Build ‘68 M715, AKA "Smokey" (Can I post this Jeep on MUD?)

[Rock40]

More or less wrapped this up today. Media blasted and DA’d the brackets, nothing quite as satisfying as making stuff out of scrap bits!

Got it aligned on the axle and tacked it in to verify the cycling…

Fully compressed, hard passenger turn. Having a .5” limiting puck made for the ram as the stroke is less than 8”

Added another chunk of 1” DOM as the top spacer. Will do the final welding/boxing of the axle bracket when the whole thing comes out for assembly. WAY too cramped trying to do it under the truck.

 

[boots4]

I really like how the ram is connected to the knuckle. That should eliminate the twist that happens to rams mounted to the tie rod and having to counter rotate the TRE's or rod ends so the ram stays inline.

 

[Rock40]

I really like how the ram is connected to the knuckle. That should eliminate the twist that happens to rams mounted to the tie rod and having to counter rotate the TRE's or rod ends so the ram stays inline.

Yes, exactly. Thanks. Keeping it parallel to the tie rod should really help with that. AND, that’s a lot less load on the TRE’s compared to both the ram and steering box pushing on them

 

[Ditcherman]

Great thread.
Amazing craftsmanship and vision, thanks for documenting it. And those weld beads, I wish I could be even close to that smooth.

 

[Rock40]

Great thread.
Amazing craftsmanship and vision, thanks for documenting it. And those weld beads, I wish I could be even close to that smooth.

Thanks! This build has been a great lesson in many things, TIG being one of them

 

[Rock40]

Started the fabrication on the tailgate hinges since the original ones had been ruined beyond repair. Right now, the tailgate is just welded to the back of the truck with a small spacer in it.

Mocked up a 1/2” diameter mild steel round bar to assist with keeping everything aligned as it goes together

Went up to my neighbors fabrication shop and cut out the round hinge bits on his lathe, then sheared the flat bar in his IronWorker

Here’s a hinge mocked up. All 316 stainless (including the pin) with the exception of the round bar which is 304

 

[Rock40]

And although it all should have been fairly easy to assemble, the 715 sheet metal had other plans. Hard to see here but there are 4 total hinges and the factory used 3/8-16 nuts welded to the rear. BUT, the tailgate had smashed into so much stuff over the years that the corner mounts were horrible deformed. Although it’s hard to see in the pic, I couldn’t get them flat and it was throwing everything out of alignment. Ended up cutting the old nuts out, drilling the holes to 1”, hammering everything “fairly flat” and welding new nutserts in.

And the hinges are in. Not fully welded yet and I’m short a few bushings but this is the idea

 

[Rock40]

Plumbing day. Fuel supply and return from the tank

Snaking them down between the cab and firewall

Supply up to the fuel rail, will be clamped securely in place later on during final assembly

And a gauge port for the electrical fuel pressure sender

 

[Rock40]

Tackled a few of the 10AN heater lines

Heater core return to the engine…

Supply and return to the Vintage Air unit

 

[Rock40]

Happy Winter Soltice!

Got some lands machined on the tie rod to make make adjustments easier and also picked up the .5” stroke limiting puck for the ram. My machinist friend was nice enough to make up a custom wrench out of .375” aluminum, THANKS JAY!

Installed a PSC underdrive pulley on the PSC pump. Tossed a junk/shredded stock LS belt on it it just to verify fitment as the PSC pulley is a bit smaller

Made the last HP line from the hydro boost down to the HP port on the steering box

And made up the 12AN supply line from the PSC reservoir down to the pump. Those are BIG AN fittings

 

[Rock40]

AND….. I had the serpentine belt routing wrong. Mark had to remind me that the pattern is different than a standard LS

This is better

 

[matzell]

You have some nice work going on here. You may want to think about that vent. In a Rollover it will dump fuel all over. Look at what race cars do. The wrap it up and round or at least around and vent on the bottom. That way it will not spill in event of being upside down. I am not sure if the filler has a rollover valve/ball or not.

 

[Rock40]

Yeah, an actual roll over valve is on order, just don’t have it yet. Your point is very valid tho. Some of this is still in mock-up mode as it relates to line routing.

 

[Rock40]

Moved around some big stuff today. Got the 14B back under the truck and bolted into the links

Went to fully install the Ouversion drive flanges/shafts and determined that the flanges will need blasting and paint. AND the provided 1/2-13 bolts are just a BIT too long. They are bottoming in the hub so I’ll need to take about 1/4” off of them. They get torqued to 115 ft/lbs and bottoming out would be a big no-no. Flanges look really clean

Got the spacer in the ram, mocked it back up and set the stroke correctly

And eliminated the factory fuel regulator up on the fuel rail using this block off

 

[Rock40]

Picked up the coolant filter block from my machinist friend today. No more external aluminum nipples, I had him tap it to 1/2” NPT so we can actually run AN hose. Would’ve been nice if this was an option when you order one

Decided to pull the front coilovers and fully cycle the suspension ONE more time before the D60 comes out

Marked up the very front (and very rear) of the fender for some light trimming. At full bump and hard lock there is VERY little tire clearance

Clamped the fender in, pushed and pulled it to where it needed to go and lightly tacked it in

Full bump passenger side. The hollowed out axle casting cracks me up

 

[Rock40]

Got the front passenger fender massaged a bit and tacked into place

Welded the steering drag link

And pulled the D60 for tear down and reassembly. That’s enough for Christmas Eve!

 

[Rock40]

Now that the D60 is out, it’s time to finish the little bits I couldn’t get to with it under the 715

Finished welding the bump stop pocket…

Added two limit strap tabs…

And started the completion of the ram mount on the axle

 

[Rock40]

Completed ram mount. Now we’ll see if the ram can tear it off

Decided to install the new kingpins prior to powder coat as I don’t want ANY powder to get in there and interfere with the seat.

Cleaned them to within an inch of their life…

Broke out the torque multiplier, bolted the axle back in and set them down to 600 ft/lbs. DUN

 

[Rock40]

Little stuff I’ve been putting off. It’s SURPRISING how many fancy parts are sold as bare steel with no coating

Like the yoke for the 14B. Had to tape it up, blast it, then paint it with Steel It. Sort of dumb. Same for the Ouversion 14B drive flanges

 

[Broski]

Little stuff I’ve been putting off. It’s SURPRISING how many fancy parts are sold as bare steel with no coating

Like the yoke for the 14B. Had to tape it up, blast it, then paint it with Steel It. Sort of dumb. Same for the Ouversion 14B drive flanges

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Looks beefy