Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly

[gert]

Freakin sweet


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[shum8]

Found a mfg. date on the side window..... Feb of 1994. It’s newer than I thought

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[mtnwhlr]

Very nice great job.

 

[shum8]

As bad as I hated to do it, I got the right side windshield bracket for the soft top hardware finished up - no more vice grips hanging on that side...... The original had only one rivet holding the plastic "socket" to the aluminum bracket so it could rotate slightly to compensate for windshield angle - I'm assuming. Since I'm setting everything up to fit the hard top angle, I used two. I drilled thru the windshield frame, clamped the bracket in place and drilled it using the previous holes as a drill guide. Then I pressed a couple threaded inserts into the windshield frame holes, screwed the bracket in place, stuck the socket on the end of the cross support, or rather tried to - as it turned out the ID of the socket was a couple thousands too small, so I reamed em out with a die grinder...... just cranked it by hand with a wrench. Perfect. Got it where I wanted it, drill for a couple Stainless rivers, and Viola - new bracket. Driver side goes in today....

As for the screws and such - the company I worked for 20 years ago or more built electronic equipment the looked very similar to desktop computers..... and I was forever disassembling prototypes, mock ups, and test units, so I kept all the hardware in my desk. Cause that's what hoarders do.... I'm still feeding off that stuff, threaded inserts included. I would pop them out of the panel and keep them as well.....

Aighty - I gotta go put on my black garbage bag and square hat and sit thru this years graduation ceremony. Fun times.....


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[Jimbocker]

Are those brackets 3d printed, or is the surface finish playing with my eyes?

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[shum8]

Yes - the upper parts are undead 3D printed......


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[Jimbocker]

Undead 3d printed? With a zombie printer? [emoji23]

Nice! That surface finish is hard to miss. I'm looking forward to the day I have access to one of those again...

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[shum8]

LOL - Stupid autocorrect. Good thing I don’t teach English!!

Our printer is just a small cheapo unit, but it does pretty well


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[Jimbocker]

Sometimes small and cheap is all you need!
I had access to two PolyPrinters in the lab I worked in in college. They worked pretty well, but you had to learn how to fix them when you have students printing on them 12+ hours/day.

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[gert]

Man that’s lookin sweet, I love the hardware stash, I have a few 5 gallon buckets of hardware I have pirated from vehicles over the years


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[shum8]

Got the driver's side bracket installed this evening. At this point all the top hardware is in place, but I have a couple more things to do before I'm happy with it (big surprise, huh?). The shorter bow, the rear most one, has snaps across the bottom that snaps to a flap sewn to the top - but as you pull the top tight, it naturally pushes the bow forward. Just for fun, I took a 3/4" dowel and made two spacers that wedge between the two bows....... works great - so at some point I'm going to make a couple out of conduit, and 3D print the ends to fit the bows with holes allowing them to be pinned in place. The other issue is the top of the door opening. The top has a flap that is supposed to fold around the horizontal spreader bar (I stuck it behind the bar so it's visible.)

Once folded and Velcro'd in place, there is a LOT of slop in there. Shown here, the flap is secured, and the bar is at the top of my thumb.

Been thinkin about how to tighten this up for a while now, including welding an extra bar something like this:

I really didn't like the thoughts of the extra bar - mainly because it would totally screw up the folding and stowing of the bows when the top is off. Then, while cleaning up my mess for the night, it hit me like a ton of elephant ...... don't know why it took me so long to come up with this...... I'll just slide a piece of pipe insulation over it - made me feel a little stupid - so simple and so obvious........ so that's the plan for tomorrow. That's my story and I'm stickin to it


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[shum8]

Between the other 35 things I had going on today, I was able to get the Transmission cover plate finished up today. After I got the openings where I wanted em, I got it sanded, primed, and hit with the same bed liner I did the firewall in.

Then it occurred to me that the “normal” T-176 / Dana 300 shift boot setup won’t work here.... I just recently learned there are a couple different Dana 300 shift levers. I obviously don’t have the correct one since my lever cutouts are side by side. Custom boots here we come.......


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[gert]

lookin good

 

[shum8]

I was a bad Dad Yesterday..... To make room for my daughter’s stuff in the garage during her transition from NOVA to Charlotte, I had the throw the CJ outside.

Since it was her first night outside, I went out and sat with her for a bit before turning in.


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[gert]

Oh man that’s rough, I bet your Jeep was seriously jealous lol


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[shum8]

Yeah, but it sure prettied up the driveway


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[mdeluca]

so forlorn...

 

[mtnwhlr]

Just be glad it was still there in the morning.

 

[shum8]

Just be glad it was still there in the morning.

I know, right? And the top, the doors, wheels....... luckily I live in a pretty good neighborhood. The neighbor's meth head stepson has been clean after his 14 month vacation to the Correctional Islands...... Otherwise I'd keep a set of crosshairs on him.....

 

[shum8]

Went to the local pick n save scrounging for the female seatbelt halves for the CJ..... I gotta tell ya - I didn't have real high expectations for success, being the halve I have here are mid 80's at best, and everyone seems to have gone to skinny connectors. I roamed around for a while, and learned some of the early 90's Fords and Lincolns fit, as well as a 1993 Mazda B2300 truck. Finally found a first gen Dodge pickup

The parts I needed actually just bolted to the floor (as would the CJ), were long enough, and are black.

The plastic sleeve is trashed, so I'm mulling a fix over in my head. I saw it in a cartoon once and it worked just fine, so I think I'll give it a shot.....

While I was there, ran across this...... anyone wanna guess what kind of car (make and model) it is? The silver bumper cover doesn't belong to it...

Tapatalk made me send this.......