Gone Postal : Mail Jeep Build

[bbbcb04]

great fabwork if you had a big garage u would be dangerous .looks good keep up the good work.

 

[95yjjeep]

anybody have a 4.5" holesaw in the charlotte area that i could borrow on saturday or sunday? i'm not wanting to go buy one to drill 4 holes. i'll give you a couple beers while i drill the holes?! any takers?

 

[95yjjeep]

great fabwork if you had a big garage u would be dangerous .looks good keep up the good work.

thanks! i really appreciate it! i wish i had a huge garage. i would be in heaven. my next house will have a big shop out back. workin' in the driveway sucks!

 

[95yjjeep]

saturday progress. i got side one basically done. i just need to paint it and re-install tomorrow. then on to side two tomorrow. alot of work for the change but i think it's worth it.

you can see where i did thin cuts along the side. it actually worked really well. it just too forever to weld it back up and sand it smooth. pics to follow.

i changed the rear wheel opening. i think i like it better. it's similar to redlyner's tnt zyro fenders he used to run. i like that look.

another.

here's one of my templates for the final upper mount.

i did alot more work than i took pics of. i'll update more pics tomorrow.

 

[sqrl$$]

Good idea cutting the grooves in the sheet to help put a bend in it, but just curious, why not put the grooves on the inside so that it left the outside smooth (less grinding and welding) and you could hide the not so perfect inside. Maybe just an idea for when you do the other side. Looks great though. Nice work.

 

[95yjjeep]

Good idea cutting the grooves in the sheet to help put a bend in it, but just curious, why not put the grooves on the inside so that it left the outside smooth (less grinding and welding) and you could hide the not so perfect inside. Maybe just an idea for when you do the other side. Looks great though. Nice work.

thanks! it worked out great. it was just very time consuming. the only problem with doing it backwards is it would have looked like an octagon shape on the frontside if i'd cut and welded up the backside.

 

[fleastang]

Hey Chad, Jerry here. I have a 5" hole saw if you could use that vs 4.5" unless what I see in your last pics means I am too late. Would give me an excuse to come see the build! Just let me know. Looking good!!

 

[95yjjeep]

Hey Chad, Jerry here. I have a 5" hole saw if you could use that vs 4.5" unless what I see in your last pics means I am too late. Would give me an excuse to come see the build! Just let me know. Looking good!!

Hey Jerry. Just PM'd ya. feel free to come on by. you ready to get rid of that 5.0 motor so i can put it in this jeep?! 5.0l in this jeep with headers and single chamber exhaust would be killer.

 

[95yjjeep]

back at it again.

cuts made to bend the side, door off to get the alignment right and ready to drill some holes.

wide shots from the end of the day. i cleaned up the inside because it was filthy from all the cutting, drilling and grinding.

i still have to finish cutting out the top piece for the left hand side, weld it all up, cut out the light holes for the left side, cut out the tramp stamp and weld it on, do a final once over with the grinder and hit it with some paint. alot of work for body armor but i guess that's what i get for building something that has no aftermarket support. it really stiffened up the body which i'm really happy about.

 

[benmack1]

Nice!!

 

[BigJUGGY]

Likin' this build even more, everytime I check out the pics!! Keep up the good work, kinda concerned though; you gonna cause more folks on here ta go postal !!

 

[95yjjeep]

thanks BigJUGGY. I'm glad it's getting better. it's a slooooow process!

pics from tonight.

pic of the million triggered welds on the left side corner. i triggered the welds since i was really only trying to fill in the fillet cuts with material.

got my tramp stamp welded up. now the corners and lower back piece are one piece. i'm likin' it. new metal is so nice. i just have to add the 1/4" holes for the stainless hardware.

i'll grind the welds smooth so it's one slick piece.

i got the other upper corner cut out and welded in place. now i just have to go back thru and sand all the welds smooth, clean everything up, add about 10 more 1/4" holes for hardware and then throw some paint on it.

 

[bbbcb04]

those corner gaurds make all the difference . just wondering if the body armor is going to be the same color as the jeep or black also have you figured out if you will be able to keep it rhd or not .

