22-APR-2012
This is how it looked the day it was picked up
It's basically all there just not the look that I'm looking for so some changes are needed to be made.
I bought this from my brother who purchased it for his son. He had it for only a couple months before deciding that this little green Commando was going to be more of a project than he was looking for. He ended up buying a Jeepster that was already built that didn't have the problems that this one has.
I bought it to replace a buggy that I built about thirteen years ago that is in my Toyhauler trailer. I'm kind of over the buggy thing having used it all these years in the desert and in the sand. So when the desert season starts again in October the buggy will be sold. Now having the Jeep and it being street legal I will be able to take advantage of driving it around as a cool old convertible as well as taking it to the desert to cruise with and do some exploring I couldn't do in the buggy. Here in California we don't have to smog anything that is older than 1975 so I can do whatever I want to do with the engine and not have to worry about giving the State a penny to run it through a smog test!
My plan is to remove the Bullnose front clip that I'm not too found of and install my version of a Jeepster front clip using YJ front fenders, a CJ grille with custom made Jeepster ears, and a lengthened Jeepster hood to cap it off. I'm going to get rid of the interior along with the roll bar and build a nice full cage with different seats with harnesses and a YJ Fold and Tumble seat in the rear. I'm going to rework the dash and update the gauges, tilt column, a fresh coat of paint, and shoot bedliner in the whole tub. I'll keep the TH 400 and the Dana 20 but will probably change the shifters on both. front and rear axles are supposed to be Dana 44's but they aren't very wide and the previous owner installed spacers on front and rear. The 350 Chevy conversion with TBI is an added bonus but just doesn't run very well and will have to be figured out. The wiring is original 1972 Jeep wiring along with whatever harness was used as a donor for the electronic stuff and is a complete mess so it will all be ripped out and replaced with a new harness and fuse box. Rust repair and rear bodywork will need to be done and a new paint job will cover it. It won't be show quality but it will be straighter and and have fresh paint on the exterior (still fighting with my 16 year old daughter on the color choice!). I gave the complete doors to my nephew for his Jeepster because all he has is soft doors and my plan is to use another set of hard doors (which I have) and make them into half doors. I have an idea to use some JK door hinges to give the doors a different look.
All this and I need to keep it it low enough to still get it into my trailer! So for now SOA suspension is out of the question.
22-APR-2012
The beginning
The Bullnose front end with some big white fangs for a grille behind the winch!
10-MAY-2012
Bullnose with teeth bumper grille guard and winch
I'm not too fond of the Bullnose front clip but the teeth really need to go!
22-APR-2012
The beginning 2
Another side view, the front suspension was so bad that the shocks were bottomed out on each other.
Notice the shackles on the front springs are almost laying down!
03-MAY-2012
The beginning 3
The rear bumper wasn't too bad but the swing out tire carrier/rack has to go!
03-MAY-2012
Tire carrier
Another shot of the "picnic table" on the tire carrier. All of the tires are rotted except for the spare which is actually on the passenger rear. This tire on the rack was so rotted that the sidewall blew out just sitting on the street!
10-MAY-2012
Tire carrier bracket
Looks like I'm going to have lots of holes to fill!
10-MAY-2012
Tire carrier bracket
More holes to fill on this bracket
03-MAY-2012
Modified Bullnose hood
Wasn't really sure why the holes were put in the hood until I made the 30 mile trip home. The temp gauge kept climbing, climbing.....
I'm guessing they were to help the failing cooling system!
03-MAY-2012
Modified hood and flares
Another shot of the "modified" hood and the hacked up TJ fender flares
Interior-dash
Long straight steering column, aftermarket gauges mounted in what looks like a ceiling fan blade!
Jeep Cherokee seats
Jeep Cherokee seats were used with stock Commando seatbelts, comfortable but a little wide for a console in the middle
10-MAY-2012
Shifters for TH400 auto trans and Dana 20 transfercase
B&M shifter for TH400 trans and original shifter for the Dana 20 TC. The TC lever moves way too freely to make me think that it would actually work correctly. After peeling up rubber floor, epoxy coating is revealed. I suspect rust under rubber on passenger side floor. Rubber flooring is glued throughout the complete tub. Three cigarette lighters!! Only one of them was actually wired, the other two were dummies?
03-MAY-2012
Small block Chevy TBI conversion
Previous owner spent some time doing a decent conversion. The wiring is really bad though, something that is going to have to be cleaned up for sure.
03-MAY-2012
Old glass fuses
Old "original" glass fuses in fuse box that has no labels? Where do they all go? Just another part of the whole wiring mess.
03-MAY-2012
Bullnose header and radiator
I don't think I'll be seeing this on the front end for very long...
03-MAY-2012
Leaking gas line
The rear axle housing was covered with muddy, sticky dirt. This badly leaking fuel was the culprit, glad I caught it because it was leaking a good amount of fuel.
03-MAY-2012
Old front springs
These worn out front springs were part of the problem of the shocks being bottomed out.
03-MAY-2012
Steering link sitting on leaf spring
This is another problem the worn springs are causing.
03-MAY-2012
Worn springs and bad shackle angle
These worn springs became pretty flat causing a bad useless angle of the shackle. At least a shackle reverse was done but the front spring mounts are another story!
03-MAY-2012
U-joint hitting exhaust from old worn springs
I have a jack under the frame to bring the Commando up to normal ride height and to remove the now too short front driveshaft. The springs are so bad that the front u-joint was hitting the exhaust head pipe!
03-MAY-2012
U-joint hitting exhaust from old worn springs
A closer shot of the damaged exhaust head pipe. I'm sure it had to have been a loud noise when it was happening. The cracked weld seen was probably caused by the spinning u-joint. A not very knowledgeable driveline shop shortened the front driveshaft to compensate for the worn out springs. The u-joints would have needed to be replaced but now a complete new front driveshaft is going to be needed.
10-MAY-2012
As suspected after pulling up rubber mat!
Passenger side floor is pretty rusted, not really what I was hoping to find.
10-MAY-2012
More rust
The more rubber I peel off the worse it is looking.
10-MAY-2012
Lots of rust!
Looks like one owner of this Jeep spent some time putting epoxy on the floor of the whole tub, unfortunately the rust was growing under the epoxy.
12-MAY-2012
Passenger side rust
Looks like there is a lot of rust and some cracks to go along with it.
12-MAY-2012
Rust and cracks
A closer look at the rust and a bad crack going up the firewall.
12-MAY-2012
A closer look at the crack on the passenger side firewall
I guess all the flexing of the rusted floor caused this crack.
12-MAY-2012
Passenger seat rust support
It looks like someone knew the seat needed a little extra support so it wouldn't fall through the floor!
12-MAY-2012
Drivers side rust
Pulling up the rubber on the drivers side exposed more rust.
12-MAY-2012
Closer look at the drivers floor
This is a closer look at the drivers side and so far it looks to be not quite as bad as the passenger side floor.
12-MAY-2012
Rocker panel rust
After scraping some of the epoxy/paint away some rocker panel rust is exposed. Looks like I have some work ahead of me.
01-MAY-2012
Transfer case shifter
Just as I thought, the TC shifter wasn't functioning. After removing the inverted boot I found that the shifter was just sitting in the shift box not even bolted in!
What is really a pisser is that the driveline shop that worked on it for my brother, cut the driveshaft because they said it was too long and caused damage to the adapter between the TC and trans, then they told him that they tested the complete 4WD system and everything was working perfect! There is no way these guys ever got the Jeep in four wheel drive with the TC shifter unbolted.
04-MAY-2012
New front springs
I found that the problem with the front suspension was that the springs were worn out and almost flat causing zero wheel travel, very bad shackle angle, and the front shocks bottomed out. Driving this Jeep was a joke as the front suspension felt like the rigid rear end of a Harley hard tail!
I installed a set of YJ rear 4" lift springs. They fit perfectly and now the front suspension actually works. But now we have some new issues.....
04-MAY-2012
The shocks can now work!
Now I actually have some wheel travel with the new front springs and the Jeep is somewhat pleasant to drive.
03-MAY-2012
Problem with front driveshaft
Now that the front suspension is lifted to a working height, the front driveshaft that was shortened 2 1/2" by the "driveline" shop is now too short. With 1 1/2" of spline showing at ride height and only 2" of actual spline, it's not going to work.
03-MAY-2012
Driveshaft too short
The shortened driveshaft is now too short so a new front driveshaft will have to ordered.
10-JUN-2012
Changed the original Dana 20 shifter to twin sticks
Since the OEM Dana 20 shifter wasn't working and had problems plus I didn't like where the original shifter was located because it was way under the dash and hard to get to so I installed a set of JB twin shifters. I spoke with John at JB and told him that I wanted to relocate the shifters closer so I used shifters that are made for a full size Cherokee/Pick-up because they mount 4" closer and have an additional 4" of adjustment.
14-JUN-2012
New knobs for shifters
JB shifters come with plain black knobs but he makes some really nice machined knobs so I got a set and filled the machined shift pattern with black paint and picked up a couple O-rings for the machined grooves.
Now the transfer case shifts like it's supposed to unlike the old shifter that was just sitting in the shift box.
14-JUN-2012
Another view of the new transfer case shifter knobs
Here's another view of the o-rings on the new knobs. With the shift pattern filled in with black, the addition of the black o-rings not only made the knobs look great but they have a great grip as well. I sent a picture of them installed to John at JB Custom Fab and he wanted to know what size o-rings I used, I guess he liked the addition also!
07-JUN-2012
Removing stuff that is not needed
I have removed the rear bumper/tire rack, the hardtop, the rollbar, the rear seat, the rest of the rubber flooring, the funky front bumper and winch, the dash pad, and anything else that is not going to be used or in the way of the rusty tub.
07-JUN-2012
No more funky looking grille guard
I ended up having to use a torch on the grille guard because nothing was bolted on anywhere! I'm still contemplating what to do with the winch mount because its not exactly where I want it and it's welded into the front spring mounts. The rear bumper needed to be cut off with the torch as well.
12-MAY-2012
Rock slider rust
Someone welded on some 1 1/2" x 3" tubing as rock sliders but it looks like I have a rust problem on the passenger side. Not sure what i'm going to do yet with these?
28-JUN-2012
Waiting to be sandblasted
I cut out the front 6 inches on each side of the floor to expose the front body mount to be blasted with the rest of the tub. I scored the rest of the floor to be cut out with a 1/16" blade and instructed the blaster to just blast up to the scored cut.
28-JUN-2012
Ready for blasting
I had two bolts holding the seat in and a set of lap belts for my 20 mile drive on the freeway over to the sandblast shop. I taped off most of what I didn't want blasted.
28-JUN-2012
Sand everywhere for the drive home
Even though the whole tub was blown out with high pressure air to get all the sand out, it was still everywhere! I could only drive on the freeway a short distance before I had to get off and take side streets because I had huge puffs of dusty sand flying everywhere every time the Jeep would hit a bump in the road. By the time I got home I was covered by so much dust that I had to jump in the shower right away because I was a light shade of green. Most of the sand was up underneath the lip of the dash. in the heater box, the wiring, and in every little cubby hole.
10-JUL-2012
Sand was everywhere!
Both of the tail light housings were full of sand and both sides were completely assembled so I don't know how it got in there. Those sandblast nozzles must operate at really high pressure.
30-JUN-2012
Cut out the rest of the rust
After having the tub sandblasted I cut out the remaining section of the rusted floor. I didn't want to drive it back and forth to the sandblast shop with the floor cut out for a couple reasons,
1. I didn't want the body to bend and my door opening to close up.
2. I didn't want to fall through the floor!
30-JUN-2012
Rusted floor removed after blasting
The floor is cut out after the sandblasting and ready to make some patterns.
30-JUN-2012
No more rust!
With the rusted floor cut out, the blaster was able to remove the rust from the rusted body supports.
30-JUN-2012
Primed complete tub after blasting
I wanted to get a couple good coats of epoxy primer on the bare metal before I started sweating all over it and making it all rusty again!
30-JUN-2012
A nice coat of primer looks way better than rust
I feel like I have made a huge accomplishment just by removing the rusty floor and with a couple coats of primer sprayed on it looks 100% better.
30-JUN-2012
Paper patterns of the new floor
Now that the tub is primed I can touch the area and not worry about sweat and oils messing up the rust free tub. I used some poster board to make patterns for the new sheet metal for the floor.
01-JUL-2012
New floor panels laid out
I transferred the patterns to some nice clean 16ga sheet metal.
01-JUL-2012
Cutting the new floors
These electric cutters worked great for cutting the new floor pieces. They cut the 16ga sheet metal like butter.
01-JUL-2012
Both floor pieces cut
I had both pieces cut out and ready to go. I now need to make a trip to a friend's shop to use his brake to bend the couple inches that go up the firewall.
04-JUL-2012
Sheetmetal reinforcment
I primed the bottom of the new floor pieces first then I welded some galvanized uni-strut for stiffeners to reinforce the metal.
Since I will run mufflers right underneath the seats under the floorboard I'm going to use the uni-strut with some uni-strut nuts to mount a heat shield on each side. This should help to keep the heat down on your feet.
04-JUL-2012
Painted and ready to weld in
I put a fresh coat of paint on the bottom of the new floor sheetmetal so I wouldn't have to lay under the Jeep and paint it after it was welded in.
04-JUL-2012
Paint on frame before welding
I thought that it would be a good time clean and paint the frame under the floor panels before I welded the floor in. I also re-welded a couple brackets that someone else welded on the frame that I will use when I make a new trans mount. They welds looked like some had stuck gum on there!
04-JUL-2012
New floors tacked in and ready to weld
I did a 4th of July 5K run in the morning then came home and tacked in both floor pieces. I sometimes cease to amaze myself, both pieces fit in almost perfectly with very little grinding to make them fit. I tacked them in with a TIG welder but I will be welding them in with a MIG. I would hit little pockets of crap in the metal and the tack would get messy. Everything needs to be close to perfect when TIG welding or the weld can really get ugly.
07-JUL-2012
New floors welded in!
It took way longer than I thought it would take to weld these floors in. Welding nice new 16ga sheetmetal to older thin metal is a challenge.
07-JUL-2012
Floors welded
The reinforcements that I welded on the bottom made the floors nice and strong with no "oil can" popping. The floor is so solid now, it's amazing!
07-JUL-2012
Welded up all the cracks and holes
I welded all the little cracks and the numerous screw holes that covered the whole floor pan.
07-JUL-2012
Welded cracks and holes in the bed
There were numerous big holes and cracks in the bed so I made some patches from the sheetmetal and welded everything up.
08-JUL-2012
Final prime after welding complete
I shot another two coats of epoxy primer on the new floor and another coat on the complete tub after scuffing the complete tub with a rough Scotch-Brite pad.
With the epoxy primer I can now shoot paint directly to the primer (with a sealer) but with a self etching primer I would have to shoot a primer over the self etching then a sealer before top coat.
I'm going to shoot a top coat and then shoot the whole tub with a bed liner type finish (not sure which one yet because there are a lot of them out there).
08-JUL-2012
Final primer
Primer sure makes this thing look completely different!
I have used air numerous times to try and get all the sand from underneath the dash and wiring and it still amazes me that when I get the spray gun out that I'll get a little bit of sand fall. Not so much in the this final primer coat but more in the first primer shoot especially up by the firewall.
08-JUL-2012
All the welds and cracks primed
The bed looks way better now without all the holes and cracks and with a final fresh coat of primer.
08-JUL-2012
Undercoated the new floor
I cleaned up the burned paint from the welding, primed, painted, then shot rubber undercoating for some added protection.
08-JUL-2012
More rubber undercoating
I shot a lot of the rubber undercoating trying to force it into voids and open areas so hopefully water will stay out of those areas and prevent future rust. Plus it looks nice under there now.
10-JUL-2012
Next up is the bodywork
I have some damage in the rear on both quarter panels and by the tail lights that needs to be fixed. I'm not striving to make the body perfectly straight but I want to take the bad dents out and make it look better.
The gas filler will be replaced with a TJ filler bezel and neck.
30-JUN-2012
Gas filler tube is being replaced
Somebody built a pretty nice gas tank that is "supposed" to be a 25 gallon tank, I haven't measured it out yet to verify but it is a pretty nice size whatever it is.
I have a new/used TJ fuel filler bezel and filler tube to update the original gas filler and tube.
08-JUL-2012
Tailgate with a hump
My tailgate is actually in pretty good shape with no rust at the bottom like most that guys are having to repair.
I want a flat tailgate because the tire carrier that I'm going to build will have the same lines as the traditional slanted tailgate that the Jeepster is known for. I was going to look for a flat tailgate but I really like the large "JEEP" that is stamped in the right side of the humped tailgates.
08-JUL-2012
Removing the hump
I have a good tailgate but I don't want the hump so I decided to remove it. I was originally going to cut it out and weld a new piece in it's place but I found a nifty spot weld removal tool and went to work.
08-JUL-2012
Cutting the hump spotwelds
These spotweld cutters ranged from $9.99 to $60 online and that the more research that I read lead me to this one. It has a cutter head that is reversible, so basically two cutters for the price of one. What is even better is that it was only $3.99! I found the same cutter that people were selling for $9.99 on Ebay at Hardly Freight (Harbor Freight) for $3.99. I read the reviews online and people loved it so I picked one up from a local HF store and didn't have to pay shipping, another added bonus.
08-JUL-2012
The hump is removed!
This cutter worked perfectly. I zipped through 20 spot welds with ease, if you just go slow you won't burn up the cutter and the cheap thing should last a while.
08-JUL-2012
Hump is out
This hump came out quite easily and I will use it for the pattern for the new metal to be welded in place. I'll clean up the spot welds and the surface rust, prime it and weld a new flat piece in.
I think I will just tack it in with tacks all the way around instead of welding it all the way around. Welding it solid is not needed and it would surely distort and twist my nice tailgate.
Nice "flat" tailgate
This is what I what looking for, nice and flat. The nice big JEEP stamped in the tailgate is a nice touch on a flat tailgate. Now I have to go find a piece of sheet metal!
30-JUL-2012
Tailgate gets new sheetmetal
I went to my local metal supply today to find a piece of 16ga to fit my tailgate since I used all I had on the floor. The last couple weeks when I have checked the remnant section all they have had has been thin gauge like 20-22ga but today they had a couple pieces that were big enough to leave me some extra metal. So I walked out of there with the piece of sheetmetal that I needed and with $5.11 less in my pocket!
I cut it to size, primed the tailgate and the new metal edge, clamped it in place to get ready to weld it.
30-JUL-2012
All welded in
I felt that putting tack welds every 2" would work out good to hold the new metal in place. Everything was primed before welding so hopefully that will prevent rust from coming back.
30-JUL-2012
All welded in and flat
This side looks good and no more hump! When I spray the primer and top coat I will make sure that plenty of paint fills the edge and seals it.
10-JUL-2012
Drivers side rear damage
Next to do is the bodywork, most of the damage is in the back.
10-JUL-2012
Closer look at the drivers side
If I can get behind this panel I should be able to make it look half way decent.
10-JUL-2012
View of the lower section of the drivers side
I need to weld my stiffeners at the bottom here then move some metal outward!
10-JUL-2012
Passenger rear damage
I guess this guy liked to back into stuff!
This side is more crinkled that the drivers side. This is going to take some heat to straighten this out.
10-JUL-2012
One dinger on passenger side behind door
This is the only other body damage that jumps out that will need to be repaired.
07-AUG-2012
Homemade tools needed
I didn't want to drill a bunch of holes and use a slide hammer to take out the deep dents and creases on the back corners so I decided to heat the metal and stretch it back into shape. I didn't have any long body tools to reach through the tail light holes so I went to the the throw away tool store, Harbor Freight. I bought a couple long screwdrivers, heated them up and bent them to reach where I couldn't get to.
07-AUG-2012
Metal back into shape
I was able to work the metal back into shape with a torch and my homemade tools. Now for some grinding and some body filler.
07-AUG-2012
Passenger side corner
Passenger side had a pretty bad crease in it but most of it came out with the heat and a little massaging. Now for some grinding to remove the paint and roughen the surface to give the filler something to stick to.
18-AUG-2012
Passenger side bodywork done
After heating the metal and moving it back to where it belongs, it took just a thin layer of filler to make everything straight, well straight enough!
18-AUG-2012
Passenger side bodywork
After knocking out a small dent near the top, this thin layer of filler made the passenger side look much better. Now I have some holes to weld up.
18-AUG-2012
Plugs to back up holes for welding
I decided to weld up my hardtop holes so I used some knock-out slugs to back up the holes while welding them closed. This will allow weld to be strong and get a good deal of penetration so that when I grind them flush the weld won't be ground away.
When I coat the tub with bedliner, I will put a good coating over the slugs on the inside so they don't stick out and snag anything.
18-AUG-2012
Backing material for Wheel well holes
Made some backing plates for the old roll bar holes in the wheel wells. I'm going to build a new full cage and the mounting will be different than the original roll bar that mounted on the wheel wells so the holes won't be needed any longer.
18-AUG-2012
Holes prepped and ready to weld
Drivers side ground and ready to be welded up.
18-AUG-2012
Clamp tool for welding
I had to make a clamp tool so I could hold the plugs in place and also allow the Mig nozzle to get in there to weld up the holes.
18-AUG-2012
Drivers side welded up
Got all the hardtop holes welded up on the driver's side.
18-AUG-2012
Drivers side rear
All of the holes and small cracks welded up in the back. I cut small pieces of 16ga sheet metal to use as backing material for these holes as well.
18-AUG-2012
Passenger side all welded
All of the passenger side hardtop holes all welded up.
18-AUG-2012
Rear passenger welded
All of the un-needed holes on the passenger side rear all welded.
18-AUG-2012
Wheel wells done
Passenger and driver's sides welded up! I'll hit these with the grinder to make them smooth and with the bed liner to cover them they will be covered well.
08-SEP-2012
Drivers side bodywork done
I finally got all the bodywork done on the drivers side
08-SEP-2012
Drivers side rear done
It took some work but I got the back pretty straight. Now it's ready for some primer.
A good coat of primer
I sealed it all up with a couple coats of 2K Epoxy primer. I let it dry, sanded both sides, then shot them with a build-up/filler primer to take care or any low spots when I block it out.
09-SEP-2012
New gas fill
I am installing a TJ gas fill bezel and filler tube to eliminate the straight-in stock Jeepster filler tube. Now when I go to the gas station the nozzle will be in a downward position so I won't have to stand there and hold it. After measuring a couple times I made a template and laid it out.
Protection while cutting
I taped the heck out of the area so I don't destroy the panel when I cut it.
09-SEP-2012
Cutting the hole
It alwas seems scary when you cut a body panel of a car but that old saying holds true, "measure twice and cut once"!
12-SEP-2012
Bed is all sealed
After I had the tub sandblasted it blew away any seam sealant that was in the body joints. Now that I'm done pounding on the body and panels are now where they will stay I wanted to reseal all the seams.
I sanded every seam in the bed with 220 grit paper so the seal would have a good grip to the epoxy primer, blew it out with air, and applied a nice bead of Seam Seal. The Seam Seal stays slightly pliable and is completely paintable.
12-SEP-2012
Sealed seams
I also sealed the back side of the slugs where I welded the bolt holes from the hardtop. Now when I spray in the bedliner they will be nice and smooth.
18-SEP-2012
I figured out what to do with cowl vent
I really like the cowl vent grille but I'm taking out my OEM heater box and was faced with trying to figure out what to put in place of the vent grille. Welding in a new flat piece of metal was going to warp the heck out of the cowl and I really want to move forward from all this bodywork. The vent was really the cause of the floor rusting so bad because of the big drainage hose that went into the passenger side kick panel.
I decided to bend up a piece of sheet metal and make it into a drain to weld in place of the air box for any water that might go into the vent.
18-SEP-2012
Ready to weld in place
I drilled a 1/2" hole so that stuff wont get stuck draining out. It has good angles so that draining "shouldn't" be a problem once it's welded in place.
18-SEP-2012
Fitting for drain tubing
I made a fitting to weld onto my draining sheet metal. The brass compression fitting will squeeze a 1/2" piece of tubing that will drain thru the firewall and then under the vehicle.
19-SEP-2012
Cowl drain tacked in place
I got the cowl drain sheet metal all tacked in and ready to be cleaned up. Since the grille attached with six screws directly to the old vent box, I am going to install nut-serts in the old holes to be able to mount the grille.
19-SEP-2012
Installing Nut-Serts
I cleaned up my six mounting holes with a 1/4" drill and the 8-32 nut-serts were a perfect fit.
19-SEP-2012
Nut-Serts installed
The nut-serts sit pretty flush and provide a great way to mount items such as this cowl grille. I'll pick up some 8-32 stainless hardware and my grill will be back in buisness!
19-SEP-2012
Cowl drain ready for primer
I'll seal the remaining six holes then seal the edges up with seam seal and it will be ready for a couple coats of epoxy primer. Just to be sure that it is sealed on the inside I will probably use a nice heavy coat of silicone sealant.
22-SEP-2012
Primed cowl drain
Got the new cowl drain sheet metal primed and ready for seam seal. I installed nut-serts in the rest of the holes that aren't being used so I can seal them up.
22-SEP-2012
Cowl drain sealed
I sealed up all the edges and nut-serts really good so hopefully I won't have any leaks when water hits it. I'll get up under the dash and seal the bottom side when everything is good and dry on top.
22-SEP-2012
Prepping doors for new hinges
I decided to use a set of JK door hinges on my doors because I liked the "beefy" look of them. In order to mount them on the doors I'm going to have to add some material to the inside of the door skin to drill and tap. The doors need to be persuaded a littlo to accept the modification....
22-SEP-2012
Helping the doors mate with hinges
I have to flatten the edge lip to allow some 1/4" steel to slide into the door skin. I will wrap the metal around and utilize the old hinge mounts with strong flathead bolts for strength.
23-SEP-2012
Ready to weld
I made all four new hinge mounting plates for both doors which are bolted in place and ready to be welded up.
23-SEP-2012
Closeup of the backing plate bracket
A closeup of the two pieces show the beveled edge ground to achieve a good penetrating and flat weld that is needed.
23-SEP-2012
Closeup of the backing plate upper bracket
A closeup of the upper bracket ground the same as the lower bracket.
23-SEP-2012
Brackets welded
I welded a small weave pattern bead so that the weld would be pretty flush and not interfere with the closed door.
23-SEP-2012
Closeup of weld
A closeup of the flat weld I needed to lay down on the brackets. It's nice to have a project where I finally get to break out the TIG welder. Can't wait to start the roll cage.....
23-SEP-2012
Welded back side
Pulled all brackets off and welded the inside of all joints to make welds complete.
23-SEP-2012
Backing plate inside of door skin
This shows the 1/4" thick backing plate that is 2 5/8" wide by 6" long that will be drilled and tapped so that the new JK door hinges have a strong backing for support.
24-SEP-2012
Brackets complete
I picked up some hardware today and when I got home I countersunk all of the holes, shaped the corners and de-burred all the edges.
Now on to the task of making the mating hinges to match the JK hinges that are going to be bolted to these new brackets.
24-SEP-2012
Lower brackets complete
The lower brackets received the same treatment as the uppers.
