News & Updates

Progress on the driver's side platform leg meant getting up close with the intermediate steering shaft — the piece that runs from the firewall to the steering knuckle, and on this CJ-5, has to pass right by where the leg goes. We're keeping as much of the stock intermediate shaft geometry as we can; it's worked well on every other CJ we've built. This one had a few surprises.

First, the customer's intermediate shaft had been welded back together at some point, so we ordered a new one from Crown. When it arrived, the top wouldn't fully seat into the upper steering column shaft. Turned out the upper shaft itself was undersized — not a stock length — so we tracked down a replacement. Pulling the old one out of the column showed why it needed to go: the bearings inside were long past done, so a new bearing kit went on the order too.

The steering wheel on this Jeep is also non-standard, which meant getting it off took a 6" adjustable bearing puller — a tool that, it turns out, takes longer to assemble than it does to actually pull a wheel. Good news: the column itself is solid. All told, this detour ran about 4-5 hours of labor and five new parts — roughly $250. We'll follow up once the new pieces are in and the shaft is buttoned up.

Patrick
Owner / Chief Designer

We're at the point of committing cardboard and blue tape to aluminum.

The platform legs will come first. They'll support the front battery box from side to side, resting on top of the legs. Once we make them, we'll skeleton them out as needed for weight and accessibility. The top gets a T aluminum extrusion to distribute the load, stabilize the battery and tech box, and give us mount points for other components down the road.

The motor mounts come next. We're using the stock motor mount frame rail holes — no new holes, no modifications. They attach to the MCA (Motor Cradle Assembly) girdle, which supports the MCA and ties into the motor mounts.

We keep all our patterns on file so they work across each of the Jeep eras — easy reference, and easy to repeat on the next build.

Patrick
Owner / Chief Designer

We're trying something new here — pulling back the curtain on an actual build in progress. First up: a customer's 1976 CJ-5.

This Jeep has been through a lot. A 4" body lift, steering that's more of a suggestion than a direction, a set of 35" tires pushing 12 years old, and two long-empty gun boxes eating up cabin space. It's a project that's earned its retirement from a gas engine.

The story behind it is a familiar one. The original owners' kid is finally old enough to want the Jeep — but not old enough, or interested enough, to keep wrenching on it every time it strands him. The parents aren't excited to keep footing repair bills either. An EV repower solves both problems at once: no more chasing down a tired inline-six, and with a home JuiceBox charger already installed and a daily driving need well under 60 miles, charging was never going to be the hard part.

Here's where the build stands so far. With the ICE stripped out, the first real milestone is that MCA — it positions the traction motor exactly where it needs to sit, using the same frame mounting points the factory motor mount already used. Nothing cut, nothing welded.

Next up is the new front battery box — a "pizza box" layout holding four Tesla Model S modules, 2x2. It does double duty: powering the traction motor, and dropping the center of gravity while spreading that weight frame-rail to frame-rail over the front axle. Anyone who's felt a top-heavy CJ lean hard into a corner will appreciate that change.

Sitting above it is the Tech Box — home to the BMS, inverter, low- and high-voltage junction boxes, master disconnects, and the fuses for the new system. Everything stays below the grille rod line and stays accessible, so service (or future additions) doesn't mean tearing the Jeep apart. We're also planning to mount the on-board charger here — a combo unit that charges the main pack from AC power and doubles as a DC/DC converter for the 12V aux battery. Cooling lives just ahead of the motor, tucked below the battery box.

The platform leg mockup is where a lot of this actually comes together — the inverter and its Tech Box neighbors get their permanent home here. On the driver's side, we're routing the intermediate steering column through the same space; a little tight, but figured out. We've also nailed down the size and location of the rear battery box — more on that soon.

More to come as this one moves toward first startup.

Patrick
Owner / Chief Designer

We're moving into our new Jeep shop — about 4 miles north of the old Woodland Hills location, now in Chatsworth.

It's smaller: 2,600 sq ft versus the 7,200 sq ft we were in before. It's also cheaper, by a lot.

So many EV conversion build shops have gone under simply due to expenses. My daily motto is to do everything I can to stay in business, meet my customers' goals, and expand in a controlled fashion.

The new shop can hold around 6 Jeeps at once. Tight fit, but that's okay.

The new website — this one — is coming along too. It's a work in progress, but the goal is to answer the most common questions and give prospective Jeep owners a real sense of what an EV conversion build involves. We'll keep refining and adding content as the need arises, but feel free to send us your thoughts on how we can improve the site.

Thanks for joining us on the adventure!

Patrick
Owner / Chief Designer