J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

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Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

Stuka wrote:Thats a very clean looking waggy!

Thanks Stuka!! It definitely is a clean truck for its age! Most importantly, my Father loves it, and is excited to have an FSJ again!!
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

So, I'm not sure what happened. But somewhere along the lines I got distracted, bought myself a 1992 YJ, did a quick restomod to it and had started daily driving it.. Now the itch hit me like a freight train and I'm selling off the YJ, and going full steam ahead on the Gladiator, in the last week or so I've ordered a LOT of parts, with more on their way, and even more awaiting ordering...


The YJ roughly started off like this ( kinda hard to tell, but the body/tub were rotted out pretty good)

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And after a bit of time, energy, and more doll hairs than I was looking to spend (it was supposed to be a cheap commuter...should've known better with it being a Jeep..) some of you guys may remember my brother and I from the 2017 ECI trip..

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1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

In the process the Gladiator had gotten moved around to another location, where its been sitting. But I fully expect it to be coming back home under its own power! :-bd

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Had picked up a 3 piece bumper set with brackets for a pretty good deal.. should come in handy at some point

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Some of the new orders started rolling in.... got this little gem.. (thanks FedEx for keeping the package right side up :x )

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What's inside the large mysterious brown box you ask? Well..it's a brand new, fully built AX15
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It's some nice new shiny stuff, from this great company I didn't even know was in my backyard (2 hours upstate from me)

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Now the parts are all starting to stack up, and the evenings/weekends are gonna be full of wrenching
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Got an HEI in that white box in the picture too..Other stuff not pictured but will have pics up soon; AX15 bellhousing (external slave), all new brakes including front Disc brake conversion, vacuum brake boost addition, tires (some nice 33x12.50's by Cooper AT3 XLT, really happy with all the Coopers I've had so I can't wait to see how these do). Wheels will be soon to follow, looking to stick with the classic look so I may be getting some WheelVintiques 62's..Can't wait to get the parts into the Gladdy and start making some real headway.


Also the big kick in my butt to get the ball moving on my project, I'm set to attend the Built to Heal event at the end of September, it's an event to raise money for the 4 Wheel to Heal. (yeah, I got a LOT of work to get done to be ready)

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Of course I had to buy myself some swag to support the cause.. and it just looks so damn cool..
Last edited by 68J2000 on Fri Jan 25, 2019 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

Well, the days till the event have been going by faster than I need them to be.. but I am making headway..got the tires mounted on the fresh wheels..

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Got the powertrain sitting in the truck, still have to get the trans mount fitted up to the crossmember in some fashion, but this is how its currently sitting..

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Here it is with the fresh shoes on it, and the power-train sitting in it..

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You can see in that last shot the truck is sitting with a pretty mean rake, and as nasty as it looks raked... doesn't really help overcoming obstacles, so with the rear shackles flipped I've got my rear lift.. but that obviously still leaves the front sitting at stock height, but I think I've come up with a solution to get the ride height evened out.. (I've yet to physically make sure it works out but by next weekend I'll know for sure, just waiting on the bushings) This thing is really going to be a franken-Jeep by the time it's all finished, but what I've come to find out (thanks to my brother owning an '83 CJ7) is that the CJ7 and the Gladiator basically share the same front spring dimensions, so after a little figuring and measuring, I had ordered a pair of BDS CJ7 2.5" lift front leaf springs. Both Jeeps use 2" wide front springs, the Gladiator measures 22"x22" eye to center to eye.. and the CJ7 measures 22 1/16"x 22 1/16" eye to center to eye, and that's good enough for me. Both Jeep springs have a 1 1/2" main eye, so you can use the factory Gladiator bushings to fit back on the 7/8" post mounts as well.. As soon as the bushings get here (only ordered them today) I'll know for sure how it all fits up, hopefully all goes well..assuming I measured everything right.. :P
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel
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jaber
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Location: Chino Valley, Az.

