Third time's a charm...but it will be slow going

[jeeper]

Not much progress but I thought I'd post up where I'm at so far.

I wish I'd have searched a little more before I jumped into this. I may have made this a little different. Water under the bridge now though. Here is where this is going so far:



I'm actually building two of these. One for the truck and one for the trailer that will be built after the truck.

[jhartings]

Cool. Looks clean!

[jeeper]

I'm finally getting back to the M715 project.

Lots has changed in the last few years.

A few years ago I bought my first Jeep Wrangler JKU Sahara. I thought it was a great ride and quickly fell in love with it. As far as ride quality goes it was much better than the CJ7 I was used to. But the V6 that was in it just didn't seem to be enough to power such a heavy Jeep so I had the urge to V8 swap it.

Skipping through some details I ended up getting a second Wrangler, a JKU Rubicon with major mods done to it. It too felt under powered. I ended up swapping in a L83/8L90 drivetrain using a kit from RPMExtreme. The kit was well executed and it only took about a week from the time I pulled the stock engine until I was able to drive the Jeep with a modern V8 and a modern 8 speed transmission. I loved it. Everything just worked.

Well I only got to enjoy it for about a year and a half before it caught fire. I'm not positive about what happened but I have a guess. My power steering had just quit working a couple minutes prior to the fire. I'm pretty sure a line came loose and sprayed power steering oil (ATF in a Jeep) directly onto the hot exhaust manifold.

No one was injured in the fire. I actually was able to put the fire out with the fire extinguisher I had in the Jeep. But the damage was enough to have the Jeep considered a total loss. I was under insured but I'm moving on.

I have a clean slate at this point and haven't really nailed down what I want this time but I have a few options in front of me.

So my current thought is to make this my best (and final) M715. With that in mind I don't want to cut corners and I don't want to try building it on a shoestring budget.

The GM direct injected engine in my JK was fantastic mated to the 8 speed transmission. The Jeep seemed to always be in the power band. It never lacked for power. I wouldn't mind doing something like that for simplicity as far a plumbing goes. But I already have a Duramax LBZ engine with an Allison 6 speed transmission. Diesel power is hard to beat in my opinion. I'm just not sure if I have the skill and patients to overcome all the fitment issues of an intercooler.

Anyway, it's going to take me some time to ramp up to this project again but I'm starting to get excited about it.

[Kaiserjeeps]

I will be watching with great interest. Unfortunately no wifi at my new place so it is a 30 minute trip to town to see whats going on. Keep posting the work. Thumbs up!!

[jeeper]

I forgot to get some pics before I started to disassemble the truck. I'm still searching but so far this is what I've found for a before picture. It doesn't do it justice as to how bad it is.

Sorry but I have to learn how to use this forum. It seems to be a lot different than I remember when I first joined. I need to re-learn how to insert images I think.

[jeeper]

I am trying to get motivated to get this moving in earnest but am finding my interest in building is waning as I get older. Anyway I did actually start. I'm not really sure I will ever finish it though...

I am starting out trying to see if I can fit the Duramax engine into this frame. I ended up offsetting the engine three inches so far and I think I will be able to get a steering shaft fit while still having room for exhaust to fit on the other side.

I thought I'd share a couple pics of where this sits as of yesterday.





Looking down the left side where the steering shaft will need to go.



Distance from where the radiator will be.



Motor mount and clearance for the exhaust pipe on the right side.

[Flingarrows]

Looking good Paul, keep up the fight

[brute4c]

Exhaust looks like it'll be a bit tight but I know people have somehow worked it out.

Glad to see the updates and the progress. I know what you mean about losing motivation as you age...Im in that league for sure...

Will be checking for more progress...its a good build!

[Kaiserjeeps]

Yes still watching of course. That looks like a good sized package to fit up. Don't look at the whole project. Just focus on the stage in front of you at the moment. That is how I try to look at these projects when it seems and feels very far away from where you want to be. It does help. I get the age thing. I just moved to a place with way more snow than I want to deal with. My moving boxes are now getting stored in an attic. And not getting recycled. Keep posting up. You have moral support out here.

[jeeper]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I'm down over 50 pounds from a few years ago and I feel great most of the time now but I get cold quickly now. I still don't have a "heated" shop to work in during the cold winter months. Add to that it gets dark before I get home from work on weekdays. This thing is still sitting in the exact same spot as it was since the last update. It is outside without a front axle installed so I can't even push it into the garage to resume working on it in the evenings. I'm hoping to get some time in the next couple weeks to get the axle back under it and get it rolled inside where at least I can aim a torpedo heater at me to take the chill off and be out of the wind.