25-SEP-2012
Laying out holes for JK hinges
Laying out the holes to drill and tap the new brackets behind the door skins. I'll use 3/8-24 bolts to attach the JK hinges to the doors.
28-SEP-2012
Making the female hinge
I had to turn down some round stock to get the diameter I need to make the hinge halfs that attach to the tub jamb.
30-SEP-2012
Opening up the center of each piece
After cutting each piece to the approximate length, I drilled a pilot hole then ran a 9/16" bit through each one. I will need to use a reamer and and sneak up on my final inside diameter to accommodate a snug fit for the bronze bushings that I'm using.
30-SEP-2012
Facing off
With the length of the bushing that I'm using, each piece needs to be the right length so here I'm facing off each piece to it's proper length.
30-SEP-2012
Each piece at the right length
Each piece was faced off to be exactly .990, they didn't really need to be exact but I don't get to use my little lathe very often so I figured I would make them as I designed them.
30-SEP-2012
Lathe work is done
All four hinge pieces are complete with the exception of the final reaming.
02-OCT-2012
Hinge bushings ready
I got the the bronze bushings installed in my new hinge parts after opening up the holes with a reamer. Thanks go out to my brother who got me a the reamer that I needed to open up the final inside diameter to the exact measurement that I needed for the OD of the bushing.
Next step is to make the pieces that weld to these hinge pieces so I can bolt them to the door jambs that will allow me to hang my doors.
03-OCT-2012
Mating hinges all tacked up!
Finally! I got the hinge parts complete and now all tacked together and the best part of it is that the doors open very nice and smooth. I will finish welding the hinges together and then attack getting the doors (that seem twisted) aligned in the tub.
06-OCT-2012
Complete set of hinges done
I welded up all of the hinge halves and countersunk all of the mounting holes to accept the new flathead socket bolts.
06-OCT-2012
Nice strong welds all the way around
I welded the hinge halves all the way around with a nice strong weave pattern which should make a good solid and strong hinge. After the pieces cooled down I had to chase the hinges with the reamer so that the bronze bushings would fit.
06-OCT-2012
Hinges installed and doors hung
I installed all the hinges and got the doors hung, now the task of getting the doors to sit right when they are closed. For some reason both doors seem to have a slight twist to them that makes them not sit very well. Time for a little manipulating!
07-OCT-2012
New linkage for the opening lever
On both of my doors I am missing the plastic bushing and the clip that holds the linkage rod to the lever. I didn't think that I would be able to find the clips anywhere so I came across some linkage that actually is the perfect length with adjustable ball joint ends. I bent it to the exact bends in the OEM linkage and it will work out great.
07-OCT-2012
Closeup of the linkage ends
Since the rod is used in an industrial application the ball joint ends should be good and strong.
07-OCT-2012
Ball joint fitting mounted
One end of the linkage has a removable ball mount and the other end has a fixed ball mount. the link rod has RH and LH threads so that the rod can be adjusted in place without removing the ends.
07-OCT-2012
Ball mounted facing up
I bent the bracket that the opening lever mounts to for clearance so that I could mount the ball facing up.
07-OCT-2012
Turned the mount upside down
For clearance purposes I turned the mount upside down. The clearance is much better with the ball mount mounted inward.
09-OCT-2012
Door caps installed
One of the modifications that I visualized for my doors was that I wanted factory half doors. I also want to make some soft upper doors with zippered windows to use with the soft top. I had previously gutted the windows and wind wings from the doors to prepare them.
I had time tonight after work to cut the material for both doors needed to seal up the door tops. My doors are a little messed up so both doors measurements are completely different for each window slot.
09-OCT-2012
Drivers door cap all tacked in place
I didn't think that the window slot would move as much as it did when I started tacking the door cap metal in place. Tacking these took a lot longer than I thought it would because of all the movement and the tight fit of my metal cap pieces but they came out really nice and the metal fit is perfect.
I'm still deciding whether to weld the cap on complete, I know that welding it completely will warp the whole door top but tacking it allows me to work one end then go all the way to the other end which will keep the heat down.
09-OCT-2012
Passenger door cap all tacked up
It took a while but both doors are finished and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I think that once I finish the bodywork on these that they will be nice half doors.
11-OCT-2012
Door caps fully welded
I felt that welding the door caps fully instead of just having numerous tacks holding down the new metal will have a better chance of not cracking later. I had both doors set up as the picture shows so that I could stitch weld each door alternately to keep the heat down. By doing this both doors remained straight with no warping.
14-OCT-2012
Mounts for upper doors/windows
I'm going to make some soft upper doors with zippered windows so I'll make the framework out of steel round stock. I'm going to beef up the top of the door where the round stock will go into the door. I'll plug weld pieces of 1" square tubing to the new metal on the doors.
14-OCT-2012
Bolted in place for welding
I cinched it up tight so I could get in there for some good plug welds.
14-OCT-2012
All supports welded in
I got all four of the backing supports welded in on both doors. Once I get the tubes cut and welded in the mounts should be good and strong.
14-OCT-2012
Receiver tubes cut and ready
The DOM tubes are cut to 4" long and ready to be welded in.
14-OCT-2012
Tube in place to be welded.
I will put a nice strong weld bead on the top of the tube once I square the tubes up. Then I will have to use the MIG and try to get a bead on the bottom side of the new tube support through the opening of the the door.
15-OCT-2012
Window support tube welded
I finished welding all of the window support tubes tonight, I TIG welded the top of the tube and I used a MIG on the bottom side of the tube only because I couldn't get my TIG torch down inside of the door.
Now I can proceed forward with the bodywork on the doors and finally be done with doors!
16-OCT-2012
Mirror mounts for the doors
I wanted to figure out a way to mount mirrors on the doors without drilling a bunch of holes so I came up with a mount that will bolt on to the upper hinge.
16-OCT-2012
Mirror mount fitted up
The mirror mount utilizes two of the upper hinge mounting bolts to fasten itself to the door.
16-OCT-2012
Mirrors mounted on mirror mounts
I picked up a set of round RideCraft mirrors for this build. The mirrors are a nice size, not too small and not some large mirrors off of a CJ.
The way the mounts are designed, the mirrors will be able to be folded in easily when not needed on the trails.
31-OCT-2012
Pile of Bullnose parts
After finishing the bodywork, priming, and block sanding of the doors I was finally able to turn the Jeep around and start to tear apart the front clip. Since I am not too fond of the Bullnose front end (plus mine is not in very good condition) I am removing it and replacing it with a more traditional type early "Jeepster" front end.
I am replacing it with a CJ7 grille with some custom made Jeepster ears, YJ fenders, and a lengthened Jeepster hood made by combining two Jeepster hoods together.
31-OCT-2012
Naked front end!
No more Bullnose!
Everything came off pretty easy. I left the wiring intact for now just in case I need to move the Commando around.
31-OCT-2012
Front end gone
It's pretty amazing how easy everything on the front end comes apart. Now I'm hoping that fitting all the new parts goes just as easy!
31-OCT-2012
Goodbye old radiator
This will be the last time this radiator will be in this vehicle as it will be replaced by a new updated, more efficient radiator. For cooling the radiator it will also utilize a Spal electric fan with a heavy duty aluminum shroud fitted up to the back of the new CJ grille.
03-NOV-2012
Old wiring harness out
The old wiring harness needed to go so here it is!
I had no idea what any of the glass fuses fed power to because nothing was labeled and I found more fuses spliced in under the dash. There were also wire splices everywhere which I didn't want to deal with fixing or figuring out while out on the trail. The wiring will be replaced with a 21 circuit EZ wiring harnes.
03-NOV-2012
No more rats nest of wiring
With all the wiring removed from the vehicle it made a clean palate for an updated wiring install.
03-NOV-2012
Hacked up dashboard
I have a good idea of how this dash will look when it's done and it will look nothing like this!
03-NOV-2012
Test fit of new front clip
I had to re-drill a couple holes on the fenders to utilize the existing mounting studs. I bolted the grille in place which will need to be drilled out also and threw the hood on top.
03-NOV-2012
All the pieces in place
After test fitting all of the pieces for the front clip, I now have a good idea of how much work it will take to make everything fit.
Since the CJ grille has blinkers mounted in it already I'm going to make some custom "Jeepster" grille ears that will house some very bright LED off-road lights instead of the standard front blinkers.
03-NOV-2012
Hood is just a little short!
I need to lengthen the hood by about 7 inches or so. I have a second hood that I picked up to fill the gap.
Looks like a lot of welding is in my near future!
07-NOV-2012
Grille to fender spacers
I used so 1/4" thick flat bar to make some spacers because I needed to move the fenders out slightly to make the hood fit right where the grille meets the fenders.
07-NOV-2012
Bent to fit
I bent the 1/4" flat bar to fit the contour of the grille perfectly without any wide gaps so I will be able to put a small TIG weld where the pieces meet.
07-NOV-2012
Tacked in place
After tacking both spacers in place I chose to weld them up solid on the front side.
07-NOV-2012
Welded up solid
Welding 1/4" material to thin sheet metal can sometimes be tricky but this grille is in pretty good shape and I only hit a small piece of rust which is a bitch when TIG welding!
07-NOV-2012
Spacers drilled and tapped to match the YJ fenders
I got both sides all welded up, I marked them for the new fender mounting holes, then drilled and tapped them for the 5/16" bolts.
29-NOV-2012
Welded hole in hump cover
Daylight savings time is killing me, dark at 5 o'clock so not much time to work on it after work and weekends have been filled with house stuff!
Because I installed a set of twin sticks for the transfer case and moved them back to where they should be for ease of use, it left a hole in the hump cover where the old single shifter was located. I was able to work on patching the hump inside the garage under the lights. I just made a patch out of some 16ga, put a small arch in it to make it fit and welded up all the holes not needed.
14-MAY-2012
Main hood
This is the main hood that I am using for my extension hood. It's in pretty good shape with just a few little dingers here and there.
14-MAY-2012
Hood for extension section
This hood is what i will be using as the extension piece for the back of the hood. It has a huge hole cut into it with these louvers pop riveted on. I will have to add a section of metal to fill the gap left from the hole.
14-MAY-2012
Hood louvers gone
I drilled out all the rivets so that I can get rid of the louvers and start measuring to cut.
02-DEC-2012
Lengthening of the hood
Since I need to extend the hood by about 7" to fit to the YJ fenders I've starting by drilling out all the spot welds on the hood rib to make my cut on center of the rib.
I'll be using another early Jeepster hood for the extension piece as well as the original Jeepster hood hinges.
02-DEC-2012
Spot welds all drilled out
Looking at the lack of any uniformity in all these spot welds it almost looks like back in 1972 that the worker at this Jeep plant may have enjoyed a liquid lunch!
Once all the spot welds were drilled out, the hood popped away from the rib. Now on to cutting the hood!
02-DEC-2012
Cutting the hood edge
In between rain today I was able to make a little progress on the hood modification. I measured and measured again before cutting off the leading edge to mate the hood with another hood to achieve the length I need.
I used a high speed angle grinder with a 1/16" wheel on it. I first scored the line then I went back over the scored line to carefully cut down through the hood material to the rib.
02-DEC-2012
Hood edge cut off
Cutting the edge of the hood is now complete. I will treat the rib for the surface rust before welding the hood extension in place. Now I can get my final measurements to cut the extension hood.
02-DEC-2012
Edge of hood removed
I made the cut on the hood right in the center of the rib so that I can split the hood pieces on the rib and use the rib to be able to spot weld both pieces for a nice strong joint.
02-DEC-2012
Fitting the pieces togther
I fitted the two pieces together to re-check my measurements for the umpteenth time! I came up with perfect length measurements.
The mating hood that I picked up unfortunately had a huge hole cut in it and a Corvair deck lid set of louvers was pop riveted to it. Looks like I'll have to weld in a patch of about 2" wide by 25" long.
Looking at the fit of the grooves in the hood with the two pieces, they don't line up so well. I think that I'm going to have to channel a section out of the extension piece to make it fit correctly.
03-DEC-2012
Hood extended and welded!
After carefully measuring, cutting, and test fitting, the new extended hood is welded together. I ended up adding just about 7" to the overall length of the hood.
Test fitting the hood after it was tacked up was very promising and made the front end of the Jeepster look "whole".
03-DEC-2012
Hood all fitted together
After looking at all the angles and bends in the hood, it was apparent that I wasn't going to just be able to weld this extension piece on the main hood. The ridges on the hood did not line up at all so the extension piece was going to have to be sectioned to get the width I needed.
After all was said and done the extension was sectioned 1/2" wider to get the ridges to line up. Aside from the 1/2" fill piece needed I cut a piece 2 1/4" wide by 25" long to fill the gap where the old louvers used to be in the extension hood section.
I still have to fit the hinges and get the hood curve to match the cowl so I still have a little bit of manipulating to do!
03-DEC-2012
Hinge backing plates
Since the old Bullnose hood used traditional "car type" hinges and the new Jeepster hood uses old school Jeep hood hinges I need to beef up the cowl to accept new hinge bolts and prevent stress on the thin sheet metal.
I used some 5/16" by 3 1/2" wide flatbar, measured up my holes then drilled and tapped them to accept the 5/16" hood bolts. I cut the flatbar 4 1/2" long so that the plates will have a good spread and prevent stress on the area of the cowl. I will drill some holes in the cowl sheet metal and plug weld the plates to the cowl while being held up tight by the hinge bolts.
Just when I thought I was done with the bodywork on the cowl it looks like I'll have a little more bodywork to do after the welding! Oh well at least it will be strong.
04-DEC-2012
Hinge support in place
I drilled through the cowl to the backing plate/hinge support so that I could plug weld the plate to the cowl for strength.
04-DEC-2012
Hinge support plate welded
I welded both backing plates in place so now I should have a nice strong support for the hood hinges. I now have to go back and do a little bodywork on the cowl to conceal the welds.
I now have a functioning hood!
16-DEC-2012
Hood "section" gap
When I sectioned the hood extension piece it left a gap of about 1/2" wide. I need to make a matching rib piece to cover the gap and be welded in place.
16-DEC-2012
Gap cover
I took a piece of sheet metal and formed it into the shape I needed to mimic the hood rib. I'll now weld it in place so that the hood will have strength again in the middle where the hood was sectioned.
16-DEC-2012
Hood tips removed
I didn't like how the end of the Jeepster hood fit because on the front of the hood it has tips that go down at the end. I cut a wedge section out, pounded the area flat and now I will weld it back together.
Now the bottom edge will be flat from the cowl all the way up to the grille and should have an even gap all along the top of the fender.
16-DEC-2012
Close up of the new edge
I took off a nice sized wedge to get the bottom of the hood to sit flat
18-DEC-2012
Hood tips welded
I was able to get the rest of the welding done on the hood. Now on to completing the bodywork and making it straight.
The metal on the tips of the hood were pretty thin but with the TIG welder the heat is controlled really easily.
18-DEC-2012
Welded rib brace
After welding in the patch on the rib that was sectioned, the hood is once again nice and stiff. Now I can proceed with the metal work/bodywork on the hood without the hood moving and flexing. The reinforced rib will allow the hood to retain it's shape and not move when I start pounding on it!
29-DEC-2012
Test fit radiator to CJ grille
Since the rain is preventing me from going any further with the bodywork on the hood, I pulled out the replacement radiator to give it a test fit to the grille and the shroud/elec fan that I picked up at a Jeep swap meet.
29-DEC-2012
Test fit of fan shroud
This fan shroud doesn't fit too well so modifications are going to have to be made in order to make it fit to my radiator. The guy I bought it from said it fit a CJ radiator, I'm guessing by the fit that he lied. At least I bought it really cheap and the Spal fan is in excellent working order.
31-DEC-2012
Bodywork complete on hood
The rain has let enough for me to be able to finish the body work on the hood. After welding the two hoods together I had quite a bit of metal work to do to get the hood straight enough to apply the thin coats of filler.
31-DEC-2012
Hood ready for primer
Now that all the metal work and body work is complete on the hood I sanded all the old messed up paint off the hood to prep it for a couple coats of epoxy primer. I will need to follow up with a few coats of fill primer to block sand the hood to it's final straightness.
03-JAN-2013
Hood primed
I was able to shoot a few coats of epoxy primer on the hood since we didn't have any rain here. The body work came out surprisingly straight considering all of the welding involved in grafting the two hoods together.
03-JAN-2013
Hood complete, well almost
After priming the hood I have some small dings to smooth out so I will follow the epoxy primer up with a few coats of polyester fill primer to block sand the hood smooth.
12-JAN-2013
Grille ear patterns
Now that the hood is done and fits good I can move on to the grille. Since I am using an older CJ grille I need to make some ears for the grille to match the wider Jeepster hood.
12-JAN-2013
Looks like a good fit
The patterns that I made have to follow the contour of the inner hood line and have the same gap under the hood as the grille. So after measuring then trimming numerous times, they are looking pretty good.
13-JAN-2013
Ears welded in place
I made the ears out of 16ga sheet metal and TIG weled them on to the grille.
13-JAN-2013
Boxed in ears
I cut some 1" strips of sheet metal to box in the ears with. Boxing in the ears added good strength to the ears.
13-JAN-2013
Inner ears
After boxing in the ears with the 1" strips I welded in some strength brackets on the bottom that will allow the ears to be bolted directly to the tops of the fenders.
13-JAN-2013
Grille installed with new ears
The fit of the grille with the new ears turned out great and the fit was better than I had hoped for.
Original Jeepster ears have the turn signals mounted in them but since I'm using a CJ grill my turn signals are mounted lower on the grille. My original plan was to cut holes in the ears and mount some nice bright LED off road lights in the holes. Unfortunately the lights that I have are just about 1/2" diameter too large to fit into the ears.
Time for plan "B"!
20-JAN-2013
Prepping dash for rollgage idea
When I build my cage I want to be able to remove it for painting of the tub and the roll cage. So instead of putting a hole in the dash and running the tube through it then welding on the floor plates and not be able to remove the cage, I'm going to try and "groove" the dash and then weld a piece of tube that is larger than the 1 3/4" roll cage tubing in the groove. Also I did not want all of the bends in the cage tube that have to be in the tube to be bent around the dash. This will be much stronger because the tube will come straight up from the floor and then only have one bend where it exits the dash to follow the windshield frame angle.
As you can see the holesaw didn't work so well on this side because the pilot drill had nothing to drill into, the drivers side worked better with the holesaw because the pilot drill was able to drill into the dash.
20-JAN-2013
Radius test fit
I was going to use this 2 1/2" tube to weld in place and then cut the front open but it doesn't look like it will work. But at least the groove radius is correct.
20-JAN-2013
Drivers side cut
Both sides are cut and ready to be fitted up with the 2 1/2" pieces of tubing although I might have to change the material from tubing to a custom bent piece of steel to get the length I need to reach the angle.
22-JAN-2013
Body mount spacers
I had some garage time tonight because it was dark when I got home so I Fired up the lathe and faced off all of the body mount spacers that I had cut from some 2.5" aluminum round stock.
22-JAN-2013
Drilling the body mounts
I was able to finish all of the aluminum body mounts, I got them all faced, drilled, and the outside edges machined.
I have been putting off changing out the body mounts mainly because I needed to finish these parts but also because I hear that it is a pain in the butt to get the bolts out. I really need to get them changed out because the previous owner had used some thin wall square tubing as spacers and they are mounted on the outer edge and they don't seem very strong. I picked up a new urethane body mount kit to go with the new spacers as well.
27-JAN-2013
Made a bending jig
I was originally going to use the 2 1/2" tubing for the roll cage slot in my dash by slicing the tubing in half but after taking more measurements the tubing isn't going to work. I need longer straight metal off the bottom part of the tube to get the angle correct.
So I dreaded doing it, but I made a drawing and took a visit to a sheet metal shop to have them make the pieces I needed. (I hate having people make stuff for me that I know I can make if I just had the right tools!) He said he could make them for me but it would be after the weekend before he could start and that the radius would have creased lines every 1/4" or so from the "brake".
So over the weekend I made a jig and was set out to make the parts on my own and the above picture is my beautiful jig.
27-JAN-2013
Greased up
I cut the metal to size and greased it up.
27-JAN-2013
My bending press hydraulic system!
I utilized some modern ingenuity, a floor jack and the weight of my truck!
27-JAN-2013
My custom die lined up
Now the moment of truth to see if this is even going to work!
27-JAN-2013
The press and die are working!
A couple of strokes of the handle and it was bending like butter.
27-JAN-2013
All the way in
It actually bent perfect and very easy, now to do one more.
27-JAN-2013
Perfect radius
The tubing worked great as a die for this bend.
27-JAN-2013
I can't ask for better than this
This actually turned out better than I expected and the radius is perfect.
27-JAN-2013
Both pieces complete
I got both pieces done and I am totally stoked that I didn't have to pay someone to make them for me.
Now the hard part begins, making them fit in the dash!
29-JAN-2013
Shortened glove box
I was able to save the right side of the glove box door opening but I will need to weld it back in place and shorten the glove box door as well.
29-JAN-2013
Fit into place
After a little trimming of the piece the test fit is good. Now I can test fit and scribe the new metal.
29-JAN-2013
Fitting the new metal for cutting
After getting the angle correct to match the windshield frame, the piece is clamped so it won't move when I mark it.
29-JAN-2013
Marked for cutting
One I get both sides marked then I can trim them to fit.
29-JAN-2013
Inside marked and ready for cutting
Hopefully I can get a good cut on the metal so that the joint is tight therefore making a strong dash once it's all welded up.
30-JAN-2013
Trimmed to fit
I trimmed the new pieces to fit in the dash slots and they came out quite nice.
30-JAN-2013
Nice fit
It's just nice when things just come together they are supposed to. I'll weld these up this weekend if the weather holds up!
Tacked in and ready to weld
I was able to get both pieces tacked in place and and ready to weld
03-FEB-2013
A few holes to weld up
I'm going to fill up a couple of old switch holes that were made by the previous owner.
03-FEB-2013
A few more holes to weld up
Here are a couple more areas that need to be filled in.
03-FEB-2013
And a few more holes...
I don't know why, but the previous owner had a need to install two 12 volt outlet next to the original outlet. These will get welded up too.
03-FEB-2013
Passenger side all welded and ground
The U-bends for the roll cage and the holes not needed on the passenger side all welded up.
03-FEB-2013
Drivers side all welded and ground
The U-bends for the roll cage and all the extra holes are welded and ground.
03-FEB-2013
The dash welded, ground, anf ready for primer
The dash is ready for primer now that everything is welded solid.
09-FEB-2013
Tilt steering column swap
I decided to swap out the original fixed steering column with a 1994 Jeep Cherokee tilt column.
This swap will allow a couple of things that I feel are needed, one is that I should be able to utilize the wiper switch, the "brights" switch, and the steering wheel lock. The second thing is that the tilt feature will give me the leg room needed to get in and out of the drivers seat easier and being 6' 3" tall the extra room is a big plus!
09-FEB-2013
Original column mount
I first needed to remove the original mounting foot so that I can weld it to the newer column.
09-FEB-2013
Successful removal
The inside diameter of the hole is larger than the new column so I will have to form it to fit tighter.
09-FEB-2013
Slightly different mount
The newer column has a completely different mount and the angle of the mount is completely opposite from what is needed. I will remove this mount and tack the old mount to this new tilt column when I get the column "fitted" up in place.
09-FEB-2013
Bracket change needed
Once the column was fitted in place I needed to make a new mount for the dash to column mount.
I used the existing Cherokee mount because it uses a sturdy four bolt mount to the column.
09-FEB-2013
Both brackets ready for welding
The fit is nice and tight up to the dash. I little bit of welding and it will good and strong.
10-FEB-2013
Bracket welded
I got the modified column bracket welded up solid and ready for a final fit.
10-FEB-2013
Both sides welded
I welded both sides up solid. This makes for a strong new bracket.
10-FEB-2013
Tube bracket welded
I tack welded the bottom tube bracket to the tube after reshaping the inside diameter to fit the smaller Cherokee column tube.
I had to weld it with small tack welds so I wouldn't melt the plastic bushing inside the tube.
10-FEB-2013
Got me a tilt column!
Everything fits great and is very solid.
Now I will need to figure out how to adapt the steering shaft to the new column end shaft.
09-JAN-2013
Rusty old headers
During some down time I cut off the exhaust and pulled the headers off. The old exhaust system came off the headers, tee'd into one tube that dumped into one muffler and the whole system had cracks and holes all over.
My plan is to build a new dual exhaust system from the headers back that will be made from 2 1/4" tubes feeding into two Flowmaster mufflers then dump out the back. I found some cracks in the headers that I didn't see until I pulled the the headers from the motor. So I welded all the cracks and dropped the headers off at the sandblast shop to get blasted and then to be followed up by some ceramic coating to prevent the rust from coming back and hopefully keep some heat down.
11-FEB-2013
Headers blasted and coated
All the rust is gone from the headers and they have a nice ceramic coating on them, a huge improvement from what they were!
12-FEB-2013
Glovebox door shortening
After measuring a few times, I cut my glovebox door to shorten it so it will fit into the modified dash.
12-FEB-2013
Mock fit of the door
The cut piece is exactly what was needed to be removed for a good fit.
12-FEB-2013
Welded together
The door is welded and ground smooth.
12-FEB-2013
Inside weld
I decided to put most of the welding on the inside of the glovebox door for more strength.
12-FEB-2013
A little primer needed
I should be able to hit this with some primer, sand it and ready to go!
Although I might change it to match the rest of the dash, I'm not sure yet?
17-FEB-2013
Shot a little rubber coating
With all the holes welded up that needed welding, I shot a few coats of rubber undercoating on the bottom side of the hump cover.
Hopefully the undercoating will act as a slight insulation heat barrier? It can't hurt right?
17-FEB-2013
Cutting new dash panels
I finalized my idea for my new dash panels so I transferred the patterns and cut all the pieces needed.
17-FEB-2013
All dash pieces cut
I got all the dash panel pieces cut, now to finish the edges.
17-FEB-2013
Hit the sander
I finished all of the edges and rounded the corners to the correct radius needed for this project.
17-FEB-2013
Making my stand-off frame
I had the metal supply shop that I bought this remnant aluminum from shear me a couple of 5/8" strips to be used as my framework for the perimeter of the panels.
I roughly marked the corners for my bends and bent the strips over a couple pieces of 1/2" and 5/8" round stock to get the radius I needed for my corners.
17-FEB-2013
Stand off frame complete
It took some time and a lot of shaping but I got the strips to fit on the panel pieces nice and tight. I need to cut some wider strips for the speedo panel because I have a step in the dash.
17-FEB-2013
Top view
The flush side of the panels. This is what I had pictured in my head.
17-FEB-2013
Glove box door
I cut a new door out of aluminum for the glove box which I was going to use as a cover on the newly shortened door to match the other new dash panels. After a test fit it looks like the aluminum won't be able to be used as a cover because when the door is opened there is not enough room for the aluminum to slide under between the door and the dash.
It looks like a change of plans is in order!
17-FEB-2013
Clamped up for welding
I clamped the heck out of the stand off strips to keep them from moving while I tacked them in place.
21-FEB-2013
Getting ready to punch the gauge holes
I using an electrical knockout die to punch out the gauge mounting holes.
This punches a 2" diameter hole and a 2 1/16" hole is needed so a little filing will be needed to finish the holes.
