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Making My CJ5 Into A CJ6/II

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by tarry99, Jan 20, 2014.

  1. Nov 24, 2015
    tarry99

    tarry99 Member

    Northern California
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    3,784
    Still working on Link Brackets...............very time consuming trying to get them to fit at the right angle and height while also making it fit tight enough to the adjoining part to achieve a good weld.

    [​IMG]
    Aluminum spacers are needed to keep the bracket straight and in correct alignment so that after welding the link joint will still fit the bracket. These are plus .020 thousands.
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Not every Bracket fits correctly............most times there is some hand fitting with the die grinder.........maximum weld strength starts at the joint and the fit.
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    To get This..........
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Nov 24, 2015
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
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    Beautiful. I don't about other guys that look at your work, but this inspires me to be a better fabricator... More tools and practice
     
  3. Nov 24, 2015
    fhoehle

    fhoehle Sponsor

    Harford Township, PA
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    Beautiful, beautiful work. Your talent is incredible.
     
  4. Nov 24, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    Nice work.

    I wish I could justify buying the "right" tools to do this stuff. I do woodwork for a living, and it is hard enough convincing the boss (wife) that I need a new (to me) woodworking tool, let alone a specialized metalworking tool.

    Keep posting!
     
  5. Nov 25, 2015
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
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    This is why I try really hard. This is something to aspire to.
     
  6. Nov 25, 2015
    givemethewillys

    givemethewillys Been here since sparky ran it. 2022 Sponsor

    New Kent, VA
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    Gosh Tarry, your work is TERRIBLE. I'm going to send you a list of projects that you can practice on and then send to me for review :)


    Seriously though, amazing and inspirational work, keep it up!
     
  7. Nov 25, 2015
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    HAHAHAHAHHAHA! Can I do the same!?
     
  8. Nov 25, 2015
    tarry99

    tarry99 Member

    Northern California
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    Thanks, Just remember what your Parents and your Grammar School teachers used to preach!............."Practice makes Perfect" .....or something like that!
     
  9. Nov 29, 2015
    Posimoto

    Posimoto Hopeless JEEP Addict

    Minden, Nevada
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    Good to see you are making progress, Terry. I have actually gotten to lay eyes on this project recently and there is some amazing work going into it. Summer is just around the corner, Terry. :)
     
  10. Nov 29, 2015
    tarry99

    tarry99 Member

    Northern California
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    Yes John , Summer is just around the corner........and the pleasure was all mine having you and your lovely wife stop by to pickup that D-44 axle............were doing OK on that project , even though some days it seems I take more steps back than forward. I do believe for right now , I have most of the solutions figured out that have been dogging me on that front suspension and steering. It will result in a few more changes , but I see no other alternative to move forward.
     
    piffey263 likes this.
  11. Nov 30, 2015
    Focker

    Focker That's a terrible idea...What time? Staff Member

    WA
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    X2
     
  12. Dec 1, 2015
    jzeber

    jzeber Well-Known Member 2022 Sponsor

    Morgan Hill, Ca
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    I am in awe of your work Tarry!
    Does this mean John is going to have a great D30 for sale soon?
     
  13. Dec 1, 2015
    Posimoto

    Posimoto Hopeless JEEP Addict

    Minden, Nevada
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    Sorry Jeff, the D44 is for the rear. It's a 30 spline, thick tube offset 44. Been looking to replace my free vintage D44 that came out of a early 60's CJ. The D30 could go on the blocks someday, but only if I decide to go to 37" tires and that's not likely.
     
  14. Dec 1, 2015
    jzeber

    jzeber Well-Known Member 2022 Sponsor

    Morgan Hill, Ca
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    Got it John,
    What's that old saying about "assuming"? Anyway I know your D30 is well built and I am sure the 44 will be too.
     
  15. Dec 2, 2015
    Danefraz

    Danefraz Well-Known Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Chico CA
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    Terry,
    Your build keeps me motivated. My axles are near done now (out sourced setup of the front).
    Soon as 12+hr days diminish I can't wait to twist some bolts...

    Carry on.
     
  16. Jan 4, 2016
    tymbom

    tymbom Member

    Siskiyou Co.
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    Can't wait to see the changes you've made...
     
