Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly

[Alec79CJ]

The finished welds look great!

Metalwork is definitely an area I'd like to learn more about. It's just not something I've had the time to learn!

 

[shum8]

Thanks! There are days it's obvious I haven't learned enough...


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[shum8]

Back on the box - got the lock mechanism bracket welded in last night, so now I need to weld in the 1/2" sq tube around the perimeter. Then comes the hinge and the door. The original lock box had a key back-up in case the batteries died. I had planned on transferring that as well, but as my stellar planning dictated, I put the push button circuit board RIGHT where the lock would have to go. After some head scratching, and looking at the locking bar and key lock, I drilled an eighth inch hole thru the box and bracket that will allow me to actuate the locking bar without a key. I filled the hole with body filler leaving a very slight dimple so that after painting, I can tell where it is without it being obvious. Knock the filler thru, insert rod, open box. The hinge will be the most fun - if I can pull this off it will be totally hidden, but very strong..... but if the rain holds off today, I want to get the sq tubing in place and the welds cleaned up.





And just for the record, I can get a decent looking weld if I put my mind to it LOL.



For mdeluca - here's where I had the welder set for the box.... lays a nice bead, but I'm still Leary of running a long continuous bead - it's just a 110 unit.




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[Belizean]

Looking good. Looking forward to see it mounted

 

[shum8]

Got the tubing welded around the perimeter of the box - Yay. Then realized I didn't make the cutouts for the hinge on the forward tube - NUTS. I'll cut that one out and replace with a modified piece.....

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[shum8]

Got the hinge fixed up and welded in place. Got the welds ground down, threw some etching primer on the outside, and some body filler in the welds to clean up the outer edges....







Here's the door.....

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[shum8]

Forgot to add the hinge pic....




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[shum8]

Got the box and door painted - at least the preliminary coat.





Will probably be tack welding some hardware in place to attach a few mounting blocks..... but the proof of concept is done. Have located and drilled the forward mounting holes



And will need a spacer between the box and roll bar - won't get that done till I can set the hard top in place, verify windshield angle, then measure for the spacer...... but overall the only thing left to finish the box is weld the door onto the hinge.








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[gr8dain]

Looks great!

 

[shum8]

Thanks - I tried to upload a short video to photobucket, but either I'm not smart enough or they wouldn't let me, but either way it never happened. So on to Youtube.... Now that I have it this far, I need to set up the loop that engages the lock...

https://youtu.be/_xEDYZdqCxw

 

[shum8]

Been kinda slow lately..... but I actually drug her out into the sunshine yesterday and today. Had planned on getting everything not primed sanded and ready for said primer.... but I'm going to weld in a couple threaded insert to hang the box, so that had to be done before the primer. But I can't drill for the inserts till I know where they need to go, so I need to stick the box about where it needs to go. Can't do that with the windshield frame off - had to stick that back on the tub. Oh, look - the roll bar needs to be there as well..... and the hard top needs to be there to set the windshield angle..... Good grief, I spent half the day just getting the locations for the inserts...... got that done. Took everything back off, sanded the tub completely, roll bar is sanded, now tonight I'll drill the insert holes. Not much to take pics of, but here she is enjoying some evening air.....



Oh - was cleaning up a few gobs of body glaze that had been sacrificed to the floor gods, and now I know how well that stuff sticks.......




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[Belizean]

Going to need to put some back as filler . Waiting patiently for installation pictures

 

[shum8]

Now I have to rig up a spacer to live between the box and roll bar..... I was at work surfing for the distance between the top of the WS frame and roll bar - found 35.5 a few times, so I went with 35 for a little leeway.... mine measures 36.25 with the hard top in place. No big deal, but I'll have to get that set up afore I cane get it in place. I've actually been screwing around with that waiting to have time to spray color, so that will get bumped to the back burner some I'm almost there. I think I'm going to use a block of Delrin or something similar- easy to machine, won't rust, and it fixes the rear mounting dilemma....... So I guess you may have to wait a bit - but once the color is done, it'll be ready to go up.


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[Belizean]

Measuring is pretty close to 35 1/2 give or take

 

[shum8]

We seem to be on the "rain every day for a week and a half" plan...... so no dragging the Jeep out into the driveway for a couple days to get the rest of it primed, so I continued in with the security box. I got the inserts into the windshield frame





I have 1/4-20 stainless screws that will attach the box to the w'shield frame, and discovered a buddy has a large block of black PVC - he donated a piece large enough for my spacer block..... we got it cut to size, I brought it home, drilled the mounting holes in it, and the corresponding threaded holes in the box. I attached the block to the box with stainless flathead screws, and then sat down to decide on a mounting design for the rear of the box that didn't require running a screw thru the roll bar into the block. Than I had an idea - went to the hardware store, picked up a couple nylon sleeves and a couple more stainless screws. The plan was to drill and tap a couple holes in the front surface of the roll bar, tap em for the screws, and attach the nylon sleeves to the roll bar, pointing toward the top of the w'shield frame. Using sandpaper, I contoured one end of each sleeve to match the roll bar, and attached em to the bar.





