Building a Road Trip

[8man]

Got the rear axle ready to be built.

I uesd the same Master Series rust proofing system that WHII used. Two coats of the silver rust inhibitor and the chasis black.

On a previous post I explained how I had to use a very large hammer to get the pinion out so I could re-build it and in doing so I damaged the threads. However, an oil field machine shop fixed the damage. They were making stuff out of 18" thick 8' diameter stock on some of the larger lathes. I mean they were doing stuff that would fit on ONE hot shot trailer and when I took my little pinion to them I had the owner, the shop manager AND the guy who did the work all looking at "the little pinion gear" they were standing around "we can fix this". It's good to know people

I have everything painted except the frame and the front axle. those will be sometime this month and then re-assembly starts.

More pictures


Front Dust Pans


Reciver hitch and battery pan I rebuilt.

[WHSII]

Road Trip is looking good!

Figured you were hitting it hard, as the pictures show, have not heard from you for a while.

Take time and enjoy and understand each part.

[mdcptman]

Looks awesome! I know ur enjoying it. Its about th journey. Gotta enjoy it along th way.

[Strode]

Keep at it, Robert. Progress will get the job done.

I wish you'd post up a build thread

I know, I gotta find it on the other site.

[8man]

Strode asked for this, and since I've discovered how to post pictures, here goes.

Meet Road Trip, a 79 Cherokee Chief.




The plan was for RT to get a full body off restoration and become my daily driver. I was going to use a 5.3L/4L60 for power and tranny and I started working on it before I learned about this site. After I found you guys I learned I would be needing the center rear and driver's side front axle from a later model. However, for the time being I was going to disassemble it and see what I had to work with. Apparently I should have spent more time looking for a starter vehicle and less time dreaming about what I was going to do with it when I was done with the build.

So as I was taking it apart, I learned a lot about Detroit of the late 70's, they didnt care!

The floor pans were rusted/rotted out all the way from the front to the back.



I learned to weld with a MIG and started on the floor pans. Notice the hole just under the side air vent where it had rusted out too? That was just the start of what I was to find. I got both floor pans, front and rear welded in, I patched that spot under the vent, I patched a couple of holes in the firewall and repaired one of the tailgate bolt nuts (where the nut spun inside the body when I tried to get the bolt out), but when I got to the roof it looked like Swiss Cheese!



This was just one area. The perimeter of the roof up to about 6" above the drip line was not solid enough to weld. I was using the smallest wire I could get and still blowing holes. I was trying to keep the faith, but I could see the work building up.

In the mean time I had located a set of axles on a 82 Cherokee Laredo in Little Rock. I got it from Iflypropjobs and after a long road trip I had it home. Since I was ready to take a torch to the first body, I decided to start on the second one. There were 2 things to consider, the vinyl top and the sunroof.



It is amazing what the Texas sun will do to a vinyl top!

As for that sun roof,


Well, after some thought I decided I would weld a patch out of the other body. That is until Serehill heard of my plight and came to the rescue.


That's right, a NOS body tub still in the original shipping crate. SWEET! Now I could really start doing something worthwhile.

So I completely dissambled the frame and the axles into all their component parts, from this


to this


I used every wire brush I could find for air grinders, electric grinders, even a drimmel tool to get that frame clean. I can say that after a little light welding I think it is much stronger than original, and I'll try to post some pictures of those welds next time. What I neglected was the frame is from the 79, very solid, but the gas tank mount is from the 82, yeah, I had to fab the frame some to make it work, but I think it will.

So I started painting frame and axle parts as outlined above, here are some more pictures of the paint. This is the paint WH told me about. It is a bit of a pain to do three coats, but they say it won't rust anymore!





Next is the frame and front axle and then I can start putting things together.

I plan to use a razor grill, and have already drilled the hood for the hood bar. I have rebuilt the valance using the guidelines from this site. I plan to use the NP208 transfer case from the 82 with an Advanced Adapter adapter kit. I have bought some parts from JeepinPete like the NOS tailgate and would buy some of the other parts he has. I am still looking for a couple of bumpers that are in good shape. I have a front and rear 3 piece, the set from the 79 and the set from the 82. If I can't find bumpers I will try the sanding I've read about on here.