21-FEB-2013
Die set up and ready
I actually tested it on a piece of scrap aluminum to make sure that it wouldn't distort the metal.
21-FEB-2013
A 1" socket is needed
A few turns with the ratchet and a perfect hole is punched!
21-FEB-2013
Gauge holes complete
The four holes were punched with hardly any effort, now just a little bit of filing is needed so the gauges will fit in the holes.
21-FEB-2013
Speedo and tach holes
Unfortunately I don't have a 3 3/8" punch so I had to break out the jig saw.
Naturally I also had to use the jig saw on the radio cut out for the center gauge panel.
21-FEB-2013
One more gauge hole
I had to punch one more hole for the fuel gauge.
21-FEB-2013
Speedo panel holes done
The gauge holes are all complete so now I need to layout blinker indicator holes and switches.
23-FEB-2013
Gauges and switches mounted
I was able to get all the gauge holes, some switch holes, and indicator light holes cut and stuff mounted.
I set the nutserts in the dash and mounted the new panels.
23-FEB-2013
New panels mounted
The nutserts make a very solid mount to the dash.
A heater rotary switch will still need to be mounted to the center panel.
23-FEB-2013
More stuff needed
I will still need to mount more switches in the speedo/tach panel like a radiator fan cut off switch, a front locker switch, and an interior light switch as well as a few more indicator lights.
26-FEB-2013
Time to lengthen the steering shaft
After installing the Cherokee tilt column I needed to lengthen the steering shaft because it came up a little short.
I ordered a Borgeson universal joint as recommended by another Jeepster owner/builder, he was right about these units being heavy duty!
26-FEB-2013
Looks like about 2" short
The joint at the steering box end has some movement for and aft so I centered the joint and after measuring the shaft it looks like I will need to lengthen it by about 2".
26-FEB-2013
Cut and inner sleeve fitted
After cutting the shaft in a good location for lengthening I fitted a piece of 3/4" DOM tube inside the shaft to be used as a strengthening and alignment sleeve.
26-FEB-2013
Outer sleeve for shaft
I cut a piece of tubing with a 1" ID to slide over the splice.
02-MAR-2013
Welded inner sleeve
I ended up lengthening the shaft a total of 2 1/8".
After tacking and truing the shaft I welded it all the way around.
02-MAR-2013
Outer sleeve welded
I welded the outer sleeve to the steering shaft for a final reinforcement of the splice extension.
16-APR-2013
Fender extensions
Since I am using a set of YJ front fenders as part of my front clip I need to add a little material to the bottom of the fender since it is a little short for the Jeepster tub.
I made a pattern out of poster board and cut out two pieces for my fenders. I don't have a brake in my garage so I used a couple pieces of metal in my vice to make my bends.
16-APR-2013
Both edges bent
The vice "brake" worked pretty well for both bends.
16-APR-2013
Other side of extension
These are actually a part that I have been putting off making but now that they are done it's one more item to check off my list!
16-APR-2013
Both extensions done
Both extensions turned out great, now to install them. I'll spot weld the the top flange to the bottom of the fender.
The other flange will go against the tub so I will drill and tap the tub for a 5/16"-18 bolt like the other three fender mounting points.
02-JUN-2013
Hood latch retrofit
I decided that I wanted to run TJ hood latches.
There are a couple of reasons for my decision on this, one reason is that I like the look of them and they "go" with my "no chrome" theme that I have going in my head. The other reason is pretty simple, of the two hoods that I got I had half of one hood latch.
So it was either buy a set of old school original style hood latches and bolt them up or buy a set of newer type latches, weld up the holes in the hood, come up with a way to mount them, design and build parts to make it work, and then have the part(s) powder coated.
I chose to do the latter!
This is the final design of the bottom bracket after figuring where I needed to bolt up the top half of the latch.
02-JUN-2013
Cut all the Pieces
I transferred my pattern cutout to some 1/4" steel and cut all the pieces out.
02-JUN-2013
Ground, sanded, and fit
I ground and sanded each piece so that each piece was the same. I then fit each piece before welding.
02-JUN-2013
Test fit
After a test fit and a little more metal taken off they are just about ready to weld up.
02-JUN-2013
Clamped and spaced
I used a high tech method of spacing the two pieces apart so that the proper space between the mount was correct before welding together.
02-JUN-2013
Welded brackets
The brackets welded and mounting holes drilled.
02-JUN-2013
Brackets installed
The new brackets and latches installed.
02-JUN-2013
Bracket installed but beefing needed
I will need to beef up the back side of the fender so that it won't get fatigued and crack. Since I am using YJ fenders, the old latches mounted on top and way under the Jeepster hood. I should be able to tie in a backing plate to the existing YJ backing bracket.
Now I can get the brackets powder coated to match the upper plastic JK hood latch.
Speaking of powder coating......
02-JUN-2013
Black Black Black!
Since my motto on this Jeepster is "no chrome" because I just don't want to polish anything, I started taking all my parts and threw them in the bead blaster then I powder coated them in a great Satin Black powder. I'm doing all the door hinges, door handles, hood hinges, tailgate linkage and hardware, pretty much everything that bolts or screws on!
02-JUN-2013
New favorite color
I did a few of the parts in a really cool color called Silver Vein. These pictures don't do the color justice. It's a base color of black with a hammered metal texture with faint silver in it.
02-JUN-2013
Another shot of the Silver Vein
This view shows a little more surface area of the color and texture of the Silver Vein powder. I shot a clear powder over the color for a little more durability.
02-JUN-2013
Larger piece powder coated
I just couldn't resist from doing a larger part so I used the Silver Vein powder on my cowl grille. I shot a heavier clear coat on it since it will be in direct sunlight. It turned out so good that it looks like it's still wet!
02-JUN-2013
A closer shot of the cowl grille
I'm really happy with how this grille turned out. This Silver Vein and the Satin Black will have a nice contrast against the original Butterscotch Gold body color.
03-JUN-2013
Blasting some more parts
Now that the hood latches are done I can bead blast them along with some other parts that are waiting to be blasted and powder coated.
03-JUN-2013
Lots of stuff to be blasted
I have a good amount of parts that are waiting to be powder coated once I finish with blasting all these parts. Some of the parts include my headlight rings, engine pulleys, tailgate hinge mounts, and a bunch of hardware. I'm going to attempt to zinc plate my hardware so we'll see how that goes!
04-JUN-2013
Finished cooking!
Another powder coated batch of small parts complete.
04-JUN-2013
Hood latch bracket coated
The black satin powder matches the OEM JK hood latch pretty well
04-JUN-2013
Tailgate hinges coated
These had some rust on them but they blasted pretty clean and coated nicely.
04-JUN-2013
Door locks still function
The door locks came out good and still function fine, I was a little worried about their condition after being cooked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes!
04-JUN-2013
Engine pulleys cleaned and ready
The power steering pump pulley blasted and ready for powder.
04-JUN-2013
Water pump pulley ready
The pulleys weren't in too bad a shape but I wanted them all the same.
04-JUN-2013
Pulleys going in oven
I decided to go with the satin black on the pulleys instead of the silver vein, they turned out nice.
04-JUN-2013
Headlight rings done in satin black
I have to turn my oven on it's end to bake the longer parts, the headlight rings were longer than I thought they were.
06-JUN-2013
Fender triangles welded in place
I forgot that I welded these triangles that I made in place. Since I used fenders from a YJ they were a little short when fitted up to the Commando tub, these little triangles fixed that short coming!
16-JUN-2013
Heater brackets
Okay back to working on the Jeep!
I need to mount the Summit heater and the heater brackets that came with the heater won't work too good for installing the heater under the dash of the Jeepster.
I made some nice sturdy brackets out of some 1" x 1/8" steel material
16-JUN-2013
Welded up ready for a test fit
I welded both brackets together now it's time for a test fit on the heater.
17-JUN-2013
Brackets bolted to the heater
It looks like the brackets fit very well so the next step is to fit it under the dash and mark some holes for drilling.
17-JUN-2013
Backing plates
I used the same material to back up the new holes drilled in the firewall so the strength should be nice and strong.
I will also use the backing plates to weld some support brackets to the battery boxes that will be mounted above.
17-JUN-2013
first mounting position
This was the first mounting position, just a little too low for my liking
17-JUN-2013
Another shot of the first mounting
From this angle it doesn't look too bad, not too low. But I ended up moving it up so now it's out of sight.
So now I have a new problem, I installed the shortened glove box "box" and now the outlets are partially covered by the glove box. It's time to change the design of the front cover!
19-JUN-2013
Making a new outlet plate
The vent outlets won't work how I want them to, partially because the glove box "box" is in the way by about 3/4". I suppose I could move the heater down a bit to clear the box but I originally had it mounted low and ended up moving it up and out of sight.
So my answer to my slight problem is to build a new face plate for the heater and redirect the outlets. I need to provide heat for the floor of the passenger, the floor of the driver, and both defrost vents.
I hope this works!
20-JUN-2013
Pieces cut, holes cut and ready to weld together
I spent tonight cutting the outlet holes for the new tubes. I also needed to make some pieces that will weld onto the back of the plate that press on a rubber gasket that holds the heater coil in place. Everything is cleaned up and ready for welding.
21-JUN-2013
Heater outlet pieces assembled
All of the heater outlet tubes are welded together with just the passenger vent deflector needing to be fit and welded.
Clamping the base plate to the table prevented it from distorting too badly.
22-JUN-2013
Welding complete
The passenger deflector is welded and in place, all the welding is complete and the new outlet vents are ready for a test fit.
22-JUN-2013
Strips welded on backside of mounting plate
Strips needed to be welded to the back of the mounting plate in order to keep pressure on the rubber spacer that is used to keep the heater coil in place.
22-JUN-2013
New tubes on heater
The new outlet plate fit great on the heater and had minimal distortion. Now the real test is going to be the complete unit bolted in place under the dash and behind the glove box.
22-JUN-2013
Up and out of the way
The placement of the heater is now high up under the dash and out of the way. The outlet tubes are in a great position to run the heater hoses out of the way.
22-JUN-2013
Redirected tubes
This shot shows the tubes redirected up high and out of the way. I will run a vent hose from one outlet over to the drivers side with a fitting mounted under the dash for directed heat to the driver. from the other outlet tube I will have a closable "tee" that will feed both of the defroster vents.
22-JUN-2013
Test run of the fan
I was a little worried about the amount of air that would be coming out of the vent below the tubes that is supposed to provide heat to the passenger. So I used some duct tape and blocked the outlet vents partially I then hooked the unit up to a battery and tried all three speeds.
The vent for the passenger blew so well that the passenger will be cooked out of the Jeep on a cold day or cold desert evening!
23-JUN-2013
Roll cage base plates
I was able to drill, cut, and mount the base plates for the roll cage to the floor in the A and B pillar locations.
23-JUN-2013
B pillar plates mounted
The B pillar roll cage mounting plates are bolted into place and are waiting for a piece of roll bar tubing to be cut and welded to it.
Backing plates mounted
I'm using another 1/4" plate on the bottom of the Jeep to sandwich the sheet metal of the tub. "A" pillar bottom plates needed to be trimmed to fit correctly.
23-JUN-2013
B pillar backing plates
I will be tying into the frame from the bottom of these plates and when final assembly upon us I will use some grade 8 hardware to button it all up with.
05-JUL-2013
Cage layout
I laid out the angles and measurements of the main tubes for the cage on the concrete in soapstone.
05-JUL-2013
Bending the main frame
After much debate on a style of cage to build, I decided to go with the A pillar to C pillar Main tubes. One done and one more to go.
05-JUL-2013
Dash slots
The dash slots that I cut out in the dash are working out nicely with about 3/8" of gap all around the 1.75" tube.
05-JUL-2013
Clearance around the tube
Another angle of the clearance between the tube and the dash slot.
Hopefully with body flex and everything moving around offroad that there will be enough room for the roll cage tube to move without hitting the sides of the dash...
....too much!
05-JUL-2013
Front cage section
With the addition of the dash slots, it allowed me to tuck the vertical section of the cage more forward and out of the way of getting in and out of the Jeep and the angle of the cage running next to the windshield frame is nice and tight.
05-JUL-2013
Main frames both complete
Both main pieces are bent and in place. I have a little fine tuning to do to make sure that the height is the same on both sides and that both pieces are straight and vertical.
One problem that I need to fix is that I need to be able to remove the cage so that I can paint the tub and also paint the cage since they will be painted different colors. The mounting on the C pillar is tight in the back corners close to the back side of the tail lights and because the angle of that section of the body angles inward it will make it virtually impossible to remove the cage.
Some re-engineering of the back tubes will need to be done to fix this issue!
22-JUL-2013
Bending and notching
Now begins the bending and notching of the main frame cross bars, the JD 2 Notch Master works way better that the cheesy Harbor Freight notcher that I started with.
I welded an extension mount to my bead roller mounting tube head to mount the notcher to. Once the mount is bolted to the floor it is pretty stable.
22-JUL-2013
Upgraded parts
I upgraded the shaft on the Notch Master to Swag Offroad's Supershaft which allows a better mount for the hole saws. Also upgraded on the notcher is Swag's "Reach Around arm" that allows the notcher much more versatility in notching angles.
Since I am doing many offset bends with weird angled notches, this upgraded arm was a must.
13-JUL-2013
"A" pillar windshield bar
Part of my idea of my cage is to make it roomy and not cramped, hence the reason for the frenched cutouts in the dash. So I bent both of the A pillar windshield bars to give me more room forward and overhead.
I cut some wood spacers and taped them to the main frame to keep the gaps consistent in my dash cutouts.
13-JUL-2013
Lower windshield bar tacked in place
I'm happy with the bends and mounting of the lower windshield bar, it's close to the dash but not too close that it will bang into the dash while driving off road...
....I hope!
13-JUL-2013
Upper A pillar bar in place
The upper windshield bar bent, notched and tacked in place. The slight 30 degree bend offset in the tube will allow the height in the front of the cage to provide good headroom.
13-JUL-2013
Side view or the A pillar bars
With both upper and lower A pillar windshield bars tacked in place I can proceed to the B pillar. My plan is to have overhead connecting bars from the A to B that will provide strength as well as a support for a small overhead console. Headroom will be priority in the decision of where the bars will go.
13-JUL-2013
Lower bar placement
This shot shows the placement of the lower bar in relation to the dash.
13-JUL-2013
B pillar bars
I bent the B pillar support bars so that they hugged the inside of the tub allowing for more seat room and the top bar has a slight rise above the main frame to allow for ample headroom.
13-JUL-2013
B pillar side view
I made the B pillar cross bar first and then made my support bars, but because I have a slight angle of my support bars my cross bar didn't really match the angle of the vertical support bars mainly because I notched it at 90 degrees. I didn't notice it until it was all tacked up.
I ended up making a new cross bar but rolling it back about 8 degrees before notching it. The end result was a much better matching of the three bars.
13-JUL-2013
A to B pillar lower bars
I wanted the A to B pillar bars as wide as possible and also as low as possible so the answer was to put some bends in the tube to achieve the results I needed.
13-JUL-2013
B pillar lower tube
Since I offset and angled my B pillar support bars, I had to deal with some crazy notch angles on the A to B lower tubes. Once the fit was was finalized the end result was better than I hoped for.....
.....except for one slight problem!
13-JUL-2013
Lower tube nice and low
This shot shows how I rolled the tube over to be able to get the tube low as possible without sitting on the tub floor. Figuring out the angles to notch the tubes was a whole different story! But if you look closely you can see my "slight" problem. On both floor mounting plates for the A and B pillars my tube now slightly covers one of the mounting bolts on each plate.
Before I tacked these in place I needed to do two things, I need to weld the A and B pillar tubes complete under the area where these tubes will sit and I need to figure out how I am going to get the bolt out of the plate one the tube is welded in place. The welding part is the easy part!
23-JUL-2013
The solution to my problem
Since the Notch Master has the ability to notch a saddle in a tube I set the notcher up with a 1" hole saw and marked my tubes.
23-JUL-2013
The saddle feature in action
The hole saw blew through the tubes easily. Now I will be able to tack these in place and get my mounting plate bolts out.
24-JUL-2013
Saddles strengthened
Of course I didn't want to have an open hole in the tube and in order to keep some of the integrity of the tube I cut and fit some 1" tubing in the saddle.
24-JUL-2013
Another view of the saddle
Here's another view of the welded up saddle piece. The fit of both tubes with the saddles in place to allow the mounting bolts to be removed worked out great.
28-JUL-2013
A to B pillar lower bars tacked
I welded the tubes to the mounting plate in the area underneath where these A to B tubes fit. I was able to tack the bars in place and now the plate mounting bolts can be removed and re-installed.
28-JUL-2013
Another shot of the A to B notched
The B pillar end of the tube fits just as well as the A pillar end. The 1" tube worked out well with plenty of room to remove or install the mounting bolts as well as plenty of room for a deep socket.
28-JUL-2013
Front and top view of cage
I needed headroom in the design of this cage and the results after bending all of the main parts were great! A test fit of my front seats with the tubes in place gives me lots of headroom.
28-JUL-2013
A view through the windshield
Here's a view of all of the top tubes shown from the front. I carried the angle from the A pillar all the way back to the C pillar. The A pillar starts straight and then angles outward.
28-JUL-2013
A view from the back
This view shows the angle rise in the C pillar that will give a little extra headroom for any passengers in the rear. The triangle gussets were a real PITA to make partially because they have a 30 degree bend in them and the C pillar is angled as well so getting the notches correct was a bit challenging.
28-JUL-2013
Side view of the angles of the C pillar top tube and gussets
This shows the bends and angles of the top tube of the C pillar. I'm really happy with how it turned out, nice tight joints and some triangulation for strength.
28-JUL-2013
Main cage
My plan is to build an overhead console in between the two straight tubes coming off of the A pillar. The console will house some switches, an interior LED light, and a place to mount my CB radio.
28-JUL-2013
Side view of cage
Everything is tacked together and straight ready to be yanked out and fully welded. but before that can happen I need to bend all the tubing for the bottom of the cage to mount the front and rear seats.
04-AUG-2013
Rear seat bracket
I am using a YJ Fold and Tumble rear seat and naturally I want to be able to put passengers in the back but I also want to be able to fold the seat up and utilize the area in the back.
Since I am mounting the seat to the cage I needed to design a seat bracket that will fold forward as well as stay firmly in place with passengers seated.
04-AUG-2013
Closing the ends
Instead of welding a piece on the end as a cap I cut and bent the 1" square tubing for a cleaner look.
04-AUG-2013
Front of seat bracket
After a few test fits for size and location I cut and folded over the front end of the tube bracket for a closed end finish.
04-AUG-2013
Bent over and ready for welding
The ends of the tube bent over nicely for a nice finished look.
04-AUG-2013
Seat bracket installed in base of seat
The seat bracket all welded and bolted up to the seat for a test fit and measurements on on the cage for the pivot point of the bracket.
04-AUG-2013
Pivot/hinge brackets for cage
I made these brackets to be welded to the cage so that the seat bracket can be bolted to the cage with shoulder bolts and pivot freely forward but still be bolted firmly with no rattles.
05-AUG-2013
Tube clamps to remove cage
Once I figured out how the rear seat was going to mount and how many more tubes I was going to add to the rear of the cage, it allowed me to place my cage tube clamps in the correct places for cage removal. I have one on each C pillar tube and two of them on the cross tube between the C pillars.
Just about 1 5/16" is removed from the tube to squeeze in the tube clamp fitting.
05-AUG-2013
C pillar Tube clamps tacked
I placed the C pillar tube clamps just above the the top of the tub so I "should" have ample room to remove the cage.
They're tacked in place so too late now!
05-AUG-2013
Cross bar Tube clamps
I placed two of the tube clamps on the tube that connects both C pillar tubes. I tacked them in place so that the fit would remain correct and the tube will fit correctly.
05-AUG-2013
Lower C pillar
I was able to remove the lower part of the C pillar to complete the welding of the tube clamps and the welds on the base plates.
05-AUG-2013
Welded C pillar base plates
Now both of the C pillar base plates are welded up solid and I can now weld in the tubes for the rear seat mount in place. All of the tubes for the rear seat mounting are bent and notched and are just waiting on the tube clamps to be welded and the welding on the base plates to be complete.
Since the seat mounting tubes weld to the cross bar between the C pillars, the base plates needed to be welded so that the cross bar can be tacked in place.
06-AUG-2013
Cross bar Tube clamps welded up
I welded the tube clamps on the C pillar cross bar all the way around so that I can now tack it into place and weld the rear seat bars to it.
06-AUG-2013
Cutting the rear seat hinge
I came up with an idea to use some 3/4" DOM tube and use some 1/2" shoulder bolts for the hinges in the rear seat frame.
06-AUG-2013
Drilling the frame
I drilled some 3/4" holes so that I could slip the tubing through the frame.
06-AUG-2013
Heavy duty shoulder bolts
I'm using some 1/2" diameter shoulder bolts for the hinge pivot, the tubes are cut to the correct length so that the bolt will bottom out and tighten against the bracket allowing the seat frame to pivot freely.
06-AUG-2013
Tube right length for shoulder bolt
I have about 1/16" of free play for the bolt to move freely in the tube.
06-AUG-2013
Hinge tubes welded in place
The tubes are welded in place and ready for a test fit.
07-AUG-2013
Rear seat bars
The rear seat bars are bent from 1.5" Chrome moly tube. They run from the cross bar of the C pillar to a cross bar at the B pillar.
07-AUG-2013
Rear seat mounts
This show the tie in to the B pillar cross bar and the hinge brackets tacked in place.
07-AUG-2013
Rear seat bracket hinge
This shows a close up of the hinge brackets and the shoulder bolts installed.
07-AUG-2013
View from rear of hinge
The hinges work great and allow the seat to tumble forward with ease. This is a view of the hinge from the rear of the vehicle.
08-AUG-2013
Rear seat bracket latch
I had drawn up a couple of ideas but I kept coming back to splitting a piece of 1.75 to use as a saddle to go over the 1.5 cross tube. This gives me a nice solid wide piece for the seat to sit on without any rocking motion.
08-AUG-2013
After cooling down
The clamps held the saddle in place and prevented it from moving while I welded it. I then welded the inside and then clamped it down again until it cooled.
08-AUG-2013
Welded saddle
I stitch welded the saddle on to the frame instead of welding the the whole saddle solid. I was afraid of the metal moving too much and then not fitting right.
08-AUG-2013
Inside of saddle welded
I stitched the inside of the saddle as well. After cooling everything still lined up great.
11-AUG-2013
Front seat tracks
After a long search (and getting jacked around by a Craigslist a-hole in Hollywood) I was able to track down and buy a complete set of YJ seat slides to use with my front seat for $40!. They came with the tilt forward bases but unfortunately the seats would sit too tall if I mounted them to the cage or even to the floor.
11-AUG-2013
Seat slides modified
The whole reason for the addition of adjustable seat slides is so that the rest of my family would be able to drive the Jeep. The YJ slides have 6" of adjustability (only one side has this amount) so that should be enough adjustment for everyone.
I am using a set of Corbeau GTS II seats for the front and since I am not using YJ seats the of the mounting holes for my seats are quite a bit different than the YJ seats. I needed to lengthen the mounting holes from front to rear by about 3/4" so I cut off the round mounting bung and welded it to a piece of 1/4" x 1" flat bar which will give me a little tilt as well as achieving the right mounting dimension. The side to side holes are off by about 2" so I will have to just redo the adjustment bar to compensate for that dimension difference.
15-AUG-2013
Modified seat adjusters
After figuring out how wide the seat slides were mounted on the seats I needed to narrow the seat adjusters by 2 1/2". This is pretty thin 3/8" tubing but it welded up nice and strong.
After a test fit I can then bead blast these and powder coat them for a nice durable finish.
18-AUG-2013
Seat tracks and adjusters installed
The modified seat slides fit great as do the modified adjuster bars.
18-AUG-2013
Front seat mounts
After numerous test fits with wood to get the height just right and the right amount of base tilt, I bent some 1" DOM tube to mimic the height. I them made a jig for all of my seat mounting tabs and welded them all into place for both seats.
18-AUG-2013
Slight rise
The slight rise for the front mounts is seen in the this shot. The angle of the mount works good in the forward and furthest back positions.
The main cross tubes are 1.5" chrome moly tube. I will mount the shifter to the front cross tube where it goes over the hump.
23-AUG-2013
Seat height
10 inches is about the lowest height that I can go down to because the seats are mounted to the cage. Any lower and it would just be uncomfortable sitting in the seats.
18-AUG-2013
All the way back
With the seat mounts welded in place and the slides all the way back I now have plenty of room for my long legs to fit behind the wheel. The addition of the tilt column is a nice benefit as well.
18-AUG-2013
All the way up
Using the YJ slides allowed a great deal of adjustment as seen here. I test fit my daughter in the seat at full forward and it's a great fit for her 5' 3" frame.
18-AUG-2013
Rear seat belt mounts
I still don't have my latching device figured out yet but I was able to get the seat belt mounts located and drilled. I will weld these solid so that the strength of the tube will still be there now that I drilled a hole in it.
18-AUG-2013
Seatbelt mount in saddle
I drilled and grooved the saddle to accept the center mounts for the belts. Since the YJ rear seat that I am using is narrow I am crossing the center belt mounts so that there is a proper belt fit for the passengers.
18-AUG-2013
Rear seat belt mounts
This seatbelt mount was a little easier to figure out and will be welded solid as well.
I also welded some side saddle extensions just to make sure that the seat stays in lin and won't rock at all especially if just one passenger was in the back.
18-AUG-2013
Rear belts
I was given a set of Crow 3" five point harnesses for my birthday about 5 years ago to install in my buggy but 3" belts were a little too wide to replace the 2" wide Simpson belts that were already in the buggy. So these belts have been in my closet sitting in boxes for the past five years just waiting for the "perfect" project!
Right now my idea is to just use the 3" lap belts for the rear seat but I have in the back of my mind to add a bar to mount the shoulder harnesses but the bar would have to be removable. At this point I'm undecided what I will do with the harnesses but the 3" lap belts will work out great.
18-AUG-2013
Fold and tumble
With all of the seats mounted, my version of the "fold and tumble" works out pretty well. I just have to finalize the latching mechanism for the rear seat and the rear seat mounting and belt mounting will be done!
I know I will have to devise some sort of latch or something to hold the rear seat up when traveling especially when I add the bars to mount the front seat harnesses to. When those bars are added and in place the rear seat when folded up will sit more vertical and will just fall.
21-AUG-2013
Rear seat latch
I was able to fit up, drill, and weld the rear seat latch in place. I made a little flat extension piece to come straight off the saddle to mount the latch on. Now when the seat is out in the down position the latch snaps locked and holds the seat firmly to the cage.
23-AUG-2013
Front seat belt mounts
I fit up the front seat belts and welded the mounting tabs in place, these are the center mounts.
23-AUG-2013
Front belt mounts
These are the side seat belt mounts for the front seats. All four tabs are welded at an angle to match the seat belt angle.
23-AUG-2013
Harness mounts
I finally figured out how I was going to mount the harnesses for the front seats. I was originally going to just run a horizontal bar at harness height from B toB pillars but that would put a bar across and in the way making it even harder for the rear seat passengers to get back there.
