Godzilla revisited

[CRASH076]

Well it's been some time since I posted my Chero on here, So much so that i can't find it :p, so since I actually started working on it again i figured it was time to do a little back tracking

I acquired the truck in the spring of 02, Yah 6 years ago!:rolleyes2:. the specs were: 360V8, T-18, D20 T-case, open D44's with stock 3.96 gears, 3" body lift, 3" rock hard springs in the front, blocks in the rear with some miscellaneous leaves added

Here she was as I brought her home

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DCP_0001.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DCP_0002.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DCP_0003.jpg

Yah she was ugly and full of cancer but the drivetrain, the tons of extra parts and the fact that it was an ex service truck was what sold me on it. I couldn't beat it for $800 :D

The first thing I did to it was clean it out inside, throw on some better tires and rockcrawler wheels and try to getto patch the cancerous body

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00001.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00004.jpg

The body work was...well...unexplainable.:huh: :banghead: :hide:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00002.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00003.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00005.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00006.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00007.jpg

I actually found newspapers, windowscreen, aluminum foil anything you could imagine in those fenders when I went to fix them. :confused: There was even a dead bird IN THE BONDO under the grill!!:eek:

Anyways, The interior left little to be desired:omfg:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00013.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00015.jpg

Yes that's orange shag! needless to say it came out soon after. The front seats and steering wheel were out of a Dart and oddly enough matched up real well. they will to be coming out soon.

about the gov thing, here is the sticker on the dash

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00014.jpg

Supposedly it came from new mexico about 20 years ago by way of some immigrants and was originally a gov vehicle of some sort.The previous owner mudded it for 15 years. hence the reason for the rust.

another interesting thing was his "waterproofing"

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00011.jpg

you can see the plastic juggs over the dist and coil. :rolleyes: you'll also notice spray foam on the heater core. Iguess he was trying to make it work better.

Anyways I wheeled it for the first time (and only time! :mad: ) like this and a local spot

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/mud.jpg

The day didn't start well. going up the first climb I heard a pop and only the front tires were spinning. I got yanked to the top. At first I thought it was just popping out of 4WD so I fiddled with it and ran up a stump and all looked well so off we went. I would hear it pop occasionally through the trail but going up the next big climb it just kept going POP! POP! POP! so I parked it and ran the rest of the day with my brother. on the way out I tried a fairly deep mud hole and got the same result. It didn't accour to me what the problem was until we went to get on the road and I shifted it into 2Wd and the truck didn't move.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DVC00211.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/oops.jpg

Yep, grenaded the spiders :banghead:

Oh I also did some creative body work as well;)

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/Godzilla10.jpg

After the first run I fixed the gears and tried to get it inspected. Yes I wheeled it even before it got inspected! well it failed miserably! no surprise:rolleyes: Fortunately I had recently sold a blazer so I had $5000 to burn and decided to dive into the truck.

I'll get into that later. Whew that was long! I commend those who actually read the whole thing:D

[Gambler68]

:eek: omg..


can't wait to see what 5k did for it! :thumbsup:

[misfittom138]

Nice. :thumbsup: Keep it coming....

[fireman91186]

Like the ride but cant wait to see pics after the 5 grand.:thumbsup:

79 cherokee W/T 360 T-18 trans dana 20 transfercase with custom 1.5 spring hangers in front 4" springs in rear 33" swampers
78 cherokee chief W/T stock not running right now
84 chevy c-30 454 sm465 np205 dana 60 14 bolt also not running ???
2002 stock chevy 4x4 1500 hd

[RTFM]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/lurker.gif

I've got my popcorn, and a comfortable seat.... I'm ready for a good story -bring it on CRASH

[orangecherokee]

If I were you I'd cut... heavily. you could get rid of half that cancer with a sawzall and it'd look pretty good if you took your time.

[CRASH076]

If I were you I'd cut... heavily. you could get rid of half that cancer with a sawzall and it'd look pretty good if you took your time.

I took care of the body work 5 years ago. You'll see shortly

I began with a plan. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible but have as much axle articulation as I could get. Since my budget was $5000 I decided to dump most of it into the axles to gain some dependability and eliminate the worry. I couldn’t go to Dana 60’s because that would have meant a fuel cell, new wheels and tires, fender flairs etc.etc. it would have really blown my budget.

Before I tore it apart I wanted to get a baseline

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00026.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00027.jpg

The truck had never had a gear change when the 35” tires were installed, which really impressed me considering how slow the thing could crawl with 3.96's, so I ordered a set of 4.56 gears and a Detroit soft locker for the front along with a complete rebuild kit for both axles and new U joints and ball joints for the front. The guy that did the rebuilds for me just happen to have a brand new Detroit locker for the back, lying around, so I swiped that up for a song. I was also chatting with him about how I wanted to go to a high steer setup and that I needed to get the knuckles drilled and tapped. He said “well I got a driver side Chevy knuckle over here on a scrap axle already done that you can have” so after he torched it off for me I was on my way to the machine shop where I had the pass. side done to match the driver and had the ball joints installed. I ordered a set of Parts Mike high steer arms, extension blocks and new studs and the steering system was on its way

http://www.partsmike.com/store/sc_images/products/1291_large_image.jpg

. Once the axles were rebuilt, I painted them and added some diff protection, new brakes and ditched the crappy auto hubs for some pro-comp locking ones.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-006F.jpg

While the axles were getting rebuilt I turned my attention to the body. I knew from day one I wanted the 3” body lift gone! In the process of removing it I found out that most of the frame mounts had rusted completely away under the body bushings. Out came the welder and new plates were installed.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/mount.jpg

With that out of the way I started digging into the sheet metal. This thing was a mess. The guy told me at one point he was in a mud hole up to the headlights, and I believed him since there was a high water mark about 1/3rd of the way up the cardboard door panels! I tried to get an idea of what was needed to fix it but it was so overwhelming I just started cutting. The bondo on this thing was 2 to 3 inches thick in places and you could see where it was mudded over and over again. In some spots there was newspaper jammed in holes behind the bondo. In all I guess I pulled about 20 lbs of body filler out of the rear quarters. After that there wasn’t much left to work with so I was going to need to fab almost everything from the belt line down.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/fender.jpg

I started looking at the spare parts that came with the truck and decided the extra hood was better than the one that was on it so I switched them and started cutting the old one up for patches. At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to replace what was missing because I really had nothing to go by but as I went I kind of just made things up. I used the edges of the old hood to make the bottom edge of the quarter just behind the doors. I didn’t have a break at the time but needed something to continue the body line. I looked at the pile of parts once more and realized I could use the spare doors as new skins, well the pass door got swapped out because the one on it was literally rusting off its hinges.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G6.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G8.jpg

With the front half fixed I pondered over what to do with the back half. I had no idea what it was supposed to look like and decided I wanted that M715 military look. While sitting there staring into space trying to figure this out, I noticed that the front corners of the old hood had a nice shape to them. That’s it! So I promptly cut the corners off and positioned them until they looked correct and welded them in place. After that I added filler panels to take the place of the inner fenders, and radiused the opening until it looked ok.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G7.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G9.jpg

Now, 2 years later, I’m looking at it and thinking about changing it again. Probably to match the front fenders. We’ll see.

Inside wasn’t much better and nearly %40 of the original floor was already replaced with heavy gauge steel that already had some rust holes in it. Not wanting to spend too much time here I decided to just patch what I had as best I could to keep the air and water out.

In the cargo area the inner fenders were pulling away from the floor and the area where the lift gate attached to the floor was mostly gone as well. After a lot of flying sparks and cursing the body was now sturdy and fairly water tight. Eventually I will put a spray in liner to help protect it some more. One interesting thing was I couldn’t figure out why the tailgate was so hard to lift. On another trip to the previous owner’s house I got my answer. Turns out he had replaced the tailgate twice. The second time his dad was borrowing the truck to haul firewood and was backing down a hill with the tail gate down , when he crossed a ravine and promptly ripped the tail gate off and most of the original valance panel and floor in the process. In order to fix it he ended up putting a piece of heavy gauge steel tubing in place of the floor and ditching the helper springs because they were mangled beyond repair.

The last bit of body repair was the panel under the grill.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/grill.jpg


This was so badly rusted that the original metal had literally disappeared and there was nothing but bondo.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/grill2.jpg


To top it off I found a dead bird IN THE BONDO!! After pondering it for a while I decided I didn’t need it anyways and simply cut it off flush with the grill. One thing I did need to do was replace the metal that held the parking lights in place. They were literally held in place with bondo! To top it all off I added an nicer grill that came with the truck.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/grill1.jpg

Now that the body was mostly free of plastic and somewhat sturdy it was time to turn my attention to the suspension.