So that brings you up to date. I'll post more as I start to make progress.

[Strode]

Cool, Robert.

Thanks for posting...I'm glad I asked. I know better now what you were up against Holy moly, that body came at the right time. Keep updates of your progress. I remember the body tub, but not the details.

I've never seen a vinyl top on a FSJ.

[8man]

Some may remember that I had to remove the pinion gear from the AMC 20 with an 8 lb sledge. It took THREE solid overhand lumberjack licks for it to come out. I mushroomed the threads pretty good.

Some may also remember that I took it to an oilfield machine shop and they said "we can fix your little gear".



Well, here it is. If you look you can see the where the new threads were cut and the fact that the end is not level, they didn't fix that. When I asked "how much", they laughed and said "we wouldn't even know how to charge for something that small." It's nice when you meet good people.

[JeepN95YJ]

Some may remember that I had to remove the pinion gear from the AMC 20 with an 8 lb sledge. It took THREE solid overhand lumberjack licks for it to come out. I mushroomed the threads.

In the future you can avoid damaging threads by running the nut back on the pinion (or any bolt for that matter) before you strike it with a hammer. Run it on far enough that you strike the pinion end and the nut at the same time. If by some unfortunate reason you do accidentally damage one of the threads the nut will clean them up as you back it off. The nut will also keep the pinion from mushrooming. Hope this helps.

[8man]

I started out with the nut on using a dead blow hammer. When that didn't work I went to a cutting torch to heat up the housing and the dead blow hammer. When that didn't work I took the nut off and used a piece of 2x6 and a 2 lb hammer. When I went to the sledge I forgot the nut as I was past the point of wanting to kill it.

You are right and I should have left the nut on it.

[ChiefBigB]

I love the name of your build. It gives it an expedition feel to it. Where is your road trip planned?

[8man]

The idea is to take it around the country to see people who have helped with parts or information, etc. I would like to take a trip east to see WH, who you know from this site, Mdcptman over in New Orleans is on the list, and Robert Burra up in Wisconsin, he repaired my stainless. Then I'd like to take one west from Houston, starting in Dallas with Serehill, and further to the Grand Canyon. Then it will be my daily driver.

[8man]

Road Trip has turned the corner and is starting to go back together, at least until I get the frame back together. Once the frame is on the axles and the motor/tranny/transfer case are sitting on it I will start on the body. Here is where it is rignt now.

I wanted to get new springs with only a 2" lift, but they were on back order. So I spent a weekend tearing spring packs apart, using a grinder with a wire brush to clean up each leaf, painting them with the 3 part AGIII paint, and then reassembling them. Here's some pictures...






I also picked up the 5.3L/4L60 from an 05 Chevy Avalanche.



Then after a lot of head scratching, I was convinced that I should upgrade the Tcase to a NP241C, so...





Then I got the axles back and I put the AMC 20 under the frame...



Yes, that is the spare tire carrier and the trailer hitch under the frame. I have run out of room in the garage and it seemed like the perfect place to store them.

With luck, I'll get the front axle hubs on and the axle under the frame this weekend.

[WHSII]

LOL Robert,

I bolted the finished bumper on my frame as soon as it was rolling, I used the same logic, It had to be somewhere out of the shop!

Looking good my friend!

[KJ Ryu]

Those oilfield machine shop guys like beer for payment, for future reference. ( I am one, so I have a bit of an idea.) We are constantly fixing stuff for the guy across the road from our shop. He runs a 77 Chevy in the local mud bog races and his standard payment is a case of beer (or two, for larger jobs).

[8man]

Well, Road Trip is going to have to wait. At 59 I'm having my secone heart surgery. The first was a congenital defect of the aorta at 13. Now I'm having the same thing worked on as well as the aortic aneursims and the valve. Never smoked, eat right, exercise, it's just in the genes. I hope to be back on the build by July 4th, if the doc agrees. I won't be lifting more than 8lbs for a while though, so I'm doing to tackle some small stuff I've got set up.

So you other guys need to post LOTS of pictures of what you are doing so I can see Jeeps being built! I don't want to just read about them, which I also enjoy, but I want to see PICTURES too!