1975 Brutally Simple Daily Driver

I'm sure you'll settle in to the new feel. Truthfully I never noticed a difference in drivability going from the t-14 to the sm420. The only noticeable "new" characteristic was the more dramatic third to fourth shift. It drops between 900-1000 rpm's. And I'm sure once you are able to take it out on the trail you'll really love the new Low gear

 

That was the goal. 2-4 in the NP435 is very similar to 1-3 in the old T150. Besides the new quirks, rowing through the RPMs feels nearly as it was. While it does feels underpowered from when I drove it last, it also has a heavier transmission with bigger internals and a bunch more fluid in it that’ll take longer to warm up.

Truth be told, I’d be lying if this transmission swap wasn’t intended with the future potential for a V8 swap either AMC or Ford. I like my plucky little 4.0, but I also like options.

 

Fun little project at the sewing machine today.





Might add a few more bolts along the sides… maybe. Otherwise I took it for a little drive around town. Feels like the fuel injection is relearning itself that there’s a little more hitch in its giddy up.

 

Not really CJ specific type project, but I’m trying to get hard measurements on things that would live in or next to a future center console.






I’ve got two grandfathers represented here. After my first grandpa passed, I grabbed one of his shirts that was used to wrap around pictures while boxing up their apartment. It was in sad shape, but I’ve held on to it for years now waiting for something like this. As for the tools, my second grandpa passed a couple years ago now and I recently received some of his wrenches. Nothing matches, and they aren’t a great set, but I love them. I threw in my old Boy Scout knife for good measure.

Should keep things a little more tidy than the current over stuffed small ammo box bolted to the floor. Next is to decide if I want to modify the aluminum fuel tank I’ve got to fit under the seat or to move forward with a console.

 

This is really cool. Nice work and nice memories.

 

Another sewing machine day with finally making a new winch cover.

 

Nice, Really neat job. I think your ready to tackle sewing a new whitco top! All we need is an old top for a pattern. .

 

Got snowed in today so why not start on a center console?



I started with a sheet of 14 gauge with about a million layers of paint on it. Can’t say that I’m completely excited about the diamond plate, but I figure I’ve already got it on the outside corners like every rusty CJ out there. See… this was a freebie from a buddy of mine after he unscrewed it from a wall in his garage. He asked if I could use it a while back and instantly I thought center console.




The paint was fairly smooth and on there really good so I only took it off where I needed to weld. It’ll have some kind of cup holder big enough for a Nalgene water bottle on the front, I need to make a lid, and probably rework some of my seat mounts.

Then I hit it with a quick coat of black to hide the ugly gray, and then shoveled some more snow.

 

Talked to my dad up there this morning, about18" then. Looks like considerably more nw.

 

26” and counting since last night.

 

Not as hard, but it’s still coming down.

 

Pretty much finished up my Tuffy knockoff with another snow day off work.







I used a chunk of cow mat for the top and cup holders. If I don’t like the feel of the arm rest I’ll wrap it in vinyl or a canvas. Otherwise it needs a bunch of cleaning up and paint. I’ll wait for a nicer day for that.

 

You don't want the clasp there, it will hurt.
Is there a drain / dust out hole /mouse /phone cord hole in the corner under the cup holders?

 

Currently, no. I’m sure there will some updating once it makes its way into the Jeep.

 

Center console is in. I rushed to get everything back together after the transmission swap, so I took the time to at least take the shop vac to the floor.



Then I drilled some fresh holes in the floor, cut some things, and did a little welding.




I need to rework the top half of the cup holder, but everything else fell right into place. The height of the arm rest feels nice but I might wrap the cow mat in vinyl both for a nicer feel but also to match the seats.

 

Center console is done. I ended up not having enough vinyl scraps so I used some leftovers from the winch cover. It’ll probably be a better fit as it might not retain heat as much as black vinyl while sitting in the sun.





I also tuned up the under seat storage with the addition on a couple new canvas bags. The black one has always been my recovery bag, but now the yank strap lives in the console, one brown bag is just ratchet straps, and the other is kind of a catch-all.



The driver’s seat is completely empty underneath now. Time to start thinking about auxiliary fuel storage.

 

Getting things a little more dialed. I threw a rebuild kit at my old jack and got that remounted. Then I got looking into trying to get rid of some rattles by adding a couple of bump stops between the tailgate and the spare tire. The spacers I’m using are a little janky, and I put it together thinking “I’ll totally make something nicer eventually,” but in reality they work and aren’t really visible. Bonus that the holes were already there.





I also found a nice fire extinguisher mount online. Not sure if it’ll stay where it is but I currently like it.



A little windy today, but the temperature was perfect to pull the doors and just go toodling around town. In hindsight, I should’ve checked the scavenger hunt thread while I was out.