So I decided to change it up a bit and actually add some needed triangulation to the B pillar and also use the bars to mount my harnesses to, Since my seats recline I also needed to leave room for the seat to move so I put in a clearance bend. Now my new problem was going to be trying to figure out the angles and the crazy notching angles because these tubes intersect three other tubes.
24-AUG-2013
Angled notching
Here is on view of the notching at the top of the harness tube.
24-AUG-2013
Another view of crazy notching
Both sides cane out good with nice tight joints.
24-AUG-2013
A view from the back
I now have good triangulation and a good place to mount my harnesses to. The rear seat passengers will have room to squeeze through the bars unlike having one bar straight across.
I know, I know. The bars shouldn't have a bend in them and they should be straight for optimum strength. I needed a bend to get the room I needed for my seats. I'll suffer a little tube strength loss over a little extra room for my seats.
Heck I wasn't even going to install any triangulation between my pillars as it was so this is actually a bonus!
24-AUG-2013
Side view of cage
Here is a view of the triangle harness supports. They took a while to get the angles correct and especially to match each other.
24-AUG-2013
Passenger side view of harness supports
The bars pretty much tied everything together.
24-AUG-2013
Complete shot
This shows the complete bars all the way down to the tie in at the bottom. I will probably tie in both cross bars with a piece of 1.5".
24-AUG-2013
Front side view of cage
This shot shows the offset bends at the top.
I have most of the cage welded except for the parts that I can't get my torch behind.
23-AUG-2013
Room with seats installed
I had a quest to build a roomy cage to be comfortable for my long legs and tall body and the addition of the design of my harness support bars added to my comfort and safety.
23-AUG-2013
Rear view of bars
Where the bars cross the center of the seat will be a perfect location to mount my harness.
23-AUG-2013
Front view with seats installed
This shows the bend of the tube, back and out of the way.
24-AUG-2013
Seats mounted, looking like a Jeepster!
Now that all the seats are mounted the ol' Jeepster is starting to take shape and look like a vehicle again instead of an empty shell.
27-AUG-2013
Bars to mount rear grab bars
I added some bars in the rear that hug the bed rail spanning from B to C pillars. They serve a couple purposes, somewhere to mount some grab bars for the passengers in the back and and some added strength in the back part of the cage.
27-AUG-2013
Bent around air tank
I needed to bend the tube around my air tank for the onboard air system and also angle it up so that it welds above my tube clamp so that it is on the removable section of the cage.
27-AUG-2013
Around the tank and down the rail
This shows another view of the bend around the tank and how the 1.5" tube hugs the bed rail.
27-AUG-2013
An offset bend to B pillar
I had to make an offset bend to go around the rear window pocket to intersect the B pillar then notch it at 8º.
27-AUG-2013
Driver side match
I bend both of the tubes at the same time so I would remember my measurements!
The back bend and notch was a little tricky, tube rolled over 42º then notched at 48º!
To make things a little more complicated the passenger side was opposite the drivers side angles.
31-AUG-2013
Strengthening my triangulation
I added some additional tubes to make my diagonal tubes rock solid. These added tubes make the triangulation strength way more than I probably need but I know now that I have a very strong cage.
31-AUG-2013
Triangles from the back
Another view of my added triangulation bars. Now on to to gussets on the main frame.
31-AUG-2013
Gusseting the main frame
I added the needed gussets on the main frame by using some 1.5" tube.
31-AUG-2013
Main frame gussets
Although I thought that these were going to be just straight gussets with a simple notch, I was wrong. If my main frame and the B pillar support bars were in the same plane they would have been easy parts to fab up.
31-AUG-2013
A view of the offset in tubes
In order to get the notching and the angles correct I needed to make the first notch angle for the top main tube and then roll the tube in the notcher 6º to make the notch for the B pillar fit correctly.
31-AUG-2013
Rear grab bars
I sat in the back seat and placed my hand to what would be most comfortable and natural to grab onto and then I had mt daughter sit in the back and we both felt the placement of these grab bars was a good location without making your arm or hand contort.
A club member of the JCCA (Jeepster Commando Club of America) made me a bunch of different grab bars from spare 1" DOM tubing that he had laying around.
31-AUG-2013
Rear grab bar supports
With the addition of the support bars that I installed from B to C pillar made the installation of the grab bars a breeze. They are in a good location but also they are somewhat tucked out of the way.
31-AUG-2013
Passenger and driver grab bars
I added grab bars in the front off the A pillar for the passenger and driver. These add some gusseting as well as a bar to grab when climbing up into the Jeepster.
31-AUG-2013
Passenger grab bar
I installed a front passenger grab bar off of the lower windshield cross bar which is reachable with any size passenger due to the adjustable seat slide that is installed on the passenger seat.
01-SEP-2013
Windshield gussets
These gussets will install at the top bar of A pillar. I used the bent leg of the gusset on the pillar support leg so that the gusset wouldn't come down too far to obstruct the view.
01-SEP-2013
Test fit of the gussets
After figuring out the angles and notching the tube, a test fit showed that the gussets were ready for welding.
01-SEP-2013
Wind and TIG welding
There are a few things that should never go together and I was reminded of two of them today while tacking in the upper windshield gussets. WIND and TIG Welding! It was gusty here today while I was trying to tack in these gussets. I would wait for the wind to die before striking an arc but this one got me, right when I started the tacks the gusts came.
08-SEP-2013
Adding some reinforcments
I decided to add some 1/4" thick materiel to the windshield frame to be able to drill and tap the area for accessories if needed in the future.
Reinforcing the windshield frame
The piece is 8.5" long and will be welded all around the leading edge. The back edge is sealed with seam sealer to prevent moisture from getting behind and rusting underneath.
I have plans of making a couple light brackets to mount a 5" diameter light on each side. These plates will allow me to drill and tap some 5/16" fine threads for a good firm hold.
11-SEP-2013
New mirror brackets
Although I already made some mirror brackets that mount on my door hinges I decided to make a new set that will mount higher and will swing in for tight trails if needed. The "swing in" feature will also work out well when I put my car cover on the jeep for storage.
A big plus having the mirrors not mounted on the doors will allow me to still have mirrors if and when I build some tube doors.
12-SEP-2013
New mirror mounts
I finished welding my new mirror mounts last night and was able to bolt them up for a working over tonight. Overall I'm happy how they turned out and they actually work as intended!
12-SEP-2013
Folded back
They fold all the way into the Jeep if needed, and when I put the car cover on I don't have mirrors sticking out. I picked up these off road mirrors from Kartek in Riverside for about $10 each.
They seem pretty good, they are tight and they use SAE hardware, 5/16-24 thread which surprised me that it looks like they were actually made here in the USA!
12-SEP-2013
Folded forward
The brackets also allow the mirrors to be folded forward if they need to go that direction. I used stainless steel hardware to assemble the bracket and used some 1/4" 28 button heads to fasten the bracket to the new windshield frame brackets.
Now I can take these brackets apart, bead blast them and then powder coat them black like all the other brackets.
14-SEP-2013
Fire Extinguisher bracket
In my push forward to make sure that I have all the brackets and little trick things welded to my cage before I remove it to complete the welds and then prime and paint it, I made a fire extinguisher mount. This mount will bolt to the cage (on bungs that I weld on) and the extinguisher will clamp to the other mating bracket with hose clamps.
After making some patterns I used some 3/16" plate to cut my parts from.
14-SEP-2013
Pieces all cut and shaped
I got all the pieces cut with the exception of the base plate and the extinguisher plate. All pieces shaped and de-burred on the sander.
14-SEP-2013
Mock test fit
I did a test fit of all the pieces before I welded everything together.
14-SEP-2013
Bead blasted parts
I bead blasted all the parts before welding to remove the scale from the cold rolled steel, the scale doesn't weld well with the TIG welder.
14-SEP-2013
Top piece fitted
I used some metal that I had broke with a 10º bend for the top saddle. I made a couple grooves in it to match the top bracket half and welded it all together.
14-SEP-2013
Tabs to be welded
The tabs will allow the whole top piece to be solid as one piece once it's welded together.
15-SEP-2013
A final test fit
With the base and the top welded complete I did a final test fit of the release before welding it to the bracket.
15-SEP-2013
All the welding complete
The top and bottom bracket pieces are completely welded. I added a small tab to throw a small pad lock on to keep the honest people honest.
15-SEP-2013
Easy on and off
Once the bracket is bolted to the cage and the extinguisher is clamped to the top bracket, all that needs to be done is to slide the slot over the shoulder bolt then secure it with the spring loaded pin.
15-SEP-2013
Fire Extinguisher bracket complete
The bracket is complete and now I can take it apart, do a final bead blast on it, and powdercoat it.
This was a pretty good project, now onto the next!
20-SEP-2013
New E brake lever
In my quest to make sure that I get any accessories welded to my cage before I yank it and paint it I came up with an item that I almost forgot about!
Because of the location of where my A pillar is located on the floor I had to remove my foot lever for my E brake. I decided that I wanted to install a hand lever for my emergency/parking brake so this is what I came up with!
20-SEP-2013
E brake lever location
I was originally going to mount the lever on the left side of the seat but as I fit the lever on that side I realized that it would interfere with the drivers door.
Because I am making a center console and needed to weld in some mounting brackets for the console I just designed to bracket to be a little longer on one side so that I could drill and tap the bracket and bolt up the E brake lever. For the front mount I used a piece of 1.5" tube notched and welded in at the correct angle with a 1/4" piece of flat stock welded on top to drill and tap.
20-SEP-2013
Clearance is good
I installed the driver seat for a test fit before welding everything in to make sure that the lever didn't interfere with the driver's leg, that the lever was within reach, and when used would clear the bottom of the dash.
20-SEP-2013
Thin and streamlined!
The lever seemed to be a perfect fit with my build being that it is thin and decently low profile. The lever came out of a Land Cruiser that my neighbor was parting out and the price was too hard to pass up, free!
I will have to figure out the routing of the cable but I don't think that will be too much of an obstacle. The lever looks like it has a good deal of cable pull so I am hoping that the brakes will work great once everything is all hooked up. I have rear disc brakes and the old foot lever did not work at all. I think that they just weren't connected correctly.
23-SEP-2013
Starting center console build
My idea is to build a center console out of aluminum to go along with my gauge panels that I made for the dash. I also needed to be able to mount the Art Carr shifter at a comfortable height and get rid of the ABS plastic mount that it came with.
I welded in some brackets to the cage and then built a sub frame out of 3/4" x 3/4" square aluminum tubing. Keeping with the design that I had drawn up, I needed to put a 10º bend in the 1/8" thick aluminum side panels. I don't have a brake in my garage so I made a temporary home-made brake for these two bends.
23-SEP-2013
After bending
The two side panels came out good since they were just a 10º bend. Now to fit and weld them to the frame.
23-SEP-2013
Console subframe
The subframe is welded and fitted to the brackets. A test fit of the side panels was good with no gaps in the bends.
23-SEP-2013
Side panels welded
I welded both side panels in place and all the measurements held true.
23-SEP-2013
Console taking shape
The console is taking shape and looking like my drawing. Now I can measure and cut the front and back panels. Once they are welded into place I can layout my top panel and the flip top lid.
25-SEP-2013
All parts ready for fitting and welding
After a trip to a friends shop to use his power shear and brake I have all the parts to complete the console.
26-SEP-2013
The front panel welded in place
The front panel has a 15º angle so I needed to just bend the base to match the 3/4" square tube subframe and then weld it up.
26-SEP-2013
Back panel welded
The back panel was straight forward with no angles to deal with just some nice straight joints for easy welds.
26-SEP-2013
Top plate tacked
After cutting the needed holes in the top plate I had some fine tuning to get the fit right and then tacked it up, checked the fit one more time and welded it solid.
26-SEP-2013
Mounting plate for the shifter
I had to make a mounting plate that the shifter can bolt to and then the mounting plate can bolt to the top plate of the console.
The shifter came with an ABS plastic mount that I just couldn't make work since I wanted a center console.
26-SEP-2013
Tabs welded to adapter plate
These mounting bolts were exposed on the ABS mount but will be hidden on my console. This adapter mount will bolt to the console from the top.
26-SEP-2013
Almost complete!
I welded the seams on the console lid and completed the final fit of the shifter adapter plate to the console top.
26-SEP-2013
Switch plate added
I am going to add some rocker switches to the console that can be used for various auxiliary items but more than likely they will be used for auxiliary lights.
26-SEP-2013
Top view of console
Here is a top view to give an idea of how wide the console is and how it is laid out. It is 4.5" wide at the front and widens to 7.5" at the widest point.
All that is left is to drill and tap some mounting holes for the shifter, weld on the hinge for the lid, add a latch/lock, and make a sub floor for inside of the cabinet.
28-SEP-2013
A problem that needs correcting
There has been something in the Jeepster that has bothered me for a while and I really didn't notice it until I really sat in the driver's seat and started fitting things within the reach of the driver. Now I can only assume that this problem existed before I changed the steering column but I didn't notice it because I just didn't spend very much time in the jeep. When sitting in the drivers seat the steering wheel is facing slightly right towards the passenger. After measuring the base location and measuring the under dash mount, the problem was clear. The top mount is 1 3/8" towards the right from where the base mount is thus pushing the steering wheel to the right.
I called another Jeepster owner and his top and bottom mounts measured the same dimension. The only difference I could figure out is that mine is a 1972 and his is a 1967.
28-SEP-2013
Time to move the mount
I decided to move the upper mount and make it correct because if I didn't fix it now it will always bug me. The steering column has a big sturdy mount coming off the firewall and that will have to be cut and moved as well. Moving the bottom mount would have been much easier but there were two problems with moving the bottom mount. One problem is that the steering shaft that connects to the steering box would hit the header and the other problem is that the brake pedal is already too close to the column shaft and if the base was moved over to the right the pedal would hit the column.
So I opted to move the top mount over by 1 3/8". A test fit made the wheel perfectly straight and a much better feel.
28-SEP-2013
Clamped for welding
I made some backing material out of 18 ga sheet metal because the dash metal was thin like about 20 ga. I clamped it all into place and then proceeded to tack it in place.
28-SEP-2013
Welded solid for strength
I was able to weld the new moved mount with the help of the 18 ga backing strips. Everything lined up well and the backing gave some good material to weld to.
28-SEP-2013
Main steering bracket
Once I moved the radius in the dash I needed to cut and weld the main support bracket to fit correctly. I was going to lay down a small piece of flat bar for added strength but I feel that by welding both sides that it should be good and strong.
28-SEP-2013
Welded and ground smooth
I ground down the welds smooth and everything seems pretty straight, not perfect but straight. A thin coat of plastic filler and some sanding and it should look pretty good.
29-SEP-2013
Straight steering column!
I installed the column but not before re-drilling the column bracket to fit the new straight position. I also installed the seat back in, threw on the steering wheel and it is now in the center of the seat and the steering wheel is straight.
Now i'm not bugged by the column anymore!
29-SEP-2013
Filler and primer
I used a thin layer of body filler to get the area straight and then I shot it with three coats of epoxy primer over the bare metal and to to use a base to sand smooth.
29-SEP-2013
Center console tray
Because I need to access the mounting bolts for the console and the linkage for the shifter I needed to make the glove box tray in the console removable so I bent some supports and welded them in. I used some 1/4-28 nutserts in the brackets to be able to bolt in the tray.
I also used nutserts to fasten the switch plate in place.
29-SEP-2013
Bolted in shifter
I used two different sized nutserts for the shifter mounting plate, 1/4-28 on the corners and 10-32 for the center mounts. I probably would have been fine just using the 1/4" hardware but I was in the mindset that more is better!
17-OCT-2013
Console complete
I was able to finish all of my powder coating for the console pieces, sand the scratches out, finish the lid, weld the hinge to the lid, and install the lock.
17-OCT-2013
Sanded finish
I was able to sand a uniform grain in the aluminum and then seal it with a product called Shark Hide. It prevents oxidation and corrosion of aluminum so maybe this finish will last for a few weeks!
17-OCT-2013
Inside plate
I powder coated the inside plate of the glovebox section but I think that I will probably have to line the whole inside with rubber or something to quiet the noise of keys and stuff. Plus I don't want my sunglass rolling around in there getting all messed up bouncing off the aluminum.
17-OCT-2013
Locking slot
Here's a closeup of the slotted locking bracket that I welded on the console to keep the lid closed.
17-OCT-2013
Console lid locking mechanism
I used a locking mechanism that has a stainless steel lock face. None that I found were very strong or heavy duty so this is just really to lock it but it's not bomb proof.
I have another that is keyed alike to use on my new aluminum glovebox door.
17-OCT-2013
Console sitting in place
The console turned out good and the height is perfect.
I still need to connect the shifter linkage to the transmission.
20-OCT-2013
Overhead console
I wanted to build an overhead console that would incorporate some switches for auxiliary lights (or whatever), an interior light and possible my CB radio. Well my CB is too large to fit into the console, sure I could buy a smaller one but this one is a good older "tweaked" one so it will have to mount somewhere else!
I made this pattern and will use some 1/8" aluminum to make it out of then head to my buddies shop to use his brake.
26-OCT-2013
Overhead console housing bent and complete
After cutting the aluminum to the pattern that I made I took the pieces to a friends shop to use his brake to bend it all up. Unfortunately since I don't use his manual brake very often I make a slight mistake in my bends and my overall width was about 1/8" too wide. I ended up having to cut the whole piece in half, taking 1/8" off the halves, then welding them back together.
I installed nutserts on top to mount the console to some brackets that I'll weld to the cage. I then installed nutserts to hold on the face plate.
26-OCT-2013
Faceplate complete
I bent the faceplate to match the angles and contour of the console base. I cut rectangle holes for the switches and a round hole for the LED light that will light up my interior at night.
26-OCT-2013
Complete overhead console
I sanded the grain into the aluminum and then I used the SharkHide to seal the aluminum from oxidation and corrosion. The LED light should provide good light for the driver and passenger at night when needed. I still need to find a light switch to install that I will use for this LED and a twin LED in the rear of the Jeep.
26-OCT-2013
Console mounting brackets
I welded some 1/8" flat stock between the tubes of the cage to mount the console flush and below the bars.
26-OCT-2013
Overhead console mounted
The console mounts up high and tight and out of the way.
26-OCT-2013
Side view of console
Side view of console shows the profile of how the console mounts.
26-OCT-2013
View from drivers seat
This angle was shot from the drivers seat and shows the "up and outa the way" console. The switches are an easy reach for the driver (or passenger) to operate. I'm just not sure yet what the switches will power? Remember I also have four more switches on the center console to use for something?
29-DEC-2013
Just like the drawing
This was the original sketch that I did of the overhead console. It's always nice when things turn out as you vision them in your head.
29-DEC-2013
Rear interior light
I drew a few sketches of a light housing for the rear of the Jeep. I want to install a light in the back area of the Jeep to provide light for the rear cargo area in which I plan on securing a storage bin, an ice chest, and a tool box. I wanted to use an LED light as I used in the front overhead console and I wanted the housing small so it can be tucked up and out of the way.
After cutting out a few patterns to use for test fits, this is what I came up with.
27-DEC-2013
Rear light housing cut and welded
The final product turned out nice and small. The size allows it to be mounted up and out of the way and will be protected by the rollcage tube.
27-DEC-2013
Top view of light housing
This top view shows the nutserts installed that will be used to mount the housing to the cage. Small pieces of 1/8" flat stock will be welded to the cage to support the light housing. The light switch on the front overhead console will be used to fire up both front and rear lights.
30-DEC-2013
Rear interior light mounted
The rear light mounted high and out of the way.
30-DEC-2013
Close up of the final mounting
The light is placed above the rear cargo area but should provide light for the back seat as well because of the high output LED's.
30-DEC-2013
Rear interior light mount
I used some 1/8" thick flat bar to mount the light housing to, four 1/4-28 bolts should be more than sufficient to hold it in place.
29-DEC-2013
Storage in the back
Of course I want to be able to carry straps, shackles, tire plug kits and other necessary items needed when out in the middle of nowhere and I wanted to be able to secure the storage container so it's not bouncing around.
I used some 1/8" x 2" flat stock that I welded to the cage and bent it so that it would be low to the bed floor of the Jeep. I drilled and tapped some mounting holes.
29-DEC-2013
Storage and cooler cages mounted
Swag offroad makes these really well built aluminum storage cages that hold a Coleman Ice Chest and a Rubbermaid Action Packer storage bin. You can order the cages already dimpled or not dimpled so I ordered no dimples and dimpled them myself.
29-DEC-2013
Storage container and cooler installed
Once the top of the cage is snapped down on the Action Packer bin it is held securely in place. The ice chest just uses a nylon strap to be held firmly in place. Space was pretty limited in the back so perfect placement was needed for the mounts.
29-DEC-2013
Tool box container
I picked up this Army Night Vision Goggle container a while back to use as a tool box, it looks like and is built just as sturdy as a Pelican case. My plan is to make a mount to be able to mount it to the top of my Action Packer storage bin.
28-DEC-2013
Soft top support bows
After I sold my hardtop I wanted to buy a soft top and I really wanted a Kayline or STC because I liked the way that the design followed the contour of the Jeepster body and especially the angle of the tailgate. Unfortunately the Kayline and STC are very hard to find (since both companies are out of business) and the other company that makes a soft top for the Jeepster is Bestop but the design of their top isn't as stylish and doesn't follow the body lines as good. But I saw a used Bestop come up for sale on a Jeep site, the price was just about what I sold my hardtop for so I bought it.
My idea was to use my roll cage tubes to support the soft top but to do that would actually make the cage look funky if the top was off or just a bikini top was being used which is the plan during the summer months. So my plan changed to making removable bow pieces that can be bolted to the cage that will be installed when the top is used and removed for summer when the top is not used.
Recently a Kayline top came available on the JCCA forum, it was missing the windshield channel and the door opening rods but the color is Spice which will go well with the original Butterscotch Gold paint I will be spraying the Jeepster with. Plus it's a Kayline top!! And as an added bonus it has a sunroof!! I was able to sell my Bestop to another member on the JCCA forum which paid for the Kayline so it was a win win for me.
Now I needed to figure out the support bows and the door opening rods. This picture shows the front bow that I made, it uses two simple brackets that bolt up to the B pillar with a few 1/4-28 bolts.
28-DEC-2013
Front bow mounts
I made a couple of simple mounts for the front bow, strong and easy!
30-DEC-2013
Front bow with top off
This shows the complete front bow with the top removed. The factory uses 3/4" EMT (electrical conduit/tubing) so I used the same, it's cheap, it bends easy, and is plenty strong to support the top.
28-DEC-2013
Rear support bow
The rear bow was a little more tricky mainly because once the mounts were welded in place there was no way to remove the bow from the cage. Setting the bow up so that it took all of the slack out of the top was pretty tough to figure out since the bows didn't use the body for support like the original full length bows.
28-DEC-2013
Closeup of the rear bow
The rear bow hugs the cage tightly on the corners. Mounting the bow to the cage took a little thinking through because of the design of the mounting tabs on the bow.
28-DEC-2013
Rear bow mounting
I made some brackets so that the rear bow could be bolted up to the cage easily and securely. This shows my tie-in to the cage. The mount is strong with tabs welded to the cage and tapped for 1/4-28 bolts.
28-DEC-2013
Rear bow mounting drivers side
This mount had to be designed a little different than the passenger side. Because of the way the tabs are facing inwards on the hoop it would be impossible to remove the hoop from the cage so I made one of the mounting tabs removable from the hoop.
30-DEC-2013
Rear bow with top off
Here's a full view of the rear bow with the top off. Same as the front bow, made with 3/4" EMT and the mount is very strong.
30-DEC-2013
Side view of rear bow
I would of had to make my cage top C pillar tube come up this high if I were to eliminate the bows which would have made the cage design look pretty bad.
30-DEC-2013
Rear bow
The Kayline and STC tops have a radius in the bows and the Bestop bows are flat. I was able to bend the radius in the tube and it fits the top perfectly.
The big bonus is that I'll be able to remove the bows drive it as a convertible or install a full length bikini top on the Jeepster and it will look good because the cage won't have tubes sticking up in the sky!
27-DEC-2013
Door opening support rods
Since this Kayline top did not come with door opening rods my next problem was to figure out how to make some rods that would support the opening and work with my front hoop.
After measuring numerous times I was able to figure out what I needed and I even had some 3/8" round stock in my garage. I just needed to make some 1/8" x 1" flat bar so I picked up some 1/8" remnant plate from my local metal supply.
27-DEC-2013
Flat bars welded on window rods
I welded the flat bars to the rods and test fit them to the window openings.
28-DEC-2013
Rear window opening plates
I cut some 1/8" plates to cover the rear window opening, the front section will be used to support the window rod.
28-DEC-2013
Rear window mounting holes
I drilled mounting holes and installed some nutserts to mount the cover plates on the rear window openings.
28-DEC-2013
Cover plates in place
The rear cover plates will cover the opening as well as serve as support for the window rod.
28-DEC-2013
Cover plates bolted down
When the soft top is off during the summer months, the front piece of the cover plate will be removed so I also made a plate to replace the missing piece.
28-DEC-2013
Door opening rod welded in place
After measuring for correct placement, I welded the door opening rods to the rear window plates.
28-DEC-2013
Upper rod support
After welding the opening rods in place I fitted the top support rods to my front hoop.
28-DEC-2013
Upper support rod
A closeup of the upper support rod shows the mating to the front hoop. With the three mounting points, the door opening rods are very sturdy.
29-DEC-2013
One more bracket
I want to make sure that I have all of the brackets either bolted in place or welded in place before I pull the cage out of the Jeep to finish the welding and paint it. I don't want to grind or weld on it after it is all painted so this is the last bracket that I could think of that was on my list to add.
29-DEC-2013
New bracket bolted in place
I wanted this bracket out of the way and this is the best place I could find to install it, in front and above the passenger.
29-DEC-2013
CB mounted
This bracket is nice and sturdy and should hold the CB firmly in place while bouncing down dirt roads!
29-DEC-2013
Plenty of head room
Even with the passenger seat all the way forward the CB is high enough to be out of harms way to the passengers head won't bash into it.
The bracket is held firmly in place with four 1/4-28 bolts.
01-Jan-2014
Cage out and welding being completed
I have the cage out and upside down so that I have access to all the areas that I couldn't weld when it was in place.
01-Jan-2014
Welding almost complete
Moving the cage around by myself isn't too bad especially with my makeshift dolleys. Turning it upside down was a bit of a chore but not too bad.
I'm just about finished with the welding, maybe another two hours or so. Then I'll be able to scuff it and get some primer on it.
05-JAN-2014
Cage supported
I was able to recruit a few friends to move the cage to my back yard. I made some stands so that the cage can sit off the ground and I'll be able to prime and paint the bottom as well as the top. Also with the stands having rollers will allow me to move the cage to where I need it.
05-JAN-2014
Cage sitting high for easy access
With the cage on the supports and being able to be wheeled around will help me to move it in place to prime and paint it.
05-JAN-2014
Supporting the feet
I used some 3/8" allthread to hold the mounting base plates off off the portable horses that I made. This will allow me to be able to shoot primer and paint on the bottom of the mounting plates.
05-JAN-2014
Mounting plate support
It's actually kind of amazing that these little 3/8" bolts hold up this 250+ pound cage! But they will allow me to paint the complete cage which will help to prevent any future rust from occurring.
