U-Joint replacement

when I heard the jeep did not pass the safety test I was super disapointed.Even more disapointed then when the video game I wanted was sold out. But me and the rest of our Three man crew took it as a minor set-back.so on saturday we started the day off by getting a vice from my dads pal Andrew because our vice was too small to change the U-joints. The first step we had to do was remove everything that was in the way of the U-joints.when that was all done we took them out and set them on our work table and use two lovely sockets and all the muscle in our body we popped the caps out off the u-joints.after the mental toughostity and the brute strength used to pry the caps off we took the cross shaped joint and put the new one in.Now stay tuned for more blogs starring the brake lines.coming soon

Safety: Take one

The first milestone with the Jeep project was to have it pass a vehicle safety inspection, so that we can transfer the ownership as a fit vehicle. After changing the sway bar end links and fixing the blower motor, as Jason described, we also fixed a couple of lights (bulbs, lenses, wiring). We did not actually go through the entire safety checklist on the Jeep, since we thought the mechanic could do this. Then on May 13 we took the Jeep to Canadian Tire for the safety check. Well after ~1hr of inspection the results were in: the Jeep needed both u-joints in the front axle changed, all of the brake lines replaced, and there was an exhaust leak to be fixed. CT quoted 5hrs labor to change the u-joints, and 6hrs to replace the brake lines. So the lesson plan for the boys just skipped to front axle disassembly, and brake line overhaul.

The challange here was that CT provided a 10 day window for free re-inspection, and within the next 10days I was taking one day for an Enduro and we would be going to the cottage for the long weekend. Thus we really had 5 evenings and 1 Sat for all the work. :-0

Perhaps one of the boys will describe that fun.

The sway bar end links and blower motor

When the jeep first arrived in our driveway, the previous owners, Jen and Michael, we were told that the end sway bar links needed to be changed. Along with the blower motor, but I'll get to that later. So when we took it in, we got it jacked up and ready to be looked at. after everything was taken apart we found that the links had broken from the top(ball joints had seperated). so my dad, Doug Cooper bought the link they were shortly changed. actually the left sway bar link was changed onApril,27th,2010,and the right sway bar link was changed on May,8th,2011. (just kidding it was changed in 2010)

Photo #1- That's me Jason Cooper =)

After that was done (thank god) we decided to diagnose the blower moter because none of the speeds were working. When we tested the voltage they all had zero accept for high and that only gave us 3.5 volts out of 12.So we ripped apart the dash destroying the entire jeep and then we blew it up(na, we took it apart carefully and set the peices aside. We tested all the switches and they all worked.(hmmmm) After a bunch of theries we came with the assumption that it must be the blower motor resister. we took our tools and pulled it out and that is what it looks like.After we bought the new one we replaced them on May,10th,2010.

Photo #2-looks kinda messy doesn't it

(it's all my dad fault)

Photo #3-The one on the left is the old nasty one we replaced I mean took off and the one on the right is the clean nice looking one we really replaced.

Photo #4-Here I am testing the new blower motor resister to see if it works because you never know,it might be broken too.

The before photo's........

Here is what the beautiful Jeep looked like when it arrived at the house.

Why the project?

For many years I have wanted to undertake an automotive project with my sons, Jonathon and Jason. I wanted to have project that we could enjoy together, and at the same time provide a practical and hands on project that would allow me pass on some of my automotive knowledge to them. I myself learned many of these skills from years of watching and helping my grandfather. I learned a great deal from my grandfather. Not only did I enjoy the experience immensely, but it has had a dramatic influence on my life. I hope my sons enjoy it as well.

Up until last year this was merely a dream for the future. I then mentioned to my brother, Charles, that I thought a Jeep would be a nice project, as we could build a vehicle we could enjoy together offroad. Charles then mentioned to our friends Jen and Michael my passing comments and next thing you know Jen and Michael have made an incredibly generous offer to donate their 1997 Jeep TJ, when they were done with it.

Over the last year, the boys have been aware of the future project and were getting more excited every month.

Well on April 24, 2010, after driving the Jeep down from Ottawa, Michael delivered the beautiful red Jeep TJ to our house. Let the project begin............

Now what?

I've just set up my first blog, and now I feel obligated to write something. Humm.....
Well the boys and I can use this forum to document our work, learnings and adventures with our new Jeep TJ project.

While I'm sure the boys will gravite to this media quicker than I will, they don't know this exists yet so I will provide the foreword.