Piffs Rebuild

Elk is great, you can go for days, and the scenery is beautiful. Cow is great also, though not as pretty (lots of brush). The nice thing about Cow Mountain is the trails are rated, and the maps are good. There are some fairly tough trails up there. They also added a rock garden a few years back.

 

I got so busy this month trying to get everything ready to go back to Sacramento forgot to update this. Last update till December... Unless I score a really good deal that I'm working. on.

Bracket that I did two passes on with the MIG


Started working on this and had to stop on the front bumper to deal with frame issues. I used this as practice with the stick welder. I picked the welder from a buddy for a work swap. Which will come in handy.


Got those 33 inch tires on too.



As some of you have seen from my other post. I have a nasty frame crack and will have to take off the body to get access to the crack and repair it. The jeep is currently moved to a spot where I can fix it when the time comes in December. I have a couple jacks supporting the frame to keep it from getting worse. I am glad I discovered the crack before I went off roading. I was at the gate lowing tire pressure when I saw it.

With that being said. When I switched the jeep to 33 inch tires, it drove kinda weird. I don't know if its because there is some slop in the power steering box or maybe the frame was cracked before I realized it. I won't know till I fix it and look. With the 31's on it, jeep drove GREAT on the HWY. All though the slight grade I went on jeep started running out of steam. I could of had peddle on the floor but I don't think it would of helped. YJ that I used to drive did the same thing on that grade.

 

I read through this again... Good job with all your hard work. Keep it up

 

Thanks Jon,

it was a pleasure to meet you and your wife, as well as see your jeep.

 

Finally got a chance to work on the jeep, been super busy. I got the body off, tomorrow I will pull the transmission and drop by welding shop to pick up a longer lead.

 

Was the frame cracked and repaired previously? It almost looks like two welds on either side of the cutout...

 

Yes, that is correct.

Two times actually, This jeep was rolled at one point. There was a plate there that I recently removed because it cracked and then found out previous owner never repair correctly. The first time I did this repair I didn't remove the plate.

 

Ahhh I see... Well at least now you can do it right. I see a can of worms opening up...

 

Yeah, probably cracked in the worst spot possible. I have to pull the master cylinder and the bracket, and the transmission, bell housing just to get to this to do it right. I think (hope) the engine can stay.

 

Piff, good luck with the heat, the grinder and the disassembly.

2x on the can of fun...

 

Dane.... understatement of the can of worms.


Anyway, not much progress.



The pressure plate, hmm I never seen this before?? Any ideas?


Not much room here, I'm thinking I should pull the engine to get to this spot to correctly fix it... then I was thinking if I have to pull the engine might as well take everything else off and flip it so i'm welding flat...

2nd picture is a better view of the crack.
3rd picture, ugh I can carefully cut this but..... I'm wondering about a dual master cylinder, how this will affect the repair or future upgrade... This will be all the progress till May. I want to make sure everything is properly done and don't want to rush this. I will carefully tarp and make sure everything is properly stored in mean time

 

Looks like a rust issue on the cover plate. The frame crack, Just grit your teeth and fix it. I had to do it on my Commando. I spent several months patching in metal on my 3B. In the end I am happy with the results and my welding skills were much improved..

 

I'm leaving Saturday night, and didn't get enough Arc practice. Nor did I get the metal bent to box the inside and outside rail in that area, so this doesn't happen again. I did pick up some weldable barrel hinges that I plan to make a metal brake with. It will have to wait till I come back.

 

Got the engine removed and the frame plating where the ross box was removed.

I ended up doing a floor replacement in my parents house instead of finishing frame repair.

I did pick up a Miller 211 with gas to tackle this project and finish the other stuff.

Time for breakfast, then see why the pressure valve blew on water heater.

 

No...

I been doing construction in yreka part of the year. Then I am finishing ba degree in bio in Sacramento. The Jeep is in-between both those areas. I'm disorganized too, so I can't find parts or tools. Love to blame other people for that but it's my problem if I don't find a good safe spot for the stuff.

It's driving me insane not being able to finish such a simple repair

 

Bought a few things.

Swag Offroad Press




New Hydraulic Press, I will write a short review as requested by Focker in the offtopic post I had.




I used miller mig with gas to weld this, made things easier.

Tarry was right, I shouldn't use a grinder. Its painful to look at and reminder to take my time on important things.

I wasn't able to obtain a diegrinder easily enough so I used a dremel to cut the crack. As you can see the crack isn't linear and wanders. I used a carbide tip on the dremel to bevel the crack before welding.

The top of the frame rail, the crack started to run linear with the frame rail towards the back. I decided to drill the end so I could weld it.

With the middle of the crack welded I was able to move the brace inside the frame rail to the outer lip on the bottom frame rail. This allowed me to clamp a piece of copper to the back of the frame rail.








The above picture, I decided to bevel and weld part of the areas where the penetration was almost complete but not quite there... This was accomplished by welding a bead across the whole section.

I should add that a flap disk was used to grind down the weld most of the way then a files where used to finish. I wanted to avoid taking too much metal off.

This was made when it was dark, It was 1/4" too big. I marked the metal wrong, it was dark and should of double checked.






I wrote down frame rail dimensions and will figure out what to do with the master cylinder upgrade. As well as figure out how I am going to cute the inner and outer bracing for the frame. I am now working in Yreka again, so no progress till August.

 

Well when you bend metal too big and too short are about the same soo.

I need to make money to support this jeep habit, this forum doesn't help haha.

 

Hey, making some Progress...........good for you!