My attempt at a YJ unlimited... - Page 8

**LilViper95** · 09-01-2011, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssyj94

Thats one franken jeep you got goin on!!

Just run the 2" .25" wall lowers it'll be more than enough. I run 2" .25wall lowers and 1.75" .120wall upper without issue on my 3 linked yj.

Thanks for the advice!

As far as it being a FrankenJeep...I have decided to name this Jeep "Project White Trash" My wife has only made one request in me building this Jeep, that I paint it white. And most of the parts were freebie junk parts or other leftovers from other peoples projects!

**LilViper95** · 09-04-2011, 07:01 PM

Well I got to spend 4 or 5 hours in the shop this afternoon! I got quite a bit accomplished, although not as much as I had hoped for!

Anyway here are the pics!

I started out by remounting the fenders at 3 1/4 inch higher than stock instead of 2.5 like I had them. Didnt take any pics of the remount but here is the hood ready to be cut. I did the cutting with a pneumatic cut off tool.

Here is the hood all cut with the fender bolted back in place! I also bolted on a 33x12.5 that I had on an XJ that I am storing in the paint booth to try and figure how wide I want to build my fenders for tire coverage.

It is not as noticable as I had hoped but here is a side view of how I attempted to rake the grill back some. I actually moved the bottom of the grill about 3.5 inches forward and brought the top of the grill even with the front of the hood.

this just shows how I cut off most of the tj fender that i wont be using in order to try and figure out the rake back I want on the tops of the fenders. Once I get my tube bent I will be removing this all together just leaving the inner fender and the back portion of the outer skin where it meets the tub.

this is the start of my bracket that will be mounted to the grill assembly to weld the tube to. this is 3/16 bar stock.

I cant decide how I want to build the tubes, feel free to give advice!

I am torn between the genright style like the pic below but wider flare to cover my tires. (this is a pic i found on google, hope nobody gets upset!)

Or something more like the ones I helped build for a friend, but again with a slightly wider flare to cover the tires.

Finally I built a stand to hold my JD2 model 4 bender and the pump assembly. I used to have anchors in the floor to hold this, but they had seen better days and I wanted something that was a little easier to move around. I am going to put this on some castor wheels eventually so that I can roll it around. It is made from a piece of 1/4" plate I had kicking around. I welded a piece of angle across the center of the bottom to prevent the plate from bowing. I then welded on some 1/4 wall 1" square tubing to help stabilize it. I wanted to use 2" but I didnt have enough and I want to use this tomorrow.

**LilViper95** · 09-05-2011, 04:47 PM

Worked on the Jeep again today! I know right, two days in a row...at this rate I might actually finish this thing someday!

Anyway it took me a while to figure out the bends for the fenders, I had to make sure I got it right the first time since I only had 2 sticks of tube to work with!

I am pretty happy with the shape, going to pick up some 16 gauge sheet metal to make the skin out of.

Here are the pics:

The tubing in the bender

pass side view from top

Pass side view from front

I have to trim down the grill bracket so that the hood will close properly. I am going to wait until I get the skin in place to do this.

drivers side fender mostly bent up

You can kind of see the grill rake in this one

Side profile

**LilViper95** · 09-10-2011, 05:53 PM

No progress this weekend, we ended up taking our son camping one last time this year! I did however pic up a 4'x8' sheet of 16 gauge steel so I can get the fenders finished up!

Let me know what you all think of the progress! Seeing other peoples interest in this project keeps me motivated!

SHAKEnBLAKE · 09-11-2011, 07:56 AM

This thing is coming along nicely. Keep it up!

**1992 renagade** · 09-11-2011, 10:13 AM

Looking Good keep up the great work! You need to finish this so I can steal some of your ideas.

04WJny · 09-11-2011, 10:18 AM

wow that looks great! cant wait for more pics

**LilViper95** · 09-12-2011, 05:28 PM

No pics of actual progress on the rig but I do have pics of some of my newly acquired parts!

First up is my 4' x8' sheet of 16 gauge for skinning my fenders

Next is my 98 Explorer 8.8 rear axle with 4.10 gear ratio and 80k miles

another shot of my 8.8 rear axle

wait a minute...what is that behind my new 8.8? oh its the second 8.8 that I got for pretty much nothing along with the first one!!!! Score! My brother bought the first 8.8 from me a couple of years ago and never ended up using it. He recently junked an explorer that he had used for tough truck racing and kept the rear axle because the one I sold him had no calipers. I ended up buying both axles for...well too low of a price to say!

here is another shot of the the bonus 8.8

Tylerzap · 09-12-2011, 06:26 PM

Score!!!

**LilViper95** · 09-13-2011, 07:18 PM

Picked up a 1" MML and ordered a 1" body lift/body mount kit!

**LilViper95** · 09-16-2011, 03:51 PM

Well a little more progress this afternoon.

I cut the drivers side of the hood down for the high line. built the bracket that will bolt the new fender to the grill for the drivers side.

And I got the skin built for the pass side fender and almost ready to weld on!

here are some pics

First I made a template using poster board of the new skin for the fender.

Then I transferred the template onto the steel with a sharpie. I outlined the cut lines in green masking tape to make the cutting easier.

I then used the plasma cutter to cut out my fender skin...no pictures of this sorry!

fit the template to the Jeep! Pretty happy with the results!

going back down after dinner to get this piece tack welded into place and hopefully get a good start on the pass side fender!

**LilViper95** · 09-16-2011, 07:24 PM

Well, I didnt get as much done tonight as I had hoped. I did however get the pass side fender nearly complete! I absolutely love how these are coming out!

I sprayed all the parts down with some weld through primer to help prevent rust issues down the road...that is the silver you see.

here are the rest of the pics from tonight!

I fabricated a support bracket at the grill bracket. I played with a few different designs and this one I liked the best.

oh and I snapped a pic of the 1" body mount/body lift I bought

kyle_craig · 09-16-2011, 08:07 PM

The tube fenders looks awesome! They almost look like a set of TNT tubes. I like em. Keep up the good work!

**1992 renagade** · 09-17-2011, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyle_craig

The tube fenders looks awesome! They almost look like a set of TNT tubes. I like em. Keep up the good work!

X2

**LilViper95** · 09-17-2011, 08:35 PM

Thanks Guys! I had to google TnT fenders to see what they looked like! They are fairly similar. I am going to work on the jeep some tomorrow so expect some updated pics tomorrow night!