02 Jeep Grand Cherokee Build (AKA Project Silent Night)

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Well I worked on the Jeep pretty much all afternoon/tonight. USPS brought my Vibraflex and the evap cooler. I did the deadener first so it would have more time to stick and be warm. We have a radiant heater in the garage so it's like the sun beating on the roof. I barely had to use a heat gun, I left a spot in the center where I'm sure I'll have to weld a windshield brace. I need to get some spray foam on the roof B-Pillar brace it's not even attached.





Radiant heat:



She's solid:



Phase two was the more in depth project. Pulled the dash to replace the heater core, heater hoses, evap core, blend doors, and blend door actuator. I also moved the passenger side actuator to the recirculation door as the new blend door I put in made it useless. So now my heat now works great which is much needed.

Dash out:



Heater box out:



Old heater core next to new the evap core was full of dust and crap too:

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Well I piddled around with my build a bit today I really didn't have much I can do with what I have.

I started out by doing some foam around the edges of the roof and the B-Pillar roof brace. Much improvement on the brace as it's now actually stuck to the roof, don't know if all the other foam was necessary as it's pretty sturdy already but it can't hurt I guess. I didn't do the very back because there's bolts for the hatch and stuff that I don't want to lose access to.



All cured and trimmed:



Next I took the stock alt off to see how I was going to do my dual alt setup. I plan to mount the top of the top alt to the top of the stock bracket and then flip the bottom alt and mount the bottom to the bottom of the stock bracket. Then I'll attach the two together and mount an idler. The top tap of the bottom alt will be attached to the frame. Overall it should be pretty simple (I hope).





I also got my battery terminals on and freed up the stock wiring. They had it all attached together so it was just a stiff pain in the ***. I separated everything and tucked the extra up under the tray. I could of used smaller lugs but they were the only ones I had so it'll work. Also you can see in this picture that I got the fuse holder temporarily in place just for a picture.



Traced a hole for where I plan to drill through the firewall this is a 4" I have a 3" hole saw as well. Planning on 8-10 runs not sure which size I'll need but that's the best place I can utilize.



Lastly made a plate for my external regulator and hopefully my relay for the external regulator to sit on as well plan to paint it come warmer weather.



I'm pretty happy with how thing's are shaping up so far, it's going to be pretty full under the hood when it's all said and done. Maybe tomorrow I'll cut the portion of the headliner that I need. I wanted to do the big 3 but don't have any heat shrink so I'll be ordering some. I also ordered alternator distribution blocks, a valve cover gasket, and a new oil pan drain plug as I currently have a small oil leak. More updates eventually.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

Perhaps it was addressed and I missed it but the gaps on the motors seem inconsistent. Is the pole not centered or does it just need some final adjustments? In any case I'm very impressed. Not many people would go through the trouble of machining their own parts for a custom subwoofer.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Perhaps it was addressed and I missed it but the gaps on the motors seem inconsistent. Is the pole not centered or does it just need some final adjustments? In any case I'm very impressed. Not many people would go through the trouble of machining their own parts for a custom subwoofer.

If you're referring to the gaps that the coil sits in they're all spot on, I used a 3D printed shim to make they were properly aligned. It probably just doesn't look like they're right due to the angles at which the pictures were taken.

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

Looking great so far, what's your take on the Vibraflex?

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Looking great so far, what's your take on the Vibraflex?

Thanks I really like Vibraflex, I'd used it on my grand prix roof as well. It's probably the only deadener I'd ever use on a roof. However, I will use something more butyl based for the doors (probably second skin).

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

Thanks I really like Vibraflex, I'd used it on my grand prix roof as well. It's probably the only deadener I'd ever use on a roof. However, I will use something more butyl based for the doors (probably second skin).

I'm in the same boat for my lancer havent decided if Second Skin/SoundSkins was worth the extra money or not over the vibraflex my trunk is just getting tore up lol

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

I'd imagine Vibraflex would work well in a trunk. The reason I wouldn't use it on doors is that it's really rigid once it cures. I'm sure some people have used it on doors I just wouldn't personally.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'm thinking about doing some spray foam around the perimeter of the roof where you see the holes above the windows in the last picture. Not sure if it would be of any benefit but I only want to do all this once.

That channel up high may be handy for running RCAs high and away from big current carrying wires. I did not fill in mine but have been using it for RCA since way back.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

That channel up high may be handy for running RCAs high and away from big current carrying wires. I did not fill in mine but have been using it for RCA since way back.

