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Its Sawsall time! Again!

Right now the back seat is just for the kids untill I can get something better in there. And the guy in the front is TALL. I fit just fine. :D

I'm going to work on it some more this weekend. Just ordered up a sheet of AL for the skins. It was only $20 more so I thought what the heck. I've decided to run a softop but hard mount the windsheild in some 1" by 1" angle frame and bolt it into place.

I'll take more pics of the firewall mods and I'll also take a bunch of measurements and write them down so I can remember them.

I would also like to remove all of the front stock body bushing/spring mounts stuff and build my own using the frame as one side of the shackle. This would allow me to drop it back down some to compensate for the rise from the wieght loss. I could also set my rear shackle angle a little better at the same time.

We'll see, I'm kinda getting burned out. :o
 
I'm pondering doing similar stuff... you kept some of the floor pan... how is it attached to the frame? Did you maintain the factory body mounts in the cab area?

j
 
I kept most of the stock firewall (VIN is still there) and the floor. I originally kept the stock body mounts in the cab area. I basically framed everything in with the tube and the 2" by 3" slider. After it was welded together I wanted to make a slider from the outside to the frame part. The stock body mounts were in the way. So I cut them off of the frame and the body itself and added another bar mount. I'll make sure that I take some detailed pics of that also this weekend. :wink1:
 
cool beans, I'd appreciate it. At some point, you get so much tube in a truggy that there really isn't much point in body bushings anymore. I mean, it doesn't make much sense to use factory style body mounts/bushings in the front or rear bumper area because its easier/cheaper/stronger to just attach the cage to the frame... but in the cab area you might want a little flexibility for the sake of the windshield, lessening the amount of vibration in the body etc. Not 100% sure what the best compromise is yet...

j
 
OK! Spent another day on it. Got the cage done and the rear part of the floor all tied in and welded down. Thank god for panels. Its going to hide a lot of stuff. :crazy:

Also started to work on the front section. Got most of the radiator mount done and also mounted the tranny cooler and made a spot for the power steering cooler. Also got the headlight buckets welded into place. Go one headlight bar in but it needs to move a little bit. Running the fenders has been ditched as the angles would just not work out.

Width at the widest point measured at 62". We also measured a jeep in the shop at about 59" wide so I'm pretty close.

Next weekend should be the rest of the front and maybe the dash. I would also like to start on the body panels.

Still have a TON of cleanup work to do. Still need to put the skids under the rockers and oh hell, you name it, it needs to be done. As you can see, everything is still pretty rough, I have lots of holes to fill and ugly stuff to grind off or hide. :D

But its getting there. I took pics of the firewall and stuff.
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OK 62" sounds much more realistic to me:D


Looking good. Cant wait for you to weigh it since its basically how mine is going to be. Minus the heavier drivetrain that you have.
 
Yeah I dont know where I got that other number. :confused:

I am also real curious how it will weigh in. I'm hoping 4700 pounds or better. Stuff is going back on so we'll see. I have an axle truss thats pretty heavy going on and some other stuff. I decided to run a softtop instead of welding in some panels. That should help a little. The windsheild was around 25 pounds and I need to weigh that big 4 core radiator. The Aluminum one was way lighter. Pulling out the BB would help but I dont know about that. Maybe a vortec 350 or something would be OK in its place. :laugh:
 
Thats the way to shave some weight, my beast weight's in at 6,800lbs! I think mine needs to go on a diet as well. keep up the good work!
 
Looks awesome man, fairly similar to what I plan to do next summer. Definitely weigh it when you get a chance, I'd like to shave my pig down to 4500 when all is said and done but I don't know if that's realistic or not.
 
While I will agree it looks really awesome and done cleanly, and maybe its just me, I really liked the old version too. Was it a hard decision to make?

Cudos to you! Keep us posted on the progression.
 
No, it wasnt too hard. I've had it that way for almost three years and have wheeled the snot out of it. There were two things that started this, I wanted to extend the cage to protect the two kids and I wanted to loose the low hanging rocker protection that hung up on everything all the time. At the same time, I ended up with some fiberglass skins of two front fenders and a hood. I also has some rattles and bangs so I just decided to go for it.

Didnt get much done over last weekend. Finshed up the metal work on the front. The whole grill is placed and mounted up. The hood has been rough cut into place. Also cut most of the Aluminum panels for the sides.

This weekend I want to build the tabs to mount the panels, build the dash and do some of the wiring. I hauled it home and stuck it back in the garage to tinker with it. I think I'll poweder coat the panels blue, paint the hood blue, and the cage and stuff will just go black.

Now its down to the detail work and that can take some time. :doah:
 
Had another busy weekend!

Rebuilt the radiater mount and got it mounted in tight. Its not going anywhere. Ran the wires for the electric fans and also the headlights. I cut and shortened up the stock headlight harness so the extra wire wouldnt hang around everywhere. I cust and welded tabs to the upper support bars and drilled holes so I could use the stock wire holders for the headlight harness. Right now, all the front lights work correctly again. Finished mounting up the grill and the powersteering cooler. Figured out where the winch needs to go but that will wait untill I can get the plasma cutter again. Then I'll mount and wire that. Finished building the dash. All guages are in and hooked up. Also built a mount for the fuel injection computer and also for the tach. Mounted the dash panels into place. The biggest time consumer was the wiring. I ended up redoing all my old stuff and its looks way better. The stock system only uses the lights and the starting circuit now.

I could now take it on a run if I wanted to and that was the goal for the weekend.

Sooo.

Still need to mount the winch, mount the tabs for the body panels and the windsheild, mount in the taillights, build a mounting point for the headlight switch, paint everything up. I am also going to have to put a scoop on the hood to clear the air cleaner. Also going to weld roof panels on. Few other things.

Once its back together, I'm going to put the axle truss on with a track bar and drop the front suspension down a hair and move the axle forward another 1". I also need to mount some rock lights. I've got a run at the end of Febuary and I want to be ready for that.

I'll post of some pics later today if I remember.

I think I'll have to get me a 220 welder. The 110 MIG I have now isnt bad but the 220 Miller that I can borrow for the big welds really put it to shame. It just doesnt seems to be able to put out the same amount of heat. It sure is great for the tab and bracket building though.
 
Looking good Matt!
 
Sandman said:
I think I'll have to get me a 220 welder. The 110 MIG I have now isnt bad but the 220 Miller that I can borrow for the big welds really put it to shame. It just doesnt seems to be able to put out the same amount of heat. It sure is great for the tab and bracket building though.
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I've got a Miller DVI, runs on 110 and 230 volts. I love it. Welds decently on 110, fairly portable, and has longer duty cycle on 230. -Dave
 
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