How come these mods don't stop? TONS OF PICS...beware

[jarheadk5]

Damn, that side shot with the half-top is sweet!
Nice work!

 

[mikey_d05]

...and I thought I had a lot of projects for the weekend.

 

[BozoWise]

Thanks for the compements. It has been many an our of work, sweat and almost an eye. It is great to have a place to come show off what you have done with people who appreciate "built not bought"

I think it will look much better when the back is also narrowed, tube doors from DIY are inplace and the window frames and nets are installed

 

[BozoWise]

I have a couple of questions about the glassing you did on your hardtop. I am in the same process only with less of a top. Did you grind the edges down or anything where they mate back up or did you just lay the fiberglass on top and sand it smooth? Also, did you lay any fiberglass "mat" or "cloth" or did you just resin it back together?

My edges don't meet back up because where I cut the back of the hardtop it's 1/2" narrower than where the top bolts to the cab. So did you have to do any major gap filling?

Thanks

My two halves lined up near perfectly. I am anal and did a lot of measure and marking before I cut. My bolt holes for mounting even lined up (by luck) I was planning on cutting the metal lower plate shorter and then marking the holes in the top and just redrilling them. The metal plate would have given me the alignment for the bottom nuts, but luck have it they were all perfectly inline.

I did use a grinder to v groove the edge of the two pieces. I also got some 1"x1/4" strap, cut this into 12" strips. I then screwed one on the lower side joint bottom of window, one on top of window opening (where the large reinforcement area is) and 2 on the top of the roof. I also used about 16 pieces of backstrap about 4" long all across the top.

All of these were attached to the top from the inside out with panhead screws. I then used a grinder to cut them off flush. I filled the gap with a few coats of duraglass (kitty hair) It is a long strand fiberglass and bondo mixture. This is some pretty strong stuff and it really helps with strenght. Air gaps are the killer to any fiberglass work so take it slow and press out all the air. I prefer to use a bit less then recomended hardener to extend working time.

Another good hint is to use rubber gloves and mix the hardener by hand so you can get it very evenly mixed. Then toss the gloves and get a new pair for application.

After the Kitty Hair I laid one layer of woven matt on the bottom. Then after that I glued a piece of fleece to the entire inner part of the roof. Coat or should I say soak the fleece with resing. It took near one gallon on the fleece. Use a body putty scraper to press it into the fleece and make sure it is glued down well because the fleece will try to shrink. I have started on the body work. Which for now will only be a beltsander job because I have to get ready for an Oct. 7th run in Las Cruces with the Cavern City Four Wheel Drive Club.

Actually the belt sander body work looks pretty good. I think I could do all of it and then primer and paint and it would be nice. I am more then likely just going to spray the top inside and out with Rhino Liner and then paint it. Then the body work is less to worry about.

I'll post pics of the progress tom night.

 

[mikey_d05]

Sorry to drag sort of an old subject up here but did you have to screw with (move, reinforce, etc.) the core support when you narrowed the front? I saw the picture with the ratchet strap but I don't know exactly what you're doing with it.

 

[BozoWise]

No I left my core support intact and no real mods. If you wanted a more factory style grill you would need to move it back. Take a look at my pics of the grill and you can see where the lower part was notched to clear the core support above the body mounts. I welded mounts on the core support to attach the front fenders and the straps were used to hold the fenders inplace until I welded the brackets on.

All in all the core support is dang near as stout as it was from the factory. I was planning on running two tubes on each side of the engine from firewall to core support but I do not see the need. I did reinforce the rails on the fenders with 1" tube to attach my wiring to.

I am going to meet with a friend that owns an AC company and see if he can't make me up some inner fenders. He has made me some kewl fenders for trailers in the past.

I installed the Summit Raditor overflow today and did a ton of cleanup in the shop so no good pictures. I'll wait until a few more things get done.

 

[mikey_d05]

Any hope of modifying the inners to make 'em work or is it way off?

 

[BozoWise]

Any hope of modifying the inners to make 'em work or is it way off?

