Heinz 57 build

[UABYJ94]

As most of us know when we build our rigs they end up with several different things from several different kinds of vehicles. Well that is why I decided to call this one the Heinz 57 since my wife has deemed any mix breed dog a Heinz 57 dog. I assume from all the different ingredients in the recipe..lol

So here goes alot of copy and pasting from other sites to get this one up to date on the build.
Here it is in original purchase form from my co-worker..

bought a set of used 3.5" BDS leaf springs and 1/2" boomerang shackles.
I have the back lightly bolted up and starting on the front. The front is on jack stands to get it almost level with the rear. The rear is a ride height and I measured from the bottom of the rear corner to floor and got 28 3/4".
Before

After

When me and my 10 yr old daughter finished installing the rear, we took it around the neighborhood with lifted rear and stock front. We both got a kick out of it and kidded about feeling like riding in Speed Buggy the cartoon. :RoFl:
We soaked everything down on the front with PBblaster last night and will begin swapping the front tonight.

Still need shocks and extended bump stops, but everythnig else is done including relocating brake lines. I didn't do the xfer skid drop and get a little vibration so I'll make some spacers to take care of that this week.

 

[UABYJ94]

Thought I would post some pics of what me and a friend built for the jeep this weekend. Should help when crawling over the curbs..hehehe

These were taken before I added a few more bolt holes to each one.



Well got a deal that was too darn good to pass up. So I'll be bringing this back with me from my trip to north Ms. this weekend.

What is not in the pic is the xfer case which is at my cousin's place already. I'll get everything cleaned up and repainted then take some more pics as they go under the jeep. It's times like now I hate being at work and not onthe road towards getting these deals

 

[UABYJ94]

Got the D35 removed.

Then we started on the transfer case removal and got it out. The top driver side nut is a stupid pain in the buttocks to remove due to the xfer case shift linkage bracket, but it was defeated in the end. I am not looking forward to installing the new one because of the nut.

Then it was time to get the axle and tires under there to see where we were going to focus our attention to make room.

 

[UABYJ94]

I sold my spring and front bumper to Duvalbulldog and then gave him the winch plate, .5" boomerang shackles, TC skid plate, pipe grill guard to be welded to front bumper and a set of grab handles for the roll bar to help them get in and out of the jeep with a true 4" lift.
So here is how my jeep looks now that I took some more parts off to prepare for the build up.

Here is the best helper I've ever had the pleasure of working with..

Here we are having some fun to releive the stress of the slow pace we have to work at.

 

[UABYJ94]

I took the front seats out so they could go to their new owner this weekend and the back seat came out just to get it out..

Here are my replacement front seats. They have been cut for Harness belts and then sewn back together..

Took the 9 in rear apart to make sure everything in it is good to go and found a few chunks of metal from the previous shafts or gears letting go before the chromoly upgrade.

 

[UABYJ94]

Replaced the front brakes on my wife van before starting to piddle on the Jeep.

This is all I got done by myself before the hydraulic pump on my visual covers started leaking fluid

 

[UABYJ94]

I found a spot of gear oil under the chunk of the 3rd member on the 9 in. After further inspection I found a crack along the bottom of the chunk and a glob of weld that I hadn't paid any attention to prior to this. I knew I had just cleaned out the chunk and resealed the 3rd member and this wasn't suppose to be on the floor.

here is the crack and the blob...

As I was grinding down the glob of weld I found the wall was extremely thin as I actually cut through in a couple spots. apparently whoever tried to repair it didn't vent the axle enough to keep the build up of hot air pressure inside that was blowing the weld out as it was almost sealed.
Here is the repairs I did and added some layers to put some meat back on there..

All better and ready for another coat of primer

 

[UABYJ94]

Got the comp cut done today...

In this last one you can see where I got the chevy flat top knuckle on the ford and got all the different parts figured out on the front axle with some help from Jamie. Thanks for the insight and help on figuring out what I couldn't figure out. You can also see where I took a piece of the tub I cut out and added it to fill in where the gas cap was. I also filled in where the tail light wiring was on both sides after this was taken.

This will give an idea of the height it is sitting at and should be about the ride height once finished.

 

[UABYJ94]

Dog gone if it aint gettin closa...

The back end is on rubber instead of jack stands...

Got some work done on the driver front fender and got it installed...

I also added a custom body lift and haven't measured the difference yet.. It was 1.5" rubber that got smooshed as the new longer grade 8 bolts were sinched down. I also removed the clutch fan and ready for an elec Taurus fan to go in it's place.

 

[UABYJ94]

Heres where I welded in pieces to fill the holes and painted them on the rear of the jeep.

Did a stretch test to make sure nothing would bind or hit what wasn't suppose to hit.

Seems to be working properly... As soon as I figure out this full hydro set up then I can finish my cage build, mount the fuel cell and move onto buttoning up the little things.

 

[UABYJ94]

I ordered a set of BTF comp corners and an anti wrap bar, from a guy in Chattanooga, already made to save me a little time. The comp corners had never been installed. I also ordered the steering column from EOR to be able to connect my steering shaft to the orbital valve. All these should be in next week and will allow me to button up the steering and the back end of the jeep.

I'm going this afternoon to collect all the fittings to install the fuel cell. I broke my passenger front beadlock back down last night to reseal it for the 2nd time as it refused to hold air. I put enough silicone on this time to choke a buffalo.

I need to replace the bushings in the waggy springs, finish my xfer case skid and work on the cage some more to have myself feeling better about being ready for a shake down run at mobile swamp the first Saturday of May..


Long winded I know...it's the little details that add up to so much aggrevation.. :bangwall

 

[UABYJ94]

Here are some of the latest progess pics...

got the A pillar bent, adjusted and welded into place, as well as tied into the frame. also got the passenger comp corner bolted up to check how much grinder lovin still needs applied.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but man there is work involved getting this stuff done..
There is alot of cutting wheel time trimming that body panel to look right with these comp corners. Then all the little trimming of pipe to match with the least amount of gap for welding up is tedious(sp?) work.




!!!!!!Major Tip/Warning!!!!!!

Don't leave a can of mig spray upright in the passenger seat without the top on it!!!!
When you are done standing over the seat and decide to sit down to weld the bottom of the winshield pipe to the A pillar and have a large amount of it soak into the seat of your britches IT WILL BURN YOUR BUTTOCKS!!!!!! :shocked: :shocked:

 

[UABYJ94]

Remember that song " I'm Coming Out"?









Well she came out of the carport last evening,,,

Pulled it out to do a better flex on it for the compressed and extended measurements for the shocks.

Got the brake lines hooked up in the front and the rear line ran down to the axle. Should get the hard lines ran out to each wheel and everything bled this evening.

Steering column came in for the orbital valve, but no bolts or mounting bracket so I'll have to manufacture a bracket..I picked up grade 5 bolts from Lowe's last night.

 

[UABYJ94]

I had to cut the bracket for front track bar in order to get the orbital valve mounted..

Started on the D44 truss so I can get the ram mounted and start on the hoses..

When I made this it was too long so I cut a groove at one bend and bent it over some more and welded it back up. Then I can cut it to saddle the axle.

Then found EOR didn't send my fuel pump or the other reducer for the fuel cell.

I then jump over on the pass rocker guard getting it bolted back on.

I already had the driver side bolted back up from Tues night..

I didn't get pics , but got the inside of both comp corners coated with bed liner and should have them bolted up this evening. I'm sending my wife by Southern Machine and Auto to pick up a driveshaft yoke to replace the booger up one on my rear drive shaft.




Now this is where I am as of last night....I'll try to keep it updated as I do the other sites...It's not a fancy, bling, bling build, but it will satify my needs I hope

 

[UABYJ94]

Ok, someone mentioned on another site about my location of the orbital valve and my reasoning for putting it in a dangerous spot.. I am going to look at cutting the steering shaft and moving it back and up away from the front bottom of the frame to take away any chance of landing it on a rock. I was just going to build a box to protect it like we do our factory steering boxes.

Ok guys here is the new location for the orbital. I shortened the steering shaft by about 12" and hope this will work out because I really don't want to go through moving it again.lol

If you look close in the last pic you can see the brace I welded to the back of the flat plate for more support.

 

[UABYJ94]

Here is the pic of the orbital from the front..

Things are about to change again. I guess if I were decently knowledgeable about building and could afford things as they are needed then I wouldn't have time to change them in the middle of this build. lol

This is what I should have done as soon as I bought the other parts. More info coming later

 

[UABYJ94]

I bought a complete 4 link setup from a guy on here and didn't know it was a single triangulation set up like the Coleworx buggies so I debated long and hard about just running the rear that way, but.

Decided against the single triangulation in the rear and ordered a stick of 1.75x1/4 wall DOM and a stick of 1.5x 1/4 wall DOM to build the links longer. Got a full stick of each so I would have it on hand for the Commando when it comes time.

I also purchased another full(5) set of 39.5-13.5 Irocs to put on the jeep and use the TSLs for back ups.

You can see the brand new spare in this pic...

I should be back to working on it next week so hopefully I'll have updates and more pics of the progress. Just be patient as they have raised our hours at work back to 57 a week. I go in at 6:30 am - 5pm Mon-Thurs, 4pm on Fri and 3 on Sat. so time spread amongst the family and projects gets real thin.

 

[UABYJ94]

Here are some updated pics of the progress the last 2 days getting the drive shaft made and installed. Hope to get more progress done with removing exhaust and starting on the link installation.

 

[UABYJ94]

I cut the exhaust out from the down pipe all the way back since it was in the way of the front driveshaft and the rear four link. I welded a piece of HREW from the axle up to the frame to keep it where it will be ran so I could remove the jack stands. With this I can now start mounting the brackets for the four link. Oh, I also decided to run the links I initially bought and will save the DOM sticks for a later project. I'll have a few pics of the YJ tonight and will update the thread with them sometime tomorrow.

I ordered a high volume steering pump and pulley for the 2.5L so I could motivate myself to finish the steering and get the 12volts ran to the fuel pump so I could atleast fire it up, then get the double ended ram mounted and drive it around the yard...lol Wife is out of town til Sunday evening so I'll have uninterrupted time with the mistress and a 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving..oh and have to be at courthouse Monday the 26th to see if I get jury duty so that may be a 5 day weekend to get stuff done on the YJ...

Got the PSC pump installed and hoses ran from pump to orbital then the hose from orbital to reservoir. I will have to get the hose made with the fittings to go from reservoir to pump to finish that system...Also, I need to swing by PickNPull to find a power steering cooler off a 6.0 to put with this...

Shocks are listed to be delivered by end of day on Tuesday....

I started plating the inside of the frame on both driver and passenger side for strength and so I can finish the tranny cross member then on to building the cross member the link tabs will mount to under the yoke.

 

[UABYJ94]

Had some down time at work so I decided to grab some 1/4" x 4" flate plate and pop some 1 1/16" holes( biggest die we have for this Piranha) for frame reinforcement...I made 4 of them 3' long and the last one was a piece of drop at 2'4".

Reckon this will make for a happy frame??