DrComanches Project "Frankenstein"

[drcomanche]

So I've been working on getting the other side of the rail cap off(passenger side), but mostly just for posterity sake, since it had WAY less floor water damage than the drivers side. The floor itself wasn't that bad, but there were some pretty clear rusted out sections, so a little bit of repair ahead.

The top where it meets. There seems to be a small gap under the brace that allows water to sit. There were rusted holes on both sides of the truck.

 

I also managed to get my skid plate off finally.

And cleaned it up a bit

 

I posted up a topic to see if the rail braces were necessary to put back on, as they are just places for water to sit and cause rust again. I think I'll leave them off for the final build up. I did, however, hit a pretty big snag. 

 

I warn, what you're about to see is painful for us Comanche lovers... Here's a hint

8 to 10 pounds of rust. This is your last chance to stop here...

 

 

So, I always thought that the drivers side was the worse side because of the floor rust, but I was painfully made aware that was not the case. The floor was better off, the rails were far far worse... It's really bad in there, to the point where it's all the way through the top overlap of the frame metal and most of the way through the bottom. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I have a lot to consider on possible options to fixing it.

There is also a bit up next to the frame splice as well. The metal itself is pretty severely compromised. To the point that it was bent on the bottom of the frame underneath. One good hit would go right through the rail in these spots. The only good thing I can see is that it's pretty much concentrated to the really bad visible spots. Everywhere else on there is fairly solid. I was planning on beefing up the frame anyway, so I guess that's my next step.

 

[drcomanche]

Been a lot of thought going into what to do next, and I've decided that since it's only small portions of the frame and not it's entirety, I'm going to sleeve out the forward section and plate the rest(which I was intending on doing anyway, the timeframe has just been moved up).

 

To start with, I'm removing all the leftover bits of the control arm mount from the frame to get a smooth surface and to get whatever rust may be hiding out. My goal is absolutely no more rust anywhere for the rest of the life of this truck. I'm tired of dealing with new surprises. I finished cutting out the floor to be prepped for new welding and sanded my rails bare with a flap disc. I also broke the old, rusty, and broken nuts out of the framerail(they were definitely replaced at some time because the welds holding them in weren't holding anything). One good whack with a hammer took care of those. I have to find a way to clean out under the braces inside the frame. I know there's still rust hiding under there. I have some questions about the structural pieces on the frame that I'll post over in the tech section. In any case, if this truck wasn't already slated for hardcore tech, it probably will be soon. In plating the frame I will also be mending the seem in the rails where it was just stuck together with spot welds to help build structure.

 

I will also be ditching the torque boxes, as I will be using the rock rail frame attachments for that extra support. I had to remove some of the work that I had payed for, but in this instance, I think simpler is better. Originally, the guys welded quarter inch plate over them, but they were still inaccessible and inconvenient. The less places water can get, and the less complicated it is to reach, the better and easier it will be to maintain. I will be adding three support rails to it that will reach close to flush on the frame and the rails. After everything is attached, I will add L brackets to the rails and will have a bolt on boatside plate. On the inside, I'm not going to spot weld back in the frame brace. It's just asking for more rust and it's simpler to deal without. Any structural weakness should be taken care of by the rock rails, rail braces, and the frame sleeve/plating. I'll make something up for the seat brackets to get them to fit back in. Since I had the trans dropped, I also decided to convert my e brake to the console style. 

 

Removing the lot of these pieces also allows me to clean and repaint them. I repainted my skid plate in green, but started with 2 coats of por 15 since that stuff is tough as nails. It's not perfect looking because of the pitted metal from surface rust, but again, this truck isn't meant to be perfect. I also repainted all the brackets and plates that are for the plate as well. I'm considering welding the outside frame plates onto the rails. I still need to paint the driveshaft and replace all the u joints in it(since they're squeaking quite a bit and who knows how old they are). 

 

I have plenty of touch up welding to do around the truck on bits and pieces that weren't sealed all the way. I'll have to remove the bed again to do so.

 

And now, the pics

The braces I was talking about. Really hard to get under there. Also, the bolts removed.

Right around where the sleeve is going. That's also the seem I'll be welding.

The Torque boxes removed

The ebrake cut in. 

Some of the old control arm metal.

The skid plate and the extra bits

On a side note, if anyone is ever looking for rust or trying to clean the cab, take a moment to cut the filler putty out of the back corners. I had rust hiding under there with no way to tell it was there at all. It all looked sealed up. One side was even rusted through.

 

So the next step now is to get metal from the supply around here, and start making pieces.

[drcomanche]

Been a while since I've posted because I couldn't find a cable that let me drop my photos on the computer. So to begin, I cut out the finger sections of the frame rail joints. After removing the old, rusted, seized nuts from the skid plate/crossmember, I welded in a new set on each side. After a lot of thought on what to do and counting out costs, I decided to go with T&Ms frame stiffener kit for the Comanche. In the overall scheme of things, they were precut with all the reliefs and bent accordingly, which would have been difficult, costly, and time consuming if I had done it myself. I read mixed reviews on them, especially about the fit, but took the chance anyway. During this time, I also managed to grind out the interior of the frame rails really well, and ended up with some severely weakened edges. I dove right in and started cutting the frame rail in sections to clear out the old rot. It was difficult because, as I've said in a post a while ago, the frame has already been spliced and the fish plates overlap the rust(bit of an oversight by the guys who did the repair, since it would have seemed to be an obvious problem, but who knows). Eventually, since I'm not putting the rail caps back in on the floor, I scalped the metal from that(same thickness). Welded it in and then ground the inside real good and hit it with a coat of POR15(I still needed to weld the stiffeners on, but it had been getting water in so I did it as a temporary stopgap). Eventually, I made it to installing the stiffeners and, oh boy, that fit was not good. There were overhangs and misalignments(granted, only with the center section. The rest seem like they'll be way easier) everywhere. I had to hack it up pretty good to get a fit, and hack some more to fit around the existing fish plates. In the end, anything that was an overhang, I cut a shallow ridge across where it should end and hammered it up to get a bit more metal coverage. They turned out alright after some extreme work, with the exception of some odd bends and spots where it had to be "persuaded" to fit. There's also some divots where the weld squares were(very slightly) as, even with a good weld in them, they didn't look good at all, so I did a full fill. I finally finished up the process and am now moving onto putting in the rock rail supports. They will require extra cutting on the bod to get to the rails themselves, since they don't extend all the way to the interior, unfortunately. I'll have 4 supports from the rails to the frame when all is said and done. I have some 3/16 square tube to do the job. Now that I've welded, I have to go in and grind the rails again in the spots where the paint burned off, but all in all, not too bad to do. Then I can start rebuilding the floor sections. I'm going to end up paneling some of the floor but leaving a roughly 30 inch segment of the top of the rails open for later cleaning and access, and just having a 3/16 plate bolted to the top of it. 

