Pete M Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 It's alive!!!!!! After a day of frustration I decided to step away from the nonsense and focus on another problem just to clear my head. Long story short, turns out that I didn't have every wire at the battery actually hooked up to said battery. :roll: Alternator charges now too so that's checked off the list. Camera cable is still MIA though. Tomorrow I'm going to call my sister and see if it got left behind at her place. On a side note, driving with a rear spool is...well... interesting. :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejndssn Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 .... Camera cable is still MIA though. Tomorrow I'm going to call my sister and see if it got left behind at her place. On a side note, driving with a rear spool is...well... interesting. :brows: any mini usb cable on one end to standard usb on the other should work for ya and some of the cables come with cell phones :brows: just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Difference between the TJ yoke on the left and the MJ yoke on the right. Found my location, drilled the holes and installed the shock bracket. Up top I drilled out space in the bedliner for the washer. It goes, washer, nut (tightened down) then lock washer and another nut. I don't want them backing out under any circumstance. Shocks bolted in up top. Notice the squared corners on the bracket. After everything was said and done, I had to take it all apart and round them off after it was discovered that they hit the shocks. :roll: Shocks fully installed. Everything worked out perfect on them. The YJ mounts on the axle were in the right place and the shock length turned out perfect. Not bad for not being the plan when I ordered the shocks way back when. Front shocks are installed. For anyone that didn't know, the Ford shock mounts on the radius arm are in a perfect location for MJ/JXs. But all wasn't perfect up front. Turns out that the shock designed for an MJ/XJ with a 3" lift (which I thought would match the 3" coils) don't allow for full compression on my rig. But it's close. Looks like I should be able to get away with adding an inch of bumpstop (aka, a hockey puck) material in the coil bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Gotta love that MI rust! :roll: looks good though but does it work? :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Don't know yet. Now that the truck is finally out of the garage, I've been cleaning it. Still have to re-bleed the brakes before an all out test drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 Due to the relatively short shelf-life of Zolatone, I rushed through the weekend to get the crap on my truck before the weather turned even colder (it has yet to be proven if it was warm enough as it was). There's little chance it'll still be good come springtime. Step 1: Patch the MJ Replaced the smashed fender, removed the flares, patched the holes, and rolled the flare seams up. Step 2: clean the MJ I used dish soap and a brush scrubber. Step 3: scuff the MJ Found out that I could probably have done this step at the same time as step one since the scuffing pretty much cleans everything off anyways. I used various scuffers as I went along including 180 grit sanding sponges, red scotchbrite pads, and steel wool. Step 4: Mask the edges Lots o' work here. What a pain. I used blue masking tape, newspaper, and plastic sheeting. I prefer to mask off the edges first And then mask off the bulk areas Step 5: spray the MJ Holy cow what a freaking pain in the butt this stuff was! It's insanely messy. Took me a while to find just the right air pressure and spray distance. And I still don't know if I was doing it right. Seems half of the crap just spit out onto the ground. Thank goodness I had put plastic all around the truck on the floor and most of the rest of the garage. It went everywhere. Step 6: wait... Tomorrow I'll find out how well I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I wanna know how it comes out. Any risk of the masking being embedded in the paint stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 I'll let you know. I was thinking on pealing it off before the stuff set, but gave up on the idea since I was tired, it was messy and I was sick of the mess. :ack: Another tidbit, it took about 1.5 gallons to do all you see (including what's on the plastic on the garage floor). If it worked perfectly, it might have only been 1 gallon. Don't know what I'm going to do with the other 3 gallons. :hmm: It's getting too cold to do any more big projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 looks good so far pete as for the other three gallons, send them my way...my bro's MJ could use a spray, and the shop is kept at 70 degrees right now anyways because of some other things drying (yay restoring vintage sleds/building mods ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Where did you buy this stuff at? How expensive was it? Looks like it made one heck of a mess! How well did your gun clean up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 Clean up? Yeah right. I don't seem to have anything that can dissolve it so I blew out what I could and just let it sit. I got 2 guns with the paint so it's not like I used my own stuff. As to price, well, I sorta traded with a guy that works in a paint shop located in a community college (they make the paint there as well as spray it). The axle he got cost me maybe $90 plus $10 in gas to get up to his place. I just searched online and it runs about $110 per gallon. But with all the complications I've gone through and the fact that I don't yet know if the dang stuff will stay adhered to my truck, I'm not certain if I got a deal or not. :( If it all starts to peal off, then I might regret the whole thing. Jeepco, I'm