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Seabee M38A1 Build

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by tymbom, Mar 30, 2014.

  1. Apr 30, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
    Messages:
    814
    [​IMG]
    So... I've been working... I had this last week off for some vacation...
    I built some belly bars out of .250 wall 2x2. [​IMG]
    The rear end has a nice taper that follows my spring hanger...
    [​IMG]
    And the front leading edge has angles on everything so hopefully it will slide over stuff and not hang up too much. According to my calculations the shackle will miss the belly bar...
     
  2. Apr 30, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
    Messages:
    814
    [​IMG]
    I ate some pie.
    [​IMG]
    It was my birthday.

    [​IMG]
    2x8 .250 wall beef. :D :sneak:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    I cut out the top of the 2x8 so the transmission mounts to the bottom. The transfer case is nice and protected. I still need to drill a couple holes for the drain plug and the transmission mount bolts. I'm going to block off the opening inside the 2x8 so it doesn't get filled with gunk. I might do a little counter sink action to make the belly as smooth as possible... Then I can weld it all up. :bananatool:
    Thanks for checking it out. Laters
     
    dozerjim, Walt Couch, 47v6 and 2 others like this.
  3. Apr 30, 2018
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2015
    Messages:
    6,656
    Happy birthday!

    I was wondering where you were headed with those pieces of tubing. Sweet. As pie. :clap:
     
    tymbom likes this.
  4. Apr 30, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
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    814
    I think if a guy had a plasma cutter it could be done a little cleaner... I used my cut off wheel on a grinder so straight cuts all around...
     
  5. Apr 30, 2018
    tarry99

    tarry99 Member

    Northern California
    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2012
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    3,784
    Will that is an interesting Idea for sure..................hurts the ground clearance a little ( what is that number now?).........but in the same breath does give you a flat bottom which is Good..........that little gap up front you mentioned can be of some concern depending on where you'll wheel that.................make sure you have good droop numbers on both axles as that will keep your tires in contact with something to push you off the high center if that ever occurs...........................Keep up the good work...........
     
  6. Apr 30, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
    Messages:
    814
    The ground clearance is 20 inches... But there's no way to have a flat belly and still have driveshafts... I'll be building a custom shifter too... I'll have to compare the original crossmember I replaced. The other consideration is the weight. It's gonna be heavy. But, it is all low on the vehicle. If I would do it over I would use thinner wall material, but that was all I could get my hands on... Thanks for the compliments
     
    tarry99 likes this.
  7. May 8, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
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    814
    [​IMG]

    Getting more done...
    We put a new motor on the drill press and put it to work immediately... The middle crossmember for the transmission and transfercase got drilled full of holes... Mostly in the rightish places... The Jeep is now holding the weight of the drivetrain again... I had move stuff around and drop the crossmember slightly. I was hoping to make it all perfectly flush on the bottom, but it would take too much cutting. I'll keep the floor braces intact and lower it all by 3/8ths of an inch...
    [​IMG]

    Some parts arrived the other day... Seen here in wooly goodness... A quick assembly looks like the sticks will need to be bent back a little to keep them outta the dash... Thanks for checking it out. Laters
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
    Muzikp, ITLKSEZ and tarry99 like this.
  8. May 10, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
    Messages:
    814
    [​IMG]
    Middle crossmember girdle rock crusher thingy is finished and back under the Jeep... I know the welds look awful. My welder was acting up and the welds weren't going good... Oh well. It's stupid overkill welding all around everything... Turned out to be not too heavy, I put it on the floor jack and it balanced pretty easy...
     
    dozerjim, Focker and Walt Couch like this.
  9. May 10, 2018
    Focker

    Focker That's a terrible idea...What time? Staff Member

    WA
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    Aug 18, 2014
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    7,540
    Mine must be acting up too? ;)
     
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  10. May 10, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
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    814
    [​IMG]
    Smooth belly...
     
  11. May 10, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
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    814
    [​IMG]
    Rolled it out of the shop today to clean up all the mess in the shop... Couldn't resist snapping a few pics...
     
    47v6, OldAdobe, Focker and 5 others like this.
  12. May 11, 2018
    masscj2a

    masscj2a Member 2023 Sponsor

    Ware, Mass
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2013
    Messages:
    743
    That's a great looking rig. Can't wait to see it finished. Hurry up would you.
     
    ITLKSEZ and tymbom like this.
  13. May 23, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
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    814
    I pulled a measurement off the original crossmember I had under there, which was the original crossmember for the Jeep. It hung down 4 inches without the skid plate... So I gained about 2 inches of ground clearance...
     
