Maloppa's Build

[Maloppa]

Greetings all,
When I joined this forum I was looking for a different group of individuals that wanted more from their vehicles besides mud and rocks. I have always used my Jeeps for everyday drivers, excursions, and family adventures close to home and all over this great land.

My current Jeep is a 95 YJ. I have owned this vehicle for about 5 years now and last month had finished it to the specs that I had been looking for. Then about a week after I was done, along came a Karmann Ghia. So now comes a chance to start again. This time I intend on building her to be specifically for Expedition and everyday driving. As many others, I would like to share the build as I go and look to learning from the knowledge that I have seen from this group.

95 YJ August 08

Desert Ox brush guard

View of sadness. Thankfully no one was seriously injured.

http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq50/Maloppa/Photo_08.jpg

There will be many upgrades to come. I have purchased a 92 that will be a donor for my drive train and a future camper project I have planned.

 

[SixLug]

very cool...I look forward to any buildup of a YJ...Ive owned 2 and they are great. A lot of people dont like the square headlights, as that deviated from the "roundeye bloodline", but I love them.

Very odd front bumper, but looks like it will get the job done.

Welcome.

 

[Maloppa]

Tear down

Well had a good day of tear down.

 

[sandalscout]

ouch, that stinks... Are you putting your drivetrain into the blue jeep? What all was damaged in the wreck?

That's a pretty ghia also, too bad for both of you.

 

[hutchman]

Looking forward to the build......

 

[SeaRubi]

looks like a really fun project! bummer for the Ghia

 

[Maloppa]

No, that was the 4cyl. that I pulled out of the white one. The blue is my donor. The wreck bent my brush guard just enough to crunch the driver fender. The flex of the frame caused both fenders to buckle on the top. So I have sitting in my garage new tube fenders from poison spider and their stinger brush guard. With the drive train swap I am going to use an nth degree belly up skid and add a one inch body lift. I have the rampage rear bumper with the tire swing. Ya, thankfully no one was hurt in the accident. Just feelings mainly.

 

[Maloppa]

Saturday of the build, I pulled the exhaust and installed the 1 inch body lift.

Today, I burned up my compressor trying to remove the motor mounts. Resorted to a sawzaw and then spent the rest of the day exchanging the compressor. I exchanged up for a bigger system.

 

[Maloppa]

Prepped the donor motor for transfer.

Welded in the motor mounts.

 

[Maloppa]

Put my motor in and got it bolted up.

 

[Maloppa]

Excellent couple of days of wrenching on the Jeep. Finished body lift. Installed new shackles. Wiring harness mostly complete. Transfer case to shop for SYE. Spent today building my tube fenders from Poison Spyder.

 

[SeaRubi]

I'm crazy jealous of your build. I can taste the beer and grinding dust just looking at the pics - nice work. :beer:

 

[BC Explorer]

Are you using the 4.0 ltr's harness and computer ?
What about drive shaft lengths ?

I'm thinking about doing an engine transplant mainly due to the crappy AX5 tranny. I have tossed around ideas of a V8 and even the Hemi but, I like the idea you have staying with Jeep and the simplicity.

 

[Maloppa]

Ya, I unplugged the 2.5 harness from the firewall and plugged the 4.0 harness back up. I attempted to start it yesterday and had power but the starter wasn't getting any power. I am going to finish installing clutch and shifters tomorrow. I am hoping that they neutral sensory or clutch sensor is the only thing that is causing her not to start. I am going to hook up the front drive shaft and then drive it down to my local 4x4 shop and let them check my rear angle and order me a new rear drive shaft.

I also thought about a v8, but I also wanted to keep it jeep. Besides I got my donor for a great deal and didn't know if I had the knowledge base to do a v8. Figured the direct swap would be easiest.

 

[BC Explorer]

Did you replace the computer as well.