It's all about the insulation...
The first part of this update is all about keeping the inside of the Jeep cool and comfortable. My 95 YJ gets a lot of heat through the firewall and floor boards, and I'm totally committed to improving it in the 88 YJ.
Firewall:
For the firewall, I have "Floor and Tunnel Shield II" from Design Engineering (https://www.amazon.com/Design-Engineering-050501-Tunnel-Shield/dp/B000CEM3O0?th=1). It will look something like this:
And I'll also use it underneath the Jeep on the transmission tunnel and passenger floor pan:
So, I'm trying to prep the surface, so it will stick good. And getting rid of the peeling black paint that the previous owner put on the firewall.
Luckily, he didn't prep the surface, and the paint came off very easily! π (I'm not done yet - more cleaning will be done). I'm also going to go back to the original factory red color, instead of blue.
Interior Insulation:
I also have self-adhesive insulation for the inside, so I need to clean up the interior surfaces. The firewall and parts of the interior will get two layers of insulation:
First is Noico 80 mil Sound deadening mat:
Second is Noico RED 150 mil Π‘ar Insulation (also for heat insulation)
Rubberized Coating Removal:
The rubberized undercoating that the previous owner slathered all over the interior is really demoralizing. I really hate fixing other peoples stupid work. But I'm trying to make progress...
I tried many things to make removal easier:
The only stripper that really worked was the old poisonous kind, and I just had a small amount of it left in an old can.
An oscillating tool worked pretty well too:
I spent some time on the interior with the oscillating tool for the rubber coating and stripper (for the inside firewall paint):
More work needs to be done!
Paint stripper on the firewall:
This worked very well:
I also tried to see if the stripper would remove the blue spray paint, and leave the red paint. No such luck:
Now onto the fun stuff!
Engine / Transmission Assembly
Other than buying the wrong size torque converter bolts, the flywheel, engine and transmission all went together well:
Turbo 350 transmission - included with the Jeep purchase - Supposedly rebuilt...I haven't touched it at all other than putting fluid in the torque converter.
Drivetrain Installation!
The previous owner had a can of bright orange spray paint crack open in his garage...yet another thing that I need to fix.
He also put a Hack-n-Tap SYE on it. I'll be swapping this entire transfer case out for another one, but it makes a good mockup for now.
Everything was pretty easy, and clearance was good all the way around. I wasn't happy with the Novak transmission mount - it hangs down WAY too low:
After doing a bunch of clearance checks, the engine mounts were tacked into place:
Crossmember
I was hoping to go with a completely flat belly, and clearance looked good. So I decided to make a separate crossmember to support the transmission. I used a low profile isolator that mounts to the transmission - luckily readily available from Autozone. I previously purchased the DOM and bracket.
Of course, one of the transmission holes was stripped out. Luckily, I already had an M10 helicoil kit in my shop, so it was a minor setback π
Bracket and isolator bolted up to the transmission:
Outer brackets:
I didn't get any contruction pictures of the inner brackets that weld onto the DOM.
Everything tacked in place. You can't tell from this angle, but everything is above the bottom of the frame.
Driver's side:
Passenger Side:
Center mount:
Completely flat across the frame rails π
Fully welded...it still needs paint:
Next steps:
- Pull the drivetrain back out
- Fully weld the motor mounts
- Paint everything
- Continue cleaning the firewall and interior