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by jaber »

Nice find on the springs.
LOVE the wheels and tires.
Jeff

'46 cj3a
'51 Willys p/u
'51 Willys Parkway Conversion
'74 CJ5
'75 J-20 Wrecker
'75 J-20 Cummins service truck
'77 J-10 p/u
'79 Cherokee
'88 Grand Wagoneer
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh14/jeffaber/

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

Thanks Jaber!!

Getting back to the springs, the post mount bushings seem to have gone extinct...so after a bit of figuring, I decided to make my own...


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They fit like a glove!! (wasn't fully seated in the picture hence the small gap on the inside)



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With NICE NEW springs on! (pay no mind to the filth behind the curtains...)


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The brakes needed some addressing as well, all around. So it got some upgrades..


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The rear brakes got completely rebuilt, and every piece of brake line has been replaced with brand new lines (with my brother doing me the favor of bending up all the lines to match the factory lines)

Unfortunately, somewhere along the lines we figured out the engine mounts had the engine sitting ..well..not right. So, we had to break out Mr. Slicey again and remove the mounts to re-fit some "new" mounts


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1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

After getting the engine mounts sorted..again. We got the engine in and started hooking everything up

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Which then let us get the transmission in place so we could modify/make the mounts to get that bolted up. After that was finished, and everything bolted down, it was time to install the shiny new driveshafts (Adams Driveshaft BTW, GREAT guys to work with, got me sorted with my needs and it didn't cost my kidney)


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With the engine, transmission, and driveshafts in I was able to start fabricating the exhaust (2.5" stainless from the manifolds - back)


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If you look close in that last picture you can see the original tank likes to seep gasoline out of its bottom.. not bueno.. so a new one got ordered, and a mount was needed since I didn't have a bed floor in.. and I don't want the tank mounted to the bed anyways so more fabricating and modifying was done. It's a little on the crude side, but it protects the poly tank pretty nicely, and it's moves the mounting from the bed to the frame


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At this point the Gladiator had been drive-able once more (in God knows how many years)
I noticed early on (many-many moons and paychecks ago) that the tail lights illumination were sub-par and could be out-shined by a birthday candle, I wanted the original look of the factory lenses, but didn't want to just use those LED replacement bulbs (they never seemed to shine that great either)

So....more modifications...
I took the original tail light housings and drilled a nice little hole dead center in the housing from the back


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Then I grabbed a small hole saw... :shock:


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Made a nice small cut out :cry:
(always be sure to secure your target, so that the spiny tool doesn't become a spiny hand-slicing machine)


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Next step was to take a pair of 4" round LED Tail-lights

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Remove their Red cover lens


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With the help of some epoxy and some RTV to make sure the moisture stays sealed out, you've now got some tail-light housings that look like this..


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With the housing mounted to the truck, and then with the cover lens on it


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Lit up, I like the pattern and it still has that classic look to it (in my opinion at least) much brighter than what was in there and I was very happy with the results

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Last edited by 68J2000 on Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

Did I mention I like to spend money I don't have on stuff I don't need.. cause that's a thing for sure


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The Holley Sniper EFI system.
Did I need it..no... Is it awesome..HELLS YEAH ...was my wallet hurting...also hells yeah

Swapped out the factory cast iron 2BBL manifold for something a bit lighter, and more appealing. Threw the reconditioned valve covers on while I was at it


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Runs pretty great..well, it RAN pretty great. With the intake and the type of air cleaner I have on it, this thing sounded like it's sporting a supercharger under the hood...maybe one day I'll give in to the forced induction insanity.. gotta get it running again first, it unfortunately wiped out the camshaft-distributor drive gears when I was on my way home from work.. left me stranded about 40 miles from home. 2 tow truck rides and about 8 hours later I finally got it back home, where it's been sitting, waiting to go under the knife once more. I'll have updates again hopefully sooner rather than later

I forgot to throw it in there, but here's a shot of it sitting with the new front springs on 33X12.50 tires. sits JUST right for me

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1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

bigun
Posts: 1250
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:20 pm
Location: Mountainair, NM

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by bigun »

How do you like the Holley injection?

