Lucille's Rebuild

livetorun

livetorun

Mammary Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Location
Louisburg, NC
Two years ago, I made the jump from basic TJ on 35's to 1 ton axles and 40's. I stretched the wheelbase 12" and went with coilovers up front. The project went over budget and I had to make some concessions to finish and not end up with a 3 year project. The time has come to finally "finish" the rear the way I originally intended.

Goals for this rebuild...
1. Back half with coilovers, looking for more uptravel out of the rear
2. Better visibility from the driver's seat
3. Redesign the cage
4. New flat dash

How it sat 2 years ago.
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How it sat 1 month ago
40s.jpg

How it sits tonight ready to start cutting
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Cut the back of the frame off tonight and starting mocking up some tube ideas using PVC pipe. The dimensions arent correct but I was mainly trying to envision the dovetail.

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I was able to spend a few hours in the shop last night. Got the dash out, trimmed more of the floor, and cut some of the side panel off.


The hood/fender tube will be extended and tie into the door bar. The lower fender tube will be cut off and then the whole side will be skinned.
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I will be going back with a simple flat dash that will be lower to improve sightlines from the driver's seat. Still not sure what I'm going to do about the HVAC system. I dont care about AC but I would like to have heat at least on the floor. There was about 7 years of Uwharrie dirt behind the dash.
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Time has been limited the last couple of weeks so progress has been slow. I did get some frame extensions welded up to square up the sides and also mocked up a rocker rail. If time allows tonight, I will start bending some tube.

Frame extension
frame ext.jpg


Rock rail mock up
rock rail.jpg


Break time!
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I was able to get in the shop for a couple hours tonight.

Tried out the air over hydraulic bender from Ken and it works great. A lot less work than muscling it around each time with a handle. Best part is it can be used inside without needing a fixed base for leverage. The pile of tubing on the floor was the old cage.
bender.jpg


Also had the rear coilovers delivered today, Profender 2.0 14" travel.
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Frame tie-in for the cab. I coped the frame then heated and bent the remaining pieces around to hold the tube in place.

frame tie-in.jpg


Rear deck mock-up. it will be about 32" wide. Just enough to fit the fuel cell and two action packers.

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Black Bear came over this weekend and we started on the main cage. The roof has a forward rake to it to get away from that boxy look that most jeep cages have.


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The main cage was mostly finished over the holidays. I'm very pleased with the shape of the cage and how it turned out. Some cleanup and then cross braces are all thats left. Next step is to mount the shocks and cycle them to check clearances for the rear deck.

@Black Bear working the sanding disc
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Finished cage pics
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Last edited:
Now that the main framework is done, the progress should be a little more visible. Flexed out the rear axle tonight to measure for shock mounting locations and and got the shocks tacked in place.

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