Stay tuned...:drivin:

[Dr Teeth]

This thread is awesome....

[Jeep Mom]

This thread is awesome....

x2 - Looking forward to more!:)

[Knuck]

http://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gifhttp://www.huskerpowerhour.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/229031_hail.gif

[Mike7009]

my jeep is also a pa jeep. it has bad cancer in the frame not the body. well the body has some rust but not nearly as bad as yours. i'm still trying to decide if i want to fix it or not. the only way to fix mine it to swap frames.

[CRASH076]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Here is a couple pics I found of the patch work done on the interior.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00395.jpg
You can see how most of the floor was replaced

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00399.jpg

in here you can sort of see how i patched the rear floor

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G11.jpg

And yes nothing goes to waste around here:D

Well onto the suspension.

When I set out to do the truck I knew I needed to ditch the body lift and keep the approximate height so it was obvious that I was going to need to add lift in the suspension.

My budget was getting low so once again I used what i had available. I went with a spring over in the front so I purchased some new spring perches, torched off the old ones and ground down the top of the pumpkin on the Pass side so I could weld on the new pads.

With the front axle ready to go I turned my attention to the chassis. I wanted to do a shackle reversal so I torched off the front shackle mount and cleaned up the frame a little. I had to ditch the lifted springs that were on it because they were old and flexed like a brick. since buying new springs wasn't in my budget I got lucky and my brother recently lifted his XJ and the factory rear springs were a perfect match! they were about 4 inches longer than stock and had an offset centering pin so it effectively moved the axle 2 1/2" further forward.

To get them to work I added a new spring mount up front

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-005F.jpg

then I had to relocate to factory mount in the rear back a couple inches

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-004F.jpg

Then I got a 1 1/2" lift XJ shackle and mounted it in the rear

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00391.jpg

I dropped the axle under and it worked perfict!

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-009F.jpg

Of course knowing what I know now I would have gone with a Comanche spring and ditched the block above the spring mount and put the shackle in the frame. but hay I did the work 6 years ago.:p

I'm off to work so i'll get to the rear suspension later

[pineymike]

WOW! Dude yur gona need bigger axles 'cause yur gona have to run 44's to make it look rite!

[Casey]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/rcasey/smilies/hook1.gif


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/rcasey/smilies/drama.gif

[CRASH076]

WOW! Dude yur gona need bigger axles 'cause yur gona have to run 44's to make it look rite!

No, you see in a bit that it looks fine

Well with the front suspension figured out I turned my attention to the rear. The first thing I knew I needed to do was ditch the old springs. they were a hodgepodge of random leaves that most of were broken anyways so they got scrapped and I sourced a set of stock 63" long springs from a 1/2 ton 93 Chevy. The other thing I never particularly cared for was the position of the springs. being outboard of the frame rails they rubbed up against the frame at the slightest bit of flex to I figured the best rout was to put the springs under the frame rails. This not only aided in flex but along with the stock Chevy springs, was also a cheep lift.

To relocate the springs I first cut the old mounts off and cut 2 wedge shaped front mounts out of a single piece of 4x4 square tube and before I welded them on added a boxing plate I had NC'd where I work. Being a draftsman has it's advantages;)

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-002F.jpg

Then for the shackle side I added another gusset, but to the outside of the frame, to compensate for the offset in the chassis and had some shackle mounts made up that had a piece of tubing welded in place to accept the bushings

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-003F.jpg

Then I mounted the freshly rebuilt axle using an extended YJ rear shackle

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-008F.jpg

Here is how Chero looked at this point with the wheels on.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-010F.jpg

More to come!

[Lindel]

Looks great so far, nicely done!