not doing anything with them until I'm certain it's still usable. No one else need suffer with this crap. :headpop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onebigmj Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 It looks like a type chipgaurd in the pics. Do you spray that out of an undercoating gun or a normal paint gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 Don't know the difference. I sprayed with the gun that was given to me with the product. I'll snap a pic of it in a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djag12 Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Pete, any finished pictures of the paint job? How do you like the way it turned out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 I've been meaning to pull it out of the garage, but keep getting sidetracked with more important stuff (it's been a rough week). Wanted to do it today but it's pouring rain. I'll be dragging it out on the next decent day and then I'll update with photos, opinions and such. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 drove by it today and seen it outside, but it was raining or i woulda stopped. what kind of paint is that?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 It's not really a "paint" per se, but it applies sorta like one (using a paint gun is required, so no brushing it on). It's insanely tough it what it is. The brand name is Zolatone. The website will list what it's resistant to. http://www.zolatoneaim.com/ I tried to take a closeup to show the texture. It feels hard as a rock and very smooth. It should do great as an offroad coating. I'll certainly never get a scratch from branches. :D And the truck as a whole. So far I'm pleased with it. I'm not sure if I'll keep it monotone or go with a camo pattern later on. It could really use a second coat, but I'm just going to live with it since I cna't spray anything more until Springtime. It was a crazy pain in the butt to apply, but it was my first time and I didn't know what to expect. If I did it again, it would be much easier (but still a pain). With the cooler temperatures, I should have let it cure for longer before attempting to remove the tape. I painted the back of the cab black because it was waaay easier than trying to hit it with the Zolatone. And while I was at it, I replaced all the random hardware holding the front trim to the truck. Out with the old... ...and in with the new. Just coated deck screws. I used a few longer ones too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 pete, keep your spare paint in a heated area all winter and it should at least be somewhat useable for a second coat. I'd even venture to say that if you kept stirring it frequently, it would last longer and not seperate. that's how the touchup paint for the 3800 was...made a 6 month touchup quart last close to a year with that technique, and it was single stage with hardener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 pete, keep your spare paint in a heated area all winter and it should at least be somewhat useable for a second coat. I'd even venture to say that if you kept stirring it frequently, it would last longer and not seperate. that's how the touchup paint for the 3800 was...made a 6 month touchup quart last close to a year with that technique, and it was single stage with hardener. Some paints (and other weird chemicals) prefer to be kept cold. We have a couple fridges at work loaded with random epoxies and coatings and other fun stuff with skulls 'n crossbones on it. Typically if that's the case, it'll say so somewhere on the label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 This one says in bold letters that it is never to see the frigid cold. As to separation, it's already separated. Comes that way. There's a blob of colored material at the bottom of the can of gooey snot. But I've been warned that it has a limited self life. But I don't know what happens to it after it goes bad. Maybe that's why I had so much trouble spraying it on. :dunno: It seems to have adhered to the truck alright. :redX: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 That is some interestingstuff Pete, but didn't that have any Red...?? :???: . I just don't recognize you any more :hmm: . Looks good though and should be some tough stuff :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akula69 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 This one says in bold letters that it is never to see the frigid cold. As to separation, it's already separated. Comes that way. There's a blob of colored material at the bottom of the can of gooey snot. But I've been warned that it has a limited self life. But I don't know what happens to it after it goes bad. Maybe that's why I had so much trouble spraying it on. :dunno: It seems to have adhered to the truck alright. :redX: I imagine it's got to have some shelf life, as the manfuacturer probably does not make the stuff to order. I wonder how they store it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Came out lookin' good Pete. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 That is some interesting stuff Pete, but didn't that have any Red...?? :???: . I just don't recognize you any more :hmm: . L You have no idea. Around my family and friends I usually refer to my trucks by color. (makes it easy on the less informed) I'm so screwed. :shake: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 I imagine it's got to have some shelf life, as the manufacturer probably does not make the stuff to order. I wonder how they store it? It does have some shelf life. But I got the stuff at the end of last winter. :( And storage seems pretty straight forward simple. "Keep at room temperature". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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