CJ3b....That is what the vin tag says.

[RAT]

I need to build a plate for my winch, how thick should that material be? It will sit on top of the frame rails, pretty basic set up. I was thinking 1/4 inch...

1/4 inch is good.

[jonah]

Ok, I picked up some 1/4 plate today. I was originally thinking of just bolting this plate on. I currently have 4 sleeved holes for 7/16 bolts through the frame. But now I am thinking I should also weld it. Any thoughts?

[inVERt'D]

My thoughts are--would welding it on make it a PITA to do work on it (e.g., R&R steering gearbox, sway bar, etc.)?

Welding it on could help make it a PITA to steal your winch (assuming it's also a PITA to just take the whole jeep).

Strength wise, welding it should obviously help, and possibly add a little rigidity to the front of your frame.

Anyway, it looks great. I have to admit that I do dig that hood, even if it's way taller than it has to be. The Willy's logo is just cool. So is it ready to drive, or what?

[jonah]

Actually I am using every last inch of the hood height right now, air filter is right to the top. The high hood is a love it or hate it kind of thing! I love 'em.

Thanks for the thoughts on the winch plate, I am leaning towards welding. Mostly for the strength added to the frame.

It is really close to driving, it does move under it's own power.


But the critical things are:

No gauges are working yet.

Little bit of wiring to do on the lights.

Took seats out to build cage. Seat mounts will now be integrated to the cage. So I have to get the cage together.

Need to weld on rocker guards.

Bump stops

Figure out where to stick two batteries.

Mount winch.

Glass into windshield frame (want to paint frame first)



Slightly less critical:

Transmission tunnel

Bunch of holes in body need to be fixed.

Spare carrier

I think I need longer shackles but I am going to test it first.

A good weekend and I will be really close. Ok, maybe two.

[RAT]

Ok, I picked up some 1/4 plate today. I was originally thinking of just bolting this plate on. I currently have 4 sleeved holes for 7/16 bolts through the frame. But now I am thinking I should also weld it. Any thoughts?

If you bolt it with the right hardware it will be good to go. At least a 1/2 or 9/16 bolt in four places. I used metric (M10) in four places (two on the top close to the radiator support and two at the frame ends underneath) + the factory tow point bolts. Overkill but I use my winch a lot for moving rocks and trees for trail maintenance.

[inVERt'D]

I think most people are using (4) 1/2" bolts to hold their winch plates on and doing fine with that. As far as the winch flying off is concerned, it's only held onto the plate by 4 such bolts, so the chain won't be any stronger than that link.

As far as the height of the hood is concerned, I would never have suggested lowering it. It's just that the skirts go down a long ways as opposed to the fenders being higher--that's what I meant by tall. The thing is, you could chop it all up and tube it all out, and you might have a killer buggy, but you wouldn't have much of a Willy's, let alone a CJ-3B.

Sounds like we're at very similar points in our builds. Last week, my Jeep actually moved under its own power (not counting the winch) for the first time in almost 8 months. I was intending to just reposition it to do some welding, but ended up taking it several miles to nearest gas station and back. My driver's seat was resting partly on the floor, and partly on the t-case. I'll post something about my little trip. I'm way overdue with pics anyway.

[aw12345]

Look at it this way, most winches are attached to the winch plate with four 3/8 grade 8 bolts. So that gives you a pretty good idea as to what the minimum strength ought to be

[GP4Play]

It has a real roof even - no more tent!!

Good for you Jonah,sounds like its going great.Now if we could just get a slab for Dave (inVERT'D)to work on.

[jonah]

Thanks for all of the input guys.

AW - you have a pretty good point there. I busted out the bag of hardware and they are smaller bolts and they are in a shearing position so I can't imagine the 7/16 grade 8s going first.

So I am going with my 4 - 7/16th holes I had in the rails. Plus two 1/2 inch on the front cross member. I will probably weld a couple of spots to slow down any thieves. I guess I will have to tack the winch mounting bolts too for that theory to work.