[misfittom138]

It's definately coming along nicely! :thumbsup:

[CRASH076]

Now that the suspension was figured out I turned my attention to the steering. As mentioned earlier I went with a high steer set-up so the factory components were not going to cut it. I had a friend tell me about a retired sprint car builder that still did some work on the side so I payed him a visit and scored the tie rod and drag link made of .188 wall chromemoly, TIG'd bungs on the ends and 5/8" heim joints all around. He only charged me $10 a foot for the rods plus the heims so all together it was less than $80! :thumbsup:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/MVC-007F.jpg

once painted and installed it worked great

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G3.jpg

For the brakes I got some extended braided steel lines and the shocks up front used the factory mounts on the axle and the upper mount was turned strait up

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G24.jpg

On the rear I used the stock upper mounts and cut and rotated the lowers

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00393.jpg

with everything plumed up I had the rear shaft lengthened and installed it Then went to work on the sliders, They started as 3" square with the ends pie cut and something I never saw on a truck before but thought it would be a nice touch, a receiver mount right in the middle :thumbsup:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G10.jpg

They were attached using 2 1/2" square tubing and 1/4" thick plated in the frame

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00390.jpg

Then I threw on the spare hood and door I had and rolled it outside for some poser shots


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G20.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G1.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G2.jpg

I thought it came out pretty good.

At the time I had a ramp I made from scrap steel and gave it a good flex


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G13.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G14.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G15.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G21.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G26.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G27.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G23.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/G28.jpg

Much better than before huh!

Now that was done with no drive shaft BTW:D It was also 6 years ago and Yesterday morning I decided to flex it out again to check for clearances on the DS I'm working on and I tell you this thing never ceases to amaze me!

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01124.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01125.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01128.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01127.jpg

Not bad for a beat up old truck on leaves from 2 different trucks huh?:fsj:

Well this is how the truck sat for the last 6 years:mad: I never finished it because with the lift I put on the suspension the front drive shaft wouldn't work. I went through 2 different shafts from Tom Woods and the angles on the shaft were just too steep to work. Combined with the fact that I was out of money It got pushed to the side. I tried reviving it a couple times over the years with no progress. I actually put on some 36" TSL SX's at one point but they got put on my Bronco since that was actually wheelable. I tried selling it numerous times but no one one seems to want a rusted out body with a super capable chassis :rolleyes:

Anyways with the fall fling coming up i got the motivation to work on it and now that I have the thread up to date I can actually post the recent progress:lol: more on that later

[Chuck Brown]

This may possibly be THE greatest story ever told! Thanks a lot for sharing Crash, I was pulling for you the whole time and felt like I was right THERE in the action, rooting for a happy ending! Seriously, its nice to read a story where hard work, ingenuity and the refusal to die win out in the end!!

Chuck Brown

[Jeep Mom]

This may possibly be THE greatest story ever told! Thanks a lot for sharing Crash, I was pulling for you the whole time and felt like I was right THERE in the action, rooting for a happy ending! Seriously, its nice to read a story where hard work, ingenuity and the refusal to die win out in the end!!

Chuck Brown

x2 - I am checking in regularly waiting for your new posts! Awesome job so far:)

[janie]

I absolutely tip my hat to you. You brought back a truck I would've left for dead.

Fantastic job.

[CRASH076]

Thanks everyone! It feels good to get back into working on this thing after so long.

Well now that everyone is caught up on the work I did 6 years ago I'll fill you in on my most recent progress

I got started on the bumpers again. When I first did this truck I had purchased some 2 x 6 tubing and pie cut the ends then cut a section out of the middle and bent it to match the shape of the grill

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0198-1.jpg

Well jumping back into it I started by capping off the ends with some plate

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0199.jpg

Welded them in place

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0201.jpg

then ground them down

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0204.jpg

then I test fitted it to see how it would look

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0205.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0207.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0206.jpg

I didn't like how close it was to the frame but the dang thing was so heavy I had to make the mounts first before I could adjust the distance away so I cut some plate and bolted them to the frame then cut some slots in the bumper so I could slide it over the plates

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0214.jpg

I moved the bumper out 2 inches and was much happier with the result.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0215.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0217.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0218.jpg

When I was satisfied with how it looked I whipped out the plaz and cut the ends of the plates for shackle mounts

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0222.jpg

A quick shot in it's final position

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0223.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0001-1.jpg

more later!

[YellowJeep]

I'm impressed! I would have never even considered buying something that rough! Nice work!!

[NVJEEPER]

:thumbsup: Right on!!! Looks great and, like you are having a blast. Man the slip yoke must have to move ALOT to allow the awesome wheel travel you have. Your persaverance is inspiring,looking forward to your updates:thumbsup:

[Chuck Brown]

This thread has just launched from being compelling and entertaining to straight out riveting and educational...KEEP IT COMING, Crash, Im on the edge of my seat here in the back row!!!!

Seriously man, Im printing this thread out and keeping it in my garage notebook!!!

