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Archive for the ‘Jeep #12’ Category

Jeep #12: Frame Rotisserie

Just another quick post.

Someone asked me why I didn’t have a rotisserie to mount the frame to. I didn’t have a good answer other than because rotisseries are expensive. Then I remembered I have two engine stands sitting there. I went to Home Depot to pick up some bolts and reused the Jeep’s old suspension shackles to rig this up in about 20 minutes. The only problem with the engine stands is the fact that they are tipped upward slightly, but with a little bit of play everything lines up and spins no problem.

Jeep-Frame-Rotisserie-1

Jeep-Frame-Rotisserie-2

 

Jeep #12: Preparing the Frame and Body

It’s been a year and half since I got that new frame, and about 8 months since I started tearing down the Jeep. Well. Its finally time to show some new progress on the project!

I’ve been slowly doing little bits of work to the Jeep body and frame. Removing body panels, removing the dash, disconnecting hoses, draining fluids.. etc. I am now at a point where I am almost ready to remove the body from the old frame. The body currently only has 1 or 2 bolts holding it down, and a few linkages and things to remove from the firewall. Here is how it currently looks:

jeep-body-stripped-down

It wouldn’t be wise to dive right into removing the body right now though, as I have no where to put it. I could do a few things to it, but then it would be waiting for the engine and new frame to get finished. So I decided to move on to the new frame. I was originally planning on not doing anything major to it. It is in amazing shape for being 20 years old, but it could certainly use some new paint. I decided to strip the frame down to just the single metal component. I will be picking up a soda blaster and stripping the frame down the best I can, and then coating in rust encapsulator and chassis black paint. Here is a look at how it currently looks:

jeep-frame-stripped

After the frame is done, I will have to find new Dana axles (mine are horribly rusted too), and then will install the brand new lift kit (1.5 inches) to the frame. Once that is all setup I can move on to the engine, and then the body. The body will also get the rust treatment on the bottom, and some body panel repair in the back. Some of the parts will be painted sand beige poly before being installed, but the main body will be repainted after being installed back on the frame.

Jeep #12: Disassembly Begins

Been a long time since I’ve updated this. Kinda sad that I got that frame almost a year ago, and it’s still sitting waiting to be used.

But it shouldn’t be waiting much longer!

In Jan I sold my hardtop. And then the Jeep had been sitting inside for the rest of the winter. A few months ago I moved and Jeep and started to unbolt a few things, but not really remove anything. Earlier this week Kevin (Boomerjinks JP #18) wanted to hang out and I suggested we do some work on my Jeep. He was an hour late, so I started without him and actually unbolted a lot of things. The seats, the rollcage, seatbelts.. etc. I tried to unbolt the windshield, but all those torx bolts stripped out. I ended up doing the quick and simple thing and just cut the hinges right in half. Easy peasy. Finally Kevin showed up to help do some heavy lifting and we got the roll cage, seats, windshield frame and hood out of the way. Enough for a few hours work.

Jeep with no seats, no rollcage

Jeep no hood or windshield

The next few days I would come in and take something off, bag it up and catalog it. Just small items like the license plates, frames, taillights.. etc.

Last night however, I decided I should give a go at taking off the fenders and the grill. The grill I had removed before, so I knew it wouldn’t be too difficult. The fenders on the other hand were going to take some work. I started with the passenger side fender, which is easier than the driver side as it just has the battery tray and jack in the way. After some unbolting, it was out. Next was the grill, which required draining the coolant and removing hoses, but again was pretty simple. The driver side fender is only a little bit harder than the passenger side. There are a lot of electrics, coolant / washer fluid bottles, evap canister and some other stuff to remove before getting access to the bolts. A few hours work total over Friday and Saturday morning and I have this:

Jeep with Fenders off.

Hopefully a lot more progress will be made in the next few months. Kind of sucks to not be driving the Jeep with the nice summer weather upon us… but the faster I get this done, the faster I can drive it!

Jeep #12: Frame has arrived!

We just picked up this Jeep frame from a local guy. It is virtually rust free. There are a few spot of surface rust that will be easy to take care of, but this frame will be a great start. We’re gonna clean it up, install the new lift kit and suspension and then start swapping parts over from our Jeep! That might not happen for a few months, but we’ll be collecting parts and doing little things to prepare in the meantime.

