RobC
Well-known member
I like the repurposed aspect of this. Good work.
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My recycle bucket
- Thread starter ScottRS
- Start date
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
It seemed like a good day to take a break from making squares, and make some triangles instead.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Since the left side pump/alternator bracket is more complicated, I opted to just make a spacer for it rather than remaking a new one. That turned out to be a lot of headache (the only material I had to make the spacer out of was 1x5 bar) and took more time than I expected. But it fit and got me to where I can check fit for a belt and move on.
I ran out of tube last night as well, I'd estimated for a fat tube car apparently and not so accurately for a bus/monster truck hybrid. So I'll have to get more.
I was able to get the sway bar in with one of my last bits of tube. It's tight, to the point that I'll probably have to helicoil my sway bar arms and may have to get button head bolts so they don't catch when they contact my coilover springs, and the tube is 1/4" from my upper links, but it'll fit.
I ran out of tube last night as well, I'd estimated for a fat tube car apparently and not so accurately for a bus/monster truck hybrid. So I'll have to get more.
I was able to get the sway bar in with one of my last bits of tube. It's tight, to the point that I'll probably have to helicoil my sway bar arms and may have to get button head bolts so they don't catch when they contact my coilover springs, and the tube is 1/4" from my upper links, but it'll fit.
Ghetto Fab.
No idea what I'm doing
- Joined
- May 19, 2020
- Member Number
- 208
- Messages
- 673
So did the 4runner bite the dust?
Kevin
Kevin
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Nope, the 4runner is still here and still doing its thing, holding down a chunk of driveway, waiting to go camping/wheeling/whatever. Plan is to sell or part it once the Jeep is complete. When the Jeep was a concept, coronapocalypse wasn't a thing, and I expected to have a lot less time available to work on it, so a lot longer time to complete. With the coronapocalypse, I'm able to put a lot more time into the Jeep, so should get done faster than originally expected.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Recycling my odd left hand shift from my comp years.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Trying to be good about my nodes. Welding is a perishable skill, and I've not been using it a lot in the past decade, so I'll refrain from close-ups there.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
You know how you get used to certain little things in place where they belong? This is one of those. I've had a hanger hook on my rearview mirror for years, in everything with a removable steering wheel, and I've been grumping ever since I tacked in the steering column into this thing, that I have nowhere to hang the wheel. Finally got enough cage in to put the mirror back, and the hanger hook came with.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Time for interior panel work. Quick visit to Costco for some Cardboard Aided Design supplies.
Sterlingfire
ignant
Your narration is great!
Looks like a fun project. I'll be checking in again for updates
Looks like a fun project. I'll be checking in again for updates
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
This CAD speeds up the process quite a bit. The last time I did this was for the fuel tank in the buggy, and that was in 2008. Just wait'll we find out what 12 years of no practice has done to my TIG skills.
The cardboard doghouse to patch my "little firewall trim" is definitely time consuming, but much faster than trying to oneshot it straight into aluminum. Once it's good I'll trace it and beg some time with my neighbor's brake.
The cardboard doghouse to patch my "little firewall trim" is definitely time consuming, but much faster than trying to oneshot it straight into aluminum. Once it's good I'll trace it and beg some time with my neighbor's brake.
Hyde
Andgoseek
Sub'd, twin turbo 351s always get my attention.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Cardboard firewall is a bit like OSB welding table... I'm going with it.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
So most of what I've been doing lately on this doesn't really feel like a ton of progress, just a lot of time consuming. Ran out of brake line four inches short of the cutting brake today. That sucked. But I got the floor panels going.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
I wanted a stiffener strut from the back junction of the fender bars, to the dash bar. Problem is, that runs through the firewall. And I do want to be able to remove the firewall, at least once, for weld n paint. So a couple of tube clamps and those struts can be removed.
The other nice tidbit to these struts is, the driver side one gives me a place to land the rear mount for the steering column.
The other nice tidbit to these struts is, the driver side one gives me a place to land the rear mount for the steering column.
WaterH
Well-known member
Still getting use to Irate. I missed a lot of posts. Just got caught up. Going good!
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Remember I said my welding sucks and I wouldn't post close-ups of it? I still won't. It still sucks. Even worse with my TIG on aluminum. I can stick two pieces together, but they won't be pretty.
Anyway, this week was a calendar-significant thing for me, April 10th was the day I built the uber-safe OSB welding table and started bending this thing. So I'm at just a hair over two months into this chassis right now.
And I have a doghouse, a floor, and will be cutting the rest of the firewall today if the weather cooperates.
For the good ideas to swipe section... Cleco pins rock. Even if you won't be pop riveting the bits you cleco, you can use the holes as pilots for bolts, dzus fasteners, whatever. I was wishing I had more of them last night, but I haven't used them in 15 years, so it's hard to justify buying more to let them sit another decade or two.
Anyway, this week was a calendar-significant thing for me, April 10th was the day I built the uber-safe OSB welding table and started bending this thing. So I'm at just a hair over two months into this chassis right now.
And I have a doghouse, a floor, and will be cutting the rest of the firewall today if the weather cooperates.
For the good ideas to swipe section... Cleco pins rock. Even if you won't be pop riveting the bits you cleco, you can use the holes as pilots for bolts, dzus fasteners, whatever. I was wishing I had more of them last night, but I haven't used them in 15 years, so it's hard to justify buying more to let them sit another decade or two.
WaterH
Well-known member
I probably had 50 clecos when I started my project. I'd run out and buy 30 more. Repeat. Now I have several hundred. Lol
I was wondering what the fuck all of those things were sticking out of your amphibian.