Chuck Brown

[jaber]

VERY NICE WORK......

I will be watching also....:thumbsup:

[HuntinDawg]

This Is GREAT!!!!!!!!

really gave me some good ideas for my 84 wagoneer and the 82Cheorkee im about to buy

[CRASH076]

Wow guys you're making me blush!:o


:thumbsup: Right on!!! Looks great and, like you are having a blast. Man the slip yoke must have to move ALOT to allow the awesome wheel travel you have. Your persaverance is inspiring,looking forward to your updates:thumbsup:
No slip yokes here! I'm running a D20 T-case;)


This thread has just launched from being compelling and entertaining to straight out riveting and educational...KEEP IT COMING, Crash, Im on the edge of my seat here in the back row!!!!

Seriously man, Im printing this thread out and keeping it in my garage notebook!!!

Chuck Brown
Wow! I'm glad I impressed you that much! I don't think it's that big of a deal. It's just some simple fabrication work.

Here is some more on the front bumper.

Once I got the bumper fitted and tacked into place I started on the D ring mounts.

From the beginning I wanted the most solid mount possible and working with hollow tubing the only way to do it was to run the frame mount through the bumper as shown in the previous pics. Now to make a proper mount out of them they had to get wider so first I plazed out some pieces matching the shape of the frame plate

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01131.jpg

Here they are all cut out

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01132.jpg

Then I fully welded the frame plate to the outside and tacked the first plate to the outside

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01133.jpg

I then successively welded each plate fully on the bottom and stacked the next one on until I had a total of 5 layers

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01134.jpg

with all the layers in place I fully welded them on the outside

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01135.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01138.jpg

once done I ground the whole thing smooth

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01136.jpg

Then ground out the hole to fit the clevis

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01137.jpg

With the D ring mounts done I flush mounted a receiver to the center of the bumper

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01139.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01140.jpg

With the bumper pretty much done I test fitted it one more time

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0036.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0037.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0038.jpg

Here it is with the winch in place


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0032.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0033.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0034.jpg

Yah the winch sticks out pretty far now. I need to trim down the winch mount.

All I have left to do is add some gussets and paint it then it's on to the rear one.

Oh and for those who were wondering, Yes the receiver mount in the sliders is functional:thumbsup:


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0039.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0040.jpg

How many trucks do you see that can winch from the sliders!:D

[Brizio]

nice nice Job!!!!!:thumbsup:

[Ziptie]

Build looks solid! Keep it up & keep us posted.

[CRASH076]

Wow it's been a while since i updated this

Well I'm in the home stretch to get this thing presentable for the upcoming PA Jeeps show so here is a little update.

after the front bumper was cleaned up and the final gussets made it got a coat of paint and final mounting

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0229.jpg

then i moved to the rear bumper. I filled the ends just like the front then positioned it.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0227.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0228.jpg

I wanted to keep it tucked up as much as possible so I made it flush with the bottom of the frame

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0226.jpg

then i slotted the rear crossmember to accept vertical plates like the front

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0230.jpg

I wasn't happy with how close the bumper was to the body so i cut some spacers out of 4x6 box steel

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0234.jpg

this moved it out about 2 inches which looks much better in my opinion.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0231.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0232.jpg

then i used the same method for the shackle mounts as i did for the front

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0046.jpg

and welded the whole thing up with a receiver in the middle of course

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0047.jpg

my welds are getting a bit better too:D

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0045.jpg

then a final test fit

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0043.jpg

and just an FYI the bumper not only bolts directly to the frame though the plates i made, it also bolts to the original bumper mounting holed through the rear cross member! ain't nothing going to take this bumper off!:thumbsup:

next will be some more body modifications;)

[bowtieman55]

Freakin' great build thread. I'm glad you brought it back to life. :thumbsup:

[pineymike]

Awsome! dude you were rite it looks just rite alltogether! bumpers are rite on the money it's alot of work you've done!can't wait to see it in person!{at roush creek workin'!!!}

[CRASH076]

Freakin' great build thread. I'm glad you brought it back to life. :thumbsup:

Thanks! I'm having fun doing it to:)

Awsome! dude you were rite it looks just rite alltogether! bumpers are rite on the money it's alot of work you've done!can't wait to see it in person!{at roush creek workin'!!!}
If you do see it it won't be me driving it. unfortunately I'm doing all this work just to sell it:(

anyways onto the body work,

I was never really happy with the way the rear 1/4's turned out. when i started the project some 7 years ago i had the idea of making an M715 looking cherokee but once i finished the rear fenders cutouts i had second thoughts. Here is how it looked.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01124.jpg

fortunately i never cut the front fenders and recently started re-thinking what i wanted to do with the rear fenders. Since i couldn't afford to buy replacement rear 1/4s i needed to come up with something else and after some thought i had the idea of using the lip from a scrap set of front fenders and graft them onto the rear.