Jeep #12: Jurassic Park License Plates

We just got in our new stamped metal license plates from Celebrity Machines. They are absolutely great quality and are by far the nicest replica license plates you will find!

http://www.jimshine.com/celebritymachines/store/cm%20store%202011.htm

Jeep #12: Work. Work. Work.

Hey guys! Its been a long time since I’ve posted an update. Lots of things have happened since the last update. I am now in Denver Colorado with the likes of Boomerjinks and his Jeep #18. We loaded the Jeep up earlier this week and drove 1000 miles from Minneapolis to Denver, through back country roads over the course of 2 days. It was pretty eventful for the Jeep. The rear brake lines burst somewhere in Nebraska, and we drove the remaining 450 miles with limited (front) brakes. Then somewhere in Colorado, the fuel pump started to whine and go out.

It took three days of work to get the rusted brake line out. It should have been easy, but due to the massive amounts of rust.. it was not. The fuel pump was also done during this time, and all in all the repairs only cost about $90. Here is a picture of the Jeep being worked on in our new awesome warehouse space in Denver! (Notice the rust accumulating on the floor.)

Once it was back together we decided to take it out into the mountains and up to Boulder Colorado for the night.

While stopping into this scenic overlook the Jeep took a pretty big hit and damaged the front suspension. The sway bar bracket broke, as did something else that has yet to be identified. (It can be heard but not found yet.) We attempted to drive back from Boulder, but ultimately had to get it towed. It was very ironic that we drove hundreds of miles on broken brakes and a failing fuel pump… but one $5 bracket was what stopped us from driving home.

The good news is. We immediately found a great Jeep frame here in Colorado from a local Jeep builder. The frame will alleviate a lot of the problems we’ve been having with rust, and will be a perfect frame for a restoration. We’ll be taking the body off some time this Summer and swapping the body over along with the engine. The suspension will be replaced with new leafs that will give a modest 1.5″ lift. While the body is off, some body work will be done, and parts will be painted and rhino lined. We hope to do the actual painting and Jurassic Park conversion on this Jeep over the winter.

Jeep #12: Back at it!

We’re back at it after letting the Jeep #12 sit during the cold and long Winter here in Minnesota. I didn’t drive it much during the Winter, though there were days where I certainly should have! Now that the temperatures are finally raising up to the point of being able to drive with no top, the Jeep is once again becoming active. I took the hard top off and the hard full doors. A friend found a set of almost brand new soft doors at a local junkyard and at only $80 they were a bargain.

Up next is figuring out the wiring issue that may or may not still be affecting the headlights. Followed by painting the replacement fenders and windshield frame. After that it is time for the bodywork and (eventually) paint! Hopefully we can get this thing done this summer!

Jeep #12: Really Poor Jeep…

Needless to say.. it snowed before I could put the Jeep back together. We got 10″ or so…

Jeep #12: Poor Jeep…

A few weeks ago while driving the Jeep, the power steering lines completely rusted through and drained the lines in a parking lot. Without easy steering, I parked the Jeep for a few weeks until I could get the parts and a nice enough day to do the repair.

Figuring out a way to get the power steering lines out prooved to be a little more work than you would anticipate for a Jeep having the steering box OUTSIDE of the front bumper. I ended up having to completely remove the front grill and core frame in order to gain access to the lines. It may have only been 12 bolts, and removing the radiator but it brought along its own headaches.

Here is what the Jeep looks like without its front end:

Kinda cool. I’ve never had a vehicle with a main frame so you could just remove a large chunk of the front end. If the Jeep weren’t so rusty, working on this thing would be a snap.

The bad news though was that the radiator was on its last legs. The fins were all rotted away. I was surprised it worked at all… not something I was willing to test with Winter approaching.

A new radiator was ordered along with all new hoses and bolts. But that wasn’t the least of the troubles. The main body mount for the front had completely rusted through the frame. A quick patch panel was made and welded up. Looks pretty nice?

Gotta try and get it all back together tomorrow morning as long as the 40 degree day isn’t bombarded with snow or rain showers!

Jeep #12: Two Months Later…

The welding is finally completed and the gas tank has been reinstalled with a brand new filler neck, tubes and license plate bracket. Everything on the Jeep that was fixed is working perfectly as it should. The rust replacement panels seem to have worked nicely and the Jeep doesn’t squeek like it used to. That being said I haven’t driven the Jeep in two months until today.

What a great way to enjoy the fall weather, its in the 80s here right now… a change from the 50s just a week ago. Just a few more days of summer left until the hard top goes back on.

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