Freerider15

Got my intake and radiator hoses mounted a bit ago. Yes...that is exhaust tubing used for my intake. Let's face it...it's a 4.0L not a hopped up V8





As well...got my other rear light and my rear tailgate mounted. This might be one of the ONLY pieces with MY XJ's original body in in. The peices in white are from the original hatch...I was determined to have something in there from the old body I'm really liking how it came out. It's still got some work to be done to it but it's done enough to show.

That being said...I F*$%ING hate working with sheet metal.






As well...getting rid of my Corbeaus. After doing a LOT of reading I just decided they were to small for me overall. So...I've got a custom pair of PRP's coming in in a couple weeks.

Currently i'm working on getting a oil pan/tranny pan skid built as well as a skid that fills the gap between my tranny crossmember and my rear crossmember.

Freerider15

So...after a month I finally picked up my new PRP seats.





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They're the PRP Comp. Highbacks with:
- Black Cordura Center
- Carbon Fiber Vinyl everwhere else
- Double Stitching
- +2" width
- +4" height
- Mesh in bottom of seat for drainage.

Overall...I love them. Far more comfortable than the Corbeaus (since these are actually sized correctly). The ONLY slight downside I might say is that being a more broad shouldered person, the wings on the seat want to push my shoulders a little forward. I could have gone with the Daily Driver seat which have a lot less bolster...but after having the Mastercraft version of that (the rubicon) not having the bolster in the buggy would be a mistake. I slid around some in the rubicons when it was still a full body rig.

I'm 6'2" and the top of the seat is a hair higher than the top of my head. Makes me feel much more comfortable in case my head comes backwards...I'll be hitting a head rest instead of tube now.

However...mounting these has made me re-do my mounts since the bolt pattern is not the same with the wider seats. I had to cut out my trans shifter as it will need to move forward as these seats are 4" longer front to rear than the Corbeaus. So that is taking me a little while, but I should have that wrapped up and beginning harness mounting this coming weekend.

The goal is teardown for paint at the end of this month. My to-do list is rather short and I should be able to knock it out over the next couple weekends.

Freerider15

So more updating...

Worked for a bit this weekend on it...but man its amazing how slow things can go compared to how much you thought you were going to get done.

Got the engine cage done, what a PAIN that was. Took a while on this one to make sure things didn't warp and thus not fit back together.

With all the fish plates in:



Removed:


As well got going on the engine skid:




The driver's side connecting arm for the skid. Originally I was going to use 1.25" tube to connect the engine skid to the frame, but didn't really have a way to get a good bend with it...and it would be hard to reinforce. Since the arms aren't a straight connection, they are going to need to be STOUT to hold up to any abuse. The main arm will be made of 1" x 1" box, with 1/4" plate wrapped over the top and flanked on both sides. Once its all "in place" i'll get the fish plates in for the engine skid as well.

Driver's side arm:


Got going on the roof...this is going to be fun getting the front rolled to the brow.



Getting ever so close!

Freerider15

Update:

Got the engine skid as done as I can until I pull the D60 out for its final go through. The engine skid needs fishplating so its removable as well as skinned.

Got my rear rollover catch can setup done:

Bracket:




With Rear Diff and T-case catch cans, as well as my coolant overflow bottle mounted:





So i'm getting really close...just trying to make sure I don't miss anything before I paint the damn thing.

I've decided I'm going to add a rear firewall, luckily that won't be much work.

Next up if making/finishing up the interior panels and a new gas pedal.

Freerider15

Little more work done:

Got the rear firewall pretty well done (minus the perforated steel that will be going in the middle).



Interior Panel stuff:



Rearview mounted:



How she sits today after spending most of today cleaning the garage up



And finally the list getting whittled away...

Freerider15

Alright...time for another little update!

I've worked my *** off lately to try and get this thing wheelable for the 21st, and was trying to get the chassis finished and painted before leaving for Steamboat for the 4th.

Got the buggy pretty well stripped down...

Parts in the extra living room:


Parts in the 1 car garage:


Axles pulled and almost ready:


Unfortunately even after getting a LOT done, it wasn't 100% ready for paint.

How she sat right before I left:


Got the door bars knocked out, gussets done and a bit of other stuff.

I've had some ask about how I was planning on doing my engine skid. It mostly tacked in place:


It looks "lop sided" in order to clear upper control arms, driveshaft, etc.


Got these puppies in today too (Thanks SNEVEY!)


Going to try and paint the chassis next weekend.

Freerider15

So FINALLY...the fukking thing got painted.

Getting the pseudo paint booth setup:



Aaaaand PAINTED!

It took 3.5 quarts to paint the damn thing...and holy hell was that not very easy. Luckily I made sure to have a tyvek one piece suit (nearly identical to what I've had to wear in pharma/biotech facilites). Man did it get hot in that suit though. Hardest was making sure everything got painted. It was NOT easy to get paint in some areas, especially crawling around on the floor trying to shoot upwards.

I'm currently in the process of cleaning the floor...

In the end, came up pretty dang good. The Rustoleum Hammered black is actually more of a dark charcoal gray, but I knew that ahead of time and I really like it.











What the Rustoleum Hammered looks like up close:





Sneak preview of what the interior panels will be painted. Photo makes the gray look more silver than it really looks in person.

