Bought a steering box and new lines. Dad and brother in law are coming up for thanksgiving and we are going to make a big push on this thing to try and get it started and possibly moving. Still gotta figure out how to adapt the stock column shifter to my 4l80e and I think that’s the last piece to make this drive.

 

I wanted a K5 but couldn’t find one I liked, so I bought a jeep xj crawler(axles,exo cage, long arm lift, gears, winch etc) I’m anti jeep but it was cheap fun and i bought it way cheaper than I could have built it. It was fun, but the lack of AC while wheeling here in TX was a nightmare. You should make the drive to Bridgeport TX and wheel the northwest OHV park. It’s a fun time.

 

This one is factory AC although I’m not worried about it at the moment. I just want to drive it and either start enjoying it again or sell it to fund a sports car. I need some speed and tire smoke in my life.

 

i know the feeling. I sold mine because of that reason.

 

Well this was gonna be my on road//off road rig when it first started but while it’s been down I’ve bought a rzr and would rather wheel that than this. So now I own a grossly overbuilt mall crawler that needs a new floor pan and all the doors rebuilt inside and out and all the interior rehab’d. It’ll be fun with the motor/trans/gearing I’ve got setup but will it be enough? If it’ll burn down the 37’s on a power brake then it might get to stay and I’ll buy a sports car separately.

 

Went to swap to the 2wd steering box for the crossover steering and found a few cracks in the frame. Pretty common. I drilled them, ground them, and welded them.

 

Bought some hoses to finish things like map and PCV. I’m off all next week. Gonna try and get this thing lit off and if possible, driving under it’s own power.

 

Spent two hours fighting the steering box and when I went to mount the brace, learned why. Looks like a rivet snapped on the frame and caused the front frame horn to be bent in. The front of the frame was torched off at some point. I’m now wondering if it hit something and one of the PO tried to hide it. You can see a plate booger welded on to the frame under the steering box. Other than that, got the box, lines, and axle connected. Wanted to run PCV, map, and coolant bypass but my temper was raging so I decided to call it quits. Maybe I’ll try again later.

 

PCV, map, and coolant bypass hoses 99% done. Ran out of hose clamps dang it. List to get it started is as follows:

Gas tank hose vent hose
Brake booster hose
Weld O2 sensor bung and install
Throw on quick temp exhaust pipes
Fill power steering
Fill transfer case
Secure oil dipstick
Install battery
Set timing with distributor and Holley efi
Tighten fuel lines
Check for leaks
Top off coolant
Load base file
Add gas
Say prayers
Turn key

Left to drive it out of the driveway:

Check and fill fluids
Install front shocks
Connect front brakes and bleed
Connect steering shaft to box
Install shift linkage
Install driveshafts
Wire trans cooler fan
Air up tires that have been at 0psi for 4yrs
Bolt in seats
Say prayer
Drive

 

Well damn. No fire. Not even a cough. Pulled a plug and there’s no gas or gas smell at all. It’s never even fired. We’ve got 60psi of pressure. Noticed while cranking that the monitor isn’t showing RPM or “syncing” like the manual says it should. Tells me that the ecm isn’t seeing a tach signal like it should to know when to fire everything. Gonna have to do some research tonight and see what’s going on.