Building a Road Trip

[8man]

Nice pics of the "great tree adventure". Nice family pic as well. Wonderful memories.

I'll be posting up the stereo install soon, speakers are in, waiting on the tiny little female connectors for the 6 speakers. Dash is cut out and the radio is ready to install. I'm working on the VintageAir unit right now. Making brackets and trying to figure it out. I'll bring the post up to date later this weekend. Thanks for asking.

[Strode]

You're making good progress, Robert. Finish strong! Spring is coming!

You'd think a guy that can build a Jeep like that, could figure out how to post big, decent sized pictures.

[8man]

Thanks Brad. I am going to "upsize" the pics just for you.

[Strode]

And post some nice, big pictures of your new shop while you're at it. Your PB account died or something on your other thread.

[8man]

I will get shop pics up too.

[8man]

Ok Brad, I spent an hour working on getting the pics larger. Between my SLOW dish internet and !@#$@%$&$* Photobucket, it's not happening!

Brad also asked for some shop pics. If you are interested you can go see them here

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=282749

I lost some of the pics in the thread, but I added some new ones for Bard.

So here is a short update on Road Trip.

I got the stereo and speakers from Crutchfield.



I'm going with 6.5" speakers in the stock door location. That required a little cutting of the stock brackets, but they work fine. There is a hole for the crank window in the metal inner door skin, so I'll putt he 2" tweeters over that so they can sit as flush as possible with the door panel. I'll post pics as soon as PB uploads them.

That brings me to the back, where I'm going with 6x9's and wanted to put them in the stock location.

So I am putting this in that!



So that requires fabbing a bracket. Luckily I had 2 sets of the rear brackets to cut and splice.



This was the 1st attempt.


With the speaker in it, it didn't seem secure enough to me. Sooo...



And...



This allowed all 4 screws in the speaker to mount into steel, and then the bracket itself has 4 mounting points in back.

A quick coat of paint,



And mounted in place,



And I think they will work. BTW, this was an all day job, because of the trial and error style of work I do.

This pic shows the VA under dash vent location and the stereo slot with the VA dash vent locations either side of the stereo.



Then I had to start on the brackets to hold the VA condenser to the Jeep. Here is what I started with,



Now it is starting to take shape.



Drill a few more holes, make a small piece that is adjustable so that it will mate up to the bottom holes, paint, and I'll finish up the post when PB uploads the other pictures. Ok, here is a test fit.



Here is the condenser in place, fills the hole really tight! I had to remake one of the swing arms as it was too short. The paint is drying on it and tomorrow I'll mount the condenser up. Of course it will have to come back out to hook up the AC lines, but that is the way it goes.



Now what I don't have a pic of is when I plugged the new deck into its little plug and paired it with my phone and called Laura, and when she came out to the shop, I was playing a CD for her, then switched to Pandora. Those speakers have really good sound. Now to find that little rattle when the bass is booming!

[8man]

I made progress that shows today. At the end of the day, the wiring doesn't show well. This stuff does.

I started by finishing up the FatMat. I'll need more to do the doors and the space behind the doors to the wheel well. Anybody got any left over?

First, I did the top. Worked well. The ribs had been put back with some "tar" like stuff, so they didn't come down.



Then I did the floor in back.



Then, I insulated it with EZ Cool Automotive Insulation on the top and the floor. I'll do the rest just before I get the carpet in.





Then I installed the stereo, the glove box door and the vents to see the complete dash. Here it is,

No, there is no glove box back there. That won't be done until all the ducts are run, but that is soon.

Then I put the steering wheel on the column so I could see what the dash would look like.

That was my day.

[1982jeepj10]

Looks awesome!!!!

[8man]

Hey Brad, look! I now have the ability to post larger pics! Thanks to Kevin.

I went to tinypic.com and it worked!

[asudchiman]

I made progress that shows today. At the end of the day, the wiring doesn't show well. This stuff does.

I started by finishing up the FatMat. I'll need more to do the doors and the space behind the doors to the wheel well. Anybody got any left over?

First, I did the top. Worked well. The ribs had been put back with some "tar" like stuff, so they didn't come down.

Then I did the floor in back.

Then, I insulated it with EZ Cool Automotive Insulation on the top and the floor. I'll do the rest just before I get the carpet in.

Then I installed the stereo, the glove box door and the vents to see the complete dash. Here it is,

No, there is no glove box back there. That won't be done until all the ducts are run, but that is soon.

Then I put the steering wheel on the column so I could see what the dash would look like.

That was my day.

Looking great. Make sure to open up the holes for the seat brackets and seatbelts now, before you put in the carpet. Also, you will want to find the holes for the metal cargo strips now too. It will make it much easier when putting the carpet in. (ask me how I know )

Keep up the good work.

[asudchiman]

Will your carpet kit have the mass backing or not? Mine did.
A heat gun will really help, but do it from the bottom. The heat gun will melt the carpet.

Also, with that extra insulation + carpet with mass backing, I had to really work to get my back seat in.
What worked for me was to actually sit in the seat and lean back hard to get it to latch shut. Then just leave it in the up position for a few weeks to let it settle.
After a few weeks I was able to raise and lower it without much issue.

[Strode]

Now that I can see your pictures.....I really like how you did the AC vents on both sides of the radio. Nice work.

[8man]

Thank you.

I really wanted to use the NOS clock and ashtray, but the vents just worked best in that position.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Thank you.

I really wanted to use the NOS clock and ashtray, but the vents just worked best in that position.

Want to sell that NOS clock?

[8man]

Sent you an email on the clock and ashtray.