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I don't know if it's just me, but I love doing all that detail work. Nice job.

We did get the pile of parts down to a few items, so our goal was accomplished. There is still a ton of work left, but at least it looks like a Jeep now.

Next up, the grill, fenders and hood. Installation of the electric fan in the grill. I spent a lot of time finding appropriate fasteners for this job. I didn't want this to look like a hardware store restoration, with Grade 8 bolt heads sticking out all over the place. Finding the correct...

Here's a shot of the steering column, all restored and ready for install.

Putting the dash together was a lot of fun. I do like the detail bench work. There were a few more things that had to go in before the dash. Like the windshield hinges. Installing the dash is pretty easy, but there was a lot of work leading up to it that doesn't show.

Progress on this is not going as quickly as I'd like. It should be running and driving by now, but work gets in the way. We did make some progress last weekend when my dad came up to visit. Our goal was to make the pile of parts disappear, and I think we did a good job of that. The first part...

Nice work. On the subject of sanding disc lifespan, I am a cheap bastard. I use large discs on the small mandrel for general finishing. When those wear out, I cut them to the smaller size with a scissors. It only takes about 15 seconds to cut one to size. Now I get two for the price of one...

I'll let you know how it turns out. I wish I could find a large reservoir for this PS system, but all the ones I've found are either super fabricated looking (which we're trying to avoid) or they don't have a simple fill cap. I was looking at a reservoir from a Freightliner T800, but it looks...

I never get out anymore. With a back log of work almost a year long, a young family and property to take care of, I generally get out wheeling about three times a year. And I'm only 50 miles to Rubicon trailhead! I tend to get up there more just to hike and in the winter, we go up there to go...

Living out here in the country I have learned to have a lot on hand. I've also learned to get the major parts here before I start a project. I didn't realize I had the wrong trans until I tried to mock up the adapter, and then it too a month to get the replacement here. I got a few gray hairs...

Yeah, it's pretty easy. Just time consuming. Much like everything else. Thanks Stan! Waiting for parts sucks. Once I got the trans, the pace really picked up. The good news is that a lot of the small systems are already done. Here's a link -...

Thanks. So you used the sound Dynamat for the same reason? Noisy fuel pump? Drifting was my other calling...

On to the fun stuff. I love fabricating things out of sheetmetal. The fan shroud is one of those parts that you can't do without, can't buy and can be time consuming to build. But I have it down to a science. Some may wonder why I chose to use a mechanical, engine driven fan instead of electric...

With the trans bolted up, I took some new measurements and decided to move the engine back about 1.5" from where it was. I hate having to shorten front driveshafts, as they are almost never long enough to begin with, so every fraction of an inch counts. Instead of pulling the motor to move the...

The correct transmission finally arrived!!! It took forever to source a 6L80E, but it's here, and I can now resume with the engine placement and mounts, as well as the fan shroud and exhaust. It's dirty, but looks to be in overall good shape. I'll take the pan off and have a look at the fluid...

Remember that Renault Fuego power steering pump I wanted to use? That didn't work out, as the inlet was right where the engine block wants to be. I had another plan though. Using a pump can from a mid 80's 3/4 ton Suburban (originally equipped with hydro-boost assist) I got the system all ironed...

Next, I decided to work on the brakes. Fitting a larger booster greatly reduces the pedal effort required to bring this behemoth to a stop, and luckily, the FJ80 booster, while hugely expensive new, is relatively plentiful in wrecking yards. I happened to have a good one here, so that saved me a...

These swaps often require lots of small adapter fittings. Some of these are hard to source. The Denso A/C pump has unique fittings that only one shop makes, same with the oil pressure gauge sending unit, only one shop had the right fitting (these guys are in Australia). One fitting that...

More pics of the tank and fuel system. The last truck I used this tank and fuel pump combo in had a pretty pronounced whine to it, so to help alleviate some of that, I lined the top of the tank with Dynamat. Then I made up the fuel feed and return lines as well as the fuel pump pigtail...

All this small stuff takes so much time.