June 16, 2023

Jeepster Roller, Part 10

We are getting a little beyond "Roller" with this update. But I'm hoping to get as many parts on the Jeepster as possible...

First, because it gets the parts out of my way.

Second, because I can see how they fit, and make future modification plans, if necessary.

LS2 Water Pump

Clearance between the grill and engine is very limited. I'm doing everything possible to increase the clearance. One way is to install an LS2 water pump in place of the original LS1 water pump, which will save about 1" or so.

The LS1 water pump is brand new - it was installed when the engine was on the engine stand ~~about three years ago~~ a while back. ("a while back" sounds better!)

LS2 Tube Mod

Before installation, I cut off about half of the water pump outlet tube. It seemed longer than necessary, and has two beads for hose retention. I cut it off and left the 2nd bead for hose retention.

This will give me some extra clearance between the hose and the electric fan. The rubber radiator hose has to turn 90 degrees in a very short distance.

LS1 Water Pump Removal

This is where an easy project:

takes longer than expected
costs more than expected

Evidently some of the old coolant got up into the new water pump when I rotated the block around on the engine stand, and caused a bunch of corrosion. I'm going to replace the thermostat and thermostat housing again 💰

I was shocked at the amount of corrosion in there:

I'm going to look into draining/flushing the block to get any of this gunk out of the engine. And I might seal up the cooling system and add fresh coolant to prevent any more corrosion.

Coolant Types

This is a pretty good article that I found several years ago that explains a lot about coolant types and issues. Some of you might find this interesting. One key point: do not mix coolant types!

https://www.chevyhardcore.com/tech-stories/fuel-cooling-ignition-tech/antifreeze-chemistry/

A chart from that article - this LS1 engine uses "Dex Cool":

LS1 vs LS2 Water Pump Clearance

This picture has the LS1 water pump is on the bench with the LS2 water pump on top. It's pretty easy to see the extra clearance that the LS2 pump will provide:

LS2 Water Pump Installed

LS2 Water Pump installed:

(the new thermostat and housing will be installed later)

Power Steering Pump Reservoir

The only other potential interference is the power steering pump reservoir. We'll see later if this will have to be addressed:

Radiator Test Fit

I did a quick test fit of the radiator using the bracket that I had made earlier.

Some good...looks like good clearance for the electric fan:

Some bad...the stock LS1 thermostat housing is at a bad angle to my radiator.

I ordered a new aftermarket, 45 degree, thermostat housing that also rotates. I expect that this will work better. The lower radiator hose should be a breeze to find, as it will just be a short 45 degree hose.

The upper radiator hose layout and spacing looks pretty good. Hopefully, I'll find a hose that is the correct length. Worst case, I'll splice 2 hoses together.

Spal Electric Fan

To prevent any cooling issues during the hot Texas ~~summer~~ spring, summer, and fall, I bought a very nice Spal electric fan. I chose this particular fan for 3 main reasons:

Variable speed with PWM control, so it will not be obnoxiously loud all the time
Brushless DC Motor - more efficient
It moves a ton of air!

On the negative side

It's not cheap! 💰
"Drop In", so it mounts differently than most fans (this makes fabbing the shroud much more difficult).
If I had a TIG welding setup, then the shroud and mounting would be MUCH easier!

This picture shows the spacer that I need to make to mount the electric fan to the radiator. I already made a spacer for the bottom edge.

At first glance, there's good enough clearance between the fan and engine:

This is why I changed water pumps:

Both headlight buckets were modified earlier to get some clearance to the radiator:

I also dropped on the intake manifold. It is NOT in the correct position - it's hitting the firewall. I will have to cut more of the firewall to get it installed in the correct position, which is about 1" rearward.

It looks like there is enough room for an intake tube elbow.

Engine/Radiator/Fan Conclusion:

More work is needed, but it looks like the engine is in a good position. I am encouraged by the first test fit!