Drilled and wired
I drilled some holes in the cage to run the wires that I'm going to need internally in the tubes. I need to run a multi-cable from the lower part of A pillar up to the overhead console switches. The console will feed the interior lights, power to the CB, and the switches will feed relays for auxiliary lighting.
05-JAN-2014
Wires pulled to locations
The Multi-cable will enter the console here and a hot feed and ground was pulled for the CB radio. Another hot feed and ground was pulled to the back of the cage to power up the rear interior light.
After all of the wires are in place and the cage is painted I will install rubber grommets in all of the holes so that the wires won't get cut or shorted.
05-JAN-2014
Wires pulled to rear light housing
I pulled the wires to the rear light which will be fed from a switch that will turn on the front and the rear LED interior lights.
12-JAN-2014
Ready for primer
I have all the wiring pulled and taped off, all of the wiring pulling holes are welded and ground smooth, all the tubes are sanded, and all of the joint welds were all checked.
Now it's time for a couple primer coats with some good two part epoxy primer.
12-JAN-2014
Primed cage
I was able to shoot primer on the cage top to bottom! What a chore to paint a cage with so many tubes, it was more of a challenge than I anticipated. Now I understand why guys have their cages powder coated.
The next step is to sand the primer to prep it for paint which I'm hoping to shoot next weekend.
19-Jan-2014
Final paint is complete
After sanding down the the epoxy primer which took way longer than I thought it would take I shot three coats of satin black paint on the cage.
I finally have a complete cage!
19-Jan-2014
More black!
Another view of the complete cage painted.
19-Jan-2014
Close up of the satin black finish
The satin black paint will match the rest of my brackets, hinges, and parts. Shooting three coats took a long time but it ended up laying down real nice.
08-FEB-2014
Cover panels
Now that the cage is complete there are a few things that I need to complete on the tub and body before I do a final sand for the paint. One of the items is to relocate my 6x9 speakers because where the holes for the speakers are now they fall right behind the B pillar of the cage and I would have a hard time fitting them between the body and the tube of the B pillar.
My thought is to cut a new 6x9 hole that is out of the way of the roll cage tube and easy to install once the cage is back in the Jeepster. I will weld the new cutout piece in the old 6x9 hole and I will make some aluminum panels that will cover the complete area.
08-FEB-2014
Both panels complete
I made some paper patterns and laid them out on the aluminum. After they were cut out I figured out where the new speaker holes were going to be located so that they would clear the roll cage tube.
08-FEB-2014
Ready to mount panel
After a final fit and sanding of the edges the panels are ready to mount into place.
08-FEB-2014
Fasteners to hold panels
I decided to install nutserts in the tub to hold the panels firmly in place. I was going to just pop rivet the panels in place but I figured that rivets might come loose and start to rattle.
08-FEB-2014
Front speaker holes
I am installing some 5 1/4" front speakers to round off my little sound system so I decided to make some aluminum panels for the fronts as well.
08-FEB-2014
Front panels done
Almost ready to fasten on, nutserts set, and speaker holes are cut. One more final touch to do to them and they will be ready to go.
Testing the material thickness
I wanted to do a couple test beads on this 18ga aluminum before tackling the completed panels.
09-FEB-2014
Front speaker panels
I was able to finish both front speaker panels, mount them, and get the speakers mounted. After I spray the tub the panels will go in very easy.
09-FEB-2014
Rear speaker panels
The rear speaker panels are complete and mounted. I will need to pick up some shorter hardware for a couple of the mounting holes but all in all the turned out as I planned them.
08-FEB-2014
Rear fender well openings
I am planning on opening up my rear fenders for future larger tires and linked suspension so that I don't have to cut them later after the Jeep is painted. It is going to be some extensive work on the inner tub fender well after the fender is cut.
I will top them off with tube flares.
10-FEB-2014
Cutting the rear fenders
I used this trick Milwaukee metal saw to cut my fender wells. This saw cuts the thin body sheet metal like butter but it also cuts 1/4" thick steel plate petty easy as well!
10-FEB-2014
Rear fenders opened up
I cut the rear fenders with nice big openings so I won't have to worry about any rubbing now or in the future. I am only running 35" tires now but will eventually go up to 37's or 38's when I link the suspension in the future. After the body is painted I don't want to have to come back and cut the sheet metal because of tire rub.
I now have some sheet metal work to do on the inner fender wells.
12-FEB-2014
Inner wheel well removed
I drilled out the spot welds and cut out the rear section of the wheel well to make room for the new sheet metal. The new sheet metal will follow the contour of the new fender cutout. Since the old fender cutout was round, it had to go!
12-FEB-2014
A view of a big hole!
This view shows the sheet metal work that will need to be done to fill the new larger opening in the fender.
12-FEB-2014
New pieces cut for wheel wells
Now comes the task of bending and molding these pieces of sheet metal into shape so that they fit the inner wheel wells tightly with no gaps.
13-FEB-2014
Bending the radius
After making the pattern for the wheel wells, I used the rods on my bead roller to bend the radius in the 16 gauge sheet metal to match the paper pattern. Using the rods allowed me to actually roll and form the sheet metal to the correct radius that matched my pattern perfectly.
13-FEB-2014
Both fender wells bent
Now the fun begins! I need to bend a flange all along the outer edge on the fender side, this will allow me to weld it to the body. Intersecting the vertical section of the wheel well is going to be a slight challenge to say the least.
16-FEB-2014
Wheel well sheet metal
I was able to finish the wheel wells for both sides. I bent all of the mounting flanges and rolled a couple grooves for a little strength and to match the OEM front half of the wheel well.
16-FEB-2014
Patterns for sides
I made some patterns board out of poster board and then laid them out on the sheet metal to be cut out with the power shears. These had a tricky design to make everything match up.
16-FEB-2014
Both side pieces bent
I had to match the same angle as the OEM wheel well sides so into the brake they went!
16-FEB-2014
The right angle bent
I bent the side metal to match the existing wheel well angle.
16-FEB-2014
Test fit of the sides
I fine tuned the the sides with a little grinding to get them to fit just right.
16-FEB-2014
Side tacked in
I shaped and flanged the main cover to fit the side and the fender side. I drilled all the flanges to able to spot weld all the pieces together.
16-FEB-2014
All welding complete
I finished putting together and welding both sides complete.
16-FEB-2014
Wheel wells finished
The wheel wells turned out good. They are really strong and solid and shouldn't interfere with anything.
16-FEB-2014
Larger and wider wheel wells done!
I thought that by cutting the rear fender openings as big as I did that I was going to have a huge problem with the wheel wells. It actually wasn't that big a deal to get them covered and looking halfway decent.
Now I have a little bit of body work to do because of the welding heat but that shouldn't be too much work.
17-FEB-2014
Wheel wells primed
After a little smoothing with the flapper wheel I primed both wheel wells top and bottom with epoxy primer.
17-FEB-2014
Primed wheel wells
After these are good and dry, I'll hit them with some sand paper and then use seam sealer on all of the joints to help keep the water out and prevent any corrosion.
22-FEB-2014
Tabs welded in for aluminum sides
Now that my wheel well modification is complete I was able to weld some mounting tabs to the rear fender area to use to secure some aluminum panels.
22-FEB-2014
Bead lines drawn out
I followed the contour of the wheel well cut outs for my bead pattern.
22-FEB-2014
Rolling the beads
It's pretty awkward to crank the handle of the bead roller and feed such a large piece through the rollers. Unfortunately everyone at my house was gone so I couldn't get any help to turn the handle.
22-FEB-2014
Both panels complete with beads
I was able to roll the beads in both panels, not perfect but pretty good for the ol' Jeepster!
Drilled and fitted panels
Both panels are complete with all holes drilled and all nutserts set in place.
22-FEB-2014
Just need to cut a hole for the gas filler
I still need to cut a hole for the filler tube and then box the tube in with some aluminum. This is something I can do after the tub is painted and the cage is back in. My main objective was to get the mounting tabs welded in and the panels made.
23-Feb-2014
Huge fuel tank
Something that is in great need of a modification is my fuel tank. There are a few problems wrong with it, it's huge, it's heavy, it hangs lower than i want it to, and it sits high against the body.
Part of the issue is that the previous owner installed a funky body lift made of 2" square tubing. I don't want the body sitting that high and would like to drop the body a bit but the problem is that the tank was built after the body lift was installed. The body sits just a fraction of an inch above the sending unit therefore removing the 2" spacers would make the body sit on the tank so modifying the tank needs to be done.
23-Feb-2014
Getting ready to cut the tank
I marked lines all around the tank to cut out 1.75" of metal to drop the top of the tank down. My suction line, return line, and fill nozzle will have to be modified as well to make this tank shortening work.
23-Feb-2014
Almost ready to cut
After marking the tank for cutting, I sucked out the 3 gallons of fuel that was in it and filled the tank with Simple Green and water, twice! It's a little scary to start cutting on a gas tank not knowing if it's going to blow up from the sparks caused by the cutting blade! Once I was certain that the fumes were gone I cut the tank with my Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw.
23-Feb-2014
Top of tank cut off
After cutting the top of the tank off I see why the tank weighs a ton, the whole tank was built with 1/8" steel plate with an 1/8" baffle and and 1/8" thick skid plate!
23-Feb-2014
Suction reservoir
The suction tube was bent over and down to the lowest point in the tank to a reservoir. Unfortunately the builder used a piece of EMT as a suction line so I definitely wasn't going to reuse the EMT tube again. I bought some1/2" tube and a fitting that will weld into the tank that has threads to attach the line from the fuel pump instead of using rubber hose and clamps.
I was thinking about cutting some of the depth out of the tank so it doesn't hang down so far but I'm going to run it as it is for now and change it later or build a new tank later.
26-Feb-2014
Modifying the fill nozzle
Because I lowered the top of the tank, my existing fill nozzle rested on my frame. So I cut the old nozzle off and relocated the new nozzle tube forward a few inches and a little higher. Now the tube sits above the frame with adequate space to attach my filler hose.
01-Mar-2014
Tank welded back together
After taking out almost 2" out of the height of the tank and making new suction and return lines I welded everything back together.
01-Mar-2014
New suction and retun line bungs
I ran a new suction line as well as a new return ine inside the tank. I welded some fittings on the end of the tubes that will accept a threaded fitting to be used from the fuel pump and the return line back from the TBI manifold. The previous owner just had tubing that such out of the tank and used rubber hose with a hose clamp. One of these was the cause of a fuel leak coming out of the fuel pump.
28-Feb-2014
Free steel!
I always like free stuff so I was more than happy to come across some 1/8" steel plate that I will be needing for boxing in the rear sections of my frame.
28-Feb-2014
Patterns made and laid out
I made some patterns for each side of my frame and laid them out on the steel to be cut out. I needed 41" in length so the 2' x 5' piece that was given to me was more than adequate for what I needed.
The Jeepster frame is already boxed in all the way back to the rear spring hangers then it is open to the rear of the vehicle. Boxing the rear of the frame will add some strength to the frame. Since I will be installing a shorter rear spring I will need to build a spring support that will be welded further forward where the frame is not boxed. This modification will give me the strength needed to support the new spring hanger.
07-MAR-2014
Rear Frame boxed
I welded the 1/8" material in place on both sides of the frame. Now when I move the rear spring hangers the rear section of the frame will be much stronger to accept the new hanger location.
07-MAR-2014
Boxed rear
I made some cuts in the material to be able to access the welded nuts that hold in the tank if needed down the road.
09-Mar-2014
Rusty black engine
My engine is really bad appearance wise, it seemed to run okay but I know a tuneup and some fine tuning will be in order once I get everything back together. I know that I will need to address the black rusty paint because I don't want to leave it like this after everything else is painted.
09-Mar-2014
More black and rust
Just another view of how bad the engine is.
12-Mar-2014
Bad oil pan paint
Aside from the paint being so bad, the bottom of the pan is bashed in from the previous owner bouncing off rocks. I'll have to remove the pan and pound the bottom back out.
Another reason the the bad running engine might be the problem of the fitting that the knock sensor screws into is completely plugged up with rusty sludge!
12-Mar-2014
Motor almost ready for paint
I scraped, wire brushed, and used rust remover to get the engine ready for paint.
12-Mar-2014
Engine ready for paint
I just need to support the engine so that I can remove the motor mounts and spray the new engine paint. I am going to use an engine paint that is impregnated with ceramic beads and also uses a hardener for good durability and fast drying.
I will be shooting my firewall after I shoot the engine. My firewall was a mess as well with a thick sort of undercoating that took me forever to remove.
26-Mar-2014
Rusted motor mounts
The motor mounts are in pretty bad shape. I will bead blast and powder coat them, then install them with new hardware and rubber pads.
26-Mar-2014
Motor mount in need of attention
I was able to find the new isolation rubbers online and I picked up some new grade 8 hardware for all of the mounting bolts.
19-Mar-2014
Engine and firewall painted
I used a two part engine paint that is impregnated with ceramic beads so it should be a long lasting paint plus it looks way better than that black rust that was on the motor. I chose a newer Chevy blue instead of the standard black. I almost went with old Chevy orange but I liked the idea of the blue better.
27-Apr-2014
Oil pan dents pounded out and painted
The previous owner must have done a bunch of rock bouncing on the oil pan because it was pretty beat up. I pounded out the dents from the bottom of the oil pan and shot it with a few coats of the blue engine paint.
06-May-2014
Old oil pump
Since I had the oil pan off to paint it up, I installed a new high volume oil pump before I reinstalled the pan.
29-Mar-2014
Front spring hangers in need of help
These spring hangers are a mess, I was thinking that I would just leave them and change it all down the road when I decide to link the suspension but I just couldn't stand it. The welds look really bad and the winch plate is welded to them as well. It is pretty hacked up.
29-Mar-2014
A bunch of metal stacked
There is metal stacked and welds that look like bubble gum so it all has to go!
06-APR-2014
Bad parts stripped
All of the excess metal and bad welds were stripped to reveal a decent frame.
06-APR-2014
Stripped and cleaned
This shows where the previous owner welded the spring hangers back further than they should be. At least that's what I believe because the wheelbase.is shorter than what it should be from the factory.
06-APR-2014
Old winch plate
Here is the old winch plate and heavy plate that were welded to the front end.
06-APR-2014
Stacked garbage mounts
There was way too much metal welded and stacked for the spring hanger brackets. This is the reason that it had to go!
09-Apr-2014
Fixing the front spring hangers
Since I needed to fix the spring hangers I decided to move the front axle forward a couple of inches. After measuring numerous times I ended up moving the axle froward 2 1/4".
15-Apr-2014
New spring hangers complete
The new spring hangers are welded, drilled, and bolted in place. Much more clean than the mess that was there before.
I redesigned the hangers without all the extra metal and the design is now good and strong. The side plates are being held to the frame with three 5/8" grade 8 bolts. The winch plate will also use these heavy bolts as a mounting platform.
16-Apr-2014
Both sides complete
To tie everything together I added some strength between the two spring hangers with a piece of 1 3/4" .120 wall DOM tube.
17-APR-2014
New mounts bolted with bumper mounts
Another view with the bolts buttoned up, cross brace, frame support, and bumper stubs installed.
17-APR-2014
Bumper mounts
I installed some flat bar stubs to be used as mounts that will be welded to the front bumper. I welded the nuts to the flat bar because getting a wrench on the nuts will be nearly impossible.
17-APR-2014
Bolted up solid
All of the grade 8 mounting hardware installed with the 1/2" x 2 1/2" flat bar stubs for the front bumper.
17-APR-2014
Close up of frame brace
This bracket ties in the hanger with the frame which in turn boxes in the frame for strength.
19-APR-2014
Cross brace
The cross brace tube gives the spring hangers great lateral strength by tying the two hangers together.
I cleaned up the steering box and remounted it with grade 8 hardware.
19-APR-2014
Steering box protection
The tube brace that provides solid strength between the two spring hangers will also be protection for the steering box.
09-Apr-2014
Shackle hangers
I picked up a couple sets of shackle hangers from Barnes. They are pretty heavy duty and come with the bushing and sleeve. All you have to do is weld them up. I also drilled and tapped mine for a zerk fitting.
16-Apr-2014
Shackle hanger welded in place
After tring to put some extra weight on the front end, I found the location to weld the shackle hangers to the frame. After measuring both sides I ran a hot root pass and then a cover pass on the driver and passenger hangers.
16-Apr-2014
Ready for shackles
Once the paint on the shackles is dried then everything can be bolted back together.
17-APR-2014
Passenger side complete
The shackles are all greased up, bolts are tightened, and the weight of the Jeep is on the springs.
17-APR-2014
Drivers side complete
Now that both sides are complete it on to tackling the rear!
05-APR-2014
Frame reinforcements
The frame had cracks on the inside where the mounts bolted to so I welded all those up. Then I made plates to strengthen to outside of the frame.
05-APR-2014
Blasted and powder coated
With the motor painted and the motor mounted refreshed, it was time to bolt it all up.
06-APR-2014
New motor mount rubber
The old rubber mounts were wasted so new rubber was installed along with all new hardware.
06-APR-2014
Motor mounts installed
With the mounts having new rubber I'm hoping that they will last me a few years!
05-APR-2014
Brake booster painted and mounted
I painted the brake booster and master cylinder so tha I could get hem mounted. I used an oil/chemical resistant paint on the master cylinder and water pump.
05-APR-2014
Water pump installed
My water pump was fairly new so I cleaned it up and shot it with master cylinder paint from Eastwood.
05-APR-2014
Ready for assembly
Everything is painted and ready for assembly. But first the motor mounts will need to be addressed.
05-APR-2014
Rebuilt TBI
I rebuilt my TBI and mounted it to a new Performer manifold. I also blasted and powder coated all of the brackets that bolt to the manifold.
05-APR-2014
Cleaned and ready to go
The TBI cleaned up real nice, I did a couple modifications to the intake horns for a little better air flow. I also added a fitting with a fuel pressure gauge.
27-APR-2014
Motor coming together
I started bolting all of the components back on the motor.
27-APR-2014
Starting to look like an engine again!
I like this kind of assembly, it makes everything come together.
27-APR-2014
Engine compartment filling up
All of my powder coated and painted parts have been waiting for this part of the build.
27-APR-2014
Big alternator
I picked up this big 140 amp alternator to replace the stock small alternator from the junkyard for 25 bucks. These big alternators came in the big Buicks and in the Cadillac STS cars.
The problem is that it size is much bigger than the stock alternator so a slight alteration will have to be made.
27-APR-2014
Front view of bracket
A front view of the bracket shows the slimness of the design so the bracket won't be in the way of anything.
27-APR-2014
New alternator bracket
I cut one mounting ear off of the factory bracket and made part to make a new bracket. Luckily one factory mount works and lines up the alternator perfectly for the serpentine belt.
27-APR-2014
Welded alternator bracket
I tacked the bracket in place and then pulled it off to finish welding it.
27-APR-2014
Cut AC bracket
I am replacing the round AC compressor with a big New York compressor so that I will have an onboard air system. The York compressor doesn't come close to fitting so I cut a big portion of the factory mount off. Hey bracket will have to be fabricated to fit in the existing AC mount location.
29-APR-2014
Alternator and compressor brackets
Both brackets for the alternator and onboard air complete and bead blasted.
29-APR-2014
Alternator and compressor brackets powder coated
Both brackets powder coated and ready to install.
29-APR-2014
Streamlined factory bracket
The bottom portion of the factory bracket had an area for some sort of emissions pump that was not being used so I cut it up to make the bracket look a little better and get rid of the portion of the bracket that was not being used.
29-APR-2014
Alternator bracket
The new alternator bracket mounted and both up tight is a good fit and hold the alternator in place firmly. With the addition of the York compressor and this larger alternator, a longer belt is a must.
29-APR-2014
York on-board air compressor
The bracket was a perfect fit for the big York air compressor. I've mounted it vertical so that when the compressor is used no oil will get into the air.
One problem with this modification is that the pulley diameter is larger on the York compressor as compared to the factory AC compressor so a longer belt will have to be used.
Tall valve covers
I knew that i didn't want to put the OEM valve cover back on. I came across these valve covers pretty cheap but they are really tall and was unsure if they would fit. After installing them I found that they were very close to the bottom of the brake booster and were going to hit the alternator and York compressor.
So now it was a matter of making them fit with the other components.
01-MAY-2014
Chopping the valve covers
In order to make the valve covers work I needed to shorten them by 1 1/4" to clear the brake booster and some other clearance work would be needed to clear the alternator.
01-May-2014
Shortened and ready to weld
I used the Milwaukee saw to cut the valve covers nice and straight. Now it's just a matter of welding these 1/16" thick valve covers back together.
01-May-2014
Valve covers welded back together
I welded the valve covers back together but fought the cheap Chinese aluminum the whole time I was welding! This was probably the dirtiest aluminum I have ever welded.
11-MAY-2014
Clearance for the alternator
I needed to make some room on this valve cover for the alternator so I threw this on the band saw and made a cut. I bent a piece of aluminum to 90° the cut it to size and welded it in place.
29-APR-2014
Headers wrapped
I had my headers ceramic coated and got rid of all of the rust. I wrapped them with the high heat "lava" wrap to try and keep some of the under hood temps down.
27-Apr-2014
Plug wire separators
I blasted and powder coated the spark plug separators that came on the motor. They're we're in pretty good shape other than the thick coat of grease and dirt on the aluminum.
27-Apr-2014
One of my favorite colors
I really like this color and texture of powder, it flows good in the oven and looks good with a clear powder on top.
01-May-2014
Headers installed
Headers are now installed and I can see that running the exhaust is going to be a pain in the butt because it is real tight under there!
15-MAY-2014
Motor together
The repaired valve covers are installed, I dropped the distributor in, installed the spark plugs, installed the wire separators, and I ran the new plug wires.
15-MAY-2014
Looks like a motor again....
...just cleaner!
I had to find a slightly longer serpentine belt to fit over the new York compressor and the taller alternator. The modification of the valve cover to clear the alternator is seen from this side.
03-MAY-2014
Ugly ear spring hangers
These hangers were "beefed up" by the previous owner but it looks like his six year old kid may have done the welding!
Next on the list is to fix the rear suspension. I'm going to use some YJ rear 4" lift springs in place of the old wore out Commando springs. I am also going the move the rear axle back about 3" which will center the rear tire in the newly opened wheel well.
03-MAY-2014
More ugliness!
This was another attempt at trying to help the weak OEM spring hangers. I won't be keeping these for the new YJ springs, I will be building some new spring hangers for the YJ springs.
Did I mention that the YJ springs are about 10 inches shorter?
03-MAY-2014
Off with the axle
Dropping the axle for the spring replacement
03-MAY-2014
Axle out and ready to strip
The axle is actually in pretty good condition with just a little road grime. I am going to cut off the spring perches and inboard the rear springs slightly.
04-MAY-2014
New spring perches
I'm only going to inboard the springs slightly which should improve the rear spring movement while driving offroad plus I am changing the u-bolt setup to give me better clearance and will need the extra room to mount the rear shocks.
03-MAY-2014
Spring hangers cut off
I cut off all of the spring and shackle hangers and cleaned up the frame.
19-APR-2014
New spring hangers
I am using some 1/4" plate and some Barnes hangers for the front of the springs. I drilled the plate and plug welded the hangers to the plate for some added strength.
19-APR-2014
Plug welds complete
The plug welds are just a little extra strength for the hangers.
19-APR-2014
Ready for welding
With the plug welds complete I'm ready to weld the hangers solid.
19-APR-2014
Hangers all welded
All four of the spring and shackle hangers are welded.
The Barnes parts are top quality and inexpensive enough to not hassle making them yourself.
10-MAY-2014
Gussets cut for the hangers
I am using a mixture of gussets for the front and rear hangers. The rear shackle hangers measure out to land right on the curved section of the frame so the gussets will be the 1/4" triangles spread out over the span.
10-MAY-2014
Front hanger tacked
After measuring 100's of times I moved the mounting hole back 3" which in turn will move the axle back 3"
11-MAY-2014
Gussets welded in place
The front hangers completely welded and gussets welded in place
11-MAY-2014
Hangers in good location
The new hangers are almost in the same position as the original hangers but the spring mounting holes are further back.
10-MAY-2014
Shackle hangers welded in place
After welding the front hangers in place then tacking the perches on the axle, I put everything together and put weight in the back of the Jeep to see where the shackle hangers needed to be.
11-MAY-2014
Rear hangers and gussets
The rear shackle mounts are in the correct place and the shackle angle will work out great.
18-MAY-2014
New paint on the frame
All of the welding is complete so some black satin paint is what will be sprayed to match the front half of the frame.
18-MAY-2014
Perches welded
I took a lot of measurements and angle finding to make the pinion angle correct for a CV driveshaft. Now that I found the correct angle that my pinion needs to be, I welded the perches complete. (this was the second time I welded them)
18-MAY-2014
Change of U-bolts
Not only do the spring perches get welded on but another plate gets welded on top of the axle to accommodate the new u-bolts that are actually square and the threads are facing upwards instead of downwards so they won't get hung up on anything.
18-MAY-2014
New paint and bolted up
Paint is dry so reassembly followed. I put everything together with new grade 8 hardware.
18-MAY-2014
Shackle hangers
The black satin paint looks a lot better than the bad paint that was all over the frame.
18-MAY-2014
New U-bolt setup
Here is a close up of how the new u-bolts do not hang down to snag on things
18-MAY-2014
Rear suspension complete
Everything is all painted and bolts are all tightened. Now I'm just waiting on a couple of driveshafts.
28-May-2014
Upgraded Driveshafts
From Tatton's drive shafts, my rear heavy walled CV driveshaft and heavy walled front driveshaft with all new u-joints
Front shaft has to be small diameter to clear the automatic transmission.
10-Jun-2014
Electric fans and shroud
I'm installing electric fans that came off of a Ford Contour. These fans move a lot of air and the fit of the shroud is just about perfect to the CJ radiator.
10-Jun-2014
Almost a perfect fit
The fit of the shroud to my CJ to V8 conversion radiator is just about perfect. The shroud completely covers the radiator right up to the edges of the upper and lower tanks. The side to side fit across the radiator fits all the way to the edges. I only had to cut off a small plastic bracket on the top of the shroud to make it sit flush.
10-Jun-2014
Fan shroud brackets
I made some brackets that will weld to the grill and the shroud will bolt up to the brackets
10-Jun-2014
Brackets tacked in place
I made sure that the placement was correct and tacked all four brackets in place.
10-Jun-2014
Tacked brackets
Another view of the brackets tacked in place
10-Jun-2014
Shroud brackets welded in place
Once the brackets were fitted and tacked in place I removed the fans/shroud and radiator then I welded all of the brackets to the grille.
05-JUN-2014
New head pipes
I made up my head pipes today.
I used 2.5" flanges and used some mandrel bent 2.25" tube to make the head pipes. The 2.25" tubes go into a Flowmaster collector which is 2.25" inlet and 3" oulet.
05-JUN-2014
Head pipes and collector
The cross over tube from the passenger side stays high and hugs the highest point of the oil pan
05-JUN-2014
Driver side view of head pipe
Since the frame is so narrow on the Jeepsters these pipes are pretty tight up inside the frame rails.
