Platinum Member Fourpot Posted February 4, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted February 4, 2021 Today I did more metalwork. Not Mulliner quality obviously... I made a cover for the ECU. Left it bare aluminium so it adds to the heat dispersal of the ECU (Oh yes, Corroheat on it of course). I also re-did the breather filter bracket after adding a 90-deg elbow connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member spookie the aardvark Posted February 4, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted February 4, 2021 The engineering god strikes again But .......................... isn't more stuff going back on than you took off????????????????????? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted February 5, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted February 5, 2021 20 hours ago, spookie the aardvark said: The engineering god strikes again But .......................... isn't more stuff going back on than you took off????????????????????? Ha ha, you could be right! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted March 29, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted March 29, 2021 More orange paint! Starting the brake swap... (and lurking in the background - Old Man Emu shocks and some alloy wheels) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted March 30, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted March 30, 2021 On 07/01/2021 at 18:43, spookie the aardvark said: Was it leaking oil .............................. or just marking its territory??????????????????? Or has it been sat to close to a Land Rover?????????????????? Maybe just an age thing, dribbles are a fact of life.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted March 31, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted March 31, 2021 Time for a second coat, but it's a bit cold in the garage, so parts hung out in the warm sunshine. Always wondered what the stand/frame thing in the garden was for? 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member spookie the aardvark Posted March 31, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted March 31, 2021 Someone's missus is not going to be a happy bunny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted April 3, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted April 3, 2021 Friday was indeed a good Friday. Front calipers, discs, hubs, drive shafts and knuckles all taken off. Wasn't particularly hard to do either, as a lot of it has been off before since I've had it. The only bit that needed a good application of hammer was getting the knuckles off the ball joints. Quite a difference between XJ and WJ! (The discs photo shows some WJ discs I bought, but the ones I'll use are being drilled with the new PCD by MTEC in Scotland - they'll be grooved discs. The pictured WJ front discs for sale here - offers?) Next up is the ball joint removal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member spookie the aardvark Posted April 3, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted April 3, 2021 You do like your Jeep in bits dont you? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted April 5, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted April 5, 2021 On 03/04/2021 at 17:29, spookie the aardvark said: You do like your Jeep in bits dont you? I won't recognise it when it's all back together! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted April 5, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted April 5, 2021 Today was a long day of both frustration and achievement.. Rear brakes off and disc conversion commenced. I bought the disc conversion as a kit, which is/was not available for an ABS Jeep. The parts are essentially ZJ. However, when I bought it (a reputable Jeep parts supplier) I was told all I had to do was drill a hole in the backing plate and poke the sensor through. I cannot for the life of me see how any hole drilled anywhere will make this fit. There is just not the room within the confines of the brake shoes for the sensors to go (there are still shoes for the handbrake - within the disc). The second 'however', is that the brake cables they gave me (now I've unpacked them) are equal length. XJ cables are different lengths as the adjuster is over on the left, not in the middle like a ZJ. So, much scratching of head and a lot of Googling and Youtube viewing.... and the results are in! I need the ABS sensors from a ZJ, then oddly enough, all I have to do is drill a hole... I need brake cables from a 2002 onwards KJ! (I think). So now I'm waiting for more parts/tools for both front and rear brake jobs. I have put as much together as I can for now, to make sure everything else fits properly. In the meantime, I have fitted the new Old Man Emu Nitrocharger shocks to the rear., and the new Eaton Trutrac diffs front and rear (the front took ages - a lot of shim in / shims out, to get it the lash right. The rear was a perfect fit straight off - no shims required!). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member TazMann Posted April 5, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted April 5, 2021 Fourpot this Jeep is going to be amazing when its all done. Keep up the fantastic work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member spookie the aardvark Posted April 5, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted April 5, 2021 Good to see you making use of a long back holiday weekend the jeep is looking awesome, cant wait to see her running and driving 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted April 7, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted April 7, 2021 On 05/04/2021 at 18:22, PDB said: Put plenty of corroheat on the OME shocks. Notorious for rusting. Or maybe paint them yellow with brake caliper paint? Love the pic of the calipers drying on the special caliper rack LOL! Oh yes, Corroheat everywhere!! I've noted the powder coating is a little flaky on the OME shocks, easily chipped as I found out when I had to rip out the bar pins. I have bar pin eliminator brackets front and rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted April 18, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted April 18, 2021 (edited) This weekend attention is once more turned to the front. One of my worries with this brake swap is the steering. All the kits for this modification, that are available in the USA are for LHD Jeeps, hence I had to shop around for the right RHD bits from scrappies. I haven't seen any kits or 'how to do it' videos that haven't included a modification to the steering-arms set up as well, basically heavier duty and switching the steering arm ball joints to be above the knuckles rather than under them - and they'd be well over £500 + taxes +shipping from USA. It'd