They are too heavy for my taste since where they mount on the inner fender is removed.. I will try to cut them down and let him use them as a template, but make them out of a lighter guage sheetmetal. I know they will get banged up but once we get them figred out he will be able to fab up more for me at little to no cost.

I'm itchin to start the rear narrow but don't think I will have time to finish it and everything else needed to get it running by the Oct 7th Las Cruces run.

 

[BozoWise]

I got the drivelines installed and when removing the D60 yoke to install a 1350 found that one of the locking hubs was not engaging. The bucket had to go back up on jackstands. I found the bad hub to have some narly ground splines from where it was half engaged so waiting for Jimbo to bring me some Warns next week.

I figured if it was going to be on the stands again I could service the front hubs and rotors also.

I go the sawzall blues so started in on the rear narrow tonite. Here are some pics of the progress and I get a full writeup on the rear narrow once I am done. It looks like the overlap is going to work well. I'll do some BFH body work on the floor and then rivet it all back together. I am welding in a near rearsupport and will have a few small filler panels to build out of sheetmetal. I am also going to make a square tub gate welded in the rear tailgate location to keep it square and help keep items from sliding out.

A coating of Herculiner should make it all look pretty presentable again after done.

 

[jays68yak]

maybe I missed it but what are you doing for hood hinges? Or is it just going to be lift off?

 

[mikey_d05]

Also, where did you all cut the rear in regards to the wheel tub? The angles it's sitting at when pulled together look kinda funky.

 

[BozoWise]

maybe I missed it but what are you doing for hood hinges? Or is it just going to be lift off?

No hinges it is pinned on Or I should say it will be when I get the back pins mounted. The hood is full skinned so it is light with a 3/4 tube frame. I can easily get it on and off by myself.

Also, where did you all cut the rear in regards to the wheel tub? The angles it's sitting at when pulled together look kinda funky.

I split the fender straight in half from driver to passenger and also cut front to back along the floor. One small relief cut and I was able to bend the fender around with a 2 overlap to reattach it. I had to do this because the front half of the fender needed to stay factory and the narrow started even with the back of the seat since I have the shorter top and do not want to narrow it.

I'll do a much better writeup on the narrow once I finish. I have already changed a few things this morning for support.

 

[NewMexK5]

Looking killer man.

So you gonna be ready to go to 'Cruces? Or has the southern NM gas scare got you down?

Either way it's awesome, can't wait to see it wheel.

 

[bamf]

off topic but I miss NEW MEXICO >< havnt been back home for 3 years now.
one day ill go back home

 

[BozoWise]

Today I got both sides cut. A 1/4" piece built for the back edge of the bed and the bumper tacked up

 

[k5 krawler 50]

Thats awesome, maybe some day i will do that. Looks good.

 

[mikey_d05]

Looks sweet man, I was originally planning something similar for the rear but the body isn't solid enough.

 

[BigCountryx]

lets see pics of the whole thing so we can see the look better.

 

[BozoWise]

lets see pics of the whole thing so we can see the look better.

What pics do you want? I'd be happy to take them.

When I get it running I need to get pics of it standing up on end. As the narrow looks much more defined from the top view.

Jimbo should have me a set of new hubs here on Thursday and then I can bolt the front end back up.

 

[BozoWise]

Got the new Warn hubs from Jimbo and all that went on without a hitch.

Put the rearend back up on the stands and started the work on rear shocks. I used some brackets from Kert at DIY and just notched them to fit the spring plates. I used a set of ford f250 towers and bolted it all up. It was a pretty straight forward deal once I figured where I wanted them to line up and got the floor cut for them to fit through. I used the factory upper hole in the brackets lined to an exsisting hole in the frame which just had to be enlarged. I then drilled the lower two holes in the frame and attached with some grade 8 One the driver side I also made a new hole just forward of the one on the Ford tower because of the notch in the frame where the factory shock is recessed.

My doors also fell off today in preparation for some tube doors Kert is fabbing up for me