This next set of pictures is from making the new front end look nice. This involved lots of cardboard templates, screws and patience. And more templates.

 

So this is about where I'm up to at this point, locking the steering straight. Prior to this point I had extended the original steering adjustment and welded it into the frame to act like the steering box. This gave the issue of when the body leaned side to side, it was turning the steering slightly. To remove this issue I had to lock the steering straight to the axle itself.

 

I'm now making progress on the floor for the trailer. The floor itself will be some sheet wood (undecided on which type) which will screw into the frame rails at the front and be removable in 2 parts at the rear where the firewall used to be. This is because a single piece would be difficult/impossible to fit and it allows for easy removal to gain access to the space below the floor. The rear floor will be supported by some brackets I plan on making which will then hold up some 2x2 timber around the perimeter, which the actual floor will then rest on top of.

This set of pictures is about the removal of the transmission tunnel and replacing it with some sheet steel to give more usable space.


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I made a brace piece to make sure that the frame rails could not move apart from each other and also to help support the floor.



Once fitted in place I removed the rest of the remaining tunnel.


As always I didn't take many pictures so this bit of flooring was made out of 2 pieces of sheet steel. The angles involved in making this in a single piece were not worth the effort it would have taken to make it. This image below is not a trick of the camera angle, the short edge with spot welds visible is about 215mm long which on the unwelded piece goes to about 230mm long. On the other side it was something like 230mm long then 220mm. Really not worth getting wrong and wasting good sheet metal to do in one part.




My next step I think will be sorting out the wooden side of the floor + any metal brackets to hold it. Until next time

 

So in the UK we've had many travel restrictions, one of which going from England to Wales was recently lifted. RIP trailer project.

The project is still going but I've now got less weekends to work on it as I like to go to my caravan at the weekends. As a result, progress has slowed down and most of the jobs I am getting on with are ones I can do during my lunch break, which require little setup and clean-up time.

Unrelated to the trailer but playing with more toys is why I enjoy my weekends away.


So the next main job I've been working on is light wiring. I have separated the harness into 4 sections:

• Main trailer
• Left light cluster
• Bumper lights
• Right light cluster

All of these have water proof connectors which should keep them running nicely, and makes the individual areas easy to remove when needed. Due to the number of connectors I had and the sizes of them, I chose to run the power wires for each area together and have a separate connector for the earths. So the bumper has a 2 pin and a 1 pin, whereas the light clusters use a 3 pin and a 1 pin. All of the earths go direct to the body.

First off is the bumpers registration lights and fog light.



Next is one of the light clusters.


The diagram in the background is my circuit to allow me to have the corner marker and the UK spec wing indicator repeater wired up so when the side lights are on, both are dim, then when indicating they flash at full brightness. My drawing is however wrong as I have mixed up the lines going to pins 87 and 87a. I have my XJ wired up this way using some large resistors designed for dimming lights. They were actually from an old contract job of my uncles for dimming the headlights on whatever vehicle for the army.


This cluster just needs the resistors wiring into it and it's done, as is the other side.


Here shows where the wiring comes to before being distributed to each area. You can see the 2 connectors, one 3 pin and the other 1 pin.



I've also fitted my jockey wheel and I like the way it tucks into the frame.



I've also now finally welded up the front edges and used a different seal between the wing and the front. The previous seal was a better looking seal however any bumps or flat edges along the curve of the metal I've placed were visible on the seal. I just didn't like the look of it and didn't want to spend the time trying to get it perfect. All it'd take is to grind too much off in one spot and you'd have to run along the whole edge again. This seal now in use covers both the new metal and the wing so you just don't see anything out of place.


Lastly, I have started to make progress on the framework to support the back of the floor but for some reason didn't take any pictures yet.

 

Today I made some nice progress. I've barely touched this project since my last post. The framework for the floor is long completed (still no pictures), so todays job was paint.

I've started with the interior and only have a bad before image and a nice after image. Prior to painting I have welded up and sealed any screw/grommet holes that are no longer needed that would let water in from the wheels. Outside of the after image I have also painted the lift out front panel, bonnet stay, bonnet interior, bonnet hinges and any metal parts I have made for the bonnet release. Tomorrow I will check on how the finish looks as there were some streaks showing through the black whilst painting. I'm not bothered about brush marks but don't want bits of grey/white visible.

Next job will be sorting out the exterior green paint and getting it to look like my XJ.




As you can see, my XJ is lurking, making sure I do a nice job. It doesn't want to be towing around a bad looking trailer. Until next time

 

Awesome work bro. Nice craftsmanship.

 

Thanks

Before it gets painted I want to drill the holes to fit my JEEP lettering, which I have yet to talk about. I found a file for the logo/lettering, imported into Fusion 360 and extruded the lettering. Next added a chamfer to the edges to resemble the JEEP letters on the original face panel.

The following are the 3D printed letters and the guide I have made for drilling their mounting holes. Each letter has 3 mounting threads so I can just screw a bolt into them from the back.




The letters will be painted silver, if I had silver ABS plastic, I would have just gone with that.

 

As per my usual, there's a gap in the images I take. The holes for the JEEP badge are drilled using the template and both the main body and bonnet are in primer. Plastics and wings are next.

 

It's been a busy past few days for both me and the painter. As much as I wanted to have a go with the spray gun, I was locked out and left to get on with my actual work. Yesterday and today however have been rather busy for me.






As for my part in this, my job was doing all of the black parts. I've used a black Stone Chip product to get the rough texture. I previously used Raptor liner on my XJ however it's already chipping away on the plastics due to flex. It does however look very similar in colour and texture.




Although previously I had undersealed the majority of the body, I had to finish off where the wings meet the front panel and a few spots where I had patched over large holes.


Wings fitted.



A quick test fit of the Jeep badge.



And finally the front is going together nicely. Even though it all worked perfectly before taking apart and painting, getting the middle to lift out and clear the light plastics nicely took me hours of fit, remove, refit, remove. Now that it's painted a lot more care is needed trying not to scratch it.


With any luck I'll be able to tow by the weekend.

 

So I did manage to tow it by the weekend then forgot to post more pictures. This is likely to be the last set of pictures as any other jobs on it are not likely to show much. The aerial now goes up when the engine is running and down when stopped, just a small detail.






As a temporary fitment, I screwed a container to the floor to fit some shopping in.


It also filled rather well with garden waste for a good tip run.


Finally, I got both the Jeep and trailer pin striped. While the Jeep still says Limited on the wing, the trailer had to have it's own identity.

 

That’s neat as Fvck. Never seen that before. Necessity is the Mother of all inventions.