[illinicj]

I'm a big fan of your work. I love the overlander. I like that you used a Wrangler handle for the fold down tailgate. I've thought of trying to do that to my CJ one of these days. Can you send me some pictures of how you have that set up with the latches and linkage?

[Floridazed]

Loving the thread.
Question on the model. Did you just mate a CJ plastic model with a chevy stepside model rearend? curious. Its impressive to blueprint a project to such an extreme.
Keep the pics coming.

[jscherb]

Originally Posted by Floridazed

Loving the thread.
Question on the model. Did you just mate a CJ plastic model with a chevy stepside model rearend? curious. Its impressive to blueprint a project to such an extreme.
Keep the pics coming.

I did use a Chevy stepside pickup model for the bed, but I cut the bed down to the right size for the Gaucho - 44" inside width, 5' 4" inside length, lower side height. Then I cut the Chevy stepside fenders down to Gaucho size also, as I wrote above, the stock Chevy stepside fenders are way too huge for the Gaucho.

Doing this amount of design and planning before starting to cut actual sheet metal is critical to the success of the project in my opinion. When I was designing the Retro Wrangler I went through dozens of design options, wheelbases and configurations on paper before I built the model, then came the model, and when I was completely happy with that I was ready to begin the full scale work.

And I've got to tell you, when you do a design and model you really like, then you make a project plan and follow that plan to completion and end up with exactly what you wanted in the end, it's really satisfying...

[jscherb]

Originally Posted by illinicj

I'm a big fan of your work. I love the overlander. I like that you used a Wrangler handle for the fold down tailgate. I've thought of trying to do that to my CJ one of these days. Can you send me some pictures of how you have that set up with the latches and linkage?

Thanks!

The photos below will give you an idea of how I used a TJ tailgate paddle handle to activate the Retro Wrangler tailgate latches. I haven't decided if I'm going to do this for the Gaucho tailgate yet.

I based my bed and tailgate on reproduction sheet metal for a 46 Chevy; back then pickups used chains to secure the tailgates. So in addition to doing the paddle handle, I had to figure out a complete latch mechanism as well.

The short version of the story is that the TJ latch uses bicycle brake cables to actuate Mazda tailgate latches.

I fabricated a bracket to hold the TJ paddle inside the tailgate; this bracket included a bellcrank and mounting points for the ends of the bike cables.

I modified the Mazda tailgate latches to accept bike cables to pull the latches open.

I fabricated new end sills for the repro tailgate that were recessed 1" to allow room for the latches.

I used tailgate link straps from a Toyota to support the tailgate when open; the stock 46 Chevy chains would have performed this function but I didn't like them.

I made provisions for an access hatch on the inside of the tailgate, for this I used a tailgate hatch from a Nissan.

And of course there was all the sheet metal work to put the CJ tailgate logo into the 46 Chevy tailgate core...

[certifiablejeep]

When you said that the chevy fenders were 5' long, I was like no way... funny how your memory remembers things smaller sometimes.

I looked up a few pics and I guess you are right... with 33"s shoved under them, there is about a foot in front and behind making it about that size.

I dig the models, I used to make them all the time when I was younger. I worked for a guy that made his own molds for metal parts and plastic as well... I was always fascinated with what he came up with.

I love the idea of planning it all in a model, I just seem to build them the way I have them in my head and mock it all up first and see what I like and don't like... I guess I am a glutton for punishment... and disappointment.

cb

[rixcj]

Your imagination, engineering, passion, and fabrication skills are mindblowing! Do you have a full fabrication shop, or do you sub out some of the components? As a self employed metal fabricator, I truly appreciate what's involved in such a project. My hat's off to you.

I will be following your newest adventure. Take lots of pics!

Rich

[jscherb]

Originally Posted by rixcj

Your imagination, engineering, passion, and fabrication skills are mindblowing! Do you have a full fabrication shop, or do you sub out some of the components? As a self employed metal fabricator, I truly appreciate what's involved in such a project. My hat's off to you.

I will be following your newest adventure. Take lots of pics!

Rich

Thanks!

I do all my own work in my home garage and workshop. The Retro Wrangler was my first fabrication project ever, I bought my welder and taught myself welding just for that project. There are only two things I subbed out on the Retro Wrangler project - the painting, and lengthening the driveshaft. Everything else I did myself at home by myself (just working alone on big stuff like this can be a challenge - try installing a pickup bed single handedly ). The only sort of "big bucks" tools I have are my Hobart 180 220v welder, and a WW-II era Delta metal-cutting bandsaw, and the bandsaw was really cheap because it's so old. Other than that, a small assortment of Harbor Freight air tools and the usual things you'd expect to find in a home woodworking shop.

So I don't have anything really special, anyone should be able to do the kinds of work I'm doing. Really.

Lots of pics to come, I promise.

I just dream about what I could do if I actually had a full fabrication shop at my disposal...

Jeff

[Jeep2003]

Just goes to show if theres a will theres a way. Its the same way with me most of time

[Ziptie2k2]

I see you said you drafted the prototype, are you a draftsman by trade, or just for fun? I run CAD CAM and engineering where I work and have thought several times of "digitizing" a complete CJ7. You could then print it out on a 3d printer to get your models. Anyway, impressive stuff. Keep it up!