I didn't think about it but it's too late now lol, unfortunately if I was to do that I'd of had to fish it up through the B-Pillar to the back. I'll count on the shielding of the KNU Krystal RCA's and the power and RCA's being on separate sides of the vehicle to be enough hopefully. I cut my headliner to the proper size and removed the factory fabric to put some Suede on but I already messed up because when I sprayed the glue on a couple drops fell off the can onto the fabric and bled through so I think I'll have to get some more fabric. Now I see why people choose black fabric.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Ok in trending with the small updates I did a couple small things. Cut the headliner using a razor blade and cut the foam with a hack saw. Then I took off the factory fabric and wrapped it in suede. It didn't turn out perfect but I really like it looks way better than the factory crap.

Additionally I couldn't believe the cost that popular places charge for heat shrink just because it has a label on it. I got 100 pieces for like 13 bucks on eBay. I'm pretty sure this guy can print things on them as well, he also has other colors as well. Looks good and works just like it should, these are for the big 3. Still waiting on alt distro blocks.



You can't really tell it's suede in this picture the light kind of washes it out.



Little better picture you can see some small wrinkles but like I said it's not perfect.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Today I went on a hell of a buying spree on the northern tool website. If you go on retailmenot they have a coupon for $20 off for anything over $100 so I broke my orders up and used the code 3 times so far. The only thing I haven't ordered is the welder but I'm going to see if I can get them to give me a deal at the local airgas. I'm going to opt for a Hobart 210 MVP made in USA runs of 120/220V and Hobart is owned by miller. It's $400 less than the lincoln 210 and I think if I want to tig I'll buy a dedicated machine for it in the future so I can do aluminum as well.

I purchased the following:

(1) Milwaukee 4.5" 7 amp Angle Grinder

(1) Milwaukee 14" Abrasive Chop Saw

(1) 5 Pack 14" Abrasive Blades

(1) Klutch 2 Tier Welding Cart

(1) Cheap Pair Welding Gloves

(1) 5 Pack 60 Grit 4.5" Sanding Wheel

(2) 25lb. Mini Magnet Squares

(2) 4.5" Grinding Discs

(1) 10lb Spool .030 Carbon Steel Wire

It was around $340 total but would have been closer to $400 had I not used the coupon 3 times. It's going to be like Christmas but the UPS guy is gonna hate me.

These came in a while ago really like them two thumbs up on them.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Alright small update I was messing around with sketchup trying to determine how much material I was going to need. If I build it just like this I will need 245 feet of steel which is if I make the front exactly like the back which I won't. I thought I was thinking it would be closer to 400 feet. The final product may not look exactly like this the top is going to be a problem but I'm sure I can figure it out.

Also I decided on a welder and ended up going with a Miller 211 after rebate it will only costing me about $125 more than the hobart. Plus the miller features infinite voltage control, is lighter and has autoset which might be a cool feature.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Ok so a small update nothing is really going to get done until I get my welder (estimated Wednesday)*and the rest of my tools (estimated Monday). Probably get the steel Monday or Tuesday I think I figured out how to make the top work but we shall see. My saw came in today it's more impressive than I thought it would be, 45 pounds of beef Milwaukee tools are usually pretty nice though in my experience. Also my girlfriend and I exchanged valentines day gifts too and she got me a couple small things for my build that I asked for and a book as I enjoy reading. 20' KNU Krystal 2 channel RCA's and a PAC-80 to use with my external regulator. So I'll just have to buy the Krystal 4 Channel RCA's at some point.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Updates everything has arrived but my welder. My girlfriend helped my put my welding cart today, I try and get her to help me when I can so she gains interest and enjoys this stuff too. I told her I'd teach her to weld eventually. I went and paid for the steel for the build today it was a little over $500 for roughly 600 pounds*I had them cut everything in half so I'll take my truck and pick it up tomorrow.

Steel:

(12) 24' 2x1 14 Gauge

(3) 20' 2x2 1/8 Angle Iron

(1) 20' 2.5x1/4 Flat Bar

So I will try and get some of it cut by the time my welder shows up, I think my dad is going to grab me a bottle of 75/25 from work to start with. Additionally I've never been a big fan of putting a ton of stickers on my vehicles (it's like a rob me sign in my opinion) however I was willing to put some extra stickers on my cart. I also got a call back on a job that I applied for so they're sending me an offer in the mail. Which means my time is going to be pretty limited soon if I take the job as it's a traveling job.