neohic

You getting project hungry or do you just miss your old '89? I was the same way when you took the gray '88... holding onto parts and things thinking "Yeah, I'll use this some day!". The hoarder mentality was taking over! Don't get too over crowded that you don't know where to start!... but do tell about this new project. :popcorn:

Rockin' a Miller 185 wire feed also. If you're looking for a good machine for at home, I highly suggest the Thermal Arc 252i. It'll do GMAW awesome, SMAW awesome, and GTAW... eh... okay. Great little machines and quite the bang for your buck.

Thanks, Pete! I was going for more of an industrial look but somewhere along the lines it turned a little Mad Max. Argon bottle on the way this weekend. Weldy, weldy...

Speaking of which... any updates on that pile of wires?

Neohicbuilt? That some kind of new, up-and-coming bumper manufacturer? :hmm: That front end looks really good! All those little time consuming detail work stuff really makes a huge difference... I should probably finish that stuff on my '88.

The water tank is there to keep the TIG torch cool. You can either go with an air cooled or a water cooled. The size difference between the two is that you can have the same amperage capacity to an air cooled in a smaller, easier to handle size. Thermal Arc is a big part of the welding industry but you're right that it isn't a part of "the big three". That's not to say that it isn't a quality product.

For years I enjoyed the company and weld-ability of my old machine. Sure, it was oversized and it was a bit of a pig when it came to spinning the meter, but it was awesome. She was amazing. She was beautiful. She was my Miller Syncrowave 300. Sadly, when I moved across the state over a year and a half ago now, I ran into a real pickle when it came to what made sense. She took up roughly the same space as a refrigerator, and I couldn't use it to all of its potential. When it came to power, I already ran a 100 amp sub panel out to my garage/shop. She wanted more! I could weld small parts, but when it came to anything that I really needed to hold it to the rugs all the lights would go out. It was sad day when it left and I guess I didn't truly realize how attached I was to it until it was leaving my shop without me. Whatever was to replace it had some big shoes to fill. It took some time, research, and plenty of arc time to decide what its replacement would be. I settled on one of these: That is the Thermal Arc 186 inverter. While I spent a lot of time reading online reviews, one can only buy a welder after using it first. Fortunately, working in a weld shop at a tech college has plenty of advantages when it comes to welding manufacturers dropping new technology and equipment. I tried comparable Millers and Lincolns... I even had a quick tryst with an ESAB. They all welded great! Then there was the Thermal Arc rep. I'd call it on par with the arc characteristics of the Miller Dynasty 200, but the Thermal Arc 186 comes in at about half price to the Miller. The settings were cool and, as an added bonus, I think it's even cute to look at! I would go as far as calling myself quite the nerd when it comes to welding technology and I get excited when something new comes along that fills a need and can get the job done for a decent price. I had to have one... but, just like most things, I couldn't leave my new welder alone. I need options and specific hooks and brackets for everything rather than just letting the torch lead, ground cable, and foot control mingle together like some unorganized social gathering. I liked that my old Syncrowave had room to mount a water cooler, filler rod storage, and plenty of real estate to throw things on top. Now with a smaller machine, I had to get creative with all these things that I spoiled myself with. Here's what I came up with: I still need to get a new argon bottle, but I dig it. Sure, I could've built my own cart, but I liked the small footprint that it had and it wasn't all that much more to get the package including it. On to the modifications! Cables: Ask any of my students that I absolutely hate it when leads and wires are just spilled everywhere. I think it looks a little messy, but when you're used to a 25' torch lead, and prefer a foot control you just can't live without them. My torch of choice has to be a water cooled unit as well just because of the smaller size. The cooler itself started life as an older Miller Radiator 1 that seemed to leak from everywhere that it could. It was ran for years on straight tap water so everything was all gummed up and crusty. The whole thing was taken apart, the main components cleaned, and then reincarnated as a deconstructed cooler. I love it! No, it isn't bulky yet cuddly like my old Miller, but it isn't supposed to be either. I like that it's modern and new and ready to be put to work!

Finally spring time! Time to take out an old friend. ... dirty as hell, though. :roll:

I'm such a sucker for a clean, white MJ. Really looking forward to seeing this all put back together! :thumbsup:

Careful, Don. We don't know how much of a betting man f-cracker1 really is. Don't let him take you up on that bet and leave him with none and you with an awkward three... really, who has room for that.

The rust just means that it's on its way to returning to nature. The wood floor further emphasizes this. :yes: For real, Rob... you need another,right? A nice, rusty MJ would fit in real nice with those two cleaner trucks you already have!

Not a whole lot more today... just filling some newly made holes. I made up an aluminum panel that tied into the original mounting holes in the firewall. The firewall itself is a mess so the new panel will be coming back out at some point. Again, just mocking things up. I was also playing around with some creative ways to dress up the dash some what without the radio, factory switches, or heater controls. Probably end up putting a battery kill switch where the lighter panel is. I'd like to track down a good set of block off panels for either side of the steering column. I have one good one from the original dash. The other had a bunch of holes drilled in it. Details... details... not really time to get too fussy with things like that yet. Something else that bugs me is the seat height. The seats themselves are from a four door XJ, but the brackets are MJ. I think they sit too high. I might lower them down a couple inches. Before bolting on the brackets, I set the seat in the truck on a stack of blocks and liked the feel of everything. Now bolted in, it's just too high. The shifter needs to come back some too to have that same tailored feel. Details... details...

Another sign of future things to come: All of the dash wiring is cleaned up too. Way easier to to put a dash in without the heater box! There will be two seats going in and the one will be coming back out at some point... I found a little bit of rust to deal with under the floor mat. That'll come later on. Right now, I'm just trying to get things mocked up. I keep going back and forth on whether or not to put a cage in it. Thoughts on that, anyone?

You need that.

Beautiful! :thumbsup:

What's with the red coil spring too? Seems as though your truck has more springs than a mattress!

I think it's cool as hell! I'd even go as far as saying that I'd motor-boat that. Big turn off though... he lost me at 350 conversion.

This dude just keeps dangling that carrot for you, Austin! http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/cto/3737808762.html

:agree:​ Darn things are like potato chips. Can't have just a couple...

Good enough for me! Glad you're happy with it and it looks great on your truck. :thumbsup: But wait... where's the front bumper? :hmm:

Did you put the brackets on the frame and then the bumper to the brackets or did you just bolt everything together first? I used the same measurements for the brackets on yours as what I did on the first effort of producing bumpers. With the brackets on the frame, the bumper should bolt on with the mounting plates on the inside of the brackets. Here's a picture of ComancheKid45's bumper, but the mounting would be the same:

Got a few things done in this truck today. Pulled the bench, dash, heater core, cleaned up a bunch of the wiring in the dash, and started on a template for blocking off the firewall. Yeah... the heater box isn't going back in... like a real race truck. :rock on:

Glad I wasn't just getting stuck in some sort of time warp cycle or something crazy like that. :thwak:

Jim, didn't you already offer the guy $500, go and look at it, and then pass because it wasn't as described back in January? http://comancheclub.com/topic/36768-diesel-swap/ ... really feels familiar. :hmm:

:peek: ... guilty. Not a whole lot going on over here on this side of the state so I'm forced to venture around.