July 07, 2022

88 YJ-CJ Front Clip Part 3

Front Clip Part 3

I'm moving back to the front clip. I got distracted doing the floor patch, the rear wheel wells, the front bumper, the frame tie-ins and the tire carrier over the past few weeks. There's still lots to do!

Radiator Fan Shroud

This part was actually done back in May, but just adding it here now...

To do a quick test, I bought a CJ fan shroud for a 304 V8 from Amazon. I bought it from Amazon because I could easily return it if it didn't fit. They were also the cheapest place, and it arrived in 2 days.

I actually used to have one of these exact shrouds for the Jeepster. When I sold the Jeepster 304 drivetrain several years ago, I sold the shroud. Fast forward a few years, and I'm buying the same part again. But I can't keep everything!

Some trimming will be required, but it fits pretty good.

One problem - the fan wants to be a little bigger in diameter, so I'll look for another fan. Or I'll live with it for now. I could always change it out later.

Another minor problem - it looks like I'll have to re-drill the mounting holes. (this is pretty easy)

Bigger interference from the upper radiator port - big trimming needed.

I also need to trim down at the bottom to clear the steering shaft.

I'll do the trimming on the shroud later - for now, I'm confident that I can make it work.

19" Fan

I bought a 19" fan to better fit the fan shroud. The old one was 18". I'm just holding it up in place before I removed the old fan. The 19" fan should move more air than the old fan, so cooling should be better. I'm trying to give myself the best cooling system possible.

18" fan on left. 19" fan on right.

19" fan installed

Interlopers

While I was changing out the fan, I noticed a mud dauber flying around the engine bay. They had made a very nice, shielded home. I removed it. I keep a moving blanket over the engine, but they had still gotten under it. In the future, I will do a better job keeping it covered up!

Grill Support

The CJ Grill Support is about 1.5" back from the YJ support. So, yet another mod is needed:

Factory YJ Grill support - cut line is marked

The grill mount height is also different, so I shortened the bushing to 1/2" thick on the bandsaw. The pieces to be used are on the left. I also had to get a shorter bolt, of course.

Bushing stackup:

This shows the gap that must be filled it

I have the grill on spacers to set the height

Passenger side spacer:

Underside view

Forming a bracket to fill in the gap

There are several different angles going on, so I cut slits and formed the filler piece to closely fit the two other pieces. Unfortunately, my brake would not form the exact shape of the filler piece, so I'll have to so some extra welding on the outer flanges.

Filler piece test fit. The outer flanges will be added as separate pieces.

Filler tacked into place. To ensure good alignment, I welded it in place with the grill fully bolted into the fenders. You can see the two loose outer flanges in this picture - marked P and D.

Filler piece fully welded, including the two outside flanges that I couldn't form on the brake.

Primed:

Painted semi-gloss black

At this point I got distracted doing other Jeep tasks, so I'll end this one here. There is still much to do on the front clip!