New Member - 72 Jimmy: Project Knuckledragger mountain commuter

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Looks good! Did you do the tailgate as well?

I did the tailgate flat so I could lay it on thick.




Matt

[cvalcore]

i have rock crawler i was thinking it would work great in it never has a top on it for the price i think it would work great. so is so hard it might crack or is it still plyable.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by cvalcore

i have rock crawler i was thinking it would work great in it never has a top on it for the price i think it would work great. so is so hard it might crack or is it still plyable.

It's probably perfect for your application. Supposed to be very UV stable with is key for you with no top. emial the guys at www.monstaliner.com to know for sure.


Matt

'72 Jimmy Build

[snowblind]

One of my goals with this project is to add some TECHNOLOGY to my old rig. I'm not restoring to recreate how it left the factory. I want something better!

Following that line of thought I decided to switch over to an electric fan. The big benefits of electric fans is that they reduce drag on the engine and free up room in the engine bay. They also only run when needed which means they won't even be running for 5 months out of my year.

I had to replace the water pump anyways so it made sense to do it all at once. I went with a Weiand 9240 aluminum water pump and a single 12" Flex-a-lite fan. The single 12" as a temporary solution. I will be adding a shroud and another 12" in the spring.

The old...





Disassembly...





Comparison...



New...







The new set up is NICE! The truck idles smoother for sure. The fan never even comes on driving around in 40 degree temps. As you can see in the last pic there is some room in there now!


Matt

[NTR72GMC]

Looks nice and clean.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Looks nice and clean.

It's getting there a little bit at a time... The cooling system is working top-notch now. New thermostat, radiator cap and water pump took care of that.

I did a few other things over the holiday also...

I finally put in new rear shocks. I had replaced the fronts about a month ago but still had the crusty old rears. The fronts I already had are yellow Bilstein HDs but this model has been discontinued for the rear of the 72's so I went with a Bilstein 5100s with a zinc coating. According to the salespeople the shock internals are the same.

The difference in ride is HUGE!!! I didn't realize how out of control my rear springs were until now. The PO put a 2.5" block and an add-a-leaf under the stock rear springs so it has a bit of kick back there and the worn out shocks were doing NOTHING to control it.





I also got started on a wiring upgrade for power seats, stereo, electric fans and headlights. I want to run a little stand-alone system of relays and breakers and leave the stock wiring alone as much as possible.

I found a pretty nice breaker box at NAPA that I'm using as a "fused" distribution center. The box has 6 x 20amp breakers installed and I can change the breakers out with a higher amperage if I need. The box and breakers are mounted close to the battery and will eliminate the need for any inline fuses in the engine compartment.





I only have a the rad fan and a temporary seat wire hooked up right now but this shows how the wires connect. There are rubber grommets that install around the wires/openings and a cover that bolts over everything. The final product will be well sealed against the environment.



I also replaced the heater defrost hoses, replaced the heater control box, installed new rear carpet, cleaned and re-installed the rear seat, painted and re-mounted the rear bumper and replaced the plastic wiring channels in the engine compartment. More pics to come later.


Matt

[ChadGiles70]

Looking good! When you are done then you should drive it to Logan so I can take a look. I havent touched my blazer for a month now because I am stuck doing a bathroom remodel.

[snowblind]

I just got back from a week out of town and winter is here with a VENGEANCE! Lows were in the single digits yesterday... I need to find somewhere warm I can work on the Jimmy.

I'm having a custom wiring harness made so that I can run high/low bulbs in all four headlights. I really have no need for a dedicated high beam and I really think 4 low beams will do a better job for my driving.

Check out this thread for more info on the wiring harness.

[NTR72GMC]

Looks like a cool idea you should up grade you headlamps while your at it link

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Looks like a cool idea you should up grade you headlamps while your at it link

Yep. I ran the rectangular Hella H4 Euros on 91 Celica and they were a HUGE upgrade. Four of those aimed low with 55w xenons should do nicely.

[NTR72GMC]

They are some sweet headlamp's I have some 7" for my blazer!!!

[Jtrux]

Looking real good. I like the electric fan.

[lks dcvn]

Looks fantastic - when it warms up to 30 I am heading outside...to see what I can get done today on one of mine.

[snowblind]

I used the beast as intended yesterday. I went up for my first day of snowboarding, driving up and back in what was pretty much a blizzard.

