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| Project "Moab" a.k.a "Just a Tub Swap" - part #4 |
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| (05/29/09) I took some time to cut away more of the rust and crap from the tub so
I could see the body mounts. So far, 8 body mounts exposed and only 1 that is in decent shape... and that one
has to be CUT OFF to be relocated for the Wrangler tub. Too funny.
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Anyway, I got a lot of the stuff removed, cleaned up and thrown out. Making room
for this weekend. I hope to get the Jeep stripped down to the frame; the new body on the frame and the new mounts
measured up so we can weld in the new mounts and get the body actually socked down on the frame. If we can do that,
then we know that it is a good solid foundation from which to continue the rest of the build.
(05/29/09)
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| (05/29/09) Well, the word of the day was definitely metal fabrication and metal
"massage". I started out the day looking to fix the set of body mounts that were in front of the gas tank and that
went pretty smoothly, so I moved onto removing the body mounts that are in front of the rear tires that need
to be relocated for the Wrangler(YJ) tub, and finally I needed up grinding and smoothing the frame there.
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| I then moved onto the rear of the Jeep to fix the broken exhaust hanger... that was
a ton of fun trying to get it off. With that off and welded up (it had a hole in the middle of it as well that
required a plate and some attention), I moved onto test fitting the rear cross member... that is of course after
I removed said cross member... also a lot of fun.
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The day seemed to be fighting me the whole way. I finally had the rear frame in
decent shape, but I couldn't get the rear cross member in place. It was because the rear shackle mounts needed to
be loosened up. So, of course when I tried to do that, I snapped off the bolts. Of the 4 rear shackle hanger
bolts, 3 were snapped off and only one came out easily. So, I spent some time getting the driver side out and
now I will have to weld in some new nuts. Basically at this point, I ran out of time. More to come today as I
am headed out for hopefully another 4-5 hours before Curtis comes back tomorrow to get the rest of the Jeep broken
down.
(05/29/09)
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| (05/31/09) The day was better yesterday than it was the day before. There was less
of the Jeep fighting me and more of me putting things on and getting it all locked down.
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I started by removing the other 2 snapped off bolts, then putting in nuts/bolts,
lining them up, tightening them down, removing one, welding the other putting the other back in welding that...
repeat, rinse... LOL. So, when it was all done, the rear cross member went on, the ends were cut off, flipped and
then re-welded back in place so it will accommodate the Wrangler tub. All in all, a ton of metal work over the
past couple days and now we are in shape to remove the rest of the Jeep from the frame and get ready to try out
the new body.
(05/31/09)
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| (06/01/09) We worked on the Jeep for 8 or so hours yesterday and really did end up
getting a ton of work done. There were some frustrating times, but all in all, the old tub is no longer part of
the Jeep, the 2 front body mounts were in great shape, so they don't need to be fixed and everything came apart
for the most part as it should have. We did have to cut off the front body mount on the grille, so that wasn't
too good. I have to see why it is spinning inside of the shell. We got the new tub on as well and measured up
for 4 of the mounts. It lined up well with all the work I had done and really does look good. It actually is
very high. I am 6'1" and I can rest my arms on it about shoulder height. Some of that is the wheel dollies
that it is on, but in general, it is high. The new shackles will compensate for the 1" difference the body
mount is making.
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Moving on, we then proceeded to tighten all the body mounts down, measure and tack
in the new body mounts, and then remove the tub so I can finish up the welding later on. The old front piece of
the tub was separated from its heating and other components that were inside and then the Jeep side panels were
cut out and so was the defroster and then it was loaded up into the truck for disposal later this week. We
finished up around 4:30 pm and all in all, it was a great day. There is a ton of stuff to still get to this week
and next weekend, but I had hoped that we would be done with the tub by Memorial Day and instead we have a rolling
chassis ready for a tub... so sometimes you have to modify the plan.
(06/01/09)
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