  17. Jan 5, 2016
    tarry99

    tarry99 Member

    Northern California
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    Jon .......I'm sure your aware how some things just don't work out as you plan............that's why I like to tack weld most things together until I'm finished as the very next component may well change your direction and force you to take a step or two backwards prior to taking a few new steps forward. I've built plenty of Race cars and once you define the nuances between one or another making the next one better is easy..........

    When it came to chopping up my CJ5 and making it into a CJ6 I had only one vision and that was for it to be street capable and competent , comfortable room wise , and yet possess sufficient ability off road no matter what the challenge. I'm only going to build One CJ6 so I'm pretty determined to do it right the first time. No question I'm also getting an education as there are many , many things to consider.

    I was moving along pretty good with the links & brackets while finding space under there to squeeze it all in.........of course the placement of all of this effects the Ride Height & COG , along with the Belly clearance, break over angle and room for the drive shaft and exhaust among other things............My plan is to run 14" FOX suspension shocks , I did some 3D simulations with the link calculator a few months back to see if there was enough room..........In the back of my mind I've always been thinking about lowering the ride height and COG which further complicates everything once again. In order to get full benefit out of the shocks you need about 4-5" of Bump up travel and the balance in Droop............

    It became very clear a while back that having the flex and travel I wanted while still keeping the COG low was not going to be easy without some re-engineering the front end of the chassis. I looked at converting the front half to round tube , maybe changing the existing angles and heights of the steps in the 2x4 tube and several other Ideas that all had some merit...........In the end for me it must be functional but yet clean , not heavy nor bulky and yet attractive in a mechanical sense.

    I started out with a drawing that used the existing main rails and kick ups and then adding a new formed 2x4 top rail. I thought by keeping with the 2x4 concept that would ultimately look much better than changing the front half to something different ...........So the drawing below of option "A" and "B" was born. This would add an additional 5" of room in that space to take care of space needed to lower the car by about 2-3 inches while also giving me the room needed for axle up Bump travel while also accommodating necessary clearance for the high steer arm , Drag Link and Tie Rod.

    The "A" Option seemed to work the best to gain the needed clearance.

    The Drawing was easy...........finding someone with the proper tonnage sized machine and dies to do the bending "the hard way" was a completely different story. I talked with the folks that build the benders and they helped me find a few manufactures with the right equipment..........but the reality is there is only a hand full in the country that has the capacity to do this..........Seems just finding the proper sized machine was like a needle in a hay stack and then when I did find one , trying to convince the manufacture to interrupt a production run long enough with the setup time and cost was just not going to happen.

    One other obstacle was when I found someone that at least was willing to talk .....the back to back die capacity in regards to bending angles and size within his machine would not do what I proposed in the drawing.........so I was then at that point restricted to having the individual show me in his drawing what he could build and see if I could make that fit my project................I even considered cutting out the bends in the flat and welding the 4 pieces together to make a fabricated tube.........I searched long and hard for weeks and talked to many of my old Racing Buds............and as luck would have it one of my friends mentioned that one of my old Racing Buds in the Pacific North West was now a Manager at a manufacture that just might have the capacity to bend what I needed............well the rest is history........got a chance to get caught up in my old friends life and family and yes they did have the right machine.

    My Drawing:
    [​IMG]
    And after several Revisions the final drawing to produce two upper frame rails:
    [​IMG]
    The top rail that needs to go:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Good thing I just tacked this together:
    [​IMG]
    And the passengers side
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    O' Boy that hurt..........I don't really like cutting things off. Nor do I like laying on my back getting showered with sparks!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    And the top rail back on the bench where it started a while ago...........Are we having fun yet?
    [​IMG]
     
  18. Jan 5, 2016
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    So, when do you get the new rails?
     
  19. Jan 5, 2016
    Posimoto

    Posimoto Hopeless JEEP Addict

    Minden, Nevada
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    Do you get to watch them bend the tube? That would be very interesting. Were you uncomfortable with doing the bump up by cutting and welding. That would make for a lot of butt-welds in the front though. Lot of lateral stress at the front of any frame.
     
  20. Jan 5, 2016
    jeepermc

    jeepermc Active Member

    Western WA
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    Morrison?
     
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