be be a massive headache if it doesn't fit a RHD Jeep (diff clearance?). I already have a heavy-duty fully adjustable XJ steering set-up, but will the WJ Grand Cherokee knuckles that are now going on my Jeep, match up with the XJ steering? So I have now placed the new WJ knuckles on the ball joint stubs and offered up the steering arms. Happy days! All seems good. If it stays all good, then there’s that big bit of the left-side knuckle that I can cut off. Anyway, old ball joints out, new ones in and steering all bolted up too. In all but the last photo, the Jeep is on a lift, so the suspension is hanging right down, but on axle stands, with the suspension in its 'neutral' position, the geometry seems fine, the knuckles are slightly lower but also slightly wider-spaced than the originals, but although I've had to adjust the tie-rod quite a lot, (there's plenty of adjustment left - it's not exactly clinging on by a couple of threads) the drag and tie rod angles are as they were before. I'm still hesitating about cutting that big lump off the left-side knuckle just yet. Also swapped out the front shocks for the Old Man Emu ones. Next up is changing the axle shaft UJs.... Edited April 18, 2021 by Fourpot 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member spookie the aardvark Posted April 18, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted April 18, 2021 As always she's looking awesome mate. At this rate you might want to re register it as a WG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted April 18, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted April 18, 2021 1 minute ago, spookie the aardvark said: As always she's looking awesome mate. At this rate you might want to re register it as a WG May be a KWXYZ-J! (sounds like a US radio station) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted May 2, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted May 2, 2021 On 21/04/2021 at 18:59, PDB said: Thanks for taking the time with those pics Fourpot - learning a lot. Very intrigued by the tattoo.... Ah the tattoo.. When my kids were very young, and I worked away a lot, I would always bring them a souvenir teaspoon for my youngest, and a souvenir thimble for my eldest. They designed this tattoo and bought it for me as a birthday present. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted May 2, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) More work on the front. Went for it and hacked off the (now) excess chunk of metal on the left side knuckle, and refurbished the half-shafts. Very therapeutic as it involved using fire and bashing things with big hammers. Heated with a blow-torch then bashed (well, tapped robustly) the ABS rings off, then bashed the old U-joints out. Not seized but dry and rusty, probably weren’t far from total failure! Bashed new ones (carefully) in. Had to heat the ABS rings in the oven to expand them again, then bashed them on too. Coat of ‘chassis black’ paint and back in the axles. Edited May 2, 2021 by Fourpot 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted May 2, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted May 2, 2021 Having put bigger, and thicker, brake discs on the front and discs, instead of drums, on the back, coupled with replacing the steel wheels with alloys, the original wheel studs are now too short. These are being replaced with studs from a 1999 Cherokee, which are 8mm longer - enough to give the nuts enough thread to tighten up safely. Getting the old ones out is more big hammer fun. Getting the new ones in was less fun. You have to pull them in using an improvised spacer (two washers and an oversize nut) and then a wheel-nut is tightened until the stud is seated in the hub. My impact driver got them started but it was down to brute strength with a socket to finish the job! New re-drilled discs from MTEC fit perfectly and look the business too! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted May 2, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted May 2, 2021 And.... hubs and brakes all on. Quite a difference! Brake hoses connected and then I find new problems. 1. I forgot to attach the ABS lead brackets under the ball joint nuts (so I'll have to undo them again - only the nuts, no need to bang the joints back out.) and 2. Despite initial offering up and hope, the front ABS sensors don't fit the WJ knuckles. WJ ones ordered. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member spookie the aardvark Posted May 2, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted May 2, 2021 40 minutes ago, Fourpot said: More work on the front. Went for it and hacked off the (now) excess chunk of metal on the left side knuckle, and refurbished the half-shafts. Very therapeutic as it involved using fire and bashing things with big hammers. Heated with a blow-torch then bashed (well, tapped robustly) the ABS rings off, then bashed the old U-joints out. Not seized but dry and rusty, probably weren’t far from total failure! Bashed new ones (carefully) in. Had to heat the ABS rings in the oven to expand them again, then bashed them on too. Coat of ‘chassis black’ paint and back in the axles. You just have love an exponent of fire and hammer technology You must be an engineer Fourpot - if in doubt bigger hammers untill the job is done 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member frosty Posted May 2, 2021 Platinum Member Share Posted May 2, 2021 fantastic write up, keep up the good work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted May 14, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted May 14, 2021 Whilst bolting up the new WJ front calipers, I had to make up some spacers to move the caliper bracket out a 1/4". This is to match the 1/4" JKS spacers I had welded to the WJ knuckles so the XJ hubs fit in them. That in turn also meant longer bolts (caliper bracket to knuckle). These took some finding... M12 extra fine thread, 45mm long and 10.9 tensile strength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Fourpot Posted May 14, 2021 Author Platinum Member Share Posted May 14, 2021 Reading of PDB's control arms, I had a good look at mine. On an XJ there are leaf springs rears, so only have control arms at the front. None of mine are original, the lowers came with the 3" lift kit and I installedthe adjustable uppers a fair while ago as the castor angle was miles off. Lowers are still all good but the bushes in the uppers had lots of play and had failed. Johnny Joints like PDB's, but not greasable (or ever greased I reckon) so had failed. Options ae new Johnny Joints or new arms with greasable Johnnys or even Heim joints. Probably go for new with greasable Johnny Joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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