 

 In the mean time, I finished out fixing my tail gate. I don't have a press break but I did want the folded edge on the bottom, so I ended up doing it make shift style. I took a wooden dowel and gradually rolled the edge out after clamping it on a 90. It took a while, but eventually, I got it to work pretty well. I then took to welding it on, which, in retrospect, I probably should have done slower, since the metal warped a little bit(although that may have been unavoidable). After that, I started stripping the paint off so I can do the bondo, primer, and paint coats. Ended up with some nice glamour shots of the tailgate in there too. After setting that aside, I went to fixing my seat bracket base. Originally, one of the mounting points had rusted off and was bent. I bent it back, trimmed it out, and with a bit of welding  and some flap disc grinding, got a good piece, if I do say so myself. To avoid weakness, I folded the last tiny bit of it for structure. After welding it in, I drilled a hole through and worked it out with some carbide burrs till it matched the other seat.  

 

I also pulled out my tail lights and turn signals for another idea. I've always been fond of the 2 color scheme I've been working with(Army green and black) so I decided to tint the lenses. This turned out alright. They tinted nicely but getting a good finish was another story, especially since the tail lights have so many angles and ridges to sand. I'll probably end up doing another coat on them when I finish sanding them. The signals turned out very nice, but I may go darker. The plan is to switch all the lights to led. Eventually, I'll also be replacing the headlights with a nice set of leds that has a black out backing. 

 

I purchased new spring isolators, since the old are dry rotted and failing, to install when I go to put on the front stiffeners. 

 

The old brace removed to be replaced with steel tube

The tail lights all clean

One section of frame being repaired

All the frame stiffeners

The lights all tinted

The signals put in for reference. Probably going to go a bit darker though.

The bottom edge of the seat repair

Frame rail all cured(before welding)

The folded edge of the metal for the tailgate

All lined up

Welding

Stripper doing its thing. It looks worse than it is. 

A nice shot of the tailgate after some sanding

The seat problem

The solution

All done

Welding started

Almost done(note, I only just learned welding about half a year ago, so it isn't perfect, but I can guarantee the weld penetration). Just a few touch up bits of pitted metal. The biggest issues I had while welding were: 1. The welder was dying so it cause it to sputter out sometimes and not lay a bead at all. 2. The frame has weak points that were incredibly susceptible to blow through. 3. The overall fit left some things to be desired, but in general, not bad.

 

At this point, the stiffeners for the cab section are on and welded. Now I'm sizing up the tube to frame from the rockers and getting some of the floor pieces cut out and ready to in. Soon, after the frame is painted, I'll bolt the plate back on too. 

 

[neohic]

Tip of the cap for continuing on. There’s all too many owners that would’ve walked away by now. 

[jubalb]

Is there anyway you would know the size of the retaining nut the neutral safety switch?  PS awesome job on the truck.

[Pete M]

1 hour ago, neohic said:

Tip of the cap for continuing on. There’s all too many owners that would’ve walked away by now. 

 

damn straight!  I love this build!

[JMO413]

Amazing build love your commitment! 

[drcomanche]

2 hours ago, jubalb said:

Is there anyway you would know the size of the retaining nut the neutral safety switch?  PS awesome job on the truck.

Thanks. I don't believe I have one on the trans in this, seeing as it's a manual. You may want to pop it into the tech section and see what they say.

 

3 hours ago, neohic said:

Tip of the cap for continuing on. There’s all too many owners that would’ve walked away by now. 

It's been some hard times definitely. I'm just glad there wasn't a serious buyer back when I thought I couldn't do anything with it. If it had sold back then, I would've regretted it. 

 

4 minutes ago, JMO413 said:

Amazing build love your commitment! 

Thanks a lot. It's seen some ups and downs, but hopefully I'll actually get to drive it more next spring/summer(We all know I'm going to buy some crazy new thing to install, so the chances are slim)

 

And thanks Pete M. Glad some people like to watch the slow build progress bit by bit.

[drcomanche]

Finally got a good day out to work on the truck today, and while it doesn't seem like much was done, I do feel fairly accomplished. I started creating the guides and cutting out the braces for the rock rail today. I have some 3/16 square tube intended to tie the rails into the overall frame structure that I used. I sized it up using some cardboard guides for the two sides and the top to get as close as I could to the exact dimensions, then cut it out of the tube and did some light sanding for a snug fit. I only managed to do 2 today, but I have to say, it wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be, and I am starting to get really comfortable welding to the point that I'm not grinding or cutting to get a better look. Not bad for  6 months of weld experience, if I do say so myself. I still have one more on this side to get in, but it's in a tough spot, so it will present a bit more challenge than the other 2. After that, it will be held down with 4 welded mounting points and some heavy duty 1/4 plate up front. Should be a very solid setup and replacement for the torque boxes.

 

The tube all cut and ground up and placed, ready for welding.

In  my first weld I only went halfway down and had to do the top half. After that, I just started welding whole sides at a time, which resulted in a much better look.

The initial fit and weld. I always have trouble welding upside down, but it doesn't look too bad.

Here's where I start getting proud. A new welder, a few months of practice, and a decent understanding of the technique makes some alright weld. More practice will only make them better.

All burned in. Time for the forward brace.

 

I'm not too happy with having to hack up the floor and the inner rocker to do this, and it would have been way easier if it was done when the rails went in, but now I've got to do it, so here goes nothing.

All sized up and tucked in ready for the weld

Both welded in and ready to go.

The spot where the last one needs to go. It's a much smaller distance, but because it's only accessible from underneath, that means I'll have to do the top welds while cramped up under it with a welding helmet that prevents me from getting in close. We'll see how it goes.

 

[drcomanche]

Been a while since I posted on so I thought I'd drop the progress on here. The weather hasn't really been cooperating with me, so I didn't finish as much as I want, but it isn't too bad. Now, I just need to wait for warmer weather so I can bedline everything.

 

From where I left off before, I finished off all of the welding and supports for the rock rails as well as prepping and POR 15 on the insides. I decided to just go completely custom on this build since I think I've shored up the strength on the frame enough that I won't be sacrificing structural support. I had a lot of things I wanted to do, but was concerned over how it would affect everything and I spent so much time thinking over it and getting anxiety that eventually, I just decided screw it, I'm doing it my way, and that's a way that hasn't been done.

 

For starters, rather than try to patchwork the whole interior rocker that had to be cut apart for the supports, I took a piece of 16 gauge and welded an entire reinforcement plate over the entirety of it. This gave it a little more structural strength and was probably the only way to do it cleanly. In the future, I will cut out 2 holes with a holesaw bit so I can access/clean/paint as needed on the inside to keep all of the unnecessarily complex internals from going bad. I rewelded the floor back up, but had to do so in pieces(since it was easier to work around all the cuts I had to make, and it let me use some of my scrap metal) which also meant welding it to the top sections of the rail supports. Because I'm always concerned about the inside of my rails, I decided to go with my earlier thoughts and leave a 34" segment uncovered for future access to the inside. Instead, I welded on some grade 8 bolts through the frame rail edges going up into the cab and cut a 1/4" steel plate as an access panel to get bolted down overtop of it. I did away with the rail cap and kept my floor flat(ter). I've also sanded all of the lower cab up and will be spraying Raptor liner inside the entirety. I'll also carry the bedliner over the door sill to the outside rails of the truck, which will help offroad-proof it a bit better. I cut away my dilapidated firewall mat(the foam on the underside of most of it had turned to dust) in my foot well area. It always managed to get stuck on the pedal and everything in addition to looking bad, so out with it. I left a bit as insulation for the heater underneath it, but the rest will be replaced by some thermal rubberized mats I can stick to it(for whatever doesn't get covered by the liner). All that's left now is painting and bedlining for the interior. I will have to fab up a specialized riser to weld to the 1/4 plate for the seats.

