Trail Cage Write Up

[Lumpy Grits]

Nice!
Lg

[Tumbleweed13]

looks good. I've always like all black jeeps. and your hood certainly looks level...

Funny. I wanted to make sure the jeep was level so I could us the level on the dash bar.

[Tumbleweed13]

Today I cleaned up all the welds and joints, for paint. Iguess it was the right day for painting. It was plenty hot.

All joints are clean, and everything is masked off. Its ready for primer.


Primed and ready for paint.


Painted but still wet.




Even tho I painted the bars before install, and I prepped all the spots that were gonna be welded. I still ended up repainting most of the cage. I only primered the joints, and lightly sanded the pre-painted areas. This was nessesary cuz the paint took a beating during install. I think it still made it easier to paint today.

I'll put everything back together tomorrow. I wanted to give the paint time to cure.

[brokenujoint]

To late now, but some good advice when you paint. Always sand the bare metal with fine paper to get the oxidations and oils off and use mineral spirits or MEK to get it clean. You'd be suprised how you can use soap and water and think its clean and it's not. you'll have residue. You start with soap and water, dry, then when you use the mentioned chemicals you'll get rag after rag of filth off the metal again. Several light coats of primer, go to bed, wake up do a light sand, dry cherry cloth wipe down, and several coats of Rustoleum or my favorite, krylon. leave it for a day or two and then some clear coat applied the same way. This will last you yrs... I did my flatfenders like that almost 6 yrs ago and they still are barely fading. Just some advice.

[Tumbleweed13]

Well the cage is in, and the jeep is back together. It looks real good. PS did a great job engineering the kit. There are no issues with clearance. The visers are good. The top doesn't hit anywhere. Its time for the hammers.

Interior is put together waiting for the top.




Top is on, and everything fits. I wrapped the grab bars in cloth tape, same stuff I use to wrap my hockey sticks. I feels better that way. I also welded one edge of the lower A-pillar to the floor of the tub. This was not in the instructions. But with only one bolt go'n thru the tub. I figured this was a good idea. 1 bolt can sheer, but not now.

[Tumbleweed13]

To late now, but some good advice when you paint. Always sand the bare metal with fine paper to get the oxidations and oils off and use mineral spirits or MEK to get it clean. You'd be suprised how you can use soap and water and think its clean and it's not. you'll have residue. You start with soap and water, dry, then when you use the mentioned chemicals you'll get rag after rag of filth off the metal again. Several light coats of primer, go to bed, wake up do a light sand, dry cherry cloth wipe down, and several coats of Rustoleum or my favorite, krylon. leave it for a day or two and then some clear coat applied the same way. This will last you yrs... I did my flatfenders like that almost 6 yrs ago and they still are barely fading. Just some advice.

I did all that too, when I did my tube fenders. It took me almost a month to paint them, cuz I could only do so much in a day. I wasn't overly concerned with the quality of this paint job. So, I took some short cuts. I'm happy with it.

[brokenujoint]

yeah, for the cage, for some reason, i was lazy to. every 6 months or so i find myself masking and touching it up with a rattle can. no clear coat either. the only part that gets scratched up is my rear spreader. enjoy...

[Tumbleweed13]

yeah, for the cage, for some reason, i was lazy to. every 6 months or so i find myself masking and touching it up with a rattle can. no clear coat either. the only part that gets scratched up is my rear spreader. enjoy...

Its only been a day and I've found a few spots that need some attention. Jeeps are never done.