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Operation YJ Resurrection

21K views 188 replies 29 participants last post by  KMDWRANGLER 
#1 ·
With every passing weekend she is getting closer and closer to hitting the road/trails again. Got tons done to her this weekend! It also was the first time in 15 years her top was off. :bop: Gonna replace the Cowl seal at some point this week at night after work. And drop in the new 4x6 kickers in the dash.

So that leads me to ask, how long does it take to replace the cowl seal? And is there anything that I need to watch for or take precautions on when I replace this seal. Didn't know if anyone has done this task and ran into some issues. Or if it's just a cut and dry procedure as it seems.

KMD
 

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#5 ·
It's all good nebo. No sir it's not new. Factory Mopar roll bar padding and covers ordered from the dealership when I bought it new in 91. That also is the factory paint. It was pink before I started bringing it back to life. Surprised the hell out of me it came back that good. I haven't even touch the roll bar padding covers yet.
 
#7 ·
Love that hood decal!
 
#8 ·
You might find the new seal makes it difficult to re-attach the struts from the main loop to the windshield frame. Searching this forum I found another member took a 2X6 that was wider than the windshield and put eye bolts in each end. He put the 2X6 near the top of the frame and used tie down straps from the eye bolts to the main loop to evenly pull the windshield frame back and compress the gasket. Some searching of this forum should find a good photo of how he did it. A really clever solution to a common problem.
Good Luck, L.M.
 
#9 ·
The post that has the picture by Raoul was on 10-6-15 to the original post "more door woes". Read the entire post. There is a bunch of good info. L.M.
 
#10 ·
Cool Deal, Luckymac. Thanks for the info. I'm gonna get er done Saturday and I will post my findings as well. Work hasn't allowed me to attempt the project this week so far.

jj, thanks bud, lots of love has gone back into this project

BigEarL, Yes sir I do to. Thanks. Holds true to my persona; guns, hotrods, jeeps and liberty. Just to name a few. I did all the graphics/decals myself out of 3m Ij-180 black and red control tac vinyl. Routing my custom spare tire cover (old bolt holes locations) and tramp stamp next week. Gonna be sweet. Have the router files ready to go. Just have to find time to do it.

This weekends projects:
Cowl Seal & dash speakers
Hardtop seals (all)
Windshield weld up from old light bar/repaint
B-Fab Battery box paint and install
New Power wire & terminals
Fuel filter & new Lines
Vacuum lines replaced
New fuel Pump & Strainer
Install fuel tank and all componets
New fuel straps/paint (skid plate painted, ready to go)
Power Steering lines installed and pump mounted
New serp belt
Sand driver side frame and repaint
And if I have time, coat fender wheel tubs with under coating

Well thats my Goal... AND HAVE LOTS OF COLORADO COOL AID with a side of pendleton at times :)

As you can see the cowl seal is done and is very brittle. And it is the factory one that has never been replaced.

KMD
 

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#15 ·
Thanks for the compliments guys!

Jeer42 the door panels are Gauge Works (by auto meter) that I got from Morris 4x4. And I made the red insert panels out of .040 red alum.

Gauge Works Replacement Door Panels, Interior, Black - Pair - GW-90-000

Dman2721, yes sir they are painted with rustoleum wheel paint. And I full color printed the center cap decals out of reflective black. Was gonna powdercoat them but since the center caps are kinda jacked up with some cracks in the locking rings i didn't want to spend the extra money. Since I might lose a center cap down the road. And as luck has it. they don't make those center caps anymore. so I will be in the new rim market after that. Or try to fab some new ones.

So that leads to me to saying that it is great to have goals and set goals. But reality is other thing. While I did get tons done to her, its wasn't even close to my goals.

So I didn't expect all the rust. And boy was there a lot of it.

Ok, replacing the cowl seal was not hard at all and I used the Omix Windshield Frame to Cowl Seal from Morris 4X4. ( Omix Windshield Frame to Cowl Seal - 12302.04) IT FIT GREAT WITH NO ISSUES! I did use new counter sink screws and finish washers cause the existing was rusted as hell. So go ahead and plan on replacing these when installing the new seal. Tip: Clean all surfaces before installing seal. And yes with the new seal compressing the windshield back down to meet up with bracket and cage was a bio$TCH. But not bad with a helper to help persuade the mating task. Still have to square up windshield for top but plan on doing that this week. Just need to get a security torx socket for the rollbar bolt. Or break off the round tab.

So to the rust: SONOFABISCUIT! Now I have sand, prep and paint the dash! I went ahead addressed this issue so it wouldn't get any worse. Good news is now the dash is painted. But this ate a lot of my time up.

And when you have it this far out, clean all dash panels, gauges and fix what ever issues that you may find. And as luck would have it, I had more issues. Not to mention run wires for accessories etc.

I went ahead and ran my 3" led cube lights thru the cowl seal and ran wires into dash. I used the existing hole on the driver side where the wiper motor wires run to run my wires for that light. And on the pass side I just drilled a 3/4" whole where the dash is notched out and ran wires thru that with a rubber grommet. Done deal.

Next up was adding the Kicker 4x6's in the dash at the factory location. Again what a Bit&%h! Some of the factory studs was missing so I just broke the others off. Drilled 4 new holes in the dash and mounted them with button head stainless screws and nuts. Make sure you go ahead and wire them up and be ready for them to go.