 

I also removed the old transfer case linkage to swap it with a simpler Azzy direct link. It would have been a nightmare to put it back in anyway as it was, and I'm always for simpler is better(i.e. why I got rid of the rail cap and torque boxes for a sealed assembly). I took the time to replace my old trans mount too with an SFR heavy duty one. 

 

I have plenty more parts just sitting by the wayside, waiting for warmer weather, but next week, I'll be starting our heavy workload month(6 days a week, 12 hours a day) so it'll be a while before I post again. My plans for the future, after the frame and interior are situated is 1. convert to a fuel cell system in the bed allowing me to update all the fuel lines and get that squared away. 2. to rerun the exhaust since it's rusted and poorly placed. The plan is to replace everything from the down pipe(maybe the headers too) and incorporate a flex tube to stop the header cracking. The goal is to side pipe it out of a port in the bedside. 3. THOR intake. 4. the rest of the cosmetic upgrades(hood pins and vents, headlights, proper bedlining, repainting the small bits, etc.)

 

Frankenstein getting cold in the snow out here

A few extra looks at the inside. I had to sand it down again and redo some of the POR15 since the welds burned it off in some spots.

The floors in all their glory. I ended up having to bend the frame edge up to get a weld under it. Then I just beat it back down to flat.

How the rockers looked before.

All parts on. Still have to fix those little bottom edges there, but that'll be easy. I do still have to figure a solution for the back of the cab corners that I had to cut into in order to weld those last supports. It's too difficult to access, so I'll just wait until I take the bed off for the fuel system to do that.

After the repaint

Bolts in

The rockers after, with some panel bits in. It was 16 or 18 gauge for the floor pan pieces, I can't remember, but after all the prep and prime work, it's solid.

Some of the floor work and a finished product after sealing and priming. The seam sealer is a really solid compound, so it'll be sanded a bit smoother before the final. I also need to cut a drain hole up front on both sides.

The plate itself.

Took out all the plates and bits for the bedlining. Going to refurbish the linkage mechanism.

Old vs. New trans mount

More parts that aren't on my part shelf(because it's full)

Sanding and matting removed. I'm not finished sanding yet, so it's still very dirty. My blower motor in this thing is going to throwing dust for months after all this work.

[Pete M]

wow, you've been busy!    looks good!

[JMO413]

I like the bolt down rail covers. Easy access later. I may do that when I redo my floor. I think my inner rockers are definitely going to look like yours also. I patched them on my XJ and won't do that again. Total replacement with stronger metal just seems appropriate.

[drcomanche]

On 2/9/2019 at 8:18 PM, Pete M said:

wow, you've been busy!    looks good!

Thanks, been trying to bring it back for the Spring season, and here I am again with my nose to the grindstone.

 

On 2/9/2019 at 9:25 PM, JMO413 said:

I like the bolt down rail covers. Easy access later. I may do that when I redo my floor. I think my inner rockers are definitely going to look like yours also. I patched them on my XJ and won't do that again. Total replacement with stronger metal just seems appropriate.

I figured since I'm already reinforcing the frame, might as well go all out and make the inside accessible. That's one of the worst spots and if I can make it so I can consistently care for it, I will. As for the inner rockers, for me it was just the easier option than patching. I actually like the look and added bulk too, though, so it worked out.

 

Anyways, here is my big update now that the outage is over and I have time to work on it again. During the outage, I've had a slew of parts arrive for me which include: fuel cell, external fuel pump, fuel lines, hood pins, hood vents, more army green paint, raptor liner, an upgraded t case linkage, brake lines, a new D44 cover gasket, various body plugs, LED headlights, sound mat, a front to back 92 wiring harness, a couple of truck covers, a pillar grab handles(at least that's what they're going to be), a master clutch cylinder, and a new downpipe (to start making my side exhaust). There's probably a few things I forgot, but I'll get to them as I work with them. 

 

I started by disconnecting my gas peddle to remove it and unbolting my clutch master. Since I haven't bench bled the new one yet, so I didn't fully disconnect it. I also managed to get the interior all seam sealed and sanded down, then hit it with a coat of primer. I'll do one more sanding and then prep it up for bedliner, but I'll need a good couple day stretch of nice weather for that. I also started to finish up the underside of the cab, which was it's own complex nightmare of small spaces, weld seams, old rust, and poor positioning. This has bee one of the bigger projects on my plate, since wrapping my head around the project at large, was difficult. There are so many spots where rust could lurk and so many things in the way of getting a good proper prep and paint. Little by little, though, I am tackling it. In the future, in the off chance that I ever have to work on the floors again, I will probably just go with the pre made floor pans to simplify the assembly and finish. For the underside of the cab, I haven't decided if I want to bedline it or not, since I probably won't be able to do all of it. I really want to get the trans tunnel, but the clearance just isn't going to make it possible. 

 

I pulled the bed back off again to access my rock rail edges for bedlining and to stiffen the rear frame. This will, hopefully, be the last time I ever have to drop that gas tank, and I will gain a decent amount of space under the bed in its place. The rock rails are sanded and primed awaiting the aforementioned few nice days(not a common thing here in this season). After pulling the bed, I noticed the back of the cab at the edge seems had a tiny bit of bubbling, so I wire wheeled them out. I'm not sure how moisture made its way in there, but I suppose I'll just have to do a better job this time. 

 

I managed to get lucky with the brake lines for my console emergency brake. I found a few on summit that were on sale for 10 a piece and figured why not give it a try. I hadn't ordered any yet because finding the proper size of the sheath and cable plus the type of ends was practically impossible unless I knew the measurements for a specific car model. I waded through so many listings trying to find the right size, but never did. I bought these on a whim because they looked about right and the measurements were roughly there. I received them and, amazingly, they actually fit with a little modification. I did have to cut the boxed end(not sure what kind of ebrake design it was for, but it didn't fit the gm large), and remove the spring, so it was just a little cylindrical end to fit in the bracket on my calipers that used the already supplied springs. The cables seem strong, so I have high hopes that this will finally solve my issues. 

 

With the nice weather this passed weekend, I also did the bondo work on the tailgate and cab corners. I'm not really going for perfection since it will all be bedlined in the end, but I do want some decently smooth lines. The tailgate got sanded and primed on the bottom today, just to see where the bumps and pits were. Overall, it isn't bad enough to need another run of bondo, which is nice. With that, the rest of the tailgate is ready to prep for paint.

 

Today also allowed me to do some fab work for my trail doors, as I want those for Spring and Summer, too. I finally cut the holes for the half door handles and fit them up with a bit of adjustment. Originally, I wanted to weld a little piece of metal on the end to act as a holder to keep it in the door. When I went to weld, it stuck but didn't feel right. Turns out it was aluminum. Didn't feel light enough to be that, but so be it. I didn't do anything more than superficial damage to it, so I devised another bracket to go behind the handle and screw through the center to hold it in. After getting that to work, I started measuring and fabricating some pull rods to go to the latch. It took some trial and error before I got one that worked perfectly. While I was at it, I also cut all the new hinges to make them removable. Now all that's left is to test fit them, paint them, and adjust the upholstery on the door panels inside. I do have some ideas for a step plate and arm rest cushion, but that will come later. 

