Gary's
J-20 Diary
25.7.98
I brought the J20 from Ralf Fox from Tenterdin for $4,500 it was it need of some TLC
but was basically all there After getting it home (had to hold the gear lever for
over 50Km as it jumps out of top gear under load ) The 1st thing I did was borrow Cliffs
high pressure cleaner and got to work cleaning it up “There was chrome on the rims
under all that grim” with steel wool and a lot of effort it cleaned up quite
well, I then couldn't help my self and had to bolt the spare rims on the side bars
“It looked tough”
26.7.98
Sunday, We had visitors after church so couldn’t do any thing for a while, I had to
excuse myself and get out in the garage. Needed to check out the wiring as the
indicators were suss, cleaned up the earth contacts globes and fitting, got them working .
Next grabbed the wheely bin and cleaned out all the junk from the floor and behind
the seat. Next on the list checked the fuses and got the courtesy lights going ,and a
couple of other light active again. Tried to get the radio cassette going but no luck as
yet. Noticed a colour on the ground and found petrol dripping from a crimped pipe right in
front of the non existing exhaust fixed that quick smart
27.7.98
Went into the shire and paid the transfer fee $147.80 and $30.80 for plate change over as
I took the plates of off the CJ6 and put them on the J20 ..(75 DE )
28.7.98
Dropped the Jeep of in the morning to have the exhaust fitted at Talismans BP garage
$150.00 but gave him load of BP shirts windcheaters and jacket “left over
from the garage we owned” dropped in at 3O/clock to see how they where going. they
had the header pipe off, but said the studs were iffy but could be Ok I went in after work
at 4.45 and they were still working on it they tried bending up a header pipe to exit
along the chassis between the spring (luckily they also ordered a STD pipe so I said use
it as it looked like the better choice came back 1/2 Hr latter and they where still
ginning around “couldn’t get the nuts started “ so I took over and had it
bolted up in 10 mins. Well got home at 6.45 sounded ok thankfully. While on the hoist when
testing the exhaust I noticed fuel dripping from the fuel pump :-( ordered another pump
$84.50 inc freight PARKED IT FOR 2 days
31.7.98
fuel pump arrived. Fitted pump
1.8.98
Fitted a glass cleanable type fuel filter, And tidied up the fuel lines from all 3 tanks
fitted 2 Cibie super oscar driving lights to the bull bar and re fitted the little Hellas
that came with it down on bumper height, Bolted the spare wheel to the back of the cage
instead of the side, and bolted my H/D steal trunk to the tray for a tool box Sat arvo on
the way to get fire wood dropped into work and fitted a tube to the spare,(didn’t
want to stake a tyre and not have a back up ) on the way there Bev (wife) said the window
wouldn’t wind up and the door wont open “I’m getting sick of things going
wrong with this truck so soon” chain sawed about 1 1/2 ton of wood on the way home it
climbed the hill to our place unreal 3rd gear and died a little but pulled all the way to
the top.
2.8.98
Sun, arvo, Topped up the T/C again spewing oil out . Checked out the window and it seems
the rail that holds the glass had rusted and split in half ,now I’m spewing .Found
some galv plate and bent up a new channel and bronze welded it to the winder arm fitted it
in with the channel full of RTV silicon, slid the glass in and wound it up tight, works
well, as for the door handle the spline is stripped so I jammed a bit of light tin in it
and did it up “that works ok for now too
5.8.98
The bearing and seal kit turned up, So I bit the bullet and pulled the T/C no big deal,
Uni joints are a bit suss, though ..Grunted the box on to the tray of the truck, Since I
had no response from the list as to and hints on dismantling the box thought what the heck
and undid the bolts on the rear out put shaft and eased it out (clunk clunk clunk ??) Mmm
wonder what that was. Turned out to be the ball bearings and race “sure did need
changing” the rest I just pulled it apart and laid it all out as it came, and
changed bits one at a time. There sure is a lot of needle rollers in there!! found that a
rubber band held them nice as I slid the gear off and the same way fitting the new rollers
in. Some of the needle roller cages in blind holes in the case where a pain in the butt.
Well bolted it in and the only hitch was a weep around the rear extension housing. Seems
the caterpillar gasket “replacer” didn’t, used RTV silicon next time. Found
out why the Speedo doesn’t work the “driven and driver gears“are stripped
Sure is a lot quieter to drive now
and no red puddles when I stop.