The 3" tube will exit the collector and run along the inside of the frame rail to a supported Flowmaster muffler. The tube that exits the muffler will be 2.5".
I think that the sound should be a nice rumble but I'm hoping that it won't be too loud and annoying!
17-Jun-2014
I added a "safety" to my hood
Since I used a CJ grille on the front clip I decided that I would add the extra safety feature of a hood latch. You never know when there is that time when you dummy up and forget to latch the hood latches!
17-Jun-2014
A slot is needed
I drilled a couple 1/4" holes and then used a die grinder with a 1/16" wheel to make the needed slot for the CJ hood latch.
15-Jun-2014
Head pipe coated and installed
I had my head pipe ceramic coated just as I had my headers coated. I installed some header flange gaskets that are "supposed" to not leak.
15-Jun-2014
Top view of head pipe
Here's a top view from the driver's side of the head pipe installed. A new bung was welded on to accommodate a new three wire O2 sensor. The head pipe collector hugs the frame nicely as it opens up into a big 3" exit.
15-Jun-2014
3" collector back to the muffler
I had a piece of 3" aluminized expanded to slide over the 3" collector and a nice wide stainless steel clamp will keep it tied together.
15-Jun-2014
3" tube back to my muffler
The 3" tube is about 40" long and it hugs the frame rail nice and tight all the way back to the muffler.
15-Jun-2014
Another view of the 3"
Here's a view from the back showing how the 3" tube hugs the frame rail all the way back.
15-Jun-2014
Muffler hanger
I used some rod and rubber style mounts to hang the bumper because this is a strong type of hanger and should last pretty good. I used two mounts to hold the muffler in place and welded them to a 1/4" piece of flat bar bent to the contour of the frame cross member then bolted in place.
15-Jun-2014
Pretty tight in the back
The muffler is slightly turned to get it up high and to clear the rear driveshaft.
22-JUN-2014
Battery box
Since I am going to run two batteries, I picked up a battery box from Ballistic that should suit my needs well.
22-JUN-2014
Support brackets
I needed to make some supports to support the weight of two batteries. I tied into the backing brackets for the new heater that I made when I made the new brackets for the heater.
22-JUN-2014
Battery box installed
After installing the battery box and then installing the batteries in the box, I found that more support was needed to prevent the battery box moving excessively while on the trail and eventually cracking.
If the Jeep were to only be driven on the street then the mount would be fine but any bouncing off the beaten trail would stress the mount so a design to strengthen the mount is a must.
22-JUN-2014
Upper support brackets
Adding a support bar on the side of the box that bolts to the body made the box not move at all. I went one step further and added a support bracket that comes off of the lid of the battery box.
22-JUN-2014
Battery box ready for powdercoating
After a test fit with both batteries the box is rock solid. Unfortunately the box is too large to fit into my powdercoat oven so I will contact a friend that has a powdercoat shop and have it coated there.
22-JUN-2014
Lots of support brackets
Another view of the completed battery box.
22-JUN-2014
Front shock hoops
I made some progress on mounting my front shocks by making some shock hoops and a cross support that ties both hoops together.
22-JUN-2014
Drivers side view of shock hoops
This design ties into the frame and is slightly offset in the front to clear the grille and radiator.
22-JUN-2014
Flange couplers
In welded in some flange couplers so that if needed I can remove the cross support bar.
22-JUN-2014
Fenders and grille back on
The shock hoops and support have ample clearance with the fenders as well as hood clearance.
22-JUN-2014
Nice fit
The support bar fits around the top of the York pulley and alternator pulley nicely.
22-JUN-2014
Drivers side clearance
My steering shaft has good clearance between the motor mount and the shock hoop. I cut the inner fender wells of my fenders to give me clearance for the shock hoops. I also needed to make sure that I had enough clearance for the power steering lines.
22-JUN-2014
Passenger side clearance
I didn't have clearance issues on the passenger side with the exception of the grille and radiator which was compensated for on the drivers side so I just matched the design on the passenger side.
22-JUN-2014
Front view of hoop support
This shows the support bar hugging the top of the pulleys on the York compressor and alternator.
22-JUN-2014
Side view of cross support
This view shows the position of the hoop support bar in relation to the compressor and alternator.
15-Jul-2014
Getting ready to cut some holes
Installing some vents in the hood require some good sized holes to be cut in the hood.
Measure twice then measure again!
I will use a jigsaw to cut the holes out, so I'm using a stepper bit to open a couple holes for the blade.
15-Jul-2014
Marked, taped, and drilled
The holes are ready to be cut. I masked the area so that the primer won't get scratched during the cutting of the holes.
16-JUL-2014
Vent mounts welded
I welded some 3/16" x 1/2" flat bar to some 1/2" square tube. These will be drilled and tapped to hold the vents in place.
16-JUL-2014
Both vent holes complete
With both sides welded in place I can drill and tap the holes for 10-32 machine screws.
16-JUL-2014
Vent holes from the top
I was a big step for me to cut big holes in my hood that already had a ton of work done to it but I knew that I wanted some sort of ventilation and I like the look of these hood vents.
17-JUL-2014
Hood vents installed
The hood vents fit perfectly and pull down nice and tight against the slight contour of the hood.
17-JUL-2014
Bottom side of vents
This picture shows the six holes with the machine screws in place holding the vents. I used seam sealer (because it's strong) to hold the short 1/2" tube to the hood but it will be sandwiched between the hood and vent by the six machine screws.
17-JUL-2014
Option to add sheet metal
With the way I mounted the vents it leaves me the option to add a sheet metal "tray" to catch water in the event of rain or even just washing the Jeep. Just a thought to keep the water off of the engine and keep the engine bay clean.
06-Jul-2014
Spraying clear under the sunshade
My satin black paint wasn't holding up too well so I ended up having to shoot the cage with glossy clear.
06-Jul-2014
New "shiny" clear coat
The clear coat layed down pretty nice and has a good shine to it.
24-Jun-2014
Carbon fiber clamped in place
I decided to install some carbon fiber covers over the "high traffic" areas of my cage to protect the paint from getting to messed up with daily abuse.
After cutting and fitting the carbon fiber pieces it was time to lay out the mounting holes to drill and tap.
06-Jul-2014
Drilled and tapping holes
I drilled some holes and tapped them for 6-32 machine screws.
19-JUL-2014
Passenger side lower tube
The carbon fiber tube cover spans the whole entrance which will protect the paint from people getting in and out of the Jeep as well as the occasional drop of the seat belt buckle.
19-JUL-2014
Drivers side entrance tube
The carbon fiber cover spans the whole length of the tube.
19-JUL-2014
Cut out for a good fit
On the passenger and driver side entrance tubes I needed to cut the carbon fiber at the notched intersection of the lower tubes for a good fit.
19-JUL-2014
Protection for the back
This shows the climb over tube cover along with the foot covers for the rear passengers.
19-JUL-2014
Foot protection
This shows the view from the back when sitting in the back seat. The lower tubes will be used for foot rests when seated in the rear seat so covers seemed like a necessity here.
19-JUL-2014
Cross bar cover
This tube is the main tube that will be stood on to get into the rear seat so a cover was definitely needed here!
09-Jul-2014
Sun clistening fibers
I love the look of carbon fiber so the addition of the protection covers was an easy decision to install. Aside from looking great they provide some good protection for the paint on the cage.
10-Aug-2014
Butterscotch Gold shot on the interior
I FINALLY was able to shoot some color on the Jeepster!
10-Aug-2014
Interior paint
The painting went pretty well and the clear laid down nice
10-Aug-2014
Pretty bright orange!
I guess that I was used to seeing the gray primer for so long. In the direct sun this stuff is really bright.
10-Aug-2014
Different color in the shade
This color has a couple different effects in the shade and in the sun
10-Aug-2014
Dash sprayed
I was going to shoot the dash separately because I used a different clear on the dash but shooting the whole interior at the same time just made sense. The clear went on well with no problems.
10-Aug-2014
Color is great
I'm really happy that I chose to go with the original color
10-Aug-2014
Close up of the dash
I had a lot of my neighbors come by to compliment me on the color. The dash came out pretty good.
17-Aug-2014
Grille, hood, and doors
The grille and doors came out pretty good but I got a few specks of junk in th hood.
17-Aug-2014
Almost too hot to paint
The day I shot these parts the weather was pretty warm, pushing the upper 80's. The base coat and the clear coat didn't flow as I would have liked them to but I made some adjustments and made it work.
17-Aug-2014
My backyard paint booth
The shade of my EZ-Ups and tarps made the high summer heat a little better to spray in.
18-Aug-2014
The hood has a great finish
After color sanding and buffing of course! I was able to sand out the specs of dust and tone down the fisheyes by starting with 1200 grit paper then 1500, 2000, 2500, and finishing it off with 3000 grit.
18-Aug-2014
Happy with the hood
After color sanding and buffing the hood the specks of junk are gone and the hood has a great shine to it.
18-Aug-2014
Nice shine after buff
The shine of the hood is really nice, almost too nice for a jeep that is going to get all scratched up!
24-Aug-2014
Front fenders complete
I was able to shoot the front fenders and get them both done.
Both fenders turned out really good and I'm super happy with the final look.
I really cut the heck out of the fenders and was unsure about how they would look. Now with paint on them, they look great
24-Aug-2014
Front fender paint laid down better
The weather was not quite as hot as when I shot the hood, grille, and doors. The paint and the clear coat flowed better and laid down nicely.
31-Aug-2014
Body paint finally done
After almost two and a half years I finally have nice fresh paint on the tube and body.
31-Aug-2014
Panels look pretty straight
Now that nice shiny paint is on the body I'm able to check out all of the bodywork that I did on the panels. Everything looks pretty straight.
31-Aug-2014
I love the Butterscotch Gold paint
I'm really happy that I decided to go with the original factory color instead of one of the many other colors I came up with. The color really makes the Jeep pop especially in the sunlight.
02-Sep-2014
Doors color sanded and bufffed
The paint actually came out better than I intended it to! Way better than needed for a deep that will be used off-road and getting all scratched up.
03-Sep-2014
Hood completely buffed
I finished color sanding all of the body parts including the body all the way down to 3000 grit and then buffed out all of the parts. Everything has a great deep shine.
06-Sep-2014
Unusual reflection
This is what I see when I look in the driveway now.
06-Sep-2014
This is what the reflection is from
My body is now straighter than I intended it to be and the paint shines way better than I ever thought it would!
06-Sep-2014
This is what I see from the other side
Just really liking how this paint job came out.
06-Sep-2014
Other side of body
Im just amazed at how nice the paint turned out, it's really too nice for this old Jeepster.
06-Sep-2014
Mixing some gray bedliner
After researching all of the DIY bedliners out there, I chose to go with Monstaliner. Their product seemed to be what I was looking for and they have a great shade of gray!
07-Sep-2014
Liner in tub complete
I installed a medium gray bed liner material instead of the traditional black. From everything I have read, black seems to be hot for the interior of the tub so I'm hoping that gray is going to be somewhat cooler than black.
07-Sep-2014
Bedliner protection
I have the Monstaliner in most of the tub and the protection should be great.
07-Sep-2014
Tailgate complete
I put some bedliner on the tailgate for a little protection.
07-Sep-2014
Under the hood
Since the underside of my hood had some kind of coating that was all messed up, I decided to used the Monstaliner under the hood to finish it off.
07-Sep-2014
Hump cover
The hump cover got some Monstaliner treatment too!
07-Sep-2014
Monstaliner on firewall
I had to have some where to stop with the liner because I need to bolt a bunch of stuff under the dash and I wanted some of the paint color to show through.
07-Sep-2014
Interior going back together
Now that the liner is dry I am able to start putting some of the interior panels together. These panels need to go in befor the cage goes back in
07-Sep-2014
Aluminum panels
The rear panels are in with the exception of the drivers side rear panel. I need to cut the opening for the gas fill.
07-Sep-2014
Front speaker panels
The front speaker panels are bolted in place.
13-Sep-2014
Cage back in!
I recruited a handful of my friends to come over and give me a hand moving the cage out of my back yard, over a fence, and down an incline. Once we made it past all of that, it slid into the Jeep like butter.
Having six other guys there to help me made re-installing the cage very easy.
13-Sep-2014
Looking like a vehicle again!
Now with the cage back in the Jeepster it's starting to look like a vehicle again.
13-Sep-2014
Getting closer to completion
Now that the cage is back in the Jeep I can start the re-assembly of everything that on and around it.
14-Sep-2014
Backing plates installed
After I installed the cage I realized that the horizontal cage bar in he back went right across the mounting screws for the rear aluminum panels. The problem is that I was putting off some backing plating that I needed to install until after the cage was installed, so with this new problem I needed to take care of this before I bolt the cage down to the floor.
I had to take out all of the cage mounting bolts and lift the back of the cage up about 2 1/2" to access the mounting screws on the rear panels.
I used some 1/8" cold rolled steel plate to be used as backing plates for some tube flares that I will be building. Once they were made, I painted them and then sealed them to the inside of the body using pop rivets to hold the plates firmly in place.
It wasn't much fun drilling thru my rear fenders right into the new paint! Once I build the flares the rivets will be removed and replaced with mounting bolts.
14-Sep-2014
Sound deadening
I used a little sound deadening material to try and keep rattles down. I know it's a Jeep but a little less rattle in the rattle department is always good
14-Sep-2014
Both sets of backing plates done
Both sides are complete and sound deadened.
14-Sep-2014
More sound deadening
I installed some mat on the aluminum panels to stop the tinny sound that comes from panels like this.
14-Sep-2014
New body mounts
Now that the frame is all painted I can remove the old worn rubber body mounts and be done with the 1 1/2" body lift. I machined some 1/2" thick body washers that will actually give the body 1/2" spacing.
Tonight I removed all of the old junk and all of this new hardware was installed with some new grade 8 mounting bolts. The body is now buttoned up tight and I can now mount the fenders and grille.
09-Sep-2014
Bolting on some accessories
This is the fun part, bolting on all of the little accessories that were planned throughout the build.
18-SEP-2014
Closeup of Dually LED light
These little lights put out some decent light These little LED's put out a good amount of light. This was one way to fill in the hole where the old CJ blinker used to go and will be a nice addition to the grille. These lights have a nice look besides a great flush mounting.
18-SEP-2014
Coming together
It's nice to be bolting parts on the Jeep that are now permanent!
18-SEP-2014
Headlight buckets installed
These were the buckets that came with my CJ grille. They were actually in pretty good condition so I cleaned the dirt off them and scuffed the little surface rust off. I then gave them a quick couple coats of spray galvanize, let them dry, lubed up the adjusting screws and mounted them with new stainless hardware.
18-SEP-2014
Headlights getting updated
My headlights are getting a little updating by installing a set of 5K bright white HID bulbs.
18-SEP-2014
Bulb comparison
Really there is no comparison!
The HID bulbs are extremely brighter than these halogen bulbs that were in the Jeep when I got it. Plus the bright white color makes them even brighter.
18-SEP-2014
Big ballasts
Well not really big as compared to the larger ballasts that used to be on the market just a few years ago, but these are BIG with power pushing 55watts to the bulbs! These are going to be bright.
I love lights, especially bright lights!
18-SEP-2014
Starting to look like a Jeepster
I sure like putting things back together. Now the problem is finding all those bags of hardware that I originally bought to put everything together with.
18-SEP-2014
Grille almost complete
After the headlight buckets, headlights, and rings were installed the grille almost looks complete!
Assembly of doors
I'm now able to start assembling all of the hardware on the doors. These are the hinge backing plates..
20-Sep-2014
Door hinge and backing plates
This is a different view of the hinge and backing plate mounted to the door.
20-Sep-2014
Door hinges mounted to doors
Now that the backing plates are mounted and Locktited to doors I was able to mount the new hinges to the doors with some 3/8" hardware.
20-Sep-2014
Door hinges mounted
These new style door hinges are very strong because of the strong backing plates mounted inside of the doors.
20-Sep-2014
Hinges bolted to jambs
After chasing all of the mounting holes with a tap to remove the orange paint, I was able to attach the female side of the door hinges to the tub.
20-Sep-2014
All mating hinges mounted
All of the hinges are mounted and just need the bronze bearings inserted and to be adjusted.
20-Sep-2014
Strike jamb latches mounted
After chasing the theads to get rid of the new paint I mounted all of the strike jamb latches.
21-Sep-2014
Doors hung and adjusted
I was able to get both doors hung and adjust all of the hinges. I still need to adjust the door latches.
22-Sep-2014
Some rubber edging will be added
Im installing some U shaped rubber ending all around the edge of the shroud to protect the aluminum radiator from the hard plastic of the shroud. The shroud actually sits slightly back from the radiator but you never know what starts bouncing and grinding on a bumpy road.
22-Sep-2014
Rubber edging glued on shroud
After fitting the U-channel rubber to the shroud I squirted some glue inside the channel, stuck it on, and taped it in place.
25-Sep-2014
Radiator bolted in
After a little minor adjustment on one of the fan shroud brackets the radiator slipped right in and bolted up nice and tight.
25-Sep-2014
A nice fit
The radiator fits perfect in the CJ grille. I just hope that the 3 rows will keep this 350 Chevy engine cool enough!
25-Sep-2014
Teflon mounting washers
I mounted the radiator on Teflon washers to prevent the soft aluminum on the radiator mount from being right against the steel mounting nuts on the grille.
25-Sep-2014
Shroud bolted in place
The shroud fitted perfectly once I bolted in the radiator.
25-Sep-2014
Shroud clearance
With the shroud bolted in place I still have plenty of room between the motor and the fans.
The rubber edging fits nice and snug and will prevent any chaffing from the plastic shroud against the aluminum radiator.
28-Sep-2014
Seats installed!
I forgot that I needed to clean up and lubricate my seat sliders that I modified from a YJ. Once I got that done and they were working nice and freely I installed both of my seats.
28-Sep-2014
Seats, seatbelts, and shifter installed
I installed the shifter in shifter cable first to see if I was going to have problems which of course I did! My shifter cable is going to be too short. The seats and seatbelts when in nicely and everything fits great. The modified YJ seat slides that I used work perfectly and smoothly to move the seat forward or back.
28-Sep-2014
The routing of my shifter cable
The routing of the shifter cable for the Art Carr/Winters shifter is much different that the cable routing of the B&M shifter that the Jeep came with. I'm about 3 feet too short with this cable.
28-Sep-2014
Fire extinguisher installed
I was able to install my quick release extinguisher mount and the MaxOut extinguisher to the cage. When I built the cage I made two locations to mount the extinguisher but this location seemed to work out the best being tucked in and out of the way.
01-Oct-2014
Battery tray mounted
After powder coating the modified battery tray I was able to install it and the Summit heater. The new mounts on the Summit heater serve as the backing plate for the battery tray.
01-Oct-2014
Rock solid
The extra mounting brackets that I added to the battery tray make the tray extremely rigid and rock solid. I shouldn't have any problems with the tray bouncing around and breaking loose with the weight of the two batteries.
01-Oct-2014
Added support
The added support arm on the battery lid supplies major support of the battery tray.
04-Oct-2014
Bracket for battery isolator
I had to make a bracket to mount my battery isolator to and try to figure out a good place to mount it. I thought that I had plenty of room under my hood but the ore items that I add, the more I am running out of room!
04-Oct-2014
Back side of bracket
I am mounting the bracket to my battery tray and it needs to stand off from rubbing the batteries so I added a couple of tube stand-offs on the mounting holes.
06-Oct-2014
Overflow bottle mount
I'm using an overflow bottle from a Mitsubishi Montero but because the OEM mounting bracket was a huge I left it in the car. I needed to make a bracket that would work in a location that would work for me so I sketched a quick design of what I needed and cut it out of some 16ga metal that I had laying around. I made a couple of bends, welded it up, then drilled and inserted a few 1/4-20 nutserts into the grille.
06-Oct-2014
Bottle slides right on
The Mitsubishi bottle slides right on to the mount and snaps in place for a nice secure fit.
Over flow bottle bracket finished
After building the bracket I bead blasted it and powder coated it in a black wrinkle finish.
06-Oct-2014
Overflow bottle mount complete
With the bracket powder coated and mounted, the bottle is installed and all that is needed to finish is hooking up the overflow hose to the radiator. This spot ended up being a great location for my overflow bottle, tight to the grille and out of the way.
06-Oct-2014
Back view of bottle
This view shows the loction of the bottle utilizing an open space made just for the bottle.
Battery isolator bracket
After I built the isolator bracket I decided to add a bracket to hold my electronic fan control module. This way all the hook ups will be close to the batteries for minimal current loss. I also bead blasted and powder coated it in black wrinkle.
Battery isolator and fan control mounted
After powder coating the bracket I needed to pull both batteries from the tray to insert the bolts for the isolator mount. After re-installing the batteries I installed the isolator and everything fits great and secure.
Now I will need to figure out my battery cable routing and make cables.
11-Oct-2014
Support brackets and wiper motor
I sanded and painted the brackets that support the brake pedal and steering column. I also took a part the wiper motor and lubricated the motor and gears. My original motor had a broken brush holder so I swapped it out for this motor that I picked up from a member on the JCCA. I also removed the wiring and windshield water pump because I will be using a stand alone tank and pump in the engine compartment.
I also cleaned and lubricated the linkage pivot points for the arms and spindles.
11-Oct-2014
Support brackets back in place
After going thru the wiper motor and painting the brackets, they are back in place now ready for the brake system to be bolted to the firewall.
11-Oct-2014
Looking thru the gauge hole
After painting the support brackets that support the steering column, brake pedal, and the wiper motor, I put the parts in place and bolted it all together.
11-Oct-2014
I went junk yard picking today!
I have decided to change my brakes from a vacuum booster to a hydro boost system. So today my local Pick-a-Part had a half off sale on everything so I found a pretty clean 1995 Astro Van and removed the hydro boost unit. For $23 plus a $5 core charge I walked away with a pretty decent hydro boost unit that will just need a little bit of cleaning.
I will still need to figure out mounting, rod length, different master cylinder, hoses, and possilbly a proportioning valve for my rear discs.
11-Oct-2014
Cleaned hydro boost
Now that the hydro boost is clean I can figure out what I need to do to change the brake pedal rod and make to the length that it needs to be.
Cleaned and ready
This unit cleaned up really nice and almost looks new, now time to figure out mounting and hoses.
18-Oct-2014
Wiper spindles mounted
After cleaning and lubricating the wiper linkage and wiper spindles, I installed the new rubber sealing washers on the top and underside of the cowl and tightened them down tight.
18-Oct-2014
Windshield squirter
After cleaning the squirter inside and out and making sure that it squirted perfectly, I installed it with a new rubber gasket to keep the water out.
18-Oct-2014
Brake pedal and throttle pedal installed
I used some 1/4-20 nutserts in the firewall to mount the throttle pedal and then greased up the mounting bolt for the brake pedal and tightened it down.
18-Oct-2014
Heater mounted
The Summit heater is mounted but I still need to extend the inlet and outlet tubes since I changed the mounting brackets to my own design. I also need to change out the front vent cover to my new aluminum vent cover that has different outlets for my heater and defrost vents.
18-Oct-2014
Side cowl emblems
I picked up these vintage V-8 emblems that were not original equipment on this model
18-Oct-2014
Passenger side badging
V-8 emblem on passenger side lower cowl
18-Oct-2014
Tailgate emblem installed
I drilled a few holes and mounted the tailgate emblem
19-Oct-2014
Hood emblems
After refinishing the paint on the hood emblems back to where they look half way decent, I installed both sides.
They seem to make the hood look much better.
Hydro boost plates layed out
I dug out some 1/4" steel to make my hydro boost adapter from. After laying out the measuremens and design I drilled the holes and cut the large holes.
16-Oct-2014
Cutting the large hole
I was originally going to cut the 2 1/8" hole with the plasma cutter but I found a 2 1/4" hole saw in my work bench that worked out perfect. A little cutting oil and it cut through the 1/4" material pretty nice.
16-Oct-2014
Plates complete, ready for welding
After cutting and drilling on the plates I hit the edges with a flapper wheel to de-bur the edges.
18-Oct-2014
Hydro boost adapter pieces ready to weld together
After many hours of trying to figure out the dimensions of the hydro boost system to make it work correctly the pieces are now finally ready to weld together.
18-Oct-2014
Hydro boost adapter welded
After squaring both plates to the tube I tacked everything in place then bolted it up for a test fit. After being satisfied with how everything fit I welded the bracket solid.
18-Oct-2014
Welding on plates complete
Even though I TIG welded the bracket it still produced a lot of heat because I wanted a good strong bead.
18-Oct-2014
I decided to add a gusset
After speaking with my brother who programs machines that manufacture aircraft parts, he suggested that I add a gusset. Although the welds are extremely strong on this piece I decided to add a gusset not only for strength but for a little style!
18-Oct-2014
Not needed but added
Heres another view of the gusset
18-Oct-2014
Gusset in place
18-Oct-2014
Fresh out of the oven
After bead blasting the bracket I shot it with some silver vein powder then topped it off with a clear powder.
18-Oct-2014
Close up of the silver vein powder
I really like this color and the clear gives it a lot of depth.
18-Oct-2014
Hydro boost rod
The new hydro boost rod needed to be cut and threaded to accept the coupling and the old rod from the Jeep.
18-Oct-2014
Tapping the steel coupling
The hardware store near me did not carry any fine thread couplings but they did have some steel spacers. I opened up the 5/16" hole to 21/64" and tapped it with a 3/8-24 tap.
18-Oct-2014
Coupling complete
My adjustment coupling is complete, drilled out and tapped to 3/8-24 threads.
Modified hydro boost rod
My modified rod is complete. I have about 1/4" of adjustment which doesn't sound like much but that little bit actually moves the pedal a great distance.
19-Oct-2014
Hydro Boost adapter bracket installed
After the powder coating cooled the adapter was ready to be installed. Some grade 8 bolts are up to the task to secure this adapter to the firewall. The final fit was great.
Hydro Boost unit bolted up tight
I ended up knocking out the OEM studs on the mounting plate from the Astro Van. I picked up some grade 8 flange bolts to couple the Hydro Boost unit to the adapter.
19-Oct-2014
Return line fitting
Instead of using a tee in the return line from the Hydro Boost I decided to run separate return lines back to the pump. Installing this bulkhead fitting was a little tricky since I didn't remove the pump from the engine. I ended up stuffing some rags in the pump then I put grease on them to catch any shavings. I also used some magnets inside the pump as an extra precaution to catch some metal shavings.
19-Oct-2014
Wrench needed
With the bulkhead having a sealing washer and a nut on the inside and hard to reach I needed to make a wrench to reach inside the pump to hold the nut while I tightened it from the outside.
26-Oct-2014
Running the brake lines
I was able to get all the brake lines complete as well as all of the hydro boost lines from the hydro boost unit to the power steering pump and steering box.
26-Oct-2014
Front and rear brake lines complete
I ran a new line from the master cylinder to a distribution block for the front brakes. On the rear brakes, the brake line from the firewall to the rear axle was in great condition so I cut the line at the bottom of the firewall and ran a new line from the master cylinder to the bottom of the firewall.
26-Oct-2014
Brake stuff almost complete
All of the brake lines form the master cylinder are complete. I have one small item to finish on the hydro boost system which is brazing an AN fitting on the return line fitting off of the hydro boost unit.