I started with some J-yard front fenders

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0029.jpg

I mocked them in place to get a feel for what needed done. I ended up flipping them backwards putting the trailing edge towards the front to mirror the front fenders.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0030.jpg

Then i trimmed them down to just the section i needed keeping some tabs to help hold them in place while i fitted them.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0031.jpg

To make them look symmetrical i would need a piece to match the strait section on the front of the patch panel. this is just an old door skin i ran through the brake

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0032-1.jpg

then i did a quick mock-up to see how it all looked

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0033-1.jpg

i needed some tweaking but not to bad

once i had it positioned where i wanted the hard part was next. It took me a couple of minutes to make myself cut into all the work i did so many years ago but soon there was no turning back:eek:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0052.jpg

then came some more fitment work. I needed to create a curve with the panel i made to match the contour of the back of the 1/4 so i stuck it into the shrinker to pull the bottom around

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0036-1.jpg

with both panels in place it seemed to sit in good and tight

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0037-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0038-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0039-1.jpg

in all i think it looks %100 better:thumbsup: Has a stock look but also plenty of room for the tires

next step is to check it one last time then weld it all up, add filler and paint.

It's getting closer!

[jaber]

Please, keep the photos comin'. This is becoming very fun to follow....

[CRASH076]

Please, keep the photos comin'. This is becoming very fun to follow....
well here is a couple more.

I didn't have a whole lot of time over the weekend because of the holiday but i did manage to get the one side welded and ground down.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0063.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0064.jpg

once i get the inner fender attached to the skin it'l be ready for filler. then it's onto the other side. :banghead:

[The_Turd]

Awesome build man! :thumbsup: I REALLY dig those bumpers... very similar to what I'd like to do... one of these days... :rolleyes:

So what exactly did you do for your front driveshaft? And you have a stock D44 in there correct? I'm curious to know with the amount of lift you have there....

Again, great job! :fsj:

[CRASH076]

Awesome build man! :thumbsup: I REALLY dig those bumpers... very similar to what I'd like to do... one of these days... :rolleyes:

So what exactly did you do for your front driveshaft? And you have a stock D44 in there correct? I'm curious to know with the amount of lift you have there....

Again, great job! :fsj:

Thanks for the kind words:D

Well i don't have the drive shaft figured out just yet. I'll talk about it later.

[twisted frame]

once done I ground the whole thing smooth

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01136.jpg

Then ground out the hole to fit the clevis

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC01137.jpg



I'm really liking how you made up those D ring points and how they're tied in through the bumper. But, how did you get that surface of the D ring point so smooth and squared up? Did you use a regular disk on an angle grinder to grind them down the layers of welds? Did you file them after that? Belt sander? They look great.

[CRASH076]

I'm really liking how you made up those D ring points and how they're tied in through the bumper. But, how did you get that surface of the D ring point so smooth and squared up? Did you use a regular disk on an angle grinder to grind them down the layers of welds? Did you file them after that? Belt sander? They look great.

All i used was a flapper disk on an electric hand grinder. The key to getting it smooth and flat it using light pressure and long strait strokes.

[HD_JEEP]

That is some great fab work you got going on there :eek: thanks for sharing.:thumbsup:

[wickedwagon767]

:eek: OMFG

great work man! All this final work just to sell it eh? Sell it to someone on this board

I'll fall in line like everyone and say that I love the work on the bumpers and sliders, however you've done great work on everything you've touched on it

Is there already a buyer for it?

[CRASH076]

:eek: OMFG

great work man! All this final work just to sell it eh? Sell it to someone on this board

I'll fall in line like everyone and say that I love the work on the bumpers and sliders, however you've done great work on everything you've touched on it

Is there already a buyer for it?