As you can see when replacing a cowl seal, you might as well plan ahead to do other mods and be ready to fix what you can't see!

I also would like to find whomever designed the damn glovebox and give him a good ole' Texas @zz whoopin! 4 screws in the handle area on the back side?!? This @zzH@le must have never worked on a damn thing in his life....

KMD

Tip: Just leave those damn screws on the back side of the glove box out. I plan on adding a security metal glove box soon. (and mine had the phillips head button type)
 
#18 ·
Lookin' good! Its weird how that paint came back so well.
 
#19 ·
Will do watson. Lots and lots of parts & mods to go... With lots and lots already done! Just takes time, vision & money. I have been saving and buying parts for over a year now. I have the fever 4 sure.

Thanks Morris 4X4. I have to say that 75% of all parts have been ordered thru your company. I have nothing but great things to say about your services. That's why I keep coming back. And run your decal in my product stripe by the jeep emblem.

KMD
 
#21 ·
Got a little bit done last night. Have the new front 3/4" Truck Lite side marker lights installed. Also drilled and tapped bolt holes for my raised 2" 3 LED diode star diffused running lights & 8" cree led bar light. Also painted the housings & installed new halogen bulbs my piaa's.

Figured out how I will fab a new mount/bracket for my under hood light and use a white LED KC Cyclone light. Tested it out last night. Makes a badd @ss under hood light. Also after playing around with different mounting locations. I now have a idea on where I will mount the red LED KC Cyclone one's to. Gonna be sweet...

Also have the new Kentrol hood latches and window tie down kit installed. Man what a difference these made. Good stuff.

Also in this pic you can see the pattern I cut in the TSL boggers to make a new tread pattern. They are also siped 1/8" for extra bite. Not a easy job to do. Three boggers down, two to go! But years of racing a dirt late model I have cut many many tires in my life. We sold out a few years back tho. I do miss racing. But that's also one of the reasons why I started this Jeep build. Once a gear head always a gear head. Gonna including a pic of the Shaw car we ran with a Wall 2 Wall performance spec motor.

I guess I just like to play in the dirt...

KMD
 

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#24 ·
Well I didn't get much done last night. But I did get the Red Trucklite 3/4" lights installed in the procomp rockcrawler bumper last night and test lit them with 9 volt batteries. Looks sweet. Wanta talk about some thick steel to drill thru. Hands & wrist are pretty sore from the hole saw catching at times (it's gonna happen). Just take your time and use some cutting lube. I didn't get a pic of the set up yet but I will.

I plan on getting as much done as I can this weekend. But this is East Texas. And we haven't had any rain in the past 3 months. But it looks like we are gonna get it all back in a few days. 5-7"+/- is forecast thru Monday. So we will see what the weather will allow me to get done.

I used to live for weather like this when the red beast was rollin'. Head to the farm or trails to get some good ole' mudin' in.

KMD
 
#26 ·
Thank You RJYJ. I'm glad it inspires. All of this build has been done with bolt on parts from mainly one vendor like Morris 4X4. I just wanted to show everyone that you can do a lot with bolt on parts.

Now some of the parts I used was fabricated by some friends & I. But you can get most everything thru one vendor to deck out your rig with minimal tools and mechanical skills. Oh and some elbow grease...

KMD
 
#27 ·
Well they was a little off on the total rain fall amounts for us. Poured out an overflowing rain gauge at 8" and when I checked this morning it had another 3.75" in it. So since I don't have a enclosed shop to work in I wasn't able to get much done at all. But I did get a few things done.

Got a game plan together on the wiring of all the accessories with the painless 7 circuit boss. Have it all mapped out with what is going where and what circuits are going to certain accessories. I will be also using the Daystar rocker switches. Need to order a few more switches now. It's gonna take a full weekend to complete this project...

Painless Performance, Wiring Auxiliary 7-Circuit Fuse Block - 70107

Fabricated the new tailgate inside cover panel. Attempted to paint. But the humidity didn't play along. So have to sand and repaint.

Cut all the boards for the sub box and and designed the aluminum security cover to go over it. It will be routed out of .063 alum and bolted to the floor and wheel tubs.

Also got the old windshield seal out and waiting on the moisture to evaporate before I reseal it with the new one. THAT WAS A %@iOT%H to do. I'm sure they make a tool for that. But I didn't have one. Oh well.

Looks like I will be placing a order with Morris 4X4 on some more parts soon...

KMD
 
#28 ·
Well we have had over 22" of rain over the past two weeks. Have not been able to get anything done on the jeep except for the new windshield seal installed. But the wife and I did throw one hell of a kick butt Halloween party. I went as my usual character, ole` Sheet Faced!

I did pick up a 20" single roll led light bar that will go on the hood. It's a spot/flood combo. I will fab a mount out of 1 1/4" round mild steel tubing and plate steel to mount to the existing hood hinges. It will also serve as a high lift jack mount with the light mounted on the bottom side. That seems to be the only place that I can mount the jack. Every place else it just seems to be in the way of either lifting the hardtop back glass or blocking the back up lights, ETC. I really don't want it on the hood tho. But that seems like its my only option as of now. I sure the hell don't want it inside. Any one else have this problem?

Seems like the list of things to do/build keeps growin'.....

KMD
 
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