26-Oct-2014
Front brake line and hydro boost lines
Here is another view of the brake lines and hydro boost lines at the steering pump and steering box level.
27-Oct-2014
Return fitting after being brazed
I used silver solder to braze on an AN fitting to my return line from my hydro boost. I liked the idea of using the AN fitting instead of just pushing the tube onto the fitting and using a hose clamp.
27-Oct-2014
Return fitting brazed and ready to install
After brazing the AN fitting to the return fitting for the Hydro boost unit, I cleaned it up and got it ready to install.
The small piece next to it shows how much I cut off the OEM fitting.
27-Oct-2014
Return fitting installed
After silver soldering the fitting I slid on the o-ring and tightened it down.
27-Oct-2014
All hydro boost lines complete
That was the final line to install to complete the hydro boost unit install. Now just a couple of little brake line fixes and the brakes will be ready to be bled.
28-Oct-2014
Rear brake line complete
Since I moved my rear axle back 3" I needed to change out the flexable hose that goes from the frame to the tee on the axle. I bought a new tee and ended up making up some new hard lines for the axle.
28-Oct-2014
Rear axle brake line
I couldn't find the short line (2 1/2") for the passenger side of the tee so I bought a 30" hard line and used 20" of it for the drivers side. The remaining piece was used to make the 2 1/2" line that I needed.
High volume water pump
I don't want any cooling problems so I'm installing a high volume water pump hat moves a lot of water. This pump is all aluminum and has a specially designed CNC machined impeller.
29-Oct-2014
New pump installed
This pump has a few extra little tabs that the OEM doesn't have. So I had to hit the band saw to remove one of those tabs.
After the tab was removed it fit right in there.
02-Nov-2014
Cowl drain
I routed the drain hose for my cowl grille down the firewall and out of the floor board. When I was doing the body work and patching holes, I ended up leaving this hole in the floorboard because it was a special hole. I wish that I knew the story behind the hole but I do know that the hole was put there by a 45 caliber bullet! That is why I left the hole and it worked perfect for routing the hose to the bottom of the Jeep.
05-Nov-2014
New wiring harness
I finally was able to sort out my wiring harness by re-assigning wires, re-routing wires, and getting the fuse box mounted. Now it's time to pull all those wires from the headlights to the tail lights.
Wires layed out
All of the wires from the fuse box are pulled to the areas that they need to go. There are some ground wires that are needed to be added then the wires can be put into wire coverings.
09-Nov-2014
Soldering ground wires
I soldered in ground wires where they are needed to complete circuits like headlights, blinkers, washer pump, and running lights.
09-Nov-2014
Soldered joints
I will solder all joints where possible especially on wires exposed to the elements but a crimp connector might be used on occasion.
09-Nov-2014
Joint protected with shrink tube
The shrink tubing that I'm using has a sealer in it that melts when the tube is heated. It shrinks up nice and tight and the sealant will be great protection.
09-Nov-2014
Wrapped up joint
The shrink tube shrinks up nice and tight for a great deal of protection.
17-Nov-2014
Wiring in housing
I use a thermal fire resistant housing to run the wire harness under the Jeep.
17-Nov-2014
Wire harness routed
I chose to route the wiring high on the frame rail instead of running it inside of the vehicle.
16-Nov-2014
Harness secured in the rear
The wiring the rear of the Jeep is up and secured out of the way.
16-Nov-2014
Tail light wiring buttoned up
I secured the wiring for the rear section in the cross member between the frame rails
16-Nov-2014
Wiring to tail lights
The wiring to the tail lights was installed in housing and finished off with shrink tubing
17-Nov-2014
Cutting pieces for the lightbar windshield mount
Before I paint the windshield frame I needed to beef up the frame to attach a lightbar mount. I needed to make the parts that weld to the frame as well as make the new lightbar mounts.
17-Nov-2014
Cutting light brackets
There are many pieces of the light brackets to cut
18-Nov-2014
Drilling a tapping holes
After welding the reinforcements to the frame I made the base plates for the new mounts. I clamped them for drilling and tapping into the frame.
18-Nov-2014
Lightbar base bolted up
I used some tempary bolts to bolt up the bracket for fabrication and test fitting
17-Nov-2014
Mock up of lightbar mount
I used some poster board to make patterns for the lightbar mounts
19-Nov-2014
Side bars tacked into place
The side support bars are fitted and tacked into place that will support the main lightbar mounts.
19-Nov-2014
All pieces tacked and ready for welding
All of the pieces are tacked together with just the final spindle mounting pieces to be made.
19-Nov-2014
All support pieces tacked up
After making and fitting both sides identical, I tacked both sides together to get ready for complete welding.
19-Nov-2014
Lightbar mocked up
I made a simulated lightbar to be able to fit up all the parts to be fitted and tacked up..
02-Dec-2014
Light bracket spindles
I needed to make a couple of spindles to weld to the light brackets that the LED light mounts to. They have a raised ridge that actually inserts into the end of the light housing that prevents the light from falling off of the bracket should the mounting screw fall out for some reason.
02-Dec-2014
Mounting spindles will emulate the original mount
Once I install the serrations in the spindle mounts they "should" secure the light to the mount preventing any slipping.
02-Dec-2014
Serrations installed in spindles
Serrations need to be put into the ends of the spindles to prevent the light from moving once it's tightened down just like the factory mounts.
02-Dec-2014
Spindles in place ready to weld
I turned these spindles from some 3/4" round stock which allowed me some good thick material to use to recess the mounting bolt.
02-Dec-2014
Spindles fitted and ready for welding
Front view of the spindle mounts show the serrations mating with the light serrations.
02-Dec-2014
Spindles welded to brackets
After fitting the light in place I tacked the spindles to the brackets then I welded them solid on both sides.
02-Dec-2014
Spindles welded
Another view of the welded mounting spindles.
05-Dec-2014
New blinkers
Here is the backside of my new blinkers showing the bayonet type mount. The blinker housing inserts then twists to secure it in place. An o-ring seals the housing to the grille and the light socket has an o-ring as well.
05-Dec-2014
Holes for blinkers
I drilled the holes for the blinkers, then cut the grooves and hit the bare metal with some paint to prevent rust on the new holes.
05-Dec-2014
New blinkers installed
The blinkers seem to fit good in the small area that I had to work with and look clean and simple.
05-Dec-2014
Close up of the blinker
A little closer view shows the simplicity of the blinker install.
05-Dec-2014
Another view
I like the simple design of these blinkers and really like how they fasten, push in and a quarter turn!
10-Dec-2014
Old gauge panel
I originally made this panel with the thought that I would be using four gauges and some toggle switches. Well some things changed and I needed to add another gauge and eliminate the toggle switch holes. Unfortunately building a new gauge panel was the only way to take care of my problem.
10-Dec-2014
Old and new
I finished welding the new gauge panel and installed all of the gauges as well as the radio receiver.
10-Dec-2014
New gauge panel
The new panel holds all five gauges and the radio. There is also room for the heater switch and a couple switches that I am planning on installing.
10-Dec-2014
Both gauge panels ready to install
I assembled both panels with all the gauges and now they are ready to be wired up.
24-Dec-2014
Ballasts mounted for HID's
I mounted the ballasts for my HID headlights in a location that would make replacing them easy if needed.
23-Dec-2014
New horn bracket
I made a horn bracket to mount a set of loud Lexus horns.
25-Dec-2014
Front fender side markers
I installed some small LED side marker running lights on the front fenders.
23-Dec-2014
Rear side markers
I wanted something easy and with an LED light. Plus it's a little different than the stock light!
23-Dec-2014
Closeup of the rear side markers
Instead of going with the old side reflector running lights, I decided to make some cover plates out of aluminum, powder coat them, and install an LED running light to keep going with my LED light bulb theme.
23-Dec-2014
Hood hinges powder coated and mounted
I bead blasted the twenty layers of paint off my hood hinges and powder coated them satin black.
25-Dec-2014
Hood and hinges installed
After powder coating the hood hinges and now that most of the work is complete under the hood, I installed the hood. The hinges have a nice contrast to the orange paint.
23-Dec-2014
New headlight and wiper switches
I used OEM style CJ headlight and wiper switches but I powder coated the bezels satin black.
23-Dec-2014
Winch controls
I mounted my winch controls in my dash for easy control of the occasional winching. I also have the optional handheld controls for external winching if needed.
26-Dec-2014
New alternator plug
Since I bought my 140amp alternator from the junk yard, it used a different plug than what I needed to use so I had to purchase a new plug with the wires in the correct position. The new plug also came with a resistor that needs to be in place because I am not using an idiot light.
27-Dec-2014
Rebuilt tail light housings
I took all of the light sockets apart, cleaned them up, re-soldered new wires, built up the existing contacts with solder, and ran a die over the threads.
27-Dec-2014
Tail lights installed with short gaskets
I drilled a hole in the light housing and attached a ground wire directly to the housing for a good ground.
I installed the tail light housings with new hardware and new gaskets. Unfortunately the gaskets that fit between the body and the housing actually didn't fit so I had to trim them which didn't leave me much material at the top and bottom of the gasket!
27-Dec-2014
Tail light gasket a little short!
When installing the gaskets between the lenses and the housing I came up with the same problem, too short. I ended up punching new holes for the lower mounting holes.
15-Jan-2015
Windshield frame painted
Finally after all of the welding now complete on the windshield frame, I primed and painted it.
Since it cools way down here at night, I brought the windshield frame indoors to dry.
16-Jan-2015
Windshield seal holes not lining up
The new rubber gasket that goes between the windshield frame and the cowl physically fits but the defroster holes don't line up as well as a couple of the mounting holes.
16-Jan-2015
Something is a little off!
Looks like I will have to do a little trimming to make this rubber seal work!
11-Jan-2015
New console cover
I decided to make a cover to cover the top of my console to protect it a little bit from the seatbelt buckles.
11-Jan-2015
Console cover after powder coating
I used a wrinkle black finish on the console door cover. This will hopefully be somewhat durable to resist scratches from the seatbelts banging them. This should also take the abuse of passengers stepping on it to get into the back seat.
11-Jan-2015
Center console cover
This new cover should provide good protection for the console door.
28-Dec-2014
2 1/2" Mandrel bent tubes for tail pipe
I picked up a couple pieces of mandrel bent tube sections for my tailpipe.
13-Jan-2015
Tail pipe snaked through
Using the u-bend tubes, I was able to snake the tailpipe up over the axle, across the frame, and out the back.
13-Jan-2015
Tail pipe dump
My tailpipe ends up dumping in the back right in front of the rear frame member high and out of harms way.
13-Jan-2015
Tail pipe dump complete
I added a little extra tail piece for a little more direction of the exhaust.
28-Dec-2014
Running lights on
I checked all the running lights, blinkers, and brake lights. All working great!
28-Dec-2014
Lights in the cab
Finally after all the wiring was complete I started checking all of my lights to make sure everything worked properly.
Gauge lights, under the dash lights, and dome lights all work great!
06-Jan-2015
New fuel pump
Once I got the engine running I started hearing a constant wining from the fuel pump. I figured after sitting for more than 2 1/2 years and then picking up debris from the fuel tank welding that I better buy a new pump. The filters were new 2 1/2 years ago but I installed some new filters with the new pump and now it's nice and quiet.
Blown brake switch
After chasing a brake fluid leak over and over, I found this brake switch faulty and about to blow the top off!
11-Jan-2015
Bumpstop parts
My front springs seem to flex pretty good,so good that just doing a sharp u-turn allowed my fron driveshaft to hit my crossover head pipe for my exhaust.
I cut all the parts to make the front bumpstops. Now to weld them together and try them out.
11-Jan-2015
Bump stop parts together
I welded all of the parts together, these will be paired up with some 4.5" bumpstops.
11-Jan-2015
Bump stops
Bump stops put together and ready for installation.
14-Jan-2015
Different bump stop brackets
New brakets made for 2.5" bump stops
14-Jan-2015
Bump stop brackets
Front bumpstop brackets redone and ready for installation.
17-Jan-2015
Bump stops mounted
2.5" bumpstops installed a little higher up than the 4.5" stops
New wheels
I came across a great deal on these rims so I ditched the old white wagon wheels. These are a little wider so the footprint will be better plus they are powder coated satin black and will look good on the old' Jeepster.
18-Jan-2015
Parked in LBC
The Jeep is parked in the exact spot the Jeep was parked on the day that I drove it home from my brother's house. It left as a Commando and came back to visit as a Jeepster!
17-Jan-2015
Stopped at the ATM
On one of my many drives now that I got it back on the road, was a trip to the ATM. Trying to log some miles to find any problems.
18-Jan-2015
Got the top on
Driving around with no windshield was taking its toll on me as I grew tired of eating bugs! I actually logged 45 miles on the Jeep before I installed the newly painted windshield. After installing the windshield the wind was more tolerable but installing the top made the Jeep much nicer to drive.
18-Jan-2015
Top is installed
Before and after
Here is a before and after picture parked in the same spot in front of my brothers house where it came from when I originally drove it home. It has done a transformation but yet there are still things to be completed like front and rear bumpers, winch mount, rock sliders, and fender flares front and rear.
24-Jan-2015
Re-sewing straps
I picked up some simple cup holders to replace my over-thought cup holders but the straps were way too long. I had to cut about 3" off the straps and re-sew the Velcro back on.
23-Jan-2015
Starting the winch mount
I picked up a winch plate from Barnes 4x4 but I need to make some side plates to make the plate fit to the front of the Jeep. I need the winch plate mount to be strong so I used some 1/4" angle iron and cut them to size. I am making them fit in the same holes that I use for the front spring mounts. These new winch plates will sandwich the spring plates to the frame so the strength and location will be perfect.
After welding the final bottom weld passes I'm ready to hit the plug welds for a real strong bond between the mounting plates and the winch plate.
23-Jan-2015
3/4" holes for plug welding
These holes will get plug welded for an added method to strengthen the bond between the side mounts and the winch plate.
23-Jan-2015
Plug welds complete
I burned these plug welds real hot for a good deep penetration.
23-Jan-2015
Welded side panels complete
The side panels are welded all the way around for a very strong mount.
23-Jan-2015
Top weld final pass
I used a welling rod that has a strength of 70,000 lb psi so the strength of the welds should hold pretty good.
25-Jan-2015
Primed and ready for paint
I did a final pass with the fine flapper wheel and shota couple coats of epoxy primer on the winch mount.
25-Jan-2015
Side mounts tie into frame
The side mounts tie into the the front spring mounts which in turn get sandwiched all together by three 9/16" grade 8 bolts on each side.
24-Jan-2015
I came up with a final length and cut the piece I need
Although 1/4" wall 2" x 5" tube is a little heavy, I have an idea to get the weight down.
24-Jan-2015
Bumper material weight
The front bumper material is 5" x 2" x 1/4" wall 42" long rectangle tube. I got a good deal on a 10' piece of this material so it was hard to pass up even though it wasnt the 3/16" thick material I was looking for. I'm hoping to cut this weight way down with my design. Although 38.6 pounds isn't really heavy, it's heavier than I want it to be.
25-Jan-2015
Front bumper design laid out
After measuring numerous times I finally came up with a design that I could make work. I don't want a front bumper that sticks out the sides too wide and I didn't want a bumper that was just a wide piece of tube, that would be too easy and I want something a little different.
25-Jan-2015
Excess material removed for design
I used the plasma cutter to shape the bumper to the design that I had drawn up.
25-Jan-2015
Almost all welded up!
After cutting my design shape I had to weld all the pieces bad together. The end caps still need to be cut and welded on.
01-Feb-2015
End caps on and welded complete
I made the end caps and completed all the welding and then hit the whole bumper with a fine flapper wheel. Then I laid out the design and material removable on the back.
25-Jan-2015
Flush mount dualies
The bumper will house some flush mount LED lights for added driving light.
01-Feb-2015
All machining complete on backside of bumper
I removed quite a bit of steel from the backside of the bumper.
01-Feb-2015
Machining complete
After using the plasma cutter to remove the bulk of material from the backside of the bumper, I took it to a friends house to use his mill and clean up all the cut edges. My brother, who's original trade was a machinist gave my the tooling that I needed to complete this job.
Although I don't use a mill very often and I was a little rusty, it came out prtetty good!
04-Feb-2015
Weigh in after all machining is complete
The weight of the bare bumper is now 23.1 pounds. I knocked 15.5 pounds off the weight! I still need to weld on the mounts but I made a substantial weight reduction.
05-Feb-2015
Almost there!
After cutting a 12° section out, heating the front t a red hot, then welding it back together I ended up with a 24° end section on both sides.
07-Feb-2015
Light guards welded in place
After bending the LED light guards I welded them in place. These "should" give the LED lights a little protection from rocks and Hi-Lift jack.
05-Feb-2015
A different view of the end angles
Just a different view of the almost complete front bumper.
07-Feb-2015
Another view of back of clevis mount
This shows another view of the welding to the bumper/frame mount.
07-Feb-2015
Clevis mount welded through
Instead of just welding the clevis mount to the bumper material only, it also welded it to the frame mount that secures the bumper to the frame.
07-Feb-2015
Clovis mount fully welded
I ended up TIG welding my clevis mounts in the bumper. I ran a nice strong root pass then I layed down a nice full cover pass.
07-Feb-2015
Clevis mount welded solid
This clevis mount is now a solid pull point of the bumper that is in perfect alignment with the frame.
07-Feb-2015
Bending jig for LED light protection
I want some protection for my LED bumper lights so I am using some 1/4" thick x 1/2" wide flat stock to go around the lights for protection.
07-Feb-2015
A little heat works wonders
Using the torch I applied some heat to easily bend the LED light guards around the bending jig.
07-Feb-2015
Bending the light guards
Its just amazing what a little heat will do!
07-Feb-2015
LED light guard s made
The jig worked out great, both light guards bent quite easily.
07-Feb-2015
LED light guard welded in place
I ended up welding all the way around the light guard so that it will be able to take a hit or two! The small top guard section is there to protect the light from the Hi-Lift jack bar.
07-Feb-2015
Drain holes
Because the back side of the bumper is wide open I know that water and/or mud (I hate mud) will accumulate inside the bumper. I drilled some 3/8" holes along the bottom of the bumper to allow anything to drain out.
07-Feb-2015
Jacking points
I welded some jacking points on the bottom of the bumper to accept the foot of the H-Lift jack. These will assist in preventing the jack foot from sliding.
07-Feb-2015
Jacking points
The jacking points are actually located directly under the LED lights. The light guards will prevent any damage to the LED lights.
07-Feb-2015
A mock up and final fit
Everything seems to line up and fit great after all the welding is now complete.
07-Feb-2015
Side view of bumper installed
This side view shows that the bumper doesn't stick out too far and the length doesn't protrude too far out on the sides.
08-Feb-2015
The final paint complete
The finish came out good even with the bug that decided to swim throught the clear coat on the bumper!
08-Feb-2015
Final paint finish on front bumper
I shot three coats of black paint on the bumper and winch mount then shot two coats of top coat DuPont clear with a flattening agent for a satin finish.
08-Feb-2015
Satin finish on bumper and winch plate
The satin clear turned out pretty nice and should have decent durability.
09-Feb-2015
Final bumper weight
Now that all the welding is done in the month or is painted the final weight is just about 4 pounds lighter than the original raw material.
09-Feb-2015
A bending jig for my bumper step
After cutting a piece of thin aluminum diamond plate to be used as a step for the front bumper I use the same material and clamped the diamond plate so that I could use the radius as a template.
09-Feb-2015
Template Jig worked fine
After securing the LMM with the clamps I gently move the metal with a soft rubber mallet. The radius worked out perfect with the aluminum having a nice tight fit around the edge.
09-Feb-2015
Bend radius
The jig worked good with the bend radius hugging tightly around the steel.
11-Feb-2015
Close-up of the diamond plate step
After bending the aluminum I drilled a few holes and tap the bumper and secured it with a couple button head stainless machine screws.
11-Feb-2015
Passenger side view of aluminum step plate
This view shows the contour of the bumper matched by the aluminum diamond plate step.
12-Feb-2015
Straight on view of the winch plate, winch, and bumper mounted
Everything fell right into place and fastened with 9/16 inch grade 8 hardware. I spooled on the 95 feet of synthetic winch cable rated at 12,000 pounds.
12-Feb-2015
Another angle of the winch bumper mounted
Just another angle to show the aluminum step as well as the other accessories.
12-Feb-2015
Driver side angle of the front bumper
This side shows the stationary hook used to Stow away the Winch hook.
12-Feb-2015
Close up of bumper step and winch
This shows the aluminum step the flush mount lights and the thick fairlead plate.
11-Feb-2015
Stationary hook for stowing the winch hook
I am not sure which vehicle this came off of but it may have come off of my old excursion because I found a left and a right hand hook in the garage. I wanted to be able to stove the winch hook up high and away from the traditional shackle which would be in front of the flush mounted light.
I sandblasted the hook and then shot it with a hammered finish silver vein powder coat. I drilled and tapped the top of the bumper which is 1/4" thick for 3/8 bolts and installed the hook with a couple grade 8 flange bolts.
12-Feb-2015
An old-school under the hood light
I wanted to add some sort of lighting under the hood and found an old school General Motors light from an old Chevy truck like I used to have back in 1977 on my Chevy truck.
12-Feb-2015
Under hood work light
I picked up this under the hood work light off of an older Chevy truck at the junkyard, what is nice about the light is that it has a cord that is about 7 feet long so the light can reach anywhere around the front of the vehicle.
08-Feb-2015
New cheap Smittybilt cup holders
After having to cut and re-sew the straps on the cup holders, they fit perfect in this spot.
08-Feb-2015
Cup holders
The new location of the cheap cup holders.
15-Feb-2015
Plumbing fittings
I ended up sweating some copper fittings and tube together to be able to route my heater supply lines without kinking the hoses.
15-Feb-2015
Heater plumbed and diffuser installed
I finally plumbed the heater and and mounted the new diffuser tubes. Once the amplifier is installed above the heater I can run the vent hoses to the heater/defroster diffuser.
14-Feb-2015
Bracket for Amplifier
I made this bracket to mount the amplifier above the heater high up in the dash.
15-Feb-2015
The amplifier has landed!
This was really the only location that I could mount the amplifier.
15-Feb-2015
Amplifier mounted
The 1400 watt amplifier is now in it's new location, high up and out of the way of anything!
15-Feb-2015
Heat and vent controls
I mounted some heat and vent control cables. One controls the heater valve that is installed in-line with the hear core and the other will control the airflow between the heater vents and defroster vents.
16-Feb-2015
Glovebox alteration
Since I added an amplifier above the heater and changed the heater outlet tubes, the glovebox needed to be shortened up a bit. I used some thin sheet metal to box in the section that I cut off.
16-Feb-2015
After bending the sheet metal
I spot welded it to the shortened glovebox box with the MIG welder.
16-Feb-2015
Cutting the rear bumper frame brackets
Trying to get the rear bumper high up as possible, I designed the brackets to get the Bumper up high. Similar to the front bumper, I'm using 1/2" thick 3" wide flat bar.
16-Feb-2015
Further modification needed
I will need to add a little material to the top of the bracket.
16-Feb-2015
Addition after cutting
I needed to add a little "meat" to the upper part of the bracket.
16-Feb-2015
Mounting nuts welded
After making the final design modification I fit the brackets inside the frame and welded the mounting nuts to he brackets. I will use 9/16" grade 8 bolts to mount the bumper.
16-Feb-2015
Bumper brackets mounted
The brackets are mounted solid to the frame. This is the highest I could get the brackets without the bumper hitting the body.
16-Feb-2015
Smaller than the front bumper
I chose some 2"x4"x3/16" for the rear bumper. There is not an easy way to get the bumper up high in the rear because of how the frame sits lower than the body.
16-Feb-2015
Tire carrier spindle tacked in place
After measuring numerous times I decided how high the spindle needed to be mounted so I tacked it in place.
16-Feb-2015
Spindle welded
I welded the spindle in place all the way around making sure that I have good penetration to the two materials.
16-Feb-2015
Welding complete on the spindle
I had to clamp a piece of 2x4 steel to the backside of the bumper to keep the metal from moving too much when I welded the spindle. I let it cool like this and when the 2x4 was removed it showed that bumper material did move a little but not enough to worry about.
Welding the mounting brackets
All of the welding on the mounting brackets is complete
Back side of clevis/shackle mounts
The clevis mount is welded solid to the mounting brackets.
20-Feb-2015
Drilling the 1.75" hole
I am going to incorporate the quarter panel rock sliders into the rear bumper.
20-Feb-2015
1.75" holes for sliders drilled
Both of the holes for the sliders are drilled
20-Feb-2015
Hole drilled and ready to finish welding
Now that the slider hole is drilled and bottom angles are cut I can add the end caps and complete the welding.
21-Feb-2015
Final design of bumper ends
I figured out what angle would work best for maximum clearance.
21-Feb-2015
Spindle side bumper end
I ended up having to cut thru the thick 1.5" spindle to make the angle correct.
18-Feb-2015
Cutting the rear slider cut outs
After taping the paint for protection I still scratched it! (where there was no tape)
18-Feb-2015
Cut out for slider done
The 1.75" DOM tube should fit nicely in this cut out.
17-Feb-2015
Trimming the bracket
The double shear bracket was made for a three inch bumper so I needed to trim it to fit my 2" wide bumper.
Tacked in place
After measuring a bunch of times to try and get the height correct in my eyes I tacked the wheel holder in place.
27-Feb-2015
Checking the height
After tacking on the vertical riser I installed the tire to check the height for clearance.
28-Feb-2015
Saddle fitted and ready for welding
Tight joints are essential for strength. I definitely don't need this tire bouncing around!
27-Feb-2015
Back side of saddle cut
This joint should make this intersection really strong.
27-Feb-2015
Using a saddle cut
I designed the A frame for the tire carrier with strength in mind so my design included a saddle at the main intersection.
28-Feb-2015
Wheel mount
The wheel mount has a strong design to prevent any fatigue on the welds or tubes.
28-Feb-2015
Everything tacked in place
The A frame is tacked together, test fit, and ready for welding.
28-Feb-2015
Tight joints.....
.....make strong joints!
This is the bottom joint of the A frame at the spindle so a strong joint is needed.
28-Feb-2015
Tight joint at the latch
Another tight joint on the A frame
01-Mar-2015
All welded up
The A frame is all welded and ready for the tire and wheel.
01-Mar-2015
Another view
The tire carrier turned out very sturdy.
01-Mar-2015
Contour of the tire carrier
The tire carrier follows the rear slant to the angle that I need leaving about an 1.25" between the tailgate.
01-Mar-2015
Welding finished on carrier
Once the welding was complete on the tire carrier I installed the wheel and the carrier swings out nice and easy thanks to the heavy duty spindle with it's beefy bearing on top and bottom.
01-Mar-2015
With the wheel/tire mounted
The spare sits nicely up and out of the way from scraping.
01-Mar-2015
Clearance between the tailgate
This space between the carrier and the tailgate should allow for some flexing.
01-Mar-2015
Beefy hinge with double shear
This spindle is very beefy and the double shear bracket adds to the strength by sharing the load.
01-Mar-2015
Clamp end
I made a heavy duty hook for the latch. I wanted the tire carrier latch end to be pulled down and forward. A 2000 lb latch was used.
