I planned on getting a new radiator down the road but yesterday I noticed a leak starting so I ordered an aluminum radiator today.

I just want to know where the hell are they shipping this from???

 

Looks like Amazon sale. Never heard of OZcooling.
I usually see Amazon vendors ship from California as there are a lot of overseas companies selling on amazon and keeping product in logistic warehouses there. (But that's a guess)

Price is suspect.. good luck! I hope it lasts

Michael

 

it is shipping from California, I was more commenting on the freight prices to the right.

 

glad I didn't pay the extra $1500 for shipping lol tracking says it will be here Monday.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking you'd need a landing pad for the helicopter to deliver the radiator for that kind of money...lol...

 

Bonus time at work, ordered up 4.88 gears and a new carrier for the dana 30 and a set of Stinkyfab Racing shackle relocation brackets.

 

OH MY GOD! I didn't even think to look at the shipping. Straight up funny... talk about mis clicking that delivery method.... Gulp

 

I had been VERY slowly working towards finishing up the charging/electrical upgrades when life and work and weather weren't getting in the way.



I was also being lazy and not wanting to crawl under it and pull the wiring from the starter to re-do it, but good thing I did





I had to buy a replacement plug for the new alternator and of course its just generic white wires, the junkyards around here wont cut a plug from a harness since they want you to buy the whole harness.





When I upgraded the alternator on my TJ I had to re-do the plug on it and if you hooked the wires up wrong the gauge wouldn't work, I have swapped the wires back and forth on this one and the gauge seems to be working either way.


And it runs again by the way.

 

I was supposed to have the whole weekend to myself... ya that didn't happen. But I did get a few hours Saturday.

After pulling the facia off I started noticing just how bad the damage was. you can see the driver side is quite a bit higher than the passenger.


some more pics of before




not only is it broke all the way across it, but it is caved inward also.


At this time I was really contemplating moving onto version 2.0 where I pull all the drivetrain out and put it into my CJ6 after building a new frame but damn it we wanna go wheeling sooner than later and we just plan to beat the crap out of it anyways.

so I beat the crap out of it... with a 15# sledge hammer


hard to tell without setting the radiator back in but it came back down quite a bit




then I moved onto getting rid of some of the bent and badly welded scraps


I am going to build a new crossmember and trying to decide if I want to put the winch behind it, or just in front of it? behind it will give a better approach angle but also make it harder to free spool

and I was super shocked when I unbolted the steering box and this came out in 1 piece with all the damage around it.

 

is there a way to pull the inner steering box brace from inside the "frame rail" or is it welded in?

 

I picked up a portable band saw and cut off the front frame flanges, cut out some 3/16" plate, bent the sides and dimpled some 3" holes in it.



its not in its final location, just sitting there, I wrapped it around each side 3 inches, I will weld it, and will also add some L-braces on the inside of the rails, along with a piece over the top. First thought the wind needs to quit so I can weld all the cracks up in the frame rails. Thinking I might run another piece off the bottom under the steering box as a skid.

 

Yesterday would have been a wonderful day to weld outside... if I had gas for the welder.

So being at a stand still on the front I moved to the back, pulled the rear bumper and hitch, while I was under there I noticed this




so now I get to replace the fuel tank, luckily one of the wrecking yards near me has a couple for $57

Then I pulled the carpet out of the rear and started a cut and fold on the rear quarters but I think I got lost somewhere lol






I have done the cut and fold on other Cherokees but this time I decided to just cut it all off with the thoughts of lengthening the rear wheel wells, then I will just plate in what's left.

 

Super cute! What a great bonding project!

 

Saturday I worked on the XJ a bit, was able to do some welding before the wind started to pick up in the afternoon. welded up all the cracks i could find (and it was a lot), right now the cross member is only tack welded in place but already adds more stability, without the cross member I was able to push the front back and forth.




The center line is dimple died (my kid loves running the shop press lol) the 2 offset holes are for the radiator lower mounts.

 

Saturday I put a new water pump, coolant pipe, thermostat, and thermostat housing on



I also removed the heater valve and replaced it with heater hoses from a 2006 TJ



Than pulled the front axle so I can get it into the shop and rebuild it (sleeve the tubes, gears, locker, ball joints, hubs, DOM/Heim joint steering )



when I unbolted the steering from the pitman arm, I have never had this happen before.... the tie rod end just fell out of the pitman arm, I have always had to beat on it or use a pickle fork lol.