Then I needed corresponding holes in the spacer block to match the holes - which were drilled the same dia as the nylon sleeves, so placement was critical. Sooooo, I measured, marked, measured again, verified measurement, and drilled. Luckily, they were spot on......



Yeah, I know - the mounting holes are offset to one side...... when I attached the box to the w'shield frame and marked the location of the box sides on the roll bar and drill the holes, I then realized the windshield frame was not parallel to the roll bar. I fixed that, which shifted the rear of the box to the left. Not wanting to drill more holes in the roll bar, I just offset the holes to compensate - problem solved.

Now I can just shove the rear of the box onto the nylon studs, align the front with the mounting holes, secure with screws, and viola - super secure. And with the nylon studs in the PVC block, there will be no rust issues from worn paint - there ain't no paint LOL.







I mounted the box as high as I could without interfering with the hard top, soft top, and / or bikini top





Once that was all sorted out, I took the box back down, reattached the door, and welded the door to the hinge bracket.



I think I'm gonna line the inside of the box with rattle can bedliner..... I sprayed some on the firewall and I really like the looks - plus it will offer a very small reduction in bumps and scrapes inside the box.

Now - as soon as I get the loop that engages the locking mechanism worked out, I'll just need a restraining clamp inside the box. Then, the box will be ready to paint and mount.

 

[shum8]

Still waiting for the weather / work schedule to align and give me a couple days for priming....... so still piddling. Since I have a Wrangler tub and windshield frame, hold down brackets and holes should all line up. Passenger side was good, but driver side had the threads stripped out of the hold down knob nut....... didn't really wanna do any cutting and welding due to the fact the tub is ready for primer, so I started looking for a helicoil solution. Auto parts place has em in stock for 28 bucks for the inserts, tap, and insertion tool. Needed a 3/8-16 insert, and really didn't wanna buy all that for one hole. Then I got to thinkin - I stuck a helicoil in a stripped hole for the thermostat housing....... if I could find those, what would be the odds they'd be 3/8-16? Dug around for a bit, and dangled if they weren't 3/8-16!!













So I got that fixed today, so the next piddling project is to stick a pair of speakers in the half doors. I have a pair of 6.5's that will do nicely. Get that surgery done, then clean and dye the inner panels.......




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[shum8]

Took a break from the speaker surgery - needed to pull the heater box and go thru it to see what was inside (squirrels, mouses, opossums, etc) and decided to try the Blazer blower motor upgrade. Checked the local auto parts place - had em in stock for 20 bucks - why not.... no need to go thru the whole box refurb here - many, many threads covering that..... and I'm not doing all that anyway. I did get a reminder that one of the PO's really liked blue silicone sealant. Here's what I dealt with today..... the upper box was "glued" to the underside of the cowl. Since this is a Wrangler tub, was the upper box originally attached to the cowl with screws??





And the heater box back plate was pretty rough....





Good news is all the cables, pivots, and doors are in good shape.





A couple of the gaskets are FUBAR'd - one is an easy fix, the other will take some creativity. The one around the fan motor is mashed on one side where a wire loom was sandwiched between the firewall and box..... and that leads me to a question - in the following pic, the foam on the door fell off due to dead adhesive. It appears it had foam on both sides, but one was missing before I opened it up. The arrow points to the piece that was still here. Does the piece on the opposite side do anything???




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[shum8]

Got the heater box buttoned back up...







And used this instead of caulk:



And drug the ol girl out and got the tub and roll be primed [emoji106]. Only thing left to prime is the doors and spreader bars. Baby steps......



(Got darked on...)





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[shum8]

While I intended on getting everything primed and sanded before shooting color, I got a bad case of impatience yesterday- while it ain't perfect, and I gotta work on the gun settings, and NOT wipe with denatured alcohol right before paint (causes fisheyes...), I had to shoot something before I had a meltdown - didn't really know what the color would dry to..... I REALLY like it! If I can get it to behave and pull a decent paint job out my ear, I'll run with it. Otherwise, it'll act as a base color under the wrap - which is frighteningly close ...






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[Belizean]

Looks good. Nice color to me