9.8.98
Fitted a heavy duty “engine stop” pull cable in place of the bonnet release
cable that was U/S Now I don't need a screw driver to open the bonnet, While
there wired in the Cibie Super Oscars spot lights and the Hella spread beams on the bull
bar twin relays etc ..WHY when I fix one thing do I find another gone wrong ?? I knew the
engine mounts where cactus but found that the fan was slowly cutting a hole in the
bottom Radiator hose :-( ..Fixed the mongrel ..took the fan off (temp measure only)
.Finishing for the night closed the doors and What now?? the courtesy lights wont go out
“when I bolted the bracket for the bonnet release the screw contacted the back of the
door activated switch Bummer easy fixed though
?.8.98 WHO KNOWS?????
16.8.98
Sun, afternoon, cleaned down the chassis and spray painted it gloss black, Great timing
just cranked up the compressor and started spraying and the heavens opened up grabbed some
old sheets and covered
most from the rain. So ousted Bevs Gemini into the rain and got under cover in the other
garage. Then painted all the aux., fuel tanks roll bar, chassis, and sides of the tray
white. Looks heaps better now
22.8.98
Put the fan back on “clears the Rad, hose now the mounts are good” Ran new
air lines to the pump up shocks Yep they still work ..... tidied up some wiring, put a tow
ball on it and a mega “D” shackle to the draw bar “for towing out other
bogged vehicles” :-) ..
29.8.98
Fitted a 100 watt reversing light to the rear end works ok
31.8.98
Was I cheesed off, found the R/Hside indicator wasn’t working on my J20 just change
the globe I thought, nope globes ok, out with the test light cant find power along the
loom "after cutting away the nylon mess, Well I "thinks to me self"
("TTMS) start from the other end found a pink wire flashing with the test light, Also
another in a different loom with a dull flash ..Well I trace the pink wire to the back of
the fuel tank and it stop "TTMS” ah must be broken behind the tank so I run a
jumper re alone the chassis to the light. Still wont work.So I send power back
through the light to find the live one in the loom found it but now its green. To cut it
all short. The pink wire I chased turned out to be the fuel sender wire "I
didn’t know that fuel senders send a pule like indicators "Also the other pink
wire I cut (thinking I had a voltage drop) turned out to be the stinking oil pressure
sender "it pulses like the indicators " so had to re-join that ..After 5hrs I
stumbled on a broken wire guess what it was the flashers joined it and they work Had
to redo all the wiring for the fuel sender and now the gauge wont work. thought the
needle was stuck so I tapped the glass and it fell in now I'm relay cheesed off .Well I
learnt a lot One most wires on jeeps are pink, A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and
I still HATE jeeps wiring ..
1.9.98
fitted the air horns from the CJ to the J20 sound ok along with the STD horns
7/10.9.98
through the week I removed the f/r drive shafts and fitted 5 new uni joints and on the 3rd
attempt got the right pinion seal and changed that while I was at it . On Fri the 10th had
to work a split shift so started to re wire the tray light and fit the new interior light
set I brought, went well sept had 3 attempts at getting the wires ran right kept either
going the wrong side of the bonnet cable or through the seat belt etc, all worked good so
am pleased with my self.
12.9.98
pulled the top off of the T18 today to try to stop it selecting 2 gears at once, After
much prayer found 2 things 1 the spring that the reveres selector is supposed to compress
to give resistance when shifting in to reveres was broken, found a replacement (modified
another spring) and installed it, Also saw a hole through the centre selector shaft
that lined up with the lock out balls (thinks to me self) must be there for a reason
(light bulb) I reckon there should be a little shaft there that pushes the lock out balls
onto all the other rods to stop them engaging i.e. fist ball get forced across it pushes
shaft which pushes other ball and locks both shafts, made the shaft out of the shank end
of a tech screw “very hard steel” ...well it all worked and now that part of the
g/box works well ..still jumps out of 4th though . Next job one day
24.9.98
After four wheeling on the week end and a number of nasty sounding bangs from the trans, I
had to bite the bullet and order a T/C chain ...$223.50 inc, freight, fitted the chain
tonight and hopefully the Speedo D/D gears will be hear tomorrow.
