OK, drivers side tube fender/ flare is mocked up, wheel / tire is installed, OE wheel house cut out.

Sorry, no pics for now; I was too busy working.

I like progress.

 

Flat rate box was sitting on my porch tonight...

Bracket passes the cat scan.







Big thanks to Timmay at Liquid Iron Industries.

I sent him the CAD file, and a day later I have the bracket.

 

Finally .. that monstrosity of yours is out of my shop.


I had heartburn from that thing.



Tell your wife she's a real trooper for hanging in there while we finished off the gearing.




Joe

 

she was actually interested in what went into setting up gears.

I have a few people coming over tonight to assist with the mock up.

Should be some more pics up here tonight.

And Joe, THANK YOU!


(BTW: I forgot that damn Rubicon Express tool. )

 

Have someone come & pick it up then !!! I'm sure someone is going to be within 10 minutes of my place.


BTW .... you also forgot the level. I had it leaning against the housing.



You're quite welcome too.



Oh ya .... keep a tight leash on her. Now that she knows what to do, I might be out of business soon.



Joe

 

You need to focus on a very important thing: THE END OF YOUR BUILD!
Finish it, wheel it, show it, etc...

 

I'm trying Stef.


Been busy with too many other things. I just can't spread myself thin enough.


Maybe if I had the friends Chris has.



I'll be working on it today after I get the inside stuff done (putting a new floor down).




Joe

 

See, this is what i mean. Why don't you finish the mechanical stuff first in order to get it moving on the road, and after that you can do what ever you want to the body/interior and at the same time diagnose eventual problems that might come up from the driving?
Bah, forget it, who am i to tell you this...i'm depressed today.

Great builds both of you.

 

Stef ... by flooring ... I meant in my HOUSE. Putting down a new hallway & family room floor.



Don't sweat it man ... you can always hit me up on IM if you wanna BS. I'd be depressed too, if I had to work with French people.




Joe

 

Quel est votre problčme avec les personnes Françaises ?

 

They're snotty.



Joe

 

Man i love this thing!

 

Haha lol me too...

 

Updates:

I spent most of yesterday working on installing the Ruff Stuff frame stiffeners.

I first grabbed the 4.5” angle grinder with a 60grit flap wheel, and ground the WHOLE surfaces where the stiffener would sit.

After that I grabbed the 5” wire wheel, and with the same grinder, I hit all the sections that the flap wheel wouldn’t reach.

Then I grabbed the stiffener and mocked it up.

I ran into a little snag with their fitment that required trimming the “flange” that sits against the floor pan.

In the stock configuration the flange is approximately 1.25” wide (measured from the vertical face of the stiffener toward the rocker panel).

It needs to be ~.75” wide (measured from the vertical face of the stiffener toward the rocker panel.) or it will extend PAST the leg of the frame rail and land on the single thickness of the floor pan, requiring a VERY difficult weld of 16g to 3/16” thick stiffener. I consider myself to be a decent weldor, and I would NOT want to make this weld. Especially not over the length of two stiffeners.

I whipped out the trusty Hypertherm 350 plasma cutter (I can’t thank my buddy enough for the extended use of this incredibly useful tool! Thanks Jeorge!) and trimmed the offending material off.

After a quick touch with the flap wheel, it was ready to go.

I started on the Passenger’s side, and using a combination of floor jack, bolts, C-clamps and a Big F’n Hammer, I convinced the stiffener to sit tight against the existing contour of the floor boards.

I then tacked the stiffener to the frame rail, and started stitch welding the stiffener to the frame rail.

I used .035” wire in my welder, and the “Tack-tack-tack” method to avoid burning through the thinner metal of the tub.

After that I moved on to the Drivers side where I promptly ran out of MIG wire.

After discovering that my local Lowes (the only place open on a Sunday) wants an arm, two legs, and a kidney for a spool of .030” MIG wire, I said to hell with it, and cleaned up for the day.

I will pick up MIG wire today at lunch, and save my kidneys for processing alcohol.


I also ordered all the brake lines, and exhaust parts I will need to complete the revised exhaust, and brake systems.



Pics to follow later tonight.


-Chris

 

Anyway, here are some pics from last night...

PS Front Frame Rail:



Looking back PS:



PS inside frame rail:



One of my burn through holes...




Crappy pic of the rust...



DS rear spring mount...



Front D60 mocked up:



Looking back DS at fender flare: