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1975 Brutally Simple Daily Driver

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by neohic, Apr 28, 2018.

  1. Oct 22, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
    Messages:
    500
    Winter soon? Hu… could’ve sworn I was going to do something about an engine this year. Maybe I’ll clean up the paint again. Yup… that’ll fix everything. :rolleyes:

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    Some serious decisions need to be made on the body too. If an engine swap is happening, then the front clip will come off to get to everything. After that it’s a few more bolts and the tub is off. Body work? Tub swap?

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    Thoughts?
     
    SKT, dozerjim, ITLKSEZ and 1 other person like this.
  2. Oct 23, 2022
    danielbuck

    danielbuck Uncle Buck

    USA
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    Jan 22, 2013
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    301
    if you don't mind the old look, leave the body as it is. Swap the motor if you have to. :)
     
  3. Oct 23, 2022
    bigjohn

    bigjohn Active Member

    Kelso Wa
    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2010
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    1,054
    I tried to find this thread awhile ago, glad you updated it. How is the fuel injection working for you these days? Any issues aside from the occasional fuel filters?
     
  4. Oct 23, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
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    500
    The fuel injection is easily the best thing that’s been added to it. Haven’t checked on the fuel filter in a while… so… probably fine? :shrug: You can definitely tell that the engine is way down on power, it always smells like oil, but it always starts. 10/10 would recommend this injection kit.
     
  5. Oct 23, 2022
    Lockman

    Lockman OK.....Now I Get It . 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Silver Hill,...
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    Run some BG44 through it...... I'll will come out smelling like Lilacs .
     
  6. Oct 24, 2022
    colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    At the foot of...
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    Depends on your intended use.
    If you intend to take it out 4wheeling, I'd leave the body alone.
     
  7. Oct 24, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
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    500
    Good question. I’d like to have a Swiss Army knife of a CJ at some point. I’ve got dreams of tagging along on a Rubicon run but otherwise I’m loosing interest in the tough wheeling I’ve done in the past. Dusty road to get to the destination is what I’ve got in mind.

    Right now I’ve got it in my head that I’d like to find a good tub and front clip in original paint. I don’t do so well with “nice” vehicles as I put a ton of effort into my ‘88 Comanche that just sits in the shop and collects dust. Sure, I could do bodywork and paint that’s finished up with a single stage paint but this thing lives outside. I can live with minimal rust through original paint as it’s honest with what it is. Who knows what’s hiding under that chalky (sometimes) red paint?!
     
  8. Oct 28, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
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    500
    Does anyone know when you find out when you've got a problem with your headlights? That's right... when it's pitch dark outside. :banghead: Dumb, old Jeep really surprised me last night with the headlights going on and off. Today I pulled the dimmer switch to find that the action felt terrible. When it did click was when the lights would come on. New switch and the removal of about two feet of wiring later, and things were working again.

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    … right up until I started backing out of the shop and they went out again. This time it was with a noticeable popping sound from behind the dash. That might as well have been a death rattle as anytime I think of the wiring inside the dash it makes me start counting backwards from twenty very slowly. :sick:

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    See, the wiring harness was “installed” by a complete idiot and then “fixed” later on by another. I tracked down the wires from the fuse panel to the switch to find?…

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    … a big problem at the switch that was hidden by a giant wad of tape. Some wires were tied together and some weren’t that needed to be. One such set was a big red wire that lost power when I pulled the headlight circuit fuse and an orange one that had a constant 12 volts. With the switch wiring mocked up, the red wire and the switch itself got noticeably warm but didn’t pop the 40 amp fuse (which seems big to me, but I left it for now). I pulled the orange wire and left just the dedicated red wire from the headlight circuit, took another couple feet of useless wire out of the picture, and all is well without getting warm.

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    Somewhere along the journey I lost function of the high beam indicator in the cluster. Can’t win them all… guess I’ll be tracking that one down when I decide to tackle pulling the cage to get behind the dash.

    As for another project that’s long overdue…

    … over three years. It took me over three years to wire in a tach. :waiting:

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  9. Oct 28, 2022
    givemethewillys

    givemethewillys Been here since sparky ran it. 2022 Sponsor

    New Kent, VA
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    Any progress is good progress! Glad you figured out the wiring on that headlight switch. I'm working on my harness now, which other than terrible connectors, was correct. Luckily I'm swapping the dash so I have the luxury of working on it on my workbench rather than on my back.
     
  10. Oct 28, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
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    500
    I like the idea of removing the dash hardware and replacing it with all thread to pull it away from the tub like others here have. My cage sandwiches the dash to the tub so it needs to get out of the way first. Pulling the cage is like pulling the front clip to get to the engine… it’s a rabbit hole of “while I’m in there…” :crazy:
     
    Ol Fogie and Fireball like this.
  11. Dec 3, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
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    500
    I think it’s time to embrace what it is. A tub swap isn’t out of the picture but for now some decisions need to be made.