  14. May 23, 2018
    tarry99

    tarry99 Member

    Northern California
    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2012
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    Cool................I'm glad your making some free time to work on that beast again.............I'm hoping to wrap up some of my projects soon , and quit eating sawdust so I can get back in the shop and make sparks.
     
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  15. Jun 19, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
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    814
    [​IMG]
    Work is getting done... A couple tips here... Most of the factory captured nuts have broke and fell out. So a quick order to McMaster Carr and I've got some new ones... Drill a couple holes on either side of the old one. Then just tighten a bolt up and it's all ready to throw a couple spot welds on... Then run the flap wheel over and you're all set. I also use a paint pen to mark everything with, here I made some long marks at 90° to the edge so it would be easy to mark the hole for the next piece.
    [​IMG]
    I've got some holes to fill in... One inch strap will form the base of the new stuff. I'll bend some sheet in my cheesie Harbor Freight brake I got on an open box discount to cover the rear portion. A couple spot welds will hold it in place. Then I can drill a couple more holes and place some more captured nuts to hold the removable cover on.
    [​IMG]
    Can't wait to get this thing out in the hills!
     
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  16. Sep 27, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
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    Time for an update excuse post.... I've been busy. I did some tinkering with the Jeep but had to take time to spend three weeks in Germany with my wife, our daughter, and her family over there. My wife moved to the states when she was 15 and still has a lot of family and friends, including her brother back there... [​IMG]
    We flew into Frankfurt from Portland Oregon.
    [​IMG]
    Toured the city doing the tourist stuff
    [​IMG]
    Went to the Sinsheim Technical Museum...
    [​IMG]
    Then we traveled by train to Munich where my Bro in law lives. Went to the BMW Museum... Here is an old Dakar Bike
    [​IMG]
    Sweet old race car...
    [​IMG]
    Went hiking in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps
    [​IMG]
    Pet wild cows...
    [​IMG]
    Aaannnnd
    [​IMG]
    I spotted my first Mercedes Unimog in the wild... My neighbor had one briefly when I was about 12 or so, and I've always loved them...
    [​IMG]
    So, I made sure I got a chance to go to the Unimog Museum in Gaggenau, south of Frankfurt. Here is the 6th one built...
    [​IMG]
    We rode in a big one...
    [​IMG]
    But this one was a beast! I was looking at some of the other ones and my wife came over and let me know that she found her favorite. Yeah, it's huge.
     
    SKT, Clayton, givemethewillys and 8 others like this.
  17. Sep 27, 2018
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    That's awesome.
    All of it.
     
  18. Sep 27, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2012
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    So after returning back to the States all I can think about is Unimogs. I help my my parents move into their new house and keep busy with other stuff, but one night I found a simple for sale ad describing an old Unimog. The truck is in Steamboat Springs Colorado and I have a buddy in Woodland Park about 4 hours away... I emailed the owner of the Unimog and he sends me a few blurry pictures. I call him and we talk a bit and decided to jump on it. One way ticket to Denver, and made a deal with my buddy.
    [​IMG]
    One of the blurry pics...
    [​IMG]
    I ended up buying the Unimog... We loaded it up at the bottom of the driveway, because it was so steep we needed 4wd just to get up to the house.
    [​IMG]
    We headed west....
    [​IMG]
    And arrived at my house about 24 hours later...
    [​IMG]
    Off the trailer and ready to go...
    [​IMG]
    She likes it too! That's all that matters right? Anyway, it's a 1969 406, with a 3 way tipping bed, lockers, 6 speed, and a ton of extra parts... Ive got a bunch of tinkering to do, but it's gonna be a fun little truck...
     
    SKT, Clayton, CJeep5 and 8 others like this.
  19. Sep 27, 2018
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
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    o_O

    :bananatool:
     
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  20. Sep 27, 2018
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
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    Next up is the best news... We just bought a house... With a nice big shop...
    [​IMG]
    3 beds, 2 bathrooms, 1400 feet's on 5 acres...
    [​IMG]
    Aaannnnd my new shop... Slightly bigger than the one I'm renting now, plus wood heat already. Pretty soon I'll be able to wake up on my days off and go out to my shop and drink coffee in my underwear... I can't wait! For the last couple years I've been getting tired of driving across town to my shop... Maybe by the New Year I'll all moved in and organized and ready to work again... Oh yeah, my dad's picking a 1954 M38A1 as well...
     
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