Thanks for the kind words. I would like to see it go to someone who will appreciate what has gone into it but honestly i don't car much who gets it as long as it sells. I had it up for sale a bunch of times in the past with no bites so i figured the best way to sell it would be to make it presentable and street legal. plus if it doesn't sell then I'll have a finished truck:cool:

[CRASH076]

well I busted my tush this weekend on this thing and it's still not in paint yet, but i did get all the patchwork done.

I forget how much time it takes to fit patches, each one needs to be hand cut and formed. anyways after 20 hours of work here is what i got done.

after the rear 1/4's were finished on the outside, i needed to re-attach them to the inner fenders so i tacked some filler panels in place

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0066.jpg

I also patched the bottom of the 1/4's just under the tail lights.

then I moved on to the front fender which had a rust line in it and cleaned that up as well as a dent in the front

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0078.jpg

then I tackled the roof which had a poorly patched rust hole in it that leaked all the time

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSC00398.jpg

after i cleaned it up it turned out to be worse than I thought and i needed to remove a large part of the roof.


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0068.jpg

once cleaned i formed up a patch panel and tacked it in place


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0069.jpg

If you're wondering how i got the spot welds on the lip to look factory, well lest just say i have some pretty neat tool available to me.:thumbsup:


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0070.jpg

then i fully welded it and ground it down

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0076.jpg

with the top done i needed to address the rust caused by the leaky roof.


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0071.jpg

more patching


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0075.jpg

then i had a hole in the driver side door that needed tending to. I needed the practice so it did it the right way and cut out the whole corner, formed a patch and folded it over the inner skin.


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0079.jpg

I still have a small rust spot above the patch that needs fixed but the rest of the door is cherry.

the last thing i did was the tailgate. now this thing is a wreck. the top was rusted out, the hinge is rusted out, the bottom is rusted out, behind the license plate is even rusted out!


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0072.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0074.jpg

but unfortunately i don't have the money to replace it so i'm just going to put some quick patches on it and make it look presentable and replace it later if money allows.

the previous owner piled gobs of bondo in the top of the gate so once i had it all cleaned out i made up some quick patches and tacked them on top. it's not the right way to do it, the gate isn't worth the time, bit it needed the extra strength.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0073.jpg

I'm beat. hopefully i can get it into primer by tuesday. even if it doesn't have color on it by the weekend at least it will be all one shade of grey.

[lost1]

I'm beat. hopefully i can get it into primer by tuesday. even if it doesn't have color on it by the weekend at least it will be all one shade of grey.

Aww, but with the green and brown it looks so... so rustic! :rolleyes:

Still more amazing work from you man. If you weren't in PA I'd be lining up to buy it the minute its ready. :D

[CRASH076]

Aww, but with the green and brown it looks so... so rustic! :rolleyes:

Still more amazing work from you man. If you weren't in PA I'd be lining up to buy it the minute its ready. :D

I don't know how i'm going to handle this being all one color. in the 6 years i've owned it it's never had less than two different shades of something:banghead:

It can be shipped you know!;) Seriously I hope all this work is worth it.

[CRASH076]

I don't have any progress pics of the final body work because i have been bustin my tush to get it done before the Jeep show. well it was down to the wire but i got her at least all one color and mostly back in one piece.


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0080.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/crash076/godzilla/DSCN0081.jpg


I think it turned out pretty good. i still have a tone of work to do on it but at least now it looks like a respectable truck:thumbsup:

I didn't get to run her one the course at the show since i don't have a front shaft on it yet but i did take it on the flax ramp and pulled an 875!! not bad for an FSJ on leafs huh:cool:. Tonka J200 has the pics of it on the ramp and as soon as i get them from him i'll post them up.

[lost1]

Dang that sucka's tall! Looking good though. The before and after pictures are hard to swallow if you don't look at all the in between work.

[newtojeeps]

Excellent work. I'm sure there are a few members on this forum besides me that are envious of you abilities.

[JeepNOFEAR]

Great work!

[asphaltrockdweller]

Excellent work. I'm sure there are a few members on this forum besides me that are envious of you abilities.

Absolutely!

I really love the wok on the bumpers. Amazing!
Thanks for sharing your work.

[j20brett]

Pics say bandwidth exceeded...

[CRASH076]

Thanks guys! Sorry about the pics. I'm too cheap to pay for the full package so i just had top wait until they came back.

[j20brett]

Unreal work! truelly beautiful in a fabrictaors eye