Freerider15

Next part of the ever continuing - never ending build

A LOT has been going on lately, between work and getting ready for a two week vacation to the east coast starting this Friday that I haven't been able to give the buggy as much attention as it needs.

The major holdup has been figuring out how to have some sort of connection/belly pan for the space between the front and rear crossmembers. As well...after nearly killing myself several time trying to get the doubler back in...I KNEW I really needed the rear support that I had been contemplating needing for a while.

So I ordered of up a Roark Fab support ring and got it installed. Thing is, due to room constraints, I had to mount it non-traditionally (as seen below).

Rear support:




Belly support work: Had to stop as I thought I had a lot more 1" square tube than I did.



Once I get back...work should resume full speed ahead and stuff coming together much quicker.

Freerider15

Alright...a little update!

Finally got the rear back on its own weight today:

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As well, got the D60 stripped down and getting ready to finish it up:

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Planning on getting the D60 finished up, painted, and under the rig by the end of this next weekend.

Freerider15

Well...FINALLY got the D60 painted...in balmy 35* weather









Going to let it sit for a few days before I do much in order to let the paint cure a bit.

Where everything sits at the moment:


Also picked up one of these...wish I had of a LONG time ago

Freerider15

So...sitting here at DIA waiting for my flight to Raleigh...might as well give an update.



Well I didn't get AS far as I wanted to before I left today (get the buggy back on its own weight on the front as well). All that I need to do to get it back on all four is bolt the engine brace in and throw the ORI's on!

I must say...I've gotten the whole beadlock thing down. Dry erase markers and a markable surface FTW

Freerider15

Boatside UHMW covering done:







Exhaust finished, painted with high temp VHT paint, wrapped, then painted with silicone high temp wrap sealant...and installed:







The power center installed...still waiting on fire sleeve.



Got the rear coolant tubes done and installed:



How she sits now:



Once the firesleeve is in...most the rest of the work will continue. I'm going to try and get the rest of the coolant system mounted before that this week.

Freerider15

So a little bit of an update:

Got my case of Amsoil Tractor Hydraulic Fluid thank to Dirk (Cue).



As well all my firesleeve came in, got most everything wrapped up. Now just need to get it all mounted and plumbed, which is the plan for this weekend.



Goals for this weekend:
- Fix/get all coolant plumbing done and mounted
- Get all Hydro mounted/plumbed
- Get all electrical mounted/run
- Get all fuel mounted/plumbed

Then, hopefully weekend after next (i'm in Houston Thursday through Sunday next week for a company business meeting), I can try firing her up! *crosses fingers*

Freerider15

Quick little update:

Some pictures of the plumbing, still got some tightening to do and routing.







As well, got my N2 tank and hose made so I'm ready to set her at ride height.

Tank and hose cost me a weeeee bit more than I was hoping to spend (was trying to reuse a CO2) tank...but at least I own the tank and this one fill should be more than enough!

Freerider15

So, got a bit of work done.

As always never as much as I wanted...but always better to shoot for getting more done. Still got a bit done though.

Things not pictured I got done:
- Dismantled, cleaned, installed the Taurus fan as well as got it fitted with a weatherpack fitting
- Got all the brake calipers 100% mounted
- Mounted the T-case shifter and got the tranny shifter fully done

Got the Yukon Hubs on :smokin:



Got this in today (joints, truss bridge, nylon tubing):

Unfortunately the truss bridge won't work. I'll use it as a template to build my own though.



So...onto some comparisons. So let it be known that jumping from a joint, to a rod end isn't exactly a direct swap per se. Come to find out, rod ends are slightly shorter (ok a little more than slightly) from end of thread to hole center. Luckily for me they'll still work just fine, but for someone without much adjustability it could really make for a not so good day.

I will say this for the ballistic joints where they get a thumbs up over the heims...the amount of shank they have is impressive. I wish the heims had that much, but mine should be just fine as it.

Side to side:


Top to top:


So...in my infinite wisdom...I realized I forgot to order the two joints for the panhard.

Luckily I needed to make another RuffStuff order, as I'm going to keep the front frame side lower control arms at a 9/16" bolt. Why? Well because un-fukking-fortunately I can't get a drill in there to open them up

Rear suspension swapped:


Unfortunatley I'll be spending another few hours pulling them all off one end at a time again. Going to go uniform and run RuffStuff jam nuts on all ends...the current jam nuts will go with their respective joints.

Needless to say, If I were to do this all over (or if I decide the change it later) the front frame side lower control arm heims would be mounted horizontal, and I'd use a certain RuffStuff Bracket in place. I might actually do the swap one day, cutting out my old mount, if I'm ever bored and want something to do.

On another note...I found buying DOM from Dan at RuffStuff was cheaper per foot even AFTER shipping than buying it here locally...and that's not even taking into account the normal 10% off you can get

Focus for this week will go back off getting brakes and suspension 100% done, and back to the motor since I'll be waiting on that order.

Going to try and get the motor running and pretty well done this weekend :smokin:

So that means over the course of the week I need to:
- Tighten all fuel fittings
- Run vacuum hose for the fuel pressure regulator
- Flush the block's cooling ports
- Install all coolant hoses and get them clamped in place
- Do an oil change
- Fill Tranny
- Reinstall all hydro hoses and get the system filled
- Work on getting the harness plugged in and secured.