WARRWAGON/ tow rig

[warrpath4x4]

got my BFG's mounted on a different set of wheels with less back spacing, mounted them on the truck and without the engine in its almost level on the bed.








got the old heater core out, didnt come out as simple as i had planned, im going to weld in a piece of sheetmetal to fill the hole. then i have a summit brand mojeve heater to mount inside.


it sits at 23 3/4" t the pinch seam.

[warrpath4x4]

installed the front diff cover today




found the diff tag on the rear when i pulled the diff cover. the fluid in the front axle wasnt too bad but the rear diff must have been the red headed stepchild, 3.54 gears (not what id hoped for but oh well)


and the first coat of semi gloss on the hood

[warrpath4x4]

kinda splurged a little this morning. i tried to clean up the valve cover but there is so much crap baked onto the inside and i couldnt get it all out of there and i didnt want to chance any of it getting into the new motor so here we go

Fabricated Small Block Mopar Aluminum Valve Covers



These are a fully TIG welded aluminum cover. Thick 1/4" billet rail. 1 1/4" baffled breather holes. 3.5" tall. Includes bolts.

[warrpath4x4]

in between the coats of herculiner i put on the floor boards of my XJ i painted the engine with high heat 500 degree paint. i prefer the color of grey just because it is easier to see any leaks that arise.

[warrpath4x4]

so after we put the interior back into the XJ, i cut out my first piece with my plasma cutter



but i didnt make some of my corners right and i cought my hose on my clamp and took a bigger slice out of one spot, plus i decided i wanted the diamond tread on the inside of the engine bay so i cut a ew piece. it turned out alot better, here it is fitting in place.



half way welded in and with the two holes drilled in it for the hose fittings for the new heater



fully welded, then after this picture i finished welding the old mounting holes but dont have a pic of that yet.

[warrpath4x4]

instead of using a rubber grommet and just pushing the heater hose through the firewall i came up with this. just a coupler and two barbed fittings that will smash the firewall between the big washers.



i think i found an orange that closely matches



and here is the piece i am going to use for my new dash (rough cut of course)



other than that it was a day to clean the shop after i got off work.

[warrpath4x4]

got my valve covers, quality looks great except the bolts are too long lol, i contacted the company and am waiting to hear back from them.







also you can see in the background that i installed the barbed fittings for my heater hoses to go through the firewall.

[warrpath4x4]

did a little bit of prep work this afternoon, my dad is comming out to help me get the motor back in this week so today i put in the new throw out bearing, cleaned up some more parts, painted some of them.

this thing is a life saver, i have been using it to clean ALOT of parts.



here is the thermostat housing before i cleaned it




and after

[warrpath4x4]

did lots of little things today, or atleast it felt like little things. bolted on the flywheel, clutch, harmonic balancer, mouts for the motor mounts and the motor mounts, then dropped the motor in but we had to clearence the bellhousing. you could see where the flywheel made marks inside the bellhousing when we took it out and it would not fit back in. then i we put the valve covers on but only sealed the passenger side since i still ned to mess with TDC on the drivers side, and put in the thermostat and housing.







we pulled the tub off of my dads jeep yesterday so he brought it out today so i can cut out the rust and weld in new metal.

[warrpath4x4]

today seemed like one step forward and two steps back. put the headers on to find out i couldnt get the starter on. one of the carb studs had messed up threads so i bought new ones only to get back to the shop and see they are too long. unhooked the power steering pump to put the new one on and broke the high pressure line.

i ended up just taking the headers back and cleaning and installing the stock manifolds. painted them with high temp exhaust paint, yah it probably will just burn off but it looks nice now lol.

my paint booth lol



cleaned up



painted







used some aircraft paint stripper on the stock air cleaner housing, this stuff really takes the paint off.

[warrpath4x4]

got what feels like quite a bit done today. found this little access door, there was one on each side. opened them up and cleaned out the dirt and stuff so they will drain water again. didnt see them till i was sitting eye level with it.



i got the new power steering pump pulley on, the new high pressure line, and the new pump on



it took a while to remember to how the pump mounted but i got it figured out. also had to modify the mounting brackets for the new alt. the 100 amp one is huge compared to stock.



clearance for new alt and new valve covers



had to bend the adjusting bracket



also had to bend the dipstick tube to clear the bottom of the new alt. used a brakeline tubing bender to bend the dipstick tube



also pulled the seat belts and the bench seat again so i can POR the floor boards and prep for the heater install

it kinda sucked being in the shop in 100+ degrees, dads truck said it was 110 sitting in the sun.

[xjjeepthing]

Cant wait for more

[BlueXJ]

Great build. Keep up the good work.

[Melissa]

WOW

I agree, I can't wait to see more!

[JG-Man]

This is a great thread, and a cool truck with a lot of character. Thanks for sharing this with us. It made my day since I am stuck home sick with respiratory problems.