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

bigun wrote:How do you like the Holley injection?
Well, I can't give you an entirely honest opinion on it just yet, the camshaft gears wiped themselves out basically 2 days after the Holley install (the gears grenading were unrelated to the Holley install). I can say however, the engine lit right up every time and it was pretty cold out (roughly 2 weeks before Christmas), the programming set up is very simple, and the computer self learns. I was pleased enough with my short experience with the Holley EFI, that I ended up getting their Hyperspark Ignition system to compliment the Injection system. The Sniper EFI can communicate with the Hyperspark, change ignition mapping, set advance/retard timing, idle speed, etc, all on the fly, or via the programmer that's part of the Sniper EFI system. All very cool stuff in my opinion.

Hopefully I'll be able to get the cam gear issues resolved this weekend, and I'll be able to get some better feedback as to the function/reliability of the system :-bd
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

bigun
Posts: 1250
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:20 pm
Location: Mountainair, NM

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by bigun »

Thanks It had been recommended over on Pirate. I need to go back through my 440 to figure out my oiling problem and I am thinking about fuel injecting it at the same time

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

Well, it's been a good minute...again. The Poached Rhino (the name it's been given by my brother, since it spends more time with it's Rhino grill off, rather than on) had given me nothing but trouble time and time again after it wiped out the first cam/dizzy gears, I ended up wiping out 3 MORE sets of gears, SO I put in a new camshaft, new lifters, new pushrods, new exhaust valves, new valve springs, and it STILL wiped the cam/dizzy gears. So enough was enough, the old tired 360 had to come out and get fully rebuilt cause there was something seriously wrong going on inside of that engine. After getting it torn down, it turned out there was..cylinders 7 & 8 the wrist pins were practically LOCKED to the pistons, some severe scraping was left on those cylinder walls. So I finished stripping the 360 fully down, degreased it, and brought another engine back to my engine builder (The 304 that originally got built for the gladiator I ended up putting into my brothers 83 CJ7, so when that happened I had put in an old tired 360 into the Gladiator from a 78 Chief that was made of 90% rust). Sticking with the plan of Spending money I don't have on stuff I don't need, the 360 is getting bored over(.040? can't remember), balanced, line honed, crank ground and polished, custom ground aggressive camshaft for the EFI, forged Scat rods, Wiseco pistons, a nice pair of loaded Edelbrock aluminum heads, and a new harmonic balancer. Once I get that all back together and put in The Poached Rhino should be spitting some nice flames (without the carnage)!
Last edited by 68J2000 on Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel

offthebeatenpath
Posts: 42
Joined: Thu May 30, 2019 6:19 am
Location: Bozeman, Montana

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by offthebeatenpath »

Hey what leaf springs did you put in? Hells Creek?

Topic author
68J2000
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:50 pm
Location: Commack, NY

Re: J2000 Gladiator resto-mod *Pic Heavy*

Post by 68J2000 »

offthebeatenpath wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 1:31 pm Hey what leaf springs did you put in? Hells Creek?
They are BDS 2.5" lift springs CJ-7 application.
The rear springs are still the old factory Gladiator springs
1968 J2000 Gladiator {The Poached Rhino} : AMC 360, Holley Sniper Injection w/ Hyperspark Ign, AX15 Terminator, Dana 300, D44/D60 Truetrac 4.11 Gears, 33's (W.I.P.)

1969 Triumph GT6+ :evil: 1JZGTE, CD009 6 speed, R200 LSD rear, 300ZX running gear, shooting for 600hp @ 1800lbs GVW restomodds in order, (on the back burner)

2015 Ram 2500 Cummins {Big Hoss}, Laramie, CCLB, Deleted, MM3 tuner Tuned by Ray @DoubleRDiesel
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