 

A pile of goodies(some not shown)

Getting ready to work

Bed removed, some priming done. I'll have to modify the stiffener a bit before tacking it on.

The dismantled t case shifter and trans plates I sanded down for paint. I eventually got a few coats on them as well as some on the hood vents.

Sizing up some stiffeners

Sanded some ready for a full prime

Full prime. I'll be taking the bedliner up to where the primer is all around the cab

More primed. Also sanded the patch panels for bondo.

Bondo

More Bondo

Some seam sealed underside. It didn't react well with the primer even though it said to use it, so I may have to sand it out a little and do some again.

Front drivers side of the cab. Just illustrates the difficulty I'm having pulling it all together.

Tailgate all sanded down.

And primed. By the way, this primer is terrible. I do not recommend it.

The "modified" brake cable. 

The bracket prototype with the screw hole drilled. Simple but effective.

In the door

The custom latch rods, the top one ended up being the winner. It is a bit more flexible, but also has the tiniest bit more range of movement that allowed fully engaged and disengaged function. 

And lastly, all the pieces

 

[drcomanche]

And back with another update. I will be doing this very often for the next few months as I push to get the truck ready for show and trail season. 

 

This is a smaller update to cover the daily progress I've managed. Today, my goals were twofold. I wanted to finish the welding under the cab so that I could finally finish sealing it up and painting. As I said before, it's one of the more difficult bits. But today, I finally managed to pull myself into doing it. The main problem was that I needed to weld some new  bridge pieces where I cut out for the rock rails so there weren't gaping holes in my rockers. The fit was difficult, to say the least, and I put it off because I knew it would be a job without a lot of progress to show. But finally, it is done. No more welding under the cab(for now). All that's left is to seam seal and paint it up. 

 

In addition, I also managed to test fit one of the trail doors, and I'm really excited for when those will be done. It fits up well, I just need to get hinges that work for me. I have a handful that I was cutting and dismantling to put on the doors, but some were simply impossible to work the pin loose. Otherwise, all that remains is to cut the hole for the other door to have a handle and then its finish work. I'll have to sand and prime the doors as well as spray the inside, just to be sure it doesn't rust. Then it goes to paint with the tailgate and hood vents. After that, I'll work the door panels I have and cut them to fit and look like a stock addition.

 

With all that out of the way, I'll probably start prepping the frame rear for stiffeners.

 

Did a full prime of the tailgate too. There's a lot of high and low spots from the old paint I'll have to sand out.

The finished bits, ready for seam seal and paint.

Took out the headlights and started pulling the fenders off. I'll be custom making a 3/16 plate to stabilize the hinges soon, so it all comes off. I'll also be replacing the headlights.

And finally, the trail door in position for a final check

[neohic]

[drcomanche]

I managed to get a little bit more done and the truck is fighting me every step of the way. I have a good three page list going that I'm trying to finish in 2 months so I can take the truck out to a big offroad show around here, so I'm really pushing to get things done. 

 

I removed the fenders and fabbed up some brace plates for the hinges and got those welded on. The welds to the hinges themselves were perfect, but the welds to the metal just didn't want to cooperate. Whether it was blowing through, not welding to it, or just spitting air out from behind the plate through the molten metal, it really didn't want those plates to go on. But persistence won out in the end and they are all on and primed. I also wire wheeled the drivers side rear rail and started welding that on. And that, too, is also fighting me. Some welds are fine but any welds around the support ridge in the side just won't stick. I fiddle with the numbers on the welder and then I'm melting it through. One way or another, it will get finished, though. I had to trim the stiffeners quite a bit for something that was supposed to be created for the truck. I also had to do some trimming for the fish plate and rock rail support. Eventually I'll get to sanding and painting it up with POR 15, but I'll have to regrind the inside of the rails since most of the paint will be burned off from the welds. 

 

The rocker panels now have 1.5" holes I cut for access to paint and check up on it, and I added drain holes in the floor. I pulled a plastic plug out from under my dash area for prep and noticed it said CAPLUGS on it, so I looked them up in the hope of finding some more in different sizes, and I did, so I bought a ton for all the little holes all around. The inside is all taped up for the liner, but I'm still waiting for a day to do it(it's pretty rainy here). I finished out the cuts on the other door and fabbed the support plate for the handle, so now it's on to customizing the door panels. I finished up all the sealing under the cab, so it is also ready for paint and while I was at it, I scraped the oil dirt from the underside of the trans tunnel so I can get that painted up too. 

 

The cuts to piece it around my supports

Fenders off

The hinge plates. I will also have to customize some hinge pins, since I can't find any anywhere, but I made sure it was grade 5 hardware

Holes cut

Taped up

Welding in progress

And the other side all ground off. I am a little sad I was grinding off a perfectly good POR 15 job, but it's all for the better.

And all scraped off and ground as far up as I could get it. I removed the fuel lines and the exhaust for some added room. The exhaust was a pita and I'm honestly surprised I didn't strip the bolts.

And handle in.

And another little gift I got for myself. It is't mounted up yet since once I get to the front, the bumper is coming off to be bedlined.

Started sanding. (I had a lot of downtime between weld periods)

[drcomanche]

Ok, progress seems slow right now if only because I'm spending a good 8 to 12 hours welding these stiffeners. Now, for anyone who is considering frame stiffeners, I have a few pointers... Don't. Just don't. Sure, it makes the frame more sturdy, but they didn't fit hardly at all. Tons of time in trimming and grinding to get all the edges right and holes accounted for. Then the welding... Oh god, the welding. The frame is a fickle mistress, and sometimes the weld will be great, but for seemingly no reason, it will not hold, or won't adhere, or sometimes, just blow holes in the welds. I thought that these rear ones couldn't possibly be more difficult than the cab ones, and while they did, indeed, take less trimming, they are still a nightmare.

 

So that said, I have just about finished one side of the rear. It's all welded up, it just needs some touch up weld to get the kinks smoothed out. Unfortunately, the ridge section just didn't cooperate, so it definitely doesn't look its best. I'll have to take some time trimming it up to make it look better. I'm almost done with the passenger side as well, which went much easier(to some degree). I will still have to grind and touch it up. 

 

I also finished up the bottom of the cab. All the seams are sealed and it's ready for paint, which will be POR15. I also finished up the door panels for the interior. All I have to do is drill the holes for the panel tabs on the metal. I have finished sanding and priming the outside bits of one door. And I started grinding out the tailgate, since the old paint just couldn't be smoothed over.

 

I finished out putting the vibration mat in the cab as well. I may add more in a couple places though.

 

The rail getting welded. And the almost finish on the other side. 

The sound and heat mat

Door panel before sticking it together

The panels being stuck together.

And a little shot of the bolt strips I'll be welding on to each side for the bolt on boatside plates.

 

Again, there has been a lot more work than it seems, but once I finish the welding, it should wrap up faster.

 

[drcomanche]

I'm going to try to keep it relatively quick for the update here. As usual, work is commencing pretty steadily and I think I'll be ontime for my deadline. 

 

I finished welding all of the stiffeners on. I did a quick spray to protect it until I make it to paint(which is the very next thing on my agenda) but I still have to do a bit of grinding around the structural ridges to make it look at least decent. Then a bit of wire wheel to scrape off the burned up POR and then paint. I'll also be redoing the interior of it too, since the old coating is undoubtedly burned.

 

I finished welding on the bolt strips for the boat side plates which officially wraps up all the metal work on the truck body and frame(for the next few seasons). Once I had them all sized up, I welded on the nuts. I'll probably be recessing the bolts into the plate a little to protect them.

 

I started and finished construction of my fuel cell holder. I decided to just fabricate it myself rather than getting a friend with a cnc machine to do it. The fuel cell I have is a relatively new product, so there aren't any premade ones out there either. I used 16 gauge for the attaching bits and 1/8 for the L braces and bolt tabs. 

 

I broke down all my hinges to prep them up for welding the new posts and paint. 

 

I tried painting my tailgate a while ago and ended up with a very poor product(fisheyes everywhere) so I ended up sanding and repriming it again to prep for paint. I did the finish sand on it, the hood vents, and the two trail doors as well as shaping up the repair in the drivers side door latch. It was a decent day today and I managed to get a good solid paint coat on the tailgate, the vents, one of the doors(the other had a significant scratch in the primer coat that needed to be dealt with) and the striker area. All of them are finished painting with the exception of the bedliner on the bottoms. I still have to do the back of all of them, but that is a far easier task. 

 

More to come soon.

All done and rough painted

Boat side strips all welded in

The fuel cell holder build

Made it this far and then had to sand it back down a bit

All prepped for paint

Paint. I also did the striker area, but didn't get a pic.

[drcomanche]

So now both doors have solid paint coats on them. I still need to touch on the back sections, but that will have to wait for a bit. I painted the back of the one door I finished the front of but, despite having sat for about 4 days with the front coat, still wasn't completely dry and the fabric I set it on to prevent scratching ended up leaving imprints all over it. I had to sand it back down again and had a few more tries at painting it before I finally got a good product. I did finish the primer coat on the other and did the paint on that one too. Now all the doors, tailgate, vents, and door latch are finished with full coats. 

 

I finished up the latch rod for the other trail door and then went on to fabbing up the door hinges. I couldn't find any aftermarket door pins, so I grabbed some grade 5 bolts from the hardware store that had a long smooth edge. I tacked them on and cut them accordingly for what was needed and then rounded out the ends. Then I sanded and painted them with the rustoleum bedliner. While I was at it, I also eventually painted up the headlight surrounds and the hinge plates. I put a coat of POR15 on the tailgate holder brackets and I just need to finish them up. 

 

I got underneath of it, finally, and did a solid coat of POR on the cab underside and the frame a few days later. I still need to do a second coat, but before that, I'm going to use the tie coat primer to even out some patches, then hit it with 2 more coats of POR, then the topcoat. 

 

In the meantime, I installed my new clutch master cylinder and bled it out. I also did most of the install on the Bleepinjeep push button hood pins. I put them relatively close to the stock bolt location because it lined up well on the top for appearance. Originally, I intended to simply cut off the excess bits of the old latch system with the built in springs and use what was left of the bracket as a way to provide spring tension to the hood. I sanded off the metal clip edged on the top for a smooth hit and I will install hood bumpers to contact them. It wasn't until I went to place them that I noticed the brackets were slightly off center and that they used the same part in its entirety rather than create one for the opposite side. So now I'm probably going to create a square plate for it to sit on and fasten the spring portion to that. 

 

I finally finished out the prep on the interior and did 3 sprayed coats of Raptor liner. I did a couple of coats of acid etch for the exposed metal and one coat of adhesion promoter, just in case. The product turned out looking really good, but I'll have to wait for a few days to really see. My 20 gallon air compressor was way more than enough to complete the job with ease. Seeing the finished product makes me kind of want to spray it on the frame. It just has a nice look to it. I started prepping out the bed while I was waiting for the flash time on it and I think I'm going to cut out my wheel wells and create boltable angular metal wells to go in their place. The ones there are very bent up with a decent bit of rust and holes through them and I don't want to have to redo my bedlining later. 

 

After dealing a bit with the hood pins, I decided it was time to take off the front bumper and start prepping that for bedlining too. So now I need to bedline the front bumper, rock rails and door sills, bed, rollbar(maybe), the floor plates for the interior, and then the lower quarters of all the body metal. 

 

I also started researching and planning the circuitry for my offroad lights and other electronics. It took a bit to draw out a diagram, but I'm pretty sure I will need to put in another fuse box with relay space. 

 

A couple small things I did were cut the corners of my leaf spring plates(they were denting my new shocks) and used seam sealer on the back of the cab. I've also decided to go full PTFE fuel line, so I have some more parts coming. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find the plastic brackets that fit everything, so I finally decided to just build brackets. I bought some small and large steel tube that I will cut in half and tack together to hold all the lines on the frame. The fuel cell holder didn't fit up quite right so I had to dismantle it a bit to get some space in it, so I have time to plan. 

 

I also, while looking for a solution to my differential breather issues, found a cool kit from ARB that connects all the breathers into one location, so I bought it. I'll be hooking that up, too. 

Doors relatively done

Hinges all done and some other parts. I'll probably take the hinges off of the current doors at some point and replace the pins.

Clutch in and the hood pin install so far. You can see where I want to place the springs.

Frame all sanded and painted

Underside of cab all set.

While I was under there, I cut some of the old LCA plate off.

Acid etch

Getting ready

First coat

Final coats

how to keep your wires out of the way 101

Bumper prep

Clipped plate

Sealed cab

Bed getting ready

Pipe for the brackets

My corroded radiator.(It's on a list)

 

 

[drcomanche]

Big post coming up, so prepare for a read.

 

I see that I've been upgraded to the Epic Tech forum, which is awesome. I'm not really sure this build is deserving of it(no motor swaps, truggy builds, or crew cabs here), but glad to be a part of it.

 

To start with, the idea of using the old brackets from the hood springs didn't work out. They weren't stable enough to stay straight, so I ended up having to fabricate a solution to the issue. I uses some leftover angle iron I had and made a 3 sided piece with a slot at the top and a welded screw on the forward side. The other flat would tuck against the inner fender to keep it from rotating. I wanted to build it so I didn't have to remove the tension pin in the bottom every time, so instead of having a sealed slot, I cut it to one side and added in catches for the spring to keep everything in place. That, aside from some adjusting, finished the hood pins. 

 

I had to cut the fuel cell holder back apart to figure out why it wasn't fitting and adjust the measurements. This made the end product look slightly less professional, but it's hard to even tell. Turns out the fuel cell isn't square, so it threw everything out of wack. I gave it plenty of room to move this time while still being relatively tight, painted it up, finished the top plates off, and bolted it all together. All finished. I sized it up in the bed and drilled my mounting holes while I was at it.

 

I finally cut into my hood to place the vents. I put them further back than they would generally be, which had the bolts going through the back support of the hood. Nothing a few longer ones from the hardware store couldn't fix. I made the holes a little larger than they should be so I can do fine adjustments(it always bothered me to see vents that were slightly off from each other). Another easy job done.