25.9.98
Speedo driven and driver gears turned up from over East ..and the right ones. Fitted it
all tonight and all worked well “ now got a Speedo “
29.9.98
Over the next 2 weeks i did the following while on 2 weeks holidays .
Pulled out the seat and completely carpeted the cab, A beige low loop pile, pulled the
roof lining and cut the shapes to fit it clued the carpet straight on..looks real neat,
rubbed the sun visors clean .then did the floor, behind the seat, kick panels, and the
rear pillars. Also looks real good. Cut the right shape for a dash mat, and even a cover
for the seat till I can get it re upholstered.
I then tinted the windows in Limo tint I got in Perth for $22.00 It came up good.
I was able to fix the window demister pipe with some flexi duct I had at home.
Wired in a 7 pin trailer plug on the back end.
Pulled the front brakes and found the disc pads down to metal on one side, Just fitted
new pads as I couldn’t be bothered pulling the hubs etc., too have them skimmed.
While changing disk pads I noticed the front torsion bars bushes where ratted, while
looking at it I reckoned that the bottom bolt that the T/B fitted to, looked the same size
as a shockie eye..Brain wave "I hope" why not get rid of the bar and fit an
extra shock. the STD ones feel a bit soft any way, So I dug up a near new set of Monroe
Gas shocks I had lying around for a rainy day..I figure that the extra shock and being gas
might do the same as the T/B..
These shocks came from a HX Holden and on the Holden lean from out side inwards
"so they have heaps of travel" Like I thought they fitted straight on the bottom
mount, and with a real heavy bit of angle Iron bolted to the STD shock mount (these have
and eye at the bottom and bolt at the top) at about the same height as the STD mount they
bolted up great.
With my 3" body lift LOOK even better..And when driven feels even better than it
did with the bar, another bonus is the front doesn’t bounce like it used to. PLUS
I’ve got back my full axle articulation now with out the limiting torsion bar..
Rear brakes, Stuffed too. Thank fully the wheel cylinders honed out ok .007’ over
size cups did the trick the drums and shoes had to go 2nd over size...
Big bonus my hand brake cables un-seized and the Nissan clutch cable is acting well as
an adapted front H/B cable. Had to make new rear brake lines. No big deal . And while
under there painted the rear air shocks white and shone up the chrome rims.
Also bolted 2 “MACK “1/2 bull dogs to that blank space on the dash in front
of the passenger..
Wired in a Tacho stole from my CJ6 the hole thing is looking quite “spiffy “
27.10.98
Had to get the clutch slave cylinder re-sleeved with a stainless steel sleeve and a kit
fitted $68.00 better than $100+ quoted by the Perth Jeep joint . Bled it out and adjusted
the free play ..works good.
1.11.98
Had to pull the passengers door apart again as the window came out of the lifting track
again, Shouldn’t happen again after this fix, I free’d up the door lock while
there so it wasn’t a total time waste
5.12.98
Changed oil and filter, and much searching found the right spark plugs for the old girl
runs nicer now...
7.12.98
had to re seal the T/C extension housing again as it leaked again got it sealed right this
time, used RTV silicone this time. Some time back forgot this one, I brought a
3” snorkel after cutting a hole in the bonnet and changing the donaldson air cleaner
intake hole ..making it now point straight up, all I do is slide the snorkel through the
hole and onto the cleaner ,it fits tight and the cold air/ram air must help
4.1.99
Fitted 3 bucket seat to the truck 2 out of a Suzuki sierra and 1 from a Toyota coaster got
the susy seats for $50.00 from Ray and the toyota from Cliff {free] made 1” square
tube frames for the seats and borrowed the bender from work, each frames differant, so it
took a little bit of juggling BUT in the end turned out great. Also altered the
steel work that went around the tail lights as it went across the middle {just made the
frame work a bit bigger }
7.1.99
Got a VDO digital clock from Nick {out of a Ford Laser} and it fitted perfectly in to the
hole in the dash looks and works spot on
7.2.99
Fitted up a water tank under the truck today, got 2.5mtrs of 150mm storm water pipe two
end caps and a “T” made the brackets up and bolted it under the tray with the
“T” down the back, It has a large “screw on top” and a ball valve tap
at the end It holds 44ltrs and works great. While at it I bolted an old vice to the
corner of the tray and this has proved very handy already