Here are some pics:

Cage work. Top bars from B pillar to A pillar are skull crackers, so I have to move those.
Seat mounts are going to work...I think.






Winch plate in progress, 1/4 inch plate.






inVERt'D, I just found your thread - looking good. I love the trans cross member, nice. I think GP4Play is right, we might have to do a good old fashion floor raising (dropping?) for ya. Anyway, looking forward to being out on the trail...someday

[inVERt'D]

inVERt'D, I just found your thread - looking good. I love the trans cross member, nice. I think GP4Play is right, we might have to do a good old fashion floor raising (dropping?) for ya.

Thanks Jonah. I like your seat supports. Yeah that crossmember was almost as much work as the bellhousing adapter. I think the wing nuts really set it off, too. JK, those are just temporary.

Last time I remember the floor raising, I was really dizzy and the floor hit me pretty hard--are you sure about this?

Anyway, looking forward to being out on the trail...someday

Looks like someday may be getting pretty close. Hopefully for both of us!

[jonah]

Well that is an entirely different kind of floor raising, but not out of the question!:beer:

Thanks on the seat supports, going crazy with HF pipe bender - scary!

[inVERt'D]

Thanks on the seat supports, going crazy with HF pipe bender - scary!

HF pipe bender--no kidding!? Are you using like sched 40 structural pipe or something? I had considered that at one point... an HF bender might actually be within my means.

Look at it this way, most winches are attached to the winch plate with four 3/8 grade 8 bolts. So that gives you a pretty good idea as to what the minimum strength ought to be

I honestly couldn't remember what diameter mounting bolts my T-Max EW-10000 uses, but as a point of possible interest, my Warn M10000 uses 1/2".

[jonah]

Yeah, harbor freight special, 16 ton version. I wouldn't recommend it though. It is OK on small bends, 30° or so. But I wouldn't do any 90° bends with.it. luckily I only paid $45 for it. I am using a mix of dom and hrew, I did have to tweak a couple of the dies. I will be done with it tomorrow if you want to try it out sometime.

Got my winch plate done today, just need to paint it. Now where is that rattle can...

[inVERt'D]

Thanks, I'd be willing to give it a shot.

There has been ongoing discussion about structural pipe vs DOM tubing and HREW on Pirate 4x4 for a long time now. Here's an interesting discussion that's worth reading through. My main cage is DOM, but my windshield frame and legs are HREW. I really wish I'd just paid whatever for DOM, because all the labor I put into that thing really makes the material price insignificant. Ironically, I can now get 1.75" x .120" DOM for about $0.40/ ft more than I paid for HREW, and it's a much better, more reliable material. There are those that have used sched 40 struct pipe for their rigs and point out that it's also drawn over mandrel and won't split along the weld seam like HREW can. Not only that, but your HF bender should be more compatible with it.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...tructural+pipe

Regarding your HF "kinker," here's an interesting thread I just found that was referenced in one of the Pirate threads.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/vie....php?p=3298473

Of course, one thing to be said for straight tubes is that they are stronger.

I like the design of your winch plate--well thought out, and I like that big, sweeping radius in the back.

[jonah]

Thanks for the links. I had been reading some other similar threads on the subject but these have some really good info. I did do a similar thing while using my bender. The rollers were denting the tube, so I made some sleeves to put between the tube and rollers.

The hrew is only used in the the seat mounts, I figured it would be plenty strong for that. I messed up my A to B pillar top bars and I ran out of DOM, so I am going to use some pipe I have. I was a little nervous about it, but it looks like it is only marginally weaker than the DOM. I am sure it is no weaker than the factory bar that I am using for the back half. I think when I get triangulated bars up there it will be stout. Maybe it won't be good for more than one roll, I don't know, I have only flopped one jeep, a CJ7 with a stock roll bar mounted to the sheet metal. On pavement (don't ask), I almost got it on it's roof, but it came back down on the side. The tub was a little tweaked.

Thanks on the winch plate, I cut the back just to get rid of some weight. Like the 5 pounds I saved will make a difference when I set that winch up there...