Air intake completed

Rear panels are finished

Painted both inside and out. Faux handles are mounted and away we go!

Oil Pan Skid Finished

Paint Night

The day has arrived. Tonight we begun spraying paint on all the parts that have been built/ modified. Last night we spent 5 hours on prep work. Keying up with red scotch-brite pads, wiping down with prep cleaner, taping up the hood, and hanging plastic to make the ghetto paintbooth.

Tonight we started by hanging all the parts and giving them a final wipe down. Then Josh layed down a first coat of etching primer on all the bare metal parts. Followed up by a second after about 15 minutes.

Then we began to spray the final color of satin/ flat black. While it's wet it gives a glossy appearance but over the course of drying it flattens up quite a bit.

Hanging all the parts.


First coat of etching primer.






First coat of black on the air intake tube.

The dimple dye holes on the cowl.

The front grill and headlight bezels.


Beginning the hood.


To be continued..

Matching toolbox

It has a brother. Now the two of them can have conversations with each other about how bad I drive. Anyway the actual size is 14" x 18" x 6". 20 ga sheet metal. Keith said something about powder coating, I think I may Raptor liner them, along with the rest of the interior.

Tool Box

What can I say about this? Keith has taken over and set me up with a great design. Thanks a million Keith!!! There are going to be two identical boxes. Today we cut out everything and bent one box.






This is the lid. We haven't bent it up yet. Tommorrow.




Of course there is a lid to match, bent the opposite way so the two interlock.

Power Steering Mount

Power steering mount. Nothing special here. I wanted to bolt it on so I built a bracket for it that matched existing holes. Otherwise I would have welded it on. I may go back and do that.



The main purpose of this was to get the cooler off the radiator. No air can flow more freely.

Rear panel mounted

Finally we have begun to mount the body panels. We used 1" stock to make the stands and 5/16" stainless cap head bolts(shop bolts used for mock up).



Yes, I know I still have to trim the top edge. It's coming down another 1/4".
I thought it would be a good idea to remount the handle. I wonder how many people will actually try to use it.


Side view shows the body lines...well line up. Hehe


Interior view. This will be painted black. I still have some finishing work to do on the edges before paint.

Spider Stick

I guess some of you would look at this and think it's stupid and looks ridiculous. I kinda think so myself. But trail riding at night brings spider webs crossing the trails. Therefore I fabbed up a flag-like base and welded a U-bolt (where the winch hook clips) to the stinger. Then slide a stick in there, tighten in up and away you go. Now no more spiders in the cab. Especially since I'll be running with no windshield during the hot summers.

New shackle angle

Got these installed. Of course I haven't tested them, nor have I welded them. None-the-less they are nice! A side effect is the rear end has been lifted 1". As a result I will lower my Jeep on all four corners to net a better center of gravity. Thanks Brian at HD Offroad Engineering.



Here I had to cut two slots in the subframe to access the nuts. For some reason the driver's side didn't have a nutstrip inside the subframe.

Mood lights

I'm wired up for the mood lights in my Jeep. This is a bad picture but you get the idea.

Shackle relocation mounts

Ordered these off the internet. These 1/4" beauties replace the factory shackle box. It allows for more adjustments and corrects the shackle angle. Provides a smoother ride and more flex. Don't drool too much!

YouTube

I posted some videos to my youtube account.
One of which I thought I lost...forever! Thanks Ben.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChillinCherokee

Copy and paste.

Cats are 4 wheel drive

Cats are 4 wheel drive. Dogs are 2. Well not all dogs. But all cats are 4 wheel drive.

Have you ever seen a cat turn the corner on the kitchen floor? They slide as all four paws paddle forward. A perfect drift nailing the apex of the turn. It's something to see. Slight understeer, but that's to be expected with 4 wheel drive.

Dogs are 2 wheel drive. To be specific rear wheel drive. Take a Scottish Terrier for instance, the same kitchen floor. As he approaches the turn his front legs merely steer his body around the turn as his rear legs struggle to gain traction, massive oversteer. Thus he ends up sliding into the side of the cabinet, butt first. It's something to see.
This may not be true with all dogs. A Greyhound is four wheel drive. The way that animal achieves 45 mph in 1 second on a dirt track proves that. 2nd fastest land animal.

Hyenas are front wheel drive. God made that animal front heavy. It lives on its front legs, shoulder hunched over. The rear legs are simply along for the ride.

Battery Box

Mounted the dual battery box. (6) 5/16" grade 8 bolts with crazy thick washers on the bottom to prevent it from pulling through.

I'm wired!

Yes, it's finally true I'm wired for 220. So I guess the welder is next. I'm learning to wire weld so that's what I'm buying. I need a bottle and a mask too.

Thanks Josh and Craig!!

More cowl progress

I couldn't get the mesh I wanted to use here so I stamped it with a dimple. So now it matches the hood. Regardless, all parts are now ready for paint. So that's next.