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47' 2a build, street legal with modern power

crazybluerider

Squirrel!
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Member Number
1720
Messages
502
Loc
Portland
I started this build last winter as something to work on when I got pissed at my buggy build or was waiting on parts. The goal is to have something streetable that I can run mild trails with, do some exploring and tow behind when we go camping. It is a Mieser inspired frame that I widened enough to run waggy axles without outboarding the hangers too far. I also stretched it a little to allow the use of YJ springs for a more comfortable ride. Wheelbase is around 92". Power is a 2002 4.3l backed with a 4l60e and a dana 300. Axles are waggy front 44 and Isuzu rodeo rear 44. 35" tires are the plan with 4.88's in the axles.

I decided to stick to leaves for simplicity and a more classic look.

First pictures are of the frame going together.
I drilled a piece of flatbar to locate the hangers where I wanted them for wheelbase and used it to build the center sections off of, both rails were build next to each other to retain symmetry.
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Then I got leaves and axles hung and started figuring out where I wanted the powertrain. A lot of though had to go into for and aft placement here since I needed to make sure I could have a usable rear driveshaft but I also wanted to not have to stretch the nose. It still remains to be seen if I'll be able to keep rear shafts in it but it looks usable. I lost track of how many times the body came on and off.
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Then I got to getting the body where I wanted it on the frame. I was pleasantly surprised at how much room there ended up being in the factory tunnel. The trans pan is about 1/2" above the bottom of the frame rails and clears the inside of the tub with the tub sitting on the rails. Belly section of the frame is 6" tall though.

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Why are the shackles of the front suspension in the front?


Tradition?

I'm trying to keep it relatively stock looking. Also it can be a lot of work to keep it low with rear shackles. Those shackles are for mock up the actual ones will be about 3" shorter. With good bushings and short shackles it should drive pretty good. All out offroad performance isn't really the goal of this build.
 
One of my favorite parts of this project so far was building the steering column. It was the first project with my new mill and lathe. I decided to see if I could build a column 100% from scratch.
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The frame that the body came with had been modified to run a GM box, that seems to have been the common swap at the time that this jeep was originally built. I decided to reuse this box, I picked up a waggy pitman arm for it and was able to use the factory waggy drag link and tierod. I will be adding a support to steering shaft.
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Next I moved onto the front bumper/winch mount. I have an old 8274 that was the first winch I ever bought. It lived on my samurai through 3 different remodels as well as a couple other things over the years. This will probably be the first thing it's actually looked correct on. 😆 I have seen a lot of these mounted above the frame rail on jeeps and to me they always look super tall and out of place so I decided to build the bumper in a way that allowed for the winch to sit pretty low in the chassis. I think it came out pretty good. I see now that I didn't grab a picture from the front though. oops.

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The most recent project was a front fender lift. I raised them about 2", this allowed me to cheat the grill forward to the front of the hood. People that know what they are looking at will probably notice that the hood doesn't hang out in front of the grill anymore but it should still look fairly stock to most people while providing more tire clearance with a low ride height and a little extra room for the radiator. I also picked up a donor for a newer engine. The older CPI 4.3 that I have been using for mock up is pretty tired. That pretty much brings this up to where this project sits right now.

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Looking awesome. Are you planning to put a slip in the steering shaft?

I was trying to convince myself that I didn't need one because the angle of the column would allow the shaft to fold under the floor, but I know that I do. So I grabbed a slip shaft out of a WJ a friend and I were parting out. It will be fairly easy to put into this setup since jeep actually used square d shaft in those jeeps so it will just be a matter of making it a little longer to fit in the space needed.

Short answer, I wasn't going to but yes I am.
 
I am entertaining the idea of selling this project. I'd be open too offers. Just picked up a TJ and not sure how many projects I really need. I'd hate for this to go under a tarp and never get finished but I'm feeling like that may be its fate currently if I keep it.
 
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