The Introduction Of Archer

[neohic]

Perhaps... I was thinking something along the lines of what I had on my '88 years ago:

 

 

Similar lines without having a huge assembly hanging off the back of the truck. I'd call it somewhere between a roll pan and a tubular bumper.

[xjrev10]

Looking good brother!  Love the stance!

[neohic]

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

[ComancheKid45]

Sounds like a plan! :thumbsup:

[neohic]

Another sign of future things to come:

 

 

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

[neohic]

Not a whole lot more today... just filling some newly made holes.



I made up an aluminum panel that tied into the original mounting holes in the firewall. The firewall itself is a mess so the new panel will be coming back out at some point. Again, just mocking things up. I was also playing around with some creative ways to dress up the dash some what without the radio, factory switches, or heater controls.




Probably end up putting a battery kill switch where the lighter panel is. I'd like to track down a good set of block off panels for either side of the steering column. I have one good one from the original dash. The other had a bunch of holes drilled in it. Details... details... not really time to get too fussy with things like that yet.

Something else that bugs me is the seat height. The seats themselves are from a four door XJ, but the brackets are MJ. I think they sit too high. I might lower them down a couple inches. Before bolting on the brackets, I set the seat in the truck on a stack of blocks and liked the feel of everything. Now bolted in, it's just too high. The shifter needs to come back some too to have that same tailored feel. Details... details...

[ComancheKid45]

:popcorn:

[xjrev10]

I think you might wish for defrost some day!

[neohic]

It was the wife and I's 6th anniversary over this past weekend so we decided that it would be a great time to get away and just spend some time together. It was great! We made a little drive to the opposite corner of the state from us... Duluth. Of course, if we were going to Duluth, we just had to stop by and see what was happening at the Archer facility. Let me tell you... some stuff happened. I sat down and had a nice chat with someone that was very connected in the Jeep scene during the reign of Comanches in the SCCA. Got some interesting new information about the trucks and heard some amazing stories. Who was this man? Only the guy who shifted through the gears in the #33 truck... Mr. Tommy Archer!

 

 

Couldn't leave the building without a souvenir either. Problem was that we stopped there on the first day of our trip. Rather than carting stuff around with us, I had to make an awkward trip up to the hotel room. Not that I'm complaining, really. I had no problem waking up to this each morning.

 

 

Yup... in all its lightweight, fiberglass goodness! Granted, they only ran the fiberglass hoods in one race before they were caught and had to remove them but I think it'll make a great addition to the truck!

 

[88whitemanche]

Nice...I bet the truck would run much faster with the light weight hood and other accessories....I was looking into another website but with a different design on the fiberglass hood....

 

http://www.mcneilracinginc.com/off-road-fiberglass/jeep/cherokee/

[ComancheKid45]

The word Jelous does not do any justice to how I feel about your excperiences... ;)

[HOrnbrod]

You are one slick dude Ben. Take the wifey on a getaway trip to the Archer Bros. facility, shmooze around with Tommy Archer, and drive away with an MJ custom fiberglass racing hood. I call that getting er done.  :yes:

[xjrev10]

You are one slick dude Ben. Take the wifey on a getaway trip to the Archer Bros. facility, shmooze around with Tommy Archer, and drive away with an MJ custom fiberglass racing hood. I call that getting er done.  :yes:

He never did mention how much she liked the trip....

[HOrnbrod]

You're right. He didn't. She probably saw right through his obvious ploy, as most wives do. They are all smarter than us..........

[xjrev10]

Somebody had to take the picture!

[neohic]

...She probably saw right through his obvious ploy, as most wives do. They are all smarter than us..........

 

Robyn: "What would you like to do this year for our anniversary?"  :dunno:

Ben: "How about a road trip to Duluth?" . :MJ 1: .

Robyn: "Yeah! Sounds like fun! We could cruise up to the lighthouse and hit up the museums and find the local restaurants..."  :)

Ben: "Yup... we could do all that stuff... maybe stop in at Archer's..."  :idea:

Robyn: "What was that?"  :bs:

Ben: "I said that sounds great!... and I could work in a stop at Archer's..."  :roll:

Robyn:  :shake:

Ben:  :crossfingers:

Robyn:  :rant:

Ben:  :peek:

Robyn: "Fine... but only if we don't end up leaving with some old truck part!"  :thwak:

 

Somebody had to take the picture!

 

She's very supportive!... and understanding.  :thumbsup:

[HOrnbrod]

Robyn: "What would you like to do this year for out anniversary?"  :dunno:

Ben: "How about a road trip to Duluth?" . :MJ 1: .

