I will finally make time to post the story of The Red Dragon, and how it came to be.
The Jeep was originally purchased around November of 2020 as a stock 2000 Flame Red Sport. It was purchased as surprise replacement to give to my father for a stock 1987 YJ he purchased at the beginning of 2019. This purchase was against my advice as I knew the YJ was in need of quite a bit of work. Once the YJ was home with my dad, it quickly made its way to my shop to fix many of the apparent issues it had. After fixing a bunch of other problems, the 2.5 would not pass emissions and the engine ultimately proved to be junk. It had lost compression in several cylinders.
It became obvious the YJ could not be driven in its current state and this sparked a discussion about the direction to go with it. I ultimately talked my dad into letting me build the YJ (as it was not worth spending money on the 2.5). A common theme for all the vehicles I have put hands on in my life is one of ridiculousness. I typically follow the, "while I'm here" method, and my builds spin out of control with both time and expense very quickly. The YJ was no different which proved much to my dad’s dismay. The YJ blew into an LS swap, NV3550, NP241J, Bronco 44 front, 9" rear, full armor, custom cage, 37's, and four inches of stretch. After a while, my dad did not seem impressed with the length of time the build was taking and I began to feel bad he could not drive his jeep in the foreseeable future. I began looking for a replacement in an attempt to pacify him for a while.
I was surfing Facebook Market in November of 2020 and found a decent priced, stock, Flame Red 2000 TJ Sport. I went to look at it and it checked various boxes for me. The Jeep was complete with a 4.0L, awesome shifting five speed (this will come up later), and a Dana 44 rear axle. I determined it was a nice Jeep for the money, I bought it, and loaded it on the trailer. Why did I trailer it you might ask? I have been bit in the past with other people's "repairs" on purchased vehicles and needed to drive this one around 40 miles to get it to the house.
After getting the TJ home, I made a plan to clean it up, fix a couple of cosmetic issues, and give it to dad. I had previously noticed it was leaking from the passenger rear axle seal and figured that is where I would begin. I began to disassemble the rear end and quickly counted my blessings I did not drive it home. As soon as the axle slid out of the housing, I was greeted with the sight of a cracked bearing retainer. The retainer slid off the axle with a little more than hand pressure. I definitely was thankful I followed my own standard of practice with this purchase. With drum rear brakes, it is likely I would’ve experience a catastrophic failure on the highway. I quickly checked the rest of the Jeep out, installed new flares, rear corner covers, and found a NOS khaki soft top to install.
I gave the Jeep to my dad around the end 2020. The presentation went well and needless to say he was tickled. He began cruising the Jeep around town and taking it fishing.
Once the temporary tag was about up, I took the Jeep to get emissions done and the hard plates on the vehicle. Everything was going great. The Jeep had great power, stopped well, and drove straight down the road. The total trip that day was about 100 miles. This was definitely the longest it had been driven at one time, and at continuous highway speeds. On my way home I exited the highway and began to down shift for the stop sign on the off-ramp. It was then I noticed the transmission had become very loud and shifts more difficult. The wind noise on the highway had obviously masked the increase in transmission noise and I immediately knew the damage was done. I continued the drive home with my now crappy shifts and a bunch of gear noise. When I got home, I immediately pulled the drain plug and was greeted with about an ounce of fluid. I obviously felt like a complete dumbass! This was the only compartment I did not check because the Jeep had shifted so well previously. There were no drips, and no leaks from the transmission. It was obvious for whatever reason the previous owner had forgotten to fill the transmission.
I began a search for a replacement NV3550 and was fortunate to find a decent replacement locally. The old tranny came out and the new one went in along with a new clutch. My dad drove the stock TJ around for a while longer.
In February my dad mentioned one of our mutual friends and a possible father/son trip to Moab in June of 2021. I told him it was unlikely I would have the YJ finished by then, but felt confident I could get the TJ built to a respectable state. I felt bad with the prospect of taking the TJ back and tearing it apart, but knew the resulting build would be much “cooler.” While excited, I believe he reluctantly turned the keys back to me.
I immediately began looking for parts and ordering pieces. My “while I’m here” mentality began to rear its head. Before I knew it, the TJ was gutted and I had located and ordered a laundry list of parts for a marathon build. I knew I wanted to build the TJ around 35’s, with a great ride, and great off road performance. I still wanted it to drive well on the road and be something my 80 year old father was proud of.
I was fortunate to locate a bunch of desirable hard parts locally. I scored a set of super low mile Rubicon LJ 44’s and another NP241OR. I ordered RockJock springs, Fox 12” shocks, GenRight tank, Genright raised body mounts, and a bunch of other parts and pieces.
I spent every spare minute of my free time in the shop. I had a deadline and I needed to meet it or my dad would end me.
The Jeep was originally purchased around November of 2020 as a stock 2000 Flame Red Sport. It was purchased as surprise replacement to give to my father for a stock 1987 YJ he purchased at the beginning of 2019. This purchase was against my advice as I knew the YJ was in need of quite a bit of work. Once the YJ was home with my dad, it quickly made its way to my shop to fix many of the apparent issues it had. After fixing a bunch of other problems, the 2.5 would not pass emissions and the engine ultimately proved to be junk. It had lost compression in several cylinders.
It became obvious the YJ could not be driven in its current state and this sparked a discussion about the direction to go with it. I ultimately talked my dad into letting me build the YJ (as it was not worth spending money on the 2.5). A common theme for all the vehicles I have put hands on in my life is one of ridiculousness. I typically follow the, "while I'm here" method, and my builds spin out of control with both time and expense very quickly. The YJ was no different which proved much to my dad’s dismay. The YJ blew into an LS swap, NV3550, NP241J, Bronco 44 front, 9" rear, full armor, custom cage, 37's, and four inches of stretch. After a while, my dad did not seem impressed with the length of time the build was taking and I began to feel bad he could not drive his jeep in the foreseeable future. I began looking for a replacement in an attempt to pacify him for a while.
I was surfing Facebook Market in November of 2020 and found a decent priced, stock, Flame Red 2000 TJ Sport. I went to look at it and it checked various boxes for me. The Jeep was complete with a 4.0L, awesome shifting five speed (this will come up later), and a Dana 44 rear axle. I determined it was a nice Jeep for the money, I bought it, and loaded it on the trailer. Why did I trailer it you might ask? I have been bit in the past with other people's "repairs" on purchased vehicles and needed to drive this one around 40 miles to get it to the house.
After getting the TJ home, I made a plan to clean it up, fix a couple of cosmetic issues, and give it to dad. I had previously noticed it was leaking from the passenger rear axle seal and figured that is where I would begin. I began to disassemble the rear end and quickly counted my blessings I did not drive it home. As soon as the axle slid out of the housing, I was greeted with the sight of a cracked bearing retainer. The retainer slid off the axle with a little more than hand pressure. I definitely was thankful I followed my own standard of practice with this purchase. With drum rear brakes, it is likely I would’ve experience a catastrophic failure on the highway. I quickly checked the rest of the Jeep out, installed new flares, rear corner covers, and found a NOS khaki soft top to install.
I gave the Jeep to my dad around the end 2020. The presentation went well and needless to say he was tickled. He began cruising the Jeep around town and taking it fishing.
Once the temporary tag was about up, I took the Jeep to get emissions done and the hard plates on the vehicle. Everything was going great. The Jeep had great power, stopped well, and drove straight down the road. The total trip that day was about 100 miles. This was definitely the longest it had been driven at one time, and at continuous highway speeds. On my way home I exited the highway and began to down shift for the stop sign on the off-ramp. It was then I noticed the transmission had become very loud and shifts more difficult. The wind noise on the highway had obviously masked the increase in transmission noise and I immediately knew the damage was done. I continued the drive home with my now crappy shifts and a bunch of gear noise. When I got home, I immediately pulled the drain plug and was greeted with about an ounce of fluid. I obviously felt like a complete dumbass! This was the only compartment I did not check because the Jeep had shifted so well previously. There were no drips, and no leaks from the transmission. It was obvious for whatever reason the previous owner had forgotten to fill the transmission.
I began a search for a replacement NV3550 and was fortunate to find a decent replacement locally. The old tranny came out and the new one went in along with a new clutch. My dad drove the stock TJ around for a while longer.
In February my dad mentioned one of our mutual friends and a possible father/son trip to Moab in June of 2021. I told him it was unlikely I would have the YJ finished by then, but felt confident I could get the TJ built to a respectable state. I felt bad with the prospect of taking the TJ back and tearing it apart, but knew the resulting build would be much “cooler.” While excited, I believe he reluctantly turned the keys back to me.
I immediately began looking for parts and ordering pieces. My “while I’m here” mentality began to rear its head. Before I knew it, the TJ was gutted and I had located and ordered a laundry list of parts for a marathon build. I knew I wanted to build the TJ around 35’s, with a great ride, and great off road performance. I still wanted it to drive well on the road and be something my 80 year old father was proud of.
I was fortunate to locate a bunch of desirable hard parts locally. I scored a set of super low mile Rubicon LJ 44’s and another NP241OR. I ordered RockJock springs, Fox 12” shocks, GenRight tank, Genright raised body mounts, and a bunch of other parts and pieces.
I spent every spare minute of my free time in the shop. I had a deadline and I needed to meet it or my dad would end me.
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