Nick's CJ build part 1

[RAT]

Some more pics. Still have to finish the UCA mount but had to see how much flex this bitch is gonna have. Looks good from here

20140225_151221 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140225_151123 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140225_151004 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

[RAT]

Rainy day, work away. The CJ is standing on it's own legs, tenuously, like a new born calf, but the suspension is supporting weight. We'll get some wheels and tires on it tomorrow and roll it outside for a breath of fresh air.

Here's where the day started

20140301_123410 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Caps for all the LCA mounts

20140301_123420 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Passenger side. Little tricky but it worked out great.

20140301_123450 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Fabbing the Lower shock mounts

20140301_135538 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

UCA mount Passenger side. The frame made for some interesting mounting designs. This is the one that won.

20140301_135548 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Caps all welded in and ready for shock mounts

20140301_135604 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Every piece ties in with another piece and so on...

20140301_135608 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Finished shock mount tabs. These are lower

20140301_141809 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Almost there

20140301_152117 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Bending the front shock hoops

20140301_154320 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Nick getting all artsy farty with the camera angles

20140301_154334 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

This is my favorite piece! I measured 5 times to make sure this was exactly right. It came out AWESOME!!! Naaa, it's a brace. But it looks Picasso-esque. Diggin it...

20140301_162050 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

The hoops are not in the final location or the final height. Just wanted to get this thing on the suspension this weekend. I't going to sit for a while after this phase is done, then we will replace the tub, build the fenders and then finalize the ride height and set all the final dimensions.

20140301_164900 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Hopefully I can get some pics of this with the 35 inch tires on tomorrow.

[curtis]

Turning out real sweet.

[dirtman13]

Looking good

[RAT]

Milestone 4. The damn thing is standing on all fours. Still lots of welding to do but the goal this weekend was to get it to this point, and we did. I'm happy.


20140302_130421 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140302_130352 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140302_130343 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140302_131132 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Thanks to Mr. Green for the loaner wheels. Much appreciated.

[aw12345]

Nice progress Kurt, turning out to be a pretty darn cool built

[Ol Man]

Looking good.

[USMC 0369]

Milestone 4. The damn thing is standing on all fours. Still lots of welding to do but the goal this weekend was to get it to this point, and we did. I'm happy.

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Thanks to Mr. Green for the loaner wheels. Much appreciated.

[COLOR="#800000"]Yes! Thanks so much for the loaners!! I'll get em back to ya as soon as...sorry I can't say that with a straight face. But THANK YOU! It's coming together and I'm really diggin it.[/COLOR]

[RAT]

Spent most of the day Saturday fabbing a steering box mount. The old CJ mount is a cast piece that bolts to the frame then the gear box bolts to that. It is too bulky for this application. It also mounts the gear box in a horizontal position which is not ideal for this set up. So I made this:

The stand offs are needed for frame clearance

20140307_155506 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140307_155531 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Setting the angle and alignment

20140308_112340 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Making sparkly things again

20140308_120444 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

The box is 3/16 wall rectangular tube. Reinforced with 1/4" plate and crush sleeves.

20140308_123230 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140308_123237 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Drillin and millin

20140308_135054 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

ready to install

20140308_144221 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Fits like a charm. A heavy, power steering fluid leaking charm...

20140308_161457 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140308_162827 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Clearance Clarence

20140308_174900 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140308_174845 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

I'm pretty sure the gear box won't twist it's way out of this one.

20140308_174912 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Nick is selling off CJ parts to fund this madness. A guy came by to get the original frame and fenders with this:

20140308_151328 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Small block chevy V8 powered. A real sleeper this one is.

[vwtipeii]

Looking great guys! Looking forward to following the progess...

[RAT]

Miracles do happen. The chassis saw direct sunlight today. It's going to grace my driveway as a piece of modern art until either I get the Rat work done or the city slaps a Abandoned Vehicle ticket on it...

We wired the rear shocks down to 7up 7 down. the fronts are still fully extended. Looks like the ride height at the bottom of the frame will be 23 inches when we are done. Same as the Rat.


20140309_133216 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140309_133158 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


20140309_133138 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

The chassis is so light right now that it takes off down the driveway with no thought at all. We "drove" it out in the street to turn it around and put it head in. This Jeep is gonna be scary light

[dr.dirty]

Looks great gentlemen!

[Ol Man]

Fun when a project comes together.

[RAT]

Brown Santa came today. Parts to complete the crossover steering. I might actually have to use a few brain cells on this one. There is nowhere near as much room inside the frame rails of this CJ as there is on my TJ, and that ain't sayin much... Pics to come...

[Ol Man]

Brown Santa came today. Parts to complete the crossover steering. I might actually have to use a few brain cells on this one. There is nowhere near as much room inside the frame rails of this CJ as there is on my TJ, and that ain't sayin much... Pics to come...

Mythbusters proved that you can get 10 lbs of s??t in a 5 lb bag, so you should have no problem.