Just a small project

BLING!!

JK, Looks great!

With your skills, why not just fab up some tall jack stands?

 

Good idea with the saw horses. However I'm not sure they'd be strong enough to support the drivetrain also.

I was thinking of making a trip down to harbor freight this weekend and picking up a couple of 6ton jackstands. Not quite tall enough, but with a little wood blocking underneath they should work for now.

Although, thinking about it now, I wonder how much some schedule 40 pipe would cost. If I took the saw horse idea and made them out of pipe instead it should be much stronger and might be cheaper than buying jackstands at $30 a piece.

Wound up throwing a coat of primer on it this afternoon. Got to thinking last night that its just too easy to paint on the car dolly so why not?

Kevo

 

Well its home now. My roomate has apparently decided to do some cleaning in the garage which is fine by me.

I found out I'm pretty good at backing up a trailer that I can't see very well.


I am sure my progress from now on will be much slower.

Kevo

 

I have my rolling chasis on a set of steel saw horses so that I can do the tear down easier. They have been working just fine with that weight, be interesting to know what they are reated for now that I think of it...

 

Not much progress this weekend. I made some stands on saturday and today put them under the frame. Also moved a bunch of junk around. Its going to be hard keeping the area clear so I can work. Roomates seem to have a habit of needing to fill any empty spaces with junk.




I don't think the cherry picker I have access to will support the engine, trans, and t-case, so instead I am thinking of pulling the t-case and trans out seperatly and then pulling the engine. It'll make setting it up a little harder, but it should work out just fine. Might start in on that next weekend.

Kevo

 

Nice project so far. It's looking good.

With the amount of weight it sound like you are planing on putting on your horses you may want to put a bar across the bottom tieing the legs on each side together. Just a thought.

Anders

 

thems some pretty sweet saw horses!

 

What are the plans for suspension? Linked hence the mounts but what springs? Looks awsome. I hope to get started on one someday for my 73.

 

You wouldn't by any chance be willing to make another frame like that some time in the future would you??

 

More updates.

Well, no turning back now. The old heep is slowly giving way. Not sure what to call this one yet, maybe just a "kevo".




Drivetrain is ready to come out. I just need to get the trans crossmember in first. I built that after work last week. Poly bushings on the ends and a standard trans mount in the middle.


I decided to wrap the ends of the crossmember around the bushing sleeve.


Things seem like they have slowed down alot, but then again tearing the old jeep apart just doesn't seem like a lot of progress. Oh well!

Kevo

 

I talked to my buddy Dave over at Polyperformance last thursday and got the word on coilovers. He's got a price thats too good to turn up, so thats what I am going to do in the front. It will make doing the front suspension much easier and cleaner than having to deal with seperate coils and shocks. Plus the coilovers are completley adjustable and rebuildable.

As for the rear......., I don't know yet. Not sure if I can fit coilovers in just yet. By that time I probably won't have any money anymore anyways.

As for building another frame....., sure, but it would cost a lot. Having done one I can see why frame builders charge so much. Also keep in mind that while its possible to do, you'd have to do quite a bit of fabrication to get a stock body to fit this kind of frame. It doesn't have all the bends that a stock frame does. Thats fine for me since I am building something more or less totaly custom.

Anywho, I should get back out there.
Kevo

 

Can you tell me more about the bushings and sleeves you used? I have plans for a similar crossmember but I don't know what to use for bushings and the sleeves.

Excellent work! I look forward to seeing more pictures of your progress!

 

That is some really impressive work there.

 

You got that right!!!!!

:iagree:

 

I spent an hour and a half last night and all I got done was a couple of tack welds. Almost had a deminsional clamity at one point!R) Things weren't quite measuring up, but I've got that squared away now.

The bushings are these guys: http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/product.php?productid=35&cat=28&page=1
On my current motor mounts I simply used leaf spring bushings and part of the leaf spring itself for the mounts. You can also just get some wrangler poly leaf spring bushings and some 1.75" .120 wall tubing to make your own if you want. However, I now have a good source for these bushings so I'll just use them instead. Its easier and more flexible design wise, plus they come in a variety of different sizes. Luckily, PolyP is only about a 1/2 mile from where I work and I've known dave and most of the other guys for some time now so I just cruise in, grab what I need, and go.

Thanks for the compliments guys! The wrapped over ends were kinda an afterthought. It just seemed like a neat little detail and a good way to gain a little bit more strength. I have allways admired the fab work that the desert race guys do to their trucks and I am trying to incorporate some of their and mine ideas into this. I just wish my welding was more consistent.

Now I just need to figure out the motor mount plans. Of course I need to get the motor in so I can see what I need to do first.

Kevo

 

Finally got the tranny crossmember mounts done. They are kinda a pain. A bunch of small pieces to be fitted and welded together.


Here is the crossmember installed.


Shot from the side. I'm gaining 4" of clearance which should help out my breakover angles with the stretch.


I need to do another crossmember further back, behind the t-case. I'll eventually add a 1/4" skid for protection.

Interesting tid-bit o' tech:
So after welding the tranny crossmember tabs on the inside of the framerail I found my crossmember would no longer line up with holes in the tabs. Turns out the heat on the inside of the framrails bowed them outward so that my crossmember was now a good 1/8" to narrow. Using a trick I had heard race car guys used to straighten bent rearends I heated the outside of the rails up where the welds were with a torch and let it cool. I really doubted that anything would have changed, but crossmember now fits perfect and the bolts slide in and out without a problem. I'm stoked!

I also received the scout II powersteering box. It has a forward facing pitman arm and mounts outside the framerail. This allows me to get the PS box off the frontend where it gets smacked into and eventually I'll sink a winch between the front framerails. Hopefully I can figure out how I'm going to run the panhard mount on the frame. Oh, its tapped for ram assist too!R)


Tommorrow I'm pulling the drivetrain and fitting it up.

Kevo

 

Now, thats some VERY NICE fab work!

I'm sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for the next post! Keep up the great work!

 

Nice work can't wait so see it all done!

 

:iagree: