Project Tech Snob

[EndlessMtnFab]

Back to the drudgery of the suspension & body. :laugh:



I wanted some additional support for the crossmembers because I'm an excessive compulsive neurotic. I felt 8 bolts for the front crossmember and 6 for the back crossmember weren't enough (despite being 1/2 x 13 bolts).


A friend (the freeak on Pirate) gave me a suggestion I was already contemplating. Go thru the sides of the frame rails ! Welded a 1/8 patch on the insides of the rails, drilled thru the inside/outside and then sleeved it. Instant mounting point ! Did the same for both the front and back.



Only have a picture of the front mount though. :sad1:

All work to the underside of the body was finally finished. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the patches I made to remove the drain holes (above the rear UCA mounts). All I have are interior shots. Cleaned off what undercoating was left (not much, actually) and quick stripped the metal.



2 coats of POR 15 on the inside rails and floor pan

2 coats of Speedliner (like I used in the front)

Here is an example of the tabs I made to "hook" the crossmember onto the frame rail. Shaped up to look a little prettier, of course. :confused1 You can see the outline of the rear pad that I made for the frame rail plates. The sleeve is welded on the inside rail. The bolts are 7/16-14

 

[stumpXJ]

Amazing build man.. nice attention to detail and fast work!

~James

 

[EndlessMtnFab]

Amazing build man.. nice attention to detail and fast work!

Do *NOT* kid yourself.


This build is anything but fast. I've been taking & gathering pictures for a while as we go. I am ahead of where you see in the posts .... but I tend to get lazy about posting it up. Other days I'm so disgusted with the Jeep and the time it's taking ... that i don't feel like posting about it.


At this point ... major fabbing is done to make the truck in order to be driveable. Now, it's working on the bolt on stuff so I can fire it up.



Appreciate the compliment ... but it's simply not a true statement.

 

[stumpXJ]

Ok,...

Amazing build, nice attention to detail, and fast timeline of posting in the thread!

 

[EndlessMtnFab]

Ok,...

Amazing build, nice attention to detail, and fast timeline of posting in the thread!

Smart ass. :laugh:

 

[Char-Broil]

I want to coat my engine bay and underside in por15 and speedline :rattle:

 

[themangeraaad]

I want to coat my engine bay and underside in por15 and speedline :rattle:

So do it :gee:

On that not, this is going to be one of the nicest XJ's around, hands down. I would love to have the time and money to do this myself. I may be buying an MJ and was planning on cleaning it up and running an OBDI or II drivetrain/computer in it... but this build blows away any/all of my plans to "clean it up". Awesome build. You just might have motivated me to actually clean it up right and do mine the right way!

 

[OverlandZJ]

Damn Joe.. your a stud.

Wish you were not 2+ hours away. I'd love to watch ya work and learn a two or thing.

 

[Aussiexj96]

Truly amazing, if you lived in Australia you would have the most modded cherokee in the country. Excelent build, definatly a very tallented Bloke. Subscribed .

 

[FlexdXJ]

Truly amazing, if you lived in Australia you would have the most modded cherokee in the country. Excelent build, definatly a very tallented Bloke. Subscribed .

Man you guys need to stay away from the Rovers and Toyotas for a while. His is probably the cleanest build i've seen but definitely not the most built in the US!

 

[Aussiexj96]

Man you guys need to stay away from the Rovers and Toyotas for a while. His is probably the cleanest build i've seen but definitely not the most built in the US!

Lol, we are a bit behind the times down under :gee: :farmer:

 

[EndlessMtnFab]

His is probably the cleanest build i've seen but definitely not the most built in the US!

Wasn't even attempting to do so. Especially not with 33s and no coil overs. :gag:



My goal is to make this as capable as I can and still have a daily driver friendly vehicle. Want it to be comfortable for a vacation drive. Want to be able to tow with it (Nothing heavy, just the occasional small trailer of scrap or something). I have a feeling this Jeep is going to be around a L-O-N-G time, so I might as well give it a fresh start and enjoy it for what it is.



I've already seen some mistakes and will be correcting them (if they haven't been already). Other things have been refined (and not yet posted). It's all a learning process and even the "big dog" shops have issues or learning curves. You just never hear or read about them.




Joe

 

[FlexdXJ]

Wasn't even attempting to do so. Especially not with 33s and no coil overs. :gag:



My goal is to make this as capable as I can and still have a daily driver friendly vehicle. Want it to be comfortable for a vacation drive. Want to be able to tow with it (Nothing heavy, just the occasional small trailer of scrap or something). I have a feeling this Jeep is going to be around a L-O-N-G time, so I might as well give it a fresh start and enjoy it for what it is.



I've already seen some mistakes and will be correcting them (if they haven't been already). Other things have been refined (and not yet posted). It's all a learning process and even the "big dog" shops have issues or learning curves. You just never hear or read about them.




Joe

You may not have been trying but you pay a lot of attention to detail and your posts are very detailed. I like the fact that you will still be DD'ing it. I want all my rigs to be able to drive down to the Grocery store and still be able to drive to Moab and back with wheeling in between!

 

[PNW_JesseJames]

I should have you fab my exahust to eliminate the lame factory routing and rattle. . . This build is amazing. I wish I had the skill to do something this amazing. Keep up the good work and just keep in mind how much fun the end product will be and how amazing it will look.

 

[Char-Broil]

So do it :gee:

I think I will! I wish I had the time and money to have done it while my engine and trans were out. It will probably have to wait a bit until I have my own shop, I think my Dad has about had it with my long projects. :lecture:

BTW Joe, props for doing this with a manual trans...5 speeds FTW!!

 

[EndlessMtnFab]

BTW Joe, props for doing this with a manual trans...5 speeds FTW!!

Heh Heh.


They're all I drive. Wife too.



My poor mom gets upset when I drive her Jeep. My hand goes right for the shifter (it's a ZJ with an auto).



Joe

 

[Char-Broil]

That's halarious, same story here, wife and I both drive 5 speeds, and my mom has a WJ auto which I am always trying to shift. Hijack over, back to the build...

 

[stumpXJ]

Come on Joe... pics man, pics!

~James

 

[EndlessMtnFab]

Later tonite, I will update the thread.



Been buried in the Jeep and some new projects.



Thanks for the reminder !




Joe

 

[EndlessMtnFab]

Since I have no life .... and I have nothing better to do tonite (don't feel like being in the garage) .......




Plated off my LCA mounts at the rear crossmember. Like all my other mounts, they are designed to let a joint twist without exposing the body.

Finally welded up the UCA mounts as well. They are plug welded *and* perimeter welded.

And here's a shot of how it looks from the rock's perspective.