Ok ok wait, i looked better at the pics. You have a mount between gearbox and removable part of the crossmember, a mount between TC flange and subframe and a "torque" brace right?
Torqe will flect the engine-gearbox-TC1-TC2 assembly along the rotational axis. So why didn't you put that link along a radial direction?

 

The 'torque' brace is for UCA mount.



The idea is to stop the mount from rotating backwards or forwards as the suspension cycles. Let's say I run over a short bearded Italian that is lying down in the road sunbathing .... the suspension is obviously going to move. As it moves, the pinion will follow an arc. Limiting that arc is the job of the UCA and that puts a lot of forward/backward stress on the mounts. Which is why I have that brace on the back side of the mount.


I will also be utilizing the belly pan from a structural standpoint. The pan will be bolted to the fixed & removable portions of the crossmember. It will also be bolted to the sub-frame assembly, as well as the rear crossmember. That way everything will stiffen up as an assembly. The skid will assist with the radial stress imposed by the UCA, but will also contribue to the rotational stress caused by the engine. It would not be sufficient by itself -- but combined with other methods, should be a stiff combination.


And yes ... I know i added an extra 10 or 15 lbs with the subframe. But I will be utilizing an alum. skid to save some weight. And I still have the thought of alum or chromoly arms to cut back more weight. But that's down the road.




Joe

 

Ah now it's clear.... careful with the short bearded Italian, those are known to cause plenty of damage...

 

fantic238 is speaking the truth bearded Italians can cause plenty of damage!!!!!

 

this is amazing work! I am very impressed! i have rebuilt 3 historic vehicles(1929 Model A, 1953 Dodge Van Pelt Fire Truck, 1919 International 3/4ton Flat bed(with orginal crank start engine)) and not even we payed THIS much attention to detail, although we did not modify much from stock(if at all, except the fire truck got a few new goodies) Have i mentioned that i am impressed?!?!
(subscribed)

 

Sorry folks ... it's been crazy here. Finally had some time to update this thread with actual progress.



To prove I wasn't lying about removing the POR/Bedliner:





















Shiny & Cleaned up !












When I was cleaning up ... I noticed the shock crossmember was showing signs of rusting through at one the ends. 42 spot welds later I had it out for replacement. That sucked. I was finding it impossible to remove all the crap on the multi-pocketed surfaces of the stupid thing anyhow. Let alone trying to remove the peeling POR/Bedliner inside the crossmember.















Boy .. this project sucks.

 

As you already know ... the undercarriage is pretty clean.



I coated the area where the crossmmeber sits with cold galvinizing compound (same stuff I used for the frame stiffeners).










After it dried .... I taped off the area where I would be doing the welding. That left the "middle" exposed for me to lay 2 coats of Zero Rust down (over the prepped Galvinizing compound). Followed by a single coat of tractor paint. I also scuffed the inside of the new crossmember and layed 2 coats of Zero Rust & 1 coat of Tractor paint.


Giving that a few days to dry (while I work on other junk) .... I sanded the edge of the crossmember and sanded away exess galvinizing compound (on the underbody). A quick wipedown preceeded welding everything up. I did not bother to drill & spot weld it. It was easier for me to just weld the edges all the way around (skipping around, of course). The end result was minimal paint burning and peace of mind. The 2 dark spots you see were the only paint "burns" I had and most of it wiped off.










In the mean time ... I was also working on the access hole for the fuel filler hoses. Mine were rotted thru and I was planning to do them at a later date. But since I had to wait for the paint ... I decided to tackle it simultaneously.




Cut the welds and removed what was left of the old metal.







Took a block of wood and carved/shaped it to fit inside the hole.










Used the block as my template and bent some .090 sheetmetal around it. Thanks to " The Freeak " for donating metal to a good cause.

 

Cut the template in half to make sure it was a TIGHT fit inside the bore. One half shown below.












And welded the 2 halves together (TIG) followed by welding to the frame rail on both sides of the rail.

 

Ever wonder what it looks like without the rear shackle mounts ?
















That rust looks a *lot* worse that it was. 45 seconds with a scuff pad (on a grinder) had it shining. Was surprised and pleased with that.




Other side ...



















Note on that last picture ....


You can't see it from this angle ... but I have VERY thin sheetmetal that I managed to poke thru with just a dental pick.