Robyn: "Yeah! Sounds like fun! We could cruise up to the lighthouse and hit up the museums and find the local restaurants..."  :)

Ben: "Yup... we could do all that stuff... maybe stop in at Archer's..."  :idea:

Robyn: "What was that?"  :bs:

Ben: "I said that sounds great!... and I could work in a stop at Archer's..."  :roll:

Robyn:  :shake:

Ben:  :crossfingers:

Robyn:  :rant:

Ben:  :peek:

Robyn: "Fine... but only if we don't end up leaving with some old truck part!"  :thwak:

 

:rotfl2: 

[xjrev10]

 

Robyn: "What would you like to do this year for out anniversary?"  :dunno:

Ben: "How about a road trip to Duluth?" . :MJ 1: .

Robyn: "Yeah! Sounds like fun! We could cruise up to the lighthouse and hit up the museums and find the local restaurants..."  :)

Ben: "Yup... we could do all that stuff... maybe stop in at Archer's..."  :idea:

Robyn: "What was that?"  :bs:

Ben: "I said that sounds great!... and I could work in a stop at Archer's..."  :roll:

Robyn:  :shake:

Ben:  :crossfingers:

Robyn:  :rant:

Ben:  :peek:

Robyn: "Fine... but only if we don't end up leaving with some old truck part!"  :thwak:

 

:rotfl2: 

I'll second that!

[Herc]

Just read the whole thread and awesome so far. Would love to do this with a good shortbox in a few years myself, with a homebuilt stroker and AX-15..... all future plans  LOL  :drool:

[neohic]

Just read the whole thread and awesome so far. Would love to do this with a good shortbox in a few years myself, with a homebuilt stroker and AX-15..... all future plans  LOL  :drool:

 

Thanks! I would love to be working on this, but the usual "life taking over" stuff has been in the way lately. Been thinking about making some mounts for the 'glass hood though... thinking about it.

[neohic]

What a day! What a day! What a day!

 

Remember that one post when I showed the filler panels in my dash for this truck? Then do you also remember that awesome post when I met Tommy Archer? Well... I have a secret that's been really, REALLY difficult to keep quiet. Tommy and Bobby are brothers, so that was almost easy enough for one to pass along to the other. Then I just had to keep digging up other names who would tell me one thing, then another, then another, and so on until I finally reached the last step along the way. Through my latest journey, I've talked with a bunch of great guys who were right there in the thick of things from the good old days of Jeep Motorsports. Want to know my secret? Well... remember this?

 

 

It's changed a little. Let's build some anticipation...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't it beautiful?! That's Bobby Archer, Tommy Archer, and R.K. Smith signing one dash plaque!!! I got another surprise from Mr. Smith in the form of a VHS tape labeled "RK 8mm Transfer 2". I NEED A VCR, BADLY!!!

 

 

These guys have been awesome to deal with! Besides the face to face with Tommy, I've stayed in contact with him along with Bobby and still John. It was a couple weeks ago that I talked with R.K. on the phone and he was just as pleasant as the rest of the gang. Everybody seems to have great stories of trading paint and winning trophies. Bobby currently owns the old Sterling truck and the truck is still in Texas. We've been comparing some notes on his truck and some details on mine. While I haven't had any time to work on it, the ball is still rolling... now, more than ever, with the help from some real pros!

[ComancheKid45]

 

 

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Ok seriously, I'm speechless! :drool:

[Alexia]

Neohic, you take persistent to an entirely new level. :P

[yellaheep]

Have you driven this truck at all with the new suspension?  I'm curious how it compares to stock. 

 

I'm building one of these myself........ tempted to make contact with Archer Racing myself and see if I can talk them out of a set of coils, leaves and shocks for my truck.  Would love to score a front air dam as well.......

[neohic]

I have not. I've been too involved with other things... usually just my house that I'm getting tired of dealing with. This poor truck hasn't even left my property for a couple years now! Really wanting to get back to it though. Not a whole lot left on it but bodywork, paint, and final assembly.

 

Not sure how far you'll get with the Archers. It took me about a year before they'd open up and even let me know what they still had in storage. I actually talked to John Archer a couple weeks ago and he mentioned that his phone has been ringing off the hook what with Tommy's truck recently on Ebay. I'll be honest... he really doesn't seem to like getting rid of anything. As for a front spoiler, you won't find another unless you take it off of the truck in the Chrysler Archives, Bobby's truck that was in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, or Tommy's truck out in PA. Well... there's mine, but that's not going anywhere!