Boomer is born

[tgreening]

I'm thinking of calling this one Boomer, because of the sound my wife's hand made smacking me upside the head for buying this waggy after she said she'd rather I didn't.

It's an 88 I picked up when I went to pick up the M715 bed for Hogsnot. Power everything and it all actually works. Even the A/C blows cold. It's got a bit of rot in the rear quarters but nothing a couple of panels from BJ's couldn't handle, and the floor boards are rock solid front to rear, which was a HUGE plus for me. I hate doing floor boards. There is a bit of scabbing on a couple of the doors but again, nothing major that couldn't be handled during the standard mandatory repaint.

Bought a 6" lift from BJs last week along with new wipes and slides for all the doors and windows and beat-feet up to Summit Racing today to pick up some new tires and wheels. I was going to go with 33 / 12.5's on 10" rims but at the last minute I decided on 10.5's on 8" rims.

I'm really hoping the lift settles a bit. When I dropped the front end on the ground it didn't give hardly at all and my shackles are fully extended. It's almost as if the springs are a bit short. I'm about half afraid of what the ride is going to be like.

I'm pretty comfortable with all the mechanicals that will need done but I'm drawing a pretty big blank when it comes to paint. All the woodgrain is going to go the way of the Dodo and I think I'd like to go with some sort of two-tone design, keeping the factory base color involved in order to tie the interior color into everything. For me nothing screams half-azzed like an exterior repaint that neglects to follow through on the inside and since I REALLY don't want to rip the interior out on this project.....

Given the Black Cherry (I think that is the factory color) base color I am open to suggestions for a two tone design. Any photochop gurus out there?

Oh, and why can't I seem to do inline photos? Everything looks fine until I submit the thread and then the photos are gone with only links left behind.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8527&stc=1&d=1208317729


http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8528&stc=1&d=1208317729


http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8529&stc=1&d=1208317729


http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8530&stc=1&d=1208317729

[janie]

You my friend are definitely addicted.:D Congrat's on the new ride and I love the names you've picked out for your rigs.

[tgreening]

You my friend are definitely addicted.:D Congrat's on the new ride and I love the names you've picked out for your rigs.


It's a curse. When I get into something I have a bad habit of jumping WAY in. Way back when I used to race R/C cars competitively and spent stupid amounts of money on gear and travel. The next big money pit was paintball, whick I played competitively, and spent even larger disgusting amounts of money on gear and travel to tournaments. Tore a knee in half and pretty much ended that.

Then one day I decided I wanted to build a jeep. Right now I have a 79 CJ about 3/4 of the way through a rebuild, a 75 CJ5 that's getting a new motor and a Dupont rebuild which will go on the auction block, my original CJ7 that's giving up its 304 to the CJ5 to make room for a HO 5 litre Mustang motor I bought, two J-trucks that are giving up their guts to make my 68 gladiator a capable daily driver, a 75 J20 that was going to be a donor but will end up being a rebuild for resale, and finally the Wagoneer that is going to be the family camping vehicle.

Sometimes I walk out in my garage, look around and think, what kind of effin idiot owns this place.

[misfittom138]

Looking good! :thumbsup:

[jeepshots]

Sometimes I walk out in my garage, look around and think, what kind of effin idiot owns this place.

Wait wait - did ya'll read this?? All those vehicles, in various stages of teardown/reconstruction (and the associated sprawl) described. And he said he's in his garage and sees all this? Just 'zactly how big is this garage?!? <jealousy[on]> :D

[yoslvr442]

Nice lookin rig!! I especially like the color;) .

what are your other plans for it??

[tgreening]

Wait wait - did ya'll read this?? All those vehicles, in various stages of teardown/reconstruction (and the associated sprawl) described. And he said he's in his garage and sees all this? Just 'zactly how big is this garage?!? <jealousy[on]> :D


Specs on the garage are in the Hogsnot thread. Suffice to say though that it's 2 1/2 times the size of the house. That's reasonable. Right? ;)

[yoslvr442]

my shop IS the same size as my house basically!! sounds about right to me!

[Dirtball]

My garage is as big as all outdoors... wait a minute; it IS all outdoors!!

Nice looking Waggy... of course, I think you made a great choice on tires... I just love the narrower tires on NT rigs...

[tgreening]

Nice lookin rig!! I especially like the color;) .

what are your other plans for it??


Pretty standard stuff actually. I want to fix all the mechanical things so it's dependable. After I get the lift on I'll have it taken to a garage and change out ALL fluids, filters, and such. I'll have the tranny serviced and adjusted. That's the boring stuff.

I'm going to pull the factory roor rack and install a gutter mount basket of some sort so I have a place to dump a spare and haul some trail/camping gear. I think I'll put big honkin flood lights 360 deg. around the basket and all across the front bumper (NOT!). Probably redo the gears and drop in a couple of true lockers instead of the factory "locking type differential" that's in rear now and more immediate replace the rotted away factory tow hitch. At least I "think" it's factory.

Strip all that god-awful woodgrain (no offense woody lovers) and do a nice repaint of some fashion. The only problem there is I have no artistic ability at all and no concept of what color combos work together. I intend to keep the base color the same so the interior doesn't look out of place but I'd like to two-tone it in a fashion that is both asthetically pleasing and just down right dead sexy. Yeah baby! I'm open to ideas on that. :)

When it's done it will be a good solid vehicle capable of being a DD. I doubt I'll get too crazy with it. I save that for my, ahem, "Baby Jeep".

[tgreening]

Not much visual progress but progress nonetheless.

With the wood.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8615&stc=1&d=1209005155

Without the wood. What a right royal pain in the arse that stuff was to get off. I'm guessing it took a total of about 4 hours or so using a heat gun, puddy knife, and toasted fingers. Some came easy but a lot came realll hard. Glad it's gone and no plans to replace it. Good riddance.


http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8616&stc=1&d=1209005155



I ended up replacing both rear spring hangers in a frame that was in "great shape" according to the PO. Why people can't be straight is beyond me. Any how, I ended up chopping them and some frame structure that was rotted. I cut out some donors from another frame I have and welded it all in. I'll have to do some grinding and some fish-plating and slather that whole area with some rust killer and probably call it good.


http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8617&stc=1&d=1209005155
http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8618&stc=1&d=1209005155

Pulled the headliner down and took a shot at cleaning it all up. Scraped the beejeezus out of it with a puddy knife (handy little things!) and then used a wire brush to clean it up as best I could. Hopefully this is clean enough.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8619&stc=1&d=1209005155


I also pulled the factory roof rack off to be replaced with something a bit more sturdy. I'm debating on welding the holes or plugging them because I'm a bit concerned about warpage on the roof. Not sure yet.

[tgreening]

Before:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/tgreening/Wagoneer%20Rebuild/IMG_0669.jpg


And the mostly final After:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/tgreening/Wagoneer%20Rebuild/CIMG0004.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/tgreening/Wagoneer%20Rebuild/CIMG0020.jpg


Crappy pictures in poor lighting conditions that don't do things justice but you should get the picture, so to speak. The base color is the factory color for that year (88) and the accent color is a gold derivative. The swapped in motor has lifter noice as bad as the original but at least it doesn't have bearings knocking. I'm debating the crate motor route, or finding a 6BT donor to do something a bit more interesting, and a lot more fuel efficient.

It's been a boat load of work. I had to do the usual gas tank area frame repair. A full 50% of the frame side body mounts needed repaired and about 75% of the body side mounts. Both rear quarters were toasted, a shat-load of surface scabs, passenger side floor pan was far enough gone I cut it out and replaced it, R&R'd the motor (twice because of a doh! moment), replaced all the door window slides and seals, R&R'd the cargo area windows, plugged the roof rack holes, rebuilt the gas tank skid, lift kit, new tires/wheels, did a grill swap, undercoated, blah blah blah. It took a couple of months of cussing and complaining but at least it's a runner now.

Woo Hoo. :)

[710 Burner]

Wow. You mean if I take off the wood paneling my waggy grill will turn into a razor grill? Cool.
"Sometimes I walk out in my garage, look around and think, what kind of effin idiot owns this place." Theres my new quote. :cool:

[shimniok]

Wow, that looks great!!

Want to do mine next?? :)

[Rhino Racer]

I'm thinking of calling this one Boomer, because of the sound my wife's hand made smacking me upside the head for buying this waggy after she said she'd rather I didn't.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Blue & Gray]

In my line of work a "Boomer" is someone who leaves home to go work somewheres else, adapted from the crane flagging term "Boom Out" which takes the suspended load further away from the crane. If it's your camping rig then it fits nicely, Boom Out and explore the land in the wag named to do so. Very impressive build up. I showed the thread to my wife and she said "Why aren't yours shiney and pretty like that?"

[tgreening]

In my line of work a "Boomer" is someone who leaves home to go work somewheres else, adapted from the crane flagging term "Boom Out" which takes the suspended load further away from the crane. If it's your camping rig then it fits nicely, Boom Out and explore the land in the wag named to do so. Very impressive build up. I showed the thread to my wife and she said "Why aren't yours shiney and pretty like that?"


Tell your wife it's because it's fresh out of the garage and hasn't hit any trails yet. It is supposed to be the family camping/wheeling rig because it is the only 4x I have that will fit me, the wife, both rug rats, and the flea hotel all at the same time in relative comfort.

The plus side is now that it's more or less done the wife really likes it. She thinks it looks "retro" and for some reason thinks the front dome light is just the coolest thing she's ever seen in a vehicle. Of course she's from Japan and still more than just a bit incomprehensible to me when it comes to the synaptic firing going on between her ears. IOW, I have no idea what she's thinking half the time.

[wickedwagon767]

Looks great man :thumbsup:

[krek]

Freakin' awesome! :thumbsup:

[Chuck Brown]

In my line of work a "Boomer" is someone who leaves home to go work somewheres else, adapted from the crane flagging term "Boom Out" which takes the suspended load further away from the crane. If it's your camping rig then it fits nicely, Boom Out and explore the land in the wag named to do so. Very impressive build up. I showed the thread to my wife and she said "Why aren't yours shiney and pretty like that?"

Blue&Gray, you an Ironworker?

Chuck Brown

[NVJEEPER]

:thumbsup: Very nice

[jaber]

You did an AWESOME job on it. If I had a garage, I'd have more done on my projects and the wife would get off my back about holding onto them.

[JPSwapMohn]

tgeening,

How did you plug your roof rack holes? I am headed the same direction with my 88 very soon. Drive-train is just about finished and body/paint is next.

I would like to see a better pic of the color combo. I am probably going to strip and repaint the whole thing and try to work the new colors into the interior a little. Of course, I am a little luckier in that mine is tan and tan interiors seem to go with just about any color combo..

Very sharp looking rig! Congrats on the great job.
I really like the stance of your rig. Are those 33x10.5's or 32x10.5's?

[tgreening]

You did an AWESOME job on it. If I had a garage, I'd have more done on my projects and the wife would get off my back about holding onto them.


Thanks. I feel your pain about the garage. Back when I was in the Corp I had an F-150 and had to do all my work out in the parking lot of the barracks. Not a lot of fun in SoCal sun so I can imagine what it would be like in even toastier locations.

[tgreening]

tgeening,

How did you plug your roof rack holes? I am headed the same direction with my 88 very soon. Drive-train is just about finished and body/paint is next.

I would like to see a better pic of the color combo. I am probably going to strip and repaint the whole thing and try to work the new colors into the interior a little. Of course, I am a little luckier in that mine is tan and tan interiors seem to go with just about any color combo..

Very sharp looking rig! Congrats on the great job.
I really like the stance of your rig. Are those 33x10.5's or 32x10.5's?


Pluggin those dang holes was easy, but finding the right combo of stuff was a right royal pain in the arse. My intent was to use some dome headed carriage bolts with a rubber washer under the head and on the inside of the jeep another rubber washer, a flat washer, and then a locknut to keep it all tight.

I could not believe how hard it was to find a freakin rubber washer of ANY size, let alone the correct size and when I could find something they were stupid expensive (for rubber washers). One day when I was scratching my head trying to figure out where to get large OD small ID rubber washers I had a sudden burst of inspiration. I figured if anyone had odd sized rubber washers it would be a plumbing fixture store.

I went to the local supplier, told him what I wanted, and after a tilted head and about a nano-second of thought he handed me a bagful. You'll never guess so I'll just spill it as best I can. When you bolt down your bathroom toilet there are two studs that hold it in place. They are the rubber washers that go on the studs underneath the nuts.

I believe I used 5/16" carriage bolts for the project. They are a bit large for the washers but will push through without too much trouble, and they have a head large enough to comfortably cover the half inch holes in the roof. I painted the roof first and painted the bolts seperately and installed afterward so I would have total paint coverage on the roof.


Tires are 33 /10.5 BFGs on 8" rims. I debated going with 12.5 on 10" but couldn't seem to come up with a definitive answer on whether that combo would work without interference somewhere so I chickened out and played it safe. I gave my buddy a set of 33" Gyears and they fit his rig just fine so I might have been safe, but I like how my turned out anyway.

When I get a chance to put it in some good light I'll see what I can do about snapping some better pictures. Actually, I should have my wife do it since she's Japanese and I'm pretty sure they are all born with the instinctive ability to rapid-fire photos from any camera known to man.

[JPSwapMohn]

Man, that is a great idea for those holes! I will try to get some bolts and washers this week for the open holes in this 78 NT that I have sitting in the garage. It needs a lot more than just those holes plugged, but it is a good start since the original roof rack is not there.

Also sounds like a good idea for my GW when I get the body done so I have the option of going back to an original rack if the mood strikes me.

I like the 33/10.5's. They are sort of an odd size. Are they more expensive? I am running 32/11.5's on the GW. I did not even think to look for 33/10.5's. I will keep them in mind for the next set..

Thanks!