My commute is 3 miles of surface streets then 10 miles of 4 lane highway and finally 13 miles of 2 lane, windy mountain road. In the morning there was 1-2" of slushy snow in the valley turning to 6" of powder roughly 5 miles from the end. I left the house in 2WD with the hubs locked and shifted into 4WD-H about 7 miles from the end. During the day it snowed an additional 12"+ of snow turning the parking lot into a total SNAFU. Audis and Subarus were getting stuck left and right but the Jimmy was UNSTOPPABLE. Seriously... 12" of snow is nothing for a rig like this.

The road down the canyon was very, very slippery so it was 4WD-H and L1 the whole way down. The combo of 33" tires and whatever gears are in my truck holds it at 2000 rpm/15mph going downhill in L1.

I'm very happy with the truck in the snow. I want to upgrade the headlights and I need better windshield washer squirters but performance in the snow was outstanding. I was also happily surprised by how smoothly the truck shifted in and out of 4WD-H at 25mph. Very slick!

Here are a couple of photos from the bottom of the commute @ 4500 feet. There was a lot more snow at the mountain @ 8500 feet.









And a shot from the ski hill!

[vtblazer]

...and the heater, how was the heater?

Very cool, build em to drive em!

[NTR72GMC]

Cool pic's. Any of those Audi's wrecked? ($$$$ for me)

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Cool pic's. Any of those Audi's wrecked? ($$$$ for me)

Hahaha. They were just stuck but you know how that goes... Lots of orders for $300 plastic under body trays!

[Tom Vogel]

Looking Good! My Jimmy will never see snow drag radials and HP arent a good snow combination.
Im coming up there for Christmas... my son lives in Syracuse.

[NTR72GMC]

Originally Posted by snowblind

Hahaha. They were just stuck but you know how that goes... Lots of orders for $300 plastic under body trays!

LOL Sounds like you've owned one.

[NTR72GMC]

Here is a pic of my GMC with the 67-68 hood and grill on it just to give you an idea of what it look like. Kind of a bad pic the hood wasn't closed all the way.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Here is a pic of my GMC with the 67-68 hood and grill on it just to give you an idea of what it look like. Kind of a bad pic the hood wasn't closed all the way.

That is pretty clean... I'm trying to decide if it's easier to swap the grill that I have or the hood.

Thanks a lot for the bumper lights. I'll be putting them in this weekend.

[NTR72GMC]

Originally Posted by snowblind

That is pretty clean... I'm trying to decide if it's easier to swap the grill that I have or the hood.

Thanks a lot for the bumper lights. I'll be putting them in this weekend.

No problem, If you want I have a 67-68 hood you can have I wouldn't mind freeing up the space its taking up.

[snowblind]

I took the last few weeks off from working on the Jimmy. I was out of town, then it was REALLY cold, then Christmas crazyness, etc, etc. It's still pretty cold here now but if I let the cold stop me I'll never get anything done.

This weekend I put in the Chevy bumper lights I got from NTR72GMC, installed a new dash pad, installed a new passenger door switch for the interior lights, plugged up a bunch of firewall holes, connected the wiring harness for the Pioneer head unit I got for Christmas. I also set up a little block of wires behind the glovebox with "12v constant", "ignition hot" and "interior light hot" for use when wiring my power/heated seats. The dash pad was BY FAR the biggest pain in the @$$ and took probably 4 hours.

This coming week I'll finish of the wiring/installing the door speakers, put some patches over the fuel filler holes in my rear quarters and hopefully get the new passenger seat mounted.

Here are some current photos. I took the fender trim off last month to put fresh paint on the grill and I haven't put it back on yet. I'm toying with the idea of going with a 67-68 hood and going trimless...

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

No problem, If you want I have a 67-68 hood you can have I wouldn't mind freeing up the space its taking up.

What color is your hood?

I'm not sure on what I want to do. From the photos I've seen I can't decide if I like the look of the early or the late hood better. I also kind of like the fender trim... I probably need to come out to your place one day and see the hood in the flesh.

[NTR72GMC]

Originally Posted by snowblind

What color is your hood?

I'm not sure on what I want to do. From the photos I've seen I can't decide if I like the look of the early or the late hood better. I also kind of like the fender trim... I probably need to come out to your place one day and see the hood in the flesh.

I have a white one and a green one, the green one is the one on my truck right now.