The redneck version of those are 3/16 self tappers. Serves 2 functions at once. Drills the hole and temporarily holds your stuff together until its rivet time. Those cleco things are for rich people.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
If you remember the early-in-the-movie garage scene in Days Of Thunder when the car is sitting there looking like a porcupine with the crew chief talking to it, all those little spines holding the body on, are cleco pins. WaterH appears to have built his whole rig using them to hold the body together. They're like a quick-release reusable pop-rivet, so if you're not sure if you want to rivet/screw/bolt that panel on just yet, you can wishy-wash about it easily.
I only have the starter kit worth of them (20ish maybe?) but I only ever use them for interior bits like the flooring I'm working on now. I've got enough done to where I started putting dzus fasteners in today (those will be the final floor panel fasteners for quick-release access to whatever ends up under it) and can pull my clecos to move to another section of floor. If I was building a whole rig with normal-ish sheetmetal, I'd want to have a couple hundred of them too.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Jigsaw puzzle! Yay!
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Good thing I saved the directions.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Back to test fitting semi-actual Jeep parts, the hood is a fiberglass cj7 hood from the local pick n pull junkyard, but somebody bedliner'd it along the way. 40 grit and a DA got most of the bedliner knocked down, I'll be swapping to finer grit for the rest of the sanding on it. Little trim to fit to my de-fender bars.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Things have been simultaneously busy and slow on this lately, I'm starting to paint (prime so far) the body parts, hung exhaust, found space for the battery, stuff like that. Truly feels like my life has developed to the point that I'm now actually watching paint dry.
Exhaust is full dual 2.5" but the mufflers are 3". Old buggy exhaust was 2.5 merged to single 3", I'm reusing the muffler as it's only a year old, easiest thing to do was just get another of the same thing.
Battery ended up under the rear floor behind the rear steer valve, next to the rear driveshaft. I'll probably add a blast shield of sorts just in case of driveline detonation.
I figured I'd throw in a pic of what's actually under the cowl so far while I have the cowl off for paint. I have two (ish) firewalls in this thing, the steel one is for my little game and the aluminum one is to actually be a worthwhile firewall.
Exhaust is full dual 2.5" but the mufflers are 3". Old buggy exhaust was 2.5 merged to single 3", I'm reusing the muffler as it's only a year old, easiest thing to do was just get another of the same thing.
Battery ended up under the rear floor behind the rear steer valve, next to the rear driveshaft. I'll probably add a blast shield of sorts just in case of driveline detonation.
I figured I'd throw in a pic of what's actually under the cowl so far while I have the cowl off for paint. I have two (ish) firewalls in this thing, the steel one is for my little game and the aluminum one is to actually be a worthwhile firewall.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
For added fun, I have some oopses to mention. I can't get the grille out past the upper shock mount tubes. I'll have to cut it out to paint it.
My shifter cable doesn't reach my transmission. Thankfully they make a longer one.
Not an oops, but a "well, that's how it is": I'll end up with two fuel tanks, one under the floor and one under/in the cargo area, to get the fuel capacity I want without losing too much cargo space. Plumbing will be interesting.
My shifter cable doesn't reach my transmission. Thankfully they make a longer one.
Not an oops, but a "well, that's how it is": I'll end up with two fuel tanks, one under the floor and one under/in the cargo area, to get the fuel capacity I want without losing too much cargo space. Plumbing will be interesting.
WaterH
Well-known member
Be kind of nice to be able to shut off either tank incase of a leak. Wouldn't be hard to plumb that way.
ScottRS
Not @Rockstomper today
Thanks, I'll take the fast progress as a compliment, it's only somewhat internet compression. First bend was on April 10th this year. However, the engine was already "done", the Jeep body parts mostly already bought, the donor Jeep sitting, a pile of tube has been here since September, parts have been accumulating for months....
In January, I was expecting this to be a two plus year build. Normally, I'm on a plane nearly every week for work, home little more than weekends.
Along came a virus. And I suddenly have a lot more at-home time than expected. Two weeks of vacation have already been turned into furlough, I've been on a plane twice (two directions, not two trips) since March... Progress on this has been amazingly fast, though I have to admit, not for reasons I'm entirely happy about.
You know the guys who say "work on it every day, even if it's just ten minutes" ? That's me. If I'm home, every day, usually well more than ten minutes. Even if it's something that ends up cut back out, (steering valve has been tacked in twice, it's back out and waiting on another u-joint now) the fitting and fidgeting and thinking things over, adds up to a lot of time.
I suspect in part because they're so used to me being gone all the time, me being in the garage every night is not a weird bother for my wife and kids, they can just come see me vs. being a phone call and a time zone (or sometimes eight) away.
In January, I was expecting this to be a two plus year build. Normally, I'm on a plane nearly every week for work, home little more than weekends.
Along came a virus. And I suddenly have a lot more at-home time than expected. Two weeks of vacation have already been turned into furlough, I've been on a plane twice (two directions, not two trips) since March... Progress on this has been amazingly fast, though I have to admit, not for reasons I'm entirely happy about.
You know the guys who say "work on it every day, even if it's just ten minutes" ? That's me. If I'm home, every day, usually well more than ten minutes. Even if it's something that ends up cut back out, (steering valve has been tacked in twice, it's back out and waiting on another u-joint now) the fitting and fidgeting and thinking things over, adds up to a lot of time.
I suspect in part because they're so used to me being gone all the time, me being in the garage every night is not a weird bother for my wife and kids, they can just come see me vs. being a phone call and a time zone (or sometimes eight) away.