neohic

Looks like a good start. I’m a sucker for a cheap XJ wheeler.

Trying to get another project scratched off today. The giant square hole in the dash had to go. Then just my luck I remember why these switches have been sitting around forever. One of the blue switches plain doesn’t work and the orange one has to be just in the right spot. The plan was a switch for a USB port (empty hole) and a separate switch for interior lights and a rear light. Guess they’re just place holders.

Agreed.

… continued from yesterday. The material is leftover 1.25” pipe size tube from handrails a very long time ago. Wall thickness is about 3/16”. Everything used for the entire project was junk I’ve been holding onto for years. I really dig how compact the whole package is. Admittedly, the spare is smaller than the 33x10.50 Grabbers. It’s a 32x10.50 old style Wrangler MTR on a factory wheel that features poorly applied black paint that’s all falling off. For a spare, it’ll get me off the trail. As for the interior, there’s so much room in there!

Up to ‘75, these bodies had an additional brace in the back corner on the passenger side. Originally, it would’ve been an option for a side mounted tire carrier. I’m not too concerned with visibility for how many windows are on this thing. The spare has always been on that side too. I’m used to it being over there.

On to the next side. Come to think of it, this is the first automotive fabrication project I’ve done in this shop! I didn’t do a very good job of showing how the first corner guard was done. Call it a proof of concept. This time around I wanted to show how to do something like this without any fancy tools. Make a template… a previously scribbled over page works fine. Use that to figure where the bend needs to start. I like to make a mark at least every inch where the bend will end up. Here’s where things get time consuming. I used a bunch of clamps and a couple long pieces of steel tube as leverage. (These will probably end up being rock sliders in the springtime.) Line up the first set of marks at the edge of the table. Clamp, bend, check… clamp, bend, check… Work it slow and don’t get too far ahead. Then comes the fine tuning and artsy stuff. The whole point of this project was to make a tire carrier. Sure, the driver side is mostly a garnish to match the passenger side, but I guess it also buys me some time to figure out what to do for a tub. As for the carrier, I’ve got a bunch of odds and ends kicking around that I’m using up. The basic frame for the carrier is as far as I got today. I think I’ll offset the tire to the passenger side. Sure, having the spare centered looks fine but it also stirs up the OCD in me that I notice every little thing that isn’t symmetrical. I’ve always put my spares offset on past rigs so why not keep the tradition going? Doing that also leaves more useable space for all the other stuff we love hanging off spare tire carriers too. Fuel… shovel… jack… I’m not planning on anything more than the tire for now. Probably more tomorrow.

I think it’s time to embrace what it is. A tub swap isn’t out of the picture but for now some decisions need to be made. That’s how the cool kids do body work on their CJs, right? The whole body is rough. The amount of bondo and chicken wire just in this corner is unreal! I found more chicken wire poking out on the surface under the paint. Same goes on the interior over the fender wells. I never noticed the GIANT radius of filler until a 1” long bolt wasn’t long enough to get all the way through! Anyhow, the corner guard is 1/8” steel diamond plate that I’ve had kicking around for a very long time. It’s definitely thicker than it needs to be but it’s for sure a “corner guard”. I’ve got the other side to do and I’ll do a better job of showing how I bent the corner without a proper press or bender. The non functional reverse lights are going away as are the square trailer lights. I think I’ll mount an auxiliary light in their place. The passenger side guard will also be where I’ll hang a spare tire carrier. Keeping it inside has been fine but it definitely takes up a fair amount of space. Next!

Beautiful Tele! Extra badass points for letting your string tails run wild.

Had a quick look around Stratosphere. That’s a rad site! Thanks for the heads up on that one.

I’d love a Rickenbacker!… but you saw how I roll. I’m cheap! Maybe one day when I grow up and get a job again.

It couldn't have gone to a better home! Looking forward for updates in the future.

Back up to three functional basses. This one turned out to be a real screamer! Feels great and it’s super light weight but still balanced. Maybe I’ll try flat wounds on it once these strings wear out.

I've wanted to try a kit for a while now. There's a few manufacturers that I've heard really good things about that are a decent quality. Nothing fancy... but quality. I briefly looked into just trying to source a neck from one of them but I got the cold shoulder with an "all or nothing" type response. I ended up recycling (again) a Mexican Fender Jazz neck. Finishing got wrapped up yesterday. I should be able to assemble everything today. Very excited to see how that mostly plywood body sounds!

