crimsondragon
15+ Year Contributor
- 4,300
- 51
- Dec 17, 2006
-
East Brunswick,
New Jersey
I ordered a hell lot of parts. Mostly off ebay but I made a big order to JNZ as well. With that said I was expecting some goodies when I came home Thursday. Sadly, 3/5 packages along with some miscellaneous Jeep item.
I was hoping to put the shifter back in already but the bushings I ordered for the base was not here. What I did receive in the mail was a tranny mount, shifter cable bracket bushings, and most important, a new shifter boot.
The tranny mount I pushed aside to later. I plan on either pressing or burning out the rubber and swapping in the Prothanes from the auto trans mount. The shift boot unfortunately did not come with the mounting ring. I was disappointed slightly and the boot with the ring is one thing so I couldn't order just the ring. A little bit of searching got me a used OEM boot with the mounting ring for $8. Gotta love ebay.
The bracket bushings are also to be pushed to the side since I have decided to send the 5 speed in to TRE for a Stage 2 w/ 8% taller 5th gear for $1350. I talked with Jon and he said he can swap the Kaaz out of my tranny to replace his Rip Grip LSD with no problem.
With all that out of the way I went and drilled out the holes for the master cylinder. I drilled several small holes with a dremel till the drill bit wouldn't drill anymore. Steel firewall and drill bits do not mix well. I eventually drilled enough holes to work some aviation snips and rough cut the holes out. Then I took a nibbler and trimmed it further. Final touchup was with a double cut half round bastard file. With that I called it a night.
Today, the shifter base bushings came in. However, when I went to install them I was disappointed yet again. The part of the bushing that goes into the hole of the base was too tall which produced a gap. I tested it out and the shifter would have been better off with the crappy OEM bushings. So I took each bushing and using the same file, except on the flat side this time, I filed each bushing down about 1/16". The base is now solid and the only play is in the shifter itself. I also took out the interlock cable in the ignition. 4 screws, 2 pieces of plastic and the cable was out. I'm thinking of putting in some kind of circuit to prevent me from ever starting the car when it's not in neutral.
Next week I hope to receive the parts from JNZ. If not they will be getting a call from me. Hopefully I can get the master cylinder, pedals, and boot in. With that the interior will pretty much be done and everything else will be in the engine bay.
I was hoping to put the shifter back in already but the bushings I ordered for the base was not here. What I did receive in the mail was a tranny mount, shifter cable bracket bushings, and most important, a new shifter boot.
The tranny mount I pushed aside to later. I plan on either pressing or burning out the rubber and swapping in the Prothanes from the auto trans mount. The shift boot unfortunately did not come with the mounting ring. I was disappointed slightly and the boot with the ring is one thing so I couldn't order just the ring. A little bit of searching got me a used OEM boot with the mounting ring for $8. Gotta love ebay.
The bracket bushings are also to be pushed to the side since I have decided to send the 5 speed in to TRE for a Stage 2 w/ 8% taller 5th gear for $1350. I talked with Jon and he said he can swap the Kaaz out of my tranny to replace his Rip Grip LSD with no problem.
With all that out of the way I went and drilled out the holes for the master cylinder. I drilled several small holes with a dremel till the drill bit wouldn't drill anymore. Steel firewall and drill bits do not mix well. I eventually drilled enough holes to work some aviation snips and rough cut the holes out. Then I took a nibbler and trimmed it further. Final touchup was with a double cut half round bastard file. With that I called it a night.
Today, the shifter base bushings came in. However, when I went to install them I was disappointed yet again. The part of the bushing that goes into the hole of the base was too tall which produced a gap. I tested it out and the shifter would have been better off with the crappy OEM bushings. So I took each bushing and using the same file, except on the flat side this time, I filed each bushing down about 1/16". The base is now solid and the only play is in the shifter itself. I also took out the interlock cable in the ignition. 4 screws, 2 pieces of plastic and the cable was out. I'm thinking of putting in some kind of circuit to prevent me from ever starting the car when it's not in neutral.
Next week I hope to receive the parts from JNZ. If not they will be getting a call from me. Hopefully I can get the master cylinder, pedals, and boot in. With that the interior will pretty much be done and everything else will be in the engine bay.