Grill Support

I have to fabricate a new grill support since my frame is from 1973, and my grill is from 1967. These two parts never came together from the factory, and the two locations are several inches away from each other:

As a side note, these two different grill mount locations also exactly illustrate why I am having so much trouble fitting a V8 into the engine bay! The 1967 originally had a V6 engine. When compared to the 1973 Jeepster, the 1967 has a much shorter hood, and much less space for the engine.

Stone Shield Obstruction

The crossmember to support the grill will have to be slightly offset from the grill itself.

The main issue with adding a new crossmember between the frame rails directly under the grill is the "stone shield". It's a thin sheetmetal panel that bolts to the bottom of the grill. Here are two gorgeous Jeepsters showing the stone shield:

I hope my Jeepster looks this good when I'm finished!

I actually really like the stone shield, and the classic Jeepster look up front, so I want to keep it. I have to make sure that any grill support that I make also allows access to the stone shield bolts.

There's also a steering box/steering shaft on the driver's side that may complicate access to the frame.

Center Grill Mount

As part of the grill trim done earlier, the original center grill mount got removed for radiator clearance. My first step will be to re-create a new center mount on the grill. My first mistake...this would be easier with the grill off of the Jeepster!

Since the grill is already installed, I'm going to make a big nut plate and weld it onto the bottom of the grill. When the grill is removed, I'll probably also weld some more internal supports or gussets.

Many moons ago, I installed a Daystar 1" Body Lift Kit for a Jeep Scrambler. I used the Scrambler kit because it matched up the best - there is not a Jeepster Kit. I never installed the grill isolator, but it is ready and waiting. It will be shortened as needed to match the mount that I fabricate.

I started with drilling a pilot hole in the center of the grill, then increased it out to 5/8", so I could install a threaded adapter:

I made the threaded adapter on the lathe to 5/8" OD to match the hole in the grill. And then tapped it to 7/16-20 to match the body bolt:

This was a piece of steel scrap out of my random bin. I don't know if it will weld good. If not, I may end up making another one!

I found a piece of suspension bracket that will work well for the flat adapter after some simple mods:

This is just a test fit. I still need to mod the threaded adapter and the flat adapter. Those two pieces will be welded together into a large nut plate. And then the nut plate will be welded to the bottom of the grill.

Milling the counterbore:

Counterbore done:

Both parts done:

Test Fit...all good:

Since I wasn't sure of the steel alloy of the threaded adapter, I did a test weld of scrap piece:

I just did a big tack, then broke it apart to see if the weld stuck to the steel.

The weld stuck well to the steel - the weld broke. So, I'm calling it good:

I cut it to shape on the bandsaw, and got it ready to weld:

Welded:

Done:

Grill mating surface cleaned up and test fit into grill:

Steel-It on both surfaces to help prevent corrosion:

Tacked into place:

Odds and Ends

Nitrogen Fill

I bought the parts to do this years ago, so that I could charge up the coilovers. But I haven't needed it until now.

So I screwed together some fittings with teflon sealer and put 100 psi in both of the front reservoir coilovers. They will eventually get the full 150 psi. I just put in 100 psi to get some better damping of the Jeepster when it is on the trailer getting moved around.

Everything worked well except my bleeder valve has a small leak. The leak was so minor that it didn't affect functionality of the coilover fill. I ordered a new bleeder valve.

I also had to replace a damaged gauge on the regulator with one from my air compressor stash of parts.

And my nitrogen tank is almost empty - I'll have to get that refilled at some point.

Broken Creeper

The very cheap Harbor Freight creeper that I had for 10+ years has finally started cracking up. A bad wheel makes it difficult to move around:

There's a rumor going around that my trusty sidekick is going to buy me an upgrade for Father's Day 😀:

Franklin's BBQ

Chase and I went out to Franklin's BBQ today. We got there pretty early and were first in line! It had been six years since I had been there, and it was still very good.

We were happily surprised to find beef ribs on the menu! We had a few leftovers too, of course: