Introducing Little Orphan Annie and Myself

[SacXJguy]

Go 2-tone it if ya wana make it different.

 

[16vvincent]

Hi There Again:

During the last couple of weeks I managed to get the Subframe Stiffeners in. Like I had mentioned earlier, I tried some Structural Adhesive as well as perimeter welding.

The TNT Subframe Stiffeners:

Preping the Body:

Gluing the Stiffeners:

 

[16vvincent]

Clamping the connectors into place:

Welding the Connectors in:

 

[16vvincent]

And More Welding:

 

[16vvincent]

Get a little paint on them.

I also got the rock rails built. First step was cutting the bracket plates and pre-drilling them:

I had cut 6 plates and welded them together and then drilled them. That way all the holes are in the same locations:

Before welding in the frame stiffeners, I clamped the plates to the stiffeners, applied heat and bent the plates to match the stiffeners:

Repeated 6 times and ended up with:

Then clamped them to the stiffeners and drilled the holes using a 5/16" drill (the correct drill size for 3/8 x 16 threads):

After the frame stiffeners were installed, I drilled into the body and tapped the holes to the thread pitch.
Then bolted the brackets into place for the start of the rock rail mountings:

Repeated that 6 times.

Mounted a 3/4" angle iron to the bottom of the rocker pinch weld, drilled and bolted into place:

And mocked the rock rails into place:

The rock rails are made out of 2 x 4 x .125" tubing with the ends cut to match the wheel openings and plated to close them in.

 

[16vvincent]

Next step is to measure, cut and tack into place the cross braces. These are made with 1.5 sq x .120" tubing:

With the cross rails tacked to the inner brackets, the rocker panel rail and the outer tubes, remove everything and burn it all in:

Bolt them in and stand back and admire the work:

And test the rails for the ability to hold the truck:

This test was done without all the bolts in the brackets or the rocker rails.

 

[Jeep450r]

Looks good! Nice clean fab work!

Only potential problem I see is you wont be able to get those allen driven bolts out after you scrape them across a rock. It would suck having to weld a bolt or something to each one to get them off. Trust me, if you do any moderate wheeling, you will deform the heads.

But once again, awesome fab work, and good job tying the sliders in to the pinch seam. very clean!

 

[blondejoncherokee]

Just keep an eye on the bolts like kevin said and youll be fine. replace them as often as you replace your lower front diff cover bolts, so i guess a few times a year or every few wheeling trips.

 

[16vvincent]

It really doesn't matter what type of bolt you throw in there, they are going to get damaged. The button heads that I used were fairly cheap (Blue Collar Supply) and Stainless Steel. At least they will not get caught up on rocks that easily.

Thanks for the complements on the Work!

Rear Bumper is next on the list.

 

[16vvincent]

Haven't started work on the bumper as yet, but did get some other things done on Annie.

Installed a new stereo and replaced the front speakers. I also found a rear overhead speaker pod out at Pick-n-Pull, recovered it with the same material as the headliner and installed a fresh set of Alpines in it.

I also picked up a CB Radio and a pair of Antennas and put them in her.

 

[16vvincent]

It seems that Photobucket and I are having issues. Here are the photos that SHOULD have posted:

The Stereo, a fairly cheap Alpine.

The speaker Pod:

The CB Radio, A Unidan with Weather Alerts:

I am not totally happy with the CB mounting, but I will work on it.

And the Antenna mounts, I just added a couple of tabs to the roof rack:

 

[16vvincent]

I also finished painting the interior racks and attached tie down straps to them:

Built a mount for a Power Inverter on the Passenger side:

And a mount for On Board Air on the Drivers side:

And how much clearance between the Rough Box and the Air Compressor:

I intend to use the rear bumper as a Air Tank and the Compressor with not be hooked up until the Bumper is finished, and leak checked!

 

[16vvincent]

I had also found a pair of Hella FF lamps lying in a box of parts intended for a different project Car. These I had picked up several yeas ago and found when looking for a relay box. Figured Annie could use a little more lighting and mounted them to the fairlead:

The lights are not wired in just yet. That will happen when I replace the loose relays under the hood with a later model relay / junction box.

I also did a few thing with out supporting photos:
Replaced the engine mounts (the old ones were torn out)
Pre-wired the Factory Cruise Control and installed the Cruise control type speedo cable and sensor. (did that while installing the stereo)
Resealed the oil filter adaptor.

And this is what Annie looks like, Right now.

And you may notice, I made a air deflector for the roof rack. Anything to help push air over the rack instead of through it:

 

[GordoSmasho]

Not sure I get the dual antenna but everything else looks awesome. Coming along nicely. What model air compressor is that? Is that a 980 or 880 you got there for a cb?

 

[tribal_4x4]

Love the progress on your jeep. Everything is very clean and has the professional touch/ attention to detail :worship:. Would love to check it out sometime and maybe bounce some build ideas off one another. I unfortunately wont be making any headway soon with mine because my wallet will be focused on my crawler getting ready for the con this summer.

 

[16vvincent]

Not sure I get the dual antenna but everything else looks awesome. Coming along nicely. What model air compressor is that? Is that a 980 or 880 you got there for a cb?

The dual antenna thing is because I could not put one in the middle of the roof (the rack). The biggest thing that you need for good range is a large ground plane. With the dual antennas you end up with a front-rear projection (the pattern is oval point front-rear) and a better front-rear range. It is also very inportant to make certain that the antenna is ABOVE the vehicle. (not mounted to the bumper) The antennas that I used are 2 48" trucker mirror mount antennas.
The CB is a Unidan 880.
The Air compressor is a cheap one from Pep Boys. A Tsunami, if I remember correctly.

 

[16vvincent]

Love the progress on your jeep. Everything is very clean and has the professional touch/ attention to detail :worship:. Would love to check it out sometime and maybe bounce some build ideas off one another. I unfortunately wont be making any headway soon with mine because my wallet will be focused on my crawler getting ready for the con this summer.

Thanks, and I would be more then willing to get together and bounce some ideas off of each other sometime. In fact, when you get to that stage, I would be willing to help out with some of the fab work. Having most of the equipment helps.

 

[GordoSmasho]

I get the physics and reason behind the duals. Just not the purpose on a jeep. To each his own I guess. I run an rci2950. I was thinking about the 980 just because I do a bit of side band shooting regularly.

Are you going to run any kind of tank or just hose straight of the pump. I like the thought of it being mounted. I have a similar on from HD

 

[tribal_4x4]

Thanks, and I would be more then willing to get together and bounce some ideas off of each other sometime. In fact, when you get to that stage, I would be willing to help out with some of the fab work. Having most of the equipment helps.

Yea definitely that would be awesome! I know what you mean about having all the equipment. Ill be prepping my crawler at the in-laws do to mass amounts of tools and space lol. Living in an apartment really has its down sides.

 

[cencal96xj]

man you did an awesome job in the back!! i love it. wish i had the tools and time to make something like that. looks killer. and i like the air defector too, very neat idea