[jscherb]

Originally Posted by Ziptie2k2

I see you said you drafted the prototype, are you a draftsman by trade, or just for fun? I run CAD CAM and engineering where I work and have thought several times of "digitizing" a complete CJ7. You could then print it out on a 3d printer to get your models. Anyway, impressive stuff. Keep it up!

Nope, I'm not a draftsman by trade, although I do a bit of illustration for magazines as a hobby, I've had drawings published in about a half dozen magazines in the US and the UK over the past few years.

[jscherb]

Here are the main parts I've collected for the Gaucho build.

- A mostly rust-free YJ Wrangler tub. First up: two small and easily fixable rust spots to repair. Then I'll cut it short into a pickup tub, and make modifications to use it with a CJ frame and parts (defroster vent, body mount locations).

- An "early style" CJ hardtop. The first CJ hardtops like this one were molded in one piece, the later ones were molded in something like 8 pieces. The early ones are a bit easier to modify. The original Gaucho half-hardtop was modified from one of these, so I can do the same. I'm making the tub the right size to work with a Gr8Tops hardtop or a Scrambler hardtop, so those are options too.

- I'll make the fenders out of 73-87 Chevy stepside fenders. (certifiableJeep - good call, you were on the right track ). These fenders will need to be heavily sectioned and modified to reduce them in size for the Gaucho. This will probably be the most challenging metal work in the whole project, I've got to take about 14" out of the length, 5" from the height, and 4" from the depth, so it's a significant sectioning job. I've studied these fenders and the body lines will work out - it is definitely possible to "shrink" these to the proper size. So far I only have a passenger side fender, I still need to find a driver's side fender - anybody got one?

- I've got a 72 Chevy stepside long bed which someone made into a trailer. This will provide many of the bed parts, which will be radically cut down to be Gaucho-sized. A bunch of the key bed frame parts are missing, so I'll add some new repro parts to the mix. (BTW, the trailer frame plus the back half of the YJ tub, plus the back half of the LJ tub cut off from the Retro Wrangler project will make a really nice Jeep trailer, don't you think? )

- I've got both a DJ5 Postal rear door and a CJ tailgate, one of which will provide the logo for the Gaucho tailgate. The original Gaucho used the DJ5 style Jeep logo on its tailgate, so I'm leaning towards using that one, although I really like how the CJ logo worked out on the Retro Wrangler. I'll decide which one to use when I get to that point in the project.

The first real "build photos" you'll see are the rust repair in the tub, coming up in the next few days.

[illinicj]

Thank you sir!

[certifiablejeep]

That is cool... reminds me of collecting all the parts for what I am putting together now...

next up... CJ6 I think, but modified in many many ways... just have to sneak that in the garage...

cb

[jscherb]

The build photos begin...

Here are some photos of the floor pan repair. The tub has no exterior rust at all, in fact all of the body mount bolts came out without breaking, which is extremely rare for a northeastern Jeep. Both rust problems came from the inside, which indicates that water got in (or was leaking in), got under the carpet, and never dried out. But the exterior of the tub is in pretty much perfect shape.

The top left photo shows the floor as I got it. An OEM-style replacement floor pan was stuck in over the old rusted floor pan by some P.O., gobbed in with some silicone and a couple of pop rivets. It was starting to rust, but only surface rust. I guess the P.O. never painted it after installing. It came out in about two minutes. Tip: putting replacement floor pans in with silicone isn't the right way to do it. The good news is that the P.O. didn't hack up the replacement panel when he fit it in, so it could be reused after cleaning it up.

The top middle photo shows how much of the floor I cut out. The rust wasn't so bad that I had to cut out that much of the panel, but I wanted to leave only about 1/2"-1" to overlap the new floor pan. leaving more than that would result in too much doubled-up sheet metal, which is asking for rust to return.

Top right photo, the replacement floor pan I removed has been cleaned up, fitted properly, and secured with structural panel adhesive and pop rivets. In this case, the pop rivets really are only necessary to hold the panel in place until the panel adhesive cures. The entire flange where the new panel joins the old has been sealed with the panel adhesive so no water can get between the new panel and the flange I left on the old floor.

I had used panel adhesive for the first time when I was building the Retro Wrangler hardtop, and it's incredible stuff. Body shop guys I know say it is as strong as welding; it cures incredibly hard and strong and provides a great seal between the joined panels to prevent rust. It is used in many OEM auto assembly operations instead of spot welding these days. And for a repair like this, it takes only a small fraction of the time that a welded repair would take.

The bottom photos show the repair in primer. The whole repair, including yanking out the P.O.-silicone-installed old panel, cleaning that panel up to be reused, cutting out the floor, properly fitting the panel pack in, instaling it with adhesive and priming it, took only a few hours.

Structural panel adhesive is available at any professional auto paint shop. It comes in a two-part tube like a caulk gun, and requires a special gun which mixes the two parts. My local paint shop loans me the gun when I need it, the gun is about $50. A tube of the adhesive is about $35, and comes in a variety of set times, from (I think) 2 minutes up to 40 minutes. I used the 40-minute stuff to give me plenty of time to get the panel properly in place and sealed.

Tomorrow on to the other rust repair, another common CJ/YJ rust problem - rust behind the a-pillar which eventually breaks out of the outer sheet metal just below and ahead of the doors.

[randyandy]

Man, that is very exciting!! I love those build ups!
Do you need a co-worker or employee? I would come right up to you to the U.S.
I think, there's a market for those projects in a world where every cars looks the same. I love those"retro-look" Jeeps!

I subscribe!!