ve said for years that if one hobby could take the death grip of rock crawling off me it’d be fishing. I just never do it enough.

The wife says we have to get a boat when my kids are teens and she wants a wake surfing boat or something. I’m going to sneak some poles in for sure!

 

[kmboren]

I remember changing the clutch in my old 4 cyl XJ. I freaked out when it was all back together and didn’t work but it just needed to be bled.

The stupid T case was in neutral 😐 put it back in gear and all better. After I replaced the slave cylinder after I cracked it trying to bleed it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Finished up the Jeep JK track bar repair last night.

I installed the front and rear weld washer in the axle bracket with a bolt holding them in tightly in position and tack welding about a quarter of the way around 180-degrees across before removing the fastener and completing the welds. Not sure why I didn't show the finished weld before painting. I wish I could say all my welds looked this good but as I was finishing up the front weld washer I ran out of Argon gas in my TIG welder and had to switch over to my smaller MIG welder for the rear washer. That probably worked out for the best anyways as there was no way I could get both hands up behind the axle around the coil spring and control arm on the passenger side. Many times when repairing these there are other things I'm doing to the axle such as a regear or something so it justifies removing the axle and performing this repair on the fabrication table where they are easier to access for welding but this job didn't warrant removing the axle so I hit the rear weld washer on the axle end with the squirt gun. I'll have to run and grab a refill of Argon this afternoon so I'm not left without over the weekend.


Seeing as how the suspension is stock on this Jeep there is no need to mess with the track bar width so I matched the OEM track bar with the new one by inserting bolts through the bushings and matching eye to eye.


Repaired areas at both frame and axle end were painted with some epoxy paint and then the track bar was installed. When doing suspension work make sure that you do not fully tighten suspension components until the vehicle is loaded at ride height otherwise damage to the bushings can occur.


Axle end installed and fastener tightened to just before snug.


One final look over before lowering the Jeep and fully tightening the track bar joints.


Ride height and track bar fully torqued.


After the road test and ready for the owner to go play.



Thanks for following along on this repair.

Mike

 

[Herzog]

Thanks for following along on this repair.

That was an insightful repair, thanks for posting. I never really ever thought about the holes in the track bar mounts, I always assumed bushings or loose bolts.

 

[STAG]

That was an insightful repair, thanks for posting. I never really ever thought about the holes in the track bar mounts, I always assumed bushings or loose bolts.

I personally always blame the hole being too loose, rather than blame the bolt being too small.

 

[anderson750]

I personally always blame the hole being too loose, rather than blame the bolt being too small.

That is what I always tell my wife

 

[zmotorsports]

That was an insightful repair, thanks for posting. I never really ever thought about the holes in the track bar mounts, I always assumed bushings or loose bolts.

Thank you. The loose bolts usually are the first phase and the elongated holes follow promptly behind. That being said, I'm not that impressed with the fitment from the factory between the bolts and holes in the brackets and feel improvements could be made so when they come to my shop I close up the tolerances with the weld washers and larger bolts and bolts with the correct grip length. Don't even get me started on the clearance issues on powersports equipment. They look like a 4-year old drilled the holes. Glad I no longer work on that shit as it was driving me crazy what the manufacturers were putting out and what people pay for that junk. My snowmobile, sand drag quad chassis and sandrail chassis all had doubler plates and/or weld washers on the holes and very specifically spec'd out fasteners to avoid such issues which made them easy to tune and were predictable to set up.

I personally always blame the hole being too loose, rather than blame the bolt being too small.

I guess it's all in your perspective.

 

[DaveB]

Over the last couple of days I finished up fixing my brother's enclosed trailer, went up to my friend's ranch and swapped a hydraulic clutch assembly on one of his old Dodges, fixed his John Deere tractor that wouldn't start, removed a blown up belt in one of the Polaris Rangers, and diagnosed a bad battery in the other one. Now its time to wrk on my own projects.

 

[_Auzzy_]

Cheap jeep is going well! Scored a free 2" lift puck set, pair of jk shocks for the rear, and a set of TRD bilsteins for the front! Also scored a bull bar and a couple scuba tanks!



Started knocking out the rear, jk shocks fit awesome once ya trim the sleeves to fit, same bolts size 👌



So this thing came from back east, Iowa to be exact, so yeah she's got some rot, like this handy dandy gas tank skid...thingy...



But fortunately I've scored a parts jeep to gut! Went our today and stole the injectors, the fuel tank and skid, the chrome grill, and some other goodies.






Also got in my tires, factory 245 70 16, not looking for anything offroad since this is my get around for now. Maybe once the buggy is done we'll one ton it with 37s etc.



More to come for the El Cheapo build.

 

[_Auzzy_]

Further work done, front suspension buttoned up 👌 made some nice brackets so I didn't have to molest the factory ones but that only allowed for 2inches of uptravel



And since El Cheapo decided to be ignorant and allow me to waste my time making these brackets and not allowing them to work he ultimately lost oem bracket privileges and got them replaced with another set I concocted.








That gave me a total of 5.75 of up travel, perfect for a pavement princess. Next was the injector issue. Think I found the issue, some random mismatched 4 hole injector resembling a 4.0 injector could possibly be the culprit...but that would be profiling so why punish a single troublesome lamb when we can just replace the whole herd right. Plugged the new ones in, cleaned and checked spark plug gaps, bleed the fuel line, fired right up and idles fine now, no stutter or light 👌 also welded up the bigger splits in the muffler seams so it's not as loud, will ultimately need replaced though. If he lasts and acts decent I might build a better flowing system for it and get a tuner. Last one of these I had with a good exhaust, tuned, and intake got around mid 20s for fuel which would be swell to me since my last rigs were slamming fuel like it's a dollar a gallon again.





Doesn't look too shabby.