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    That’s how the cool kids do body work on their CJs, right? The whole body is rough. The amount of bondo and chicken wire just in this corner is unreal!

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    I found more chicken wire poking out on the surface under the paint. Same goes on the interior over the fender wells. I never noticed the GIANT radius of filler until a 1” long bolt wasn’t long enough to get all the way through!

    Anyhow, the corner guard is 1/8” steel diamond plate that I’ve had kicking around for a very long time. It’s definitely thicker than it needs to be but it’s for sure a “corner guard”.

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    I’ve got the other side to do and I’ll do a better job of showing how I bent the corner without a proper press or bender. The non functional reverse lights are going away as are the square trailer lights. I think I’ll mount an auxiliary light in their place. The passenger side guard will also be where I’ll hang a spare tire carrier. Keeping it inside has been fine but it definitely takes up a fair amount of space.

    Next!

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  12. Dec 3, 2022
    colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    At the foot of...
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    Thats the same thing I have for corner guards on mine, they're pretty much bulletproof!
     
  13. Dec 3, 2022
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    I got some 12ga (.105) on hand for my corners. I've also gotta get rid of the square trailer lights. I have no idea how I'll make a round cutout in the 12ga for a 4" flush mount led.
     
    Lockman likes this.
  14. Dec 3, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
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    A slow turning hole saw with plenty of cutting fluid should do it. I thought about flush mounted lights and I might still in the future. The lights I’m using are a round trailer light that reminded me some of the Tuxedo Park lights… and they were cheap. :D
     
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  15. Dec 4, 2022
    Lockman

    Lockman OK.....Now I Get It . 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Silver Hill,...
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    4" Hole Saw is your tool here.
     
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  16. Dec 5, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
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    On to the next side. Come to think of it, this is the first automotive fabrication project I’ve done in this shop! I didn’t do a very good job of showing how the first corner guard was done. Call it a proof of concept. This time around I wanted to show how to do something like this without any fancy tools.

    Make a template… a previously scribbled over page works fine.

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    Use that to figure where the bend needs to start. I like to make a mark at least every inch where the bend will end up.

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    Here’s where things get time consuming. I used a bunch of clamps and a couple long pieces of steel tube as leverage. (These will probably end up being rock sliders in the springtime.) Line up the first set of marks at the edge of the table.

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    Clamp, bend, check… clamp, bend, check…

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    Work it slow and don’t get too far ahead.

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    Then comes the fine tuning and artsy stuff.

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    The whole point of this project was to make a tire carrier. Sure, the driver side is mostly a garnish to match the passenger side, but I guess it also buys me some time to figure out what to do for a tub. As for the carrier, I’ve got a bunch of odds and ends kicking around that I’m using up.

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    Paint!

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    The basic frame for the carrier is as far as I got today. I think I’ll offset the tire to the passenger side. Sure, having the spare centered looks fine but it also stirs up the OCD in me that I notice every little thing that isn’t symmetrical. I’ve always put my spares offset on past rigs so why not keep the tradition going? Doing that also leaves more useable space for all the other stuff we love hanging off spare tire carriers too. Fuel… shovel… jack… I’m not planning on anything more than the tire for now.

    Probably more tomorrow.
     
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  17. Dec 5, 2022
    timsresort

    timsresort Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    South Lake Tahoe CA
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    Nice work. I like the rod end hinges, great idea.
     
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  18. Dec 6, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
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    Thanks! I like using the super cheap/clunky rod ends for this type of job. There's so much slop that they'll never freeze up and the ability to dial in the tire carrier is nice too.
     
  19. Dec 6, 2022
    Stakebed

    Stakebed Member

    Lake Co....
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    As a retired duct monkey, I'll offer that is the most clever brake I've seen.
    Offsetting the tire also keeps it closer to your pivot points. Easier to swing the carrier and less droop.
     
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  20. Dec 6, 2022
    neohic

    neohic Gentleman Jeepist

    Woodland Park, CO
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2018
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    … continued from yesterday.

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    The material is leftover 1.25” pipe size tube from handrails a very long time ago. Wall thickness is about 3/16”. Everything used for the entire project was junk I’ve been holding onto for years.

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    I really dig how compact the whole package is.

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    Admittedly, the spare is smaller than the 33x10.50 Grabbers. It’s a 32x10.50 old style Wrangler MTR on a factory wheel that features poorly applied black paint that’s all falling off. Just for Doug, I probably won’t be repainting it either… one out of five not black okay? :rofl: For a spare, it’ll get me off the trail. As for the interior, there’s so much room in there!
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2022
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