 

Then it was time to tackle some of the harder stuff. I painted my frame and floors up with a POR 15 tie coat primer to aid in adhesion of the next coat which was a chore(every painting session with the frame and cab is). I used it to fill in some of the imperfections as well, which were enough to peak my OCD. Now, I eventually prepped up to do the rock rails with bedliner and had seen someones post on here showing a frame they bedlined. This got my mind jogging about if I should do the frame as well or not. I hadn't planned for that amount of bedliner, so I had to order more. After some research and an extended amount of sanding the tie coat, I decided to do a coat of POR15 and let it tack up for an hour and then do the bedliner on everything. And it turned out awesome. The bonus is, it covers imperfections better than the tie coat, and it acts as sound and heat insulation on the floor. Win win.

 

I then moved on to the next set of bedlining which was the front bumper, the cab rail plates, and all the lower quarters(except for the bed, which is going to be it's own step). I spent hours sanding every little corner of the bumper. Since it hadn't been properly done before, there was a good amount of rust in all the corners and edges. Eventually, I did manage to finish it, but it was tedious. I took all the parts, laid them out on a tarp and taped them up, then sanded the finish. It ended up being too hot to shoot immediately, so I waited it out till it was in shade and hit it. The turnout was great. Raptor Liner seems to be a really good product so far.

 

I had finished sizing up the seat brackets for the rail plates. I ended up getting  a loose measurement of height to start and then cut the steel from there. Then I welded bolts into them and bolted them to the seats and laid it back on the plate to tack it in. I used some leftover 3/16 square tube and cut them essentially in half then did a two pass weld to the plates for rigidity. At this point, I think the stock bolts will break before these do. After the bedliner was dry, I put a rubber seal on the bottom of them to keep water in the cab out of the rails and bolted them into their new home. I've got to say, I think it looks pretty cool with that setup.

 

I really wanted to paint the edges of the tailgate so I started working on the bolts for the latches. And what a PITA they were. Every one was stuck solid and they just stripped out. I ended up cutting one down into a hex standard, but even that was hard to remove. A lot of time and some very choice words later, I decided to roll out the big guns and welded a nut on top of the remaining bolt. I had no intention of reusing them anyway. Outside of that, I still had some rust in the bottom so I ended up drilling out  1 1/4 inch holes on each side of the gate edges. This way, I have clean access and can just plug them later. Now I can clean inside of the gate easily. 

 

Now, the real problem child came up. The bed was rough to start with and an incomplete job dealing with it last winter meant I had a lot to look forward to. There was still plenty of rust under the support rails on the bottom, in the edges at the back, and all up and down the inside around the wheel well. The wheel well seems were very poor all the way around which led me to my decision. I cut the wheel wells out. I did it as clean as possible and planned to make some new one that just bolt on(since I'll be changing up suspension back there eventually) while leaving some lower portions to weld to the outer shell for support. It got rid of a lot of bad parts but added a ton of time and effort. After that I began working on the bottom of the bed. I'd say about half of the contact points between the bed support rails and the bed itself were a quarter inch larger from the rust in between. I broke it down as best as I could and did POR15 on the rest to, hopefully, convert what was left. I used Eastwood frame coat on the inside of the support rails. There are still concern spots, but I'll just have to deal the best I can. I really want this bed to last with all the effort and money in it. Since the inside of the bed edges were so narrow, I had to hand sand the entirety of the inner shroud parts. It took a while but really shook off and cleaned up a ton of rust. Then I hit what I could reach with POR and the rest got eastwood. I began making my new wheel wells and at current, have one of them pieced together. It isn't fully welded yet, and I don't have a picture on here, but I think it looks cool. A lot of sizing and adjusting for the curve in the bed edges. I also have to customize the tops a bit to fit the roll bar foot, with meant cutting 3/4 of a square and angling it. Later on, I'll fill the empty space with metal.

 

While I was doing the Eastwood coats, I went to the interior of my frame rails. I had done this last year, but I already knew the coat didn't hold up plus the welding of the stiffeners had burned off some as well. This time, I made another, heavier, tool to get in there and really break it up. I used the cable from before but bolted 10 links of a chain on this time. Attached it to the drill, and let her rip in there. It knocked a ton out. Many rounds of vacuuming, air blasting, and washing later, and it finally got the Eastwood coat.

 

At this point in time, I'm actually getting closer to the end of my list so it was time to start reassembling things. I put the fenders and front end back together with the addition of led corners, bottoms, and headlights. I replaced all the fender bolts with flanged hex heads to make it easier on myself. I need to buy new fog lights and I'll probably bedline the grill and light shrouds, but that'll be another day. I also put most of my interior back together too. I still need to install my boostwerks t case shifter upgrade, so I can't put the console or seats in yet. For a while, I've had this idea in my head for a pillar handle to get in and out of the truck, and decided I was going to customize a way to work it in. I purchased some smittybilt ones a while ago. I ended up shaving out a slot 1 inch below the screw hole in the a pillar trim(I'm a sucker for perfection, so I wanted to make it look stock).  I used that to slide to hole in the handle strap to where the mounting screw would go. Then I screwed the trim in with a heavier duty screw for a sturdy hold. The other end of the handles is bolted through the drop support for my shelfit. I put the bolt hole as close to one of the mounting holes as possible to prevent the bracket from bending and warping. Then I put 3 heavy duty screws in that one too. The result is a nice, clean, natural look and a sturdy as hell handle.

 

Lastly, I finished the hardware on the trail doors and mounted them up. I like it.

 

The brackets. You can see the little spring retainer on the main piece

And they work

Good to go

Mounted it in to size it up again

 a few extra welds and parts

Bolted up and finished

Scary step. Didn't want to mess it up

Painting the edges to prevent rust

Tada

The Tie coat. This stuff went on really thick

Prepped for bedlining

first coat

Third coat finish

Various parts, ready for bedlining

Done

I put the doors and fenders on while they dried. I'm lacking space for all this in the garage

bought some grommets from the store. They fit perfect and go right around the bolt. Should help prevent chipping and rubbing

Floor plates all done

Tailgate hell

More rust just from turning it sideways

POR coat

Goodbye rusty wheel wells

Also removed the fuel tank bracket that were harboring rust

The beginning

I talked about my diff breather thing from arb. Here it is with the tcase breather so far. It can mount up to 4

Getting close

All set.... Mostly

Grab handles

Trail doors

The starts of my fuel line work

 

[Pete M]

There's no firm line in the sand with Epic Tech.  Sure a v8 swap will go there, but its's also for the creative fab stuff.   

[drcomanche]

Another big update since I've been nonstop working on it. 

 

Ok, to start, I didn't have time or money to finish out the exhaust system, so for the time, I made a temp solution so it's able to be removed freely. This involved cutting it off at a point so I could weld a sleeve on one half and cut a notch in it to make a tensioning pipe. It worked perfectly. No exhaust gas appears to be leaking through, and it's nice and easy to remove later for a new exhaust.

 

Just when I think I'm done with the bed, I find more problems. So while prepping it up for bedlining, I found a bit of rust near the back of the tailgate and I took the wire wheel to it. It punched right through the bed. I then realized that where the rust was trapped between the two pieces of metal it was bulging up. And that just happened to be at every single spot. I made another quick solution by holesaw drilling a 1.5 inch hole between each of the ridges. This allowed me to pry apart the metal portions, scrape out the rust, and really get in there with a rust reformer. Then, I went to bedlining. Unfortunately, I underestimated how much I would need(in addition to forgetting about the tailgate and wheel wells) so it ended up with only two coat. They sure are tough coats though. I'll have to buy another kit of Raptor and hit the last parts. After that, I mounted it up on the frame. 

