1972 Build thread.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by Spf79

My Truetrac differentials and gears showed up today! Hoping I can get my axles together by next weekend... Feels like I am starting to move forward again!

I also received my Brake lines from Inline tube today. You would think that they would have a simple diagram showing where the lines go on the vehicle... This is a 10 line kit, maybe have each one numbered 1-10 & then have a 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper showing the frame with each line designated numerically where they go. They obviously know what each piece is since they have to package these kits for shipping. Makes my eye twitch. Some of my old brakes lines were just hammered so I tossed them. Thankfully I took a million pictures. I should have done a better job labeling.

Update... two pairs of lines are coupled together and marked with a part number. From there I can figure out the rest without much trouble. Still odd that they would not mark them all. The brake lines appear to be very high quality, hopefully I do not have any fitment issues like others that I have read about. Overall I am very happy with what I have. I wonder what the difference between Inline tube and Classic tube is. I paid $200 for the stainless kit after shipping. The same kit from Classic was 60 - 80 dollars more after shipping.

[solo72]

This is a great thread to follow! Great progress! My Jimmy is the same color! Where in Washington are you located?

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by solo72

This is a great thread to follow! Great progress! My Jimmy is the same color! Where in Washington are you located?

Thank you!
I'm located in Vancouver, Wa.
I love your Jimmy, it makes me second guess changing mine over to a Cheverolet!!!
Also my favorite color.

Doing a build thread is nice because it forces me to keep track of the process... otherwise I would take a fraction of the pictures and not have anything to look back on. I wish I would have done something on the Jeep CJ5 I put together a couple of years ago.

What size lift and tires do you have on your Jimmy? It has a great stance, very proportioned. I have had a heck of a time deciding on lift, wheel & tire size. I am limited to a 7' garage door opening.

I will never have a top on it again, so I think I can get away with a 6" lift and 35's. I am going to run a 4" lift with the Offroad Design zero rate add a leafs. 35's and 5" of total lift.

I love the look of polished slotted mags, The US Mag U101 wheels are what I am leaning towards. I think mine would sit pretty close to the ochre Blazer in the first pic. I already own a set of Alcoa 15x12 wheels that look to be the same style as the Orange Blazer... The truck has my favorite stance, 35x14.50 Pitbull Rockers with a 5" lift. The problem is that I don't want to run bias ply tires. Believe it or not, options for 35" tires on 15" rims seem to be becoming less and less as people move to 17" or larger wheels... or so the fella at the tire store tells me... I also don't want to run 12.50 tires on 12" wide wheels, I would probably be fine doing so, but I don't want to risk popping a bead on a hard turn. It would be my luck to do so.


Lol, first world problems.

[solo72]

I looked long and hard for a few years for a orange Jimmy custom. Bought mine in Portland last July. Just don't see Jimmy's very often. I believe the lift on my Jimmy is 6 inches, put on by the previous owner. Has 35x12.50R15LT tires on it. Ok with the lift, maybe a little too high, front tires rub when making sharp turns into a parking spot. But I learn to adjust and live with it for now. USmags are what I was thinking of going as well! They look killer! Keep up the good work!

[prorat56]

Originally Posted by Spf79

Update... two pairs of lines are coupled together and marked with a part number. From there I can figure out the rest without much trouble. Still odd that they would not mark them all. The brake lines appear to be very high quality, hopefully I do not have any fitment issues like others that I have read about. Overall I am very happy with what I have. I wonder what the difference between Inline tube and Classic tube is. I paid $200 for the stainless kit after shipping. The same kit from Classic was 60 - 80 dollars more after shipping.

I used Inline tube and they were spot on. If you need I have a bunch of pictures before and after I could send you if needed.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by prorat56

I used Inline tube and they were spot on. If you need I have a bunch of pictures before and after I could send you if needed.

That is great, thank you for the feedback!
I think I have it figured out, but I won't know for sure until I get the axles under it. That may be a few weeks down the road.
When I get there I may hit you up for some pictures. Thank you!!

[Spf79]

Ahhh, yes.... that 15 minutes after the kids go to bed... what can a guy get done before you get the eyeball from the wife for being to loud?

I was able to get the crossmember installed, I still need to tighten the bolts. Lol. What is funny is that I may have installed it backwards. I'm not sure if you can though?. I have to look back at pics. It seems to look the same either way. Sadly the thing was a bear to get installed. I am using 3/8" bolts and I think it had a size smaller, maybe 5/16 holding it in prior. I had to use a ratchet strap around the frame in order to bring it together closer so that the frame bolt holes lined up enough for the bolts to slide in.

Fyi, bolts off of ebay are extremely cheap. I purchased a package of 100, 3/8-16 x 1" stainless steel flange bolts grade 8. What I was paying more than a dollar each for at the local hardware store, I was buying for .19 each on ebay. All of the nylon nuts and washers are equally affordable. Pretty cool!

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by prorat56

I used Inline tube and they were spot on. If you need I have a bunch of pictures before and after I could send you if needed.

I was looking at your build tonight. I'm glad you are a head of me, looking at your pictures is very helpful! Question, what is the writing on the frame behind the gas tank and the writing on the top of your front axle for? It reminds me of the grease pencil writing from the facotry.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by prorat56

I used Inline tube and they were spot on. If you need I have a bunch of pictures before and after I could send you if needed.

Spending some quality time today dinking with brake lines and bolting together the engine and transmission crossmembers. I'm kind of in a holding pattern till I get a hand installing gears in the axle housings. I prefer to have someone with more knowledge than I double check my work. Win Win right? I get to learn something new and my expensive parts get installed correctly. Yes! Unfortunately the old man's buddy that offered to help just had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. Apparently it is not very fun to get old.

Question,

Did you have a a fair amount of tweaking to do on the rear axle brake lines? Mine will fit, I'm just curious if you had to do the same when fitting them? I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, so I'm just checking.

I also realized that the front brake lines will need a fair amount of massaging since the front crossmember is from a 73 or later truck. Lol. Look at the pic as I was taking it apart. I thought the front crossmember brake lines looked a little funky. I wonder what the PO thought when they put this together.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by Spf79

Spending some quality time today dinking with brake lines and bolting together the engine and transmission crossmembers. I'm kind of in a holding pattern till I get a hand installing gears in the axle housings. I prefer to have someone with more knowledge than I double check my work. Win Win right? I get to learn something new and my expensive parts get installed correctly. Yes! Unfortunately the old man's buddy that offered to help just had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. Apparently it is not very fun to get old.

Question,

Did you have a a fair amount of tweaking to do on the rear axle brake lines? Mine will fit, I'm just curious if you had to do the same when fitting them? I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, so I'm just checking.

I also realized that the front brake lines will need a fair amount of massaging since the front crossmember is from a 73 or later truck. Lol. Look at the pic as I was taking it apart. I thought the front crossmember brake lines looked a little funky. I wonder what the PO thought when they put this together.

Update... the rear end lines are perfect. It is the extra capacity cover that will make me have to bend the driver side rear line. Happy camper! See pick, I will have to bend the line so that it comes across the top and not across the cover.

[Spf79]

I have the art of spending money and not accomplishing anything down to a science.

I picked up my tranny today. Very pleased with the process I went through - great customer service. If the transmission runs as well as the interaction has been during the build I will be ecstatic with the finished product. It is a th350, I looked at a th400, then I looked at the cost needed to mate my np205 and passed, because I'm cheap. Not sure if I made the right choice... but I'm not hot rodding this truck so I think I will be OK. I had the guy build the tranny as much as he could for a th350. His name is Kieth Just, he spends time between Longview, Wa & Phoenix, az. I will attach the build sheet with his cell number, he is reasonable, definitely way cheaper than taking it to a shop and he gave me a 1 year warranty starting from when I install it. He said he wants to go for a ride.

I had a th350 behind a hot 383 in my 79 swb 4wd with a 4" lift & 33's... and at 19 I beat the living poop out of that truck and that tranny held up way better than the 10 bolt in the rear. I blew a supposedly new rebuilt 700r4 out of my 1st blazer before I put a th350 in it. I wasn't very kind to that vehicle either. I kick myself for selling both of them. But this 72 is making it all worth it.

[Spf79]

Quick update!!... and brakes are done.

Not very fun when doing them on loose backing plates. Although, way better than being inside of a wheel well when you are up on jackstands. Lol.

Other things....

I picked up my new gas tank, I need to have the neck out of my old one attached/soldered to this one still. Wondering if it may be easier to weld the neck off of the old tank to the end of the new one. The tank from LMC looks like it has one heck of a solder job on the inlet nozzle, I would assume that they will need to heat that tank up pretty good to get the new nozzle out. Im not excited about the finish on the tank being toast.

Also picked up my "new to me" tilt steering column. I need to clean it up and paint it... that will come later on down the road.

Lastly, I bought two cheap inner pinion bearings. The plan was to grind the inside of the bearings so that I could slide them off and on by hand therfore making the process of setting the backlash way easier. Unfortunately they gave me some weird bearing for my dana 44... so now I need to take that one back and get the correct one.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Spf79

Quick update!!... and brakes are done.

Not very fun when doing them on loose backing plates. Although, way better than being inside of a wheel well when you are up on jackstands. Lol.

Other things....

I picked up my new gas tank, I need to have the neck out of my old one attached/soldered to this one still. Wondering if it may be easier to weld the neck off of the old tank to the end of the new one. The tank from LMC looks like it has one heck of a solder job on the inlet nozzle, I would assume that they will need to heat that tank up pretty good to get the new nozzle out. Im not excited about the finish on the tank being toast.

Also picked up my "new to me" tilt steering column. I need to clean it up and paint it... that will come later on down the road.

Lastly, I bought two cheap inner pinion bearings. The plan was to grind the inside of the bearings so that I could slide them off and on by hand therfore making the process of setting the backlash way easier. Unfortunately they gave me some weird bearing for my dana 44... so now I need to take that one back and get the correct one.

good progress, read up on tilts and tanks, some good info out there.

My new tank was brazed on, used a dremel cut off wheel to get rid of brazing, just kept grinding the gold til I got down to the silver. the nuts were another challenge. your old tank is easier as it is soldered on. Just cut it off with tin snips, start a hole with a sharp chisel and follow it up with the snips.

Tilt may require some special tools or creative thinking, the first thing you will take off is the turn signal cover, and some of them seem to be quite stuck, here is where you have to be creative on the puller, you don't want to distort the sheet metal
Next step, than you will run into is the pins that have to be pulled out. I made some threaded pullers with spacers out of long bolts and nuts of the correct thread size

also, the top nut that holds the upper bearing on was a goofy size