 

[95yjjeep]

those corner gaurds make all the difference . just wondering if the body armor is going to be the same color as the jeep or black also have you figured out if you will be able to keep it rhd or not .

all the body armor will be black. the jeep is going to be similar to the blue it was when i got it but a little bit brighter (kind of like miller welder blue). i plan on getting some low back corbeau seats for the interior (black vinyl), roll cage will be black or deep silver and the floors with be cheapo spray bedliner black.

thanks! i'm happy with them so far. i still have a good bit of work to do on them but they'll be right by the end of the weekend i hope.

i am definitely keeping it right hand drive. i did tons of research and i found out that a ~80-88 2wd 1500 chevy steering box is the right orientation to mount on the inside right hand side framerail and they're everywhere in the local pullapart so i can get one cheap too (right hand drive wrangler box was going to cost a bloomin' fortune and if i blew it up, it'd cost me a fortune again and again). the chevy box is a saginaw box and will be about a mirror image of how standard wrangler boxes are mounted. the 'yota box i have it too big and i'd have to destroy the grill to make it work and that is no good.

i picked up the odd ball high steer arm from poison spyder that i modified in the earlier pages of the build and i'll run a crossover style steering setup (again, simply flipped from how you normally see jeeps (my draglink will be mounted to the left hand side knuckle). i am doing crossover so i can use standard dana 44/10 bolt knuckles and i won't have the find the hard to find (and pricey) passenger side flattop (right side). i'm excited about the setup and i hope it works as good as i think it should.

 

[95yjjeep]

well tonight i was going to hit the weights and mow the grass....i did neither. instead i grinded the corners smooth and threw a little primer on them.

 

[95yjjeep]

well another lunch break and more ideas. i am thinking about this idea for body armor in front of the doors. it will be welded to the rock slider and sanded smooth so it appears as one piece. what do you guys think?

***this is more photoshop***

#1 i like #1 because the part right in front of the windshield is a vulnerable spot for trail damage.

#2

 

[criket]

#2. But either way it'll look VERY nice! Great job man.

 

[pikapp691]

#2

I want to start mail jeep hunting!!

 

[McCracken]

I'm loving this build!

 

[drkelly]

well another lunch break and more ideas. i am thinking about this idea for body armor in front of the doors. it will be welded to the rock slider and sanded smooth so it appears as one piece. what do you guys think?

I think you are adding a lot of weight to the Jeep with all the exterior metal. How thick is the steel you are plating the exterior with? Is this going to be a trail rig or more of an around town toy? I think it is a cool project, and I think it looks good, but I am a believer in shedding as much weight as possible for wheeling.

 

[y2kcrawler]

I he racing it or wheeling it? Personally I would build mine like tanks, more plating the less body work you have to do later....

I think you are adding a lot of weight to the Jeep with all the exterior metal. How thick is the steel you are plating the exterior with? Is this going to be a trail rig or more of an around town toy? I think it is a cool project, and I think it looks good, but I am a believer in shedding as much weight as possible for wheeling.

 

[y2kcrawler]

You still have the stock motor in that? I could read through the thread but am feeling lazy...

 

[drkelly]

I he racing it or wheeling it? Personally I would build mine like tanks, more plating the less body work you have to do later....

Who does body work on a wheeling rig? Have you seen my Samurai? I never fix any of the damage.

 

[Baker]

body work is what happens while your wheeling haha builds character. nice build its cool and different i like that

 

[95yjjeep]

I'm loving this build!

#2
I want to start mail jeep hunting!!

#2. But either way it'll look VERY nice! Great job man.

body work is what happens while your wheeling haha builds character. nice build its cool and different i like that

Thanks guys! I think i like #2 also.

I think you are adding a lot of weight to the Jeep with all the exterior metal. How thick is the steel you are plating the exterior with? Is this going to be a trail rig or more of an around town toy? I think it is a cool project, and I think it looks good, but I am a believer in shedding as much weight as possible for wheeling.

i definitely agree. i do not want to add too much weight or it defeats the purpose of a small rig like this. this is definitely going to be a trail rig but i do want to to be drivable to and from the trails since i don't have a tow rig. it's going to get beat up some but i'm a pretty reasonable driver in whatever i'm driving. all the body plating is 11ga (or 1/8") plate. the DOM tubing is all 1.75" .120 wall. the bumpers are .25 wall and the suspension brackets are 1/4".

Thanks for the input. I definitely need to keep the weight in mind.