A little background first. I've been wheeling for 10 years and working on jeeps just as long. I traded my old 98 wrangler project on 1 tons and 42s for a littler and more practical 98 wrangler with a LCG build and some other cool stuff. In the trade I got to keep my Atlas and some other parts. I also have lots of old parts and new parts from the years of jeeping and working on jeeps. The Good: Well thought out and executed LCG suspension Mildly built axles HP D30 and Ford 8.8 Some more good stuff if you search Project College FUNd to see the rest.
My plans include the following:
3.8 Atlas II which now includes new skid and tranny mount and likely some cv drive shafts DONE
Get it back street legal ebrake, gas tank back underneath, tail pipe and front turn signals.DONE
Build front bumper DONE
Build in front rollcage
OLD Stock wheels (Canyons) and 35x12.5 R15 MTR/k tires. On and tested and they work great! DONE
Detroit Locker in the rear. DONE
New heims and TREs all around old ones are getting sloppy. In Progress
RE 3.5" Springs to take the load of all the extra weight this thing has. Done
Take 1" drop down out of skid plate mounts. New front seats.Done
Seat belts/harnesses all around.Done
Rework the tube fenders to ditch all the bondo. In Progress.
Got tired of dragging the belly everywhere. I lost tons belly clearance because the atlas is so big. Probably 1.5-2" worth. I'm working on a way to get Atleast 1" of that back. It had 2.5" RC coils but they were beat so bad the front actually measured stock. I technically added 1" with the RE 3.5" coils but the front had sagged so far it it lifted it 3". The rear wasn't as bad sagging but the RE rear springs are pretty high weight rated so it sits a little butt high. When I add the tire carrier I think that will settle back down some also. 37" tires may be in its future also.
I am very impressed with the Ruff Stuff diff cover. This thing is beefy! 1/2" ring machine flat for sealing and press formed 3/8" face. It looks awesome. Time to shoot it semigloss black put it on!
I was shocked at how thick it was. The holes are all nicely machined, the faces are all nicely machined, welds look good and the plug is big enough to actually fill the diff. It'll be better to hit that than anything else on the front end.
After being pregnant and having little kids for the last few years my wife is actually going wheeling again! In a few weeks we are Wheelin' Twin Buttes reservoir in San Angelo, TX.
Coming soon to a TJ near me. Roll bent rear tube flares!!! I've decided if I'm going to spend all the time to weld out rear fenders I'm going to do it exactly like I want to. Current flares say bye bye. I like radius cut in the armor way better than the 3 sided flare. That's what I'm going for.
I acquired a couple of HF tubing rollers. Does are mis-marked but I know what they are supposed to be. So hopefully this week I'll get a chance to try a little roll bending and make my new rear fender flares.
While wheeling this last weekend I had the opportunity to try a new piece of hardware. I won this smittybuilt folding shovel from a caption contest and actually needed it. A minivan full of specials needs folks were on a little unsanctioned field trip to the Twin Buttes Res. Rec. Area. They decided to try and get close to the water and sank the van in what appeared to be dry but when dealing with lake beds that's rarely the case.
Anyhow, there were no tow points and pushing even with a large group did nothing. So I drive on over after watching from a distance while I finished spotting my wife on some good rocks(she rocked it!). It was clear it was sitting the frame and rear beam axle so I grabbed my shovel to dig around and make hole under the axle to get a strap around it and 4 scoops in , SNAP! At this point I was frustrated but glad that I hadn't paid for it. We pulled the van out and the all the passengers were so nice and appreciative. The driver copped some ghetto attitude with me after they were pulled out so we took pictures of the license plate of the STATE OWNED VAN and called the how's my driving number to report her. On the way home I decided the shovel need to be rebuilt. Some 3/4" all thread, 2 nuts, 1-1/4" schedule 40 and a few little plasma cut pieces and I'm well in my way. It weighs 5 lbs now but it's going on the jeep not in a pack. Shouldn't matter to much. It's not quite done but you'll get the picture.
New roll bent rear fenders are well under way. You just need to remember your wheaties and spinach on a day when you decide to manual roll bend anything. I'm at 45.5" ID in the last pic. I'm going for 37".
1-1/4 schedule 40. 1.66 OD. I got it down to 38.5 and couldn't turn the adjustment any more. Tomorrow I'm adding a bottle jack for down pressure and I'm going try and get all the way to 37". The washer that takes all the pressure from the down force is totally mangled. I always try upgrade peoples tools when I borrow them. This one is going home with a bottle jack for pressure and a dedicated stand. I'm going to polish this Chinese turf to a glossy brown.
Day 2 Matt-1 bender-1. Too much down pressure = went to far on the bend and having the bottle jack off center equals spiral shape not flat hoop. I'll try again tomorrow at lunch.
The jack mod sped things up a whole lot. 30 minutes to make my second attempt. Too bad it's too messed up to use and actually over bent by a couple inches of diameter.
I'm cutting off the other fender this weekend, smoothing out the old welds and marks and sanding the armor smooth. For now I'm going to paint it all black until I get the other fender roll bent, and a mounting configuration sorted out. I like the smooth side look so it can stay like that a while. I think I'll be adding some role cage parts in this weekend also and working on getting the front weld in "sport cage" figured out. Lots of fab work this weekend. I've got 4-5 hours Sunday to knock stuff out.
New stainless front brake lines, new TRE, and most of the other back fender cut off. No progress on rear tire carrier or new rear fenders. I have the tubing notcher borrowed a while so I've still got time.
Well I got my radiator hoop braced up with some pipe, and installed my old speaker bar that was in far better shape and sounds better.
I found that have another unit bearing out and after my latest death wobble doom attack my steering box now has a ton of slop in it and needs rebuilt. Some days it's a 1 step forward 2 back kind of thing. I didn't discover those things until the end if the work day so they have to wait.
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