01-Mar-2015
Teflon rest for bumper
I'm adding a Teflon slide/rest on top of the bumper for the carrier to rest on while in the closed position.
01-Mar-2015
Drilling the mounting holes
I'm going to use some 3/8" button head bolts to secure the slide In place. I'll counterbore the the top side so that the heads are below the surface.
01-Mar-2015
Slide bolted on with recessed bolts
I contoured the base of the Teflon to match the contour of the bumper.
01-Mar-2015
Teflon rest bolted in place
The Teflon rest will be added support for the weight of the tire carrier.
01-Mar-2015
Heavy duty latch hook and Teflon slide
The latch hook turned out very strong and will aid in pulling the tire carrier down and forward into the Teflon slide.
03-Mar-2015
Spring latch
I added a spring latch to help hold the tire carrier in the open position.
03-Mar-2015
Closeup of the spring latch
I made the female part of the latch with a nice smooth the ramp so that it sets easy in the open position. The pin has good depth in the hole and holds it firmly even at an angle.
08-Mar-2015
Plates for sliders
I cut all the plates for the slider supports. These will bolt on to the body support brackets that are mounted to the frame.
09-Mar-2015
Jig for slider brackets
I made a jig for the slider brackets so that all four of the brackets will be the same.
09-Mar-2015
Brackets all tabbed and tacked together
All of the brackets are tacked together and ready to be fit on the frame brackets. Once I get the brackets bolted up I will be able to fit the tubes on the brackets.
09-Mar-2015
Rock slider tubes
I'm using some 1.75" DOM tube for the main section of my rock sliders.
10-Mar-2015
Drilled and mounted brackets
I drilled the frame supports and bolted the slider brackets up in place to fit up the slider tubes.
11-Mar-2015
Fitting the slider tubes
The short tubes in place ready for the long tubes.
11-Mar-2015
Inner tube
I put this shorter tube in place so that the sliders wouldn't get hung up on the brackets.
All slider pieces tacked together
All of the pieces for the sliders are all tacked together. The parts will be welded with a combination of TIG welding and MiG welding.
14-Mar-2015
A little over engineered but real strong
I tend to make things stronger than they need to be and these sliders are no different. They are really strong and a tad heavy coming in at 30 pounds each. I would rather have them a little heavier duty than not heavy duty enough and get bent or broken on the first couple outings.
14-Mar-2015
Both sliders are completely welded
Now to just hit them with a smooth flapper wheel and shoot a couple coats of primer on them.
Added side protection
They have a piece of 1.5" tube coming out to the side to protect against side damage.
14-Mar-2015
Primer laid down nice
The primer went on nice a smooth so the final sand will be easy.
14-Mar-2015
Freshly shot with primer
I'm going to have to make a jig to hang these sliders on when I shoot the final color on them.
15-Mar-2015
Primed and ready for paint
I can't wait to get paint on these so I can install them.
15-Mar-2015
Primed and ready to sand
The primer is dry and ready to sand for the two stage top coat.
14-Mar-2015
Primed and ready for paint
I shot a couple coats of epoxy primer on the sliders after welding them complete. Once they are dry i will hit them with a black base coat and the a couple coats of clear with a matte finish.
15-Mar-2015
More black!
I was a little hot today, probably too hot to shoot paint and clear coat but the sliders turned out pretty good. Although they are going to get all scratched up, at least they have some protection from rust.
15-Mar-2015
Sliders almost ready to install
Now that the paint is complete on the sliders I'll let them dry for a couple days and then I will install them.
14-Mar-2015
Rear fender/quarterpanel sliders
The holes that I bored in the rear bumper will accept the 1.75" tube to be used for some sliders to protect the rear fender area. The sliders will be supported by some heavy duty grade 8 bolts and some tubes that tie into the roll cage backing plates.
14-Mar-2015
Rear slider tubes
The tubes are about 3/4 exposed but would have been exposed completely exposed if I had left the bumper to hang low.
16-Mar-2015
Paint dried now install!
The paint is pretty dry and because I am anxious get these installed I just couldn't wait.
16-Mar-2015
A little cushion between the body
I use some automotive two-sided trim tape to adhere some dense thin rubber for a little Christian so that the sliders are not metal on metal.
16-Mar-2015
The dense thin rubber in place
Now that the rubber is in place I can finish bolting up the sliders.
16-Mar-2015
Lower view of sliders
This view shows how tight the main tubes are to the body as well as the rock guards height up the rocker panel.
16-Mar-2015
Front view of sliders
The spiders it up as high as I could get them to keep as much ground clearance as I could get.
16-Mar-2015
Somewhat of a top view of the slider
This shows how much the rock guard sticks out on the sides.
16-Mar-2015
Leading edge of slider contours to body
I bet the front and the back of the 1.75" DOM tubing to allow a little sliding motion when needed. I tried to follow the contour of the front fender at the front of the tube.
18-Mar-2015
Test fit of rear fender protection
I'm using some 1" .120 wall side protection for the rear sliders. This will hopefully help to save some bashing of the rear fender area.
19-Mar-2015
Rear side protection tacked in place
After cutting the rear fenders and checking the clearance I tacked both sides in place.
19-Mar-2015
Both sides welded
Afetr I made sure that the angles were correct on both sides I welded both tubes solid.
19-Mar-2015
Passenger side protection
This shows the passenger side protection
19-Mar-2015
Decent protection
This shows the protection for the rear fenders and the cut outs on the body.
19-Mar-2015
Two purposes
The rear sliders will serve two purposes, sliders and protection for the rear fender area and also a combination tie-in point for the C pillar cage support to the frame.
19-Mar-2015
Tacked and ready for welding
This shows the tubes for the sliders and the tie-in tubes for the C pillar base plate.
19-Mar-2015
Roll cage tie-in
I fitted up the tie-in for the C pillar to the frame. The rear slider tie-in along with the C pillar tube creates a strong triangle to the frame.
20-Mar-2015
Added strength for sliders
I added a strength plate between the 1" and 1.75" tubes to basically make them very strong and to give the 1" tube the strength that might be needed for any rock bashing.
20-Mar-2015
Rear slider plates
I used some 3/16" thick flat bar to beef up the rear sliders.
20-Mar-2015
Added bracket for tire carrier
I made up this braket that will bolt to the tire carrier that will support a 2 gallon RotoPax water jug. I bead blasted it and prepped it for some powder coating.
20-Mar-2015
Powder coated RotoPax bracket
I shot the bracket with a silver powder followed by a coat of clear powder.
21-Mar-2015
Holding trapeze for painting
I had to weld together a holding stand to hold the rear bumper, tire carrier, and both rear sliders so that I can paint them.
I swear I spend half of my time building stuff to hold other stuff!
21-Mar-2015
Rear bumper protection
Before spraying the rear bumper I coated the complete inside with a product called Chassis Saver which is a very good rust preventative. After the Chassis Saver was dry I layed down a couple coats of the epoxy.
21-Mar-2015
Epoxy primer sprayed
After sanding all of the bare metal I shot a good full two coats of epoxy primer on all of the rear parts for a good base to apply the top coat to.
21-Mar-2015
Rear sliders coated
The epoxy primer lays down nice and smooth.
24-Mar-2015
Painted and installed
After painting the rear bumper, tire carrier, and rear fender sliders I let them dry for a couple of days and installed them.
24-Mar-2015
Fit and solid
Everything bolted in place and now that the bumper is tied into the frame, the sliders are tied into the bumper, the sliders are tied into the C pillar base plate, and the C pillar base plate is tied into the frame, it is ROCK SOLID!
24-Mar-2015
Rear sliders
The rear sliders are pretty solid in the way they are mounted. The main slider is 1.75" DOM tube and has an 1.75" DOM tube attaching the slider to the C pillar base plate.
Since my tolerances were a little tighter than they should have been I scratched up the new paint when I installed them. I'm pretty sure that they are going to get scratched up a little anyway!
24-Mar-2015
Rear fender protection
The rear slider protection turned out better than I had hoped for. I used a big 1/2" button head bolt to fasten the slider to the bumper and all other fasteners to the frame and roll cage are grade 8.
24-Mar-2015
Greased up bearings
I used a good water proof grease on the bearings in the tire carrier spindle then installed the the grease seals on top and bottom.
24-Mar-2015
Reverse lighting
I added a couple of LED reverse lights to the tire carrier with a separate switch that operates independently of the regular reverse lights. I ran the wire from light to light inside of the carrier tube.
I also added a LED light above my license plate.
24-Mar-2015
RotoPax water jug installed
The RotoPax water jug holds 2 gallons of water, I decided to carry some spare water "just in case"!
02-Apr-2015
tranfercase support
The OEM transfer case/transmission support hunts down really low and would definately snag on everything so I decided to build a new support that I could attach a skid plate to.
29-Mar-2015
Bent new Transfer Case support
The original TC support hung down way too low and would have been nearly impossible to install a skid plate on. the the logical thing to do was to design a new support that would be up high and out of the way of stuff.
29-Mar-2015
Center section cut
I cut the center section to clear the plate the TC polyurethane mount will bolt to. The plate will be welded solid to the 1.75" DOM tube.
29-Mar-2015
Tacked in place
After making the side plates from some 3/8" flat stock, I drilled and tapped the reinforcements that I had already welded top the frame, bolted them in place and then tacked everything together.
29-Mar-2015
Mount much higher
The mount using the 1.75" tube is much higher than the OEM mount and the design that I have in mind will allow me to attach a decent sized skid plate to the mount.
29-Mar-2015
Before the loop
The main TC support is complete and ready for the loop to be bent around the TC pan.
29-Mar-2015
Loop protection
The loop goes around the TC and will hold the Aluminum skid plate in place.
29-Mar-2015
Loop and paint
After bending and fitting up the loop for the TC protection I shot a couple coats of Satin black on the mount.
29-Mar-2015
Rear loop coverage
The rear loop covers the TC for ultimate protection.
29-Mar-2015
Right around the pan
The loop goes right around the pan of the TC to provide some protection from stuff!
29-Mar-2015
As wide as possible
I went as wide as I could with the support to provide a good platform for the skid plate to mount to.
04-Apr-2015
Aluminum skid plate
I picked up this 1/4" thick aluminum sheet for dirt cheap in the remnant section at my metal supply, it has some water stains on it but those will sand out with a DA sand if I choose to get rid of them. It's probably going to get all scratched up anyway so it recall doesn't matter what it looks like.
....I'll probably sand it...
04-Apr-2015
Cutting the skid plate
I cut out all of the straight lines with my Skilsaw and carbide blade, this combo cuts aluminum like butter.
09-Apr-2015
Added bars to the transfercase mount
I needed to add a couple of support tubes for the aluminum skid plate so I used some 1.5" DOM tube. These pieces are welded to the main support and actually bolt to the front support.
09-Apr-2015
Added front support
I built this front support for the skid plate the crosses right under the bell housing. The passenger side goes up and over the driveshaft
09-Apr-2015
Front support mounts to mating tubes
The front support tube uses a custom mounting tab and a welded strengthening tube to fasten itself to the rear support.
09-Apr-2015
Skid plate/Transfercase mount welded
The support is completely welded and now tabs need to be fitted to attach the skid plate.
10-Apr-2015
Transfercase/skid plate mount ready for some paint
Now that all of the welding is complete on the mount I can get some paint on it.
10-Apr-2015
Fresh paint
A couple coats of satin black paint are in order for some rust protection.
05-Apr-2015
Mock up of the skid plate
I used some foam poster board to make the pattern for my skid plate then simulated the bends that I needed.
05-Apr-2015
I know that it won't be seen...
...but I will see it!
The water spots were bugging me and although they were just cosmetic I wanted to remove them.
05-Apr-2015
Water stains gone
I just couldn't leave the water stains on the aluminum, it only took about 5 minutes to eliminate the stains with the help of a DA sander.
07-Apr-2015
Bending the 1/4" aluminum
Using my friends flywheel brake, the bends in my skid plate went very easy.
07-Apr-2015
My friend Marteen operating his brake
With the help of a friend and his metal shop I was able to bend the 1/4" 6061 aluminum for my skid plate.
07-Apr-2015
The right equipment
Using the right equipment makes some processes very easy. This flywheel brake made bending my skid plate so easy that it only took us a few minutes to make the four bends.
07-Apr-2015
Skid plate bending complete
The four bends that I needed in my skid plate are now complete and ready to install.
09-Apr-2015
Getting ready to weld in the mounting tabs
The aluminum plate turned out great and fits even better. With the clamps in place I will tack in the mounts.
09-Apr-2015
Welding mounting tabs
I cut some 1/4" flatbar then welded some 3/8" lock nuts to flatbar. I used to C clamps to help suck down the aluminum to the main support frame.
09-Apr-2015
Tabs all welded in
I used some 3/8" hardware to hold the tabs in place
10-Apr-2015
Countersinking the holes
After fitting all of the mounting tabs I took out all of the temp bolts and countersunk all of the holes to accecpt the flathead bolts.
10-Apr-2015
Flatheads
Holes are all countersunk. Working with aluminum sure is a lot easier that working with steel.
10-Apr-2015
Countersinking all mounting holes
I countersunk all of the mounting holes so that I can use 3/8" flat head Allen bolts.
10-Apr-2015
All the mounting holes complete
The hardened 3/8" flathead bolts should make the mounting of the skid plate very strong and make the framework and plate a complete solid unit.
10-Apr-2015
Front tube mount
The support tube for the skid plate bolts to the frame and to the horizontal tubes that come from the main support tube.
10-Apr-2015
Front skid plate mount
Passenger side goes up and over the front driveshaft.
10-Apr-2015
Belly protection!
I'm happy with the coverage and how high the skid plate is.
10-Apr-2015
Skid plate mounted
The skid plate is mounted as high as I could get it and doesn't hang down. Now I have full protection for the transmission and transfer case.
11-Apr-2015
All cage tie-in brackets
After fitting both the A and B pillar tubes to the mounting plates I tacked them all together then pulled them all out to fully weld them.
11-Apr-2015
Passenger side A pillar tie-in
The cage to frame tie-ins worked out good with the tubes being short and easy to fit up.
11-Apr-2015
B pillar tie-ins
The 1.75 tube is welded directly to the roll cage base plate under the Jeep, it then ties into the frame using a urethane mount.
05-Apr-2015
Modifying my tailgate latches
Because my roll cage location at the C pillar, my tailgate latches would not work in that location anymore. My thought was to modify both sides of the latch so that the lever would now be on the tailgate.
05-Apr-2015
Modified latch
Making the angles work on the latches has been a challenge.
05-Apr-2015
Modified latch test fit
Making some progress on the latches proved to be a battle because the latches wouldn't "latch" correctly. A little more work will be needed.
12-Apr-2015
Tailgate latches modified
After cutting and fitting the latches, I welded them complete and bolted them to the tailgate.
05-Apr-2015
Modified latch installled
The latches now share the same bracket that hold the support linkages that support the tailgate.
12-Apr-2015
Brackets for tailgate latches
I cut some 1/4" thick stainless steel for the latches to hook to.
12-Apr-2015
Bending the catch rods
A little persuading with a big hammer knocked the tailgate catches into the shape that I needed.
12-Apr-2015
Bent stainless rods
I used some 5/16" stainless steel round stock for the latches to hook to.
12-Apr-2015
Test fit of the catch
After numerous fitting and bending I welded the catches to the mounting plates.
12-Apr-2015
Latch brackets complete
After bending and fitting the rods for the catches, I welded them complete.
12-Apr-2015
Tailgate catches installed
After fitting, welding and adjusting, the tailgate catches are bolted to the body.
13-Apr-2015
Catches installed
I added the strengthing rod as a gusset because of the constant pull from the latches.
20-Jun-2015
Tube flare plates laid out
After making patterns for the rear flare plates, I transferred them to the 1/8" cold rolled plate.
20-Jun-2015
Front flare plates
After adding these front plates for my tube flares to my front fenders, it will help to stiffen the front fenders and prevent any more cracking since so much material has been removed from the fenders.
27-Jun-2015
Front tube flare plates and tubes
After cutting and fitting the front plates, I bent the front tubes form 1.25" DOM tube.
27-Jun-2015
Front tubes bent and cut
After bending the front tubes I cut them to fit and fine tuned them for a nice tight fender hugging fit!
27-Jun-2015
Rear tubes bent
I bent both of the rear tubes. Now it's time to mount the plates, cut the tubes to size, and weld them in place.
30-Jun-2015
Transferring mounting holes
After laying out the mounting holes to each plate I transferred the holes to the body. I then drilled and tapped the body to accept the 5/16 -24 bolts. I previously installed some material behind the fenders to be able to drill and tap.
01-Jul-2015
Welding jig to keep things straight
I made this jig so that when I weld all of the parts of the flares they should stay pretty straight. The jig is made in such a way that both driver and passenger rear plates and both driver and passenger front plates will bolt to the jig. I drilled and tapped mounting holes for each flare plate.
28-Jun-2015
Test fitting the tubes to the plate
I want the flares to be close to the body and not stick out very far so I am using different sized spacers between the tube and plate to get the dimension that I need.
01-Jul-2015
Lining up the tube to the plate
I cut the tubes to the proper size for both rear flares then carefully lined them up and tacked them in place.
I used a piece of 2" tube for the spacer between the 1.25" tubing and the 1/8" flange plate for a flare thickness of 3.5"
03-Jul-2015
Welding on the jig
I welded the spacer tubes in place on the jig so that everything stays nice and straight.
03-Jul-2015
Front flares welded and complete
The front flares will also serve a stiffener for the fenders witch already have a bunch of metal removed from them and have already started to crack.
04-Jul-2015
Tube flares installed
Both sets of flares temporarily installed so that I can finish off the mounting as well as making the pattern for the aluminum skin.
04-Jul-2015
Front flares mounted
The front flares will now aid in making the fenders nice and rigid and prevent further cracking.
04-Jul-2015
Angle of the front flare
Since I was limited in space the angle is slightly less that the rear flares.
04-Jul-2015
Another angle of the rear flare
These flares only stick out 3.5" from the body.
04-Jul-2015
Angle of the tubes
This view shows the angle of the tubes and how the skin will lay on the flares. Going straight is pretty much the standard for tube flares but I wanted to make mine different by making them angle down.
It's going to be a lot more work to make the skin patterns but I think it will be a better design in the long run.
05-Jul-2015
Fitting the flare skin
I made a pattern out of poster board to make my metal out of for the "skin" part of the flare fenders. After fitting it up I transferred the pattern to the aluminum sheet then cut it out with a jig saw.
05-Jul-2015
A lot of fitting
Because of the shape of the flare skins it took a ton of time to fine tune it to fit. I was originally going to use some heavy duty pop rivets but decided to use some stainless steel 10-32 button heads to mount the skin to the flares.
05-Jul-2015
One side complete!
Well, it took me about 4 1/2 hours to fit and mount the passenger side front skin onto the flare. I am hoping that the drivers side goes a little quicker seeing that I already have the pattern. I'll have to flip the pattern but a quick look shows that it is slightly different than the passenger side.
05-Jul-2015
Pretty good fit
After all the screws were tightened down, the fit of the skin looks pretty good.
06-Jul-2015
Driver side flare done!
The driver side took me about two hours, much better than the 4 1/2 hours that the passenger side took.
Now on to the rears wich are not going to be much fun!
07-Jul-2015
Laying out the patterns for the rear flares
Now that the front flare skins are done its time to start on the rear flares. The rears are going to be a little more extensive in the skin work.
07-Jul-2015
Rear pattern almost complete
The pattern is almost complete and ready to transfer to the aluminum.
09-Jul-2015
Rear flare skin aluminum
After making patterns for the rear skins I cut them out of aluminum and proceeded to finish fitting the aluminum to the flare.
09-Jul-2015
Rear flare skins complete
After fine-tuning the aluminum I drilled and tapped all of the mounting screws in the flare skins are in place.
13-Jul-2015
Tube flares primed
After fitting all of the aluminum skins to all four flares I pulled the flares off of the Jeep then did a final sand on them and primed them with eproxy primer.
14-Jul-2015
A shooting tree!
I had to make a stand that would hold all four flares while I shot them so I could shoot them all at the same time.
14-Jul-2015
Clear ready to spray
To get the matte finish that I want, I have to add a flattening agent to the clear. It sure makes it look very cloudy like watered down milk!
14-Jul-2015
Paint complete
After laying down three coats of black I shot the clear for a nice matte, durable finish.
15-Jul-2015
Mounting the skins
After peeling off the protective tape from the aluminum, I did a final fit to the flares and then fastened all of the 10-32 button heads.
15-Jul-2015
All skins attached
All of the flare skins are complete and ready to bolt onto the Jeep.
15-Jul-2015
Flares ready to go
I have a little work to do on the backing plate and mounts before I can install all of the flares.
17-Jul-2015
Repairing the crack
After welding the crack In my passenger side front fender I shot a little repair paint on it so that it wouldn't rust up.
Crack repair complete
After shooting a couple coats of clear and it's done!
19-Jul-2015
All of the flares mounted
After the paint dried on the flares, aluminum skins installed, all four flares mounted.
19-Jul-2015
Front flares
Front flares bolted up tight. Now I shouldn't have to worry about the fenders cracking from the stress of flexing.
19-Jul-2015
Another view of the front flare
This angle shows the large support flange.
19-Jul-2015
Rear flare
The rear flares still give good clearance even for when I move up to larger tires.
19-Jul-2015
Another view of the rear flare
The large flange offers good support even if bashed on rocks.
22-Jul-2015
Time to finish the inner door skins
I cut some aluminum pieces to fit in the center of the doors so that don't have the big opening in the door.
22-Jul-2015
Aluminum door cover
All drilled and ready to mount. I'm using some 10-32 nutserts in the door to fasten the aluminum to.
22-Jul-2015
A little sound deadening
I added some sound deadening material so that the doors don't sound so tinny when you slam them.
22-Jul-2015
Inner door skins complete
I added a little sound deadening material to the aluminum as well, fastened the aluminum down with a handful of 10-32 button head screws and now the doors have a solid feel to them.
04-Aug-2015
Mock up fit of bends
After making all of the bends for the tube doors, I fit them to the door openings and cut them to size.
04-Aug-2015
A test fit of the top tube.
I figured out angles that would work out best for me then notched the ends of the tube.
Variety of tube ends
I found some tube ends that I had previously purchased when building the cage. these will work great for the tube doors.
Armrest welded
After a bunch of trial fits, I found an angle and tilt that worked great for the armrest.
Armrest
I was informed by a Mark up in Sacto that it would be a good idea to install some sort of armrest, something that I didn't even think about!
09-Aug-2015
I used my existing hinges
I used the hinges that my hard doors use this way there is no adjusting and no removing of hinges.
Striker spring wedge and spring latch
Usng the spring wedge should prevent the tube door from rattling.
I used the offset feature on my notcher and cut a saddle for the latch to sit in.
09-Aug-2015
Using factory striker spring
I made and welded a wedge on the tube door that matches up with the OEM striker spring on the jamb.
09-Aug-2015
Tube doors trial fit
The doors fit good and the arm rest works out fine.
09-Aug-2015
Fit after all welding complete
All I have left to to make the mating latch catch for the door jamb.
10-Aug-2015
Door jamb catch for latch
I finally figured out what to do for catches that will mate up with my spring latches. The angle of the ramp works perfect for a nice crisp close and the spring wedge holds pressure on the door so that it doesn't rattle.
10-Aug-2015
Closed and tight
The latch and catch work pretty good..
19-Aug-2015
Tube door paint complete
After priming and sanding the doors I had to weld together some sort of stand to hold both doors for the final top coat. I then shot a couple coats of Butterscotch Gold then I added a flattening agent to the clear for a satin finish for the final two coats of clear.
19-Aug-2015
Paint complete
Both doors are complete, color and clear coat
19-Aug-2015
Just letting them dry now
Ow that the top coat paint and clear is complete I will et the doors dry a few days and then I will attach the aluminum insert.
20-Aug-2015
Patterns transferred to the aluminum
Now that the tube doors are painted I can finish the aluminum inserts for both doors. I made a pattern then transferred it to the aluminum and now oth inserts will be cut and the he edges sanded.
Inserts installed
I drilled and tapped the tabs on the tube doors for some 10-32 machine screws and fastened both inserts to the doors. Now it's time to install them on the Jeep.
21-Aug-2015
Tube door catch
I bead blasted then powder coated the catches for both doors. I previously marked the catches to that when I reinstalled them all I had to do was line them up with the mark and the latch would work great.
Tube doors installed
After mounting the catches I installed both doors and tightened down the hinge bolts
A shot of the finished driver side
I'm glad that I went with a satin finish on the doors to give them a slight contrast from the glossy paint.
21-Aug-2015
Full profile view
The doors turned out good, fit well, and don't rattle.
11-Sep-2015
Dana 300 front output shaft
Since my original Dana 20 is "wore the heck out" and a bungy cord is now needed just to hold it in 2 wheel high, it was time to rebuild or upgrade the TC. I found a good deal on a built Dana 300 that has all new bearings, twin sticks, a 32 spline heavy duty rear output, and a JB 4:1 low range kit. I figured the last weak link to the 300 was the front output so I will do the slight machining to the aluminum bearing housing and install the heavy duty 32 spline front output shaft.
I was surprised at the huge difference in the size of the new 32 spline output shaft as compared to the OEM output shaft.
13-Sep-2015
Shift rod modification
I did a modification on the shift rod that will allow front wheel drive high range to being engaged if for some reason a rear driveshaft or something is broken and front wheel drive is the only way out.
13-Sep-2015
Case taped off
After doing other modifications to the case like installing threaded holes for an oil level sight tube, I taped off the areas that will not be painted and sprayed the case with ceramic impregnated engine paint that I used on my engine.
13-Sep-2015
Case painted
I shot three coats of the ceramic impregnated engine paint to the transfer case. Now after I machine the bearing housing for the front output shaft I will be able to reassemble.
14-Sep-2015
Oil level sight tube installed
After the paint dried (with the help of hardener) I installed the fittings for the oil level sight tube.
19-Sep-2015
Machining the new bearing bore
I decided to increase the strength of the transfer case by installing a heavy duty 32 spline output shaft for the front to match the rear heavy duty 32 spline output. My good friend Paul has a nice machine shop set up in his garage and he offered his morning to help me mill the bore opening in this bearing housing. My brother who is a machinist by trade, now programs CNC machines, met us at Paul's with cutting tools, boring head, and numerous measuring devices.
After fastening the bearing housing to the table, we had to make sure that the bearing bore was on the same plane as the table and centered under the tool head.
19-Sep-2015
Taking the first cuts
The main bore needed to be opened up as well as the bearing bore and depth. With the help of my brother, the job went very well with his experience and expertise.
19-Sep-2015
Numerous measurements were taken
Since the bearing bore size is very critical with a +/- tolerance of .001 of an inch we took many measurements during the machining process using three different types of measuring tools so that we were accurate.
19-Sep-2015
taking off material with the Boring tool
This boring tool made the job easy
19-Sep-2015
Machining complete
After many measurements and numerous cuts all of the machining is now complete.
19-Sep-2015
Bearing housing ready for assembly
Now that all of the machining is complete, I cleaned up the bearing housing and I am now ready to install the bearing race, output seal, both shift rods, and the high tension shift rod springs.