For now ... I'm going to just slather it with Zero Rust and try to block off the rust holes. I have had it with sheetmetal work and will have a body shop do it for me. Either that ... or I will wait until summer and make it a weekend day project when I have nothing better to do. <shaking head>

 

I'm sure someone is going to wonder why I might have gone through the bother of removing the rear shackle mounts. Let me assure you, it wasn't a cosmetic need.



Mainly .... I was wanting to increase structural rigidity in the back of the Jeep. It's well documented why a stiff frame rail is desireable -- so I won't bore anyone with those particular details. However, I also had other ideas in mind. I wanted stronger mounting points for towing. Additionally, I wanted a solid platform for a rollcage mount and/or bumper brace (for the wings under the quarter panels). And the last thing ... was a good mounting spot for my rear shocks on the outsides of the frame rails.



So out comes the wire wheel and scotch-brite pads! Removed the paint from the rear crossmember up to the rear coil mounts. Coated with the zinc compound again. Getting tired of that stuff too.




Cleaned up a few pieces of 1/8 steel and bent them into some weird convoluted shape.








































The swiss chees effect is for additional welding surface area. I also incorporated new bumper nuts into the assembly. The old rivet nuts were started to distort and I used it as an opportunity to upgrade to 7/16 hardware. The factory strip nuts (for gas tank/hitch) was retained and accounted for on the bottom sides of the brackets. Despite being a 12 mm nut (as opposed to the aftermarket 1/2 variety) I prefer the factory plates because they offer 5 points of attachment instead of the usual 4.

 

Before welding the brackets on (and before zinc primed them too) I took the time to weld the tabs where the frame rail & rear crossmember meet. I'm basically referring to the pieces where the mounting nuts used to be for the bumpers on the back side of th erear crossmember. My welds were good enough not to show you, so don't ask. Was in a rush and just did some quick vertical down with the TIG (standing up, obviously). It's strong and secure ... just a bit ugly.




Here are the brackets welded (some fully welded, some partially welded) :




















Also made some short inside pieces for the inside bumper bolts and a little extra crossmember strength.

















Here is a quick underside shot of the passenger side rail:

 

Connected the above mounting braces to the coil mounts with an intermediate piece.




Cut the piece up ... made some v-notches in the bottom to account for the bend in the frame rail








Plug weld drilling









Clamping the assembly to keep it in place for welding










Weld & ground












Bottom shot










And finally ... the driver side shot

 

The reason for the intermdiate plates is quite simple.


1) Further stiffen the assembly by tying the side & bottom (as opposed to just welding a plate to the side of the rail



2) Serve as a structural mounting point for the rear shocks. I'm outboarding the upper mounts (much like a ZJ would be). The further out the shocks are mounted ... the more stable a vehicle is. Additionally, the straighter the shock sits, the more effective the dampening is.




At this point ... the upper mounts are on hold until the truck is under it's own power again. I would like to flex it on the ramp so I can determine what length shocks I want to run. Right now, it's a tie between 10 & 12 inch shocks. The 10s would be much easier to mount up and would provide more than sufficient travel. On the other hand .... 12s would be bragging rights.




As of tonite ... the engine is out. The engine bay is about 1/3 of the way scraped of all the Speedliner. The POR seems to be sticking better here (but still coming off in spots). One full day of scraping should get the rest of the liner off and a good chunk of the POR removed.



Fab wise ... I have some final frame braces to make and I should be good for a while. Then I can prep & paint the engine bay and remainder of the transmission tunnel. And that point ... I can reassemble the suspension & drivetrain and get back to where I was before this whole mess started.




Joe

 

wow, You never cease to amaze me. Great work Joe.

 

I haven't read you entire build but your work is amazing I love the fact that you go into such depth and detail in the way you build your Jeep, I like to think I do the same with mine. My question is this what exactly happened with the POR-15 when you applied it, did you simply decide not to use it anymore or did it start to peel? I ask only because I have a small 8 inch by 6 inch patch of rusty/pitted metal in the trunk of my jeep, and was actually planning on using a grinder with a wire wheel attachment to clean the metal then sandblast the metal then apply POR-15 followed by their fiberglass sheeting POWERMESH. I know that cutting and removing the metal is the best way to go, and in about 300 miles I will find out how much it may cost me and I will go from there. Thanks for your reply to my question.