I actually made time this week to *DO SOMETHING* on the JeepMonster!
Forward Step #1: In my last post I mentioned I had bought a Genesis Offroad dual-battery management system. I like it because it has all the “management” stuff mounted on a plate that also serves as the battery hold-down plate, meaning I don’t have to find other real estate in a crowded engine bay for all the electronic stuff. On the other hand, I don’t like it because the universal-mount battery tray has ZERO attachment points – no brackets, no bolt holes… nothing. I had to make my own. So I mocked it up, decided it would fit in the (almost) original battery location, and welded two pieces of 2×2 angle iron to the tray. The first piece holds the back of the tray to the firewall, while the second, smaller piece bolts the front of the tray to the inner fenderwell.
Forward Step #2: Once I had located the batteries, I started building the cold-air intake system. I’m using a FiTech EFI system which, obviously, needs air. I decided to build an air box that will fit on the fender in front of the batteries; the top of the box will be formed by the hood. To get air *into* the box, I therefore had to cut a hole in the hood. (This became the first major alteration I’ve made… It caused me great consternation to actually be cutting up a part of the ‘Monster!)
I bought a Hummer snorkel cap first, because I felt that would provide the best air flow without attaching the snorkel to the windshield (which I like to put down when I can). Then I looked for a pipe… and looked… and looked. It turns out that the base of the Hummer cap is 4.5 inches in diameter, and most of the pipes I found were either four inches or five inches. I finally found a four-foot length of 4.5-inch diameter chrome big-rig diesel exhaust pipe and decided to use that, because one end was already flared to fit over the other end. With the pipe in hand, I cut the hood:
I made the cut about a half-inch at a time and test-fitted the pipe repeatedly, because it wasn’t going to be a circular hole on the hood – it had to follow the hood’s contour and I wanted it to be a close fit so I could weld the two together. When I finished the hole, I figured out how long the pipe should be (about four inches) and cut it off the big piece. I then ground off all the chrome so the welding would be easier. Some very sloppy welding later, I had firmly attached the short piece to the hood:
Just to test the fit, I set the long piece over the short one:
I hope not to need the snorkel *too* often – first, because I live in the desert, and second, because the intake is almost five feet off the ground anyway – but it’s good insurance. And this way, the engine gets cool(er) and less-dusty air from outside the engine bay.
I haven’t built the air box yet, but I ordered an “air hat,” a conical air filter, and a universal air filter mount from Airaid. After I get the placement right and the air box built, I’ll figure out how to connect the filter with the air hat.
Now for the “one step back”: When I took the old engine to PV Auto for a checkup, I took the four accessories (alternator, Sanden a/c compressor, York air compressor, and power steering pump) off. You may remember from another earlier post that I built a custom mounting bracket for the two compressors. Well, that bracket doesn’t fit the new engine. The driver side fits fine, but the customized passenger side, where I cut the original bracket down and added a flat plate for the York, is too low – it doesn’t fit over the valve cover. The York is held to the plate with four bolts; even with the offending bolt removed, the plate itself is too low.
I toyed with several options – getting lower valve covers; smashing in the corner of the current valve cover with a hammer to make it fit; and cutting off the offending corner and making do with three bolts holding the York to the plate – but I surprised myself by being disappointed that I wouldn’t get to weld more stuff together. I don’t know if this sets a dangerous precedent or not, but this morning I ordered two new brackets and will build another custom one to hold both compressors.
On balance, the project has moved forward this week (figuratively, NOT literally!), but it would have been nicer if the new valve covers weren’t higher than the old ones.
I think (I HOPE!) I also have all the right pieces to reassemble the drivetrain. I had originally planned to use the existing clutch disc and pressure plate, but when I went with the new engine (which meant I needed a new flywheel), I decided I’d also get new clutch parts. My first order from Summit Racing was totally wrong – I didn’t bother to measure anything, so the 11-inch clutch disc and pressure plate didn’t fit either the 12-inch flywheel or the transmission input shaft. My second try was better – I got the right size clutch disc – but despite my best efforts (which included a call to Summit Racing) and the fact that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, the pressure plate I bought was apparently for a Ford. All my other parts are GM. Specifically, the pressure plate had eight mounting points while the flywheel has six. *sigh* Another call to Summit Racing, and a third pressure plate arrived a few days ago. It *looks* correct – it’s listed as 12 inches in diameter, and it has six boltholes to hold it to the flywheel, but I’m not going to relax until it’s actually all bolted together. (Side note: I won’t be reassembling the drivetrain as soon as I had originally thought. It’s going to be much easier to figure out the steering, clutch, and brakes if I can put the engine in and take it out relatively easily as I mock up pieces and parts and holes. Especially holes!)
Next up: The air box and the custom compressor bracket, followed by the steering column, the brake and clutch pedals, and the instrument panel. THAT should keep me busy for a while…
From The Ground Up 