 

From here, I mounted the fuel cell first and then set to putting together the handbrake. I had all the parts and a relative idea of what I wanted but it still took some work to get it together. The e brake cable(a random 20 dollar buy that had no fitment specs for my vehicle) fit perfect with just enough room to move. I bought some springs to pull it back and give it rebound and used some rubber coated cable clips to mount them to the one of the bump stop bolts. The cables themselves came with a metal sleeve that I put inside the clips to allow it to slide in a controlled direction through it. So, in short, it won't ever contact the tires. The only obstacle I still had was to fab up a bracket to hold the cable sleeve from the interim cable(handbrake to the splitter). I started to make it and while letting it cool off from drilling, I was putting together interior stuff. In the process, I found a bracket that had previously held the vent tube for the rear diff. Lo and behold, it was exactly the bracket I needed. It seems someone used it for that and it never dawned on me that that's what it really was for. Saved me the trouble of finishing the fab. In the end, the e brake works... kind of. I've upped the tension about 5 times and am still having an issue with getting a good hold. However, the fact that it is together and functions almost as intended is pretty damned good. 

 

I finished up the wheel wells in a couple days, but upon fitting, I realized that the light bar was mounted at the very edge of the old, meaning it  needed to be mounted at a weird four measurement angle. So I started cutting up my fresh metal to make a spot for them. I did many rounds of measurements and rough ins and am pretty damn proud that it turned out so perfectly. I doubled the welds on all the parts of the wells, which gave it more strength and a better look, and then painted them quickly(2 days from deadline). I mounted them with 7 screws each and then the bed was mostly together. 

 

The fuel cell was always my biggest concern for the endgame of this seasons buildup. I, having not done fuel lines, was concerned from what I heard about PTFE tubing. I pretty much fully expected it to leak, especially on the sending line since I had 2 5/16 quick connects to hook up, but they only had outputs for 6an and my line was 8an. That meant I had to have the quick connect to a 6an to 8an step up to the 8an line in 2 different places. I also worried about the initial startup with the new external pump, as it says not to run it dry, but I had to pull some fuel into the line. I spent 15 minutes trying to start it with no turnover. I was worried about running the pump to death or killing my starter/battery. I disconnected it at the fuel pump and a bit of fuel poured out before it was even fully taken off. Good news for the pump. I workshopped it a bit longer before getting to the quick connects on the fuel rail and popping the return line off. Then I found my mistake. Accidentally mixed them up at some point. Blew fuel everywhere from the built up pressure, but hey, at least the line was pressure tested with no leaks. After that, it started right up fine. I had to create a spot for my vent line to connect to the canister(which, surprisingly, it never was). I put some rubber bushing between the cell holder and the bed, which were actually just extra large soft rubber furniture pads. I pulled the metal washer out and it worked great. Then some stickers for the finishing touches on the cell.

 

I finished putting the tailgate back together and installed it too. Then applied some decal stickers from Jeepsticker.com that he made for me. I finished mounting the bumpers, which was incredibly hard in the rear with the extra 1/4 inch of metal on each side. I mounted and wired in my winch and offroad lights after running completely new lines for it. 

 

I finished installing the skid plate(with the new trans mount which knocked out all of my shifter vibration) before all of this and had the hardest time installing the new straight connection tcase linkage. In the process, I managed to smash 2 of my fingers really good between the trans and driveshaft, enough so that they were purple and green all over up to the first joint. May have broken something, but it's mostly healed now. Connected all of the front end stuff and repainted my steering linkage and tie rod. Installed the newly rebuilt driveshaft.

 

I finished up the interior. Then came making the custom aluminium plates for the fuel gauge and the switches. The fuel gauge I had to get creative with for the wire out to the cell. I ended up just patching it in to the old fuel gauge wire and then running that out at the pump to the cell. I used the other 2 wire for a direct plug to the fuel pump. I did some troubleshooting with the jumble of crap wiring to find good power sources for everything. 

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I switched all of my lights out for led replacements. All of them work perfectly without the extra inline regulator, too. I originally switched over because I tinted my tails and turns so I wanted something brighter for safety.

 

Last but not least, I finished the trail door interior panels and washed the truck.

 

 

The exhaust cut with the repair an exhaust shop did a while ago(poorly) and the sleeve piece welded on.

The bed "mod" for the rust

All bedlined

On with the fuel cell mounted up.

testing the wheel wells

The start

The modification for the light bar

Looks good.

Cell vent line mounted back there

The underside with pipe foam to keep rubbing on the bolts and edges to a minimum. It doesn't look pretty, but it's solid. I mounted the fuel pump and filter here too.

My rubber shock mounts for the cell holder

Last minute stickers

All hooked up.

All grade 8 bolts 

Mounted and wired

The bracket I had just laying around

The fit before the metal sleeves were mounting up

Doors

Tailgate. The uneven lines bother me, but I'll have to fix them later.

Interior

Gauges

Painted up

 

Now I've been pushing really hard on this for the past 2 months. I've been working on it every day, blistering heat or rain, into the night, etc. all for a show in my area that I missed last year. The Budds Creek 4x4 Expo is a big event where they open up trails, have a show and shine, a car crush, rti ramps, raffles, vendors, and all kinds of stuff. I knew back in December I wanted to attend. This build has drug on and on for ages because I keep finding things wrong and don't want to just slap it together and call it a day. It took literal blood, sweat, and tears working to get this done. And a day before the show, it finally was. It fought me every step, too. I drove it all that day and then to the show as well with no issues. I showed up there and turned the truck off to fill out the necessary papers. Took about 15 minutes. Went to start it back up and nothing. No turnover on the starter. Get a jump start and get it into the grass where it belongs and it dies again. Seems like the alternator. An event staff person offers to take the battery and recharge it for my while I troubleshoot. I call a nearby Advanced to see if they have an alternator. They have one. Another Jeeper there helps me get the old out and gives me a ride to the store. Get a new one and install it. Finally starts perfectly. Finish the intro stuff and they open the trails. Decide to put it through the paces but when I start it and try to move, there's no pressure at the clutch pedal. I check the fluid and it looks fine. No leaks on the lines. I'm pretty much grasping at straws checking the entire system over. Then I find it. My clutch pedal chose this time of all times to crack at the sleeve over the bolt and the pedal is just flexing out on the clutch side. Noone at the show has a welder so I'm giving up hope for it and trying to plan a tow. Then another guy asks about it and I fill him in on the issue. He makes some calls and reaches a buddy 5 minutes away who has an old buzzbox. I wrenched the pedal off and we put some touches on it. Finally, a driving vehicle. I'm pretty down at this point and don't even want to take it anywhere for fear that it'll break again. Eventually, I decide to baby it on some easy trails. Get it moving in 4wd and get about 100 yard and hear a noise from the front that sounds like a dying dog. I turn around and go back to the field to try to replicate the sound. Couldn't make it happen. Did an inspection on the front and couldn't see anything wrong. All the front end parts have less than 40 miles on them. I debate for about an hour on what to do. Eventually, I decide to take it out anyway, since it only happens when it's in 4wd. Fun side note, on my way to the trails a guy runs full sprint to ask if he can ride with on it since he's a big fan of Comanches. It whines like a beat dog, but it flies through every obstacle. The noise is definitely something to do with the axle shafts since it whines in rotation with the wheels. I ran it through a couple of times, just enjoying myself and getting Frankenstein a little muddy for once. Then I enjoy the rest of the show looking at Jeeps and watching some monsters run over the cars. I swear I talked to every person there answer questions about the trail doors and the frame, the fuel cell, etc. And at the end of the day, Frankenstein won best in class. In the end, I had a good bit of fun there, despite the trouble.

