02 Jeep Grand Cherokee Build (AKA Project Silent Night)

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Yeah I believe that Jeff and I are the same age if not very close I just turned 24.

Well more progress today, got all the threaded rod cut. I may have been wrong about doing it faster with a hack saw, but I was much faster with a angle grinder and a cutoff wheel lol. This evening after dinner I started the assembly by the 4th one I had it down. The epoxy set up pretty fast they aren't perfect as some of the paint flaws are visible but I'm happy so far. The epoxy takes 3 days to fully cure but is 90% cured in 24 hours. So hopefully tomorrow the magnets show up and I can get them put on tomorrow night. So here are some pictures I took while putting the 4th one together.

Threaded rods in the weld nuts:



Half of the pillars on and the weld nuts finger tight:



All the pillars on and finger tight:



I then put the top plates on part way they're a tight fit had to tap them down with a rubber mallet. Then I tightened the weld nuts with some channel locks. All of them curing:

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

Oh those are going to look real nice

 

[ObTechAudio]

Very nice

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Not much longer now for the cones/surrounds to get put on.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Oh those are going to look real nice

Thanks unfortunately due to the weather my neo has been delayed, I'll be lucky to get it Saturday.

Very nice

Thank you.

Not much longer now for the cones/surrounds to get put on.

I wish that was true, unfortunately my spending is pretty much at a standstill because of the layoff. I ordered the plugs for my alts from mechman, but unless I'm finding some deals I won't be spending much. I have plenty saved up but I don't like buying unnecessary things when there's no money coming in. If I sell some left over diesel parts maybe I can buy something.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Well the UPS man showed up this morning, I don't envy the people that have to package the magnets, I can imagine some pinched fingers. Anyhow I took the top plates off and the weld nuts holding the pillars down. I must have been real strong the day I tightened them down because I had a hell of a time getting them off. A couple of the pillars the epoxy didn't hold so I started out by re attaching them.

So early this afternoon I did the first two motors worth of neo and then this evening I set the last two. I had the forks that Jeff printed me but I ended up just using my fingers mostly. I used my polarity checker to make sure I was putting each piece on the right way. The last piece I set I accidentally put on upside down because I got distracted but I was able to get it off and put on the right way thankfully.

So overall I made a decent amount of progress today. I'm going to pick up a syringe type thing of epoxy so I can put a clean bead on the Faraday rings. Maybe tomorrow, then I just have to glue the rings in and drop the top plates on. Then it will be on to the next project, hopefully I find a job so I can start buying more things for the build.

I wasn't very impressed with the finish on the neo I expected it to be a little more shiny or mirror-like. I guess it's something I can't control so I just rolled with it. I should have painted the neo copper and the pillars black and it would have looked like I had subs made of duracell batteries lol.

2 motors worth of neo:

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Cool. Did you ever get the dual alts installed? I'm tuned in for a pic of how that lines up under the hood.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Cool. Did you ever get the dual alts installed? I'm tuned in for a pic of how that lines up under the hood.

No I dropped the Jeep off at my girlfriends dads a while ago and he changed all the fluids and the plugs for me. I did pay Mechman for the plugs and they're on their way. I don't really want to put them on just to rack up the miles on them as they wouldn't be serving much of a purpose. I might mess with stuff a little I need to make a battery tray as well. To make some more space it will certainly help.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Well not much progress today I went and helped a friend day down some wood flooring. Anyhow I got the rings in and curing hopefully I can drop the top plates on tomorrow.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Well I managed to get the motors wrapped up today (well with the exception of having to grind down 12 weld nuts). I'm happy with how they turned out it's been a fun project, now it's on to other aspects of the build. Maybe if I can sell my stock duramax turbo I can purchase a welder. I have an idea for some fuse holders I want to make as well one for under the hood and one for the rear.







I almost made it through the whole project without pinching myself, but I managed to do it while setting the second top plate on. It hurt like hell.



In this picture you can see that I had to grind down the edge of the weld nuts by each of the basket mounting holes. I still have to do this on the last 3 motors.



15" basket.



18" basket, I'm really leaning heavily towards some TI baskets.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Well not much to report, my alternator plugs from Mechman came in. I like that they have about 3 feet of wire on them so I can mount my external regulator just about anywhere under the hood.

Tomorrow I will probably drop the headliner and change my oil. Still waiting on the blend doors to arrive so I can hopefully fix the heat. Additionally I ordered some hardware to make some things. (Keeping it real suspenseful)

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

T.I. baskets imho would look better which I'm sure you have thought that already lol.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

T.I. baskets imho would look better which I'm sure you have thought that already lol.

Yeah they are on the to be ordered list with a lot of other things. Unfortunately I think I might have to open up my wallet for some tires soon as the ones on it are pretty cheap and not really ideal for winter. Considering some Toyo AT 2's.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Interior?

Never heard of her.





 

---------- Post added at 11:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 PM ----------

 

Anyhow I took the headliner down today I think I'm just going to cut it from the B-Pillar back and use that maybe recover it in black micro suede. Current plan is kerfed MDF for the back two sections of the roof and Vibraflex from the B-Pillar forward. Planning on ordering some, sadly I also have to replace the heater core so I have to order those parts as well and rip the dash out.

In other news I modified the stock battery tray and got the battery laying in there flat and snug now. It was pretty easy and I think it turned out well.



I also had to trim this little metal bracket to get it to fit but the battery doesn't touch it.

When my dad bought this I was like when the hell will this ever get used, but man it is handy.

Trimmed the thing that retained the battery in place and used it to hold the new battery surprisingly it works well.

Tada all finished looking much better than it was before.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Not sure if I like the position the battery is in. I mean if you had to get to the pos and neg it would be a pita to get to.