… moved to the pub for a bit more traffic exposure.

This truck? Found in THIS THREAD. Couldn’t find anything deeper than pictures “stole from somewhere”. Rad truck though. Still dig those flares.

Sweet! Did it start out as a manufactured rig, kit, or a put together parts-caster? Love the white with the grain on the back. Very sharp!

You should. Guitars are especially rad when you can look at a rack or a wall and really have to decide which one to pick up. In the mean time, here’s my pick guard for the “waste-bass-ket”… yup, it got named.

About 3.5” in the front. Metric ton and extended shackles in the rear.

2012: 2022: Probably not the end of the story, but this is the end of mine. It was a good run and I’m very happy to see it go to a good home. I’ll let him post up if he’d like, but for now I’ll just say that it clearly went to the right person.

Need to find a use for the album cover too. Very groovy.

Have we discussed guitars here before? I play. I’m sure others here do as well. Doesn’t matter if it’s guitar, bass, banjo, sitar, or dulcimer… playing stringed instruments is awesome. So? Who’s rocking what? Let’s see those set ups! Mine is almost cut/paste from my shop thread, but there has been some changes to the line up recently. Everything lives in the cabinets up in the loft in my shop. They’re simple plywood boxes that do a good job of keeping the dust out with their stained and glazed cherry doors. In the middle, you’ll find a couple boxes for gear below the Ampeg BA112 amp. As of recently the gang has been a small collection of a strange combination. From left to right is a 1974 Fender Precision bass that’s got multiple layers of history for me, a late ‘90s Cort Curbow five string that’s been following me around since 1999 in junior high, a baritone ukulele I’ve had since high school that I’ve been threatening to finally learn how to play properly, and then a weird assortment of parts built around a maple, white oak, and walnut body I put together in high school, took apart for other parts, and then recently reassembled. Anyhow, I like to play. Since quitting my job four months ago to focus on myself and my shop, I’ve gotten back into it after not hardly picking up a guitar in over six years. Between working in my shop I wander up to the loft and just sit down to noodle around. Now that my shop is completely up to speed I’ve been looking back at building guitars. I kind of did in high school, but it was mostly just the basics of building a body and reusing a neck. It was never quite right though. Originally it had a fretless neck but after refinishing it i found out that it had a broken truss rod. The replacement was from a parted out Mexican Fender Jazz that I picked up used but never really fell in love with. This bass has a huge, heavy body that screams for a fretless neck just in terms of giant sound and fat tone. So?… I took it apart… again. I wanted to build another bass the same way I did years ago but more so that’ll match the Jazz Bass neck. I started with plywood and a pallet. I’ve got a pile of 10’ stretchers off the bottom of huge pallets. They’re all some kind of hardwood and this one turned out to be some kind of red oak. The two other cut outs are from leftover sub flooring plywood. This was more of a proof of concept type idea for me and a challenge for not having any special tools. I don’t have a router so that was the point of multiple layers. Everything was done like an inside out topography map. There’s channels for the wiring, the electronics cover was made just by tracing the shape before the body got glued together, and a bunch of other oddities of building a guitar body that I completely sidestepped by doing it this way. Can’t say I’ve seen someone build a guitar this way, but I saw no reason why not. After finalizing where everything goes, a whole bunch of glue and clamps were used. This was the first time I used a grinder to carve wood. I also saw no reason why not to. Mostly using a gnarly 36 grit flap disk and a flap wheel on a die grinder I got the general shape. This was followed by a DA and hand sanding. Then a bunch of clear. Right now I’m letting it calm down before some more sanding. The clear has really shown off the highs/lows in the grain that I’d like to soften out. In the mean time I’m further embracing the leftover/garbage theme with making a pick guard from a vinyl record. … but I digress. That turned into a wall of text but I’m curious who else plays or builds their own guitars. Let’s see who’s got chops to lay down some sick licks!

Looking forward to this. Good to see you back!

So it would seem. We’ll see if I get to it this winter. It’d also be a good time to pull the trans and see what’s going on behind the torque converter. I actually uncovered it for one last hurrah this week to move the trailer again. On an incline, the transmission definitely feels low on fluid. … and then put it away again… again.