 

As a final thought before the pictures, I know it's my own build, so I'm biased, but it is everything I had in my head that I wanted to come out of it. It is the exact look I was going for. While the build itself will be slowing a bit for some time, it certainly isn't done. So now, enjoy some pics of a finally finished truck and some cool show stuff.

The rescue vehicle for a section called "milkshake" that killed about 20 vehicles that day

Some crushed cars

 

[Smokeyyank]

Nice build! Love poking through these and seeing where they start and finish! 

[MancheKid86]

man this thing is sick, great build!

[drcomanche]

On 6/22/2019 at 3:18 PM, MancheKid86 said:

man this thing is sick, great build!

Thanks, still rolling and giving me hell while it's at it.

On 6/21/2019 at 10:32 AM, Smokeyyank said:

Nice build! Love poking through these and seeing where they start and finish! 

It's come quite a ways since the days of old.

 

Another big update, since I always kind of fail to get back to this build thread.

 

So after all the prep for this show, I decided I was going to take it out to Ocean City Jeep Week this year. To do so, I needed to get it geared up and ready for a 3+ hour trip out there. Mainly, I needed some quality of life fixes for it so that I could survive the trip with my sanity and my health. The most pressing matter was to figure out what the heck was causing all the noise in my front axle when it was in 4wd. I removed both hub rotors, spindles, and knuckles to get into it. I figured, even though there was hardly any miles on the set of wheel bearings in there, I would replace them since I'm there. When I took everything out, I did find some interesting things with the spindle. The noise was my outer axle shafts pushing against the bare metal of the spindles. For some reason, they had some play that allowed them to contact which ate about a quarter inch out of the drivers side spindle. I mulled around ideas for a bit and tried to diagnose it, but came up with nothing. The turning should re center the axle shafts at the ball joints anyway. Well, eventually I found my answer while prepping the inner and out shafts(rust removal and some paint). Turns out, the ones that came with the truck were, not only, the incorrect sizes (came from an ifs bronco making them a half inch longer), but were also 2 different shafts themselves. I bought new chromoly outers and put them back together. While I was there, I did notice some water in my diff when I drained it. The seals seemed fine, so I'm going to chalk it up to poorly placed axle breather, moving shafts, and all around poor quality control on my part when I scrambled it back together before. I painted my diff cover and did some small welds on my old breather port to better seal it. While I had the axle dropped, I adjust some axle placement and painted up my bump stops. I fixed my spring retainers so they weren't bent and finished painting all the steering linkage. 

 

Another big problem was that the engine, while it ran, would have a sporadic miss at idle and while driving. I replaced every remaining sensor on the engine except for the cps, and nothing was able to fix it. All new injectors, spark plugs, everything... 

 

To help combat the heat in the engine, I ended up replacing all the hoses, sensors, and housing for my cooling system. It hadn't been done since I got the truck, so it couldn't hurt to do it now. I also did an oil change while I was at it after a bit of debate. I should have done a transmission fluid change for reasons I will talk about later.

 

I also wanted to have a stereo for the trip which presented its own challenges. The old stereo wiring was rigged up poorly(just enough to work with the old setup), so I had to get back into my wiring AGAIN,  and figure out what was up. Took some real troubleshooting, but I got it to work eventually. Had to custom make a bracket for it too. 

 

I rebuilt my rear driveshaft to, hopefully, get rid of some of my vibrations. This also meant I could take the time to repaint it while it was out.

 

The last thing I wanted to get remedied was to wrap my exhaust downpipe to keep some of the heat out of my floor boards. Long trips tended to cause some extensive heat sink into and through the floors. That was another simple project.

 

So the time came and I drove out to OC. The trip out was surprisingly easy. The driveshaft rebuild eliminated a ton of vibration, but the unbalanced wheels did still cause a bit of trouble. It was a nice high 70s day, so it made the temp very nice. Everything seemed to work very well... Until I made it there. As soon as I entered OC, I noticed that it was a bit difficult to get into gears. The engine also started feeling the heat, causing the #3 injector heat soak issue. With those issues, I was still pretty close to my house, so I made it fine. I let the truck rest for a few hours and then went to the show at the convention center. It was a nightmare. There was no parking for 5+ blocks in all directions, as they didn't block the lots off for just participants. I drove for a half an hour and couldn't find a spot anywhere. I missed the deadline for the show and since I couldn't find a spot to park, I couldn't register either. Instead, I just relaxed the rest of the day fishing. I went to the show the next day, which was more of a vendor affair, and found some parking in the main lot. Lots of looks and tons of questions, but I finally found my way in. I debated on registering, since there was only one more day of it(I didn't plan my trip quite right on the time), but decided to since there would still be an obstacle course, a beach crawl, and a show. I got so see quite a few Jeeps at this one, and quite a few vendors. The next day, I played it safe. I didn't want to risk the truck overheating while trying an obstacle course(the trans was getting worse and worse, and the truck was getting hotter WAY faster), so I just went to the show as a last ditch effort to enjoy the festivities. It started out slow, but it turned out to be really cool. I met the director of OCJW while I was out there(didn't even know it was him) and he invited me back next year to put the truck on display! I also met a writer from JP magizine who wanted to do a feature when I got the chance. Then I won an award for it, so all around, a fun experience. I spent the rest of my week in OC just enjoying the weather. The trip back was far more difficult. The day was easily in the 90s. The truck heated up very quickly, and as a result, the trans heated up too. Shifting was very difficult and I had to stop in Annapolis to let it rest for a couple hours. I did an on the fly trans fluid refresh to help it along a bit. The engine was running poorly and for some reason, the charcoal canister flooded with gas. Not sure as to why, but it had to endure. At about 20 minutes out, the passenger front brake locked up and overheated 10 minutes later. I limped it back home from there.

 

From there, the truck sat for a few weeks while I contemplated what to do next. I did take it to a friends place to test the compression to try to diagnose the engine miss. I was told when I bought it that the engine was rebuilt 15k ago. We tested all the cylinders and the results were.... 150 across the board. No fluctuation on any cylinder, so it must be somewhat true. My best guess is that something in the hackjob electrical is shorting out or poorly conducting. 

 

Now it's ready to go down under the knife again while I prep it for next year. Many things to come soon.

 

Broken clip and rusted in. It was tough to get it apart

An upcoming project

Still pretty nice in there, aside from the water.

Pulled hubs and spindles. A look at the damages. I pulled the bearings and replaced them with a cool hardened poly bushing from wild horses bronco.

The obvious differences

Primed and painted

Painted driveshaft.

The new and old

And back together

Heatshrink before taped

Washed and ready

In OC

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